Lu Mingfei, why are you slaying dragons if you're not involved!

Chapter 135 Zero, Don't Die (3.1K)

With the obstruction of countless neon lights gone, night finally fell heavily.

The inky black sky brought the chill of winter, and the heat brought by the sun was gradually stripped away. The invisible water vapor in the air gradually liquefied and adhered to the cold surfaces of objects, and then solidified into tiny, whitish ice crystals.

These ice crystals grow silently, spread, intertwine, and coat every tiny corner they touch.

It was the quietest time of day; the city was resting, and the blood that had kept it moving was mostly asleep in its dreams.

The dim streetlights barely dispelled the surrounding darkness, and the faint light crept into the room through the huge French windows, outlining the ceiling and casting a faint, almost imperceptible glow on the boy lying in bed, fast asleep.

Therefore, the slight furrowing of the brows on that face, which was so perfect that it was impossible to find any flaws, was so noticeable.

Lu Mingfei felt like he was having a nightmare.

This feeling is pretty awful—

Generally, once a person realizes they are dreaming, they should wake up. But this time was different… The urge to wake up was constantly suppressed by something, like being covered by a pile of soft blankets—not fatal, but suffocating.

But what exactly is that thing?
Lu Mingfei couldn't understand it.

Actually, if it's just that feeling, it's not unacceptable.

The problem lies in those nightmares.

The dream was intermittent, chaotic, and utterly disorganized, as if it were the work of the world's worst editor who had used all his skills to find countless disgusting fragments in a garbage dump and piled them together.

The main theme is that there is not a moment of comfort, only discomfort and more discomfort!

The content of the fragments is incredibly diverse—

He has past memories. In junior high school, someone said that his parents were divorced abroad and that he was an unwanted child, so he beat up that person. The school asked him to find his parents, so his aunt scolded him, dragged him to apologize to that person, and made him do chores for that person.

He felt a sense of dread about the future. He dreamt that when he woke up, his schedule had vanished. He was back to being that loser who only knew how to play StarCraft. He tried to study hard but couldn't concentrate at all. Even with a new hairstyle, he looked ordinary. It was all just a dream.

and also……

Lu Mingfei stared blankly at the girl on the icy plain.

She was a petite Russian girl with freckles on her face, like an underdeveloped kitten. In terms of appearance, she was worlds apart from Zero's stunning beauty that immediately caught the eye.

The moment Lu Mingfei saw her, the name "Zero" appeared in his mind. It was as if God had thrown down an equal sign that could turn two people who were theoretically unrelated into one, regardless of any changes that might have occurred in between.

Is this what they mean by a girl changing a lot as she grows up?
Before Lu Mingfei could even step forward to greet her and find out what was going on, a rocket that appeared out of nowhere grazed the girl's shoulder and exploded behind her. The intense heat and huge shockwave tore and burned her clothes and skin, and shrapnel penetrated deep into her internal organs!
In that instant, Lu Mingfei's mind went blank. He stumbled and tried to run over, but the distance was too long, so long that he could only watch helplessly as the girl stopped breathing, and could only kneel down beside her in despair, unable to ask the words that were destined to go unanswered.

"Don't die..." he said in vain.

"Exchange?" A faint, somewhat familiar voice seemed to come from afar.

And so something began to grow in my heart, an anger born of despair, a restless desire to destroy everything...

In reality, the blood of the furrowed-brow boy began to flow faster, and a faint golden light gradually emerged and intensified beneath his eyelids!
But the next second—

[Warning: It's time to wake up. Please start immediately.]

The characters that suddenly appeared before his eyes woke Lu Mingfei up.

In that instant, what was usually a death knell became a joyous signal.

Thus, despair, anger, and the inevitable restlessness all subsided.

Because Lu Mingfei finally realized that he was having a nightmare, but it was so realistic that he even subconsciously believed that it had actually happened!

The schedule is correct. If it mentions a "wake-up" time, it means you are sleeping. How else can you see these scenes while sleeping, besides dreaming?

Incidentally, Lu Mingfei also remembered the matter of [Physical Micro-Management], which now explained why he couldn't wake up even though he knew he was dreaming.

[Warning, electric shock countdown, three...]

Although his body still trembled subconsciously, Lu Mingfei had never looked forward to the electric shock like this before.

【two……】

[First, release the electric shock!]

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

The pain is unbearable... It's excruciating!
Lu Mingfei winced from the electric shock and couldn't help but scream in pain inside.

But a smile actually appeared on his face!
This smile wasn't due to any masochistic tendencies, but rather because he could clearly sense that, just as he had expected, the limits of [Vitality Micro-Management] had been breached under this pain that there was no way to weaken or stop it.

The countless layers of "blankets" that had been pressing him down and making him unable to move were being quickly removed, and his drowsiness, like the last trace of water in a pot, was being evaporated by the pain.

