Genius Chapter 178: Not Bringing the Array Master

Chapter 178: Not Bringing the Array Master

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

“Uncle and Aunt?” Yu Zhen asked.

“Dad is in the study, and Mom just went there too,” Su Mo replied.

“You guys sound very lively over there,” Yu Zhen said. “There are a lot of relatives visiting for the New Year. Are there any places you want to visit after the holidays? There’s a new offline library in the main city area with a good environment. I can take you to check it out after the New Year.”

The time spent chatting with Yu Zhen always seemed to pass quickly. Before they knew it, the time had reached midnight.

“Happy New Year,” Yu Zhen said.

Hearing the voice from the other end of the call, Su Mo felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his heart. “Brother, Happy New Year.”

On this New Year’s Eve, the city, brightly lit, seemed to have changed in subtle ways compared to previous years. Su Mo opened the window, feeling the cold wind on his face, which made him feel a bit clearer. He suddenly had a new thought.

His past expectations for the future had been too simple. He suddenly thought that if he could, he wanted to live a little better and a bit happier.

A new message popped up on his terminal, and Su Mo opened it to find a red envelope from Yu Zhen.

“A red envelope?” Su Mo was puzzled.

Yu Zhen said, “It’s New Year’s money for my boyfriend.”

Su Mo accepted the red envelope and sent one back to Yu Zhen.

Yu Zhen laughed, “You’re giving me New Year’s money too?”

Su Mo didn’t forget to include an emoji below the envelope and added, “This is a New Year’s red envelope for my boyfriend.”

He heard some noise from the other side of the room and recognized Chen Shanxue’s voice. They said their goodbyes softly.

“Are you chatting with a friend?” Chen Shanxue came over. “Baby, Happy New Year.”

Su Mo felt a slight itch in his palm as he held the terminal. He wasn’t sure when Chen Shanqu had come over, but hearing her voice made him feel an odd sense of panic. Even though he had communicated with Yu Zhen many times before when only Lele was at home, this feeling had suddenly become clear in these recent days with his long-separated parents around.

Occasionally, when Chen Shanxue mentioned Yu Zhen, Su Mo would unconsciously pay attention to his mother’s opinion of Yu Zhen. He suddenly understood why Yu Zhen had said what he did that day… it indeed needed time.

Chen Shanxue smiled, “Is he a very good friend?”

“Yeah.” Su Mo looked at her in confusion.

Chen Shanxue pointed to the living room, “Mom was sitting over there just now and saw you chatting very happily.”

She had only gone to the study for a while, and when she came back, Su Mo had already stopped chatting with friends in the group and had moved to another spot to make a call. She hadn’t disturbed him at the time, but when she returned after finishing her own tasks, she noticed the lingering smile on Su Mo’s face.

Some things could be judged by appearances, especially after spending these days together. She knew that over the years, her child had grown into a reserved and considerate person.

But when observed closely, one could also see the hidden sharpness and stubbornness behind this reserve. These were very subtle and required them to spend more time with their child to help him lower his guard and overcome his shyness, allowing him to accept them again. She anticipated this would take a long time, but she hadn’t expected to see such a scene tonight.

When Su Mo was on the phone, there was no laughter in his voice, but to her, his face was full of unspoken joy.

She didn’t know what was being said on the other end of the line, but she knew her son was very happy, that kind of happy without any reservations.

“Is he someone you like?” Chen Shanxue suddenly asked.

Su Mo was momentarily at a loss, but he quickly responded, “Yes.”

“That’s a good thing.” Chen Shanxue took his hand and smiled, “Son, happy New Year.”

Su Mo was about to speak but heard a voice from the other side.

“It’s already this late.” Su Zhixing came out of the study, “Happy New Year, son. Come over here; your mother and I have prepared a New Year gift for you…”

After midnight, the atmosphere became even livelier, and the Yu family was no exception.

While Yu Zhen was on the call, he noticed the occasional, subtle glances. He could always spot his parents pretending to pass by once or twice. After he hung up, Jiang Yu pulled him over for drinks. At the table, he overheard his parents’ hints and realized what had happened.

“There is someone I like.” Yu Zhen spoke openly, “We’re dating, and he’s a guy.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Zhen’s parents each had their own reactions of surprise and intrigue.

The Yu family owned the Firmament Group, a major enterprise with operations spanning the entire star alliance. They were a powerful and influential family, and they didn’t have high expectations for their children or interfere with their romantic lives. Whether Yu Zhen’s partner was a boy or a girl, they wouldn’t mind.

