Chapter 122: Do You Like Me?
Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Addis
Hearing this Su Mo decided not to message Yu Zhen. ZenSlasher came online quickly, and after waiting for a while without Yu Zhen showing up, the three of them invited two outsiders to clear the daily tasks for the day. By the time it was past ten o’clock, Yu Zhen still hadn’t come online.
“I’m logging off first,” Su Mo said.
ClearWind was surprised. “Aren’t you going to do a few more dailies? It’s not even 11 o’clock yet.”
Su Mo replied, “No, you guys go ahead.”
With that, he logged off.
ClearWind and ZenSlasher exchanged puzzled looks. Finally, ClearWind said, “Is it just me, or does it seem like my brother is a bit distracted while playing today?”
ZenSlasher, who hadn’t noticed anything, asked in response, “Really?”
ClearWind wasn’t sure. “Maybe?”
Soon after Momo logged off, UnchainedWanderer’s ID lit up. Seeing this, ClearWind immediately invited him to the party and, as soon as he joined, asked, “Brother Wanderer, where were you tonight? Why didn’t you reply to my messages all evening?”
“There’s a bit of work to handle,” Yu Zhen said. “Have you finished the daily tasks?”
“We finished them,” ClearWind replied. “Brother Momo just logged off a few minutes ago.” He continued, “You didn’t reply earlier, so Brother Momo waited for you for 20 minutes. Since you didn’t come online, we invited other people. ScarletFruit wasn’t around today, and the healer we called wasn’t very reliable. I even mentioned to ZenSlasher that Brother Momo seemed a bit off today.”
Yu Zhen’s gaze faltered for a moment. “What happened?”
ClearWind thought for a moment, then said, “It wasn’t much… I was just preparing materials to upgrade the 80-level weapon. Brother Momo was quite enthusiastic about finding materials. I even got a document on materials from a water friend. But once we started the dungeons, he seemed a bit distracted. There was one dungeon where my output even surpassed his—he must have been slacking!”
ZenSlasher asked, “ClearWind, are we still doing the dailies?”
“Of course! I’m coming right now,” ClearWind said, then turned to another person in the party, “Brother Wanderer, are you coming? We haven’t finished the dailies yet.”
Yu Zhen replied, “Not coming. You guys go ahead; I’m logging off.”
ClearWind was confused. “???”
Hadn’t he just logged on? Why was he logging off again so soon?
***
Su Mo logged off early and sat in the living room, lost in thought, not even considering going to the laboratory. This unusual behavior caught the attention of the robot Lele, who fussed over him, checking his physical data before finally feeling reassured.
“You need to go to bed early tomorrow. You have a physical exam the morning after,” Lele said, outlining the schedule. “Su Mo, do you need me to accompany you?”
Su Mo had no family. When he was younger and in poor health, he had to visit the hospital for check-ups every month, and there was even a period when he had to stay hospitalized for over six months. Being young and without a guardian, Lele had accompanied him to the hospital for check-ups and to collect reports until he was 14.
As he grew older and his health stabilized, he started going to these appointments on his own.
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Su Mo said, flipping through his terminal. “I’ll go by myself the day after tomorrow. Please book a hovercar for me tomorrow night, and have it pick me up at 7:30 in the morning.”
Lele responded, “Alright! Su Mo, remember to ask Dr. Wu for a prescription for another month’s worth of medication. The last prescription is running out.”
At that moment, a message from the contact list popped up on the terminal.
Su Mo suddenly stiffened and switched over to see a message from Yu Zhen.
- Yu Zhen: Busy with some work tonight. Did you log off?
Su Mo straightened up and quickly responded with a ‘Yes’.
Lele looked at the person on the sofa with curiosity. Just a moment ago, Su Mo had seemed listless and unenergetic, but now, engaged in a conversation, he appeared completely different. Lele couldn’t figure out what had changed and decided to bring over the medical equipment to retest the data. Aside from a slightly elevated heart rate, all other readings were well within the normal range, indicating excellent health.
