Chapter 50: Looking for His Wife?
When the item materialized in her hands, its description appeared in Li Zhi's mind:
Danger Warning Alarm – Usable in both the real world and dungeons. Automatically alerts when near danger, providing a 30-second advance warning. Limited to three uses.
It couldn’t be a permanent item—that would be too overpowered. Three warnings were already a luxury.
After claiming her rewards, the system displayed two random items available for purchase:
- Freeze Talisman – Single-use, effective against both humans and ghosts. Freezes target for one minute. Cost: 599 points.
- Infinite Flashlight – Never runs out of power. Usable in both reality and dungeons. Cost: 399 points.
As a high-ranking player with substantial popularity points, Li Zhi didn’t hesitate. She converted one million popularity points into 1,000 dungeon points and bought both.
The system promptly notified her:
"Total popularity adjusted to 4,507,420. Global ranking dropped from 90th to 99th. Keep up the good work!"
Li Zhi wasn’t bothered. Rankings fluctuated, and she’d climb back up eventually. Securing useful items after each run was far more important.
Back in the safe house, the rankings remained stable—everyone’s popularity had dipped.
Having survived a dungeon together, the players exchanged farewells. Without a Team Card, they’d likely never meet again.
When the safe house dissolved, Li Zhi awoke in her familiar bedroom.
She stepped out and called, "Mom, I'm back."
"Zhi Zhi!"
"Sis!" Li Shuang, as usual, was the first to barrel into her, clinging tightly as if afraid she’d vanish. Normally, Li Feng would scold her and pull her off—but this time, he was nowhere in sight.
A bad feeling crept in. "Shuang, where’s Gege?"
Li Shuang finally let go. "He got recalled by the military."
Relief flickered—Li Zhi had feared he’d been dragged into a dungeon. But it was short-lived.
Li Feng had been one of the nation’s finest soldiers before retiring. Even now, he’d never truly left that duty behind. Greater ability meant greater responsibility—in times like these, he would step up.
The question was: Was his mission about the real-world chaos… or the dungeons?
If the latter, they might cross paths inside.
Noticing her silence, Li Shuang thumped her chest. "Don’t worry, Sis! I’ve got things here! Gege left me in charge of protecting the house! I’ve been training—I can take on three guys now! Hah!"
She even demonstrated a few moves, making Li Zhi laugh.
Their mother, Shang Jinru, chimed in, "Zhi Zhi, I may be old, but I can still handle myself! You and your brother fight on the front lines. Shuang and I will hold down the fort!"
Li Shuang blinked. "Mom, since when do you talk like this?"
Shang Jinru grinned. "Picked it up from your sister’s livestream chats."
Li Zhi smiled, reassured by their efforts to ease her worries.
After showering and changing, she tried calling Li Feng. No answer—unsurprising, given his missions had always been radio-silent.
Meanwhile, Li Shuang marveled at the Infinite Flashlight, clicking it on and off. "No charging port? Wild."
As Li Zhi scrolled through news updates, she paused. "Lian Qinglin got injured?"
Li Shuang gasped. "Right! Forgot to tell you! He cleared his dungeon the night you entered. That bastard Wang Xiang screwed him over—he almost died! Lost a leg before escaping!"
Li Zhi searched online. The incident had gone viral. Wang Xiang, the lunatic who’d hacked people on the street to force his way into a dungeon, had ultimately failed to survive.
Fan-recorded clips showed the dungeon’s climax—a mass death trigger wiping out half the team. In his final moments, Wang Xiang tried to drag Lian Qinglin down with him.
But the 19-year-old idol proved shockingly ruthless.
He severed his own leg to survive.
The act had skyrocketed his popularity. Now ranked 73rd globally, Lian Qinglin was more famous than during his idol days.
Yet their group chat had been silent for days.
Li Zhi dialed his number.
The moment he answered, his voice was as lively as ever: "Zhi Jie! You cleared it?!"
No trace of trauma.
Li Zhi chuckled. "Just got out. You okay?"
"Holy shit, Zhi Jie! I almost died! You should’ve seen me— chop! —blood everywhere! So badass!"
Li Zhi: "……"
Worried for nothing.
After boasting, Lian Qinglin asked, "Hey, you teamed up with Mao Mao and the guys this time, right? How’d they do?"
Li Zhi smirked. "About like you."
Same brand of endearing idiocy.
He laughed. "Zhi Jie, you’ve done three runs with Chi Yi now. My turn next! Let’s team up!"
Li Zhi teased, "You won’t get MVP with me around."
"Who cares! My popularity’s insane now—higher than when I was a top idol! Even without MVP, I’m set! Please, Zhi Jie? I’ve leveled up! I wanna coast like Mao Mao did!"
Despite his bravado, Li Zhi knew the leg incident must’ve shaken him. A lighter dungeon would help.
Since she’d already promised the pink-haired guy a team-up next run, she agreed. "Fine. But how’s the leg? ‘New’ one working okay?"
"Good as new! A bit weak at first, but the doc says it’s perfect—healthier than my original! Fresh out the factory, y’know?"
His ordeal would fuel public frenzy over dungeon rewards.
After hanging up, Li Zhi browsed the news. Since Wang Xiang’s rampage, security had tightened—yet attention-seeking stunts still erupted daily.
Her local newsfeed reported twenty public streaking incidents in a week.
The "Horror Show" now had its own forum, surpassing even mainstream social media in traffic.
Curious, Li Zhi registered an account.
A mid-ranking post immediately caught her eye—because its title mentioned her and Li Jianxi.
Li Jianxi.
She’d asked him in The Infant Tower if they’d meet again. Yet he hadn’t appeared in The Chaste Women’s Village. That shadowy figure she’d glimpsed at the end—was it him?
She clicked the post.
OP: [VIDEO LINK]
Guys, check this out! I’m a hardcore shipper, and besides the popular player pairs, I’ve latched onto the wildest crackship: [Player] x [NPC]—Li Zhi and Li Jianxi!
If you’ve seen Li Zhi’s runs (The Mountain Village Burial, The Infant Tower, The Chaste Women’s Village), you know how effortlessly cool she is. But today’s focus is NPC heartthrob Li Jianxi—so gorgeous he made even idol Lian Qinglin look plain. And he’s just an NPC! Tragic!
Now, Li Zhi didn’t meet him in her third run. So why am I shipping?
BECAUSE HE’S SEARCHING FOR HER ACROSS DUNGEONS.
I’ve compiled 37 different dungeons where Li Jianxi briefly appeared—just long enough to be noticed before vanishing. He’s not advancing any plot. He’s looking for Li Zhi.
After she asked, "Will we meet again?" he’s been dungeon-hopping nonstop.
HE’S LITERALLY TRYING TO FIND HIS WIFE.
Yet fate (aka the damn system) kept them apart. By the time Li Zhi cleared her dungeon, he still hadn’t reached The Chaste Women’s Village.
Jianxi, my man, your legs must be exhausted.
Comments:
2L: Dropping a "ZhiXi" shipping flag here.
3L: NO WONDER I kept seeing him in random dungeons!
4L: NPCs don’t have free will. OP’s delusional.
5L: Weird how he’s the only recurring NPC…
6L: Maybe the devs loved his face too much to retire him?
7L: I’M OBSESSED. OP, when’s the full shipping video?
8L: I saw him in another dungeon! Same deal—popped in, then left.
9L: Bet Li Zhi maxed his "favorability" stat. He even gave her an item in Infant Tower!
10L: WAIT, NPCs CAN DROP ITEMS?! I met him last run—should’ve tried grinding his好感度!
Li Zhi stared at the screen, lips curving.
So he really had been looking for her.