DTTM 2

Chapter 2: A Terrifying Stranger

Rui Rui, whose full name is Wei Jiarui and nickname is “Gold-Eating Beast”, is five years old this year. He is about the same age as Zong Yanlei’s twins and is considered my adopted son.

His mother, Wei Nuan, and his uncle, Wei Bao, used to live next door to me; they were siblings and Wo people, who depended on each other for survival. After I went to the Zong’s house, I was really worried about my grandmother, so I asked the siblings to take care of her whenever they had time. Wei Bao looked like a big, burly man with tattoos all over his arms, but he was warm-hearted and straightforward. He patted his chest and said he would take care of her. For the next nine years, until my grandmother passed away, he kept his word and took very good care of the old lady.

Later, Wei Nuan got pregnant by a scumbag and died in childbirth. Wei Bao was furious and beat the scumbag severely, resulting in a six-year prison sentence… Naturally and helplessly, this is how it turned out. I adopted a child that no one else wanted and took on the role of a “single father”.

Fortunately, although Wei Jiarui’s biological father is from Penglai, he completely inherited Wei Nuan’s brown hair and red eyes, making him look exactly like a native of Wo. In the eyes of the people of Penglai, we are practically identical, which avoids a lot of daily troubles.

I bent down, pulled over a corner of a blanket, and covered the little chubby boy’s belly button on the bed. After observing him carefully for a while and seeing that he showed no signs of waking up, I tiptoed towards the door.

Half an hour later, I drove the delivery truck used by the seedling nursery to the “internet cafe” that I had arranged to meet with Xiang Ze.

Xiang Ze had already arrived. I looked at the room number he had sent me on my terminal and quickly found him. In the not-so-large room, there were two dark gray neuro-navigation pods lying side by side. They were both very old models. In Baiyujing, they probably wouldn’t even be used in the worst internet cafes in the lower city. But in Zengcheng, this inconspicuous rural town, they could only be described as being in relatively new condition.

“Make it quick, I have to go before my son wake up.” I reiterated to Xiang Ze before the hatch closed.

After a brief period of darkness, the instruments inside the neuro-navigation pod flickered, emitting a faint light like stars. I slowly closed my eyes, waiting for the neural tentacles to connect.

With a “click,” I felt a cool touch on the back of my neck. When I opened my eyes again, I was in a vast sky. There was nothing around me except for layers of floating clouds.

The neuro-navigation pod accurately scans various physical characteristics and projects them into the metaverse, including appearance, hair color, and even clothing. What the real world looks like, the metaverse will also look like. Therefore, I am still wearing the same white T-shirt as in the real world.

After shaking hands, my nervous system was functioning well. I quickly entered the coordinates sent by Xiang Ze, and the next second, a metal door covered in graffiti appeared in front of me.

Staring at the chewing gum on the doorknob, I hesitated for a moment, but still grabbed it.

“Welcome to the ‘Hot Summer’ Holo-Global Terrain Challenge! I’m your host today, WINK. The competition starts in one hour and twenty minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets if you’re ready, and go to the bathroom if you’re not. Let’s get moving!”

The loud music, accompanied by the host’s impassioned words, flooded my ears, and I subconsciously frowned, finding it a bit noisy.

Every time I come to the metaverse, I feel a sense of disorientation. It’s so realistic that even the unpleasant mixed body odor in the air feels so real.

“Jiang Man! What are you daydreaming about? Here!” Xiang Ze suddenly jumped out, hooked his arm around my neck and pulled me forward. “Hurry up, the staff are urging the navigator to get in position.”

Today’s competition is considered a medium-to-large scale in the underground GTC, with quite a few people attending, but it still can’t compare to official events, and the format is much simpler and more straightforward.

One hour before the race is reserved for navigators to survey the course. Each navigator will be taken by staff to write down their route on the race map. They are given only one hour; after that, they must come out regardless of whether they have finished writing down their route.

The race is on a muddy road after the rain, in a forest setting, a single road from beginning to end with no forks, and the design isn’t complicated. As long as Xiang Ze drives exactly according to my route guide and avoids the dangerous traps, our chances of winning will be higher than any other team present.

“Hello, I’ve finished writing down my route.” I closed the route book and gestured for the staff to escort me out.

The other person paused, somewhat surprised: “There are still twenty minutes left, aren’t you going to take a look?”

I shook my head: “No need.”

I’ve taken notes of everything I need to; staying any longer would just be a waste of time.

Although the competition venue was in a cloudy daytime mode, the time in the metaverse was consistent with the outside world, and the competition officially started at 11:11 pm.

