Even though he had washed his face, Hojo Natsuki still found it difficult to open his eyes.
This kind of sleepiness is not the feeling of not being fully awake in the morning after waking up, but more like the sequelae of excessive overtime or taking sleeping pills.
Obviously, let’s rule out “excessive overtime” first.
If this were reality, Hojo Natsuki would probably suspect someone had secretly added something to his water cup; but he was currently in the game, and the food he ate last night was bought by Qinwa, so he was not willing to doubt his quack. This speculation flashed through his mind for a moment, but was quickly suppressed by other thoughts, and he did not think deeply about it as usual.
It wasn't until I drank some iced American coffee that the tiredness began to fade away.
Hojo Natsuki ate his breakfast slowly while checking the news push on his phone.
Even political news is so logically consistent and self-contained.
He couldn't help but suspect that this was another real world.
Again, as soon as this speculation came about, it was replaced by "How is that possible? It's just a very well-made holographic game."
The subconscious mind seemed to be saying over and over again: "This is a holographic game, not reality."
Kurosawa Jin sat on the other side of the dining table, flipping through a morning paper.
He asked in a lazy voice, seemingly nonchalantly: "How did you get the wound on your hand?"
Hojo Natsuki paused, a little dazed. He turned his hands over and looked at them, but couldn't find any injuries. There was only an old scar on the wrist bone, so faint that it was almost invisible.
"Is this it?" He rolled up his sleeves, revealing his wrist.
Kurosawa nodded slightly.
"Oh, this. I got it when I was very young." Hojo Natsuki said casually, "I scratched it accidentally when I was modifying an old bicycle."
"Remodeling an old bicycle" refers to the crazy idea he had when he was eight years old to install a jet engine that looked like training wheels on a children's bicycle, planning to turn it into a flying bicycle; "accidentally scratched" actually meant that he used too much force and scratched himself with the screwdriver.
"The wound was very deep. My guardian was a doctor and he personally gave me a tetanus shot. The shot was really painful. He must have done it on purpose." Thinking of the past, Xia Shu complained, "But it's also my own fault. In fact, I knew that I would get flesh wounds in the process of modifying the bicycle, but I didn't believe it and had to give it a try. It turned out to be as expected."
Kurosawa Jin keenly grasped the key words: "You knew it a long time ago?"
"Well..." He was reluctant to talk about it, "an intuition, a super intuitive feeling."
When he was still young, Hojo Natsuki made many attempts to rebel against the contents of the 'book'.
The 'book' said that he would meet someone the next day, and he didn't want to go out, but in the end he would leave home for various reasons and meet that person; the 'book' said that he would be hurt one day, so he would definitely be hurt.
The fate of everyone is written in black and white in the book.
The end was determined when things just began.
The contents of the 'book' can be tampered with artificially, but after that, everything will inevitably proceed in the direction of the modification without any deviation.
For those who are lustful and in power, it is probably a divine gift from God.
But for Hojo Natsuki, the "book" is like a game plug-in, a modifier, or something like that. Once used, the whole game becomes boring and fundamentally destroys its own fun.
He had spent his entire childhood trying to make his life trajectory deviate from what was written in the "book", but the results were obvious.
Just like an ordinary person, when he has the thought of "I want to be extraordinary", he has already fallen into a rut and become the most ordinary existence; the desire for extraordinaryness itself is ordinary, and the desire for difference itself is boring. Hojo Natsuki always felt that life was boring and idle, and he kept this unshakable idea all the way until he was twenty years old.
So later, he didn't want to open the book again.
Seeing his evasive attitude, Kurosawa Jin did not comment and did not ask any further questions. He just urged him, "Eat quickly."
Hojo Natsuki remains the same
Eat breakfast slowly.
Before going out, he put on his sunglasses and mask again, and then got into the Porsche driven by Fu Gua.
The toy factory is located in the suburbs, more than 40 minutes' drive away.
Hojo Natsuki was bored, so he opened the [Business Simulation] to monitor the employees in the toy factory, wanting to see if anyone was slacking off behind his back.
In general, the employees performed well and there were no lazy people slacking off openly.