Nightmare, gone. Awakening, here.

"Ugh...ugh...ugh..."

Without hesitation, Lu Mingfei bit the blanket and rolled around... He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but he felt that this electric shock was exceptionally long, so long that he almost couldn't take it anymore and was about to scream!

The schedule... I hope they won't use this as an excuse for retaliation? Although the electric shock stopped the nightmare this time, it's good to cure the disease completely, right? Every medicine has its side effects, and too much of a good thing can be bad!

Fortunately, Lu Mingfei's brain was still quite sharp this time when he was electrocuted. He used [Body Signs Micro-Management] to cancel his "extreme fatigue" state, and added "immobility" and "inability to speak"... This finally avoided the risk of social death.

A full minute later, he felt the current begin to decrease and gradually disappear.

Now Lu Mingfei was certain that his previous feeling of "the electric shock time being longer" was not an illusion. Each electric shock before only lasted about half a minute before he could recover!
"You're secretly changing it, aren't you? Don't try to copy those lousy game designers with your schedules; that kind of behavior is unacceptable!"

Lu Mingfei earnestly tried to persuade him from the bottom of his heart.

[Factors affecting the execution of the plan have been detected; the duration of this electric shock has been extended.]

To Lu Mingfei's surprise, this time the schedule did not contain "Silence is just a series of electric shocks," but instead presented a line of semi-transparent characters that he had never seen before, floating in front of his eyes.

"Factors affecting plan execution... do you mean the extreme fatigue I caused by using [Vitality Micro-Management]? Does that mean I was back to normal afterwards?"

Lu Mingfei thought to himself that this reason was quite plausible. After all, breaking through the body's micro-management would definitely take more time... In the end, it was all his own fault!
Where can I seek justice for this?
Well, at least I've escaped the nightmare, and my usual disciplined approach to scheduling hasn't been disrupted. Everything in reality is moving in a positive direction.

Speaking of nightmares...

The lifelike scene seemed to reappear before his eyes, causing Lu Mingfei's heart to tremble uncontrollably.

His body was still a little numb and hadn't fully recovered, so the next round of electric shock warnings hadn't sounded yet. But Lu Mingfei didn't care anymore. He propped himself up from the bed, not even bothering to put on his slippers, and stumbled straight to the door, grabbed the doorknob, pressed it, and pulled it open.

Ling was already waiting at the door as always. As the door opened, Lu Mingfei's attire came into view. She looked up slightly, about to meet Lu Mingfei's gaze and say, "It's a bit early today, and it's not appropriate to go out wearing only thermal underwear," but she stopped.

She saw urgency in the boy's eyes.

But what is he so eager for?

Zero was unaware; she simply stood there quietly, watching Lu Mingfei reach out. Initially, his hand seemed to be aimed at her face, but after a moment's hesitation, it turned towards the top of her head, landing on her pale blonde hair.

Immediately afterwards, the anxiety was finally relieved.

Zero knew that it was a sign that he was relieved.

Lu Mingfei snapped out of his daze and realized what he had done—stood there in his thermal underwear, touching a girl's hair.

Fortunately, I was at home, not outside, otherwise I might have been arrested as a pervert!

"That hairstyle looks great."

He uttered a nonsensical remark, then said, "I'll wash up and get dressed, and I'll be right there," before closing the door and humming happily as he walked toward the bathroom.

"Dreams are the opposite of reality. There's a story in 'Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang' that dreaming of being beheaded actually means longevity. Our ancestors were right!"

He thought to himself that he would finish washing up and getting dressed and tidying up at his usual very fast pace, and the whole process would not even take more than three minutes.

The main focus is on maximizing efficiency.

"go!"

Going downstairs, putting on coats, changing shoes... their movements were almost synchronized, so in sync that there was no need to wait at all, and even the shoes they chose were similar styles.

Outside, a thin layer of frost covered everything, but only temporarily. After the sun rises, this frost, formed from water vapor, will melt and evaporate again.

But at least for now, they quietly take over, spreading coldness and silence, adding a strange noise and tactile sensation to the footsteps on them.

A thin, misty fog still hung in the air.

"call……"

Lu Mingfei was panting slightly. At that moment, he was even more grateful that Ling was by his side, keeping him company. If he were to go for a morning run alone in this kind of environment... it would make him wonder if he was the only person left in the world.

He hates being alone the most.

This thing was cool when we were kids, but it's so lame when we grow up that it's unbearable.

Not to mention, he is experiencing "not being alone".

Having already seen the light, how could one possibly want to return to darkness?
Therefore, we must strive to complete our schedules and make the future even better!
Those nightmares must never be allowed to happen!
With these thoughts in mind, Lu Mingfei's steps became lighter and more brisk.

Day 10 has begun!

(End of this chapter)