OMDA -Chapter 2 The Weakness of the Phantom God

“Are you all right?”

Zhang Yang placed a glass of water on the coffee table in front of Xu Xin. Seeing that she was still staring blankly into space, he said, “Have some water first. It’ll help you calm down.”

“Uh! I’m fine.”

Interrupted by Zhang Yang, Xu Xin came back to her senses. She carefully looked at the somewhat shy young man before her. Who in this era could have imagined that this seemingly ordinary young man would later become the legendary Phantom God in Miracle—Qianli Bu Liuxing?

Having only just accepted the fact that she had traveled through time, Xu Xin felt none of the excitement one might expect upon meeting an idol. Instead, she was rather anxious.

There was no way she could go upstairs now. Who knew who had been living there five years ago? Was she supposed to run over and tell them, I’m going to live here five years from now, so hurry up and move out?

She would probably be taken away as a mental patient before she could even finish speaking.

Xu Xin thought about it. Her most urgent task was to find somewhere to live. Otherwise, the little money she had on her wouldn’t last more than a few days.

She involuntarily glanced at the young man in front of her.

A thought suddenly surfaced in Xu Xin’s mind.

Why don’t I just take advantage of him?

She had heard that when Zhang Yang was young, he was especially afraid of women crying. The moment a woman started crying, he would become completely helpless.

But how was she supposed to cry?

Xu Xin continued pondering…

After quite some time, Zhang Yang realized that after answering him once, the woman had fallen silent again. Feeling a little awkward, he pushed the glass of water on the coffee table toward her.

“From the way you hit yourself, it looked like you were hurt pretty badly. Have some water first. If you feel uncomfortable, I can take you to the hospital for a checkup.”

“Uh! No need. I was just thinking about some things. I’m a little upset.”

Xu Xin picked up the glass and took a small sip.

“What’s making you unhappy? How about you tell me? Maybe I can give you some advice!” Zhang Yang asked.

Yet inwardly, he was muttering to himself.

Damn it, am I being too enthusiastic? Could it be that I’ve really reached the age when I’m desperate for a girlfriend? I just met this woman and already brought her home, and now I’m asking her questions like this.

He had no idea that the moment Xu Xin heard his question, her eyes lit up.

An opportunity!

She immediately put on an expression of profound sorrow.

“My… my parents died in a car accident last year. I came here looking for one of my uncles, but I don’t even know where he moved to. And… and my luggage was stolen at the train station!”

As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes. She looked at Zhang Yang with an utterly helpless expression.

Her acting skills were so superb that she could practically have been crowned Best Actress.

Good grief! Does she really have to be this unlucky? Don’t let her bad luck rub off on me!

Zhang Yang’s first reaction was to kick the woman out immediately.

But then he felt that would be a little too heartless.

He could only awkwardly ask, “Oh… then do you have any plans?”

“I don’t really have anywhere to go right now. I haven’t made any plans yet…”

As she spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks. She covered her face and began sobbing.

“Hey! Don’t cry!”

Aside from dealing with his younger sister, Zhang Yang had practically zero experience dealing with women, let alone crying women.

He immediately became flustered and hurriedly comforted her.

“If you’re having some kind of difficulty, just tell me. If there’s anything I can help with, I’ll definitely help. So please stop crying, okay?”

Xu Xin sobbed for a while before gradually calming down.

“I want to find somewhere to stay first, but I don’t have much money left. I can’t go anywhere…”

After saying this, she gazed pitifully at Zhang Yang. Her bright, beautiful eyes were filled with helplessness and uncertainty.

But inwardly, she was secretly laughing.

Looks like that rumor really was true!

Looking at the woman in front of him, Zhang Yang’s heart softened.

He secretly consoled himself.

Fine! Even if she is a walking jinx, I’m still a grown man. If I say I’ll help, then I’ll help.

“Can you cook?” Zhang Yang asked.

“I can! I can!”

Hearing him ask that, Xu Xin immediately understood that he was considering taking her in.

She answered eagerly, then gazed at him expectantly.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Yang continued, “If you don’t mind, you can stay here for the time being. You’ll be responsible for cooking for me and doing some cleaning. I’ll give you 1,000 yuan a month. How does that sound?”

“Wow! Thank you so much! Cooking and cleaning, right? I can do all of that! The money isn’t a problem.”

Hearing Zhang Yang’s definite answer, Xu Xin was overjoyed.

At least she wouldn’t have to sleep on the streets anymore.

Zhang Yang, on the other hand, had a deeply resentful expression.

What a waste! If I’d known she was going to be this happy about it, I wouldn’t have offered to pay her. Now I’ve lost 1,000 yuan! How many Japanese movies could I have bought with that?!

“Which room do I stay in?” Xu Xin asked happily, her big eyes narrowing into little crescents as she smiled.

“There are three bedrooms here. The master bedroom is mine. That one belongs to my younger sister, but she’s at school and only comes home during vacations. You can stay in that room. The bedding is all new. You just need to go buy some toiletries later.”

Zhang Yang answered with a sour expression, still angry over the 1,000 yuan he had lost for no reason.

Xu Xin completely ignored his feelings and happily ran over to inspect her new bedroom.

“Wait!”

The more Zhang Yang thought about it, the more annoyed he became.

Why did I have to act so generous? Other people’s tenants pay rent. This one is actually going to cost me money!

“Ah? What is it?” Xu Xin hurriedly ran back.

She absolutely couldn’t afford to upset him. What if he changed his mind and kicked her out? That would be disastrous.

“Go downstairs and buy some vegetables. I’m hungry,” Zhang Yang said.

He looked every bit like a boss giving orders.

