In one of the labs.
March 7th and Dan Heng sat in front of two computers, passing the time.
The pink-haired girl controlled her mouse, constantly clicking on the sunlight appearing on the screen in front of her, then dragged a Peashooter from the plant menu and planted it on the lawn.
Accompanied by the "pu~ pu~" shooting sounds of the Peashooter, zombies had their heads blown off one after another and pitifully collapsed to the ground.
"Hehe, I knew I was a genius!" March 7th was overjoyed—clearly this game posed no challenge to her.
The lab was very quiet. The staff members here seemed to have other matters and had all left, lending the computers to the two of them.
Dan Heng sat in the seat next to March 7th, holding the mouse. The screen's glow reflected in his eyes.
'The Xianzhou Luofu—A Great Place to Travel!' was the title, prominently displayed at the top of the article.
Below it were numerous videos and texts, introducing the local customs and culture one by one.
After looking for a while, Dan Heng closed the page.
Since he was idle anyway.
He typed "Divine Key" into the search bar.
'No results found for your search. Please try different keywords!'
"…"
Dan Heng was silent for a moment. After deleting those words, he tried "Judgment of Shamash," "Cosmic Juggernaut," and "Abyss Flower" in succession.
Still nothing.
"Is it not recorded, or is this information encrypted?" Dan Heng couldn't help but wonder inwardly.
He thought for a moment and searched "Crimson Feather Immortal Fu Hua."
What came up were only a few scattered records about the Xianzhou Marshal—Hua.
Seeing no results, he searched "Six-Phased Ice."
…
While playing, March 7th glanced sideways.
Seeing Dan Heng staring so intently at the screen, she leaned over. After seeing the content, she sighed:
"Hey Dan Heng, why are you reading such serious stuff? The screen's packed with dense text—doesn't your head hurt? Come on, play games with me!"
Dan Heng shook his head:
"I don't play games much. I always feel like it's a waste of time."
"Huh? What's wrong with wasting time?"
The chairs in this lab were all wheeled office chairs. March 7th grinned mischievously, reached out, and yanked Dan Heng's chair over in one pull.
Before he could react, both he and the chair had been dragged right in front of March 7th's computer desk.
March 7th gripped the mouse, clicked into the game lobby, and asked:
"Come on, Dan Heng—what do you want to play? Just say which one!"
"…The one in the middle."
"Got it."
March 7th replied and clicked into the game.
It was a two-player cooperative game. One player used WASD, the other used the arrow keys to control two characters and work together to clear stages.
Seeing March 7th's left hand already on WASD, Dan Heng had no choice but to take the arrow keys.
The game was actually very simple: the two characters helped each other open mechanisms, and finally reached the door at the very top together to clear the level.
Time passed bit by bit. Dan Heng played very seriously—at times he even started guiding March 7th's controls.
Listening to Dan Heng's nonstop commentary, March 7th suddenly raised an eyebrow:
"Hey, didn't you say it was a waste of time? How come you're enjoying it more than me?"
Dan Heng paused, then replied:
"I suddenly realized that what I said earlier was actually wrong. If playing games is a waste of time, then what counts as 'not wasting time'?"
He recalled the scene of searching for information earlier:
"Is it acquiring knowledge? Or training martial arts? Does doing those things make it okay?"
March 7th pursed her lips:
"Probably, right? Isn't that the common consensus? Acquiring knowledge, mastering a skill, or doing something more meaningful—those are all more socially acceptable than playing games, aren't they?"
Although March 7th played games too, she knew this kind of activity wasn't as noble as people who did "serious" things.
But Dan Heng gave a soft laugh:
"That touches on questions about the meaning of life. If someone wants to become erudite and make full use of every moment, that's naturally correct for them. If they want to become a martial arts master, training their body and studying techniques will naturally earn praise from others."
"But who gets to decide the meaning of a person's life?"
March 7th was slightly stunned. Suddenly thinking of something, she looked at him suspiciously:
"What exactly were you looking at on the computer earlier? How did you suddenly become enlightened?"
"I was just passing the time too."
"Like us playing games—it's actually pretty fun, isn't it? The broad framework most people in the world call 'the meaning of life' traps so many. But refusing to go with the flow—that's actually more impressive."
Listening to Dan Heng suddenly become so talkative, March 7th nodded perfunctorily and teased:
"So you're a chatterbox too, huh? Heh, I knew it—we're all losers. Otherwise how could the three of us even hang out together?"
As they talked.
The lab door suddenly opened.
A pair of shiny leather shoes stepped inside.
With perfectly measured steps, the person slowly approached the two.
Since the room was already quiet, March 7th and Dan Heng heard his footsteps very clearly.
They turned around.
When they saw who it was, March 7th couldn't help covering her mouth in shock:
"Eh?!! How did you turn into a tall, rich, and handsome guy? Are you quitting the loser club?!"
Right now, Zeig was dressed cleanly and neatly.
His previously loose, sometimes frizzy black long hair now seemed treated with something—gleaming smoothly under the lights and tied up.
On his tall, refined nose bridge, his dark golden eyes were calm as an ancient well, quietly gazing at the two like a moonlit secluded spring.
Plus that luxurious formal attire.
If not for the Genshin Impact Abyss settlement screen still glowing on the phone in his hand, March 7th would have almost failed to recognize him.
"Heh, loser?" The man's sword-like brows raised slightly, as if he'd heard something ridiculous.
He gripped his phone, hands behind his back, and intoned dramatically: "I originally wanted to get along with you all as an ordinary person, but now I'm done pretending—I'm laying it all out! Actually, I—"
At that moment.
The lab door opened again. Arlan rushed in holding a pair of red underwear and said:
"Mr. Zeig, Miss and I really couldn't find anything suitable. Could you just wear your own for now?"
Zeig's eyebrow twitched. He turned slightly, casting a sidelong glance at Arlan:
"Where did you get this gaudy color from? I don't have underwear in this shade!"
Arlan looked puzzled:
"Huh? This is what Miss asked Mr. Welt to fetch from your room. Mr. Welt said all the underwear in your entire room is this color, so he just grabbed one and brought it over."
"Mr. Zeig, you'd better put it on. It'll be uncomfortable otherwise."
Zeig's mouth twisted into a grin as he burst out laughing:
"Friend, you've crossed the line! I already told you that's not mine. If you can't find anything suitable, then forget it—hahahaha!!"
With that, he sidestepped Arlan and strutted out grandly.
"But."
Arlan held the red underwear, staring blankly at Zeig's departing back:
"But the ones you changed out of earlier were red too."
"I'm not listening, I'm not listening… hahahaha!!"
"…"
…