Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Sleeping
In Song Jianguo’s nest, built from all sorts of junk, the light from fireflies flickered, illuminating her utterly baffled face.
"Can you say that again? I’m still a little confused."
"I’ve already said it several times. How have you still not gotten it? Is your comprehension really that bad?" Zhang Wenda said, exasperated.
He had already explained what happened before, but she, perhaps being too dense, just couldn’t understand at all.
"But you said in the adult world, I’m a cat. But I’m clearly a person!" Song Jianguo replied, her brow tightly furrowed.
"And what’s this about high-rises built from people, and some rule-freaks? It sounds like you’re just making it all up. Is the adult world really like you say? I just can’t bring myself to believe it."
Zhang Wenda sighed, turned his head away, and lay down on his side. "Fine, don’t believe me if you don’t want to. Talking to you is exhausting."
Song Jianguo gave Zhang Wenda a suspicious look and quickly walked away.
But Zhang Wenda wasn’t asleep. His mind was still replaying everything he had just experienced, and he remained deeply unsettled.
Too much had happened in the adult world. Even now, he was still struggling to accept it.
At first, he thought he had returned to his childhood, but after what happened at the Youth Palace, he realized he was wrong.
Then he thought he had come to a strange, parallel old world that was a mishmash of many different eras. But this "adult world" had completely shattered that worldview once again.
It seemed he could never truly understand this world, as if it were changing every single moment.
Whenever he thought he had finally figured out this world, something even more unexpected would happen.
But in his mind right now, the strange new perspective, the strange people, and the strange buildings were nothing compared to the personification of the rules that constantly hurt him.
He had always thought that the rule punishments he suffered were a curse of this bizarre world—an inexplicable and irresistible law of nature.
But when he saw that sickle-wielding monster, he suddenly realized that things were not as he had imagined.
’So all the rule punishments I’ve been suffering were because a monster was attacking me.’
Just as adults couldn’t see the Youth Palace and the library, it was clear that the child’s perspective couldn’t see certain things in the adult world, either. The monster that attacked him was one of them.
’From my current perspective, it’s completely invisible. That’s why I mistook its attacks on me for some kind of rule-based horror phenomenon.’
After a while, Zhang Wenda felt someone kicking his leg. He opened his eyes to see Song Jianguo standing beside him, one hand on her hip.
"Hey, so what are you going to do next?"
Zhang Wenda glanced at her sideways. "What else? Now that I know a monster is attacking me, I obviously have to figure out a way to get rid of it."
Hearing this, Song Jianguo’s eyes widened. She pointed a finger at her own nose and said, "Get rid of a monster from the adult world?! You’re not going to make me help with that, are you?!"
Zhang Wenda slowly closed his eyes. "You can’t help with this. You don’t have the adult perspective. You can’t even see it, so how would you fight it?"
"Oh, good. That’s good." As soon as she heard she wasn’t involved, Song Jianguo’s face lit up with joy. Ignoring whatever weird trip Zhang Wenda was on, she went straight to a corner, put her fingers to her mouth, and blew a soft whistle.
Amidst a chorus of meows, the black cats scattered around them immediately swarmed to her side, forming a fluffy cat blanket that covered her body.
"Remember to continue with pest control tomorrow," Zhang Wenda’s voice drifted over faintly.
At his words, Song Jianguo’s good mood instantly vanished. "Didn’t you say I could take a day off for helping at the library?"
"Tomorrow’s Tuesday. What kind of break are you taking? What wage slave gets to take a Tuesday off?"
"So annoying!" Song Jianguo rolled over irritably and pulled the cat blanket over her head in a huff.
Zhang Wenda calculated in his head. ’At Song Jianguo’s current earning rate, I should be able to exchange for a lowest-level Superpower every two days to feed the Red Core.’
’By exploiting Song Jianguo, my power can increase steadily even if I do nothing.’
But he knew it wasn’t enough—far from it. A 10-yuan Superpower only made the Red Core grow a tiny bit, and with the Red Core’s power alone, he was no match for that thing at all.
’Based on my previous experience, it can appear right next to me in an instant. Its movement speed is absolutely astonishing.’
’Plus, it’s at least three times my size, so its strength must be far greater than mine. In terms of combat ability, it’s definitely powerful.’
’Setting aside whether I could fight it on even terms after upgrading the Red Core several more times, the more important question is whether I can even use the Red Core’s abilities in the adult perspective.’
’I haven’t forgotten that my flashlight, which is as thick as my forearm now, is just a laser pointer the width of a finger in the adult perspective.’
’What if I can’t use the Light Saber in the adult world? When it’s time to fight, I can’t just go and shine a laser pointer in its eyes, can I?’
’I still understand too little about that world.’ Zhang Wenda reached out and touched the empty spot on his arm where the Yellow Core used to be.
’I have to get stronger. I have to become powerful enough before I go looking for trouble with that monster. Otherwise, if we have a full-blown confrontation, it might actually kill me.’
He couldn’t forget that was the adult world, and the adult world is always crueler than the child’s.
After all this time, Zhang Wenda was starting to feel tired. ’I should sleep first. Tomorrow, I’ll check on the Yellow Core’s recovery and ask Ouyang if there are other ways to improve my abilities.’
He yawned, lay down again, and tried to sleep, but he couldn’t get comfortable, tossing and turning.
He finally sat up to look for something to cover himself with, but in this den of Song Jianguo’s, there was nothing but a few crude cat toys.
He looked around, then reached for Song Jianguo’s cat blanket. "Hey, don’t be so selfish. Share some of the cats with me."
Tiny paws with claws extended shot out from the cat blanket, batting his hand away.
"I command you to give me half the cats." After saying this, Zhang Wenda was surprised to find that Song Jianguo, while asleep, could actually ignore his command. That was unexpected.
Zhang Wenda gave up and lay back down on the ground, taking off his school uniform to use as a pillow before closing his eyes again.
He was truly exhausted. Even in such an environment, he soon felt drowsiness wash over him.
As he drifted off, he felt something fluffy burrowing into his arms.
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