After AFK for five years, I returned to be number one in the entire server.

In the kitchen, the hot oil in the pan sizzled softly, and the aroma of food gradually filled the small rented room.

Not long after, Shen Yi came out carrying two breakfasts.

She gently pushed one of the plates in front of Lin Ye, then pulled out a chair and sat down opposite him at the table.

Shen Yi didn't touch the breakfast in front of her. She rested her hands on the table as if holding a cup, her palms supporting her chin, and her beautiful eyes quietly looked at Lin Ye.

Lin also picked up a slice of toast, took a bite, and chewed slowly.

He usually eats casually, but today, every movement of his swallowing and picking up food was slowed down to an extreme degree.

The room was quiet, and the morning sunlight slanted across the corner of the table.

Shen Yi had a gentle smile on her lips, but seeing Lin Ye's seemingly desperate attempt to delay something, a chill inexplicably crept into her heart.

After finishing breakfast, Lin put his hands down, raised his head, and looked at Shen Yi's fair face.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and when the voice came out of his throat, it was a little hoarse.

"I have something to tell you."

This simple sentence, appearing in this quiet living room, added a sense of heaviness to the atmosphere.

Shen Yi felt her heart suddenly contract, and her breathing seemed to stop briefly in that instant.

The smile on her lips froze, and her body, which had been relaxed and leaning against the edge of the table, involuntarily tensed up.

She no longer rested her chin on her hands, but straightened her back. Her eyes, which had been filled with joy just moments before, were now brimming with tension.

"What's wrong...?"

Lin opened her mouth slightly, preparing to tell Gu Qingxin everything.

Just as he was about to speak, Shen Yi seemed to sense something.

She quickly stood up from the chair, the wooden chair legs scraping violently against the ground with a piercing high-pitched sound.

"etc!"

Shen Yi forcefully interrupted Lin Ye before he could finish speaking.

"How about we talk tonight? I have a few important classes during the day and I can't be late. I'm going to change."

She turned around and ran into the bedroom in a panic.

With a loud bang, the wooden bedroom door slammed shut.

The living room fell silent again.

Lin also sat at the dining table, her gaze fixed on the tightly closed door.

There was a moment of silence behind the door, then the sound of clothes being rummaged through came from behind the door.

After a while, the bedroom door opened, and Shen Yi came out after changing her clothes.

She even skipped the steps of going to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, and went straight to the entrance.

She hurriedly slipped on her shoes in the entryway, her hand resting on the doorknob.

"I'm going to school now."

She hastily uttered those words, forcefully pulled open the door, and a rush of cool air filled the room. As the door closed again, the room fell silent.

Lin remained seated in the same spot, watching the breakfast across from him gradually grow cold.

Time flowed silently in the cramped rented room. Sunlight slowly climbed from the edge of the windowsill onto the table, then gradually retreated towards the corner of the wall, eventually being swallowed by the twilight.

As evening approached, my phone, which was on the coffee table, vibrated and the screen lit up with a soft light. It was a message from Shen Yi.

"I'm going to work, I might be late, don't wait for me." The sentence ended with a cute cartoon emoji.

Lin looked at the text on the screen, did not reply, and put the phone face down on the table again.

In Ningchuan City late at night, the temperature plummeted.

Around 2 a.m., the sound of a lock being opened came from outside the rented room, and the door was pushed open.

The living room was pitch black and there was no one in sight.

Shen Yi's tense nerves were briefly relieved. Like a thief breaking into her own home, she didn't even dare to turn on the lights and changed into slippers in the dark.

She gently pushed open the bedroom door, and in the dim light from the window, she could see that Lin Ye was lying on the bed, clearly fast asleep.

She tiptoed to the bathroom, washed up, and then climbed onto the top bunk and snuggled into bed.

The next day, the sky outside the window was still dark; dawn had not truly arrived.

Shen Yi quietly climbed down from the upper bunk, went into the kitchen, cooked a breakfast, kept it warm, and left the rented room. She then left a message for Lin Ye on her phone.

"I'm going to class now. Breakfast is on the table, remember to eat it."

That evening, Lin Ye's phone screen received another message from Shen Yi, who was still going to class and wouldn't be back until very late.

This went on for several days.

Shen Yi would leave home before dawn every day, leaving breakfast on the table, and then sneak back like a ghost late at night.

One morning.

Under the kitchen light, Shen Yi was chopping vegetables on the cutting board with her head down.

Due to several days of sleep deprivation and immense mental stress, her face was pale, and her bloodshot eyes looked somewhat vacant.

Crack.

A distinct sound of a doorknob turning came from the direction of the bedroom.

Shen Yi's swift movement of bringing down the knife suddenly froze in mid-air, the blade still embedded in half of the greens.

Lin also walked out of the dark bedroom, stood in the doorway, and looked at that figure from behind.

"Shen Yi, let's talk."

These words struck Shen Yi like a thunderclap.

She knew the game of hide-and-seek was over, and she had nowhere to retreat.

A few minutes later, the two sat on the sofa in the living room.

Shen Yi kept her head down, never daring to look Lin Ye in the eye, as if nothing sad would happen if she didn't look.

Lin Ye looked at her frightened appearance and a hint of pity flashed in his eyes.

But he also knew that cutting flesh with a dull knife was even more cruel to Shen Yi.

"When I went out before, I actually went to Japan to find Gu Qingxin."

Shen Yi looked up in surprise. Why would she go to find Gu Qingxin?

In her eyes, Gu Qingxin was a beautiful, independent, and kind older sister.

She moved away during the winter break, like a small leaf that drifted by by chance in their lives.

Shen Yi's mind went blank. Before she could even come up with the most absurd idea, Lin Ye's voice came clearly again.

"As you probably know, all players who wake up in Star Abyss will forget everything that happened in that world."

Lin continued, "But recently I remembered something that happened a long time ago in 'Star Abyss,' where I got married."

"Is it... Gu Qingxin?"

It's her.

Tears finally broke free, streaming down Shen Yi's cheeks and dripping onto the back of her hand.

She didn't even know that Gu Qingxin was also a player, let alone that they had crossed paths long ago in a place she didn't know, and had even become the closest of friends.

She thought she was a very important person in Lin Ye's life, but it turns out she was a newcomer.