Love in Cthulhu

Chapter 19 You smell of her perfume

The fluorescent lights were shrouded in acrid smoke, and cheers and curses could be heard from time to time. The sound of keyboards being typed was loud and clear, and Benxi's "Underage" was playing from the lobby speakers.

Hundreds of computers were lined up in a long, winding row. On each worn-out sofa, there was a young man who had stayed up all night. Most of them had still somewhat youthful faces, and there were also a few middle-aged men with bald heads. Young people who had returned to their hometowns for the Chinese New Year were also there. This was the busiest time of year for the illegal internet cafe.

Outside, it was a long, cold night, but inside, separated by a glass door, it was so warm that you'd be sweating even after taking off your coat. There was no heating or air conditioning in this kind of place; the brothers relied on their numbers and youthful vigor to keep each other warm. When they got into the game, it was more effective than eating chili peppers.

Zhou Nan turned on a machine and placed a bottle of nutritional drink on it. There was hardly any room left; both sides were filled with smokers. He didn't smoke, but he had no choice but to spend the night in this unlucky spot.

Going home is out of the question, and I can't go to my old house either, so I have to find a place to stay. Hotels are too expensive and have gone up in price, so this black internet cafe with an all-night subscription for eight yuan seems very affordable.

Curled up on the sofa, watching Butler Long slowly start up the computer and place the slip of paper with the login number on it in front of him, he suddenly remembered a story he had read.

The story says that some men, after getting married, often treat their car as their home. They would rather drive to the bottom of their own building, sit in the dark car window for an hour or two, slowly smoking, than go upstairs to their apartment.

The concept of family was still too distant for this young man, but at that moment he seemed to suddenly understand the man.

When a man comes home, he is a husband, a father, and a pillar of support, but never himself.

Just like him sitting here in the internet cafe right now, he's a majestic killer. Even if he makes a gun shape with his hands and shoots at the screen, no one will laugh at him for being stupid. There are plenty of idiots who will be idiotic with him. But once he returns to his old house, he becomes that treacherous villain who dances with evil. He can laugh out loud, but his heart is full of bastards.

escape?

With those thoughts in mind, my fingers skillfully opened the game and logged into QQ. The icon in the lower right corner flashed, indicating that I had received a new verification message.

He doesn't have many friends. It wasn't so bad back in junior high, but by the end of this semester in high school, he hadn't made a single friend besides Jian Xi, let alone any new ones.

They're either hackers selling pirated videos or Gan Tang.

Clicking on it revealed a new friend request: ◢▂諵音Ъěí调→, found by QQ number search, with the note "I am Gantang". The profile picture is an artistic scene of a corner of a photograph, with dew-covered lawn and a white skirt fluttering in the wind.

According to her personal profile, she is an open and aboveboard woman, sixteen years old, from Shiyan, and a local.

Zhou Nan thought to himself that this literary girl was truly unpredictable. Her outfit was on point, her skin was fair and beautiful, and her spotless temperament seemed to be able to remove even the sunlight. Why was her ID written in Martian language? Shouldn't that be something that rebellious girls would like? The artistic profile picture paired with this name gave off a weird feeling, like Hello Kitty riding Godzilla.

The friend request was accepted, but Gan Tang's profile picture was gray, indicating that she was offline. Zhou Nan hesitated for a few seconds, then typed a dry "hello" accompanied by a flamboyantly wriggling Tuzki, before switching screens and starting to play the game.

League of Legends has only been in open beta for a few months and is currently experiencing a surge in popularity; he also plays it.

Of course, he doesn't enjoy playing this game because he likes it so much, but because it's relatively simple for him. He was introduced to Warcraft in junior high school and has played Dota for two years. Although he's not a top player, he still has impressive achievements on VS and HaoFang platforms.

LOL has only just become popular in the country, while the number of people playing Dota is much smaller in comparison.

The first time he entered a League of Legends match, he realized that they were two similar yet dissimilar games, and most of his opponents were complete novices who couldn't even walk properly. The RTS control scheme was still too difficult for the hot-blooded young men who were used to shooting games.

When this experienced old guy came to LOL, it was like he was back in the newbie village with godlike gear. His awareness, skills, and strategies were beyond what these newbies could imagine. He could crush his opponents every game and easily become a god.

However, he only plays when he's in a bad mood. When he gets too many wins in a row, he reaches a high rank, and it's not so easy to dominate. As a result, he has received a lot of reports, with people saying that he is suspected of cheating.

Please, when you're low on health, you like to crouch in the bushes and recall. You glance at me from half the map and immediately dash in. Is it so hard to predict and kill someone from 800 miles away with an Frost Arrow? I don't know how many times Skyfire has blown you up in the other game!

