Chapter 98: The Real World 2
"Al?"
A small head poked out from the eaves, the miniature Zhou Zhou looked down and stared at the unfamiliar man below. He then quietly retracted back.
Who is this person? Why does his voice sound exactly like Al's?
The moment the other person spoke, Zhou Zhou recognized Al's voice, so he walked over to the eaves. Although he was surprised to see Al here, he had already decided to reveal his identity to him, so he didn't conceal himself and directly appeared in front of the other person.
However, when he saw the other person, he realized it wasn't Al. Though their hair and eye colors were similar, their appearances were completely different.
What should he do? He had exposed himself in front of a stranger.
"Zhou Zhou?" The Alvia below was also very surprised. He didn't expect to see Zhou Zhou here. The next second, he realized that Zeus had lied in order to protect Zhou Zhou, and had actually brought Zhou Zhou out from the game.
Hearing the other person call out his name directly, the flustered Zhou Zhou paused, then poked his head out again.
The tiny Zhou Zhou on the eaves stared intently at the person below, gradually finding a familiar feeling in this unfamiliar face.
"Are you Al?"
Zhou Zhou finally confirmed the other person's identity. Although his current appearance was completely different from how he looked in the game, Zhou Zhou had seen Al's younger self during the Mirror World instance, and his current look resembled his younger self more.
Recalling how he had said before that Al looked very different after growing up and wasn't as cute as when he was little, Zhou Zhou now realized that the Al he usually saw was just a disguise.
For a moment, the two fell silent, Alvia looking up and Zhou Zhou looking down from the eaves, both staring at each other, lost in thought due to the other's appearance.
While the two were silent, Zeus looked back and forth between them, considering whether to run away alone or take Zhou Zhou with him. They had already recognized each other, so there didn't seem to be much point in running anymore.
Oh no, Zhou Zhou didn't know he and Alvia were acquainted, would he get mad at him for this? Hmm~ he could just blame it on Alvia later.
"Zhou Zhou, come down." Alvia reached out his hand towards Zhou Zhou.
"Okay." Zhou Zhou nodded and unhesitatingly jumped down. Al would definitely catch him, Zhou Zhou had no doubts about this, a tacit understanding formed from their days and nights together in the instance.
The eaves here weren't very high, and Alvia had already calculated Zhou Zhou's landing position. Zhou Zhou's appearance was completely unexpected for him too, but they did need to have a proper discussion now, about their identities and other matters.
Alvia stretched out his hand, and the moment he tried to catch the jumping Zhou Zhou, his long fingers passed right through Zhou Zhou's body…
Zhou Zhou, light as a leaf, landed gently on the ground. He pursed his lips and looked up at the slightly unfamiliar Alvia before him.
Didn't catch him.
And Alvia watched helplessly as Zhou Zhou passed through his palm and landed on the ground.
Alvia: "..."
The two had forgotten that this was the real world, and Zhou Zhou didn't have a physical body, so he couldn't be touched. As for how Zhou Zhou could stand on the roof and tables, that was mainly due to Zeus's influence. And the reason Alvia couldn't catch him was partly because Zeus didn't cooperate to solidify Zhou Zhou's illusory form.
"Pfft!"
Zeus, standing on the roof, couldn't hold it in anymore and covered his mouth, laughing. It was very rare to see Alvia make such a silly mistake, he had to capture this moment.
A sharp gaze fell on the giggling Zeus, and Zeus couldn't laugh anymore.
Really, if Alvia hadn't shown up, he would have already gone with Zhou Zhou to play in other games. How could he have ended up here being glared at by him? Zeus huffed a few times, and the previously grounded Zhou Zhou appeared on Alvia's shoulder.
Suddenly changing locations, Zhou Zhou took a moment to adjust, steadying himself on the "ground" beneath his feet. When he looked up, he found himself standing on Al's shoulder.
Alvia tilted his head slightly and saw the tiny Zhou Zhou standing on his shoulder with a slightly panicked expression. Zhou Zhou's originally exquisite face looked even smaller and cuter due to his diminished size, like a doll figurine.