However, they knew their son well. He had been impulsive and adventurous in his youth, daring to roam around with Jiang Yu even as a child. As he grew up, he became steady and reliable, taking on the responsibilities of the family business with composure and without agitation.

His life revolved around work and himself. At work, he was focused and dedicated, while in his private life, he indulged in gaming, traveling, or socializing with friends. Although he seemed carefree and without demands, he was very perceptive, understanding the balance between work and relaxation, and living life to the fullest without giving them much to worry about.

His personal life could fulfill his emotional needs, so his romantic life was almost non-existent. Therefore, when Yu Zhen said he had a boyfriend, his parents were somewhat taken aback.

“You…” Mother Yu hesitated, “When did you start dating? Did you meet through work or friends? I heard recently that you often went to Capital University. Is it an old classmate from there?” She began to think about Yu Zhen’s close friends, but couldn’t immediately pinpoint who it might be.

Yu Zhen responded, “I met him through gaming.”

Jiang Yu, who was sitting beside them, choked on his drink upon hearing this. “Wait a minute? You’re in an online relationship?!”

Father Yu was too stunned to speak. He had always been confident in his son, but hearing that his son’s relationship had started online left him both shocked and somewhat bewildered.

“It’s not exactly an online relationship,” Yu Zhen explained. “We do meet in real life. He’s a few years younger than me and is a student at Capital University.”

Father Yu asked, “How long have you been dating? If your uncle hadn’t let it slip, were you planning not to tell us?”

“Just a few months,” Yu Zhen replied briefly. “It’s not been long. I intended to tell you, but the B2145 incident delayed it.”

Jiang Yu poured another glass of wine for Yu Zhen. “I had thought you were single, but I didn’t expect you to be in an online relationship through gaming… Are you trying to surprise me all the time?”

“Don’t be a troublemaker,” Mother Yu said, giving Jiang Yu a light slap. She looked at Yu Zhen curiously. “Tell me more. Your uncle mentioned that you were going to bring someone home for the New Year. Why didn’t you?”

Yu Zhen hesitated for a moment. Since Su Mo’s parents were already back, news of their relationship would eventually reach them. It would just take time, and he wasn’t entirely prepared yet. But when his mother asked what his partner was like, he replied with a smile, “He’s a very outstanding person.”

***

Su Mo received his parents’ New Year gifts, which included a handmade puzzle from his father, polished energy stones, and gloves and scarves knitted by his mother, among other things. The gifts were packed into a large box, filled to the brim, and seemed to have been prepared over the years, meant for the times when they were away from home and counting the days until they returned.

These items felt like a missing piece of Su Mo’s childhood, so he placed them into a new treasure chest, replacing the space where his parents’ photo albums used to be. He set the box in a visible spot in his laboratory.

Su Mo asked, “Where’s Dad?”

“He’s in the study tinkering with things,” Chen Shanxue said. “He recently bought a lot of new stuff and is figuring out how to use it. Don’t worry about him; he just dives into anything that interests him… This morning, when I was tidying up the cluttered room in your lab, I found two packages that hadn’t been opened. They looked like mechanical exteriors. Are they things you need for your experiments?”

Mechanical exteriors… Su Mo suddenly remembered that Yu Zhen had mentioned them, saying they were in the storage room. However, so many things had happened recently that he had forgotten about them. “Those are exterior parts I bought for Lele.”

Chen Shansue said, “Should we tell Lele? It would be a New Year’s gift.”

Su Mo considered the two exteriors Yu Zhen had bought. “…Hmm, let’s keep it a secret for now.”

During the New Year holiday, Su Mo and his parents visited some old friends on Capital Planet.

Some of the people he knew well had taken care of him a lot when he was young. During the New Year, Yu Zhen also came to visit, bringing gifts and spending the afternoon chatting with Su Mo’s father, Su Zhixing. Yu Zhen only left after dinner.

Su Mo received a New Year gift from Yu Zhen: a wristband-like medical device, which was likely custom-made. It could continuously monitor his medical data, showing that Yu Zhen had put a lot of thought into the gift.

By the time Su Mo had the chance to play games, several days had passed. That day, Yu Zhen took him to the offline library point they had visited before. They spent the afternoon reading books there and then went out for dinner. When evening came, Su Mo sent a message to Chen Shanxue.

He said he was out with Yu Zhen and would be staying over at Yu Zhen’s place because they were returning too late.

“How did Auntie respond?” Yu Zhen asked.

