ARBW Chapter 20

Pei Yuhuai had nine Abilities in his possession, three of which he had already used, leaving him with six remaining.

These six Abilities were: Fire-based, Water-based, Wind-based, Earth-based, Ice-based, and Strength-based.

Pei Yuhuai himself had four Ability Slots. Currently, he had equipped three Abilities, leaving one slot still empty.

Unable to find an Ability he liked among the remaining ones, he decided to try his luck a few more times when he visited Lin Mian’s place.

He would see if there was an Ability he fancied and, at the same time, ask Lin Mian what kind of Ability he preferred.

Soon, Pei Yuhuai arrived at Lin Mian’s residence.

Pei Yuhuai knocked on the door, and it was Cheng Xiaowan who answered.

After successfully entering their home, Pei Yuhuai went straight to Lin Mian’s room.

To his great surprise, Lin Mian, who usually greeted him with joy, seemed rather unwelcoming today.

Just moments ago, when Pei Yuhuai knocked on the door, Lin Mian, upon realizing it was him, had inexplicably said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Pei, I’m not feeling well today and don’t want to see anyone.”

If it were anyone else, they would have taken the hint and left politely.

Given Pei Yuhuai’s upbringing, he should have left quietly upon hearing Lin Mian’s clear rejection.

But Pei Yuhuai was a smart man. He felt that even if Lin Mian wanted to reject him, it shouldn’t be in this manner.

Something must have happened to Lin Mian during his absence. Otherwise, with Lin Mian’s gentle and kind nature, he would never have said he didn’t want to see him.

Thinking this, Pei Yuhuai couldn’t bring himself to leave.

He stood silently outside the door for a long time before finally speaking, “Was it something I said yesterday that made you feel troubled?”

Lin Mian quickly replied, “No, I… I didn’t feel troubled. I just feel like I’m not worthy of Mr. Pei. I’m afraid that if this continues, I’ll become greedy and want Mr. Pei to fall in love with me.”

“Did something happen? I feel like you’re in a bad mood, and I’m a bit worried about you.”

“Nothing happened. I’m just overthinking some things and can’t seem to get past them.”

Truth be told, he hadn’t known Mr. Pei for long.

Just a few days ago, he was denying any feelings for Mr. Pei.

Yet today, for some reason, he found himself greedily wanting to monopolize Mr. Pei.

Humans are indeed… a particularly greedy species.

“I thought that even if we couldn’t become lovers, we could at least be good friends. As friends, I believe we can help each other. If something’s bothering you, you can come to me.”

“We’re not good friends, and I can’t help Mr. Pei. It’s always been Mr. Pei helping me. I… I can’t do anything for Mr. Pei.”

At this moment, Pei Yuhuai suddenly felt that the game’s AI was incredibly intelligent.

Because he suddenly felt as if Lin Mian were alive.

Lin Mian’s words and emotions made his heart beat a little faster.

Pei Yuhuai said, “How could that be? In my eyes, we are helping each other. You should be able to tell that I come from a wealthy family. Since childhood, I’ve never lacked material things. So… what I give you is the most ordinary and useless to me. Ordinary people can easily have friendships and love, but for me, they are very difficult. My marriage is unlikely to be based on genuine feelings. Many people are after my status. The same goes for friendships.”

After Pei Yuhuai finished speaking, Lin Mian finally opened the door.

He looked at Mr. Pei standing at the doorway, tilting his head slightly and whispering, “Then, I want to ask Mr. Pei, when you invited me to live together, did you want to be with me?”

Will you be with me, liking only me?

Or… like others say, is it just a fleeting novelty, just wanting to play with me?

Lin Mian felt he wasn’t a brave person. He didn’t have the courage to play with someone he liked.

If Mr. Pei didn’t genuinely like him, he would rather… give up the chance to be Mr. Pei’s lover than leave his side in disgrace later.

“Of course, I don’t know what the future holds, but at least in this world, we will be a couple.”

Pei Yuhuai’s words weren’t meant to deceive Lin Mian, only to find someone else later.

At this point, he still didn’t know Lin Mian was a real person. So, his perspective on the matter was different.

If he knew Lin Mian was real, given his personality, he would definitely be willing to marry him.

Unfortunately, they were separated by two worlds, by reality and virtuality.

Their thoughts were bound to be somewhat different.

But for fairness, even with a virtual lover, he would strive to be responsible. For example, he could use this as a reason to reject any potential matches his family introduced.