System: [[Matsuda Juanjuan] spread negative comments about [Small Pond Toy Factory] on the Internet. Do you want to check? [Y/N]]
Hojo Natsuki: “?!”
What’s going on? Juanjuan is not his employee at all!
He selected [Yes], and the screen immediately switched to where Juanjuan was. It was standing in front of a computer. Because its body was so small, it had to jump around on the keyboard to type. On the screen was a post it had made on the forum.
[Small talk] What is the origin of the frog twisting car that is very popular recently? Why is there so much marketing
[Original poster: This toy factory is also the sponsor of the talent show, and the contestants also advertise for it]
[1L: I can’t understand 1]
[2L: This marketing is so overwhelming! I’m fed up with it.]
[3L: But this broken car is pretty ugly and cute. Is that okay? ]
[4L: Ugly! It’s really ugly! But it can really fly! ]
[5L: Who can resist a flying frog car? I can’t.]
[6L: It's still too childish for elementary school students, but it's just right for me, a female college student! ]
[7L: Did you watch the third episode of "Got Talent"? The male contestant who was the last contestant, the black-haired guy with a mask, seemed to be a handsome guy. I was so happy that I wanted to die. I don't remember what he said or sang at all. I just noticed that he rode that bike and appeared on the stage. When he was singing, the frog bike was drifting on the stage hearse behind him. I think all the judges have quit drugs. In this scene, no one laughed. I almost fainted from laughing!!]
[8L: What’s even more ridiculous is that when the guy was describing his tragic experience, the female judge cried. How could she cry when it was so funny?]
[9L: I plan to go to the offline exhibition of twisting cars on Saturday. Please bless me to win the lottery ()]
Netizens were discussing Jing Wang who fell from the sky on a tricycle with a laugh, and their words were full of hilariousness. Jing Wang's attempt to play the victim was obviously a failure. On the contrary, everyone was amused by his serious performance, and they made fun of him and pointed fingers at him at the same time.
Of course, there are also netizens who take advantage of the anonymity of the forum to make rude remarks.
This made Matsuda Juanjuan's hair stand on end, and its big tail blew up from a bubble-like ball into a broom.
[Is it bad to listen to? I think he sings well]
[You don't even know the person, so why do you make malicious assumptions about him? Be more polite. ]
Matsuda Juanjuan kept changing her username to gain fame among her peers, pretending to be a righteous bystander and engaging in a passionate debate with several netizens. Then the topic turned to "Is the poster a water army bought by a player or toy factory?", and the post had more than a thousand layers. Hojo Natsuki: "… "
Are all the police so idle
Oh, today is Saturday, so I don’t have to go to work.
However, a small anonymous forum post cannot affect the toy factory's [public favorability] and [popularity] at all. Currently, these two values are 220 and 280 respectively. Although they are still some distance away from the camp judgment, they are much better than the previous stretched single digits.
There is another interesting content in the post: On Saturday, there will be an offline exhibition of twisting cars.
He thought about it and realized that there was such a thing. The marketing expert suggested setting up an open-air pop-up store in a certain business district, where visitors could draw lots for the right to buy a special price for a twisting car. Then, a photo-taking platform was set up, and several actors were hired to play the role of Frogman and Aka Fish, so that guests could take photos and check in. Out of curiosity, guests posted photos or pictures on SNS, which was a natural private domain traffic.
Hojo Natsuki remembered that he approved it casually and said, "Then let the actors of Frogman and Aka Fish go to the stage in person."
Take another look, today
It is indeed Saturday.
He opened the employee list.
[Zero Meow] [Field Service] - [Playing as Frogman]
[Akagi Yuyu] [Field work] - [Play as Akayu]
—Caught up! God-given opportunity!
Hojo Natsuki immediately said, "Let's not go to the toy factory, let's go to the offline exhibition of twisting cars."
Kurosawa Jin had long been accustomed to his mood swings and frequent changes of orders, so he was not surprised by the sudden request. He just glanced at Vodka indifferently.
Vodka answered obediently, "Yes."
