novelThe Cycle of Karma, What Goes Around Comes Around (34.2)
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Chapter Chapter 120.2 - The Cycle of Karma, What Goes Around Comes Around (34. 2) translator: baumkuchen editor: glitterypanda, serefina
Compared to Xu Jiayi, Gan Yu was more worried about Chi Xiaochi's mental state."What's wrong?"
Chi Xiaochi forced out, "Tired."
His nerves had been strung tight for a full hour, he really was drained.
Gan Yu's heart hurt for him."You've worked hard."
Even though he was utterly exhausted both physically and mentally, Chi Xiaochi still couldn't stop being sharp. Pressing the side of his face against his arm, he stared at Gan Yu and asked, "Your leg doesn't hurt anymore?"
The candy was still in his mouth, a small part of his cheek bulging with it, clearly tempting people to poke it.
Just looking at him, Gan Yu couldn't help but smile.
Chi Xiaochi returned a bright smile. Gathering himself, he got up from the table and called out to Gan Tang, "Tang-jie, can you walk?"
Supporting Gan Tang, walking side by side with Gan Yu, he slowly walked out onto the street.
The streets were filled with cars and people rushing past. Under the bright afternoon sun, Song Chunyang's hair was dyed with warm gold.
Chi Xiaochi had finished settling everything he needed to settle for Song Chunyang, and now it was time for him to return his body to him.
Chi Xiaochi stayed for another two days in this world, buying all the supernatural props he'd wanted to get but couldn't bear to before reluctantly stopping.
He was afraid of Yuan Benshan committing suicide, so he kept a close eye on the trend of the regret value at all times. Once it started to rise unnaturally, it meant that he made his choice to die.
However, the facts showed, Yuan Benshan cherished his life very much. Perhaps he was still trying to beg that clown who wouldn't rise again to spare his life, to let him out of this inescapable cage with no exits.
Thinking this, Chi Xiaochi smiled as he copied down another string of information on the note on the computer in front of him.
Guan Qiaoqiao and Yuan Benshan were both gone. It would be rather difficult for Song Chunyang to pay rent alone, so he needed to find another place and move out as soon as possible.
Other than buying props, Chi Xiaochi was looking around on the internet for a suitable house.
After everything was settled, Gan Yu really did send him the money he'd promised, a full 1. 2 million.
Chi Xiaochi called him and asked, hadn't they agreed on 1 million, what was with this extra 200 thousand.
Gan Yu laughed and said, this is interest.
This was Chi Xiaochi's first time ever hearing of a payer taking the initiative to pay interest to the payee. Other than feeling slightly mystified, he also took the initiative to return the 200 thousand.
This was him drawing a clear boundary.
Fortunately, Gan Yu was quite gentlemanly outside of the task worlds, politely taking the money without saying anything more, with quite the air of "if you're not interested, I'll quit".
This also let Xi Lou let out a secret sigh of relief.
As Xi Lou watched Chi Xiaochi concentrate on researching and comparing different types of housing, he said, "You don't need to trouble yourself anymore."
Chi Xiaochi, "En?"
"That escape room clown, seems to have been quite the headache for the Lord God. Once any task-takers were assigned to that place, it would basically be an assured wipeout, " Xi Lou said, "So the Lord God is very happy that you were able to deal with him, and said that he wants to give you an extra reward."
The reward was a house. The location, type, and size were all up to him.
It seemed, this Lord God had conducted a bit of research on Song Chunyang, and knew what he was lacking most right now.
Chi Xiaochi tore off the note and shoved it into his pocket. At the same time, he corrected what Xi Lou had said, "This reward isn't for me. It's for Song Chunyang."
Xi Lou fell silent.
Chi Xiaochi saying such a thing, probably meant that he was really ready to leave.
That afternoon, Chi Xiaochi told the Su-jie who was on duty that he was feeling a little unwell, went to the lounge, and found a sofa to curl up on. He stopped buying cards and other commodities, letting Yuan Benshan's regret value climb little by little.
Now that it was time for them to part, Xi Lou was actually a little reluctant to say goodbye to this cunning little fox."You're going today?"
Chi Xiaochi said, "It's time." If he took any longer, and Yuan Benshan starved to death or took off his shirt and hung himself with it, his efforts over all this time would have been utterly in vain.
"You're not going to go see Gan Yu or Gan Tang?"
"No, " Chi Xiaochi said, "I don't want to make any trouble for your family's Song Chunyang."
Xi Lou thought, finally a decent-sounding sentence.
He had once thought that if Chi Xiaochi left Chunyang's body one day, he would set off a thousand firecrackers to celebrate.
But now that he was really about to go, Xi Lou actually felt a little sad.
After several months of knowing each other, what were they if not friends?
Chi Xiaochi could also feel the sadness of parting in the air, so he simply broke the silence, taking the initiative to lead the topic away.
He asked, "Xi Lou, what about you, now that the tenth task is over, when are you planning on leaving?"
Xi Lou said, "I need to see Chunyang come back first. After I can confirm that he's fine, then I'll decide. I still need to tell him about everything that's happened."
Chi Xiaochi then asked, "If he's fine, what do you plan on doing then?"
Xi Lou said, "I'll come to find him in my new body, of course."
Chi Xiaochi, "Find him for what?"
Xi Lou was strangely silent for a few seconds. Slightly suspicious, he asked, "What are you asking about this for?"
Chi Xiaochi said, "Just asking, I'm just trying to make idle conversation."