His heart couldn't help but soften a little: "I was originally going to tell you in person in the game, but since we've met now, there are some things I want to discuss with you."
Though he still had the same icy expression, his tone was unexpectedly gentle, completely different from the stern way he had spoken to Zeus earlier. Zeus above caught Alvia's double standards and glared at him secretly, feeling that he had seen through Alvia, this guy who valued looks over friends.
Of course, Zhou Zhou and Alvia were completely unaware of Zeus's rich inner thoughts. Zhou Zhou nodded: "Okay, I also want to tell you some things, but you probably already know what I want to say."
Though Zhou Zhou wasn't a real human and didn't quite understand atmospheres or human expressions, after being around Al for so long, he could still read some of Al's expressions. When Al saw him, he seemed only surprised by Zhou Zhou's appearance here, without any curiosity or doubt. And since he also knew Zeus, Zhou Zhou felt that Al might already know his true identity.
The corner of Alvia's mouth curved upwards, his originally icy demeanor gradually melting away. A faint smile appeared on his extremely handsome face, making him look incredibly striking. If Zhou Zhou's appearance was that of an elegant little prince, then the smiling Al before him was a captivating fairy.
Even Zhou Zhou, who usually couldn't tell human beauty apart very well, was greatly impacted by Al's appearance from such a close distance. No wonder Al had disguised himself as someone else in the game, if he appeared in his current form, he would undoubtedly have numerous people pursuing romantic relationships with him.
Although Al's current appearance made him feel somewhat detached from the Al in the game, once Zhou Zhou confirmed this person was indeed Al, he relaxed, sitting on Al's shoulder and swinging his legs as he watched Alvia walking around.
"Al, is this your home?" Zhou Zhou asked, seeing that Alvia seemed very familiar with the terrain here.
"Yeah."
"Your home is so big!"
"It is a bit large."
"I came to your home without your permission." Knowing that this was Al's home, Zhou Zhou swung his legs, his demeanor clearly more relaxed.
"It's fine, you can stay here."
As Alvia chatted with Zhou Zhou, he walked towards the bedchamber. The people they encountered along the way were surprised and curious when they saw the tiny Zhou Zhou on Alvia's shoulder.
They were curious about Zhou Zhou's identity, and extremely surprised by Alvia's current expression. In their eyes, His Majesty was forever an aloof and icy noble, yet now he was conversing with the little person on his shoulder. Though his facial expression didn't reveal much, anyone could see his demeanor had clearly softened, even allowing that tiny person to sit on his shoulder.
Could it be… No, impossible, that couldn't be a person! It must be a virtual pet His Majesty was raising. These days, virtual pets are quite exquisitely made. So His Majesty likes these paper people.
"Is this okay? They seem very surprised, should I hide?" Judging by the palace's scale, there weren't actually many people here, but each person stared at him with such a strange gaze, as if he had three heads and six arms. Zhou Zhou stood up from Al's shoulder, looking left and right without finding anywhere to conceal himself. He considered using Al's hair to cover himself.
"It's fine, they'll get used to seeing you around often anyway."
Zhou Zhou thought about it, that's right, he might frequently visit Al's home to play, so there's no need to hide. With that thought, he sat back down comfortably.
Returning to Alvia's bedchamber with him, Zhou Zhou gazed at this palace which appeared much shabbier compared to the others, feeling a sense of familiarity.
He remembered, this was where the young Al had lived. Although the interior decor was completely different, the overall layout remained unchanged.
So Al had been living here all along. Zhou Zhou curiously looked around.
Alvia disliked others entering his bedchamber, so normally, aside from himself and the occasional wandering Zeus, no one would disturb this place. After entering, he was about to close the door to talk with Zhou Zhou privately when he noticed a little tail trailing behind.
"Why are you still here?"
Zeus looked at Alvia in disbelief. What did he mean by 'still here'? He had been following right behind them the whole time. These two started chatting nonstop the moment they met, not giving him a chance to interject.