"The player on machine number 056 has just achieved a godlike status using the Dark Daughter!"

"The player on machine number 056 has just achieved a godlike status using Shadow Fist!"

"The player on machine number 056 has just achieved a godlike status using the Nine-Tailed Fox!"

The internet cafe's sweet system announcements were filled with praise, but at first no one paid any attention. After all, who hasn't had a godlike moment in a game?
But it was strange that the same person was getting godlike performances every game. Gradually, more and more people gathered behind Zhou Nan, and even the blond-haired internet cafe manager abandoned his post to join in the fun, probably wanting to learn from him.

Zhou Nan noticed it too, but he pretended not to, took a sip of his energy drink with an air of nonchalance, and continued to instantly select the top laner.

The reason he was able to win consecutive battles is simple: it's still due to the difference in experience.

New players here like to use skills to last-hit minions, often running out of mana in the laning phase and having poor last-hitting skills. Moreover, they don't realize how powerful Teleport is. If they're not high enough level, they take Heal and Cleanse; if they are high enough level, they always take Flash and Ignite.

Zhou Nan's tactics are very simple. In Dota, many heroes start with full mana but can't even use two skills. Here, it's easy to manage mana consumption. Last hitting is precise with auto-attacks, and teleporting will inevitably result in a kill, snowballing the advantage infinitely. He can monopolize a lot of resources in the mid lane and infinitely expand his advantage. With a high stack of Mejai's Soulstealer, he can cripple people with just two skills. Even with a teammate like Zhou Nan, he can carry Zhou Nan to victory. He will rush in as soon as he sees a low-health enemy.

Especially since anti-invisibility wards are so precious in this game, and a bunch of people who can't even afford to use a physical ward are asking you to buy a control ward? Akali's W is basically a newbie killer skill, an invincible ability. I'm waiting for the cooldown in the fog, what are you waiting for? To die?
"Wow, what a pro!" After the game ended, the guy who had watched the whole thing exclaimed in admiration. "Can I ask him a question? Hey manager, two bottles of energy drinks, and two bowls of braised beef noodles, please!"

The internet cafe manager placed food and drinks in front of his friend, who eagerly pushed them towards Zhou Nan with a fawning smile and even offered him a cigarette.

Zhou Nan waved his hand, refusing the cigarette but accepting the energy drink: "Sure, you drive it, and I'll tell you some details."

And so, he ate the attention of others and watched the live demonstrations, and suddenly for the first time in his life, he was able to make a living with his own skills. It felt like he had entered society ahead of time. But could this really be considered a skill? It was just for fun. The most important thing was to relieve the bitterness in his heart.

Six beeps sounded, and the QQ avatars in the list flashed. Zhou Nan glanced at them and saw that Gan Tang's avatar had lit up.

"Hi, when can I ask you out for dinner?" It was still that same blunt and impatient way of asking questions. Well, Zhou Nan thought the literary girl was missing a screw in her head. This isn't how you pursue a guy. Your flirting skills deserve a negative score.

"Maybe in the year of the monkey and the month of the horse," Zhou Nan replied.

Gan Tang types a little slowly, taking about half a minute to reply. The screen keeps showing that she's typing. Zhou Nan can imagine her using one finger to type with her head down. She probably doesn't go online much. Aren't all girls like that? She doesn't play Audition Online, she just watches movies.

“This year is the Year of the Dragon, but by May of the Year of the Monkey, I’ll be in college,” Gan Tang replied.

Hey, are you just pretending to be stupid or do you not understand lame jokes? Acting cute is shameful, you know that!
He laughed, thinking that Gan Tang was a bit silly and clumsy, a trait he'd had since their first meeting during the day.

It's not that she has a problem with her intelligence, but it's clear that she's not very good at socializing. She probably doesn't have a mother who would tell her that you have to be clever when pursuing boys, and that being straightforward doesn't work. Even Jian Xi understands this principle.

He doesn't like dull people, not even pretty, literary girls. He prefers talking to smart people, because it's easier and simpler that way. Dumb people, on the other hand, will seriously tell you that it's wrong when you throw out a joke, which spoils the fun.

“Then let’s make it up in college. There’ll be plenty of time then,” he wrote again.

"No, I can't wait that long. Can I see you tomorrow? I want to see you tomorrow." These words sound like those of a loving couple who just parted ways, haven't even crossed a street, and then get a phone call saying, "I miss you so much, what should I do?" We have absolutely nothing between us.

"No, don't you think girls should be a little more reserved?"

"?"

"You say this to every guy you meet? Saying you want to ask him out and meet him?"

"That's not true, I've never dated a guy."

