“So, is it true?” In a room where no one could see her, Bai Shishi’s cute little face scrunched up as she asked through voice chat. “Am I the only one left out of this?”
Mo Xiangwen immediately felt a headache coming on. What was meant to be a pleasant surprise had been thoroughly sabotaged by Su Mengyao’s antics, transforming it into a dilemma in an instant.
“Don’t let Mengyao’s nonsense cloud your judgment,” Mo Xiangwen hurriedly tried to patch things up. “The studio’s been set up, so we’re just kicking back with some games before diving into work.”
“Besides, it’s work. What’s there to envy about that?”
Bai Shishi paused to recall, remembering the day they had visited the Entrepreneurship Guidance Center at school.
Bai Shishi wrinkled her nose and pressed on. “You mean that application we inquired about last time?”
Mo Xiangwen confirmed, “Yeah, it got approved later.”
Bai Shishi had just begun to relax when her brows furrowed again. She hesitated before asking, “So when you say ‘work’…”
She trailed off, her voice growing softer. “Yan Nuoya, Su Mengli, and Su Mengyao… all three of them are studio members?”
Though she strove for a calm tone, Mo Xiangwen keenly picked up on the subtle oddity in her words, even if he couldn’t quite place it.
“Yeah,” he answered candidly, having never planned to hide it from her.
That expected reply made her instinctively curl up, huddling into a tiny ball on the oversized sofa.
Ugh… Why… why?
Whether it was befriending Xiao Yi or working together,
shouldn’t she have been the first one?
How had a mere blink turned into her being left behind by everyone?
“But like Nuoya and Mengli said before,” Mo Xiangwen said with a light chuckle, “this was supposed to be a surprise for you.”
Lost in her thoughts, Bai Shishi blinked in mild surprise at his words. “A surprise?”
“Exactly,” Mo Xiangwen affirmed confidently. “We’ve got board games ready here at the studio.”
“Next time you come, we can play right here—no more crowded milk tea shops.”
“I’ll prepare some special pieces and maps too,” Su Mengli chimed in. “When you visit next, we can do board games and even tabletop RPG sessions.”
Bai Shishi froze for a moment, pondering deeply.
Maybe… it really was like that.
For her, gaming with her familiar friends in the studio—free from prying eyes—sounded wonderful.
She was simply a little envious of the others.
No being selfish. No causing trouble for Xiao Yi and everyone.
Bai Shishi silently admonished herself.
She could just ask her mom to bring her to school when the chance arose.
But… would that burden her mom too?
“Mhm.” Bai Shishi gave a firm nod, as if steeling her resolve. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
Mo Xiangwen had no clue what was swirling in Bai Shishi’s mind, but her response let him exhale in relief.
He had no desire to dwell on the topic, particularly since he already had ideas about Bai Shishi’s situation.
“Enough of that—let’s fire up the game.” He clicked the launch icon, pausing at the “Generate Underground World?” prompt.
“Underground?” He scrolled the mouse wheel and asked over voice chat. “Anyone up for the underground?”
“Underground?” Su Mengyao, fresh from grabbing drinks, sidled up and set the now lukewarm orange juice on the desk.
She bent down, cocking her head to peer curiously at the screen. “Which one?”
Su Mengyao’s head now blocked his view of the screen. It wasn’t too close, but the faint, fresh scent of her shampoo drifted over.
“Thanks.” Mo Xiangwen leaned back a touch and gently nudged her head aside.
His fingertips grazed Su Mengyao’s hair, and the unexpectedly silky texture stalled his motion for a heartbeat before he smoothly withdrew his hand.
Strange—did beautiful girls have some kind of privilege?
It felt way softer than his own hair.
“I didn’t even get a good look. Why shove me?” Su Mengyao pouted, grumbling with mild dissatisfaction.
“You’re in my way. How am I supposed to point?”
Mo Xiangwen shot her an exasperated glance and indicated the checkbox on-screen with the mouse.
Su Mengyao traced his gesture and spotted it.
“Doesn’t look like much.”
Mo Xiangwen considered briefly before explaining. “Think of it as a full-fledged Underground World. Enabling it spawns random cave entrances to the depths on the map. You get surface exploration plus deep underground adventures.”
Su Mengyao tilted her head. “Like a wormhole?”
“Not really.” Mo Xiangwen’s voice softened instinctively. “Wormholes are spatial jumps; this is the genuine article—an Underground World. You’ll see once we’re in.”
“Why haven’t we seen it before?” Bai Shishi’s voice piped up from the headphones.
“Easy,” Mo Xiangwen said with a shrug. “I never enabled it. Generating the Underground World adds nearly ten minutes, and we were just casual runs—restarting saves, no point waiting.”
“Then enable it this time,” Su Mengli’s gentle voice suggested. “Everyone’s together for once; this save should go the distance.”
“Yeah, do it, do it!” Su Mengyao slapped his shoulder excitedly. “I’m dying to check out the new stuff.”
“Got it—creating the room.” Mo Xiangwen nodded and promptly shooed her off. “Get back to your seat and wait.”
Su Mengyao rolled her eyes, baffled by his sudden gruffness, and huffed away.
Mo Xiangwen hit generate world, watching the black hand of fate craft life.
Some ten minutes later, they passed through a bizarre door into this hauntingly styled realm.
Luck favored them today. They swiftly claimed a solid base site and endured until the hounds’ assault—a rarity. With Bai Shishi sticking close and Yan Nuoya and the others now handy with spears and wood armor, the few hounds posed no threat. They dispatched every foe with ease, unlocking the pre-winter full-team survival achievement for the first time.
“That’s enough for tonight,” Su Mengli said suddenly. “It’s late—Mengyao and I need to head home.”
Mo Xiangwen glanced at the clock. Somehow, it was already 10 p.m. Squad gaming flew by; evening study hall was long over.
“Alright, I’ll walk you out.”
“Wait.” Yan Nuoya, who had been mostly silent, spoke up. “I’ll come along to see you off.”
