Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 825 Suspicion

Thumbelina is indeed kind, gentle, and pure, but that doesn't mean she has a problem with her brain, does it?

Yu Shijiu thought that if he really thought Thumbelina was stupid, then he probably wouldn't have much of a chance to live.

Well, he didn't even need to court death; he was torn to pieces by the monsters in the game instance.

While Yu Shijiu was racking his brains trying to figure out how to answer Thumbelina's question, Fang Youhua was busy discussing with Yang Hua and the others how to "escape the wedding" before it started.

Yang Hua's head was throbbing with pain. "Sister Fang, is this really going to work? Although this is a fairy tale world, it doesn't look like a good place at all..."

Qi Wei was quite dejected. "Yeah, Sister Fang, it just seems so absurd to me... The original story did mention that animals like fish, insects, and birds helped Thumbelina escape her arranged marriage... But so far, we haven't seen a single talking insect or fish, let alone a single bird!"

It wasn't that Yang Hua and Qi Wei didn't believe Fang Youhua's judgment, but rather that they felt there seemed to be no "living creatures" in the entire pond.

Those pile of rather ugly toads weren't considered "living things".

.

"...Perhaps the time hasn't come yet."

Fang Youhua pondered for a moment and said, "Don't worry, I estimate that talking birds and fish will appear soon."

"Sister Fang," Yang Hua slapped her face hard, forcing herself to concentrate, "It's not that we don't believe you, it's just that we don't have much time left..."

To be precise, it's almost one o'clock now.

It was noon, but afternoon.

Qi Wei was also very annoyed. He impatiently said to the two male players behind him who remained silent and offered no opinion on the two lotus flowers:

"Hey Hao, you two, say something! What's with all this silence? You were so assertive when you were arguing with other players in the office, but now you're all dumbfounded?"

The two male players stood on their respective lotus flowers. Upon hearing this, they seemed to be stunned for a moment. Hao Ge, one of them, blinked slowly and opened his mouth somewhat uncomfortably.

"...No, we just don't know what to say."

"Brother Hao, why is your voice so hoarse?"

Yang Hua felt a chill run down her spine from Hao Ge's voice. She scratched her cheek uncomfortably and said:

"Never mind, it's better to stay silent if you don't know what to say. Otherwise, if you say something unpleasant, it will make things difficult for us."

Qi Wei felt that Yang Hua seemed to be subtly mocking him, and his expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

"Yang Hua, don't think you can ridicule me just because you have a good relationship with Sister Fang. Yes, I admit I did say a few unkind or unfair things in the past, but Yang Hua, I didn't understand Sister Fang's abilities before. Haven't I already turned to the light? Why do you always judge me with your petty mind—"

"Dora ora ora!"

Yang Hua's head was throbbing from listening, so he quickly interrupted Qi Wei's incessant chatter: "Why do you, a grown man, talk so much nonsense?"

"Did I say anything wrong? What did I say wrong? What did I say that was a veiled attack on you?! Get this straight! I was just casually comforting Hao and the other guy, telling them not to overthink things. Is that wrong?"

"It's you!"

Yang Hua sneered, "Ever since that person was eliminated, you've been paranoid. I really think there's something wrong with your head. You're thinking about all sorts of nonsense all day long..."

Qi Wei's face flushed red from the words, and he instantly stood up and began to hurl insults at Yang Hua:

"Yang Hua! You're deliberately targeting me! I've already said no, no, no!!! Are you genuinely deaf or just pretending not to understand me?!"

"Yes, I'll say it one last time, I did think Sister Fang wasn't capable before, but that was because I didn't understand her—"

"Then I'll expose you one more time."

Yang Hua sneered, "All that talk about not understanding Sister Fang's abilities is a lie. The truth is, you just think Sister Fang is a woman and that she has some kind of ambiguous relationship with the chairman, right?"

Upon hearing Yang Hua's words, Qi Wei's expression immediately changed. He hurriedly turned his head to look at Fang Youhua, who had remained silent until now, and nervously asked:

"Sister Fang, it wasn't me! I really didn't! It was all Yang Hua's fault! It was all Yang Hua who deliberately said those things because she doesn't like me! I never thought that way! I swear, I swear I never thought that way!"