Su Mo soon finished chatting and felt the lingering restlessness in his chest vanish. He turned to Lele and said, “You just tested me. Why do it again?”
Lele glanced at him and said, “Su Mo, your heart rate has been a bit irregular recently.”
He pointed to the screen of the medical device showing two lines of data. “It was normal twenty minutes ago, but the recent reading was off… Oh, now it’s normal again.”
Su Mo was speechless.
He added, “Go get my medication.”
Lele acknowledged and left with the medical equipment.
Su Mo lay back on the sofa, switching to the search box interface, typing and deleting. He wasn’t emotionally dull, but having never experienced it before, he had never considered this aspect of life. However, with so many obvious changes now, he should have paid attention to his feelings.
“Signs of having a crush?”
“Starting to care about your friends?”
A voice suddenly spoke from beside Su Mo, reading out his search history. Su Mo jumped, turning his head to see Lele holding a glass of warm water and medication, looking at him with curiosity.
As a former nanny turned multifunctional robot, Lele had keenly identified the cause of Su Mo’s strange behavior over the past few days. It spoke up directly, “Su Mo, are you in a relationship?”
Su Mo was speechless. He had forgotten that most terminal permissions were accessible to his robot. Lele, having reviewed Su Mo’s social connections and not finding a suitable match, continued, “Is it an online relationship? Male or female?” As a responsible robot, Lele was tasked with guiding its owner’s mental and physical well-being, including proper views on relationships.
“Su Mo, have you met in real life?”
“Su Mo, are you…”
Before Lele could finish, the permission to access Su Mo’s terminal was abruptly disconnected. Lele’s access was forcefully terminated. Meanwhile, Su Mo took the warm water and medication without a word and swallowed it in one go, leaving behind a single statement:
“Don’t ask, I’m going to sleep.”
***
Upon waking up, Su Mo rubbed his hair, his mind filled with thoughts of Yu Zhen. Although he hadn’t dreamt of the same kind of dreams as before, he had dreamt about playing games with Yu Zhen.
Su Mo got up slowly, washed up, and noticed a message in his terminal—Yu Zhen had sent him a good morning message 20 minutes ago.
He glanced down and scrolled through the chat history, discovering that Yu Zhen had been sending him morning greetings every day since a certain point.
Hesitating for a moment in the chat window, Su Mo eventually replied with a good morning message.
Since he needed to undergo a physical examination the next day, he was using the most standard nutritional supplements for all three meals to avoid unnecessary intake. The supplements weren’t particularly unpleasant, but after having better-tasting food, they seemed quite ordinary, tasting bland and unremarkable.
Su Mo said, “I want to eat meat buns.”
Lele responded, “I’ll get you meat buns once the physical examination is over.”
Breakfast time passed quickly. Su Mo went online early, and the other players in the game hadn’t logged in yet. He strolled leisurely through the main city’s market area, continuing to browse and pick up items. He needed materials to upgrade two 80-level gold weapons, so he was looking for even more materials. Not only did the quantity need to be doubled, but some high-level materials were also hard to find.
He had already redeemed all the items he could, and for the ones he couldn’t redeem, he had to rely on finding them. He had checked ScarletFruit’s vendor account and found none of the materials he needed, and there were almost none on the trading platform. The only option left was to keep searching the market stalls for any potential bargains.
After searching for about ten minutes, Su Mo saw that UnchainedWanderer’s ID lit up in the list, and shortly after, he received a team invite from the other party.
Yu Zhen entered the team and asked, “Up so early today?”
Su Mo replied, “Yes, don’t you go for morning exercise?”
Before Su Mo could finish his question, Yu Zhen suddenly appeared right in front of him.
“Line Link is a good skill,” Su Mo thought. As long as they were in the same scene, it almost allowed instant teleportation to another person’s side. Su Mo had previously only considered this skill to be a decent teleportation ability, but now, seeing it again, it deepened a certain strange feeling in his mind.
“I just got back,” Yu Zhen said. “Still looking for materials?”
