The Vicious Cannon Fodder Despised by Everyone Really Doesn't Want to Go Viral - Chapter 51

The VR setup in the study had been discovered a long time ago. Although Lin Zhiyu had been curious about why someone like Mu Sui would indulge in such a hobby, he had kept his curiosity in check and never asked.

He sat on the living room sofa clutching the headset and controllers, tinkering with them for a while. Soon, he skillfully put on the equipment and adjusted the field of vision.

During university, Lin Zhiyu had played VR in a professor’s office, but the images in this headset were far clearer than those. The material resting against his skin was soft and supple, offering no discomfort at all.

“This thing is pretty high-end; it looks like a custom model,” Lin Zhiyu remarked. He could not resist asking, “Mr. Mu, what made you think of buying this? Was it to watch movies?”

Mu Sui replied flatly, “Because I am rich.”

Lin Zhiyu thought, What a simple and unadorned reason.

He muttered in slightly non-standard Cantonese, “It is great to be rich. With money, you can do whatever you want.” He then began manipulating the controllers, and the screen quickly jumped to the VR main menu.

Likely because the owner had almost no need for entertainment, the menu was sparse, featuring only a few highly rated movies and a handful of mediocre games.

Lin Zhiyu randomly entered a pre-installed single-player rollercoaster game. Within thirty seconds, he was dazzled by the mountain rocks and trees flashing by at high speed. He could not help but feel a wave of dizziness. After a few sharp turns, Lin Zhiyu felt as if his brains were being scrambled.

Mu Sui’s wheelchair came to a silent halt beside the sofa, his undisguised gaze sweeping over Lin Zhiyu’s face. The latter was fully immersed in the VR game, completely unaware of the scrutiny.

His fingers gripped the controllers tightly, his body leaning forward as he let out occasional gasps at the sudden, thrilling visuals.

Mu Sui watched as Lin Zhiyu’s expression transitioned into excitement. Under the intense visual impact of the rollercoaster, his breathing grew ragged, and a faint flush spread across the skin of his neck.

The corners of Mu Sui’s lips curved upward almost imperceptibly as he observed the vibrant, defenseless profile of the young man. Beads of sweat on Lin Zhiyu’s forehead glistened in the afternoon sunlight. His previously pursed lips finally relaxed, leaking a few soft fragments of sound.

After failing a leap from a cliff for the fifth time and plummeting straight down, Lin Zhiyu finally tore off the headset. He collapsed onto the sofa as if drained of all strength, his head spinning.

His breathing was uneven, and the excitement on his face had soured into a look of indignation.

“Have you played enough?”

Lin Zhiyu had not realized Mu Sui was still there. Startled by the voice, his hand jerked, and he nearly sent the controller flying. He turned his head, his ears flushing red as he glanced at Mu Sui. “I have 3D motion sickness. I will rest a bit before trying again.”

Mu Sui’s gaze lingered momentarily on Lin Zhiyu’s messy hair and his slightly bitten lips. He said calmly, “There are not many built-in games. You can download others.”

Lin Zhiyu tossed the headset onto his lap with a light huff. He said in a whiny tone, “Mr. Mu spent a fortune on such high-end equipment just for work and movies. Would that not be a bit of a waste?”

Hearing this, Mu Sui nonchalantly maneuvered his wheelchair closer to the coffee table. He took a small data storage device from a side drawer and plugged it into the headset’s port.

Lin Zhiyu stared at him intently, his expression somewhat reproachful.

Mu Sui, likely guessing his thoughts, explained, “The manufacturer gave it to me.”

Lin Zhiyu gave a soft “Oh,” though his eyes clearly sparkled with renewed interest. He put the headset back on. Once the screen lit up, he indeed found several new options on the interface.

However, Lin Zhiyu’s gaze settled on a horror game he had downloaded before but never dared to play, specifically the two-player mode. After pondering for a dozen seconds, he spoke tentatively, “Does Mr. Mu not want to try? I feel like VR games would be very atmospheric.”

Mu Sui said, “I do not play games.”

Lin Zhiyu thought to himself, I know that. In these web novels, CEOs, whether they are protagonists or villains, never have a childhood.

But that did not stop him from wanting to drag someone along as a shield.

“I am scared to play alone,” Lin Zhiyu said honestly. “I want you to help give me some courage. I saw another set of equipment on the bookshelf just now.”

Mu Sui narrowed his eyes, asking knowingly, “Do you want me to accompany you?”

“Yes!” Lin Zhiyu nodded like a chick pecking at grain. “Since you do not have anything urgent this afternoon anyway, it is a rare chance to skip work. Why not relax together? Besides, playing alone really lacks something.”

Mu Sui contemplated for a moment before finally responding with a “Fine.” He then slowly entered the study and brought out the remaining set of VR gear.

Lin Zhiyu cheered. Seeing Mu Sui start the new device, he immediately sent a connection request.

The game was set in an abandoned laboratory during an apocalypse. Two trapped, amnesiac players had to find clues to escape using items left in the lab. Every so often, an alarm would sound. Five seconds later, the lab’s power would cut out, the vision would be covered in a blood-red tint, and the failed experiments of the lab would appear one after another.

When Lin Zhiyu first downloaded the game, he had been terrified by the eerie, horrific scenes upon entering. He had barely taken a few cautious steps before being killed by something unknown during the alarm.

As long as I close my eyes fast enough, the scary things cannot frighten me, he thought.

Now, he quietly shifted closer to Mu Sui, with half of his hip hanging off the edge of the sofa.

Lin Zhiyu asked, “Shall I start then?”

“Yes.”

