The moment Lin Feng stepped into the dorm building, a complex cloud of smells hit him — sweat, instant noodles, and some mystery odor all mashed together.
The hallway was packed with people: guys hauling suitcases and buckets, plus parents seeing them off.
Right then, that cold robotic voice chimed in again.
[Ding! Temporary mission unlocked!]
[Mission Name: Infiltrate the Enemy Camp]
[Objective: Get to know at least two righteous lapdogs and build a basic friendship.]
[Reward: 50 spirit stones!]
Righteous lapdogs again? Lin Feng's mouth twitched.
Following the room number, he found his dorm — 404.
Pushing the door open, two guys were already inside. By the doorway, one dude wore headphones and was mashing keys like a pianist, yelling, "Mid lane miss! Mid lane miss! Jungler, gank! Dammit, died again!"
Across from him, a chubby guy was half-reclined in his chair, left hand clutching a bag of chips, right hand holding a cola, mouth stuffed, eyes glued to the gamer's screen, watching with total fascination.
Lin Feng walked in. During a respawn pause, the gamer yanked off his headphones and turned.
"Yo! New roomie? Come on in!" he greeted with infectious energy.
The chubby guy swallowed his chips, stood up, and gave a goofy grin.
"Bro, which CS class are you in?" the gamer asked.
Lin Feng shook his head and smiled. "Uh, I'm actually Chinese lit — majoring in Chinese Language & Literature."
He paused, surprised. "I thought we'd all be in the same major."
"Holy crap! Chinese lit?!" The gamer's eyes bulged, nearly dropping his mouse. "Badass, dude!"
The chubby guy's mouth watered in envy. "Yeah yeah! Heard Chinese lit's full of girls. Our class? Twenty-two people, eighteen are guys!"
The gamer gave him a you-hit-the-jackpot look. "Seriously, Chinese lit is like a sea of beauties! They say you can't even find one guy in a whole class. You're probably the only guy in yours, so they stuck you here with us!"
The chubby guy nodded. "Our CompSci Class 2 had two extra spots, so here we are."
"Got it," Lin Feng said, suddenly understanding.
"Oh, and we don't know the major of the guy above you," the gamer added, pointing to the upper bunk where a name tag read Chen Mo.
"Let's introduce ourselves!" the gamer offered his hand. "I'm Wang Hao — big into gaming and chatting. We can squad up later!"
The chubby guy wiped chip grease off his mouth, grinning. "I'm Zhu Dawei — just call me Fatso. Want some snacks?"
"Lin Feng," Lin Feng introduced himself with a smile.
"Group chat! Group chat!" Wang Hao whipped out his phone. "From now on, 404 brothers are family!"
They quickly exchanged WeChats, and Wang Hao created a group named "404 Not Found."
The moment the group formed, another ping sounded in Lin Feng's head.
[Ding! Host avoided suspicion and successfully infiltrated!]
[Mission "Infiltrate the Enemy Camp" complete — reward: 50 spirit stones!]
Instantly, his phone buzzed twice. He casually checked — a bank message:
[XX Bank] Your savings account ending XXXX received ¥5,000.00 on Aug 23 at 14:15. Current balance: ¥11,183.00.
Another ¥5,000?!
With the earlier ¥5,000, he'd made ten grand in like ten minutes?!
Lin Feng's heart thumped, breath catching.
I'm rich!
He used to stress over his ¥1,200 monthly allowance, pinching pennies. Now? Totally unnecessary.
Plus, with this cash, going after senior Su Qingwen felt way more doable.
Then the voice spoke again.
[Ding! Limited-time mission activated!]
[Mission Name: Brotherhood Bond]
[Objective: In five hours, click with the righteous lapdogs — call each other bros, deepen their trust.]
[Reward: 100 spirit stones!]
Call each other bros? Looking at these two — one obsessed with games, the other food — Lin Feng quickly hatched a plan.
He sauntered behind Wang Hao, feigning curiosity at the screen. Wang Hao's character was being chased by three enemies, dodging frantically before dying under a tower.
"Ugh! Can this jungler play or not?!" Wang Hao slammed the desk in rage.
Lin Feng nodded along, "Yeah, kinda trash," while secretly tapping his phone — ordered takeout, opened the game store…
Once done, he sat on his bed and chatted lazily with Zhu Dawei.
"Fatso, why study CompSci in a teachers' college?"
"No choice," Zhu Dawei mumbled around a chip. "I wanted CompSci, but Linjiang Uni's program's top-tier and my score wasn't enough!"
Their chat rambled on, then Lin Feng's phone rang.
"Hello? Food delivery? Okay, coming down!"
Minutes later, he reappeared with several large bags emblazoned "Linjiang's #1 Grill."
As soon as he opened them, a bold aroma of cumin, chili, and roasted meat flooded the room.
"Holy crap!" Zhu Dawei's eyes lit up, sniffing like a bloodhound, drool almost falling. "Barbecue? Lin Feng, your meal game's strong!"
"Since we're buds, treat for the first meet!" Lin Feng spread containers on the table — lamb skewers, chicken wings, grilled oysters — plus ice-cold colas.
"Found this place has the highest rating in the uni district, had 'em delivered. Dig in!"
Zhu Dawei, moved almost to tears, jumped off his bed.
"Aw, man, you shouldn't have," he said, already shoving a sizzling pork belly skewer into his mouth.
"Mmm… so good! Freakin' amazing!" His eyes squeezed shut in bliss.
Meanwhile, Wang Hao had just finished his match and was about to unplug when a golden notice popped onscreen:
["Feng" gifted you a skin — "Heir of the Dragon"!]
Wang Hao froze, eyes locked on the screen. Then came an eardrum-shattering scream:
"WHAT THE—!!!"
"Who the hell sent me this skin?! No way! 'Dragon Fool'! That skin costs like 500 bucks to draw in the lottery!"
Wang Hao shot up, face red with excitement, staring at Lin Feng like he'd seen a unicorn.