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

Shen Yi felt utterly weak, tears streaming down her face, and suppressed sobs escaped her throat. In the chilly morning air, she seemed so lonely and desperate.

Lin Ye looked at Shen Yi, who was trembling and crying, and felt as if his heart had been struck hard by some blunt instrument.

Lin watched her quietly for a long time. He knew that whatever he said now would hurt Shen Yi. She needed a space where she wouldn't be disturbed to process this.

He pushed open the door of the rented room and went out.

Lin walked aimlessly along the sidewalk, as if the noise and clamor around him were blocked out by an invisible barrier. His mind kept replaying Shen Yi's tearful eyes.

He was halfway there when someone suddenly slapped him hard on the shoulder from behind.

Lin also turned around.

Fang Cheng was sipping a cup of hot soy milk through a straw, holding a breakfast bun in her hand. She looked around Lin Ye and said indistinctly, "It really is you. I thought I had mistaken you for someone else. Why are you alone? Aren't you with your girlfriend?"

Then, Fang Cheng noticed that Lin Ye's expression was off. He stared at her for several moments, his tone revealing a sense of novelty, as if he had discovered a new continent.

"This is the first time I've seen you so distraught. So you're not a robot after all. What's wrong? Did you upset Shen Yi? Is she preventing you from sleeping in the bed?"

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

Lin had no intention of dealing with such a joke. He threw out a remark and continued walking forward.

Fang Cheng stood there, watching Lin Ye's back, which didn't even lift its head and seemed completely out of sorts.

"Oh, then be careful not to get hit by a car."

As soon as he said it, Fang Cheng suddenly remembered that this guy was a genuine monthly-level player. Even if he were hit by a car, the car would most likely fall apart.

Lin wandered the streets all morning. It wasn't until noon that he returned to his rented room along the same route.

With a soft click as the key turned the lock, the door to the rented room was pushed open.

The room was unusually quiet. He walked to the bedroom door, where Shen Yi was tidying up her things.

She had stopped crying, but her slightly swollen eyes showed signs of exhaustion.

She was squatting on the ground, taking out her clothes one by one from the closet, folding them neatly, and then silently stuffing them into her suitcase.

She dragged her suitcase to the bedroom door, not looking up into Lin Ye's eyes, her gaze fixed on Lin Ye's chest, her voice so soft it seemed as if a gust of wind would dissipate it.

"I want to go back to my dorm for a while first."

"Um."

He didn't stop her; he knew that a morning wasn't enough time for Shen Yi to sort out her tangled emotions.

She needs more time to accept this sudden fact, and during this time, I cannot be there to disturb her.

in the afternoon.

Lin was sitting on the sofa when a series of rhythmic knocks broke the silence in the room.

Lin also stood up, walked to the entrance and opened the door, where two people were standing.

The person at the front wore a black dress that hugged her curves, and her cold and beautiful face revealed an arrogance and sharpness that came with a habit of giving orders.

Following behind her was a young woman in a suit, carrying a briefcase, who looked like her secretary.

The three of them faced off briefly at the narrow stairwell entrance. Igarashi Saya casually glanced at Lin Ye's face, her red lips curving upwards into a dangerous smile.

"Is this how you receive guests?" she asked in Japanese, with her secretary translating behind her.

Lin also slightly turned his body to make way for him.

Saya Igarashi, wearing exquisite high-heeled boots, stepped across the threshold without any politeness and entered the rented room, which was even smaller than her bathroom at home, with her secretary following closely behind.

Standing in the center of the living room, Saya Igarashi frowned slightly, her eyes sweeping over the old furniture and walls with disgust, as if the air in this place would dirty her clothes.

The secretary expertly opened her briefcase, took out a high-quality dust mat, and placed it on the fabric sofa. Only then did Igarashi Saya gracefully sit down.

Lin stood opposite the coffee table, where his female secretary placed a mobile phone in the center. The screen was already lit up, displaying a real-time translation software.

Saya Igarashi parted her red lips slightly, and her cool voice rang out in the living room.

"I'm not here to see you. I'm here to see Song Jing. He was kind to our family, but unfortunately, the very night we brought him back to the family, he was taken away by another man."

She leaned forward slightly, exuding an undeniable aura, and continued speaking.

"I spent a lot of effort inquiring, and finally found your public information on the official website of your Tian Shu Ningchuan branch. It turns out that you infiltrated Japan with them."

The files of Tian Shu's Chen-level players are top secret and very difficult for outsiders to access.

However, information about monthly-level players like Lin Ye who join Tian Shu can usually be found in Tian Shu's basic directory.

The female secretary pulled a dark-colored bank card with some kind of intricate logo from a hidden compartment in her briefcase and gently pushed it onto the side of the coffee table closest to Lin Ye.

"This is a small gift," Igarashi Saya said arrogantly. "There are five million inside. Tell me where Song Jing is, and it's yours."

Five million is not an amount that can be obtained in a short period of time, even for monthly-level players.

"I won't tell you, please leave," Lin said.

The real-time translation software on my phone dutifully converted the sentence into Japanese, its cold, mechanical synthesized voice echoing in the living room.

The arrogant smile on Saya Igarashi's lips vanished instantly, and the air in the small living room seemed to suddenly become heavy.

Her already cold and beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, her gaze like a tangible, icy blade, relentlessly sweeping across Lin Ye's face, exuding a dangerous aura.

As the daughter of the Igarashi family, she was met with awe and obedience wherever she went.

There are very few people in her life who would dare to defy her to her face like this. Song Jing is the first, and this seemingly unremarkable young man in front of her is the second.

The oppressive tension quickly intensified during the brief silence, and the female secretary standing to the side noticed the growing chill emanating from her mistress.

The secretary knew this young lady's temper all too well; once she felt her authority had been offended, she would often make the other party pay with blood.

She quickly reached out and shut down the translation software on the coffee table. Then, she leaned slightly closer to Igarashi Saya's ear and gave her a quick reminder in Japanese, a language only the two of them could understand.

"Miss, this is Xia Shang."

In Tokyo, the Igarashi family has immense influence and connections, and can even disregard some rules.

But this is on the land of Xia Shang. No matter how inconspicuous this young man may be, he is nominally a member of Tian Shu, an official institution of Xia Shang.

If foreign players openly attack government personnel within the territory, the consequences will be very serious.