Morning Walk

When Ye Delun woke up, he was standing in the middle of a street. The morning sun peaked through the clouds, the smell of dew was in the air, and early risers walked on the cement paths.

[You were able to leave the house for a day without notifying Zao Xing and you've decided to wander around the town. The morning air feels good on your skin and washes away any lingering ill feelings.]

The message covered his sight and prevented him from studying his surroundings. But he could feel the breeze the message spoke of. His legs moved on their own and began to walk.

[You wander around town and admire the sights. You haven't been able to appreciate this feeling for a while. Being stuck inside that mansion of yours has made you forget what it's like to be in the sunlight.]

[Your body feels rejuvenated at the latest meals and your skin glows in the sun. People stare at your passing figure.]

He could see those people in the corner of his eye. They were faceless background characters wearing basic clothing. But a selected few had very simplified features, they all had their heads turned in his direction.

[But amongst these people, your eyes catch onto a couple in the crowd. You recognize them as your victims, Li Yusheng, and Yang Lan.]

His eyesight cleared and replaced with the sight of the two named people speaking to each other. They seemed hushed and close.

[You hide out of sight and eavesdrop on their conversation.]

"You know that isn't what I meant, I just want the both of us to make it out alive. What's so wrong with that?" Li Yusheng said. Ye Delun immediately got curious about the conversation and stretched his ear to hear them clearly.

"But what you're saying is making you look crazy! How is that thought process any different from what Xue Peng said before?"

"Well, maybe he was right? After all, he was killed right after he accused that guy."

"But that's all the proof you have! You can't go planning such crazy things based on such flimsy stuff, it's 'Innocent until proven guilty' for a reason!"

"And do you think that there's enough time for that? What if in the next day, I end up having to search through your dead body just like they had to before!? Do you think I want to do that? I would rather end everyone there before having to do that! So what if it's selfish, as long as you're alive then why would it matter?"

"You?" Yang Lan paused in shock. A red blush blanketed her face and dyed her face pink. She tried her best to stay angry by clenching her fists. She raked her mind to come up with something to say in return. "You're so dumb."

That was the best she could come up with. Who could blame her? She wasn't good at arguments and his words made her stumble. She turned around and began to walk away.

Ye Delun looked bored, 'What a typical cheap-romance argument...' He had played several stories on this app and had been through several situations like this. Most of them just included him spamming the screen to skip the dialogue.

"Where are you going?" Li Yusheng called out to her. Ye Delun was impressed by the diluted amount of silver and gold he was wearing compared to before.

"Anywhere but with you." She turned her head to give him one last look. "I'm disappointed in you, Li Yusheng. I thought you would know better." She confidently turned her back away from him and walked towards the direction Ye Delun was hiding.

Ye Delun panicked for a second, then remembered that he didn't really care. So he stayed still and let the woman catch him in the act.

"You? What are you doing here?" She said. Ye Delun only scratched his neck guiltily and told her, "Just walking around, but ended up here."

Li Yusheng, who had jogged to catch up with Yang Lan asked him, "Were you just eavesdropping on us?" he gave Ye Delun a dark glare, probably meant to seem threatening but Ye Delun couldn't take him seriously with the stray strand of hair that stuck out from him newly brushed hairstyle.

"I didn't really have a choice, you guys were in the way." He said as he gestured towards where the two of them were arguing moments before.

"How much did you hear?" Yang Lan asked.

"Only around the end of it." He wasn't lying, but they didn't know how much of 'the end' he was talking about. He could easily piece together the argument by how much he heard.

Li Yusheng frowned but didn't say anything. It was obvious he didn't like him.

[The character 'Li Yusheng' is annoyed at your entrance, but is secretly thankful for your interruption!]

"Well, I guess now we've met, do you guys wanna walk around with me?" Ye Delun asked them casually.

"What? Why would we want t-"

"Sure, why not!" Yang Lan said as she interrupted Li Yusheng. Her companion gave her a surprised glance before turning back to him Ye Delun an even worse glare. Ye Delun only discreetly gave him a thumbs up.

He was helping Yang Lan cool her anger after all.

But Li Yusheng didn't seem to appreciate nor understand his efforts.

[The character 'Li Yusheng' is both confused and irritated!]

"Are you two coming?" Yang Lan asked from in front of them.

"Yes, I'm coming." Li Yusheng gave him a weird look as he walked past him. Ye Delun stretched his neck and tilted his head in confusion.

'Why is this so hard?'

Out of all the things he's tried to do only two things could stump him so much. Trying to scare himself, and conveying his thoughts and motives.

[The group of three walked down the concrete path together.] The system gave him a useless narration.

"So why were you walking around during a weekday? Don't you have class?" Yang Lan asked him as she tried to make conversation.

"That's right. Didn't you say you were still in college? What is someone so young like you wandering around by himself in daylight?" Li Yusheng added on. His tone was obviously unfriendly as he tried to pick a fight with him.

[The character 'Li Yusheng' is jealous of the attention and care 'Yang Lan' is showing you!]

[The character 'Li Yusheng' is telling himself that he's found a way for 'Yang Lan' to dislike you!]

Ye Delun gave him a blank look. '....All she did so far was ask a question...'

[The character 'Li Yusheng' is trying to find proof against you to prove himself to 'Yang Lan'! But you cannot tell them the truth of your life as it would lead you to get caught! Be quick to come up with a good excuse!]

"Because I don't have class today and the weather is good for walking." That wasn't that hard, he didn't know what exactly Li Yusheng wanted to get out of this. "Can I ask why you both aren't at work?"

Yang Lan laughed and awkwardly scratched her cheek, "Because I needed a little time to think, so I took a break for today." In reality, she didn't need to work at all. The game didn't include scenes where she had to purely work, that would be boring.

Li Yusheng fell for the diversion and crossed his arms and tilted his head away. "I don't need a reason to not come into work. I own the place."

"It must be cool being your own boss." Perhaps if he was in the real world, he could have finished college and started his own business. But he didn't know what the business would do, perhaps sell couches or televisions? He hadn't thought about it before.

"Hey, look! It's the wishing fountain!" Yang Lan ran up to the elegant centerpiece and leaned over the edge. "Wahhhhh, it looks so pretty in the sun. I wanna take a picture." The water flowing in the air shined like sparkling diamonds because of the morning sun.

"Yang Lan, step back. You're going to fall in." Li Yusheng stood behind her and held out his arm to stop her from slipping in.

"It looks like it's raining jewels, it's so pretty." She smiled wide towards her companion.

Li Yusheng's eyes widened slightly, and he felt his heart skip a beat. And while staring directly into her sparkling eyes he told her, "Yeah, they really do look like jewels."

Ye Delun at the side, "..."

Did he need to be here for this?