Room 615.
The sudden arrival of the man in military uniform stirred up quite a commotion.
But once the man left and the dorm door shut, the curious onlookers had no choice but to disperse.
At this moment.
Inside Room 615.
Light, Old Cui, Brother Gang, Yu Fei—the four of them sit in a circle with their chairs.
In the middle is a square box.
The box has already been opened by Light, revealing a gray-blue helmet with a somewhat sci-fi appearance.
"You're saying this helmet is worth hundreds of thousands?"
Brother Gang stared at the helmet for a long time, half-convinced, looking at Old Cui.
Old Cui said nothing. From the moment he recognized the helmet, his face has been flushed with excitement.
Yu Fei, who's more quiet, just observed the helmet carefully, as if searching for something.
But since the helmet belongs to Light, unless he speaks up, no one dares to touch it.
"Do you know how to use this helmet?"
"Does it need to connect to some network cable or something?"
Light pondered for a moment and looked at Old Cui.
"No network cable needed!"
"Just wear it and you can log into Wasteland!"
Old Cui's livestream watch-time clearly paid off—he hit the nail on the head.
Light nodded, but didn't rush to put on the helmet and log into that so-called Wasteland game.
Right now, he's starting to feel something's off.
Even though the officer's visit wasn't because he became 'Nanny Superhero', but…
This thing is worth hundreds of thousands—how can they just give it away?
According to the officer, it was arranged 'by the higher-ups'.
It's not hard to guess who 'the higher-ups' are.
Most likely, it's Senior Sister Yin.
Still…
Why would she randomly gift such an expensive gaming helmet?
Besides.
Is this Wasteland really as realistic as Old Cui described?
Could it be that the system he just bound is somehow connected to this game?
...
All these questions lingered in Light's mind.
Bzzz—
Suddenly, Light's phone on the table started vibrating.
He checked—it was a friend request from 'Yin Yao'.
As soon as he accepted, Senior Sister Yin sent a message——
[Did the helmet arrive?]
Light thought for a moment and replied——
[Got it.]
[Why are you giving this to me?]
The chat fell silent.
After a while.
A new message finally popped up.
[This game's pretty fun, but I can't clear the levels solo.]
[I was thinking of inviting you to join. If we team up, maybe it'll be easier to pass.]
[As for the helmet's price, don't worry about it. That money doesn't matter.]
Light put his phone down without replying.
A lot has happened today.
System, Yin Yao, gaming helmet…
All this, for some reason, made Light feel like a storm was brewing.
Five minutes later.
After thinking it through, Light decided to try the helmet.
Ten minutes later.
Under Old Cui's guidance, Light put on the helmet.
"I just double-checked, the helmet already activated the game code."
"So all you need to do is put it on, create your character, and enter the game!"
Old Cui's words were still ringing in his ears.
But as soon as Light wore the helmet, everything went dark.
Ding——
A crisp mechanical sound made Light jolt awake.
[Do you want to log into Wasteland World and start doomsday survival from scratch?]
A dialog box popped up.
Below that, two options appeared——
[Yes] [No].
Light was just about to point his thoughts toward [Yes].
But right then, another line of text flashed on the screen.
This line…
From the system!
[Conflict program detected. Please immediately cease contact with the conflicting program!]
Right after that.
Transparent panels popped up with flashing red exclamation marks.
[Warning, warning!]
[Please stop contact immediately!]
[This program conflicts with the system program!]
[Forcing binding may risk system errors!]
...
...
"Old Yu?"
"If you don't use the helmet, can you lend it to me?"
Old Cui stared in shock at the gray helmet Light just took off and handed to him.
"Yeah."
Light nodded and, after thinking, added:
"I'm not really into games."
"Easily get 3D motion sickness."
"You play first. If Yin Yao needs me to return it, just give it back then."
As soon as he finished.
Pfft——
"Dad!"
The huge surprise overwhelmed Old Cui so much, he actually gave Light the ultimate brotherly salute—calling him dad!
"Hiss——"
Light sucked in a breath and quickly helped Old Cui up.
On the other side.
Brother Gang and Yu Fei's gazes at Light changed again and again.
In the end.
There was a strange respect in their looks.
Both of them, including Old Cui, figured Light realized how much Old Cui wanted to play, so he gave up and lent it to him first.
Little did they know.
Light only gave it up because the system warned him.
"I'm heading out for a bit, might come back late. Don't lock the door."
Light shoved the helmet into Old Cui's hands, stood up, and turned to say.
Once finished.
Old Cui patted his chest and replied:
"Don't worry, Old Yu!"
"I'll guard the place tonight, no matter when you get back, even if you don't, I'll stay all night!"
...
...
Light walked out of the dorm building.
The night was getting deeper and the evening breeze finally lost some of its heat, becoming cooler.
Light kept his head down, walking along Jiangcheng University's tree-lined avenue.
Honestly, he had no real plans—just wanted to clear his head.
"That Wasteland game is not simple."
This was Light's first conclusion.
If it triggered a warning from his system, it's definitely not a normal game.
"Could it actually be like those web novels, where the game invades reality, or the Fourth Calamity?"
Light let his mind run wild, boldly imagining.
But…
He had no way to check those ideas for now.
Besides.
The second conclusion——
"I can't play Wasteland."
Since, for Light, the system is pretty good as is; the bugs work great, and he can easily farm it.
If the program gets messed up, who knows what'll happen—if he ends up crossing over to Wasteland World, that'd be really f'ed.
"So what's the most important thing I need to do now?"
Light stopped and asked himself.
Soon.
He came to a conclusion——
"Farm the system, rack up Wasteland Points!"
"Superman, Superman, and more Superman!"
Thinking about it like this.
Light suddenly felt clear-headed, and all the messy thoughts and worries disappeared.
Overthinking only breeds trouble.
Take action, and there's nothing to fear.
Just then.
"Woof!"
"Woof woof!"
In the night.
From a distance came a series of dog barks.
He looked toward the sound.
At the end of the avenue, a small black mutt was staring right at him.
Its eyes glowed green in the night…