Zeus said aggrievedly, "Zhou Zhou and I agreed to go play in other games together."
Zhou Zhou immediately backed him up, "Yeah, we did. But Zeus, could you wait a bit? I need to come clean about my identity to Al, then we'll go together afterwards."
Just as Zeus was about to nod and ask Zhou Zhou to hurry up, he heard Alvia's voice.
"No need."
As Alvia spoke, he extended his hand towards Zeus.
"Give me Zhou Zhou's data, I'll take him."
Zhou Zhou paused, Al could also take him to other games? Was this actually a very easy thing? Could everyone do it?
For Zeus, it was a bolt from the blue. Finally having a chance to be alone with Zhou Zhou, and it hadn't been long before a third party barged in. Alvia went on instances with Zhou Zhou every single day, spending hundreds of times more time with him! And he still wasn't satisfied, even wanting to take away his time with Zhou Zhou?
Zeus felt aggrieved and didn't want to hand Zhou Zhou over.
Zhou Zhou looked at the stern Alvia, wanting to say something but holding back. Although he didn't know the relationship between the two or how they normally interacted, it now seemed like Al was bullying a child.
Catching Zhou Zhou's expression from the corner of his eye, Alvia immediately explained, "Zeus is the empire's only AI central intelligence, bearing extremely important responsibilities and workloads, so he might not have much time to accompany you. I'm free today, so I'll take you to other games later."
"I have avatars…" He had countless avatars, he's not that busy.
"Zeus, go work now, the empire's citizens are still waiting for you. Zhou Zhou will be with me."
Zeus's words were cut off by Alvia. He had never imagined Alvia could be so shameless, the empire was clearly your responsibility, not mine. Seeing Alvia's meaningful gaze, Zeus suddenly remembered flaunting about staying at Zhou Zhou's home in front of him a few days ago.
So this was retaliatory payback?
Even if you're staying at Zhou Zhou's home, right now Zhou Zhou is at my home, my bedchamber.
Zeus suddenly interpreted this meaning from Alvia's icy gaze.
This guy was still as bad as when he was young. Zeus looked at Zhou Zhou, who seemed embarrassed thinking he had delayed Zeus's work after hearing Alvia's words, and pouted.
"Here you go!"
Zeus tossed a rectangular box towards Alvia, crying out as he ran away.
Zhou Zhou watched Zeus disappear, then turned to ask Alvia, "What's wrong with him?"
"Probably slacking off and not wanting to work," Alvia casually remarked.
He opened that tangible small box, and immediately a large stream of blue code burst out, surrounding Alvia 360 degrees.
Zhou Zhou couldn't read a single word of it. He curiously stared at Alvia, who lightly tapped his fingers in midair, causing the blue code to seem to come alive, continuously transforming and shifting.
His operations were very skilled. After operating for a while, Alvia suddenly frowned, staring intently at the code before him with a serious expression.
Zhou Zhou knew these were his own core components, extremely important to him. Seeing Alvia frown, he immediately asked what was wrong.
"It's nothing, I just noticed your original data is a bit similar to Zeus, no wonder he likes you so much. Maybe there's a connection there."
After speaking, Alvia closed the box, and the surrounding blue strings of characters immediately disappeared.
"Alright, Zhou Zhou, you sit here."
Alvia half-squatted before a chair, and Zhou Zhou jumped down from his shoulder onto the chair. Afterwards, he began to grow, becoming normal size.
Zhou Zhou sat on the chair, curiously observing his body. When he had previously appeared in the palace, he was already in miniature form. Now, watching himself grow from small to large was quite interesting, though the entire process didn't feel like anything special.
Alvia sat across from Zhou Zhou, his fingers lightly tapping the table, his expression solemn. With a table separating the two of them, it didn't seem like a heart-to-heart, but rather a serious meeting about to take place.
His demeanor made Zhou Zhou, who had originally thought it would only take a few sentences, also grow tense. What was going on for it to suddenly become so serious?
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Storyteller Serinweis's Words
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