As a vibrant and flourishing adolescent, Li Ang's daily routine was exceptionally healthy.
He lived on the twentieth floor of Unit 1, Building 3 in the very ordinary Wanhe Residential Area, in a three-bedroom apartment with one living room, one bathroom, and a balcony. The apartment was tidy and odor-free, with a thorough cleaning once a week.
He cooked for himself, typically preparing three dishes and a soup. He didn't smoke or drink alcohol, and his beverage consumption was limited to occasional sips. He washed his face and brushed his teeth both morning and night, and used dental floss to clean between his teeth.
He enjoyed reading, surfing the internet, playing games, and listening to music.
His source of income was part-time home tutoring. He had a good reputation in the industry and was very popular with both parents and students.
In his spare time, he would use common tools for hands-on crafts, amusing himself.
If nothing special was going on, he would go to bed at 11 PM and ensure he got a full eight hours of sleep each night.
Before bed, he would occasionally drink a warm glass of milk, then perform a set of eye exercises and light stretching exercises to relax his muscles.
Once his head hit the pillow, he would fall asleep instantly and sleep soundly until morning, never letting fatigue or stress carry over to the next day.
Teachers, classmates, and neighbors all praised Li Ang for being very normal. A normal person.
As if.
Li Ang had few relatives or friends; his social connections were so simple they were dismal.
His only trusted confidant was Wang Congshan. Aside from her, anyone else could only be considered an "acquaintance."
(Miss Chai didn't even count as a person, so we'll leave her out for now.)
The formation of such simple social connections was, on one hand, due to Li Ang's eccentric and reclusive personality and his bizarre, extraordinary way of doing things, which few could adapt to. On the other hand, it was also intentional on Li Ang's part. Maintaining social relationships required time, energy, and certain skills.
However, aside from Wang Congshan, no one else possessed enough "value" to justify Li Ang expending the effort to get close to them and maintain a relationship.
Especially after he got a sum of cash from Liu Wu Dai, Li Ang grew even less interested in socializing. Even his previous source of income from tutoring was neglected, as he started to work on and off.
Though dealing with unruly kids was interesting, it was still a notch below the thrill of researching the extraordinary elements of the battle games.
His personal abilities had currently reached a bottleneck, and he hadn't managed to trigger any new tasks recently. Caught in boredom, Li Ang decided that morning to resume the tutoring work he had neglected for several days.
After all, it was his official source of income, and it wasn't good to completely abandon work.
Li Ang arranged a time with the student's parents via WeChat, rode his bike to a posh residential area in the southeastern part of Yin City, and paid a visit for a one-on-one tutoring session.
The fees for his tutoring were not cheap, but fortunately, Li Ang was always professional and conscientious, delivering value for every penny earned.
Even when facing children spoiled by their parents and elders—unruly and beyond control—he could usually tame them within half an hour of meeting them.
For instance, if a child pushed him, he would immediately collapse to the ground, foaming at the mouth and convulsing all over, his eyes filled with resentment as he yelled, "I'm dying! You'll pay with your life!"
This would terrify the child into crying hysterically and wetting their pants.
Or, for example, if a child was excessively addicted to mobile games and secretly spent their parents' money on them, he would show them materials related to the notorious Professor Yang, showcasing images of victims covered in scars, their faces etched with despair.
Li Ang did this not to scare the child into thinking they would be sent to Professor Yang, but to teach them to abandon their ignorance, study hard, and strive to become a pillar of society capable of fighting against evil individuals like Professor Yang.
And for example, there was a junior high school kid who liked to bully weaker classmates. Li Ang would disguise himself as a middle school student from their school. After changing his appearance, he'd don the school uniform and, during the time when the bully left school, he'd tie him up, hoist him onto the playground flagpole, lifting him up and letting him down, repeatedly, until the school security, alerted by the commotion, arrived, by which time Li Ang had already made his escape.
Afterward, the bully and the school authorities were both scared witless. The school leaders, in cooperation with the relevant departments, conducted a wide search based on the appearance of the "culprit" from the surveillance videos. Unfortunately, despite searching their database, they still had no idea who the "middle schooler" was.
Such "glorious achievements" were numerous, and in some parent groups, Li Ang was highly praised as a conscientious tutor.
After tutoring the rich second-generation troublemaker in the upscale residential area, Li Ang accepted the payment transfer from the parents and politely declined their invitation to stay for a meal, leaving the complex on his bike.
He hadn't ridden far when he received a WeChat call from Wang Congshan.
"Hello?" Li Ang said. "If it's urgent, spit it out. I'm about to do something big."
"Hmm?" Wang Congshan asked. "What big thing?"
Li Ang said earnestly, "I'm going to use the high-energy particle stream released by nuclear fusion, traverse distances on the scale of astronomical units, and precisely snipe tens of thousands of lower Bug Clan members, guarding the cleanliness and sanctity of my dwelling place."
"???"
Wang Congshan smacked her lips. "Speak human."
Li Ang replied, "I'm going home to air out the quilts on the balcony."
"..."
Wang Congshan rolled her eyes on the other end of the call. "My dad's relatives from his hometown sent some seafood. He's asking if you want to come over for a meal?"
"What?!" Li Ang slammed on his bike brakes, nervously asking, "Your dad agrees to our... thing? I told you, everything gets easier once there's a kid."
"Agree? My foot!" Wang Congshan's voice suddenly rose. "Are you coming or not? Give me a straight answer."
"Of course. I'll be right there."
Li Ang chuckled and hung up. The joyful expression on his face faded, and his eyes slowly turned cold.
Apart from Wang Congshan, he never hesitated to suspect others with the utmost malice.
This meal could simply be a display of Wang Congshan's parents' pure kindness, but it was also possible that it was for other reasons...
After considering all options, Li Ang temporarily ruled out the possibility of his player identity being exposed and the possibility that the cases he had engaged in before becoming a player had finally come to light.
More likely, it has to do with what happened at Yongyi Court that day.
That afternoon, Li Ang and Wang Congshan disappeared together for several hours. Although the Special Affairs Bureau conducted memory erasure and hypnosis afterward, Officer Wang, being inside the system, might have discovered something off about his daughter based on slight clues. He sensed something wasn't right. However, due to classification limits, he couldn't learn the details of the incident within the system. So, he shifted his gaze to Li Ang, who had also disappeared for several hours that day, attempting to gather information through this meal.
So far, this seemed the most likely reason.
Li Ang slightly eased his vigilance and rode to Wang Congshan's home.