Chapter 29: Midnight Alley

A Beast logged off the game.

He realized that, at his current level of thirteen, he could no longer gain much experience in the novice village. Whether he was clearing dungeons or grinding in leveling zones, each monster would only grant him a single point of experience, by force. Besides, the game was about to undergo maintenance soon, so he didn’t bother to squeeze in a few extra moments in the novice village. Simply put, after exiting the hidden dungeon, he logged off immediately.

There was another compelling reason for this: his body couldn’t take it anymore. It wasn't that A Beast himself was exhausted, but rather that Wang Jie’s body was giving out.

Let’s not forget, Wang Jie had been a stereotypical couch potato—fat, lazy, and reclusive. Outwardly, he appeared unharmed, but in truth, his entire body was in a sub-health state. Especially since A Beast often played games for an entire day while only eating one meal. So, Wang Jie’s body was on the verge of collapse.

After coming out of the game, A Beast went to grab a meal. It wasn’t anything extravagant, just a simple bowl of porridge—ordinary crab roe and hairy crab porridge. Nothing particularly delicious, just the taste of crab roe…

Afterward, A Beast headed back to the same internet café as before. At the counter, someone called out “Old Wang,” and he went straight to a computer.

The cashier, acting as the café’s system manager, followed A Beast and pointed at a laptop not far away, which A Beast had just overlooked. “Old Wang, you’ve finally come around, huh? Planning to buy a computer? What kind are you interested in? I suggest this gaming laptop. It’s a bit pricey, but it’s lightweight and runs fast.”

A Beast shook his head. “No, I only need a computer for reading text.”

“Come on, reading text isn’t nearly as satisfying as watching videos, right? Trust me, this laptop is really impressive.” The manager winked at A Beast, repeatedly signaling that he should buy the gaming laptop.

“No,” A Beast declined again, ignoring the advice, and instead bought a two-thousand yuan laptop online.

Of course, with technology advancing so quickly, even a two-thousand yuan laptop these days isn’t that bad. But for gaming or watching videos, it might be a bit lacking. After buying the laptop, A Beast also purchased a sit-up bench.

The internet café manager looked at him with surprise. “Huh, you actually bought a sit-up bench? That’s rare. Planning to work out?”

“I’m afraid of dropping dead suddenly,” A Beast replied, then shut down the computer, stood up, and prepared to leave.

The manager’s face was filled with disbelief. “Wait, that’s it?”

“What else?” A Beast countered.

The manager was astonished. “I thought you came to watch, you know, those kinds of videos everyone understands. I was even planning to freeload off your resources a bit. Didn’t expect you to leave so quickly. So, today you just came here to buy a computer and exercise equipment?”

“What else?” A Beast asked again.

“Uh…” The manager was momentarily speechless; after all, A Beast had never actually said what he was here for—it was all the manager’s own assumptions.

With that, A Beast left straightaway. Standing at the entrance of the internet café, just as he was about to head back, he seemed to remember something. Glancing in the opposite direction, he began jogging at a leisurely pace.

It was around eight in the evening. A Beast knew that if he went back now, he'd probably end up doing nothing productive, so he decided to get some exercise. The method was simple: slow jogging.

Time slipped by, and three and a half hours passed in a blur. Given the poor state of Wang Jie’s body, A Beast had only managed to jog for about half an hour in total out of all that time. Still, even a little exercise was better than none.

“Now, even if you scream your lungs out, no one will answer. Be good and cooperate, and maybe I’ll let you go. Otherwise, did your teacher ever tell you in school why a white blade turns red?” Just as A Beast was passing the mouth of a small alley, intending to head home and rest, he suddenly heard voices coming from within.

“Help…” A Beast glanced at the alley, not intending to get involved. But just as he took a step to leave, another voice rang out from the alley.

The previous voice had been a menacing male, but the second was an urgent cry for help from a woman. Normally, even this wouldn’t have made A Beast stop.

He was a Digimon, an outsider in this world. The fate of these humans was none of his concern. He was neither human nor native to this world, and if he recklessly got involved, given his current state, he might end up dead. And honestly, he had no idea what would happen to him if he died under these circumstances. In short, he didn’t want to meddle.

But the woman’s voice made him pause. The reason was that her voice sounded very much like that of the landlady he had heard at Wang Jie’s door before.

If it really was the landlady, A Beast figured he might as well lend a hand. After all, if she found out later that he had passed by and not helped her, he might be thrown out on the street. And if she didn’t make it out alive, there would surely be other complications—things he’d rather not deal with. All he wanted was a quiet place to play his games.

So, if this was the landlady, he had to help. Who knows, perhaps in her gratitude, she’d even waive his rent altogether. Not that the rent was much to him now, but saving money meant he could last a little longer—and maybe, just maybe, he could recover all of Zero Beast’s data.

With this in mind, A Beast moved lightly toward the alley. It was pitch black within, the kind of darkness where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Still, after entering, he saw no one.

Undeterred, A Beast pressed on deeper. It wasn’t until he rounded a corner further inside that he finally saw a man and a woman struggling together.

What he walked in on was, to put it mildly, not suitable for children…