Shen Nianzu had let slip the first na which ca to mind, but the more he thought about it, the more feasible it beca.
There should be no mistaking the person before him. How else could he have nad them one by one with such confidence as though he had personally known them? How else could he learn that Shen Nianzu was looking for him when he had only shared this matter with Qian Hui, the Harbinger of Doom? But if the person before him was indeed the Divine Oracle, the ever mysterious psychic who was rumored to have the ability to see into the past and future and communicate with the Nightmare, then it all made sense!
"Wha—" Gu Luoxin turned his neck so fast he almost got a whiplash, his expression gobsmacked. "You an... he’s the player ranked second on the leaderboard?!"
"Bingo!" The man’s deep yet cheery voice drifted over, dispelling the last traces of doubt in their hearts.
Faint wisps of moonlight pierced through the dense canopy above, barely illuminating the approaching man’s tall and broad stature. When an oracle was ntioned, what ca to mind was usually an eccentric figure wrapped securely in a hooded cloak from head to toe, combined with uncanny smiles and a glowing crystal ball. Oftentis, they had even been associated with witchcraft.
However, the person before them was anything but.
The second-ranked player, nicknad XXX, turned out to be a man in his mid or late thirties with his black hair slicked backwards suavely, and a muscular fra that seed more fitting for a nightclub bouncer, a personal gym trainer, or perhaps a bodyguard for soone rich and reckless. Presumably due to the activity he had just engaged in earlier, three of his shirt buttons were unfastened, revealing a huge expanse of sculpted chest that threatened to pop the poor buttons with each step he took. Everything about him, from his casually disheveled shirt to the cocky swagger, exuded a roguish and ruffian aura.
On top of that, he even wore a pair of oversized sunglasses which covered half of his face, leaving only a sharp jawline, a wicked grin, and half a forehead visible.
Who the hell would wear sunglasses in such a dark environnt?!
Not to ntion Gu Luoxin and Shen Nianzu who were openly gawking, even Noir showed a trace of surprise on his face. This spoke volus about how XXX’s true appearance had overturned all their expectations and shaken them to the core.
Only Jin Jiuchi alone remained unaffected. "Oh, so you’re that XXX!" he hit his fist on his palm with a look of realization on his face. "I’ve heard quite a bit about you from Nian’er. Nice to et you!"
"The pleasure’s all mine..." XXX’s grin broadened, revealing a glint on the corner of his mouth that seed like a golden tooth, "JJ, children of the shadows, and the twin stars."
Jin Jiuchi’s heterochromatic eyes lit up in delight. This was the first ti a stranger had acknowledged the existence of two souls in his body. Although he and his brother had successfully fused into one, their original form was, after all, separate. The oracle’s words made him feel seen and approved, which imdiately boosted his good impression of the other person.
"You’re a good man, buddy!" He flashed a thumbs up. "Sorry about just now, yeah? We didn’t do it on purpose. We’re just passing by, I swear! Aren’t you gonna chase after your... uhh, partner?" he suggested to express his goodwill. Even through the dark, he could clearly see the red fingers imprint on the oracle’s left cheek.
"My partner?" Leaning against a tree trunk, XXX casually lit up a cigarette and took a deep drag. He exhaled a ring of smoke before speaking with a light chuckle, "You an, like you and Nian? Nah, she’s not like that. I don’t even know her na."
The SJG trio’s jaws dropped to the forest floor.
"Y–You... you were mating with her even though she’s not your partner?!" Jin Jiuchi looked horrified, and the gaze he directed at the other person was as if he’s looking at an alien life form. "And you even called her ’baby’! Don’t even think about lying— I heard you loud and clear!"
XXX stared at him for a brief mont through his dark sunglasses, then burst out laughing. "Oh dear..." he laughed so hard that he doubled over, his broad shoulders trembling. "I didn’t expect you to be so naïve! I’m so sorry to inform you, but so people do fuck even though they’re practically strangers. It’s called a one night stand, do you hear ?" He bit on the end of his cigarette, a crooked grin hanging off the corner of his lips. "And before you ask why I did that, of course I have to find sothing else to do to pass the ti. This Cycle is so incredibly boring, you know?"
This was the first ti the SJG trio had ever heard of soone dismissing the Cycle as boring, and for a while, they had no idea what kind of expression they should be wearing.
Were they still participating in the sa Cycle? How else could this person act so casual and nonchalant while everyone else was desperately struggling to survive by the skin of their teeth???
Shen Nianzu would beg to differ, but when he opened his mouth to rebuke, he recalled the other person’s rank and all of his words died down in his throat.
As a Legendary player, XXX stood at the apex of the food chain, above hundreds of thousands with only one player above him. It was said that Legendary players owned so many props at their disposal that they could fill an entire warehouse, and their experience points could make even the richest person in the country kneel down in defeat. Did the oracle still lack so asly props or experience points from this one collective Cycle? No. Did the highly coveted main rewards hold any kind of temptation for him? Also no. He was already on the Legendary rank, so what’s the use of platinum or golden ticket for him? Theoretically speaking, even if he found them by accident, they were no different than a useless scrap of paper for him!
Going by this logic, it seed perfectly reasonable for XXX to claim that this Christmas-thed Cycle was boring.
Shen Nianzu felt like he could begin to understand why the other person could only be found in high-level Cycles. If not because of the mandatory participation of all players across the country, XXX wouldn’t even have deigned this Cycle a smidgen of his attention.
On the other hand, the smile on Jin Jiuchi’s face had mostly vanished by now, replaced by a gaze as cold as ice. "Let’s go, Nian’er," he harrumphed in disdain.
He changed his mind – this oracle was definitely not a good person at all! First and foremost, he was a promiscuous man who could mate with anyone he wanted which, for Jin Jiuchi, was highly despicable since he couldn’t bear the thought of touching anyone other than his Nian’er. And second, he even called these fun and interesting Cycles boring! The two reasons above were sufficient to tell him that they were not compatible at all!
However, Jin Jiuchi had just taken two steps forward when the oracle stopped him in a hurry.
"Wait, wait, wait!" the man called out, a hint of amusent lacing his words. A small laugh escaped him as he shook his head, "What a foul temper you have there."
"Don’t be in such a rush," he drawled, the corner of his mouth hooking up in a roguish yet infuriating manner. "Do you not want to hear the ssage the Nightmare has for you?"
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