Apocalyptic Wasteland Simulator

Chapter 73 - 72: Accident! Hope for Restarting the Simulation
Chen Pingchuan pressed his ear tightly against the door.

In fact, even without doing so, his keen sense of hearing was enough to discern the movements inside. However, a force called habit compelled him to make this move involuntarily.

Hearing the rustling of someone cleaning up glass shards outside, Chen Pingchuan turned and walked to Belia’s bed. He pulled a chair from the desk and sat directly opposite her, staring straight into her eyes.

Chen Pingchuan had expected his sister to be frightened. To his surprise, not only was she unafraid, but she stared back at him with blazing eyes.

Feeling uncomfortable under her gaze, Chen Pingchuan gave up on his plan to intimidate her. ”Alright, alright, stop staring,” he said, finally breaking. ”Aren’t you afraid of me?”

”Not afraid!”

Belia’s eyes were so bright that Chen Pingchuan felt a pang of self-reproach.

This sister is just too adorable. Her soft, cute appearance, combined with that little-adult demeanor, creates a contrast so strong it could melt anyone’s heart.

Chen Pingchuan shook his head abruptly, deeply annoyed with himself. I should just slap myself. What is this nonsense I’m thinking?

”Are you acting strange?”

Belia suddenly stood, her hands gripping the armrests. She leaned in, moving her head closer and closer to Chen Pingchuan’s face, stopping only when they could feel each other’s breath.

He was the first to break under the strange atmosphere. Chen Pingchuan cupped Belia’s small face in his hands and gently but firmly pushed her back onto the bed.

He stood up, walked to the window, and took a couple of deep breaths to calm his agitated emotions. I’m such a beast, he cursed internally, a wry smile touching his lips. He turned back to her. ”Alright, I won’t lecture you anymore. You should decide your own matters. But I have to tell you, don’t waste your precious childhood. It will be the most beautiful memory of your entire life.”

This time, his words were full of sincerity. Although he couldn’t remember the details of his own childhood, his heart yearned for it. This is what a child who has known love grows up to be.

Belia sensed his sincerity. She wasn’t even sure what to make of her own mindset right now. If she simply wanted to find things out, she wouldn’t have to go to such lengths—playing house with him, having people watch his every move. She had already noticed her own strange behavior. Especially in that moment just now. He probably thinks he was the only one feeling embarrassed, but in truth, Belia was also immensely shy. It was just that, because of this body, her face always remained perfectly fair.

Feeling he had lost face, Chen Pingchuan decided not to linger. He opened his backpack, revealing two shiny silver metallic bracelets inside.

”Here, one for you,” he said. ”And remember, don’t tell Mom and Dad.”

Belia stared at the shiny silver bracelet, an incredulous expression on her face. Her eyes darted back and forth between the bracelet and Chen Pingchuan.

Da Ming Manufacturing’s ”Celestial Personal Intelligent Terminal 3.0.” It was the latest model, a marvel of engineering that stored the wisdom of millions of people. It integrated high-tech features like remote communication, real-time location tracking, problem-solving, and environmental calculation. The cheapest model cost a full 1,000,000 Federation Coins, and this limited-edition silver version was valued at a staggering 5,000,000.

Unable to contain her curiosity any longer, Belia asked, ”Where did you get so much money?”

Chen Pingchuan, on the other hand, looked impatient and replied perfunctorily, ”I, your brother, got extremely lucky and found them. Let me tell you, the source is completely legit, but don’t you dare tell Mom and Dad. They’ll just nag us to death. If anything goes wrong because you blabbed, I’m holding you responsible.”

Although his subconscious warned him that this would increase his risk of exposure, Chen Pingchuan ignored its guidance. Even if I have to hide things, he thought, there’s no need to hide them from my own family. Besides, I really do need an intelligent terminal to answer some of my basic questions about this world.

Now that he’d given his sister the bracelet, Chen Pingchuan decided to head back to his own room. Suddenly, a loud prompt echoed in his mind.

[DING! Energy Crystal (Purple) detected. Absorbing it can partially lift the seal on the Apocalyptic Redemption Simulator. Do you wish to absorb it?]

