The Paradise

Dr. Zhao couldn't help but steal a glance at Xiao Yu's face. His face showed the awkwardness and shyness of a boy, but how many unknown stories lay hidden behind this plain and somewhat handsome face? What sort of hardships had he experienced?

"Are you a volunteer?" asked Xiao Yu. He had finally recovered from his embarrassment and shyness.

"Yes. I came here as a volunteer from the medical university as an intern," she replied, after which she took some medicinal liquid from the cabinet.

"She's an honorable university graduate with a bright future," Xiao Yu thought. He nodded and didn't say anything more.

Dr. Zhao's fingers couldn't help but tremble as she applied the medicine onto Xiao Yu's wounds. Seeing the wounds all over his back made her a little uneasy and unable to feel a sense of calm. Her heart rate was like the fall and rise of the tide, devoid of its usual steadiness. She even felt a bit of dread when she touched the wounds, fearing that she might hurt Xiao Yu.

"You can cry out if you feel pain," said Dr. Zhao. She moved her hand more gingerly.

Xiao Yu gave a faint smile in an attempt to let her know he was fine. Such pain was nothing for Xiao Yu. However, the mere touch of Dr. Zhao's cold and smooth fingers made Xiao Yu's face feel hot.

After applying the medicine, Dr. Zhao wrapped gauze around his back and abdomen. Then, she finally let out a relieved breath, and her slender, white fingers wiped beads of sweat from her forehead. This must have been the hardest experience she's had in her medical career.

After getting dressed, Xiao Yu smiled while saying a polite, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Be careful when you get home. Keep the wounds clean," said Dr. Zhao.

"Yes. You should be careful too; those two guys might come back to make trouble for you," said Xiao Yu worriedly.

"Don't worry. I learned some martial arts when I was in the army. I can easily handle two or three guys on my own," said Dr. Zhao lightly.

Xiao Yu was startled. Dr. Zhao was so graceful and refined. She didn't look like someone who had joined the army and who had practiced martial arts. Then again, thinking of the pale hand that was placed on his right wrist earlier, Xiao Yu believed that she must have indeed learned some martial arts.

"See you later, Dr. Zhao," said Xiao Yu as he got up and headed outside the room.

"See you," said Dr. Zhao. Seeing his back disappear out the door, she sighed. She had witnessed too many unfortunate things after she came to work in the slum area.

After leaving the hospital, Xiao Yu looked up at the sky and found that it was already afternoon, which meant Little Rain should have finished school by now. Xiao Yu headed home.

After arriving home, Xiao Yu pushed open the low wooden door, entered the house and went to the small, cramped kitchen. He then busied himself with washing rice and cooking.

Little Rain entered the wooden house in delight. Her entrance was cued by the creaking of the door.

"Brother, I'm back," exclaimed Little Rain sweetly. She then let out a surprised cry. "Ah, is that roasted duck I smell? And did you find any fortune today, Brother?"

Hearing this, Xiao Yu didn't know whether he should cry or smile. He had indeed found a fortune that day.

"I made some money today," said Xiao Yu while touching his nose reflexively with his right hand. "Now, eat up."

Hearing that, Little Rain's eyes dimmed. "You really suck at lying, Brother," she thought.

The expression in her eyes merely showed for a fleeting moment before she continued with a sweet smile, "Well, that's great! We have roasted duck to eat tonight. And whoa… it's tasty! Oh, Brother, guess what I brought you today?"

"What is it?" asked Xiao Yu. Seeing Little Rain in such a good mood made Xiao Yu feel better.

"Hehe… the coolest gaming helmet in the universe is coming." Little Rain took out a light blue gaming helmet from her bulging backpack. The gaming helmet was somewhat like a safety helmet, but its structure was much more complicated and full of advanced electronic buttons.

An ordinary gaming helmet would easily cost 10,000 yuan. Where did Little Rain get the money for it? Seeing the helmet, Xiao Yu's mood turned sour, and he demanded sharply, "Where did you get this?"

"Brother, you owe me an apology if you think I came by this dishonestly. Otherwise, Little Rain here is gonna be upset, and it won't end pretty." Little Rain folded her arms, glaring at Xiao Yu with her pretty eyes.

Xiao Yu could do nothing to Little Rain. He had no choice but to nod. "Alright, your brother apologizes. Now tell me where you got the gaming helmet."

"It was given to me by a gaming company as a part of their promotion. Every student can get one with their student ID card. This is a gaming helmet for beginners and can only be used for one month, which means it goes back after a month. And soo... your sister got one," Little Rain said while waving the gaming helmet in her hand, a content expression showing on her proud face.

This was a promotion from the Heaven and Earth Company. They were doing their best to reach every corner of the city. Though it was a one-month trial, who would want to return the helmet after playing with it for a month? The users would end up paying for them.

