I Really Don’t Want To Be Captured!

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Chapter 22: Rock Sugar Pear

“Whew~”

Su Li pushed open the bathroom door and stepped out, a trail of steam following her. As expected, nothing beat a good shower. All the exhaustion of the day seemed to melt away along with the warm water.

Now, finally, she could settle down and play her game in peace.

Thanks to the sluggish internet, the download hadn’t completed until midday, and the game had only just finished updating.

She casually registered a new account. Gazing at the nostalgic login screen, Su Li quietly typed in her username and password. When it came time to create a character, she chose a female avatar without hesitation.

It wasn’t just because she was now a girl—back before her rebirth, she’d always preferred playing female characters.

Honestly, it wasn’t like she was out there catfishing for money or anything. After buying some in-game fashion items, she could at least enjoy the aesthetics. Watching a beautiful woman dance around on her screen was way more pleasing than watching a guy do it, wasn’t it?

As for the character name, she’d initially considered using her old handle from her previous life. But after a second thought, she abandoned that idea. Too many girls she had “romanced” before knew that name. If word got out that she was earning pocket money through gaming, she’d be toast.

Better to play it safe and pick something anonymous.

After pondering for a moment, Su Li’s fingers tapped swiftly across the keyboard.

“Rock Sugar Pear.”

She didn’t even know why the name came to her. It was the name of some drink, if she remembered right.

But it didn’t matter. She could treat it as free advertisement.

As for the class? No question—Magician. Not “Kneeling Sorcerer” (A Chinese meme slang pun), but the real thing. Although mages weren’t particularly overpowered in the current version, they had shined in past patches. More importantly, Su Li had been playing mage classes for five years now—she wasn’t about to switch.

The hardest part of character creation was, of course, the face.

Toggling all the various settings took maybe five minutes at most. But sculpting the character’s face—that was what devoured the most time.

Su Li wasn’t a hardcore perfectionist, but if perfection was within reach, she would pursue it. Plus, she had a mild case of OCD.

Refocusing her attention on the screen, Su Li got to work with practiced skill. In under twenty minutes, a stunning virtual girl perfectly aligned with her tastes appeared before her.

Satisfied, she nodded and finalized the character.

A familiar loading screen rolled across the screen, and moments later, the newbie village came into view. This game didn’t have any unique hidden quests to speak of, but it did have a wealth of side quests.

Many items—even certain pieces of gear—could trigger events. Su Li knew all of this by heart.

After all, she had played every single mage subclass up to max level before.

Though the game had already been out for a while, judging by the crowded newbie village, it was still going strong.

Without wasting time, Su Li threw herself into the starter area. Within thirty minutes, she had already reached level six. The game made leveling to ten easy, but after that, things got tough.

Once she hit level ten and reached the main city, Su Li immediately made a beeline for the auction house. She opened up the listings and started browsing one item at a time.

There was no denying it—being a reborn player gave her a huge edge. Many items were dirt cheap right now, but in just a few patches, their prices would skyrocket to outrageous levels.

Take the Goblin’s Green Hat, for example. Currently, it was selling for just one silver coin. But in a few versions’ time, each one would be worth over a thousand gold. At its peak, the price could even hit two thousand gold per hat.

Right now, one real-world yuan couldn’t even buy a single gold coin. But soon, even a single yuan would only be worth about three coins at best. That price spike? Pure profit.

There were a lot of items like that.

Without much hesitation, Su Li took out her phone and started topping up her account. Even though her finances were a bit tight, it didn’t matter. Everything she was buying now would gain value in the short term.

In just a week or two, she could flip them for profit and reinvest. She was confident that she’d be able to make a decent income through the game—maybe even more than her teacher’s salary.

But even if that happened, Su Li had no intention of quitting her teaching job.

That was a matter of faith.

So, Su Li played until the server reset quietly in the early hours. Her level hadn’t increased at all through the night, but her inventory was stacked with valuable items. In a little while, she’d be looking at thousands, even tens of thousands, in profit.

With that kind of spare cash, she’d be able to eat whatever she wanted. And flirting with girls? Well…

At that thought, Su Li glanced at her current situation and figured maybe she should put the girl-chasing plans on hold for now. If she accidentally exposed her status as a reborn person, forget dating—she might just find herself turned into target practice.

Stretching with a lazy yawn, Su Li walked to the balcony to get some fresh air—only to be startled by the sight of a familiar figure standing across from her on the opposite balcony.

It was Shen Qingxia.

Shen Qingxia gave her a small nod, then quietly turned and walked back inside. Moments later, the lights in her apartment went out.

Su Li blinked.

She had nearly forgotten—Shen Qingxia lived right across from her. Not in the same building, but on the same floor, just opposite.

Su Li had a strong feeling Shen Qingxia had done that on purpose.

With Ling Luo next door and Shen Qingxia right across the way, it seemed that even at home, Su Li couldn’t completely let her guard down.

With a quiet sigh, she turned back into her apartment, drew the curtains, climbed into bed, and got ready to sleep.

But just a short while later, Su Li opened her eyes again.

She reached toward the nightstand and fumbled around until her phone lit up. Confirming that the alarm was set, she finally snuggled back under the covers.

This was just one of Su Li’s quirks—she often did this. Even when she was sure she had already set the alarm, she’d feel anxious if she didn’t double-check before bed.

And if she didn’t check, she’d be stuck thinking about it all night, unable to sleep.

…………..

Author’s Note: “…Am I just… a salty little African fish…?”