The snow had been falling for a long time. The wind blew sparse snowflakes onto my cheeks, and tiny crystal particles stuck to the ends of my hair.
Hojo Natsuki bit him viciously and without any mercy.
The other party finally let him go, licked the wound on his lip that was beginning to bleed, lowered his eyelashes, and looked very relaxed, without any sign of anger, and the shackles on his hands also loosened.
Hojo Natsuki took the opportunity to pull his hand back and pushed Beauletta into his arms. He wanted to say something, to reprimand or question, but the breath was stuck in his throat, unable to go up or down.
When he was holding the gun just now, the weight, feel of the Beretta, and the subtle sound of loading the gun all told him that the magazine was full of bullets.
Kurosawa Jin was like a desperate man sitting at the gambling table, throwing out all his chips when the first community card was turned over. He believed that he would definitely win, so he was so arrogant.
Hojo Natsuki thought for a long time, and could only say a non-aggressive rebuke: "… You are too much. You are like a lunatic without reason. I have said so much to you, but you didn't listen to a word?"
Kurosawa Jin: “Yeah.”
Hojo Natsuki: “…”
Then, Hojo Natsuki discovered in despair that he really seemed to be unable to do anything with the Kurosawa formation.
Punch him
It didn't hurt. The other party would probably teach him how to punch and kill quickly.
Scold him
Kurosawa Jin has always been a man of his own accord, and won't listen to anything he doesn't want to hear, so his lethality is close to zero.
Just kill him
That was definitely impossible. If he could kill Kurosawa quickly and efficiently, he would have shot him just now, and would not have dragged it out until now.
This feeling of being caught between a rock and a hard place hasn't appeared for a long time.
The reason why he was so helpless last time was because Hojo Natsuki realized that what was written in the "book" would definitely become a reality. In front of the overwhelming "fate", everyone was like a leaf falling into the sea, drifting with the current.
The current situation is a repeat of that helpless day.
Under the teasing gaze of the other party, Hojo Natsuki's thoughts turned quickly and his headache became more and more serious. He suddenly discovered the other side of the asymmetry of this relationship: Kurosawa Jin was pressing forward step by step, not even caring about his own life; and although he was a player from a higher plane and could leave forever at any time, he would not do so - because...
Hojo Natsuki admitted reluctantly: "I don't care as much as I thought."
Games and the so-called other world may be fake; but the money and energy invested, and the happiness gained, are real.
Everything in the world can be replaced, cheap products can replace big brands, energy bars can replace delicious food, but time cannot. Every minute spent with each other is so unique that it cannot be formatted or abolished.
He still didn't want to develop this relationship into a dangerous intimate relationship that could break down at any time. He couldn't just let Kurosawa Jin control him and be led by his own rhythm.
Hojo Natsuki was having wild thoughts again. His extremely poor emotional experience could not provide any effective reference experience. He could only find a method that was not really a method among a bunch of crooked methods. It was quite childish, but it could vent his anger.
"I'm very unhappy with you being like this," he said frankly, "I don't want to talk to you for the time being, and don't look for me either."
Then, Hojo Natsuki ignored Kurosawa Jin's expression, pressed [Exit Game], and disappeared from the opponent's sight.
He looked at the time again and realized that he was going to be late for work. His happiness of winning back a victory didn't last for a few seconds, and was immediately replaced by the pain of working. Reality plus games, thirty hours of sleepless nights, made him extremely sleepy.
Hojo Natsuki reluctantly tidied himself up, took a quick shower, changed into new clothes, and fixed his hair with a spray of hairspray, making sure that the young man in the mirror looked in good shape, steady and reliable, without any haggardness. He shook his windbreaker again, put it on with a cool movement, and walked towards the private car waiting at the door.
Clothes make the man, and he turned back into the Port Mafia cadre with a dagger hidden in his smile. It felt so good to be back in my comfort zone, and all the entanglements and hesitations were gone. Hojo Natsu
The tree's mood suddenly became wonderful.
That's right, after careful consideration, he decided to go into a cold war with Kurosawa Jin.
This is the escape route of the Hojo cadres!
Active cold war and passive avoidance are two completely different things.