Su Mo replied, “She said it’s getting colder in the evening and reminded me to be careful.”

Soon, they arrived at Yu Zhen’s place in the main city. Su Mo hadn’t been there for a while. Seeing that Yu Zhen was on a work call, Su Mo decided to pass the time by playing a game.

Celestial Horizon was a holographic online game based on ancient Chinese settings, and the New Year event was in full swing. Both Su Mo and Yu Zhen had been busy during the New Year, so they had missed half of the event. The New Year event offered a rich array of rewards, including a small scene where players could randomly open a quest dungeon or quest battlefield.

Su Mo glanced at the event interface and noticed he was right next to the warehouse. He decided to take out the materials from the last time to refine them while waiting for Yu Zhen. After organizing the materials, he realized that the floating cloud beads he had collected with Yu Zhen’s account seemed to still be on his marksman account. He intended to use dual accounts to retrieve the materials but remembered that the loader he was using was an old model. The newer dual-account loader was left at home, and the one in Yu Zhen’s apartment was the old version without dual-account capability.

[-mo: I’m in the game. Can you help me get the floating cloud beads? They seem to be on your marksman account. I’ll be offline for a bit.]

The reply came after a while:

[-Yu Zhen: Sure, I’ll come by in a bit.]

Unable to refine the materials for now, Su Mo was suddenly distracted by other activities.

The New Year event in the game was very lively. As a couple in the game, Su Mo and Yu Zhen received reminders from the couple system, including holiday notifications. Celestial Horizon’s couple system was quite elaborate, with features such as the Moon Elder Shrine, where players could exchange small skills, interactive scenes, costumes, and mounts that couples could use.

What caught Su Mo’s attention was the Celestial Horizon’s gifting system.

He had never paid much attention to these things before, or rather, he rarely checked the Global System. But after the New Year, the game’s system announcements became more elaborate, with friend and couple gift exchanges… The more money spent, the flashier the system announcements became.

So when he logged in, he immediately saw the mutual gift system between Air and Durian Milk Tea. They were using the highest tier of the in-game store for gifting, and since they were a couple, the gift system announcement was very pink and took up a small portion of Su Mo’s game view. He couldn’t help but be drawn to it and saw the items being exchanged at the top—[Half-Life Fate Gift Box].

Upon opening the gift system, he found that it wasn’t just the Half-Life Fate Gift Box being exchanged. [Round Ball Pet Gift Box] [Empty Swallow] [Hand-in-Hand Gift Box]… The system announcements were filled with their mutual gifts, and a small experience rain was triggered.

[Boss Air is spending money again.] 

[Wishing Boss Air and Boss Milk Tea a hundred years of happiness, more gifts, and more experience rain.] 

[You can’t imagine the joy of the wealthy; they spare no expense on costumes and mounts.]

[Hasn’t this been going on for days? Do they send gifts once a day?] 

[At this event, Boss Air is almost out of gifts, right?]

“Bro!! Are you free tonight?” ScarletFruit shouted, “Do you want to do a limited-time quest?”

Su Mo, who was originally still looking at the system announcements, accepted the party invite and heard ScarletFruit’s voice. “Sure, wait a moment. He’s on a call, so he should be here soon.”

ScarletFruit couldn’t help but comment, “So, you two are together this New Year?”

Su Mo responded straightforwardly, “Just hanging out, staying at his place.”

ScarletFruit said, “So you’ve moved from online to in-person relationships, huh?”

ClearWind added, “It’s impressive to have childhood friends show up out of nowhere.”

Su Mo was speechless. ZenSlasher hesitated before keeping quiet.

It seemed like they were neighbors…? Did neighbors need to stay over too?

“Are you here to pick up items?” ScarletFruit asked. “There are a lot of event items this time. You can pick up items in the Glacial Ravenlands, and they can be sold for money.”

ZenSlasher wondered, “Why are you so enthusiastic about picking up items…?”

ScarletFruit replied, “There’s a saying: don’t miss out on small profits. Are you coming? Let me help you make some big money.”

“…No, I won’t,” Su Mo said. He hadn’t checked the New Year’s update announcement this week. He searched the trading platform but didn’t find the items he was looking for, so he asked, “What’s the Half-Life Fate Gift Box?”

ClearWind explained, “Oh, that’s a new box for this event. It’s a new treasure chest sold in the store, and opening it gives you a chance to get new costumes. It’s a special costume that can trigger unique visual effects when bound to a player, so the chances of getting it are very low…”

“Isn’t it available on the trading platform?” Su Mo asked.

