Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: The Grudge Turns Out to Be My Own

After seeing off the delivery guy, Lu Zhixing let out a sigh of relief.

Societal death had arrived earlier than he had imagined...

But there was no choice. For the sake of materials, sacrifices had to be made. He had already played the role of a tree, so what was there to fear?

Lu Zhixing took out the prepared disguise props: a brand new mask, a different-colored baseball cap, and a hoodie.

He couldn't wear the same outfit he had used before; he planned to donate those old clothes to a charity shop to cover his tracks and eliminate all traces.

Of course, even with different-colored masks and baseball caps, there was still a possibility of being recognized since his body shape wouldn't change significantly. But regardless, some disguise was better than none.

Fully dressed in his disguise, Lu Zhixing sat in the wheelchair and tried to move the wheels.

Surprisingly, he found it quite agile and not too strenuous.

He tested it by maneuvering around the living room, but the space was too small to fully showcase his mobility.

Just then, he noticed that the progress bar for the "paralyzed patient" role-play in his field of vision was incrementally increasing, and a +1 appeared in the points column.

It worked!

Previously, Lu Zhixing had tried pretending to be paralyzed while lying on the couch or bed, but it hadn't worked at all; the role-play progress didn't increase at all.

Clearly, this "Life Role-Playing Game" was quite clever, easily seeing through his disguises.

Completing role-play tasks so easily? That was wishful thinking.

So Lu Zhixing also understood that, in order to obtain these rewards, he might have to "societally die" a few more times.

"Time to go out!"

Lu Zhixing checked himself in the mirror, confirming that his disguise was mostly in place. He then wheeled himself out of the house.

However, he encountered an unexpected obstacle at the doorstep.

"One, two, three, go!

"One, two, three, go!

"Go... but it's not working!"

Lu Zhixing was baffled. The doorstep of the rental apartment was not very high, and he had never paid much attention to it when entering or leaving. But with the wheelchair, it became an insurmountable barrier.

The wheels got firmly stuck on it every time, and he struggled to get over it.

At this moment, Lu Zhixing really wanted to stand up and push the wheelchair forward, but after some consideration, he decided against it.

There would likely be various obstacles outside, and even steps. He couldn't possibly perform a "medical miracle" every time he encountered one, could he? That would be too strange!

If a real wheelchair user were walking down the street, they might not attract too much attention. However, if a wheelchair user were to stand up and push the wheelchair every few steps, it would look incredibly bizarre.

"Since I've decided to play the role of a wheelchair user, I'll commit to it!"

Lu Zhixing made up his mind and exerted extra effort.

With a "thud," he managed to get over the doorstep.

"Not bad, not bad. It's mainly a matter of technique, and it's not as difficult as I imagined."

Lu Zhixing struggled to raise his arm to lock the door securely, preparing to leave the residential area and take a stroll on the nearby streets.

There weren't many new challenges within the residential complex. When he had been moving his belongings into the rental apartment, he had used a handcart to transport many large items, so he was quite familiar with the wheelchair-accessible routes in the complex.

However, as soon as he arrived on the main street, Lu Zhixing encountered a new and serious problem.

At least seventy to eighty percent of the people on the street were casting curious glances in his direction!

Lu Zhixing was puzzled, "Why does it feel like my current level of attention is even higher than when I played the role of a tree? This is not logical..."

All these gazes made him extremely uncomfortable, as if he were walking down the street naked.

He could even imagine some of their thoughts based on their looks:

"Poor young man, he's so young to be in a wheelchair. How unfortunate."

"This young guy is paralyzed? I can't tell."

"Why does he have to go out and bother people when he's already in this condition? Why not stay home if his legs are crippled?"

Originally, Lu Zhixing just wanted to take a leisurely walk, earn some role-play points, but the pervasive stares made him feel extremely uncomfortable. Unconsciously, he accelerated his movements, trying to escape the sight of these people.

Before long, his arms started to feel sore and numb.

"Being in a wheelchair is not as easy as I thought. It's not any easier than walking...

"It might also be because my arms haven't fully adapted yet. Once they do, it should be much easier.

"...Well, maybe I shouldn't adapt."

Lu Zhixing rolled the wheelchair out of the residential area and instinctively moved toward less crowded areas. Finally, after more than ten minutes, he arrived on a relatively quiet street.

Taking refuge behind a large tree, he could finally catch his breath.

"This is strange. Why is everyone on the street looking at me like that? Is it really this exaggerated...

"Wait a minute, could it be related to that skill?"

As Lu Zhixing was struggling with the increased attention he was receiving while playing the role of a "paralyzed patient," he suddenly had a realization. He quickly opened the in-game interface to check the skill associated with this role-play task.

【Role-play Skill 3 - Heightened Perception: Your sensory perception of the outside world is significantly enhanced.】

"Oh, I see. This is more like a debuff than a skill!" Lu Zhixing muttered to himself.

Sitting in a wheelchair would naturally attract attention, but it shouldn't make him feel like he was under a spotlight. His heightened perception was causing him to sense people's attention and even guess their inner thoughts.

"This role-play task is much more challenging than I imagined!"

