Spiritual Recovery: Gamification of Reality

"Two cups of coffee; one black, and one with extra sugar and extra milk."

"Alright, sir. That will be 100 bucks. Here's your change, 60 bucks. Please wait a moment."

"Thank you."

Xu Bai, who had just joined the Feng City Police Station after graduating last year, smiled and took the change from the waitress. Then, he habitually glanced at the top of the waitress's head.

Just by thinking about it, an information box similar to the NPC information panel in a video game appeared above the head of the waitress in front of Xu Bai.

It was only visible to Xu Bai.

[Name: Gu Lu]

[Gender: Female]

[Familiarity Level: Unfamiliar]

Gu Lu…

What a nice name, Xu Bai looked and thought to himself. Then, he retracted his gaze. There was no expression on his face.

After all, he had been in the same situation for the past 22 years. He was already used to it and had perfect control of his facial expressions.

When he was young, Xu Bai looked at the information box above the heads of others and listened to the idle chatter of his elders. He seriously suspected that he had been possessed. At one point, he even asked his parents to bring him to a nearby temple or Taoist temple to pray.

In the end, he was beaten up by both of them. This made Xu Bai understand one thing. If he told others that he could see this, he would be beaten up.

Then, when he was a little older, Xu Bai learned about video games. He began to question if he was in a game world that was 100% real.

Xu Bai's resulting existential crisis made him consider suicide and in essence, quit the game.

Later on in his life, he also learned of the existence of novels. When he saw the protagonists with a system, cheats, and old grandpas in the novel, Xu Bai came to an important conclusion.

He had not been possessed by a ghost, nor had he been transported into a video game.

So…

He was the protagonist.

The best proof for this was that he was born with the ability to turn reality into a game. This ability that he had had since the day he was born seemed to have bugs though.

Regardless, this innate system Xu Bai had was a lot of help.

At the very least, Xu Bai was able to stay in his hometown, Feng City, after graduating last year and become a new probationary agent in the Feng City Police Department. Within a year, he was finished with his probation. He definitely had to give kudos to his system's information box for that.

The waitress turned around with two cups of coffee and handed them to Xu Bai. She smiled and said, "Your coffee is ready, sir."

Xu Bai came back to his senses. He took the coffee and smiled.

"Thank you, Lil Lu."

Huh?

How did he know my nickname? Gu Lu was stunned. When she came back to her senses and was about to ask, she saw that the handsome man had already walked out the door and left. He got into an ordinary-looking car parked by the roadside.

When the passenger door opened, Gu Lu happened to see a cute girl sitting in the driver's seat.

Was that his girlfriend?

When the door closed, Gu Lu came back to her senses.

Xu Bai opened the car door and got in. He handed the coffee with extra sugar and milk to his partner in the driver's seat.

"Here."

"Thank you, Master."

Su Meng, who was wearing a white jacket and jeans, had a pair of big watery eyes and a chubby face. She looked like an young girl. After taking the coffee, she said sweetly, "Sir, was that waitress your new prey?"

Xu Bai, who had just removed the lid of the cup and was about to take a sip of his first cup of coffee, paused and looked at Su Meng with a strange expression.

"Prey?"

"Yeah."

Su Meng nodded seriously. "When we went out this morning, Sister An Ya said that your name is very famous in Feng City. You're either picking up girls or on the way to pick up girls."

An Ya?

The corners of Xu Bai's mouth twitched.

"Nonsense. It's clearly a matter of justice."

"But An Ya…"

"Mengmeng, you've just arrived. You don't understand. There's a lot going on here. You can't grasp it. For some reason, An Ya has a problem with me. Don't be led astray by her. If I'm really like what she said, I haven't done anything to you even though we've been partners for almost a month, right?"

"…No, you haven't."

"Seeing is believing."

Xu Bai clapped his hands, looking righteous.

"The rumors about me are all slander. Besides, I prefer to be…"

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Just as Xu Bai was about to finish, his phone interrupted him. Taking out his phone, he glanced at the caller ID and gestured to Su Meng before picking up the call. "Hello, Dr. Zhao. What is it?"

Su Meng blinked her big eyes and looked at Xu Bai, who picked up the phone without delay. She did not say anything.

After a while...

Xu Bai hung up the phone and sighed.

Su Meng's big eyes looked at Xu Bai, who had a slight frown on his face after putting the phone down.

"Master, was that the hospital?"

"Yeah."

"Pressing you to pay again?"

"Yes."

Xu Bai took a deep breath and exhaled. He put the old-fashioned flip phone back into his pocket, opened the lid of the cup, and took a sip of his coffee. Feeling the bitterness of the coffee, he said calmly, "Lil Wei's treatment fees are almost used up. Fortunately, tomorrow is payday."

Lil Wei was his sister.

His biological sister.

Ever since she went on a trip with her parents five years ago and got into a car accident on the way, she had been hospitalized at the Feng City Public Hospital. However, compared to his sister's medical expenses, the compensation given by the insurer was obviously a drop in the bucket.

Fortunately, a year ago, when the compensation was almost used up, Xu Bai had successfully graduated and entered the Feng City Police Department. With the salary from the police department, the hospital's preferential treatment for civil servants, and his part-time job at night, he kept up with the relatively expensive treatment that was worth it to Xu Bai.

Su Meng looked at the calm Xu Bai, who did not seem to care about investing his monthly salary at all.

She opened her mouth.

"I can…"

"Don't."

"…I haven't said anything yet."

"I know what you're trying to say."

Xu Bai peered at Su Meng and smiled. He laughed and teased, "You want to lend me money, Miss Su?"

Su Meng was also very straightforward. "Master, I'm not short of money."

This was the truth.

Some people went to work for a living. Others went to work for fun and to pass the time.

Xu Bai was the former. Su Meng, the person in front of Xu Bai, the eldest daughter of Su Heavy Industries, was obviously the latter.

Xu Bai waved his hand. "I know you don't lack money, and I don't feel burdened by borrowing money from others, but I won't borrow money from my disciple. If word gets out, it won't look good."

Su Meng opened her mouth.

At this moment.

On the central console of his car, the radio connected to the Feng City Police Department's control center sounded. "Bzzt bzzt…someone called the police from Building 15, 37th Avenue in the East District. Sounds of fighting coming from upstairs, Room 804, have been reported."

Xu Bai grabbed the walkie-talkie beside him and said, "Patrol car number eight in the area and on the way to the scene."

Xu Bai hung the walkie-talkie up and looked at Su Meng. "Let's get to work."

Upon seeing this, Su Meng opened her mouth. Seeing that there was work now, she swallowed her words and started the car.

In the next second, notification from the seemingly buggy system that had accompanied him for the last 22 years sounded.

Ding!

...