Su Mo nodded. “Yes, some materials aren’t available on the trading platform, so I have to rely on the market stalls.”
However, finding the items in the market wasn’t easy. The materials he needed were very rare, and even after visiting dozens of stalls, he might not find what he was looking for.
Yu Zhen asked, “What materials are you missing? Let me check if I have any in my storage.”
Su Mo wasn’t polite and sent him the list of materials he needed. After receiving the list, Yu Zhen carefully reviewed it and immediately understood what Su Mo was trying to do.
No matter how many materials there were for upgrading an 80-level gold weapon, they would never be as numerous as those on the list. Given the quantity of materials Su Mo was asking for, he was likely aiming for more than just upgrading. He might also be interested in synthesis and tempering. The concept of special formulas creating special attributes and quest weapons producing unique skills had already circulated in his circle before the Valor Peak hunting grounds. Some even went deeper into combining dual quest weapons to forge dual skills.
In Yu Zhen’s memory, there were very few people who had obtained dual quest weapons. While getting the first quest weapon was relatively easy, the probability of obtaining the second quest weapon dropped by around 60%. Moreover, quest weapons had to come from 5-star or higher quest chests, which was something that couldn’t be bought and relied heavily on luck.
CloudTraveller had opened many quest chests and still hadn’t obtained dual weapons.
People with dual weapons were also hesitant to try, as Celestial Horizon had yet to see an 80-level dual-skill weapon. If the attempt went wrong and the weapon prototype was wasted, it would be a significant loss.
Within the game, there were players skilled in forging, and the highest-level forging master had already summarized formulas for triggering skills and special attributes. However, formulas for dual skills had not yet been discovered. Su Mo’s goal wasn’t just simple skills and attributes; he had two quest weapons and aimed to combine them into a dual-skill weapon.
Yu Zhen asked, “Have the formulas been worked out?”
Su Mo replied, “They have been worked out; the only thing missing now is the materials.”
Yu Zhen looked at the young summoner before him. “Aren’t you afraid of failure?”
“What’s there to be afraid of? If I fail, I’ll just end up with one 80-level weapon. At worst, I’ll waste one weapon, but I still have another to use.” Su Mo said as he continued to walk forward, searching the market stalls. “Not trying means never succeeding. I’m not afraid of failure; this is much simpler than calculating data in the lab.”
Yu Zhen glanced at the list. Some materials were crossed off, likely because Su Mo had already found them. The remaining materials were rare and hard to come by. “I’ll ask a friend for these materials. He does boosting and has a source for them.”
He added, “As for the rest, I’ll use my points to exchange for them. I have plenty of points on my account.”
Su Mo paused slightly upon hearing this. “These materials are worth quite a few trade points. Aren’t you saving your points for forging weapons?”
“I don’t need that many points right now. My gear is almost complete. I’ll exchange them for you first,” Yu Zhen said as he opened the exchange interface. “If I end up needing points later, I’ll ask you to help me out then.”
Su Mo hesitated for a moment when he heard this, while Yu Zhen had already completed the material exchange.
“Accept the trade,” Yu Zhen instructed.
Su Mo opened the interface, hesitated for a while, and then confirmed the transaction. “Brother, why are you so nice to me?”
Yu Zhen looked at him and noticed that the young man’s gaze was inquisitive, different from the previous days. Su Mo no longer seemed evasive and instead appeared to seek an explanation that met his expectations with a straightforward curiosity. Yu Zhen felt completely unresistant to such a gaze. After a brief pause, he responded, “Su Mo, being kind to someone doesn’t need a reason. If relationships between people always required reasons or excuses, then if one day the reasons for actions disappeared, such a relationship would become absurd.”
“Being good to you is simply about wanting to be good to you.”
“I found a little trick while calculating the formulas last night. The life profession system in Celestial Horizon actually uses a bit of intelligent learning logic and encompasses other academic knowledge. So once you find the trick, discovering its underlying formula logic becomes very easy.”