After waiting for a while, Zhang Yang noticed that Xu Xin was still standing there. She had merely stretched out her little hand as far as she could, like a schoolchild who had done something wrong and was waiting for the teacher to smack her palm.

“What? Why aren’t you going?”

Zhang Yang was baffled.

Does this girl not want the job anymore?

“Money for the vegetables!” Xu Xin answered bluntly.

Although she still had some money in her bag, if she could save money, she naturally had to save it. After living alone for many years, careful budgeting had become instinctive for her.

“Here!”

Zhang Yang pulled a 100-yuan note from his pocket and handed it over.

Although he was unhappy, she hadn’t actually done anything wrong, so he had no excuse to make trouble for her. His tone was therefore rather unpleasant.

Xu Xin didn’t mind in the slightest.

He was providing her with food, drinks, and a place to live, and was even paying her a salary. Putting up with a little bad temper was perfectly acceptable.

She took the money and happily skipped out the door.

She had lived in this area for several years, so she knew exactly where the market was and was very familiar with the place. In less than ten minutes, she came back carrying a large assortment of vegetables, fish, and meat.

Looking at what Xu Xin had bought, Zhang Yang’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Normally, when he was alone, a few packets of instant noodles were enough to solve his meals. He could eat for an entire day for less than fifteen yuan in total.

Yet this little woman had clearly spent the entire 100 yuan before coming back.

Otherwise, how could she have bought so much stuff?

Zhang Yang sighed and returned to his bedroom to play on his computer.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Who could blame him? He was a good person, after all. He wasn’t going to quibble over a little money with a woman.

Zhang Yang casually opened a game called “Catch the Hen.”

He set it to the Super difficulty level. Then the mouse in his hand began clicking wildly, almost as if it had gone crazy.

Zhang Yang had found this game online. It was extremely simple—and extremely boring.

All he had to do was move the mouse onto the little hens that appeared on the screen and press the left mouse button to catch them and earn points.

If he failed to catch a hen within the allotted time, it would escape, and a certain number of points would be deducted.

The reason Zhang Yang played this game was to train his reaction speed.

“As a professional gamer, if you don’t have extraordinary reaction speed, you’ll never become a true expert!”

These were the words of his idol, the legendary number-one player known as “Thief King” Fengyun Yidao.

Zhang Yang had adopted them as his motto.

Thus, he had searched online for this game, which was supposedly both ridiculously simple and ridiculously difficult, to train his reaction speed.

It was simple because it was easy to learn.

But it was difficult because once the game reached the higher difficulty levels, the number of hens appearing on the screen increased dramatically, while the amount of time they remained visible became extremely short.

For an ordinary person, it only took a few seconds before their reaction speed failed them, their score dropped into the negatives, and the game ended in failure.

Zhang Yang had started at Intermediate difficulty.

It had taken him a full four years—and dozens of ruined computer mice—to finally reach the point where he could barely clear Super difficulty.

From then on, he spent some time every day playing the game to maintain his reaction speed.

“Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa…”

A rapid series of clicking sounds rang out like raindrops.

The hens appeared and disappeared across the monitor so quickly that it was almost dazzling.

Yet Zhang Yang remained completely unmoved.

After every click, the score displayed below jumped.

80,000… 90,000… 100,000…

“Congratulations, player! You have cleared Super difficulty! Time taken: 18 minutes and 17 seconds!”

Hmm! One second faster again. Not bad!

Zhang Yang smiled smugly.

At Zhang Yang’s current level, he needed to practice continuously for an entire month before he could make any further improvement.

And every improvement was measured in seconds.

This time, he had improved by another second.

Zhang Yang was delighted.

The gloomy mood Xu Xin had caused him had also improved considerably.

“Huh? What’s that smell? It smells so good!”

Just then, a faint fragrance drifted over.

Zhang Yang looked toward where the aroma was coming from.

Uh…

His own kitchen.

Could it be that little woman? No way! The food she made actually smells this good? Should I go take a look?

He felt a little conflicted.

After seriously considering it for a long time, he ultimately decided not to go.

I’m that girl’s boss now. If I go running over there like an excited little puppy, won’t my majestic and heroic image be completely ruined?

Zhang Yang desperately held back his rebellious stomach and opened the game, intending to play another round.

The result?

Less than ten seconds later, his score proudly became negative.

Game over!

Looking at the bright red word FAILURE on the screen, Zhang Yang gritted his teeth and stood up from his chair.

Damn it! It’s not that our army isn’t working hard. It’s just that the enemy is too cunning! Far too cunning!

Forget it! If my image is ruined, so be it. My stomach is more important!

Just as he was about to leave the room, Xu Xin’s sweet voice floated over.

“Zhang Yang, dinner’s ready!”

Zhang Yang was instantly delighted.

He hurriedly answered and quickly walked out of the bedroom.

His image had been preserved after all.

Looking at Xu Xin standing before him in an apron, Zhang Yang suddenly felt that this girl wasn’t quite as annoying as he had thought.

“What did you make?”

Although he found the girl much more pleasing to the eye now, Zhang Yang still put on an air of authority as he asked.

“Braised carp, shiitake mushroom tofu, stir-fried bamboo shoots, and Eight-Treasure Pumpkin Soup. There are only two of us, so this should be enough.”

Xu Xin answered obediently.

“Mm. Sit down and eat together.”

Zhang Yang stood before the dining table.

The three dishes and one soup in front of him had distinct, appetizing colors and looked even better than the dishes shown on restaurant menus.

And the closer he got, the more fragrant they smelled.

Without bothering with any more nonsense, he called Xu Xin over, picked up his chopsticks, and immediately began devouring the food.