Becoming a professional player was an idea that had been lingering on Xiao Yu's mind. Did he even have the necessary talent? Either way, when Xiao Yu thought of his current situation, he believed he had no other choice.

Seeing the expression on Xiao Yu's face, Little Rain was aware of what her brother was thinking. Being a professional player was still better than being jobless. She believed he would succeed for sure.

"For the outstanding performance of Comrade Xiao Yu in supporting his family, a gaming helmet is now presented to Comrade Xiao Yu as an award, in hopes that Comrade Xiao Yu will continue to work hard and do an even better job in the future." Little Rain shoved the gaming helmet into Xiao Yu's chest.

"What about you?" asked Xiao Yu.

"Comrade Little Rain will study hard and improve every day, and become an outstanding successor of Socialism," said Little Rain, laughing.

Seeing the adorable expression on Little Rain's face, Xiao Yu smiled heartily while squeezing her nose slightly.

"You're such a bad brother! You squeezed my nose again and nearly took it off," said Little Rain sadly as she pouted. In actuality, she liked this affectionate move of his with all her heart. This was one of Xiao Yu's habitual moves, something he probably wouldn't stop doing.

Glancing at the light blue gaming helmet held to his chest, Xiao Yu felt quite emotional, wondering if this was his fate.

Night fell, and Xiao Yu laid in bed sleepless, rolling back and forth.

Lying next to Xiao Yu, Little Rain suddenly turned around and faced him.

"What's the matter? Go to sleep. You have to go to school tomorrow," Xiao Yu said to Little Rain while looking down at her with his lowered head.

Little Rain pursed her lips; some tears could be seen in her eyes. "Brother, I saw Madam Wu today," she said after throwing herself into his chest. "Did you get into a fight again?"

Xiao Yu opened his mouth but couldn't say anything. From the time they were young to now, he had come back home wounded so many times that he couldn't even count how many injuries he had.

Xiao Yu sighed lightly, finding his chest wet.

"You wicked girl. You wet with your tears." Xiao Yu squeezed her ear affectionately.

"That's what you get for always fighting." Little Rain pulled at Xiao Yu's clothes and wiped the tears on her face forcefully. Then, she tilted her head up defiantly.

"This little girl…" Xiao Yu didn't know if he should cry or laugh. "Okay, your brother won't fight again... okay?!"

"Yeah… yeah. You've said that many times before." After Little Rain calmed down, she laid down by Xiao Yu and placed her hand on his arm.

Looking at the place, clean face of Little Rain and thinking of the hardships she's sustained over the years, Xiao Yu was filled with a strong sense of guilt and regret. "Little Rain, your brother is useless. I'm sorry."

A string of crystal-like tears ran down Little Rain's cheeks. She turned over and muttered, "Little Rain is asleep and didn't hear that. Bad brother. You've made Little Rain cry again."

There were two days left before the release of the game. Xiao Yu put on the gaming helmet and noticed it had a computer system in it. Xiao Yu intended to make use of these two days to learn as much information about the game as possible so that he could be better prepared when the game was released.

After putting on the helmet, a computer with a light screen appeared in the virtual space. Xiao Yu had experienced this sort of device in the computer stores.

Xiao Yu searched the term, "The Legend of Enzes," and tens of billions of search results showed up on the screen. Xiao Yu clicked the more important content with his finger and started reading them. Unfortunately, no information about the game, "The Legend of Enzes," could be found. The Heaven and Earth Company had guarded their secret well; not a trace of the game had been revealed.

Xiao Yu was clueless when it came to games. At most, he had seen others play them. Fortunately, all the games nowadays were virtual games, and they were not that complicated.

Since there was no content about The Legend of Enzes, it occurred to Xiao Yu that he should learn about other games as much as he could. He began to browse all sorts of information about online games, and he watched videos of classic fights on the Internet.

The brain would stay in a sleeping state after the helmet was put on, so there was no need to worry about lack of sleep. Xiao Yu learned about games like a hungry person looking for food.

He didn't take off the helmet from his head for two days. Xiao Yu reminded himself over and over again in his mind that he wasn't entering the game for entertainment but to become a professional player. He set a higher standard for himself, and so he would have to work much harder than the regular players. He also kept telling himself that he had to perform much better than the regular players in the game.

It was finally March 25th. Xiao Yu took a look at the time and breathed in deeply. It was 7:50 p.m., five minutes away from the start of the game.

Time went by quickly. Xiao Yu saw a bright glow in front of his eyes and couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart as the game started up.

"It's been said that God Wallside created this patch of land in the distant Chaos Era. He named this land 'Enzes,' which meant paradise if translated directly from the divine language. Enzes Land became a paradise for all kinds of intelligent beings, and on this land, countless heroic epics took place…"