Su Mo sent another list to Yu Zhen. “This is the weapon upgrade list for the attack-type array master. I’m not sure if your weapon is upgraded yet, but try using this list. The parts marked in red are interchangeable materials. I didn’t know which attributes you preferred to stack, so I included several types of materials.”
Yu Zhen looked at the list with a fixed gaze. “This is not a simple thing. Are you really just giving it to me like this?”
Su Mo smiled. “Yes, I don’t think I need a reason to give it to you.”
He had worked on this list while doing daily dungeons yesterday. His thoughts had been on Yu Zhen, and to distract himself, he started looking at the material database. Before he knew it, he was thinking about how to derive the formula for attack-type array masters… and that’s how this list came about.
With the gift sent, Su Mo’s mood suddenly improved.
He took the materials he had obtained from Yu Zhen and went to the forge to make the second-tier materials. By the time he had finished most of the second-tier materials, ScarletFruit and the others had come online.
Without the quest dungeon, the game life of the group became more relaxed, and the efficiency in doing daily tasks was exceptionally high. The two top players achieved a new high in output, with each of them contributing about 35%, together accounting for over 70% of the total team output.
ScarletFruit was stunned. “How is it that just one day without playing with you, and you all seem transformed… Today, you all hit 35%? Weren’t you around 30% before?”
ClearWind looked at the summoner and said, “Brother, you only had 25% output last night.”
Su Mo used two skills and replied, “Wasn’t it because of you?”
ScarletFruit then said, “Windy, this is trust!”
ClearWind asked, “?”
ScarletFruit continued, “My brother trusts you, that’s why he’s at ease and slacking off!”
ZenSlasher remarked, “…Isn’t this supposed to be manual labor?”
ScarletFruit gave ZenSlasher a look. “ZenSlasher, we can’t shatter the tender heart of a physical swordsman. If we’re talking about trust, we shouldn’t frame it as hard labor.”
ClearWind couldn’t help but say, “Bro, this is the team channel. Do you think I’m deaf and didn’t hear that?”
Su Mo casually added, “You might be able to hear it.”
ClearWind responded, “?”
The efficiency was so high that by midday, they had already completed the few small dungeons planned for the afternoon. With no other tasks at hand, Su Mo simply stayed by the forge, continuing to refine materials.
“Bro, haven’t you had any classes these days? Why so free?” ScarletFruit asked.
Su Mo replied, “There’s nothing much this week.”
ScarletFruit chuckled and said, “In that case, have you considered getting into other business? Like our small fish wholesale business?”
Seeing ScarletFruit and comparing him to Zhou Ke’s appearance, Su Mo realized that this person was truly consistent in both online and offline settings—a thorough businessman. He replied simply, “Let’s talk about it later. I’m not really interested in fishing right now.”
Just as ScarletFruit was about to persuade him further, ClearWind spoke up again, “Bro, have you considered doing quests?”
Su Mo looked at him in confusion and asked, “Have you encountered a quest?”
“Not exactly. It’s just about that Global Boss issue. There are posts about you on the forum every day, and they even dug up your quest completion rate, which turned out to be 100%,” ClearWind explained.
The discussion about summoner Momo increased, and more people began looking for Momo in the game. However, they soon discovered that Momo never opened the friend system or private chat system, so the only way to reach him was through chance encounters.
Many were impressed by Momo’s command abilities. Several large guilds started internal quests but wanted to ensure a higher completion rate and better evaluations, so they sought to enlist the help of the currently popular Momo.
Unable to contact Momo directly in the game, they turned to Momo’s circle of friends. ClearWind streamed almost every day, and people in the chat room were trying to get his contact information by sending gifts. He didn’t immediately agree and turned to ask his older brother for advice.
“I said the price is negotiable. I’m just asking for your opinion. If you disagree, we’ll decline,” ClearWind said. “I’ve filtered out the unreliable ones; now it’s just one quest dungeon and two quest tasks.”
Su Mo had a bit of free time that week, though the task timing was uncertain. The dungeon was manageable, so he asked, “When is the dungeon?”
