The happiest days for Little Bug were the times he spent at the Shores. He genuinely liked everyone from the bottom of his heart.
But Little Bug was, after all, a little wolf, and naturally inherited one of the biggest traits of canines... recognizing a master.
Not to mention that Little Bug and 007 had already become one whole. Even if they didn't share the same body now, 007 would still be the one Little Bug loved the most.
Even though Xu Yuan and Entity 303 all doted on Little Bug to the extreme, the place others held in his heart could never surpass 007.
After all, their past experiences and the bond built through the hardships they endured together was something no one else could ever compare to.
Because of this, Little Bug would get jealous of Xu Yuan, because he cared about 007 too much.
But the attitude 007 showed made Little Bug feel like putting 007 first might actually be wrong.
007 always cared deeply about Xu Yuan and always told Little Bug to put Xu Yuan first.
So Little Bug had always been unhappy. He always felt Xu Yuan had taken 007 away from him.
Originally, this was actually because 007 hadn't handled things well. But Little Bug couldn't blame 007, so he pushed all the blame onto Xu Yuan instead. That was also why he felt guilty after saying he didn't like Xu Yuan.
But when he told Xu Yuan what was in his heart, not only did Xu Yuan not blame him, he even felt there was nothing wrong with his thoughts.
Xu Yuan told him that he could have someone he liked the most most most, someone he liked the most most, and someone he liked the most.
As long as it came from his heart, no one would blame him just because they weren't the one he liked the most most most.
Only at that moment did the tangled mess of thoughts in his heart finally become untied.
Just a few minutes earlier, Little Bug had still been saying he didn't like Xu Yuan anymore. But after just a few sentences, Xu Yuan's place in his heart had already changed from most most liked to most most most liked.
But he didn't tell Xu Yuan, because he understood that whether it was most most most liked or most most liked, it was no longer important to him.
Because he liked everyone, and everyone liked him. Ranking everyone by how much he liked them was completely meaningless.
In his heart, the most important and meaningful thing was that everyone could happily be together.
———
After hearing Little Bug finish recalling these experiences, Notch felt his corpse turn warm. He hadn't expected Xu Yuan to have such a gentle side.
This also made Notch recall his own past with Xu Yuan. It would've been better if he hadn't. The moment he did, he suddenly felt a bit stifled.
"So all the soft-hearted kindness went to them, and I'm the only one who got the sharp tongue?!!"
While Notch was thinking this, he suddenly looked up and noticed that the Death Knight also had the same "golden legend" above his head as Rookie did.
Just as Notch was about to speak, Rookie beat him to it. Rookie clutched his chest with a relieved expression and said, "That was so nice to hear. I feel like even my corpse spots faded a bit! This is the real spot-fading essence!!!"
After saying that, he turned to Notch and said,
"Looks like the Death Knight's golden legend has appeared too."
Before Notch could respond, Rookie turned toward Entity 303 with a thoughtful expression and said, "Before this, I always wondered what kind of magic Xu Yuan had to make all of you so devoted to him."
"I didn't expect that Xu Yuan from your perspective… would really be this surprising."
"No wonder when I called him your parent before, you didn't argue with me."
"The way you all interact really is like a family. And he really is a thoughtful head of the household, even taking care of a little dog… I mean little wolf's emotions."
Rookie was probably the only person present who had never actually met Xu Yuan. Everything he knew about Xu Yuan either came from Entity 303 or from information on game forums.
Although Entity 303 would talk about Xu Yuan with Rookie, it was usually just brief mentions while discussing serious matters, like the earlier mention of the first server shutdown.
After all, by the time Entity 303 and Rookie became close, the situation had already become very serious. Naturally, they didn't have much time to talk about everyday life matters.
But many times, what moves people the most are precisely those small, trivial details.
Thinking of this, Rookie raised his eyebrows and showed a mischievous grin.
"Did Xu Yuan ever comfort you the same way he comforted Little Bug?"
The reason he asked this was actually because of a bit of selfish curiosity.
He understood Entity 303's past. Even though Entity 303 had managed to walk out of his darkness on his own, after going through those things, it would normally be hard to develop a sense of belonging toward a strange world and unfamiliar people.
But Entity 303 not only developed a sense of belonging toward this world, he also formed deep bonds with Xu Yuan and the people under him.
Clearly, all these changes were because of Xu Yuan. So Rookie was very curious about what Xu Yuan had actually done.
———
Hearing Rookie's teasing, Entity 303 couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Do I look like someone who needs comforting?"
At this point, Entity 303 originally wanted to joke with Rookie a bit more, but after thinking about it, he decided to drop it. There would be plenty of time later. Right now it was better to focus on the main matter.
Entity 303 lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then looked at Rookie and said, "Before, you always asked me whether I wanted to go back. My answer never changed. I always said no. And you always asked me why."
Judging from this setup, it looked like another tear-jerking little story was about to begin. At this moment, Rookie only regretted not bringing a small stool, some melon seeds, drinks, and tissues.
But that didn't affect his mood for listening to a story. He nodded eagerly and said, "So, what's the reason you don't want to go back?"
Entity 303 didn't answer immediately. He quietly looked into the distance, as if recalling bits and pieces of the past. After a while, he began speaking as if talking to himself.
"I was the last person to join under our king… and also the one with the most special identity…"
At this point, Entity 303 shrugged and looked at Rookie.
"My previous days were also kind of muddled, but at least I had a job. Every day I'd slack off a bit, think about what to eat, play some games after work. It was actually pretty fulfilling."
"But suddenly getting transported into this world completely disrupted all my plans."
"You know me. I'm an introvert."
"When I first arrived at the Shores, I really felt uncomfortable…"
"Because life there was completely different from my old life… there were no houses, basically no private space, everyone had to interact face to face every day, and it seemed like nobody really had any goals either…"
At this point, Entity 303 paused. He stepped a bit closer, spread his hands, and said helplessly, "And most importantly… there were no phones!! No computers!!! You get that, right?!!!"
"This kind of life made me feel very lost. I didn't know how I should live from then on, didn't know what I should do, and couldn't find a way to fit in with them…"
"After being awkward by myself like this for a long time, I finally couldn't hold it in anymore… that day I took the initiative to find our king and told him about my difficulties…"