Disconnecting the neural link, unlocking the game pod, Feng Bujue sat up and took a breath.

It was midday, and the sun was shining brightly outside.

Feng Bujue lived in an apartment building, on the thirteenth floor (the top floor), a place he had to pay rent for, living alone. His parents, upon learning they had no chance of appearing in this book, angrily collected their boxed lunches and departed this world several years ago. They left behind a solitary, lonely protagonist, and saved me the trouble of making up two more names. Truly, they returned to the West as the book opened, deeply concealing their merit and fame.

Looking at the time, Feng Bujue realized he had only played for fifteen minutes. In Thriller Paradise, in non-sleep mode, the perception of time in the game compared to real-world experience was two to one, meaning he felt like he had spent half an hour in the game. In sleep mode, the depth of the neural connection was different, and the time ratio could reach ten to one. As the saying goes, "There is no time in dreams." If a player insisted on staying online and sleeping, they could complete eighty hours of gameplay. Of course, this was equivalent to having eight hours of continuous dreams in one night, and they would definitely have a headache the next day. The game pod's manual stated that players were not recommended to play for more than four hours in sleep mode. Feng Bujue had clearly read and remembered this…

Feng Bujue came out of the game pod not because he needed to rest, but because he had agreed to play the game with a friend. Today was the first day of the closed beta, and the servers opened at eight in the morning. That person happened to be busy during the day, so Feng Bujue wanted to wait for him. He had only gone online to familiarize himself with the game and didn't want to level up too much, causing the two to fall out of sync.

Speaking of which, didn't Feng Bujue have anything to do during the day?

Yes, he had nothing to do…

Earlier, it was mentioned that he was a mystery novelist. Now, some people must be thinking that this kid must be a great writer who can live comfortably without writing anything, right?

Obviously, that wasn't the case either…

Feng Bujue was a bit famous, but definitely not a household name. His books were good, and every one of them could be published. The publishers were also willing to cooperate with him. He was the kind of novelist who couldn't make a lot of money but wouldn't starve to death either.

He occupied two pages in a weekly magazine, serializing a detective story. He had to submit a manuscript once a month, delivering all the serialized content needed for the following month. If the quality wasn't good, it would be returned, and he would have to revise it by the end of the month at the latest. The fee for this job was settled monthly.

But relying solely on this income, he could only barely make ends meet in City S. So, he was also writing long-form detective novel series, the kind of physical books that were printed and sold. Feng Bujue could only earn some money to save up by writing such books, which could be considered a bit of a surplus.

But why did he have nothing to do during the day?

This was also easy to explain. In Feng Bujue's own words to describe his writing and living state, it was: "When inspiration is abundant, I submit my manuscripts on time, enjoying delicacies; when inspiration is exhausted, I can't write a single word, just a bowl of clear soup with noodles." Clearly, he was currently in a state where he couldn't write anything.

This person was very easygoing. If he couldn't write, there was no point in forcing it, so he played… Not only did he play, but he also claimed that he was "collecting materials."

Therefore, basically speaking, expecting Feng Bujue to submit his manuscripts on time was a myth.

Every month, in the middle of the month, the magazine editor would arrive, carrying a single blade, traveling thousands of miles alone to kill his way to the door. And his landlady would wield a phoenix-winged golden mace, using a spare key to push open the door and enter, hacking as soon as she entered.

On this day, Feng Bujue was usually prepared, ready for battle, immediately deploying his troops, beating drums and gongs, waiting for the two to kill him, fighting with them for three hundred rounds, until the sky was dark and the earth was dim, and the wind and clouds changed color. Finally, eight large characters would be left in the sky: No money, the discarded manuscript is just trash.

Okay, it wasn't that exaggerated. Anyway, his state of survival was just that comfortable.

Let's talk about Feng Bujue's friend. It is said that birds of a feather flock together, so could Feng Bujue's friend be a Gao Fushuai (tall, rich, and handsome)?

That's right, he was a Gao Fushuai…

This person's surname was Wang, his given name was Tan Zhi. He was Feng Bujue's childhood friend, what was called "chiku xiongdi" (bare-assed brothers) in City S dialect. They had been classmates since kindergarten, all the way until high school graduation. Wang Tanzhi was admitted to medical school, while Feng Bujue became a social loafer.

How close were these two? It could be explained in two ways, fact and hypothesis. First, the fact: why did Wang Tanzhi go to medical school? Because Feng Bujue had aspired to be Sherlock Holmes since he was a child, and Sherlock Holmes' assistant, Watson, was an old military doctor, so he went…

Now for the hypothesis: if Wang Tanzhi was a woman, then the nature of this novel would change, because Miss Wang might have lost her virginity to Feng Bujue many years ago.

In view of the previous hypothesis and the wild thoughts in everyone's minds now, I have to add one more sentence here: don't worry, that's just a hypothesis, they are both men, and they are both heterosexual.

Wang Tanzhi's family was very rich, the exact amount didn't matter. Anyway, he could live a good life without working at all in his life. He was also slightly handsome, and his height was a little taller than Feng Bujue, exactly one meter eighty. He was gentle, kind, slightly cowardly, didn't like to show off, and was humble and accommodating.

In short, he was a person who was difficult to find fault with, forming a sharp contrast with Feng Bujue, this weirdo. Wang Tanzhi could be described as a great youth praised by everyone, but the evaluation Feng Bujue received was often: cynical, misanthropic, moody, and a bohemian hooligan.

But the things in the world are just so magical, that such two people could become bros.

An afternoon passed quickly. Feng Bujue spent another hour reviewing some information on the official website. Because he had already entered the game and completed the tutorial, looking at those descriptions now, many things were clearer.

In the remaining time, he was making noodles. It wasn't because he particularly liked to eat them; he was just saving the money he would have spent on instant noodles to buy flour…

This was a strange person. He would actually calculate his food intake, down to each meal, and arrive at the specific number of foods needed to not starve to death. Then, he would use all the savings in his bank account (which wasn't much to begin with) to buy a game pod, and use the remaining money to buy flour, pay for water and electricity, and so on…

If you said he was careful and calculating, he would actually spend an expense close to his limit to buy a luxury item (the new game pods were very expensive). If you said he was extravagant, he would never let himself be in a situation where he couldn't make ends meet.

…………

In the blink of an eye, it was evening, and Feng Bujue had a bowl of clear soup noodles, which was considered dinner.

Wang Tanzhi called and said that he had already logged into the game, just finished the tutorial, was scared half to death, covered in cold sweat, and logged off to make a call, just to calm down.

Feng Bujue thought to himself: I really envy you, I haven't experienced what cold sweat is for months.

The two exchanged a few words, told each other their nicknames in the game, and prepared to go online and play.