ClearWind replied, “Tomorrow.”
Su Mo responded with an “Oh,” saying, “I can’t tomorrow; I have a medical examination.”
“Hey, didn’t University students just have their physical exams recently?” ScarletFruit continued. “The school near my Vicinity had their physical exams two weeks ago and the physical fitness test last week.”
ZenSlasher paused for a moment when he heard this. “Is Fruit on Capital Planet?”
“Yes, yes! Most of us are on Capital Planet, right? When the server launched, it defaulted us into the Capital Planet branch server.” ScarletFruit then expressed surprise, “ZenSlasher, are you at a University in Capital Planet? Which University? Capital University?”
Su Mo looked over at ZenSlasher.
“Not Capital University,” ZenSlasher explained. “I’m at a University in Zone H, which is a bit far from Capital University. I was just curious about the time you mentioned, which is the unified time for all Universities in Capital Planet.”
“Oh, I graduated; I used to be at a University in Zone H, too. Now I live in Zone A.” ClearWind added, “Zone A isn’t far from Zone H. Fruit, you must be from Capital University Vicinity, right? It’s quite a coincidence; we might have crossed paths before.”
“Yeah,” ScarletFruit said, looking at Su Mo and Yu Zhen. “Big Brother, are you also from Capital Planet?”
Su Mo glanced at Yu Zhen and simply said, “Yes, we might have met before.”
Yu Zhen also responded affirmatively.
ScarletFruit didn’t think anything was amiss and said, “What a coincidence. We can meet offline someday. I didn’t ask before, and didn’t expect it to be so close.”
“Why didn’t you mention it earlier?” ClearWind said. “I’m heading back to my hometown, Blue Star, for a while. Let’s meet up when I return to Capital Planet. Don’t leave me out.”
By noon, Su Mo logged off to rest and came back online around three in the afternoon.
When he came online, Yu Zhen had already gathered the other materials on his list.
“So fast?” Su Mo was surprised.
Yu Zhen explained, “The materials came from Xiao Er. He was a former colleague of mine. He’s not doing the employment business anymore; he just opened a boosting studio and now sells materials on the side.”
Su Mo knew HealsFor25000 but didn’t realize he knew Yu Zhen in real life. He took the materials and went to the forge, separated them, and adjusted them according to the sequence required by the formula.
Su Mo first needed to upgrade his frequently used Heavenly Light Lamp. The Heavenly Light Lamp was a weapon with both physical and magical attributes. Given his previous upgrades, he had focused on balanced development, so while its attributes were not as impressive as those of other players, it had a very comprehensive set of stats.
He had already adjusted his other attributes in advance, with high levels in mobility, accuracy, and resistance. For weapons, he prioritized attack power. For him at that time, the higher the attack, the greater the benefit. Therefore, he needed to maintain the two dual-attack attributes of the Heavenly Light Lamp while also focusing on reducing casting time and extending the duration of summoned creatures.
“Have you decided?” Yu Zhen asked.
“Yes, I’ve decided. Let me test the skill,” Su Mo said as he tested the Myriad Palace Insight skill again. A property named [Focus] appeared, identical to the property from the previous day. “As expected, wearing lucky gear while using Myriad Palace Insight makes it easier to get the desired property.”
“That’s what Guo Zi taught me. He was a forgemaster and used to work on weapons,” Su Mo said while placing materials. “He said that for equipment, you shouldn’t aim for too high or too low luck values. It’s best to increase the luck by about 20% over the base value of the character to enhance the chances of getting lucky properties.”
Yu Zhen was surprised. “Is there such a saying?”
Su Mo added, “He said it’s a bit of a mystical approach to luck, but it seems quite useful.”
During the weapon upgrade process, Su Mo was meticulous. He quickly immersed himself in the task, while ScarletFruit and the others came by to watch the excitement but didn’t dare to disturb him. They watched for a while before getting back to their own activities, only notifying him of the results.