A total of sixteen cars participated in the race. The starting positions were determined by a draw before the race, and we were lucky enough to draw the first row.

“We’re on a winning streak today, I feel like we’re going to win.” Xiang Ze tightened his seatbelt, his voice still audible even through his helmet, “Haha, all of you get out of the way, I’m going to be the brightest star on the court today!”

I spread the route book out on my lap. Although my thoughts coincided with his, I still reminded him to take it easy. He gave a perfunctory “I know,” but I didn’t know if he really understood.

The sixteen vehicles were of different colors. Looking in the rearview mirror, each vehicle resembled a hungry wild beast, growling softly, poised to pounce and be the first to capture its prey at the sound of a whistle.

“Snap!” As I lowered my goggles, the red traffic light directly in front of me went out, and the sixteen cars roared and quickly separated from each other, shooting off from the starting line like arrows released from a bow.

Xiang Ze and I were in a relatively leading position due to our starting advantage. Although Xiang Ze was not very good at driving on muddy and flooded roads, sacrificing a little speed was not a big deal as long as my route guide was accurate enough.

“Left 1 immediately follows a 200-meter-wide trap road, proceed in a serpentine pattern…”

In the fierce competition, the instructions could only be summarized in the simplest language. Almost the second after I finished reading the instructions, we arrived at that wide road full of traps.

A row of red and white pillars stood on the dark brown road surface, each of similar height and spaced at the same distance. At the top of the first pillar, the type of trap was even thoughtfully marked – a minefield.

“You all need to be careful. Even the slightest bit of pressure on the tires can cause a chain reaction of explosions,” the staff member who was guiding me during the track inspection said with a beaming smile, as if the traps weren’t intentionally designed that way.

“Damn beast!” Xiang Ze cursed as he weaved through the field pillars upon seeing the dangerous skull symbol.

Whether it’s an official or underground competition, GTC has a dreaded rule: pain sensation must be 100% preserved.

In other words, even though there may be no visible wound in a crash during a race, the pain from a fracture is no less intense. Even if the driver is immediately ejected from the race, the nerve pain can linger for days. In severe cases, it wouldn’t be surprising if the pain caused death.

However, this is also one of the key reasons for GTC’s enduring popularity, danger, excitement, and potentially fatal pain.

“50-meter high jump on a small hill…”

There was a small slope 50 meters ahead, and after passing the slope, we needed to make a high jump. Our car and the car in front of us jumped one after the other, but the car in front, due to the impact between its chassis and the ground before the jump, tilted in mid-air and fell into the rolling river.

As our four wheels landed steadily on the opposite bank, a loud splash came from behind us. Xiang Ze gripped the steering wheel, looked ahead, and let out a long sigh of relief.

We overtook the remaining two cars very easily. With a third of the distance to go, we were in a commanding lead. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the championship trophy would be ours.

But an unexpected event soon followed.

As we sped through a tunnel about 20km long, the next instant we saw daylight, like a ghost, a car appeared behind us without us even noticing.

That car had a purple paint job with fluorescent green stripes, it was flashy. Not to mention this race, I don’t remember ever seeing it in any of the previous races.

I quickly searched my memory and found that it wasn’t in the first or second row when it departed; it must have been further back.

Despite starting at a disadvantage, they somehow managed to get to second place…

“Damn!” Xiang Ze was so surprised that his gaze had strayed from what was in front of him for too long, causing him to lose his bearings considerably. He turned his gaze back, and my body swayed slightly.

To avoid being noticed, the purple car didn’t even turn on its lights in the tunnel, relying on our light to drive the entire 20km through the tunnel.

I swallowed dryly and quickly pulled my attention back: “Right 3 is long, narrows, then downhill from 50 to 100…”

The purple car was sticking to us very closely, and several times I felt that the other car was about to overtake us, but Xiang Ze was always able to pull away in time.

We pulled each other along for 20km. With the finish line just ahead, Xiang Ze and I were on edge.

As long as we maintain the status quo, we can win.

Neuro-navigation pods perfectly simulates all the senses one can feel in reality: limbs wrapped tightly in racing suits, hot and humid breathing, and the rumbling thunder behind the dark clouds overhead.

The rear wheel rolled over a muddy puddle, splashing mud and water that stained the windshield of the car behind us like ink, temporarily obscuring the view of the vehicle behind.

I glanced at Xiang Ze. GTC has no taboos; there are only strategies to achieve victory, not despicable ones. Even in official tournaments, this is the same. But this is the first time I’ve seen him use such low-class methods.

In the past, when watching TV broadcasts in the seedling nursery, whenever he saw a driver deliberately using such tactics, he would always curse and swear, repeatedly insulting the other driver’s ancestors.

