Witch Redemption

I had a feeling that Della wasn't there to relax, but rather to work.

"Karen, what aspects do you want to investigate?"

Della is clearly the kind of person with explosive self-control. As soon as she boarded the plane, she opened the relevant web pages and code software, without giving anything else a second glance.

Li Lan really wanted to say, "Buddy, relax, this is an internet cafe."

However, seeing how serious Della was, he quickly responded, "First, let's investigate two people: Liang Yu and Zeng Qingxia."

Although Li Lan really wanted to investigate the current situation of his original body, probably out of a desire to escape, and because he valued his close friends more than himself, he decided to investigate the situation of Lana and Lorina's original bodies first.

"Okay, Karen, why don't you play some games first? It might take a little while."

Della's tone was confident. "By the way, is there any more detailed information about Lana and Lorina?"

“There’s no more information about Lolina,” Li Lan pondered for a while, recalling her past interactions with these comrades, and finally could only add some information about Lana, “Lana used to be an online friend of mine, we used to chat in a QQ group together, she was a very rich whale, her group nickname was ‘Long-lived Lucky Emperor’.”

Recalling his past life, Li Lan still clearly remembered that he had clung to this whale's coattails several times.

Of course, Li Lan's understanding of Lana was limited to the game; she knew nothing about the real world, at most suspecting that Lana's family might be involved in mining.

"Okay, that's enough."

Della's slender fingers began to tap on the keyboard with an exaggerated level of skill, leaving Li Lan speechless.

Right now, Li Lan and Della were in a corner of the internet cafe. Because it was the weekend, the cafe was quite lively. In addition, since Li Lan and Della, being witches, weren't unattractive, they occasionally felt curious glances from those around them.

Watching Della keep typing out strange symbols, and repeatedly opening the web map without knowing which area she was locating, Li Lan sighed inwardly.

There was nothing else Li Lan could do with the computer besides playing games and browsing the web.

Having nothing else to do for the time being, Li Lan started checking out the games on her computer.

In the year 2048, the computers in internet cafes are filled with an overwhelming variety of games.

Classics among classics, old-school games like Warcraft 3, Red Alert, Counter-Strike, Meteor Butterfly Sword, and Age of Empires have stood the test of time and are perfect for those who enjoy exploring newer games. Then there are the money-making software programs primarily run by Gabe Newell (GabeN), where you can find all sorts of single-player and multiplayer games.

“It’s been over ten years since I left this world, and a lot of new games have been added.” There’s a sense of helplessness in him. It seems that the older he gets, the greater the psychological pressure, and the less he can play games. Li Lan didn’t bother to count how many new games he had. He only knew that he didn’t have that much time or energy to invest in them at the moment. “I’ll just look at some of the old games.”

Aside from League of Legends, which has been running for decades, there are several other esports games, but only this one and another called Dota are still considered entry-level esports games.

In fact, Li Lan had heard rumors about holographic games coming out soon when he was a teenager, controlled by brainwaves and such. But from his student days to his thirties as a corporate slave, and now into his old age, he still hasn't seen similar technology or games.

I probably won't live to see it.

Technology usually has bottlenecks, and it will gradually stagnate after reaching a certain point. There's nothing we can do about it. If we have a long enough lifespan, maybe we can wait another hundred years.

I opened a webpage and browsed through information about mobile games. Wow, the number of mobile games created in the past eleven years is simply outrageous, and of course, the number of games shutting down is also outrageous.

From the moment Li Lan came to understand the concept of "mobile games," mobile games have been one of the most lucrative industries. Every year, a large number of companies flock to the industry, and then countless mobile games shut down and companies go bankrupt.

"I remember before I transmigrated, the game I played was Goddess Legend. And now...?"

I checked and found that the official website for this game is long gone. You can only find old announcements about the game's closure on some forums or online communities.

Roughly in July of the second year after Li Lan's time travel, the game announced its shutdown.

Following this announcement of the game's closure, no further information about the game "Goddess Legend" could be found online, as if it had vanished into thin air.

Other games don't shut down as absurdly as this one; even the character illustrations for some of the game characters are nowhere to be found.

"That's a bit strange!"

No matter what, Li Lan had spent over 10,000 yuan on this trash game, and now it was all gone. He was heartbroken.

It's outrageous. It's like the internet has been cleaned up. All that's left about this game is the server shutdown announcement, just a few paragraphs, signed "Goddess Legend Mobile Game Operations Team," without even specifying which game company it is.

"I remember, the company that used to develop this game was called Keke Games?"