When he had played the role of a tree, it was a relatively short and straightforward task, even if it was socially awkward. However, this main storyline role-play task had an abnormally slow progress rate. After less than half an hour of being outside, the progress bar had only moved less than 5%. It would take forever to complete at this rate.

What's worse, Lu Zhixing noticed that after he had secluded himself in this remote corner, both the progress bar and the rate at which he earned role-play points were slowing down, almost to a standstill.

This made sense because paralyzed patients in wheelchairs were expected to live their lives normally and not stay in one place for extended periods. Unlike trees, they wouldn't be rooted in a single spot.

Feeling frustrated, Lu Zhixing decided to move his wheelchair again, this time heading toward a nearby newsstand.

Sure enough, after casually buying a couple of gaming software magazines and placing them on his wheelchair, the progress bar for his role-play character began to increase once more.

"Do I really have to act in crowded places, perform various unique role-play actions, and avoid repetition to make the progress bar fill up faster? This is practically asking for my life!"

It was already quite challenging, and now with the "Heightened Perception" debuff, every moment of role-play felt like torture.

"Wait a minute, there was that skill from before!"

Suddenly, an idea struck Lu Zhixing. He quickly opened the points store and found the skill he had previously referred to as the "Curse skill that only someone with a grudge would buy for 50 points."

【Role-play Skill - I Am a Tree (Enhanced): Clear your mind, eliminate all thoughts, maintain stillness, and cease all movement. (Enhanced Effect: Significantly reduce your presence.)】

Although this skill couldn't be used as a permanent effect and only worked when he was completely still, it would significantly reduce his presence. For instance, it would be helpful when riding public transportation, waiting for an elevator, or standing in line outside.

"All right, I guess the grudge is against myself..."

Lu Zhixing looked at the hard-earned 50 points he had accumulated through his social sacrifices and silently pressed the "Exchange" button.

……

……

On Friday, Lu Zhixing arrived outside Professor He Cheng's office with the design document for "Ordinary Life."

This time, Professor He Cheng was randomly reviewing only a dozen or so design documents, and Lu Zhixing was fortunate enough to be one of them.

Of course, it wasn't just luck. It was because he had left a certain impression on Professor He Cheng during previous classes, so he was "specially taken care of."

Lu Zhixing was about to raise his hand to knock on the door when it swung open by itself.

He saw a fellow student from the same major exiting the office, looking utterly dejected, as if he had just suffered a defeat. It seemed he had received a harsh critique from Professor He Cheng.

Lu Zhixing couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive. The newcomer didn't seem to bring good news. Professor He Cheng was clearly not an easy person to fool.

However, it suddenly occurred to him that he was the next in line to enter.

Just as Lu Zhixing was about to raise his hand to knock on the door, someone hurriedly approached from behind and preemptively knocked on the door, then entered Professor He Cheng's office.

"Sorry, I have an urgent matter, please excuse me."

Although he apologized verbally, there was absolutely no sincerity in his tone. Instead, he barged in with an air of entitlement.

Lu Zhixing couldn't help but furrow his brow. This man appeared to be in his thirties, dressed in a suit and tie, and didn't seem like a student at Jinghai University.

But Lu Zhixing didn't make an issue out of it. He simply waited at the door for a moment.

The intruder approached Professor He Cheng and greeted him with a big smile. "Professor He, about the design document for the game 'Campus Show' that we discussed last time, I was wondering if you've had a chance to review it..."

Professor He Cheng, with some impatience, glanced at him and then handed over a document from the side. "It's done. I'll have my student send you the electronic version to your email."

The intruder continued to smile broadly. "Great, great! I knew this would be a piece of cake for someone like you. I won't disturb you any longer. If there are any changes in the future, I'll need your assistance..."

Professor He Cheng waved his hand dismissively. "Understood."

The intruder left with a triumphant expression on his face.

Professor He Cheng had already noticed Lu Zhixing waiting outside and gestured for him to come in.

Lu Zhixing closed the door behind him and then handed over the design concept document for "Ordinary Life." "Professor He, this is the game I've designed, 'Ordinary Life.'"

Professor He Cheng reached out and immediately felt a difference in weight.

"Hmm?"

He glanced at the first page, ensuring that Lu Zhixing's document adhered to the required font and font size, and there was no attempt to use larger fonts to meet page count requirements. Only then did he nod slightly.

Previously, he had reviewed the assignments of six students, and he was dissatisfied with all of them.

Setting aside the quality of the content, their word counts were insufficient!

While a design concept document didn't need to delve into every detail of the game, it should provide a comprehensive overview of the entire game. The essential details had to be well explained.

With just two or three thousand words, what could they possibly cover? They couldn't even explain the gameplay clearly!

Among the students he had reviewed earlier, the one with the most words had just over five thousand. In Professor He Cheng's view, they fell far short of the expected length for a design concept document.

However, when he held Lu Zhixing's document, he could tell that it was several times more substantial than those of the previous students, with at least nearly twenty thousand words!

This, at the very least, indicated that Lu Zhixing had the most serious attitude and the most thorough preparation.

Of course, whether those twenty thousand words were substantial or just filler would depend on the actual content.

Professor He Cheng began to read the specific contents of the design document.

The more he read, the more his brow furrowed.