Song Xu released a sigh of relief as she looked at the new prompt that appeared on the system panel.
[Screen-Peeking Bear activated. Monitoring range: 10×10. Automatic alarm will sound upon dangerous intrusion.]
At the same time, in the upper left corner of her field of vision—where the game map usually appeared—a small, circular video feed suddenly emerged.
Whenever her consciousness swept over it, the image could instantly magnify.
Not only could she see Baobao and herself inside the three-dimensional room, but she could even see Old Man Sun upstairs hanging clothes on the balcony.
The young couple downstairs were arguing.
The old lady next door was taking a shower…
Song Xu hastily shrunk the monitoring display.
Her heart thudded against her chest.
It didn’t just have visuals—it had audio too! This Screen-Peeking Bear was truly defies heaven!
50 points was well worth it.
With this, she could check on her daughter at any time even after entering the game.
If her daughter woke up startled in the middle of the night, she could notice it immediately.
After coaxing her daughter to play with toys for a while, she turned on the television.
Ever since she was tiny, Baobao didn’t care for cartoons, but her eyes would lock onto the TV the moment News Simulcast came on.
Setting yesterday’s news to play, she walked into the kitchen.
Taking out the cooking pot, she put ingredients inside.
[Noodles + Egg + Edible Salt + Water + Green Onion = Unknown Cuisine, Deliciousness: ???]
She calmly closed the lid.
A few minutes later, a new dish came out of the pot.
[Egg Drop Noodle Soup]
[Deliciousness: ★]
[Attributes: Data Error]
Song Xu ended up using all the large mixing basins in the house.
She cooked egg drop noodle soup continuously for two hours, filling four whole large basins.
Less than three hours remained of her sober duration.
She added water directly to the rice and steamed a massive pot of rice.
She didn’t stay idle while the rice was steaming either.
She neatly cleaned up the room, disinfecting and mopping the floor.
She stripped off all the bedsheets and quilt covers in Liang Yan’s room to prepare for washing.
Looking at the dirt stains on the sheets, as well as some dark-red dried bloodstains, Song Xu grew increasingly worried in her heart.
Clearly, it was the consciousness entering the game while the physical body stayed in reality—so where did these mud spots and bloodstains come from?
Or did he bring some filthy items back out with him?
Song Xu abruptly stood up and opened the adjacent wardrobe.
Piled inside were thick winter clothes; she pulled them all out, not missing even the corners, searching through them meticulously.
There was nothing.
Pulling open the nightstand drawer, she dumped out the messy odds and ends inside in one go, finding nothing out of the ordinary.
Still refusing to give up, she lay flat on her stomach, feeling along every inch under the bed.
At last!
Balized in the corner was a crumpled roll of paper.
She hastily unrolled it.
It turned out to be laboratory test reports.
Song Xu knitted her brows and picked up the top sheet.
Her gaze swept over the name field: Song Xu.
Her heart thudded.
Diagnosis Date: Three months ago.
Preliminary Diagnosis: Persistent headaches, blurred vision, occasional dizziness.
Exam Item: Contrast-Enhanced Brain MRI Scan.
Diagnostic Impression: Highly suspected Glioblastoma (GBM). Further confirmation recommended.
Song Xu’s hands began to tremble slightly.
She had been to the hospital before, but what the doctor told her was not this result at all!
The few sheets underneath were expert consultation opinions.
Every vocabulary term was more terrifying than the last: Confirmed late-stage brain cancer, extremely high surgical risk, extremely poor prognosis, expected survival period about 4-6 months…
On the last sheet was Liang Yan’s trembling signature: Patient’s family member informed; requesting conservative treatment, temporarily no hospitalization.
The date was right on the week before he became obsessed with the game.
Buzz!
Something seemed to explode inside Song Xu’s brain, and the blood throughout her body instantly rushed straight to her head!
The paper in her hands trembled rustlingly, nearly impossible to hold.
Late-stage brain cancer?
Herself?
Hadn’t she had headaches just because she stayed up late and suffered from a bit of neurasthenia?
Hadn’t she been weak and lacking energy just because she had a little anemia—wouldn’t taking some medicine fix it?
Liang Yan hadn’t mentioned a single word!
Song Xu stumbled as she ran to the living room and unzipped her backpack.
Soon, her hand touched that already emptied ferrous sulfate bottle.
Clutching it tightly in her palm, her tears could no longer be held back.
She had said before that this pill was quite special, each small pill having a sweet aroma in the mouth after taking it.
Liang Yan had smiled and said it was a newly released medicine with better efficacy.
She could already picture Liang Yan meticulously replacing the pills inside.
That was why her brain cancer hadn’t worsened these past few months, and she even felt somewhat better at times.
It was Liang Yan.
He must have been risking his life day and night inside that dangerous game!
Song Xu’s legs went weak, and she slid down along the sofa onto the floor.
Tears poured out in torrents.
He actually still found time every morning to cook breakfast for her.
Even on the morning he went missing, he was still urging her to drink porridge.
Thinking about it now, that porridge probably had things mixed in as well.
“You idiot, you bastard!”
She murmured, “I’ve already entered the game, why haven’t you appeared yet? Where on earth did you go…”
The ending theme song for News Simulcast drifted out from the bedroom.
She wiped away the tear tracks on her face with force.
She couldn’t frighten her daughter.
Liang Yan didn’t give up, and neither would she!
Her illness, her daughter’s illness, and Liang Yan’s whereabouts—as long as she entered the game, there was hope for everything.
Glancing at the time, two and a half hours remained of her sober duration.
She walked briskly to the kitchen and gathered the steamed rice into the Large Stomach Bag.
Returning to the bedroom, she gently picked up her daughter—who was rubbing her eyes—into her arms, gently swaying her.
“Baobao be good, hold the little bear and go to sleep.” She pressed against her daughter’s soft crown, “Mommy will definitely find Daddy.”
Understanding only half of it, Baobao let out a tiny yawn.
Song Xu carefully placed her back into the crib and covered her with the quilt.
Lying beside the bed, she held her daughter’s tiny hand and brought up the system panel.
Her gaze landed on that option of whether to return to the game.
Yes!
Spinning around and around, Song Xu snapped her eyes open.
The straw shed before her eyes was swaying, and croaking sounds echoed from outside continuously.
Her heart tightened, and she lifted a corner of the door curtain.
Slap!
A tongue was as fast as lightning, carrying a fishy wind as it whipped violently against Song Xu’s left arm!
“Ah!”
As if poked by a dense array of tiny needles, a bleeding red mark appeared on her arm.
Health Points -10.
Song Xu recoiled backward violently, her back against the straw shed.
She raised her head to look at the status of the straw shed.
[Simple Straw Shed: Durability: 23/100]
What was going on?
When building her shelter, she had clearly chosen a spot free of monsters.
Pulling out her bow and arrows, she pried open a corner of the door curtain.
Outside, the campfire had already gone out.
In the morning light, five Red-Eyed Toads were surrounding her straw shed, continuously extending and retracting their long tongues to whip the shed.
These were the green-named toads she had tamed previously!
Right now, the names above their heads had turned red, and the favorability showed 5/100.
So favorability could drop.
Song Xu understood in an instant.
The effect of ‘A Wise Person Submits to Fate’ was not permanent.
Once not fed for a long time, they would turn traitor.
Bang!
The straw shed shook, its durability falling to [19/100]!
Song Xu swiftly pulled out a portion of steamed rice, grabbing a piece and kneading it into a rice ball.
Aiming straight at the wide-open mouth outside, she threw it right in.
Whoosh!
The rice ball was accurately stuffed right into the throat of the toad.