"Aunt Li, are you suggesting my brother should step in as a substitute?" Luo Lu sighed, shaking her head with exaggerated pity. "You overestimate him, Aunt Li. He's a guy with no money, no job, and no connections. Even I can't stand him. What girl in her right mind would want him?"
"Enough! You talk too much!" Luo Jie glared. The girl responded with a playful grimace before covering her mouth, giggling silently.
Aunt Li chuckled dryly, waving a dismissive hand. "Ah, don't say that. When it comes to relationships, it's all about that spark... Your brother isn't bad-looking. He's a polite, educated college graduate. Who knows? Maybe the girl will take a liking to him?"
Luo Lu snorted dismissively. "If she does take a liking to him after seeing him, Aunt Li, she must have been cross-eyed to begin with."
Luo Jie flicked her forehead lightly with his finger. Turning back to Aunt Li with an apologetic smile, he said, "Kids say the darndest things, Aunt Li, please don't mind her... I'll do it. Send me the address later. I'll meet her tomorrow. But just so we're clear – I'm showing up, but I'm not promising anything comes of it."
In his previous life, when Aunt Li had first approached him about this, Luo Jie had been deep in the throes of Post-VR Syndrome and flatly refused. This time around, he couldn't bring himself to reject her kindness again. It wasn't a real blind date anyway, just filling in to save someone else's skin. A small way to repay Aunt Li for all the times she'd looked after Luo Lu when he was swamped.
"Oh, Jie! Thank you! I'll send you the time and address right away... Don't worry, the girl is quite pretty. You won't be losing out." After more pleasantries, they finally saw off the slightly long-winded Aunt Li. Luo Jie turned back to find Luo Lu wearing her most pitiful, abandoned-puppy expression.
"Are all men this fickle? The new love always laughs, while the old love cries unheard..."
"Lulu, I'm warning you, dial back the drama..." Luo Jie began, exasperated.
"Drama? Oh! Goldfish! Yay! I love goldfish best! Uncle, take me to see them now!" Luo Lu chirped, her eyes suddenly wide with feigned innocence, completely changing tack.
"Wait... What? Hey! Listen, guys, it's not what it looks like!" Luo Jie sputtered, realizing her sudden outburst might sound alarming to any unseen listeners.
...
Night deepened. Using the remote to switch off the TV, Luo Jie carefully lifted Luo Lu, who had fallen asleep leaning against him, and carried her back to her small single bed in her room. He tucked her in and quietly closed the door.
Returning to his parents' old master bedroom, the familiar furniture silhouetted by the bright moonlight streaming through the window filled him with that surreal sense of unreality again. He slapped his cheeks firmly, the sting a grounding sensation, before letting himself fall backward onto the soft expanse of the Simmons mattress.
"Ah... the feel of this is pure nostalgia..." he murmured, his eyes fixed blankly on the white ceiling lamp. For a few precious moments, his mind blissfully emptied of its usual relentless calculations. But the respite was brief. Like a well-oiled machine kicking back into gear, his thoughts began whirring again.
His sister Luo Lu's suicide in his previous life was a wound that had never truly healed. Now, granted this impossible second chance, he was utterly determined to prevent that tragedy. The root solution was clear: Luo Lu needed to be made physically whole, like any other healthy child.
The task was paradoxically simple yet dauntingly complex. For a Player, restoring a missing limb was trivial. Sci-fi VR scenarios offered advanced prosthetic limbs; fantasy realms boasted powerful healing magics capable of regeneration. Yet, there was one inescapable hurdle: all these solutions, whether technological or magical, were utterly ineffective on ordinary humans.
To heal Luo Lu, she would need to become a Player herself.
Frankly, the thought filled Luo Jie with profound reluctance. The dangers within the VR realms were notorious. Even veteran Players could meet sudden, brutal ends. Luo Lu was only six. If he had any choice, he would keep her exactly as she was – safe, even if physically incomplete, living a long, ordinary life shielded from that perilous world.
Yet, he knew this was wishful thinking. The human heart was the most unpredictable element. Reaching the pinnacle of power wouldn't guarantee Luo Lu a life free from malice or cruelty in the real world. Her difference would always make her vulnerable.
"Haah... What a headache," Luo Jie sighed deeply, stretching his arms. He shelved the agonizing decision for now. Even if he ultimately chose to introduce her to the Player's world, he needed to secure a top-tier cybernetic limb or a regeneration skill first. "Looks like I need to hit the Player market soon..."
The thought surfaced instinctively. Almost on autopilot, he accessed his personal data storage space, mentally cataloging the spoils from the "Dead Rising" scenario.
Beyond the few items he'd already authenticated, the rest of his loot and rewards existed as various unopened chests and boxes. True to a habit ingrained from his previous life, Luo Jie started with the least promising: the "Surprise Boxes" dropped by the common zombie cannon fodder.
True to their name, the one hundred and twenty-plus boxes held no surprises. Their contents were uniformly mundane "Dead Rising" scenario souvenirs – pens, watches, lighters. In the Player market, these were classified as "daily sundries," possessing minor trade value but rarely commanding real prices; they were often used as bargaining chips or throw-ins during larger deals. Precious gems or gold bullion, of course, were the exception.
Warmed up by the disappointing haul, Luo Jie turned his attention to the six chests dropped by the U.S.S. squad. As system-generated Balancers, each U.S.S. operative functioned as a mini-boss within the scenario, and Luo Jie harbored significant expectations for their potential drops.
Each boss chest bore the name of its source. Luo Jie casually opened the one labeled [U.S.S. Bertha's Chest].
A soft, violet light pulsed as the chest dissolved into shimmering dust. In its place lay a first-aid kit emblazoned with the Umbrella Corporation logo and a blue cross.
U.S.S. Field Medic Kit Quality: F (Purple) Description: Custom-designed by Umbrella Corp for U.S.S. operatives, utilizing proprietary bio-technology for exceptional efficacy. Contains: [Internal/External Trauma Spray] x10, [Universal Antidote] x5, [Z-Virus Inhibitor] x5, [Stimulant Booster Syringe] x1.
"Medic drops a med-kit... figures," Luo Jie remarked, a wry twist to his lips. Strictly speaking, the kit was pseudo-Purple quality. Its individual components were mostly Blue grade; the Purple rating stemmed from the bundled quantity and the kit format itself.
Next was [U.S.S. Highway's Chest]. It yielded what looked like a handwritten journal.
Highway's Demolition Notes Type: Skill Manual Quality: F (Purple) Description: Grants the skill [Directional Demolition] upon use. Allows the user to constrain explosive force within a defined conical area, significantly amplifying destructive potential within that zone.