Yu Zhen stayed put, standing by the forging furnace and keeping an ear out for Su Mo’s voice while looking at industry news on his external link.
After about ten minutes, there was finally some activity at the forging furnace. A golden light burst forth, drawing the attention of nearby players.
[System] Player Momo successfully forged the Spirit Sanctuary artifact [Soul Pursuer Lamp] after much effort in the forging furnace.
The system displayed a standard announcement, but it didn’t show the attributes of the Soul Pursuer Lamp. Only then did the surrounding players realize that the hidden ID involved in the forging was Momo. They started coming over to greet and inquire about the weapon. However, Su Mo had turned off the Vicinity voice chat beforehand to avoid disturbances.
ScarletFruit asked, “What are the attributes like?”
ClearWind said, “Bro, let me see!”
The attributes of the Soul Pursuer Lamp were soon shared in the team chat. Some of its attributes were fairly average, but its attack power and casting time were perfected, and most importantly, the Soul Pursuer Lamp had both a special attribute and a special skill.
It seemed to be the first weapon to have both a special skill and a special attribute.
“Wow, it can actually have both kinds??”
“This is a newbie skill!”
The special attribute was a purple attribute, providing an additional 5% boost to the attack and defense of summoned creatures.
The most surprising feature was the special skill, which stunned everyone else in the team.
[（Soul Pursuer·Twin Souls）：When the player activates this skill, they can replicate a summoned creature from their existing list, simultaneously summoning two of the same type of creature. The replicated creature’s attributes only inherit 50% of the original creature’s stats. This skill consumes the player’s health and has a 10-minute cooldown.]
“Double summons?” Yu Zhen was a bit surprised. “This skill is pretty impressive.”
ScarletFruit said, “It’s a newbie skill, but it will take up summoning slots. Plus, the summoned creatures’ attributes are halved, and it drains health. This skill demands a high level of player skill.”
Su Mo liked this skill very much.
The summoner profession was inherently challenging due to the need for multi-tasking, testing a player’s mental fortitude and reaction time. Most players preferred stability, using 3-4 summoned creatures, and were reluctant to use a double-summon skill because of the health drain and the halved attributes of the summoned creatures.
If the goal was to enhance offense rather than the effect of the summoned creatures themselves, most summoners would choose to summon different creatures rather than waste effort controlling a creature with only 50% of its normal attributes.
But Su Mo was different. His mental power reached S-class, and managing multiple summoned creatures was no problem for him. For Su Mo, the double-summon skill had extraordinary benefits.
The special attribute of the weapon could be adjusted with materials, but the special skill was randomly generated from the skill library. He could ensure that a skill would appear, but he could not guarantee which specific skill it would be.
The double summon was indeed an unexpected delight.
It also confirmed that his formula was indeed effective.
Su Mo said, “Then I’ll continue to upgrade the next one.”
ScarletFruit and the others were stunned. What? There was another one?
ScarletFruit soon realized, “Bro, did you upgrade the previous Ling Luo as well?”
“Yes,” Su Mo replied briefly, and continued to focus on the next weapon upgrade.
With the experience from the previous upgrade, the time needed for this one was even shorter. In about ten minutes, Su Mo completed the upgrade. The [Ling Yun Lantern] was upgraded to the [Wunian Lantern], an 80-level golden quest weapon. Once the weapon upgrade announcement was made, people in the Global Channel began to inquire.
What was going on? Hadn’t the big shot Momo just upgraded a weapon? How could there be another upgrade?
More and more players gathered in the main city to watch. Su Mo enabled player filtering, so apart from his teammates, he couldn’t see anyone else.
The [Wunian Lantern] was a weapon focused on physical attacks. It reached perfect physical attack stats, and with this weapon’s enhancement, Su Mo’s physical attack power would rise to a new level. Its special attribute increased Su Mo’s attack speed, making it a completely physical attack-oriented weapon. Those who didn’t know might have thought this weapon was for assassins or physical swordsmen.
