Chapter 107

Chapter 107: Just Drive Away Whoever You Dislike

When Mi Xiaoliu’s red name status was exposed, Yiwen immediately tried to push him back into their previous dungeon instance—only to be blocked by another player.  

This was unusual. Most ordinary players actively avoided red names, let alone one like Mi Xiaoliu whose level placed him among the server’s elite players.  

“Don’t worry, I mean no harm.”  

The man stood before Yiwen, yet unlike most encounters, his personal information didn’t automatically display.  

Yiwen manually pulled it up.  

Isaac Gurner  

Male, 23 years old  

An unfamiliar face—handsome in a delicate, slightly effeminate way. These days, “masculinity” is rarely factored into conventional attractiveness.  

At first glance, he didn’t seem like a bad person.  

“If this was self-defense or there were extenuating circumstances, you can report it to the officials in town. They’ve developed a way to distinguish enforcers from regular red names now. The authorities are easy to spot—if a red name enters a settlement, they’ll usually approach you first.”  

Isaac offered the advice kindly before adding: “This young man doesn’t strike me as the type to kill indiscriminately. If he were, he wouldn’t have a white name traveling with him.”  

“Right. Thanks.” Yiwen nudged Mi Xiaoliu away.  

Useful intel. Without it, they’d have been stuck grinding dungeons until wake-up time.  

There are still good people in this world.  

“You’re welcome.” Isaac watched them leave, deep in thought.  

Not the type to kill indiscriminately? What nonsense. Kids this age were precisely the ones with unformed morals—especially isolated cases like Mi Xiaoliu.  

He’d seen it too often—bullied kids suddenly snapping, stabbing someone dozens of times or dismembering them entirely. The longer the repression, the more terrifying the outburst.  

Reports indicated Mi Xiaoliu’s classmates had ambushed him after school—clear-cut bullying. And that wasn’t even accounting for his origins in the Fallen City.  

I always thought there was something off about that boy. Too docile for someone from the slums.  

That classmate Jim was clearly more than he seemed too. Fortunately, their organization now had memory retention methods. Once logged out, he’d need to keep closer tabs on that unassuming runt.  

————————  

“Don’t be afraid, child. Tell us exactly what happened.”  

The plainclothes officer who had met with Yiwen studied Mi Xiaoliu carefully. He was the same detective who had previously been in contact with Yiwen and had even surveilled Mi Xiaoliu for a couple of days. He remembered the boy—quiet, well-behaved.  

“There was a crazy woman trying to kill me earlier. Mi Xiaoliu protected me, but he ended up with a red name. Then another officer was killed as part of some test, so his kill count is now two.”  

Yiwen stepped forward to explain the situation, pushing Mi Xiaoliu—who was clutching a crutch—out from behind her. “He’s really scared too.”  

Mi Xiaoliu: His face was expressionless, yet every inch of it screamed “I’m terrified.”  

Yiwen dug her fingers into his back like the Nine Yin Skeleton Claw.  

Mi Xiaoliu’s lips parted slightly, his brow twitching.  

Genuine suffering.jpg  

“Is that so? You’re not talking about the Little Demon King, are you? Then there’s really nothing to be done.” 

The detective didn’t question it. In this game world, where no records were kept, evidence was impossible to verify. If White Whale had a witness willing to vouch for him… well, it could be ruled as self-defense.  

For regular red names, no matter how they tried to explain themselves, they’d never get whitelisted. At best, they’d be temporarily locked up in an in-game prison while the real-world authorities figured out what to do with them.  

“Who did he kill? We’ll need that for the records.”  

Even the enforcers in this game weren’t lawless. Every kill had to be documented.  

“Something like… Jenny Majian?” Yiwen answered.  

In the beginning, this world had no real order. True self-defense—where the attacker could be subdued without being killed—was practically nonexistent.  

Injuries hurt, but only for a moment. No wounds remained, and stamina was infinite. Everyone could use magic, which meant even restraining someone was pointless—there were no long-term binding spells.  

Knock them down to low health? Who actually calculated damage in a fight? This wasn’t turn-based combat. When danger struck, nobody had time to think.  

“We’ll verify that when we get back. But why was she trying to kill you?”  

“Because of Silence.” Yiwen’s expression darkened.  

On the way here, countless players’ information had automatically popped up before her eyes.  

“Hmm…” The detective roughly understood now.  

