Inside the virtual immersion pod was a burly blond man. The man was dressed in a short-sleeved skin-tight shirt. The muscles on his exposed left arm were distinct, but the right side of his body only had half an arm.
The blond man was sleeping when he suddenly opened his eyes.
.....
Thomas woke up from his virtual immersion and immediately felt an intense hunger pangs from his stomach. His body was extremely stiff as he gently twisted his neck, producing a "creaking" sound.
He turned his head to look at the time table on the immersion pod and could not help but reveal a wry smile.
"Twenty hours."
Even though the one-minute preparation time had been eliminated through the room owner's settings a long time ago, after more than a thousand battles and a long period of time spent "scolding" the little guy, it still took a total of twenty hours to prepare.
This was the first time Thomas had been immersed in the virtual world for twenty hours. His body and mind were exhausted, but for some reason, he felt strength constantly surging from his chest.
"Shi Xiaobai, this name. It looks like he's from China."
Thomas muttered to himself as he crawled out of the immersion pod. The food that had been prepared for a long time was almost completely cold, but having starved for twenty hours, he was in no mood to be picky. He picked up a fork with his left hand and stabbed a piece of steak into his mouth before quickly chewing.
Putting down the fork, he used his left hand to pour a glass of expensive red wine. He took a sip and found it mellow and slightly astringent, but this time, he found it somewhat bitter for some baffling reason.
"This bottle of red wine is worth a head."
Thomas sighed lightly.
The bounty of an F-class criminal's head was only enough to buy a bottle of such red wine.
Those Heroes who claimed to be righteous but were unwilling to risk their lives to fight the calamity fiend astral beasts would use the Hero's salary they received every month to feed their families. Therefore, the money to buy wine was naturally exchanged with the heads of these criminals.
Offering a bounty on criminals was evil.
Destroying evil in exchange for a few bottles of red wine was … very heroic.
"So the taste of red wine is bitter."
Thomas put down the wine glass and suddenly took out his cell phone. After tapping on the screen a few times, he entered his contacts page. His finger gently hovered over a particular name.
After a moment of hesitation, he pressed down hard.
It was a number that had not been called for twenty years. He believed that he would never attempt to call it again in his life.
"Du … Du … Du …"
The rhythmic ringtone resembled his heartbeat.
"Hello, who is this?"
The next second after the call was connected, a more mature but still gentle and magnetic voice entered Thomas's ears. Thomas's breathing paused for a moment.
"It's me, Thomas."
Thomas's voice suddenly became a little hoarse. His throat had clearly been moistened by red wine, but it still produced such a hoarse voice.
"Ha, so it's Junior Brother. I haven't contacted you for a long time. It's been twenty years, right?"
There was a hint of surprise and joy in the voice on the other end of the line.
"Yes, it's been twenty years, Senior Yaris."
Thomas muttered in his heart. To be precise, it was twenty years, one month, and seven days.
.....
Once upon a time, he and Yaris attended the same school.
Back then, Yaris was an amusing senior who was mocked by his classmates for cultivating Crab Steps. As for him, he was a naive junior who followed behind Yaris.
One day, he said to Yaris, "Senior, one day, I will surpass you."
Yaris replied with a smile, "Then I'll have to run faster. If I'm caught by Junior, I'll lose face!"
Thomas believed that if Yaris continued stubbornly using Crab Steps, he would eventually surpass Yaris.
After graduation, the two of them joined different Hero organizations and began their own lives. However, their deep friendship made them frequently contact each other and meet frequently. They would compare their recent developments and catch up with each other.
However, the two intersecting paths finally separated on a particular day twenty years ago. They no longer intersected.
On that day, the twenty-five-year-old Thomas lost his right hand during a meteor shower rescue. He lost the right hand that he was so proud of to wield a gun.
As for the twenty-seven-year-old Yaris, he had raised his Crab Steps to the "World Apart" realm during that meteor shower rescue. He was praised as a genius that shocked the world.
After that day, Thomas could no longer catch up to Yaris. Soon, he could not even see Yaris's back.
.....
"Are you doing well?"
Yaris's soft greeting pulled Thomas back from his memories. He could not help but give a wry smile. Having lost his right hand, other than relying on his Psionic Soul Realm seventh level strength to kill some low-level bounty criminals, he could only experience the false satisfaction of having a right hand in the virtual world. Would he … be doing well?
"Yes, I'm doing very well." Thomas replied softly.
The person on the other end of the line sighed before falling into silence.
Thomas exhaled lightly and suddenly said, "The reason why I'm calling you this time is because I met a little guy … He is very similar to you."