The scene of the abandoned lab appeared in their vision. Dim, yellowish shadows fell over cracked and rusted equipment. Strange noises occasionally echoed from the ventilation ducts. Sometimes they sounded like a baby crying, and other times they sounded like human wailing.

Lin Zhiyu tentatively controlled his character to take a step forward. Suddenly, an iron plate on the floor slammed down, making his whole body jump.

He simply slid from the sofa to sit on the floor, pressing himself right against the side of Mu Sui’s wheelchair.

Sensing the movement, Mu Sui released one hand from a controller and rested it lightly on Lin Zhiyu’s shoulder. He asked curiously, “What is wrong?”

Lin Zhiyu looked at the endless, pitch-black corridor on the screen and squeezed himself further into the gap between the wheelchair and the sofa. “I feel a bit safer like this.”

Mu Sui said nothing. He gripped the controller again, his fingertips moving slightly as he began to calmly gather clues from the surroundings.

While Lin Zhiyu was still trembling, he saw that Mu Sui had already walked quite far. Seeing a shadow flicker behind him like a ghost, Lin Zhiyu hurried to say, “Wait, wait! I have not caught up yet!”

However, following Mu Sui’s steady footsteps was Lin Zhiyu, who made various noises the whole way. He either bumped into scattered metal cans or kicked over an old machine. He was startled by every loud noise, his breathing becoming heavy.

Mu Sui’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He had just opened a metal drawer and pulled out a letter when he heard a piercing shriek. His eardrums were nearly blasted.

“Run, run, run!” Lin Zhiyu remembered dying shortly after this alarm last time. His voice began to stutter. To Mu Sui, Lin Zhiyu’s character looked like a headless fly scurrying in circles. Because the low growls of the beasts came from both audio channels, it was impossible to determine the direction through sound.

Lin Zhiyu finally chose a random direction and sprinted. Mu Sui, not knowing the game rules, had no choice but to follow behind him.

The roars of the beasts grew closer, and the sound of claws hitting the floor echoed. Lin Zhiyu’s heart pounded wildly, and he could not stop yelling, “Help, help, help!”

“Do not look back,” Mu Sui reminded him calmly.

“Who is looking back? I do not even dare to look!” Lin Zhiyu shouted.

He ran blindly into a small room that seemed safe. His character knocked over a table and stumbled toward an iron cabinet. He exhaled a long sigh of relief. To ensure his safety, he simply hid inside the cabinet and shut the door tight.

But just then, the iron door that was supposed to be locked made a tooth-grinding scraping sound. With a bang, the door was forced open. Lin Zhiyu’s whole body shuddered. The next second, blood-red covered his entire vision, accompanied by the hair-raising sound of biting.

Before he could even react, a pair of crimson eyes appeared in the crack of the cabinet door.

“What is this!” Lin Zhiyu yelled, terrified.

Mu Sui said calmly, “I was eaten. It was a pack of mutated hyenas. They are like zombies.”

The words “GAME OVER” appeared on the screen.

Lin Zhiyu panted, still in shock. “I wish you would not say something so terrifying with such a serious face.”

Once his heart rate steadied slightly, the game restarted. They appeared in the familiar scene again. With the experience from the first round, their progress in collecting clues was much faster. Lin Zhiyu even found a brand-new fire axe in a fire cabinet.

He slung the thing onto his back with satisfaction, joking, “This thing should not be able to pierce my head while I am running.”

Just as he finished speaking, the alarm sounded again. Since the route this time was completely different from the first round, they could not find the room from before and had to look for other cover.

Lin Zhiyu finally found an iron cabinet and was about to hide inside when the hissing of hyenas came from behind him. He lunged to open the cabinet door, only to find the cabinet was actually solid.

His vision was again shrouded in red as the hyenas’ footsteps rapidly approached. Lin Zhiyu instinctively closed his eyes and yelled, “Mu Sui, Mu Sui, save me!”

The alarm was still shrieking in his ears. Lin Zhiyu’s fingers tapped the controllers frantically. When the sound finally faded, he felt deflated, his entire upper body slumping against the wheelchair.

He complained, “Even if Mr. Mu is going to stand by and watch me die, you could at least respond to me.”

Mu Sui was silent for a few seconds before saying, “Open your eyes and look.”

Lin Zhiyu opened one eye suspiciously. The screen had returned to its previous calm, yellowish tone. The fire axe he had scavenged lay to the side, splattered with blood. Three grayish-red hyenas lay in pools of blood, their heads clearly smashed like broken balloons.

One look and it was obvious whose handiwork it was.

Lin Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief. His body tilted, and with a thud, he landed right on Mu Sui’s lap.

“I am also quite a badass guy,” he murmured softly.

Mu Sui looked down. Within the eyes obscured by the headset was a flicker of dark, indecipherable light.

“Are we still playing?” His voice had grown dry.

“Rest a bit. It should be able to save.” Lin Zhiyu felt his body go limp. By the time he realized what he was leaning on, it was too late.

He groped for the armrest of the wheelchair and pushed himself upright, but his elbow inevitably brushed against Mu Sui’s leg as he rose.

Lin Zhiyu heard Mu Sui’s breathing hitch. Suddenly, he felt a bit guilty. He carefully took off the headset. When he looked up to observe, he locked eyes with Mu Sui.

The light from the window did not reach Mu Sui’s face. Those eyes were bottomless.

Mu Sui’s gaze swept over Lin Zhiyu’s messy, damp hair and his flush-red cheeks. He said slowly, “There is one thing I should tell you.”

Lin Zhiyu froze. Before he could react, he felt Mu Sui’s gaze scrutinizing him thoroughly, from the inside out.

“What?” he asked unconsciously.