After searching, Li Lan couldn't find any information about "Keke Games". She was a little confused. It used to be a fairly large company, and then it just disappeared like that?

"Perhaps we can ask Della to investigate this matter, but let's postpone it for now."

There is so much to investigate, not only Lana and Lorina's backgrounds, but also the elderly trio and many other witches who also traveled from this world.

...... ...... ......

There are many people with the same name in the world, and even more so in a populous country like China.

It took Della nearly two hours to find Lana's true identity, and she finally found ten people who might be related to Lana from the huge database.

"Karen, can you confirm this? I don't know if it's one of these people."

The main issue is age. More than ten years ago, there were roughly these people named "Liang Yu" who were also quite wealthy.

There are eight men and two women.

Li Lan glanced at the list and found that seven men named "Liang Yu" were still alive today, having gone from being rich second-generation heirs to business tycoons. The one who had passed away had actually died in a car accident.

"wrong."

Judging from Li Lan's impression, Lana, who called him brother, was obviously a dead fat otaku, while these eight men didn't seem to have anything to do with dead fat otaku at all. "Della, have they been exposed to any aspects of anime culture?"

"Anime/Manga?"

"Um, it's about games, animations, and the like, the experience of being immersed in these for many years."

Della suddenly realized, "Oh, I see. Let me see... Hmm, no, five of them come from research institutions and are considered celebrities in their fields. Their daily routine includes browsing Weibo and watching movies. The other two are business owners in the physical industry and I heard they're always on the go. As for the one who died, he actually had nothing to do with the anime culture you mentioned. He was a rich second-generation who liked to socialize and made many friends. The car accident was actually related to his reckless behavior."

Rich people like to seek thrills, but this guy went even further, pursuing extreme activities, recreating "wild racing," and then speeding himself to his death.

"..."

Really? So, the only remaining option is to choose between two women?

Li Lan was dumbfounded. "I treated you all like my best brothers, but it turns out you were all lying to me? What happened to the stereotypical fat otaku?"

There are all sorts of gay relationships and brotherhoods online, but are they actually girls behind the scenes? And those cute and adorable girls who act cute and charming are actually burly men behind the scenes?

This online world is terrifying!

It's unbelievable, even unacceptable. Are there no people as sincere as Li Lan these days?

He calls himself a dead fat otaku, and he truly is a dead fat otaku; he's incredibly honest.

"There are two women. The one who meets the requirements has been confirmed dead. The time of death was January 1, 2037 AD. She died of cancer and was 28 years old at the time of death."

December 24, 2036 AD, is the day Li Lan was "summoned" by the witch and transported to another world. He will never forget this day in his life.

"Could it be such a coincidence?"

Li Lan suddenly remembered that Lana had once hinted that his situation in this world was not good.

Upon closer inspection, the information Della found showed a gaunt, bald woman lying on a hospital bed in a large hospital. Judging from her haggard smile, she seemed to have little time left.

"Liang Yu, the only daughter of Liang Shaoqing, the president of Chaoliang Group, is a returnee from overseas. She should have been an elite of Chaoliang Group and was groomed to be Liang Shaoqing's successor. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 25, and it was already in the late stage when it was discovered. Although she underwent chemotherapy for a year and used various drugs afterward, she was ultimately unable to reverse her rapidly deteriorating body."

"After Liang Yu turned 26, she began to give up treatment and enjoyed all sorts of pleasures in the last days of her life, eventually immersing herself in the so-called world of anime and manga. Later, with the small amount of money her father gave her for her medical treatment, she quickly became a well-known tycoon in many mobile games and enjoyed a great reputation."

"It's worth mentioning that, as the only daughter of the wealthy Liang Shaoqing, Liang Yu was raised as a boy from the very beginning. Therefore, she likes to identify as a male on the internet. Her personality is not like that of a traditional woman at all, but more like a carefree and sunny young man. So, most uninformed gamers all think that a rich second-generation heir with the username 'Long-lived Lucky Emperor' is an incredibly wealthy young man."

"Unbeknownst to them, this was actually the last time this tycoon was alive. On January 1, 2037, Liang Shaoqing, the president of Chaoliang Group, posted a message on Weibo mourning his beloved daughter. However, according to people who knew the inside story, Liang Yu had actually passed away on the evening of December 24, 2036. Afterwards, Liang Shaoqing asked some of the doctors who were trying to save her to do everything they could to bring her back to life, which dragged on for many more days before Liang Shaoqing had no choice but to accept the fact that his beloved daughter had died."