The special skill was also a character skill: [(Wunian · Wuyu): When the player used this skill, they would enter an explosive state, increasing attack power and decreasing defense, with a 10% boost to summon speed and movement speed. The state lasted for 10 seconds, with a cooldown of 10 minutes.]
ClearWind stared blankly after reading it. “Bro, I feel like you should just switch to an assassin outfit with this weapon and become an assassin. How could a summoner use such a skill?”
Yu Zhen commented, “It’s an explosive skill, which enhances the summoner’s burst capability.”
Without the addition of quest skills, summoners lacked burst skills compared to other professions. While other professions had at least one burst skill in their basic skill set, summoners had none, relying mostly on their summons for enhancement.
Su Mo had previously obtained a half-health burst skill, and now, with another burst skill from the weapon, he had essentially become a double-burst summoner. However, compared to other professions, summoners still fell short. High-end assassins and physical swordsmen typically had three or four burst skills each.
“That’s enough,” Su Mo said, testing the new weapon for a while. He found that while the two weapons suited different situations, both were usable for him. The [Wunian Lantern] was more convenient and offered greater flexibility, although it had lower magical attack power.
Seeing Su Mo trying out various skills with the summoner, Yu Zhen asked, “Do you want to continue?”
He knew that Su Mo’s formula had covered the combination of two weapons, and now it was just a matter of merging and adjusting them.
“Maybe another day,” Su Mo replied with a smile. “I want to test the weapon, see if any adjustments are needed before proceeding.”
“Oh, right, I probably won’t be online tonight,” Su Mo added. “I need to rest early, and I might not have time to log in for the next two days. Don’t wait for me.”
ScarletFruit asked, “Huh? Bro, where are you going?”
Su Mo responded, “Didn’t I say? I have a physical exam tomorrow.”
ScarletFruit was puzzled, wondering why a physical examination would take two days when it usually only took half a day.
The afternoon passed quickly, and Su Mo soon needed to log off. That evening, he didn’t log in and instead spent some time in the lab before heading to his room and falling asleep as soon as he hit the bed. The next morning, he got up slowly, preparing his things. For the physical examination, he only needed to bring some identification; the medical station had all the other necessary materials, so he just needed to show up.
Since he couldn’t eat anything in the morning, Su Mo heard the doorbell ringing around the time he was ready. Assuming it was the hovercar driver arriving, he went to open the door and found Yu Zhen standing outside. He paused briefly, his gaze lingering on Yu Zhen’s face. “Brother?”
Yu Zhen said, “Have you got everything ready? I’ll accompany you to the medical station.”
Su Mo’s eyes faltered slightly, and Lele’s voice came from behind—“Su Mo, the driver is waiting for you downstairs.”
“Grandma said she wasn’t comfortable with you going alone,” Yu Zhen added. “I have nothing to do today, so I’ll come with you. If anything urgent comes up, I can help out.”
Su Mo’s fingers trembled slightly, and on a whim, he agreed. Lele watched the two of them leave together, puzzled.
His owner had mentioned that once he grew up, he wouldn’t need the robot to accompany him to the physical examination; adult matters should be handled independently. Unable to understand the situation, Lele flipped through the series of e-books he had downloaded the night before:
- Adolescent Psychological Changes
- What Boys Experience at 18
- How Robots Can Guide Owners in Forming Correct Views on Relationships
- The Dangers of Online Dating…
***
At the Third Medical Station on Capital Planet, the emergency hall was nearly empty, with most people accompanied by medical robots going through their examination processes. When Su Mo arrived, he sent a message to Dr. Wu. Soon after, a medical assistant from Dr. Wu’s office came out to meet him and sent the required medical examination forms to Su Mo’s terminal.
The examination forms were densely packed with many unfamiliar items, completely different from the usual medical procedures for regular people. Yu Zhen glanced at them and recalled that the other day, Su Mo had mentioned feeling unwell after such examinations. With so many tests, even someone with a normal constitution would feel fatigued, let alone Su Mo.