"What good is your oath?"

Yang Hua rolled her eyes: "A man's vows are just empty words, do you really think we're all idiots? You say you don't have them, so you don't? What if I said you do? What can you do about it?"

Qi Wei was so angry that his whole body turned red, and he suddenly sprang up, wanting to jump onto Yang Hua's lotus flower.

"Xiao Hua".

Fang Youhua, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up. She glanced at Qi Wei, who was eager to try jumping over the lotus flower, and the latter's irritable temper was immediately suppressed by such a light glance.

Qi Wei nervously took a step back, unable to muster any anger for a moment.

"do not talk."

Fang Youhua didn't say anything. She said to Yang Hua, "We're all teammates, we should help each other. I'll pretend I didn't hear those words this time."

Qi Wei's face turned pale, "Sister Fang..."

Yang Hua pursed her lips and reluctantly gave an "oh".

"Xiao Qi," Fang Youhua turned to look at Qi Wei, a faint smile appearing on her thin, pale face, her tone flat: "We're all here to earn more points to revive, aren't we?"

Qi Wei quickly nodded: "Yes, we came here precisely because of these few points..."

"That's why we need to unite more closely against external threats."

Fang Youhua said, "I know that in your eyes I'm just an ordinary person, so unremarkable that you wouldn't notice me in a crowd. You look down on me, and even think that I made some shady deal with the chairman—"

"Sister Fang!" Qi Wei's legs went weak, and he quickly said, "I didn't! I didn't say any of these things! I didn't say a single word! Please don't hold a grudge against me! I really didn't spread them! I just heard it from other players in the guild!"

Qi Wei was trembling with fear. He was just a player who had activated ordinary talent skills. He could barely earn some points in the game's dungeons to survive, even if he wasn't exceptional.

The reason he was able to participate in the guild tournament this time was simply because he was lucky.

Yes, I was lucky.

Eye of All Things is a guild that adheres to the principles of "fairness and justice" and "equality for all beings." All players in the guild have an equal opportunity to receive the same treatment and opportunities as veteran players.

For example, the players selected to participate in this guild competition.

In the Eye of All Things, only Fang Youhua, a truly skilled player, managed to draw a spot to participate in the guild competition.

The remaining players varied in skill level, but Yang Hua and the male player who died due to bad luck at the beginning were actually considered to be among the more skilled players.

Qi Wei was as happy as he was when he first won the lottery, but now he was just as scared—he had actually been privately participating in the discussions among the players.

No, it's fair to say that all the female players among the high-level players in guilds have held "discussion sessions" with the most malicious and disgusting speculations.

In their view, it's just a joke, just saying things without any evidence. It's all fake, so why would anyone make such a big deal out of it?

Qi Wei used to think the same way, but now... looking at Fang Youhua's eyes staring at him quietly, he felt his legs go weak and his hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Sister Fang... I really didn't... I really, really didn't lead the conversation..."

“Xiao Qi,” Fang Youhua sighed, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, “I know you guys are just joking—”

"Yes, yes, we just like to joke around, we like to crack jokes—"

"Xiao Qi, I haven't finished speaking yet."

Fang Youhua's voice turned cold.

Qi Wei immediately fell silent.

Fang Youhua cracked her knuckles in frustration. "But a joke can only be called a joke if both parties are willing and accepting of it."

Do you understand this principle?

Qi Wei's legs were trembling, and he kept nodding, "I understand, I understand, I understand..."

"Good that you understand."

Fang Youhua: "I hope you can always understand. That shouldn't be difficult, right?"

Qi Wei pecked at rice like a chick: "I know, I know! Sister Fang is definitely saying all this for my own good. I understand, I definitely understand!"

Yang Hua watched the show from the sidelines, and when he saw Qi Wei nodding, he clicked his tongue and said, "I knew you must have been talking badly about others behind their backs, otherwise why are you so scared?"

Qi Wei was so angry his heart ached, but he didn't dare to refute anything. He just lowered his head and forcibly suppressed his inner rage, taking deep breaths repeatedly.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Yang Hua immediately lost interest and turned to Fang Youhua to ask:

"By the way, Sister Fang, weren't we just talking about how to elope later? We've gone off-topic. Let's get back to the point. What do you think, Sister Fang? I've made up my mind. I'll listen to you. After all, you're the most capable, Sister Fang."

