Chapter 00069: Not Responding
# Not Responding
Chapter 69
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 69 Not Responding
Let's be real, a living person, no matter how petite or light as a feather, should still weigh a good bit.
But Li Chengxi didn't feel any weight at all.
She was like a balloon, slowly floating down from the air.
The hem of her long robe unfurled like flower petals in the current, and she finally landed, sitting on Li Chengxi's lap.
But unlike a balloon, since it was the middle of summer, Li Chengxi was just sitting behind the cash register in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts.
A sensation that was slightly cool and exceptionally delicate traveled through his skin to his brain.
They were so close, so close that her warm breath caressed his cheek, bringing with it a faint, tingling pleasure.
And Li Chengxi…
Li Chengxi hadn't noticed any of the aforementioned details at all.
His brain had short-circuited.
Maintaining the posture of the French military...
I mean, with both hands raised, he held the tray, completely frozen on the spot.
He stared fixedly at the silver-blue pupils right before him.
Those eyes were so beautiful they seemed to glow, incomparable to any gemstone.
A single glance was enough to captivate him, making it impossible to look away.
It wasn't just his gaze; it felt as if his very consciousness was being drawn into those pupils, which held a bewitching charm.
"Hello."
"Uh... Hello to you too."
Li Chengxi's mind was still frozen.
The conversation was purely an instinctive reaction.
A look of confusion and inquiry seemed to flash through the beautiful silver-blue pupils.
Her fingers gently brushed across Li Chengxi's chest.
"Are you the Demon God?"
"I'm not... no, that's not right, I am. No, that's wrong too, I'm not..."
From this answer, one could tell just what a chaotic state he was in.
Though it had become a habit for Li Chengxi to take the meals offered by Viola and the others from the screen, he had never imagined that a person could actually pop out of it one day.
This feeling was like... you're raising a tank of goldfish, and one day a goldfish leaps onto your lap and delivers a full Thomas-flare-style slap right to your face...
No, that's not the right metaphor.
Or maybe, it was like playing a mobile game, and suddenly your 2D waifu comes to life, jumps out, and stomps on you.
—Isn't that even better?
Li Chengxi's brain was already a pot of jumbled porridge, and his current reaction ability was on par with an idiot's.
Just as he was staring blankly, a young man burst in through the convenience store entrance.
He seemed to have been sprinting at full tilt, practically crashing his way in.
As soon as the man entered, he immediately approached the cash register and reached out his hand towards Li Chengxi:
"Mr. Li Chengxi..."
Who's this? I don't know him.
Li Chengxi's convenience store mostly served regulars, so he was sensitive to unfamiliar faces.
This helped his brain regain some of its multitasking ability.
But just then, a loud 'BOOM' came from the direction of the storeroom in the back, followed by Lei Lei running out with pattering footsteps.
From this description, you could tell that Lei Lei was even still wearing slippers.
A young girl who looked about fifteen or sixteen was sitting on Li Chengxi's lap, so close that he could have pulled her into an embrace with a slight movement.
Yet, Li Chengxi held a large silver tray with both hands as if it were a bomb.
The whole picture made it seem like they were in the middle of some weird 'play'.
"Wait! I can explain! I'm really not a pervert!"
This sentence was also basically a conditioned reflex, uttered without any thought.
But Li Chengxi quickly snapped out of it.
He turned to Lei Lei, who looked equally astonished by the scene, and said:
"No, wait, how did you get in? That's the storeroom!"
Then he turned to the young man who was reaching for him and said:
"And who are you? How do you know my name? I don't know you!"
This string of panicked questions made Li Chengxi's hands tremble, and with that tremble...
The silver tray and cloche that he held over his head immediately crashed to the floor with a loud CLANG.
The deafening noise made his eardrums tingle.
He himself, under this wave of sonic assault, felt his brain shut down again.
Li Chengxi.exe is not responding.
–‐‐——–‐‐——
The human brain's ability to handle crises is limited, which is why the mind goes blank under extreme stress.
However, this state doesn't last long, usually just for a short while.
Once Li Chengxi's brain finished rebooting, he quickly got up and bolted the main door, afraid that someone else might come in, especially an acquaintance.
If that happened, he was pretty sure he'd suffer social death through local rumors.
Lei Lei and the young man who had suddenly rushed into the store thoughtfully waited for Li Chengxi to collect his thoughts.
They each pulled up a plastic stool and sat on the other side of the cash register.
As for Audel, the one who had jumped out of the screen and started this whole chain of chaos, she had found a small stool to sit on.
At the moment, she was curiously examining the small decorations Li Chengxi had behind his cash register, things like a bronze sword, a bronze Maitreya, a bronze Ultraman, and the like.
She would occasionally let out little exclamations, like "Wow..." or "Ooh...".
She looked quite cute.
"Mr. Li Chengxi, are you feeling better?"
"I'm a bit of a mess, and my chest feels tight."
"You're just too worked up. Please relax a little."
The young man comforted Li Chengxi in a soft voice and took out a business card from his pocket, placing it on the cash register.
The business card was simple, just a plain white card.
Printed on it were 'Section Nine,' 'Qian Sen,' and a phone number below.
"I'm Qian Sen. It's a little hard to pronounce, but please say it correctly. My classmates in school often called me Johnson because of it."
"Okay, Johnson."
"..."
This interruption did make Li Chengxi feel much more relaxed.
He looked at the business card and asked strangely:
"Section Nine? May I ask which department's Section Nine you work for?"
But Qian Sen didn't answer the question directly, instead saying:
"Have you seen the movie 'Men in Black'?"
"Uh... I've seen it. It's been re-run on TV several times."
"We're similar to the Men in Black. Our department is called 'Nonexistent,' and my name is 'Person Not Found.' But rest assured, we work for the government. We are by no means suspicious people."
As Qian Sen spoke, he started pulling out credentials from his coat, one after another.
There was a whole pile of them: police ID, military officer ID, teacher's certification, and so on, covering areas like transportation, education, healthcare, the police system, the military system, etc.
The name on each ID was different, which left Li Chengxi looking completely baffled.
This guy... he couldn't be a forger, could he?
"No matter which profession you trust, I have the relevant certification right here. These are just for convenience in our work, and they are not fake."
Seeing that Li Chengxi was still a bit dazed, Qian Sen continued:
"My main job is actually a bit like a police officer's. Our primary duty is to maintain public order, but the scope of our jurisdiction is a little different. My department and I primarily oversee all the powers, creatures, and objects that cannot be explained by modern science, that defy common sense, and that should only exist in fantasy."
He pointed at Audel, who was letting out small gasps of admiration behind the cash register:
"For example, transmigrators like this young lady."
Li Chengxi was a little numb by now:
"It's not April Fools' Day today, is it?"
"Of course not. I'm not joking with you."
"And I haven't given permission to film a TV show either."
"Rest assured, our conversation will not be televised."
"Are you sure you're not messing with me?"
"Look at my hair. I'm really not free enough to have time to mess with people."
Looking at Qian Sen's thinning crown and receding hairline, Li Chengxi could sense the sincerity in his words...
(End of chapter)