The windshield was stained and the wipers couldn’t clean it for a while. The purple car was left behind again. Xiang Ze laughed boisterously, his face full of the satisfaction of his successful scheme.

With only two pages left in the route book and no other competitors besides the purple car, I relaxed and my voice became less tense.

“Full speed left 4 then short 40…” I turned the page and was about to read out the next instruction when I suddenly caught a glimpse of a purple figure rushing towards us in the rearview mirror.

With visibility obstructed, the other party abandoned their previous nonchalant and docile demeanor, and their driving style suddenly became wild.

“Bang!”

The purple car rammed into our side and rear, causing our entire vehicle to veer to one side. Fortunately, Xiang Ze managed to stabilize the direction in time, preventing us from crashing into the mountainside.

The impact slowed us down, and the purple car took the opportunity to catch up, almost running alongside us.

The corner of my left eye twitched, my breathing quickened, and my throat tightened again: “50 left 3…” I only got halfway through my sentence when I saw the purple car strangely pull away to the right. I shouted, “Watch..!”

The last part of the “Watch out” was bitten between my teeth. My tongue stung, and the taste of blood filled my mouth. Just then, the purple car slammed into us again with such force that the car door beside me was deformed.

“Ughhhh…” Xiang Ze groaned, trying to steady himself, but he failed this time and inevitably scraped against the mountain wall while going around the bend.

With the engine roaring, the purple car overtook us from the outside. As it cornered at high speed, the stones it kicked up flew at us like shrapnel, leaving small dents on the windshield, as if retaliating against the thick “mud bath” they had just been given.

Xiang Ze was panting as he hurriedly adjusted the direction, the rocks scraping against the metal body of the car with a series of ear-piercing noises.

Seeing his anxiety, I tried to calm him down and said, “Don’t panic, there’s still hope.”

That’s what I said, but I knew very well that the race was unpredictable. In just a few seconds, the opponent could drive several kilometers. If nothing unexpected happened, we probably wouldn’t be able to win the championship.

As it turned out, we ultimately failed to catch up with the purple car. Xiang was out of sorts and was even overtaken by another car behind, losing even second place.

After crossing the finish line, there was a huge viewing platform where people could park. Xiang parked his car behind the purple car and then slumped dejectedly onto the steering wheel.

I’m not particularly competitive; even third place comes with a prize, so it doesn’t make much difference to me.

The car was already stuffy, and with Xiang Ze’s oppressive atmosphere, it was almost suffocating. I opened the door to get some fresh air, just as the driver of the purple car got out as well.

The wind whipped up the dark clouds, and a strong, fishy smell seeped into my nostrils through the gaps in my helmet, while my mouth was filled with the taste of rust.

The man had his back to me. He had broad shoulders and long legs and was wearing a white racing suit. I estimated his height to be over 190 cm. After taking off his helmet, he revealed short, sweaty silver hair.

“It’s not as interesting as you make it out to be.” The other person had a lazy, deep voice, and with just a few words, male hormones were practically overflowing.

“It’s an amateur race, so it’s bound to be a bit worse than a professional one. Just consider it a relaxing and stress-relieving session before the new season.” The blond navigator in the passenger seat got out of the car from the other side, holding his helmet in his hand and taking off half of his racing suit to reveal a black quick-drying shirt underneath.

The silver-haired man laughed upon hearing this: “Indeed, if you treat it like teasing a dog, it’s not so boring.” After saying that, he looked behind him.

A gentle breeze ruffled his hair, revealing his clean, fair face, which exuded arrogance. It was undoubtedly a face that perfectly matched his beautiful voice, with well-defined features, deep-set eyes, and everything in perfect proportion. But what was most amazing was his eyes.

When I first saw him, I thought his eyes looked just like River Pine Stones, but I don’t know if it’s because he’s gotten older, but now most of his irises are a light blue, like gloomy clouds in the sky, and the ring near his pupils is brownish-green. It doesn’t look like pine needles, but rather like moss covering rocks that is dry and lacking water. It has lost some of its vibrancy and gained a sense of composure.

A deafening roar, followed by a muffled clap of thunder from the clouds, made my heart, which had been gradually calming, pound again, and caused his jewel-like eyes to blaze with an even more astonishing light. It was as if… a wild beast, taking advantage of the bad weather, lay on a beam in a dilapidated temple in the wilderness, waiting to pounce on its prey in the shadows.

When I left the Zong family, Zong Yanlei was bedridden, his body shattered and covered in sores. Years later, he was standing in front of me perfectly fine, and I found him to be a terrifying stranger.