In the cold war, he was able to firmly grasp the initiative in his hands, relying on the silky smooth online and offline combos, so that Kurosawa Jin had no way to deal with him. Originally, he didn't want to use the player's rights to look down on this relationship, but Kurosawa-kun didn't talk about the good (?), so he didn't plan to be polite.
—Sorry, but Deus Ex Machina can do whatever it wants.
Soon, the car stopped in front of the Port Mafia building and the driver opened the door for him.
Hojo Natsuki got out of the car and happened to meet Mori Ogai in the exclusive elevator.
A disguise that could easily deceive outsiders would naturally not be able to deceive his old father. Mori Ogai looked at him for a few times and said, "Natsuki-kun, you don't seem to be in good spirits today. Didn't you get enough rest last night?"
Hojo Natsuki was about to answer when he suddenly remembered something and shouted in a serious tone, "Mr. Mori."
Mori Ogai raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Please speak frankly."
"In private," he asked, "... have you ever secretly written a novel?"
Mori Ogai: “…?”
Natsuki: "After retiring from Port Mafia, have you ever considered becoming a novelist? Will you write novels with Akutagawa? Why did you choose Akutagawa?"
Mori Ogai continued: “?”
Chief Mori really didn't know what nonsense he was talking about. He was silent for a while. Fortunately, the elevator door opened at this time. He said fluently: "Xia Shujun is really energetic. I misjudged you. Go to work quickly and try to get off work early and rest."
Hojo Natsuki wondered: "Okay."
He walked towards his office, still unable to help thinking - is it possible that Mr. Mori would suddenly give up the underworld and turn to literature? What was the opportunity for Mr. Mori to give up the underworld and turn to literature
These people formed a group to be literary masters, so why didn't they include him? Was it because the name of his ability didn't sound like the name of a novel or poem
Soon, Hojo Natsuki was overwhelmed by the mountain of work and no longer had the leisure to think about these trivial things.
It wasn't until 7pm that he had a chance to relax. When he got home after dinner, he hadn't done anything, and in the blink of an eye it was almost 12pm again, and the next day was coming.
During this time, he usually played Travel Frog, played with Frog, and did bad things to annoy it. Habits are not easy to change, and Hojo Natsuki tried to use other entertainment software to divert his attention, but his eyes would glance at the light green game icon from time to time, and he felt itchy.
He turned off his cell phone, took a sleeping pill, and fell asleep half an hour later.
In this way, Hojo Natsuki didn't log into the game for three days, leaving the Traveling Frog APP covered in cyber dust on the screen. The little frog, ignored by everyone, had a gloomy face, as if questioning the unfaithful man.
On the fourth day, Dazai Osamu sent him a message, and with nothing to do after eating, he came to gossip.
[Dazai Osamu]: As far as I know, there doesn't seem to be a member named Gin in Port Mafia
[Dazai Osamu]: So who is he
[Xia Shu]：Mind your own business
[Dazai Osamu]: So fierce, is it because you are angry? You gay men have really bad tempers.
Hojo Natsuki snorted coldly.
However, for a guy like Dazai Osamu who is hated by everyone, the more others ignore him, the more excited he becomes.
[Dazai Osamu]: Let me guess, this name, first of all, is a foreigner, or a mixed-race person.
[Dazai Osamu]: If you feel confused and hesitant, it means you have known each other for a while and your personalities are surprisingly compatible.
[Dazai Osamu]: A coward like Natsuki-kun would definitely reject him for the reason of "not wanting to lose this friend". I always feel that Natsuki-kun's personality is easy to attract perverts, and Gin-kun is probably not someone who can be easily dealt with. Have you rejected him? Did Gin-kun chase you and pester you
Hojo Natsuki: “…”
Hojo Natsuki: “
”
Did this guy turn on the technology? Turn off the perspective function!
[The other party is typing... ]
Dazai was organizing his words again.
Hojo Natsuki stared at the input prompt with a subtle sense of uneasiness.
After a long while, Dazai sent a short message explaining that the edited content had been deleted.
[Dazai Osamu]: Broken
Hojo Natsuki finally couldn't help it and typed a question mark in a very cold manner.
[Xia Shu]:
In front of this guy, saying one more word might reveal his inner thoughts, and he didn't want to be guessed more.
