Reboot Volume: Chapter 201: A Vast Sum

In J City, G Province.

“Pretty good, right? Isn’t my Shadow Elf 5 a dream to use?”

A chubby bare-chested boy moved his hands rapidly over the game character, the sharp clatter of the mechanical keyboard filling the bedroom. On the desk, the brilliantly glowing Shadow Elf 5 laptop stood out like a red blossom rising from a field of weeds against a half-brick wall and a hard concrete floor. Seated beside him was Mo Star, a boy born and raised in this small town, clumsily guiding his own character with awkward hands and feet.

Mo Star and the chubby boy had grown up together and were as close as brothers. They had even once stolen lychees from the neighbor next door. But when they reached middle school, family circumstances forced the chubby boy’s parents to take him to the city for school, and the two of them were lucky to see each other more than a few times a year.

Now that summer vacation had begun, the chubby boy had come back with his parents to visit relatives in the countryside, and he had brought his gaming laptop along to play with Mo Star.

“Uh, yeah, yeah,” Mo Star answered shyly, pointing at the fan. “Should I turn the fan up?”

“Hey, don’t get distracted!”

Before Mo Star could react, the character on the screen was defeated.

“Oh no, we lost again!” The chubby boy wiped the sweat from his head and complained a little, “Good grief, we’re stuck on this stage again. That’s the third time today. Can you focus?”

“Sorry, sorry. My bad.” Mo Star lowered his head in embarrassment. “Let’s do another round, Yi.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I messed up too, so don’t worry about it.” Realizing his tone had been a little harsh, Yi hurried to apologize. “Let’s stop for now. We can go outside, get some air, and have some ice cream.”

“Okay.” Seeing that his friend was no longer angry, Mo Star felt a little better too.

...

“God, this sun is so damn hot!” Yi suddenly complained as they walked along the road. The sun above was blazing fiercely, almost peeling the skin from his body.

“It’s all right. In weather like this, there are still quite a few people out in the fields working.” Mo Star looked toward an old man laboring in the nearby farmland, a worn straw hat on his head as he used a stick to drive off the oxen.

“Mo Star, that way of thinking is wrong!” Yi paused, then went on, “The losses our elders suffered, our generation mustn’t suffer them again! Take games, for example. Those early explorers fail over and over before they can clear a level, but if we follow a guide and avoid all the traps, we can save a lot of time and effort and take down the boss! Isn’t that way better?”

“Um... I don’t really understand what you mean by the second half...” Mo Star scratched his head in confusion.

“What I mean is, you need to broaden your horizons. Don’t always think about staying in the countryside and doing backbreaking labor. Young people should go to the city and make a name for themselves.” Yi smiled. “That’s where we belong!”

“But... work back home is supposed to be passed down by the younger generation,” Mo Star explained.

“What inheritance? The economic base determines the superstructure. If you can’t even earn money, what inheritance are you talking about?” Yi frowned.

“Th-this...” Mo Star was at a loss for words.

“Do you think money isn’t important?” Yi asked. “You’ve been saving money all these years, haven’t you?”

“Yes...” Mo Star lowered his voice. “I’ve been saving, all this time, so I can see my father...”

“Three hundred thousand. How long will it take you to save that much?” Yi shook his head.

“I don’t know...” Mo Star’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s. When he was seven, his father abandoned the family and went far away to D City. Aside from sending back a letter and some money every year during the holidays to let them know he was safe, he had never once returned to the village.

Once, by chance, Mo Star overheard that only after gathering three hundred thousand would he be able to see his father. From that day on, he developed the habit of saving money. By selling eggs at a roadside stall and relying on the New Year money given by his elders, he had managed to accumulate some savings over the years, but it was still nowhere near enough.

Three hundred thousand was indeed a huge sum.

“Then let me be frank with you,” Yi said with a slight smile. “My favorite game has a summer event. If you complete the required tasks in sequence and become number one on the server leaderboard, you can win three hundred thousand in cash and prizes!”

“What! Really?” Mo Star’s eyes widened. It was the first time he had ever heard of a game event with such a massive reward.

“Of course it’s real. What do you think? Tempting, isn’t it?” Yi raised an eyebrow.

“Well... a little...” The joy on Mo Star’s face faded almost at once. “But there are so many players in one game. Getting first place on the entire server is harder than winning the lottery...”

“No problem!” Yi thumped his chest and said with complete confidence, “I was in the closed beta for that game, and I’m also the highest-tier VIP. Add in the brothers from my Burning Fire Clan, and turning you into number one is absolutely no issue!”

“That... that impressive?” Mo Star still found it hard to believe. He knew Yi liked spending money on games, but being number one on the server wasn’t something you could buy alone. You needed skill, equipment, and a lot of other things besides...

“Hey, why would I lie to you? We’re friends!” Yi patted Mo Star on the shoulder. “Trust me. I’ll do everything I can to help you!”