Pei Yuhuai’s response gave Lin Mian a significant promise.

At least it was much better than the scenario he had imagined, where Mr. Pei would just play with him.

“Then, can I ask that Mr. Pei not date anyone else while we’re together?”

“Of course, that’s a basic requirement for being a couple.”

“Then, I agree to live with Mr. Pei.”

Pei Yuhuai found it amusing. What a little fool.

So easily convinced, so easily trusting.

Fortunately, he had met him. If it were some other scoundrel, he wouldn’t dare imagine the outcome.

“As your lover, you can make any requests of me, and I’ll do my best to fulfill them.”

“Requests? I… I don’t have any requests.”

Just being Mr. Pei’s lover already made him feel incredibly lucky.

Seeing Lin Mian looking up at him so naively, Pei Yuhuai gently guided him, “For example, how much time you’d like me to spend with you each day? Or what gifts you’d like?”

“Spend time with me? I know Mr. Pei must be very busy. I don’t need you to spend every day with me.”

Pei Yuhuai was indeed busy and couldn’t promise to spend every day with Lin Mian.

“What about gifts? Is there anything you’d like?”

“Gifts? Mr. Pei already gives me gifts every day. I don’t really need anything.”

Hearing this, Pei Yuhuai sighed almost imperceptibly.

As he walked into Lin Mian’s room, he continued patiently, “If you don’t want gifts, then… how about an Ability?”

Lin Mian, who was about to follow him in, nearly bumped into the doorframe upon hearing this shocking statement.

He looked at Mr. Pei in disbelief, then quickly closed the door.

He said nervously, “Mr. Pei, what did you just say?”

Pei Yuhuai replied, “I said, is there an Ability you’d like?”

“In this apocalyptic world, no one wouldn’t want an Ability.”

“Then, what Ability would you like?”

“Me? Is it really possible for me to have any Ability I want?”

As he spoke, Lin Mian’s face scrunched up in confusion. He hadn’t realized before that Mr. Pei liked to joke around.

Seeing Lin Mian’s disbelief, Pei Yuhuai sat down on the small sofa and said calmly, “I never make empty promises.”

This meant that if he said he could give Lin Mian an Ability, he truly could.

At this point, Pei Yuhuai opened the Ability draw interface. As he recharged the game’s store, he said to Lin Mian, “Take your time to think. When you’ve decided, let me know.”

What followed was a long process of drawing Abilities. Pei Yuhuai didn’t remember exactly how many times he drew.

All he knew was that, after various small and large guarantees, he ended up with twenty Abilities.

Among these twenty Abilities, some were duplicates of ones he already had.

The twenty Abilities were: one Fire-based, one Earth-based, two Water-based, one Wind-based, one Space-based, one Plant-based, one Metal-based, one Healing Power, one Invisibility, one Strength, one Control, one Transformation, one Lightning-based, one Puppetry, one Zombification, one Immortality, one Twin, and one Taming.

The Space-based Ability was quite practical, suitable for gathering supplies. However, Pei Yuhuai already had a backpack from the game’s store, so he didn’t need this Ability.

The Metal-based Ability allowed control over all metals, making it a highly destructive power.

The Invisibility Ability allowed one to become invisible, making it an excellent means of escape by avoiding other humans.

The Control Ability was a mental-based power. By making eye contact, one could briefly control another’s actions. This Ability was very powerful, especially for those with strong mental strength.

The Transformation Ability allowed one to change into a person, an animal, or even an object. It didn’t have much offensive power but was a self-preservation Ability similar to Invisibility.

The Puppetry Ability allowed one to control puppets in battle, though it was somewhat cumbersome and complex.

The Zombification Ability was self-explanatory—it turned a human into a Zombie. This was useful when surrounded by Zombies, allowing one to blend in and avoid being attacked.

Then there was Immortality, an Ability with no offensive power but granted the user eternal life.

However, without any means of self-defense, being immortal could be a curse if captured, as one would endure endless torment and death.

Pei Yuhuai already had a Healing Power, so he didn’t need Immortality.

Similarly, he didn’t plan to give it to Lin Mian. With only one Ability Slot, such an Ability would be useless and potentially dangerous if captured. It was better to choose a different Ability.

The last two Abilities were Twin and Taming.

The Twin Ability allowed the user to create a duplicate of themselves, though it was more for show than anything substantial.

The Taming Ability was more interesting, allowing one to tame mutated animals in this world. The higher the user’s level, the more mutated animals they could tame.