"It can be said that many of the game friends who added this whale (a player who spends a lot of money) have noticed that a player named 'Extremely Long-lived Lucky Emperor' last game login time was forever frozen on Christmas Eve of 2036 AD, and even QQ has completely disappeared."

After reading the general information, Li Lan felt both sighing and shocked.

Lana never went into detail about his experiences in this world. If what he saw was true, then for Lana, this time travel was equivalent to his second life, not just a simple tragedy. It was because of this that, looking back, Li Lan was able to understand why Lana had been so magnanimous in the past.

Because Lana had faced real death before, she had long since come to terms with everything.

Li Lan had once thought that after the deaths of Senior No. 47 and the others, Lana had been recklessly adventuring in her eagerness to win, nearly dying in the northern part of the Mori Defense Forest of the British Empire. Now, putting all this together, Li Lan realized that Lana might have been prepared for death even earlier than him.

"Hey......"

It's a bit complicated. Since Lana's original body is dead, it seems less important to dwell on Lana's background now.

"When Lana returns to this world again, what will he think? As the only son of the family, and with a wealthy father who loves him, all of this no longer belongs to him, and even recognizing her has become a luxury."

Having returned to the world as someone who should have died, what fills Lana's heart now—regret? Or some other special emotion?

Li Lan didn't know that he had indeed considered Lana as his brother, and still did. "Perhaps, when we meet again, I'll need to comfort Lana. This time travel was a stroke of luck for him, and returning to Earth was an even greater stroke of luck."

This good fortune belongs to these dear friends, and Li Lan sincerely wishes them well at this moment.

“Karen, that should be all about Lana. There are just a few things to note, namely the changes in the Chaoliang Group over the past eleven years,” Della began to add.

"After losing his beloved daughter, Liang Shaoqing, the president of Chaoliang Group, officially divorced his first wife, who had undergone sterilization, split the entire group in two, and then married a new wife. They now have four children. I don't know if Lana would accept this if she knew."

"In fact, this divorce was accompanied by a huge scandal. Basically, Lana's mother, in order to seize the interests of Chaoliang Group, colluded with relatives and friends to try to sideline President Liang Shaoqing, almost causing a death. The conflict lasted for five years, finally ending with Liang Shaoqing backing down. To be honest, Liang Shaoqing now only owns a small portion of the business left by Chaoliang Group, and his life is not actually very good. Lana's mother, after seizing huge interests, soon almost destroyed the entire company due to mismanagement, and her current situation is at best slightly better than Liang Shaoqing's."

Li Lan's expression was priceless; after hearing it, all I could think was, "This entertainment circle is truly chaotic."

"Let's talk about these things after we find Lana. I think if Lana really wants to know, she should know these things and make a decision."

After pondering for a while, Li Lan unusually chose to pass the buck, since these were Lana's family matters, and it was indeed difficult for outsiders to comment.

"Okay, then I'll look for more information about Lolina. It might take more time."

Della spoke the truth, after all, the information about Lolina and the others wasn't as detailed as Lana's.

"For now, it's enough to find information about Lana. If the investigation takes too long, we can wait until next time. We can play some games or something to relax."

Li Lan said that they had only been filming for three hours, and it seemed that time was running out. They had to go home early to avoid arousing suspicion from Hei Fa Yu Hui and Leviathan.

"Let me see, how about playing esports? Don't worry, I used to be a Gold rank player, mainly playing top lane and jungle, I can easily carry a newbie like you..."

Ten minutes later, Li Lan was carried away by Della...

"Damn it, is there really such a thing as talent in esports? How is that possible? I'm a witch too, how could my reflexes be so slow!"

Li Lan was still questioning her life even when she got home.

As for Della's expression, it was as if she was saying, "This is the game? How boring!"

The loneliness of the strong!

Chapter 6 Another Rich Young Lady

Li Lan and Della each used their salaries to buy a cheap mobile phone, the Hongmi K700p, and also got related data cards. Neither of them dared to let Hei Fa Yu Hui and Leviathan know, so they kept them in the dark for the time being.

Because they are witches, they generally only need three or four hours of sleep, so they would spend some time working in the fields every night to help Grandma Li Xiaolu with her life. During the day, they would go to work together in the town of Linxi.

Anyway, they are all simple manual labor jobs, and although they are paid a fixed salary, they are actually quite suitable for them.

Such days were indeed quite pleasant, but unfortunately, their mental state remained as bad as before. Even though life was good and they were safe, they seemed to be living in the past all the time and had some psychological problems.

Furthermore, the investigation into Lana was extremely swift, taking only two hours to complete.