The game provided no special conveniences for law enforcement. So-called “enforcers” were just players who formed a special guild with a recognizable emblem.  

When others saw a red name, they’d also see the symbol behind it—turning the blood-soaked ID into something as reassuring as a police siren.  

At least, for the good guys.  

A rare few red names, those who could prove legitimate self-defense, were invited into a different guild with its own emblem. But such cases were exceedingly rare—almost no one could provide that kind of proof.  

With Yiwen’s testimony, Mi Xiaoliu was cleared, officially branded “one of the good ones.”  

Yiwen finally let out a sigh of relief. At least she wouldn’t have to live in constant fear anymore.  

The only downside? Mi Xiaoliu now refused to walk in front of her, afraid she’d pinch him again.  

Watching the middle-aged detective running around in this game world, Yiwen sighed.  

This was preparation for the worst—that the Dream Game might become a permanent reality.  

Aside from the chaos caused by Mi Xiaoliu, Yiwen, and a few NPCs, nothing else unusual happened that night.  

Mi Xiaoliu, bearing the [Good Kid] title, walked down the street while NPCs practically shoved money into his hands. Meanwhile, Yiwen, with her [Demon Child] title, provoked instant sword draws from every NPC in sight.  

So when the two walked side by side, the NPCs would instead whip out stacks of cash and hurl them at Yiwen’s face.  

—  

The next day…  

Mi Xiaoliu sat in the infirmary, doing homework, while Gloria lounged beside him, sucking on a lollipop and playing a game—not that globally infamous death game, of course.  

Staring at the “DEFEAT” screen, Gloria clicked her tongue and kicked Mi Xiaoliu’s thigh. “Your damn writing noises messed up my game.”  

“Sorry.” Mi Xiaoliu lightened her pen strokes.  

“Are you stupid?” Gloria rolled her eyes.  

Who actually apologized for that?  

“Hey, brat. Are you playing that murder game? The one where you dream at night?”  

“Mhm.”  

“Tch. I’ll get my dad to clear your account later. That thing makes you wanna sleep eighteen hours a day.”  

If the old lady came back and found out she hadn’t looked after her son properly, it’d be trouble. Gloria still wanted to crash at her place when she returned.  

The door suddenly swung open. “Nurse.”  

No knock—Gloria’s least favorite thing. 

(Her second least favorite? Being scolded for not knocking.)  

It was Barrett, the girl who had cornered Mi Xiaoliu before. Her brows furrowed at the sight of the two.  

“The hell you want?” Gloria wasn’t about to be polite.  

“Got any sleeping pills?” Barrett asked.  

Since not everyone in the world slept at night, there had to be players on duty in the game world around the clock.  

“Nope.”  

“Then can I at least use one of the beds to rest?” Barrett eyed the two empty beds.  

“Tch.”  

Gloria grabbed Mi Xiaoliu by the collar and flung her—homework and all—onto one of the beds, then sprawled across the other herself.  

The message was clear: Get out.  

Barrett seethed silently but didn’t dare protest. She turned and left.  

Mi Xiaoliu blinked at Gloria, confused.  

“What the hell are you staring at? I don’t like her, so I kicked her out. Got a problem with that?” Gloria pulled the lollipop from her mouth and reflexively mimed blowing smoke in Mi Xiaoliu’s face.  

No cigarette materialized, but Mi Xiaoliu still scrambled to her feet and backed away.  

Pathetic.  

“Listen up. When you run into people like that, don’t bother being nice. The more you take their crap, the bolder they get. You’re a damn regenerator—even if a fight breaks out, it’s not like you’ll lose. And that old hag you call mom’s loaded enough to cover any medical bills.” Gloria sat up and queued another game. “If you hate someone, just throw them out. No point holding it in.”  

It was a rare moment of genuine advice for the brat.  

Which made it all the more shocking when Mi Xiaoliu immediately used her meager strength to shove Gloria out of the infirmary.  

Staring at her phone’s “Match Found” screen, then at the firmly shut door, Gloria stood frozen.  

Wait. So… he’s saying he hates me?  

That ungrateful little shit. After all the time I spent teaching him!  

Gloria kicked the door open. “Oh, you little traitor—”  

A gust of wind cut her off—rushing through the shattered remains of the infirmary window. Something had smashed it from the outside.  

From below, the screams of P.E. students echoed up.