[Dazai Osamu]: I sleep in your living room, eat at your house, and live in the same room with you when I have nothing to do. Gin won't be angry if she knows this, right
[Dazai Osamu]: He won’t beat me, right
[Dazai Osamu]: That person is so scary!
[Dazai Osamu]: Unlike me, I only laugh at Natsuki-kun~
Hojo Natsuki: “…”
Neuropathy.
Get out!
He moved his fingers and blocked the contact [Dazai Osamu], preparing to release him when he was in a better mood.
Then, the first pop-up window on the screen, a green icon hanging high, instantly caught his attention—
[Travel Frog]
Gua Gua has sent you a postcard, please check your mailbox!
Hojo Natsuki's eyes widened.
Actions are faster than thoughts. I check the postcard from Qinwa on the spot when I receive it. It has become a kind of muscle memory.
His fingertips instantly selected the pop-up window and the game began to load.
[Loading…]
It took five or six seconds for the game to load. During these few seconds, Hojo Natsuki calmed down again, thinking that this was not good, and he could not be led away by him. So, he used his extremely strong control to suppress his desire and curiosity for the postcard, turned around and clicked on [Simulation Business].
During these three days of real-time charging, ten days have passed in the game and the annual leave is over.
System: [[Ling Miao] and [Jing Wang] use the excuse that they are undergraduates to try to refuse the task of [Publishing SCI]! ]
Hojo Natsuki: “?”
Kittens and puppies are quite rebellious. How hard is it for them to publish an SCI paper? … Could it be that they also get a PhD while doing it
Hojo Natsuki realized it.
He clicked on the map, used two fingers to zoom out, and selected the icon representing the University of Tokyo.
[University of Tokyo]
[The highest institution of higher learning in Japan, a place that thousands of students have dreamed of visiting~]
[Details]/[Capital Injection]/…
Hojo Natsuki chooses [Investment].
Well, not much money.
Furiya Rei and Morobushi Keimitsu are currently sitting in the lounge of the HR office of the toy factory, confronting the smiling beautiful HR. Her code name is Strawberry Beer, she speaks softly, looks beautiful but has a ruthless heart, and is a level 10 pie-in-the-sky athlete.
Not long ago, Furuya Rei and Morobushi Keimitsu were asked to publish in SCI.
—What a psycho! Unbelievable! Is this organization some kind of academic paradise
They have all been given code names for the wines, so they are not that enthusiastic when responding to the Boss's seemingly crazy call. Zhu Fujingguang does not want to participate in the talent show anymore, and Furuya Ling does not want to look at the Frogman advertisement any more. This kind of mental torture is more torturous than physical suffering.
The two declined the offer on the grounds that their academic level was low.
Today, Strawberry Beer suddenly asked them to come to the office for a talk, and the purpose was obvious.
Rei Furuya could probably guess her rhetoric. This HR was best at getting others to overcome difficulties. She would start by saying that the recent market was not good, how hard it was for the toy factory to provide employee benefits, how kind and sincere the boss was to everyone, that the toy factory was a home, and all employees were family members, and that difficulties needed to be overcome together. As a result, she trained one customer service representative after another... Because he had developed resistance to Strawberry Beer's rhetoric, Rei Furuya believed that he could politely and perfectly reject her request.
strawberry
Beer spoke softly, "Bourbon, Scotland, the boss asked me to bring you here this time. You all know about the SCI publication, and you are all excellent..."
"Sorry, strawberry beer." Fūya Rei scratched his head as if he had a headache. "I didn't learn the subject well, my GPA was very low, and I almost had to delay graduation. It was very dangerous. Besides, my major was accounting, so I don't think I can get SCI..."
Zhu Fu Jingguang also followed suit and said, "I paid someone to write my graduation thesis for me."
Strawberry Beer smiled brightly and said in a clear voice, "Yes, Boss, considering that both of you are undergraduates, donated a large sum of money to the University of Tokyo. Currently, our organization has become a board member of the University of Tokyo."
She went on to say, “The reason why we invited you here today is to celebrate your admission to the University of Tokyo! You can study for a postgraduate degree at the University of Tokyo while working. I wish you a bright and happy future as a postgraduate student!”
Furuya Rei: “?”
Zhu Fu Jingguang: “?”
(End of this chapter)