"Oh, so I'm the first one? I'm so happy!" Zhou Nan sent a happy emoji of someone clutching their chest as if they'd been shot.

"...If you keep doing this, I'm not going to talk to you anymore."

"That's great, I'm going to play games."

"No, you're not allowed to go."

"Who are you to me? Why do you control me like this? Are you some kind of 'You-Love-Me' brand?" He thought that if words could speak, he would definitely put on a Jay Chou-style affectionate face, and he wondered if Gan Tang would be shy and run away.

“They are your kind.” Gan Tang’s reply was still as earnest as ever. “I want to talk to you about those things.”

Here we go again. Why are you being so persistent? My dear Miss Gantang, are you really in such a hurry to go and die? I don't want to drag you into this.

As if by some strange twist of fate, the words "Okay" have already been typed on the screen and are ready to be sent.

He came to this godforsaken place for the night on this lonely night, wasn't it because he was so tired of this mess that he didn't want to do anything?
But he suppressed the impulse. The thing on her body looked dangerous, and Jian Xi was even more dangerous. For her safety, playing dumb was the best course of action. Trying to do something behind Jian Xi's back would only lead to big trouble. He shouldn't have any illusions. He had no idea how many tricks Jian Xi had up her sleeve.

"No."

"Are you worried? It's okay, just pretend you don't see it."

"No, I just don't want to talk to you about this."

"Then what if I talk to you? You won't tell me your situation, you'll just listen to me?" Gan Tang seemed a little anxious.

"That's not OK."

"You are so heartless."

Given Gan Tang's tone, even if she herself said such things, she would probably say them in a very calm and indifferent way, but for some reason, Zhou Nan just couldn't stand it and quickly retaliated.

"You're being heartless, shameless, and unreasonable."

"You're the one who's heartless, shameless, and unreasonable."

"Where have I been heartless, shameless, or unreasonable?"

"Where are you not heartless, shameless, and unreasonable?"

Zhou Nan wanted to continue his counterattack, but halfway through, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and deleted all the words he had already written: "How about this, you come now, and I'll listen to what you have to say."

"Really?" Gan Tang was a little incredulous. Why did she suddenly agree?
"of course it's true."

He wanted to play a prank because the county's People's Hospital was just half a block away from the internet cafe. He planned to send Gan Tang the address of the neurology department so that she would find out she had been tricked.

It's a bit unethical to do this. In this cold weather, you trick a girl into making a wasted trip in the middle of the night.

However, this method is good. This street is very safe and is currently the busiest street in the county. There are two large shopping malls here, not to mention there are several internet cafes and KTVs nearby, which are very crowded at night.

Moreover, he believed that no girl would be able to speak kindly to a boy after being played like that. In that case, the relationship between the two would naturally end, and he would completely block her on QQ. Gan Tang would definitely not bother him anymore. Even if they unfortunately met again in this small town, she would label him a scumbag, snort coldly, and turn her head away.

"But I can't go out this late..." Gan Tang's message sounded hesitant, and she sent several regretful crying emojis in a row. "Can we do it next time?"

"If you don't come now, who knows when you'll be able to come next time."

Gan Tang's cursor blinked for a long time while she was typing, and finally she sent a "Okay". Zhou Nan was overjoyed and quickly sent the address that he had already entered in the input field.

"Come now, I'll be waiting for you here."

Is that alright? Zhou Nan leaned back on the sofa with a sigh of relief.

Doing this is undoubtedly despicable, but this despicable method is effective enough. Gan Tang obviously won't let this go. Since polite refusal is useless and he can't play dead, the best way to reject a girl's entanglement is to completely break her heart.

"Come now? Who are you waiting for?"

A face more beautiful than a monster popped out from behind him, staring curiously at the chat box on the screen, looking there, then turning back to look at him.

"Are you meeting up with girls behind my back?"

Zhou Nan was so shocked he almost jumped off his chair. The internet cafe was dimly lit and filled with smoke, a mixed bag of teenagers, young men, and strong men, a place that, in a sense, was completely devoid of women.

But Jianxi's appearance was like a ray of light, illuminating the gloom here. The people who were originally standing next to Zhou Nan unconsciously made way for her.

There's no way around it, pretty girls always get special privileges, especially someone this pretty. Her white down jacket had long rabbit ears on the hood, which was both childish and cute.

As soon as she came in, many people noticed her. She skipped and hopped straight over here, and everyone could see the sign on her forehead that said, "I'm here to find someone." She didn't even have the courage to strike up a conversation. She always felt like a rat in the sewer in front of people.

"Say something, who are you chatting with?" Jian Xi smiled brightly, bending over with her hands behind her back, and slowly approaching.

(End of this chapter)