Underworld Player
Underworld Player - Chapter 5: Talk Therapy

Frankly, Lin XiaoYi was convinced her deduction was spot-on.

Although her grades were excellent, which proved that she was not only one of the most beautiful babes on campus but also one of the brainiest, Lin XiaoYi still enjoyed reading the occasional webnovel in her downtime, which kept her imagination well-fed and very lively.

However, fantasy was fantasy and reality was reality, and never should the line be muddled. Of this, she was well aware, so she would not normally have changed her mind about Bai Zhi so quickly. However, she had just witnessed a supernatural incident that threw all her preconceptions out the window.

Despite having dated a string of no less than seven girlfriends, Bai Zhi, the well-known Casanova of Marina City University was never accused of sexual molestation in any degree. His principal failings were in mooching off his partner, swindling them and generally being a bum, spending all his time playing video games at the internet café.

Thus, though he was notoriously unsavory, people did not come after him, but tolerated his existence. If he ever dared to rob a woman of not only her money but her chastity as well, the student body would swiftly ensure that he was soon expelled.

Just what could cause an intelligent, attractive young man with a bright future to sink so low into degeneracy? Was it really all the consequence of becoming addicted to video games?

Lin XiaoYi thought not. After experiencing that horrific encounter, she began to develop a very different theory.

She had never paid close attention to the mess of urban legends that were hotly circulated online, but there was a time when she looked into it out of curiosity. Her research had led her to the same observation made by Bai Zhi—that there had been an explosion of such stories beginning around three months ago.

Coincidentally, that was the exact time when "Bai Zhi" had become so engrossed in his video games that he developed an addiction!

Meaning? Well, the truth was obvious!

Feeling like she had uncovered some arcane knowledge, Lin XiaoYi felt her breath quickening with excitement.

Bai Zhi was not some deadbeat who spent all day feeding a video game addiction, but was a hero secretly protecting the people from the threat of supernatural entities!

She had always been fascinated by the occult, and her recent research into the explosion of urban legends showed it.

Perhaps the seven women he had dated had been like her, special individuals who had drawn the attention of some otherworldly creature. That would explain why Bai Zhi had dated so many women in quick succession. He was actually secretly preventing girls like her from succumbing to such creatures' attacks!

As the saying goes, "To do without asking is kindness, to give without getting is goodness". After dispatching whatever supernatural entity was plaguing the girls, he did not get attached, but simply moved on. To avoid a panic, he would rather suffer the burden of a bad reputation than expose the horrifying truth!

Could there truly be someone who only dated girls with no interest in the pleasures of the flesh, but did it solely to fund their video game habit? No way!

Lin XiaoYi stared at the back of the man before her with a fervent, passionate gaze.

To prove her conjectures would be easy, she thought.

She was sure that, once Bai Zhi dispatched this supernatural entity—just like he must have done with the other seven girls—then he would no longer harass her night and day as he had done before, but instead, would act completely uninterested in her!

As her eyes roved over the silhouette of the person who was shielding her, Lin XiaoYi could not help guessing at what would happen next. With so many people surrounding them, how would Bai Zhi deal with the monster?

An irritated Bai Zhi looked at the girl sitting opposite him with a puzzled frown. "Whatcha lookin' at?!"

It was an understandable reaction. If, while you were eating, someone were to suddenly look up and directly at you, you would react like he did too.

For God's sake, it had already been an uphill climb trying to nab a seat in the middle of rush hour at the cafeteria, couldn't a man eat his lunch in peace?

After a momentary stunned silence, "Xia Wen" quickly recovered and flashed a sweet smile at Bai Zhi, saying, "...Um, excuse me, I was talking to my friend? You know, the one who gave up her seat for you and is standing behind you right now.

" Could you move aside a little, please? I need to see her—"

Before "Xia Wen" could finish, Bai Zhi interjected, "How is that my problem?

"All I want is to eat my lunch in peace. Is that so much to ask? Don't you know that you gave me the heebie-jeebies when you stared at me like that? Put yourself in my shoes, how would you feel if someone gave you a death stare in the middle of your meal?"

"That's not— I didn't mean..."

Shocked by his retort, "Xia Wen" began to stammer out an excuse, but Bai Zhi interrupted her once more.

"Can't you empathize, huh? Don't you know how badly you've ruined my day? It's basic etiquette! You can't go around doing this to people, it's asking for a beating."

Slamming his chopstick down, Bai Zhi spoke with righteous fury.

"You're lucky I'm a pacifist—if you'd met a real belligerent type, you'd be in big trouble, believe me! Still lookin'?! You wanna try me? Keep ogling, I dare you, and if you dare to, I'll deck you!

"Don't you read the news? There's people who took a one-way trip to the ICU 'cause they looked at someone wrong—hold your tongue, listen to me— You may not want to hear what I have to say, but good advice, like good medicine, comes as a bitter pill.

"I'm telling you a pearl of truth, but it contains an ocean of wisdom! You may not know these things now, but when you get out into the real world, you think about what I'm telling you today and you'll realize just how true my words were. You'll thank me!

"So you see, I've spent my precious time to talk sense into you, because I'd hate to see—Hey, where're you going? I'm not done!"

Xia Wen got up from the table, her expression stormy, shooting a malicious gaze violently at Bai Zhi. Without a second glance at her prey, "Xia Wen" turned and walked out of the cafeteria.

"...That's it?"

Behind the puzzled Bai Zhi, Lin XiaoYi took in the whole scene with sparkling eyes.