However, this discussion gave me a vague idea—maybe it’s time to create a more impressive identity. Always maintaining a mediocre ranking means that even the slightest move draws unnecessary attention. Even that fool Grace Bennett knew to search my ranking online and then came to question my abilities.

If I had an ID ranked in the top 100, there wouldn’t be so much trouble.

…But grinding points to level up is just too much hassle. I’ll just stick with the status quo.

My determination to strive upward lasted all of three seconds. Congratulations to me.

Returning to my home planet is for vacation, not for overtime… After a year in the New World, I’m physically and mentally exhausted. I have no interest in being a workaholic.

I subconsciously heard Miss Bennett upstairs tossing and turning in bed. It was already midnight, and she was still suffering from insomnia… But somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to mock her anxiety. Before long, a wave of restlessness rose in my heart.

I immediately called her.

“Missy, you’re making way too much noise tossing and turning in bed. That’s not ladylike at all. Even Locke the bald guy is quieter than you. Could you please stop making so much noise?”

Before Grace Bennett could start yelling at me, I hung up.

Half an hour later, the young lady finally went to sleep, still grumbling.

This trick always works on fools.

Too bad I probably won’t get to see her dark circles tomorrow.

The long night dragged on, and for a moment, I had nothing to do… Ever since returning to my home planet, this feeling has only grown stronger. Unlike those who waste a third of their day in bed… I have a third of my day that I don’t even know how to waste.

So, let’s play an online game…

I remember back in college, Ethan Ford and I got obsessed with an online game. In half a year, we went from newbies to the top ten on the server. Then… if it hadn’t been for Ethan Ford and me successfully hacking into the academic office’s server and changing all our final grades, we would’ve had to spend another reluctant year in college.

That game is still running, but the player base has shrunk a lot. I just hope the names on my friends list haven’t deleted their accounts or gone AFK.

Otherwise, the debts I let slide back then will never be collected.

After logging in, it was still the same clear night sky, but undeniably a bit more desolate and lonely. A few seconds later, my private message bar was flooded with whispers.

Ha, this game still has decent popularity.

“Still remember how to log in?”

“Haven’t seen you in years, where’ve you been?”

“Hurry up and come to the Red Sand Fortress arena and PK with me, we’re still at 2:3!”

“Yo, the retired hero is back? Sudden whim? Making a comeback? …Or are you here to remind me to pay back those fifty thousand gold?”

“Account thief? You can have the money, just don’t delete the account, we can talk things out.”

…

Stuff like that. I replied to each one, and soon a few people, glowing with golden light, came running to see me. Seeing them, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic—those little guys who used to chase after me to level up are now light-years ahead of me. I haven’t even seen the gear they’re wearing. I cast an Identify spell, and all it shows is: You’d only PK with him (her) if you were planning to delete your account.

How times change.

Once they confirmed I was only online out of sheer boredom, most of them flipped me off and left. In the end, my former arena partner said to me, “Seer was online a few days ago and asked me to leave you a message… Let me copy and paste it… Here’s the original: ‘Enjoy a relaxing vacation in Tianjing, hope you have fun’… Did you go to Tianjing?”

“Yeah, just arrived, and someone died in Tianjing right away. I must be a real lucky star.”

“Haha, next time try your luck in Xinlu. If you can get Yang Yongxin killed, I’ll help you level up.”

Level up your ass… This game’s about to shut down.

“Anyway, welcome back.”

“Thanks, and goodbye.”

After logging off, I inexplicably felt a sense of relief.

Seer’s words are always uncannily accurate—though no one but me has ever thought so.

She claims she can predict the future, but she’s never made a single reliable prophecy. Until someone asked her for the winning numbers for the next lottery, Seer immediately gave nine equations, each long enough to fill the screen, and every solution was the winning number for that draw. That day, everyone thought Seer was joking, but I, out of boredom, used the school lab’s supercomputer to solve those equations.

Three days later, the results came out, and every number matched the ones published in the newspaper.

I never told anyone about that, but ever since then, Seer has often sent me interesting tidbits via private message, like which rare boss spawned at which secret location, or which treasure chest held a once-in-a-lifetime piece of gear…

Until both Ethan Ford and I went AFK, I always topped every leaderboard over him, and it wasn’t without reason.

Though I always told him it was just his bad luck.

Seer hasn’t forgotten me—that’s really good news.

Chapter 8: A Conversation Triggered by an Unimportant NPC

Have a pleasant vacation, said Seer.