Xi Lou's intuition told him that there was something strange about how Chi Xiaochi was acting, but he still couldn't help falling into his fantasies."When I was still alive, I was in my third year of university, a scholarship student. My parents had long since divorced and married other people, so there was no one who cared about me. The Lord God said that he could give me a real identity and let me go back to university. I've told the Lord God that I want to continue my studies in the same city as Chunyang and stay by his side. If he's willing to accept me, we'll get together; if he's not willing, I'll just continue to be his friend......"
As soon as Song Chunyang was mentioned, Xi Lou became very talkative.
As they chatted, Chi Xiaochi noticed that the regret value had become full, and he could be transmitted out at any moment. He sent a text to Su-jie, whom Song Chunyang was familiar with, saying that he was feeling particularly unwell, and seemed to have gotten a fever, asking her to come take a look at him.
Then, he put the phone away, patted the place above his heart and said, smiling, "Hear that? What happens next is all up to you."
Xi Lou finally realised that something was wrong."...... Hey, what does that mean?"
Chi Xiaochi, "Heeheehee."
Xi Lou was "hee"-ed into breaking out in goosebumps. The feeling that something was wrong grew stronger."Hey! Chi Xiaochi!"
But there was already no one to reply him.
Song Chunyang's body fell limply onto the sofa, and his breathing started to become ragged.
Not long after, the door to the lounge was opened from the outside.
A soft hand fell onto his forehead, then immediately drew back in panic.
"Oyo, how are you so hot!" Su-jie exclaimed in shock, "Chunyang? Chunyang! Wait here, I'll call Doctor Ma to come and take a look at you."
Song Chunyang opened his eyes slightly. His jewel-like eyes blinked wearily. He said laboriously, "Thank you."
Su-jie stroked Song Chunyang's hair, "What are you thanking me for, don't act so unfamiliar with your Su-jie, ah."
Quickly, Su-jie rushed out the door like the wind.
Song Chunyang turned his face to the side, quietly saying to the empty air, "Thank you."
He didn't know whether that person called Chi Xiaochi could still hear his thanks, but other than this "thank you", he didn't have any other way to repay him.
Far away, in another level of the building, Gan Yu's fountain pen paused in the process of drawing a portrait of Chi Xiaochi. Then, a slight smile lifted the corners of his mouth.
At last, the time had come.
He could finally talk to him normally again.
In an instant, his office and the "Gan Yu" sitting inside completely disappeared.
The original place where the office had been, became a solid wall.
And none of the people milling around noticed this sudden change, as if it had always been a wall.
At the same time, in the "Space Between Moments", Chi Xiaochi's information was transmitted to the display screen in front of the Lord God.
Host number: No. 1198
Host name: Chi Xiaochi
World Difficulty Level Assessment: S-rank
Degree of world completion: 100
Host status assessment: All functions are fine and stable, can be transmitted at any time.
Total entropy level: 0 (Below average of 5201)
As for why the entropy level was zero, it was due to the contract Song Chunyang had signed with his Lord God. All negative energy he produced within the other world and the real world, including entropy energy, had been absorbed by the Lord God of that world first.
As it looked at the data it had received, the Lord God fell into a long silence.
The AI asked, tentative, "Is sir alright."
A fire blazed to life in the Lord God's heart, turning even its voice hoarse."How was Chi Xiaochi selected to enter the system in the first place? How was the screening done?!"
He clearly remembered, in order to ensure most of the people he got would be qualified energy sources, he'd formulated a complete set of criteria for host selection.
This set of criteria had been proven to work time after time, so why was it that when it came to Chi Xiaochi, it failed?
Could there have been some problem with the screening system?
The AI pulled up all the information on Chi Xiaochi in the database, as well as the audit report submitted by the initial screening system.
In a steady, robotic tone, it said, "This is the screening criteria you've developed for hosts.
"First, had a strong attachment to something in life, and is reluctant to merely die.
"Second, has a history of attempted suicide or mental illness.
"Third, is a homosexual and a shou, intentionally kept his orientation secret, and ideally, never had any romantic experience.
"Fourth, not close to his parents.
"Fifth, no 'intimate' friends.
"Sixth, lived alone, had a small circle of people he interacted with in daily life, rarely talked to others.
"Seventh, must have lost something important.
"According to the regulations, other than meeting the first being compulsory, only those who have met three or more of the criteria are eligible to become hosts."
The AI paused, then said, "...... However, from the data we have about him, all the above criteria have been met by Chi Xiaochi."
This time, the Lord God was truly shocked.
How could that be?
Those criteria had all been carefully formulated by him to ensure that every host that was screened out would be indecisive, lacking in love, weak, and timid pieces of trash.
Only such a person would go off-course in the process of carrying out their tasks, get lost in a village of tenderness that wasn't their own, and obediently follow someone after two or three lines of coaxing.
If Chi Xiaochi had met all the conditions, how had he grown to reach his present state?
The author has something to say:
089 is extremely smart!
Ever since the Lord God invested in Xiaochi stock, he's been making losses every day.
Tomorrow is the soft fufu Chunyang-nyan and Xi Lou's shameless, lovey-dovey daily life, as well as Xiaochi and Liu-laoshi's happy rest day, and the ending of this world w slightly spoilery part sere: what the shit are these criteria but also after hearing about Xi Lou's Lord God this Pig Brain becomes more Pig Brain baum: lol a lot of the chinese commenters were complaining about how good this world's god is compared to pig brain
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