”Who’s there?”

Chen Pingchuan flinched. The voice had come out of nowhere—so abrupt, so illogical—and echoed right in his ear.

”What? Who?” Belia, who had been lost in her own thoughts, was startled by his cry. Seeing his panicked expression, she began to feel nervous as well. ”What’s wrong, Chen... Brother? What happened to you?”

Chen Pingchuan froze for a second. This is the first time she’s called me ’Brother’ since I woke up, he realized, a feeling of pure happiness surging through him.

Looks like this was the right gift, he thought. Even my normally aloof sister is won over. As for the cost, it was negligible to him.

After a fruitless search of the room, Chen Pingchuan concluded he must have been hearing things. Suddenly, an azure light screen, much like an attribute panel, materialized before his eyes. On it were the same words he had just heard.

[DING! Energy Crystal (Purple) detected. Absorbing it can partially lift the seal on the Apocalyptic Redemption Simulator. Do you wish to absorb it?]

Chen Pingchuan waved his hand in front of his face, trying to touch the screen, but found it was intangible. Just then, a cool, soft sensation touched his hand, the feeling shooting straight to his brain.

Crap, he thought, hurriedly apologizing. ”S-s-sorry. I swear, an azure light screen just appeared in front of me. I tried to touch it, but my hand went right through... and ended up on your face.” He looked at her earnestly. ”You don’t think I’m making this up just to trick you, do you?”

Belia didn’t answer directly. Instead, she scrutinized him once more, her gaze a mixture of doubt, analysis, and contemplation, as if she were trying to peer through his skin and see the truth in his soul.

Finally, after a long moment of staring, Belia lifted her chin slightly, pursed her lips, and spoke slowly, a complex emotion in her eyes. ”I know you’re not lying, Brother. But... there’s something I want to tell you.”

At this, Belia paused. She stood up and motioned for Chen Pingchuan to crouch down. Leaning close, she brought her small head to his ear and whispered, ”If you really like it that much, Brother... I suppose letting you touch it wouldn’t be a big deal.”

She finished with a small giggle. ”Hee hee...”

Belia’s words completely stunned him. As she leaned in even closer, he stumbled backward and landed on the floor with a thud. He stared up at his sister, utterly terrified. He was completely dumbfounded.

「Five minutes later.」

Belia was tidying up her clothes. And no, nothing exciting had happened in the interim; she was quite literally just tidying up her clothes.

She had just pulled a necklace from the front of her dress. ”Brother,” she said, holding it out. ”Are you talking about this?”

Chen Pingchuan stared at the purple crystal. After checking it repeatedly, he confirmed that this was what had triggered the azure light screen. ”Yes,” he murmured. ”This should be it.”

Chen Pingchuan carefully took the purple energy crystal and held it up to the light, trying to divine its secrets. The bright light passed through the crystal, refracting into a brilliant, dazzling glow.

Yet, despite his careful inspection, he couldn’t detect anything special about it other than its stunning color. To his eyes, it was just an ordinary, transparent purple stone—so mundane it was a huge disappointment.

Seeing how intently Chen Pingchuan was studying the purple energy crystal, Belia offered generously, ”Since you like it so much, Brother, you can have it!”

”No way, I can’t just take your things.”

Chen Pingchuan instinctively refused. Belia, however, had been wondering how to repay him for the gift, as she hated receiving things for free. Now that he clearly liked the purple energy crystal, this was the perfect solution. It would cancel the debt between them, even though this crystal was easily worth ten times the silver intelligent terminal bracelet.

To persuade him, Belia pressed, ”Well then, I can’t accept your gift either!”

”Why not? It’s perfectly natural for an older brother to give his little sister gifts.”

Chen Pingchuan’s words were firm and resolute; Belia’s were as warm as a gentle breeze.

”And this little sister wants to give her older brother a gift, too,” she said with a giggle. ”Hee hee...”

After a moment’s hesitation, driven by an inner desire he couldn’t quite explain, Chen Pingchuan accepted the special gift from his sister.