37 Dust Bunny

Ye Delun felt very awkward.

[The character 'Zao Xing' is watching you from afar!]

He stared down at the message with a vague expression. They were still enclosed in his room, where was that guy peeking at him from?

[The character "Zao Xing' is finding the way you try and search for him adorable!]

[+20]

[The favorability has already hit the max on this character, it can not go further!]

"..."

'Alright, this is a little creepy.'

He's all up for a good scare, but this? No. No, I don't think so.

"Lunch? Why would he be making lunch? Is that supposed to mean something?" Yang Lan said beside him.

"That means we got to meet back up with Yin Meng and make our way back home." Shen Lin nonchalantly adjusted the straps of her bag.

"Right, let's hurry out of here." Li Yusheng added on.

They headed back out the corridor and the lit room behind.

"Let's just head back to the main room. We can wait for the other three there."

Shen Lin naturally took the lead and stood at the front.

"It's weird how it's already time for lunch, time passed by so quickly." Yang Lan tried to make conversation.

Ye Delun sniffed and felt his own stomach grumble and the mention of lunch. "I'm hungry..."

Shen Lin laughed at him a little and responded to Yang Lan, "Right. I didn't even notice. If I didn't see the sun out the window as proof I would have thought he was lying." She pulled a granola bar out of one of her many pockets and gave it to Ye Delun. Ye Delun thanked her with star-filled eyes. "But it was good that he said something. I have a feeling we shouldn't be here for much longer anyway."

Ye Delun got lost in the conversation and passed most of his attention on the granola bar. It was chocolate chip, which was coincidently his favored flavor. Eating it reminded him of how long it had been since he had actually eaten a meal. There were the cookies that he had and that bento but that was all he could remember.

The thought of food made him crave meat.

Something nice and juicy. Very tender and easy to chew. Something that would melt in your mouth, but the taste of the meat would linger long enough for you to grab another piece.

Li Yusheng gave him a weird side glance. Probably judging him on his current expression.

[The character 'Shen Lin' finds your face cute and wants to give it a squish!]

[+5]

['Yang Lan' wants to spoil you with food as well and regrets not packing beforehand!]

'Cute...' He blanked at the messages. Wasn't he supposed to be more manly in this form?

"Ye Delun, I've been meaning to ask but why are you always squinting at the air like that?" Yang Lan tilted her head in curiosity.

"I have?"

"Yeah, you keep staring at the air with your eyes half-closed."

"Oh, I never noticed. Must be a habit."

Although he said that, really the reason was that he used to need glasses. His eyesight wasn't that bad, but bad enough to where he had to squint to see things up close. But because of his nature, he never wore them often.

In fact, he forgot about them until now.

'Besides that...' He glanced at Yang Lan's back. 'Isn't that a strange question to ask?' Especially when she would also be able to see some of the system's messages.

They arrived at the main hall and looked around to see if the others were there.

"It seems like they must still be on their side..." Shen Lin set down her bag. The light pouring from the broken windows made the abandoned room seem a lot more lively.

"You don't think they're hurt somewhere right?" Yang Lan said to her.

"No, they're probably just held back by something. And even if they are, I'm sure they can take care of themselves."

"They must have found something cool." Ye Delun put the granola wrapper in his pocket and sat on the dusty couch. They weren't able to find anything interesting, only a unique-looking bed and some empty rooms. He was hoping for a little more.

[Your home is indeed filled with very interesting things that you are very proud of. For example, the dust bunny that resembles an actual bunny, or the intact bird skeleton you found while wondering.]

"...!"

'What kind of interesting things are those? So pitiful! No wonder he went out to explore, there were probably things he's never seen before! Just seeing the clean streets must have blown his mind!'

"Do we need to stay here? Can't we just leave, the car is just outside?"

"We can't do that! That would be abandoning the other three!"

"But that guy warned us, staying here any longer would..." He clenched his fist and held back from speaking.

[The character 'Li Yusheng' is anxious about staying here for much longer and wants to secure 'Yang Lan's' security!]

It seemed that Li Yusheng had already been smitten by the female lead long ago. Ye Delun couldn't blame him, Yang Lan had very good acting. She fit the part of a female lead very nicely.

"Although I don't agree on leaving, I do think staying here any longer wouldn't be safe." Shen Lin stood up from the floor and picked up her bag. "So we might as well wait out by the car."

At her words, Li Yusheng seemed to noticeably relax. "Great."

So the four of them headed towards the door, which stood closed.

"Wait..." Yang Lan stopped them. "Wasn't the door knocked down by Xiang Tingfeng?"

Their eyes widened in realization as they stared at the fixed door. "That's right. He broke it off its hinges."

The twin doors, one of which was suppost to be collapsed on the ground, stood as if they hadn't been touched in years.

"I, I don't like this. We should use the windows." Yang Lan said.

"The broken glass could give you cuts, we can just use the door. The outside is right there." Li Yusheng, who was in a hurry to leave, opened the door for Yang Lan.

With the twist of the knob, the door smoothly opened, as if moving on its own.

"What the.."