Su Mo, however, seemed quite accustomed to these procedures. He changed into a hospital gown provided by the medical assistant and began the examination. The basic checks were fine, but as he moved through different departments for routine tests, Yu Zhen noticed that Su Mo’s complexion deteriorated, especially during the tests related to physical condition.
Some of the physical tests required using machines that were harmless to ordinary people but posed a certain burden to Su Mo. After coming off one of the large machines, the medical assistant had already brought a wheelchair. They helped Su Mo down from the machine and handed him a sterile medical tissue to wipe off the sweat.
Yu Zhen couldn’t enter the examination room, but he stood outside the transparent glass and saw clearly how Su Mo struggled to control his trembling body, seemingly trying to calm the physical disturbances. He noticed the change in Su Mo’s attitude towards him, from initial avoidance to open acceptance. When they first met, Su Mo had been wary of him. Despite Yu Zhen’s efforts to be kind—treating him to meals, bringing tea—Su Mo had always tried to reciprocate.
As time passed and their familiarity grew, Su Mo relaxed his stance, becoming more accepting and allowing Yu Zhen into his personal space. Today, Su Mo had even agreed to his company.
From the moment he realized his feelings, Yu Zhen had only wanted to be good to Su Mo. This morning, when he went to the dorm, he had been prepared for rejection.
Su Mo had dealt with hospitals for years, and the issues caused by his F-class condition had frequently placed him on the brink of life and death. Even though his physical condition had improved, he remained a patient. Despite Su Mo’s calm demeanor and acceptance of his condition, his physical state was still his greatest concern.
Yet, Su Mo had agreed.
Su Mo was even stronger than Yu Zhen had imagined, which only made him feel even more heartbroken.
The medical assistant pushed Su Mo out, heading to the next location. Yu Zhen handed over the warm water he had prepared in advance. The pale-faced boy gave a faint smile and weakly pushed the cup back. “Brother, I haven’t finished the exams yet. I can’t drink water.”
His eyes were clean and natural.
Yu Zhen was momentarily stunned and swallowed the lump in his throat, taking back the water cup. “Alright, I’ll push you over.”
With the assistant’s duties being taken over, it could only walk ahead, guiding the way and adjusting the remaining examination items.
The medical examination was lengthy. After several hours, they had only completed half of the items on the checklist. Yu Zhen accompanied Su Mo through the white corridors of the special conditions section. The medical machines became sparse, and the special conditions department seemed isolated from the other sections within the medical station, so quiet that only the sounds of their passing remained.
When they reached the entrance of the examination room, Yu Zhen watched as Su Mo went inside.
Standing in front of a certain examination room, Yu Zhen suddenly recalled a scene from a long time ago. He had been to this place before, when he had come to file F-class medical data into the F-class registry, and had interacted with Dr. Wu during that visit.
At the entrance to Room 402, he encountered a boy wearing a hat.
After Su Mo came down from the medical equipment, he was breathing heavily. The nearby medical assistant timed Su Mo’s recovery period and, once he had recovered, stopped the timer.
“5 minutes and 25 seconds,” the medical assistant said. “Su Mo, that’s 2 minutes and 23 seconds shorter than last time.”
Su Mo was slightly surprised at the news and a faint smile appeared on his pale face. “Good, thank you.”
The medical assistant paused. It had been serving Su Mo for a long time, and Su Mo had always had the habit of saying thank you after each session.
Using the commonly used smiley expression, the assistant replied, “You’re welcome, Su Mo. You can have some water now.”
As Su Mo was being wheeled out of the examination room, a hand suddenly appeared in front of him.
The hand was slightly open, and in its palm rested a piece of candy wrapped in simple paper. Yu Zhen crouched down to meet Su Mo’s gaze, speaking softly, “Su Mo, here.”
Su Mo stared at the candy for a long time before finally taking it from the man’s palm.
He lowered his gaze slightly, his voice weak and soft after the recent examination—
“Brother, do you like me?”
Author’s note: Here it comes, here it comes!!
Mo Ge: Always ask if you have questions.
