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Chapter 728 - 693: Damn it, I’m a man_1
Chu Changge could sense his own world, so he knew this wasn't the Second World.
Gu Mian guessed this was probably Exile World.
Exile World was the world designated "2" among the seven, with a low degree of alteration, quite similar to Earth.
The 'brother' whom the Holy Daughter had introduced to him belonged to this world.
This time, Gu Mian had brought his own brother along as well, but unfortunately, all the latter could do was call out for his "sister," providing no valuable information.
At that moment, his brother peeked his head out from the CD, looking at Gu Mian's phone screen, much like a parent checking if their child was secretly dating. Gu Mian pushed him back in.
Gu Mian's love interest hadn't sent any messages yet. Chu Changge's phone, however, was constantly ringing with messages from his chat partner.
So Keke and Gu Mian both leaned in to look at his screen.
[Xia Yutong]: Hello, are you Chu Changge? Nice to meet you, I'm Xia Yutong.
[Xia Yutong]: From today on, I am your girlfriend. If you have any problems, you can tell me. I will help you solve them.
[Xia Yutong]: Naturally, if I encounter anything interesting, I will share it with you as well. I hope it brings you happiness.
[Xia Yutong]: Why aren't you replying? Are you not around? I'll chat with you later.
So this is Xia Yutong, the 'hat-knitter'? She seems very enthusiastic; she must be actively 'knitting a hat' for Chu Changge right now.
Chu Changge didn't reply immediately but stared at the phone screen, deep in thought.
Keke checked her phone. Her virtual lover hadn't sent any messages yet. "The instance mission is to date these virtual entities for three days," she said. "I suppose they must be ghosts, but I have no idea how they kill people."
"I don't know if these people are fictional characters or if they actually exist." Gu Mian fiddled with his phone, trying to exit the dating app, but he couldn't.
He couldn't exit. It seemed the phone's only function was to help them date.
"This world seems normal. It probably has internet. We should find a computer and search for information about these five people from the app," Gu Mian suggested, scanning the room with his eyes.
He couldn't find what he was looking for in the room. He then searched the desk drawers and found some spare cash.
"Let's find an internet cafe first," Gu Mian said, glancing at the clock hanging in the living room—it was 12:07 in the afternoon. "Let's see if we can find any information on these five people."
They were in an old residential complex.
They wandered around the complex for a while before finding the main gate. Across the road from the complex gate were several shops, their signs faded from years of exposure.
So far, Zhao Tiankuo, the 'domestic abuser,' hadn't sent Gu Mian any messages. Keke's virtual partner, however, had made a move.
[Ai Zitao]: Hello.
That was it, just two words and no follow-up.
The game described Ai Zitao as: 'An old-fashioned, indecisive office worker who enjoys tending to flowers and plants and never initiates conversations. It's said this type of person is most prone to psychopathy.'
Just from the introduction, you could tell he was a man of few words.
Keke didn't dare to ignore him the way Chu Changge was ignoring his match. She immediately replied with a "Hello" of her own.
But after her reply, Ai Zitao didn't send a new message for a long time.
Seeing no further response, Keke didn't press the conversation. She figured saying too much could lead to mistakes; it was better to gather more information on these characters first.
Keke clutched her phone. "Speaking of which, besides the three of us, there should be two other players in this instance, right?" she said. "I think one is called 'Wind Blows Butt Cool,' and the other is 'Moonfall Crow Cries.'"
Who knows where those two are? They were quick enough to pick their partners, though.
"They are probably like us, trying to find information on these characters online," Gu Mian speculated. "Their starting point shouldn't be too far from ours, I imagine."
Just as Gu Mian said this, his phone suddenly buzzed. A message from Zhao Tiankuo.
He glanced down at his phone and saw a strange greeting:
"Babe, why don't you initiate a chat with your bro?"
Gu Mian: "..."
So Zhao Tiankuo thinks I'm a woman, huh?
Gu Mian immediately typed back a righteous clarification, "You creep, I'm a guy."
Keke, who was watching him type, fell silent when she saw his message.
A new message arrived just a few seconds later.
[Zhao Tiankuo]: Hehe, babe, you really have a sense of humor.
[Zhao Tiankuo]: Gotta go for now, babe. Bro's a bit busy. I'll hit you up later.
Looks like this 'bro' is pretty busy. Probably out picking pockets on the street again.
"There's an internet cafe up ahead," Chu Changge said from up front.
Gu Mian looked up and saw a "Longteng Internet Cafe" across the road. The shop wasn't large and looked rather run-down. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
Gu Mian didn't bother replying to the creep. They quickly headed to the internet cafe and got a computer.
The cafe was quite crowded. As soon as they entered, the thick smell of smoke hit them, making Keke cough a few times.
"The five characters in this dating game are Song Meng, Zhao Tiankuo, Ai Zitao, Xia Yutong, and Feng Cheng. Right now, we only have their names. With just names, I'm afraid we won't find much useful information," Gu Mian commented as he opened the computer's search engine. He typed Song Meng's name into the search box.
As expected, a jumble of unrelated results appeared.
There are so many people with the same name in the world. There must be at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, people named Song Meng.
The search engine returned many results for Song Meng, ranging from eighty-year-old men to thirteen-year-old children.
He searched the other four names as well but found no useful information.
"We can't figure out if they're real people with just their names. We need to get more information out of them," Gu Mian said, looking at Chu Changge. "Your girlfriend seems the most enthusiastic. She's more likely to reveal information, so you should chat with her."
Chu Changge was silent for a few seconds, then quietly pulled out his phone.
Gu Mian watched as he started typing: "Where do you live? What's the name of your school? Are there any distinctive landmarks near you..."
Seeing what Chu Changge was typing, Keke fell silent again.
Sensing something was amiss, Gu Mian quickly snatched Chu Changge's phone. "I forgot you don't know how to date."
He still remembered how, during their school days, a girl had subtly confessed her feelings to Chu Changge. Chu Changge hadn't understood at all and had instead started giving her a lecture on the law.
Remembering this, Gu Mian decided not to count on him and took matters into his own hands.
He deleted all the words Chu Changge had typed and began to compose a new message.
"I'm so sorry, Xiao Meng, for taking so long to reply. I didn't mean to delay; I just... I didn't know how to respond.
"I saw your picture. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. So beautiful it made me a little nervous. When you messaged me first, I was a bit overwhelmed and didn't know what to say.
"It took me a long time to work up the courage to send this. I'm really happy you're my girlfriend."
After sending this message, Gu Mian ran outside the internet cafe to take a picture of the sky and sent it over.
"My mood is as clear as today's weather. Do you feel the same?"