"Oh? Tell me about it. "
"Yes, it's a person from China named Shi Xiaobai. He uses Crab Steps like you. Heh, that comical look reminds me of … of …"
Thomas's throat seemed to choke on a fishbone. After a moment of silence, he continued, "He uses Crab Steps like you, and he said the words you once said. He said that he likes to fail …"
"Then there's Unrivaled Heroes. Senior should have heard of it. Yes, it's a … boring game … I met him in that game …"
"Yes, you are right. I was a noob torturing dog once … alright, I admit, I've been a noob many times …"
"Senior, that's not the main point. The main point is that the little guy was shot in the head by me … Sigh, I admit that torturing a noob is boring, but there's no need for you to laugh so exaggeratedly …"
"And the main point is not the headshot, but the fact that he did not quit the game … What? You say he's stupid? That's right, he's an idiot … However, he's not an ordinary idiot … "
“.....”
Time passed bit by bit. Unknowingly, their phone call had lasted for more than an hour.
Due to Yaris's various interruptions, Thomas had to go through a lot of trouble to finish telling the story of his encounter in Unrivaled Heroes. He finally concluded, "In short, I feel that he is very similar to you. Of course, this might be a misconception because 'all the jokers in the world are equally stupid'."
On the other end of the line, Yaris suddenly fell into silence after hearing this teasing that did not contain any ill intent.
"Senior, I've said it for so long. You should have some thoughts, right?"
Thomas grumbled in a natural tone. Despite having spent twenty hours in virtual immersion, he should have been mentally exhausted, but Thomas felt surprisingly clear-headed. He was inexplicably excited.
"Are you saying that the little guy named Shi Xiaobai is still full of fighting spirit after failing more than a thousand times?" Yaris suddenly said.
"Yea!" A smile suffused across Thomas's lips.
"He can still persevere after being cursed by your venomous tongue a few hundred times?" Yaris continued asking.
"Yea!" Thomas's tone turned slightly heavier.
"He was misled by your bullsh * t theory and was still able to understand the quintessence of the divine crab?" Yaris's voice had a hint of incredulity in it.
"Yea … What? What do you mean by bullsh * t theory? Alright … I admit that my theory doesn't seem to match reality … but practice is the only standard for testing truth. Shi Xiaobai has proven that I'm correct. "Thomas could no longer hide the smile in his voice.
"Heh heh … You said that him gaining insight into Crab Phantom was also true?"
"Yea!"
"Forcing you to use Wraith Falsehood was also true?"
"Yea!"
"That arrogant monologue at the end was also true?"
"Yea!"
"Alien Thomas, is' Yea 'the common language of your planet?"
"Yea!"
The moment Thomas said that, he immediately realized something was amiss. A dark cloud hung over his head as he said in a speechless manner, "Senior, do you know how old you are now?"
Yaris chuckled and suddenly fell into silence. Moments later, he said, "Thomas, you said that child resembles me, right?"
Thomas said softly, "Yes, he reminds me of the past you."
"You are wrong, Thomas."
Thomas was stunned. Wrong? So it was just wishful thinking on his part?
Yaris suddenly said, "Do you know how many times I have failed to challenge Teacher?"
Thomas was stunned. He only remembered that it was many, many, many times, but he did not know how many times Yaris had failed miserably at the hands of his teacher.
"Fifty-one times! It's only fifty-one times! "
Yaris said the answer himself.
Only fifty-one times? Compared to that rascal's more than a thousand times, it seemed …
That's not right!
"No, that's different. Every time you fail to challenge Teacher, you will be seriously injured. As for that rascal, he will fail every few dozen seconds. Furthermore, in the virtual world, he does not need to suffer physical pain … he …"
Thomas hurriedly tried to analyze the difference between the virtual world and reality. He wanted to explain that numbers alone could not represent the weight of failure.
"I gave up on my own! Thomas, on the fifty-first time, I chose to give up on my own accord! "
Yaris suddenly interrupted Thomas and said loudly, "I have always regretted choosing to give up. If I had continued challenging and failed a hundred or two hundred times, if I could constantly endure failure, then I would have been able to cultivate Crab Steps to the 'World Apart' realm earlier. That day twenty years ago, I might have … been able to protect your right hand … but I didn't … The reality is that I chose to give up on the fifty-first failure!"
"Yaris!"
"Thomas! I said that I like failure … That's not true. I hate failure more than anyone else … The reason why I can endure fifty-one failures is because I … desire success more than anyone else. However, my limit is … is only fifty-one times! "
"Yaris …"
"Do you understand? Thomas, that rascal is different from me. He … is clearly much stronger than me. "
"Yaris …"
"Thomas, do you hate me?"
"Yaris …"
Thomas was so choked with sobs that he could not complete the three words. His left hand trembled as he covered his ear with his cellphone. Hence, having lost his right hand, he no longer had the other hand to wipe the tears that flowed down his cheeks.
"Thomas, come visit me when you have the time. Oh, let's do it tonight. Your sister-in-law's culinary skills are really excellent. I'll get her to prepare your favorite red braised pork."
"Okay …"
"Heh heh, Thomas, you are indeed from planet En."
"Yea."
(PS: Author: "Vote for recommendation". Everyone: "Yea."
Author: "Tip Alliance Master". Everyone: "Yea."
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