Hojo Natsuki lowered his head again, selected [Zero Cat], and the screen cut directly to the offline booth.
Wearing a 'battle suit', Ling Miao was surrounded by a group of chirping young animals.
It has a smiling expression on its face and seems to be communicating with the cubs patiently, but in fact, its cat fur is more blown up than Matsuda's.
Next to Ling Miao is a model of a tricycle. It leans against the tricycle and strikes various poses, like a charming car model. However, this car model cat's claws keep scratching the ground, leaving white scratches on the ground like wheel marks. If it goes deeper, it can dig a grave and bury itself.
Of course, Akai Yuyu, the actor who plays 'Aka Fish', is not much better off. Its green lips open and close as if it is lacking oxygen, and it makes silent "Aba Aba" sounds as it absorbs nutrients from the air to survive. It seems as if it will turn over and die in the next second out of shame.
A fish and a cat, surrounded by small animals, were forced to do business in extreme pain.
Among the bustling small animals, two familiar figures appeared.
Hojo Natsuki recognized them at a glance as [Miyano Elena Qua] and [Miyano Akemi Qua], his loyal SSR and his eldest daughter.
Following in the distance is a frog bodyguard wearing sunglasses. These two frogs must have some time off and came out to relax and go shopping together.
[Miyano Elena Qua]: I had heard about the offline exhibition before, but I didn’t expect it to be here. What a coincidence.
[Miyano Akemi]: Mom, shall we go take a look
[Miyano Elena]: Let’s take a look. I’m curious too.
Elena smiled and agreed.
The two Quaqas walked slowly forward, following the crowd, towards Ling Miaomiao and Akai Yu Yu.
The moment Zero Cat saw Elena quack, his whole body froze. His originally elegant and calm tail also stiffened into a green baguette, standing straight behind him like a lonely flagpole, with an invisible French flag (pure white version) hanging at the tip of his tail.
System: [[Miyano Elena] is [Zero]'s first love! ]
System: [When [Zero] was a child, he was ridiculed for his unique fur color and was questioned for not being a Japanese cat. He was very angry and often fought with cats and dogs of the same age. [Miyano Elena Qua] was very gentle and considerate to him, giving him the first "heart-beating" experience in his life, which made him unforgettable. Later, [Miyano Elena Qua] left without saying goodbye because of organizational matters, and the young [Zero] was sad for a long time. Now that he has grown up, [Zero] occasionally thinks of [Miyano Elena Qua] and smiles.]
—This kind of "first love" affection has nothing to do with love, it is just a little boy's positive feedback on kindness and tenderness.
Hojo Natsuki was shocked: "???"
What? There is such a thing? I have never heard of it before
He found it hard to believe it for a moment, but Ling Miao's reaction was so grand that it almost seemed like a confession.
There was a clang in the air, and it slowly faded from a dark green kitten green like spinach juice to gray-green, gray, and a pale white like sandstone...
Elena Qua obviously didn't recognize Zero Meow in disguise, and said to her daughter with a smile: "Do you want to take a photo with Frogman?"
Mingmei also laughed and continued, "Shiho might like it."
Ling Miao has completely faded into a paper cat, as if it could be blown away by the wind.
Hojo Natsuki immediately used the [Mind Reading Card].
Ling Miao’s heart is so rich and he feels so nervous.
[Elena... Is it Elena? ]
[No mistake, it’s her]
[She
Nothing has changed, except that the hair is longer.
[But, but why at this time?! ]
[She looked over here and talked to her female companion... probably her daughter. What were they talking about? Was I recognized?]
…
The barrage of comments was refreshing like a meteor, and Ling Miao's inner thoughts were about to explode.
System: [Congratulations on defeating [Zero Meow] again in terms of shame! ]
System: [Achievement [Kill the Cat, Punish the Heart, and Torture the King]]
System: [Reward: Mind-Reading Card*5…]
Elena Qua and Mingmei Qua walked towards Reimeiu, who was wearing a battle uniform.
It didn't move at all, its face filled with gray despair, like a poor cat that had been tortured by life and lost its dreams, as if it would meow and cry in the next second.
(End of this chapter)