"..."

Fang Youhua pondered for a moment, then said irritably, "I still want to wait and see if any talking birds and fish will appear."

She still firmly believes that the game's dungeons won't deviate too much from the original story. Putting aside other issues, if the deviation is too great, would there still be a need for the original story?

Why doesn't Dawn Games just completely distort Thumbelina's original story? There's no reason for them to insist on "conforming to the original plot" at every plot point...

"Ok."

Although Yang Hua thought it was unlikely, he still nodded, then looked up and squinted at the sunlight peeking through the gaps in the grass, and sighed.

"It's just that we don't think we have much time left. I feel like the sun isn't as hot as it was before..."

Fang Youhua comforted her, "It's alright. If we don't see any talking birds or fish by the time the sun sets, we'll just leave on our own."

In the original story, Thumbelina was helped to escape on a lily pad by a group of animals—oh right, those kind animals also chased away the toads.

This is good news.

The good news is that if talking animals appeared, they would definitely help Thumbelina escape her arranged marriage.

But there's also the possibility of bad news...

Fang Youhua was reluctant to delve into the veracity of the "bad news"... She always believed that it was better not to be too pessimistic, otherwise even good things might get worse under the influence of pessimism day after day.

With some free time, Yang Hua would sit down in the center of the lotus pond and give Qi Wei a lecture—she did it on purpose, because Qi Wei and his gang were always whispering behind their backs and giving them, the female players, disgusting looks.

Yang Hua felt a wave of acid reflux just thinking about it; it was disgusting… She had often been stared at like this when she was still alive in the real world, by people of all ages, but the gazes were all pretty much the same.

They all make people feel nauseous and vomit.

Yang Huaguang never expected to see such people after being pulled into the Dawn Game after his death—just thinking about it makes his teeth itch.

How do these people manage to use "joking" as an excuse to cover up their despicable and disgusting thoughts?

Do you really think they're all idiots who can't tell a good joke from a bad one?

Qi Wei, feeling somewhat irritated by the teasing, glanced furtively at Fang Youhua, who sat with her eyes downcast in the center of the lotus pond, and gritted her teeth, saying:

"I already said it was a joke, why do you keep saying these things, Yang Hua..."

In the center of the lotus flower, Fang Youhua lowered her eyes and gently tore at the lotus stamens on her body, her gaze indifferent and empty.

joke?

She was all too familiar with those three words.

In reality, when she was tricked into going to that small mountain village from which she had no way to escape, she always felt like she was being "joked about".

You must be kidding me... How could she possibly be tricked into coming to a place like this?

Are you kidding me...? How could she possibly marry a man so much older than herself?

Are you kidding me...? How could she possibly be pregnant? And with that man who's about the same age as her father?

You must be joking... How could her child be a girl? Girls, girls get bullied in places like this...

Are you kidding me...? Why is her daughter not breathing...? Why is even her only solace being taken away?

...Just kidding.

Fang Youhua's teeth chattered and trembled unconsciously for a while. Just as she was finally able to pull herself away from the intense emotions that had made her eyes red, another image appeared before her blurry vision.

"My God... Is Vice Chairman Wang out of his mind?"

"Yeah, everyone was just joking that Xiaohua didn't look like him, right? And he actually... he actually did Xiaohua..."

"He really can't take a joke. He can't even see such an obvious joke... Tsk tsk tsk, if you ask me, Vice Wang can't tell the difference between a joke and a joke. He must have some problems with his brain. Otherwise, how could he do something like this?"

"...Oh, poor little flower, you died such a tragic death, your mother must be crying her eyes out..."

"I wonder if Da Hua'er can pull through. I remember her health wasn't very good after giving birth to Xiao Hua'er, right? Did she almost have a massive hemorrhage that she couldn't stop?"

"Sigh, they're all unfortunate people. If you ask me, I wish Da Hua could have another child with Vice Wang. It doesn't matter if it's a boy or a girl, as long as they can have a child, their relationship will be better..."