“All right then...” Mo Star scratched his head. “What’s that game called?”

“No rush! Let’s buy ice cream first, then we’ll talk!” Yi said with a grin.

...

A moment later, beside the little shop.

“Boss, why is your ice cream so expensive?” Yi challenged the snack shop owner. “The market price for this kind of ice cream is three yuan each. Why are you charging five?”

“Hey now, young man, you don’t know the market. These days inspections are strict, and a lot of unqualified factories have gone under.” The owner flashed a broad, toothy smile. “Look at where our shop is. Business is really hard here. You came back from the city, didn’t you? You should know that rarity makes things valuable.”

“You’re deceiving consumers. I’m going to report you!” Yi said angrily, furrowing his brow.

“Forget it, forget it.” Mo Star stepped in front of him and said in the local dialect, “I’ll buy the two ice creams.”

With that, he immediately pressed several one-yuan bills and a few fifty-cent coins into the owner’s hand. He must have gotten them ready from his pocket while the two of them were arguing.

“Mm-hm, good, genuine stuff.” Having received the money, the owner pushed up his glasses, examined the bills from different angles, and soon laughed out loud. “This young man is generous.”

The two of them walked along the river embankment.

“What were you thinking? It’s obviously a rip-off, and you still wanted to buy it?” Yi complained while eating his ice cream.

“There’s only this one place in town that sells ice cream,” Mo Star said with a bitter smile. “On a hot day like this, there’s nothing for it. You still have to eat something cold.”

“In the city, if they dared to sell it like this, their mailbox would be stuffed with complaint letters.” Yi paused, then took a delicate bracelet from his trouser pocket. A golden dragon pattern coiled around it, and in the center was a shimmering blue-white gem.

“What... what is this?” The bracelet’s reflection stung Mo Star’s eyes, and he raised a hand to shield them.

“It’s nothing much. It came free when I bought the computer. The salesperson kept going on about warranty, inspection, safety, all that stuff. Anyway, there were two of them, so I’ll give you one as a gift.” Yi’s gaze drifted aside with a faint, meaningful look.

“Okay, thanks.” Mo Star took the bracelet, looked it over briefly, and put it on. It fit perfectly, as if it had been made to measure.

“Thanks for what? We’re friends...” Before Yi could finish, thunder crashed down and the sky instantly darkened with heavy clouds.

“A downpour’s coming! You two get off the river embankment now!” A villager’s shout carried from afar.

“Come on, find somewhere to shelter from the rain!” Another boom drowned out Yi’s voice, and then rain came pouring down.

“That way,” Mo Star said, pointing to a tiny abandoned grass hut not far ahead and to the left.

“No. The ground there is too poor and the vegetation is too sparse. It’ll be washed away in a storm very easily.” Another thunderclap swallowed the rest of Yi’s words.

With the two of them on the verge of becoming drenched to the bone, Mo Star shouted, “Climb up first! The river’s rising!”

“You go up first!” Yi roared back.

“No, you first!” Mo Star shouted.

Thunder crashed across the fields again, and once more their voices were swallowed.

After a moment, Mo Star decided that arguing was pointless. He scrambled up to higher ground on hands and feet, then reached one hand down. “Quick, give me your hand!”

Yi stretched out his hand, and with Mo Star’s pull he climbed up as well.

They reached the little hut and looked out at the torrential rain. Yi wrung the water from his clothes and said, “This weather is awful! Why did it come on so suddenly?”

“I’ve lived here so long, and this is the first time I’ve seen weather this strange,” Mo Star said, frowning.

“The ground here is too poor. I don’t think we can stay long.” Yi looked around at the surroundings.

“Look closely. It sounds like there’s something...” Mo Star’s brow tightened further.

At the very instant thunder boomed again, the soil beneath Yi’s feet collapsed, and his whole body nearly fell into the river.

“Careful!” Mo Star grabbed Yi’s hand, but Yi was too heavy, and the two of them were dragged into the river together.

“Ah!”

No matter how skilled a sailor was, there were storms he could not endure, let alone two children.

With no room to struggle, the two were swallowed at once by the merciless flood.

...

“Mm...”

Mo Star slowly opened his eyes. Rain was still falling from the sky, his clothes were soaked through, and he was lying in a patch of mud. Clutching his aching head, he climbed to his feet and looked around. What lay before him was not the village he knew. He could not remember what had happened after he fell into the river at all. All he remembered was the raging flood swallowing him whole, the river water flooding straight into his mouth, and then losing consciousness not long after.

An inexplicable emptiness and fear surged in his chest.

Where am I?

I’m back!

After waiting so long, I still haven’t come up with a clear direction for the new material, so I’m planning to revise everything from the beginning in search of inspiration. The main reason is that I had training classes during the summer holiday and didn’t have time to write.

I’ll also fill in the parts I hadn’t added before. There will be many more details this time, and the whole story will be made more complete. There may be a few repeated parts, so I hope everyone will be understanding and supportive.