Player

"Three of a kind with a pair."

"Pass."

"Raise."

"Plane, I'm out."

"Ah, no way! I still have a bomb left to play!"

In the afternoon sunlight, the three of them sat together playing Landlords. As Ye Chuan laid down his last card, he tore off a slip of paper and stuck it onto Lan Xiaoke’s cheek.

Compared to Ye Chuan and Luo Xi’s clean faces, Lan Xiaoke’s was now adorned with four or five strips of paper, making her look like she was growing a white beard.

"Holding onto a Joker bomb like that—were you saving it for childbirth?"

"Ugh!" Lan Xiaoke flopped onto the floor. "I’m done playing."

Ye Chuan and Luo Xi exchanged a glance, silently acknowledging that Lan Xiaoke’s card skills were a bit lacking—she’d just been wiped out by Ye Chuan’s eleven-card combo.

"I’m going back to my room to rest," Lan Xiaoke mumbled as she slowly got up.

"Those paper strips stay on until tonight."

"Fine."

After Lan Xiaoke left, only Ye Chuan and Luo Xi remained in the room.

As Ye Chuan gathered the cards, Luo Xi sprawled onto the soft bed, hugging a nearby pillow. "Hah, I feel like taking a nap."

Seeing her like that, Ye Chuan sat on the edge of the bed, resting his weight lightly on her calves, and began massaging her back. "A nap?"

"Mmm." Luo Xi tightened her grip on the pillow. "Chuan~ Close the curtains~"

"Got it."

...

By the time Luo Xi woke from her nap, it was already late afternoon. She groggily opened her eyes, her limbs feeling too lazy to move. "Only slept for a bit, ugh."

Noticing Ye Chuan still watching her, she flicked his arm. "Hmph, gotcha. I wanna take a shower."

"Let’s go together."

"Nuh-uh, no way." With that, Luo Xi dashed off to the bathroom, leaving Ye Chuan propping his chin on one hand while the other absently groped around the bed until he found his phone.

A few new notifications popped up.

Aside from ads, there were messages—and a missed call—from Wang Yanran.

She had finalized the pharmaceutical company arrangements, with products now in preparation for launch. But there was something else—she wanted to talk to Ye Chuan over the phone.

A call…

Ye Chuan checked his phone. He must’ve been too absorbed earlier to notice the ringtone.

He dialed Wang Yanran back.

"Hey~ Ye Chuan, you finally picked up."

"What’s up?"

"The Wang family’s run into some trouble." Her voice carried a hint of urgency.

She gave a brief explanation:

"A few people calling themselves [Players] attacked our family members. They’re incredibly strong—we can’t handle them."

"Players? Strong?" Ye Chuan frowned.

"Yeah. From their tone, it’s like they’re not from this world, but they look completely ordinary. Just… unnaturally powerful."

"I’ll check it out." Intrigued, Ye Chuan wiped off the water on his body with a tissue, informed Luo Xi, changed clothes, and left the room.

At the entrance, he didn’t have to wait long before spotting Wang Yanran approaching from a distance.

Of course, she’d arrived ahead of time without needing a reminder.

"Ye Chuan." She jogged over as soon as she saw him.

"Get in. Explain on the way."

"Okay."

Once inside the car, Wang Yanran took the driver’s seat and recounted the incident:

"This afternoon, a new small rift appeared in the suburbs. I sent some family members to investigate, but they reported seeing a group of young people stepping out of it."

"When our people tried to question them, things turned violent. They got beaten up instantly."

"These [Players] are on another level. Even with our trained fighters outnumbering them, they stood no chance."

She glanced apologetically at Ye Chuan. "We’re too weak. Sorry for dragging you into this..."

Ye Chuan waved it off. "Not a problem. The real issue is whatever crawled out of that rift."

Each rift connected to a different world. These so-called [Players]—who knew where they came from?

But since they’d attacked his people, Ye Chuan wasn’t about to let it slide. Wang Yanran had been working hard for him; he couldn’t just leave her hanging.

"Where are they now?"

"All four of them are at a bar downtown, drinking." Wang Yanran explained that given their strength, her people could only monitor from a distance. Engaging them was out of the question.

If a fight broke out, innocent bystanders would get caught in the crossfire.

"A bar? They’ve got taste." Ye Chuan smirked.

He took Wang Yanran’s phone and skimmed the surveillance photos—two men, two women, all looking utterly ordinary. Unremarkable, even.

But coming from a rift? They were anything but normal.

"Aside from calling themselves [Players], did they say anything else you could understand?"

"Yeah, their speech was mostly clear."

"Let’s head over."

Wang Yanran hesitated. "Should I call in reinforcements from the Alliance’s superhuman families?"

"No need. If they’re as strong as you say, extra bodies would just mean more cannon fodder." Ye Chuan shrugged. He wasn’t lacking in manpower anyway.

With a small army of clones—each immune to magic and at the Golden Core stage—he was more than equipped for a brawl.

Soon, Wang Yanran parked at an intersection and pointed toward a bar entrance. "Ye Chuan, that’s the place."

"Drinking before evening? These guys really—" Before he could finish, an explosion rocked the bar’s entrance.

A man clad in armor, wreathed in flames, stomped out. Glass shattered around him as he bellowed,

"Trash alcohol! Tastes like piss!"

"Totally! Just cheap swill," another voice chimed in from behind him.

A bartender lay groaning at the man’s feet, struggling to speak. "I—I—"

"Shut it!" The armored man kicked him aside and cracked his neck.

"Pure reward dungeon. Feels damn good to be invincible—do whatever the hell I want."

He grinned, eyes locking onto a group of nearby girls.

"These ones aren’t bad. Let’s have some fun."