ScarletFruit said, “Bro, things like that get bought up by wealthy players as soon as they hit the trading platform. How could it still be on the platform?”

He paused for a moment and then added, “Wait, bro, weren’t you never interested in these things before? When did you become so into fancy stuff like ClearWind?”

Su Mo responded, “Just taking a look.”

ClearWind corrected him, “Fruit, what do you mean? Enjoying costumes isn’t being flashy. This is called enjoying the game. You guys don’t understand the joy we scenery-loving players get.”

ZenSlasher asked, “You’re a scenery player?”

ClearWind replied, “Back in the day, I was also a scenery and entertainment livestreamer.”

“Oh right, bro, I’ll be going live in a bit, and I might turn on the team voice chat,” ClearWind mentioned. “I’m trying to boost my popularity, so I need to interact with my fans. I’ve been broadcasting external sounds these days.”

Su Mo, who was focused on the trading platform, simply said, “It’s fine, you do your thing.”

“Bro, aren’t you going to address the love triangle situation?” ScarletFruit asked. “ClearWind mentioned it because he was concerned. There are even people asking about it in his livestream these days.”

Su Mo paused when he heard this. “That issue isn’t resolved yet?”

“No, it’s not,” ClearWind said. “Last time I mentioned you were good friends with ReturnToSimplicity, but the fans weren’t buying it at all.” He was aware of the clash during the “Ascent to the World” event, which had blocked some of the criticism, but there were still friends who weren’t convinced.

Su Mo blandly said, “Oh, just let it be. It’ll probably be forgotten in a few days.”

ClearWind noticed the nonchalant attitude of the two big shots. Indeed, it was well-known that the big guys weren’t into StarNet, and Brother Wanderer didn’t seem to frequent forums much either. For someone who only popped into the group chat and didn’t log in during the New Year, they were evidently not interested in game gossip. For them, it was better to spend time doing more daily tasks.

Since the main characters weren’t concerned, he didn’t dwell on it and simply started the livestream.

As soon as the livestream began, fans flooded in. They heard Su Mo and ClearWind discussing quest dungeons. The livestream title read [Doing a Limited-Time Quest], so fans naturally knew it was about the New Year event.

[It’s New Year’s, let’s start with a good omen.] 

[archdemon is online!] 

[It’s worth waiting these few days. I was so annoyed by the melon-eaters recently.] 

[Exactly, don’t know why they’re so interested in people’s gaming lives, while I just want to watch the livestreamer’s friends tackle the dungeons.] 

[Waiting for someone? Oh right, Brother Wanderer hasn’t arrived yet.] As ClearWind was about to greet the fans, a message popped up in front of him.

[playerReturnToSimplicity has joined the team]

[What the hell!?] 

[???]

“Floating Cloud Beads, there are 8, should be enough for refining. I’m by the warehouse.”

After ReturnToSimplicity joined the team and spoke, he noticed there were three people in the team and then added, “Are there any events tonight?”

“Yes! We’re doing the limited-time quest,” ScarletFruit said. “We’re just waiting for you!”

Seeing the topic suddenly shift, ClearWind quickly cleared his throat several times and urgently reminded, “I’m live streaming!”

ScarletFruit replied, “…You started so suddenly.”

ClearWind looked at the question marks in the chat and said with a somewhat hesitant tone, “Yeah, the team entry was sudden too.”

ReturnToSimplicity repeated the question, “Live streaming…?”

[I’m going, I’m going!] 

[The livestreamer should be waiting for UnchainedWanderer, right? But it’s ReturnToSimplicity who joined the team…]

[The team must be full… Glacial Ravenlands is a 5-player team quest.]

[I’m suddenly a bit excited.] 

[Me too. Is anyone checking if UnchainedWanderer is online?] 

[Damn, is it a battlefield scene?] 

[Wait a minute? Weren’t we supposed to watch the quest completion and not just eat melons?]

[You’re served a melon, and you’re not eating it!?]

ClearWind was about to say something politely when he suddenly heard a voice in the team that was different from UnchainedWanderer’s, which immediately disrupted his train of thought.

ReturnToSimplicity asked, “Where’s the quest location?”

ScarletFruit instinctively responded, “Glacial Ravenlands.”

The chat exploded with question marks, and ClearWind was left confused, not understanding what was happening.

Momo asked, “Is your character going there?”

“Yes,” ReturnToSimplicity replied. “This character needs to grind some quest points.”

Momo said, “Oh, alright. Then we won’t bring the array master.”