Infinite Game Ch.67.1

Chapter 67.1 – Here is an application form for a boyfriend

When the Game collapsed, everyone was randomly scattered to different places.

The barber shop owner remembered that he happened to be very close to Jiang Yujin, and they met in a small town hotel.

He decided to return to A City, where he and his wife had once lived together. She didn’t return, so he left after spending a night at the hotel.

Jiang Yujin went to look for Xu Tonggui, searching for a body thrown somewhere unknown.

—Perhaps he still held a faint hope that the other person might be alive.

After settling in A City, the barber shop owner would occasionally contact him, asking where he was.

From south to north, spanning over ten thousand kilometers, Jiang Yujin occasionally appeared in bustling cities and more often in places with no signal.

He had seen the chilling ice and snow, been to the scorching and arid desert, walked through the most vibrant rainforest, witnessed the aurora on a glacier alone, and experienced war and change.

Every time they contacted, his voice was calm, like still water without any ripples, showing no trace of emotion.

At the beginning, the barber shop owner would occasionally hear people say that 001 had appeared in some place, but later, he never heard it again. The other party might have grown tired of constant scrutiny and investigation, or perhaps felt that these activities were affecting his progress in finding people, so he changed his appearance and concealed his identity.

He was a rootless wanderer. For several years, he had never stayed in one place for more than a day, without friends or attachments.

The barber shop owner firmly believed that if he couldn’t find the person, he would continue like this for the rest of his life.

The turning point came when a new captain took charge in the Special Investigation Team at the SIU headquarters. The new captain’s name was Xu Tonggui, reportedly having spent several years in the SIU’s private rehabilitation center and recently waking up from a coma.

The barber shop owner went to see him and discovered that he was indeed the person he thought he was.

But the situation was slightly different from what he had imagined; the other person had lost his memory. Even though he stood right in front of him, he looked at him with the eyes of a stranger.

He felt that Jiang Yujin could certainly not bear such a gaze.

On his way back from the SIU, he managed to contact someone on the other side of the world.

In that phone call, there was complete silence on the other end throughout, with only the background noise of a bustling city echoing.

A few days later, the other person returned, disheveled and with lingering red bloodshot eyes.

It seemed like he had changed. His hair, which had been white from using abilities year-round, turned black. His eyelids drooped, and his whole demeanor underwent a complete transformation.

Jiang Yujin bought the apartment upstairs, opened a business, but surprisingly, he did not go to find Xu Tonggui. After settling down, he never inquired about any news regarding the other person.

From the agency to the SIU, a mere thirty-minute drive, compared to the years that passed, it was almost negligible.

But even with such proximity, it felt like an insurmountable gap.

The barber shop owner asked why he didn’t go to find him. At that time, Jiang Yujin said, “He’s fine now, good job, and a good life.”

No painful past, no more waking up in the middle of the night in agony.

The barber shop owner remembered that he couldn’t find the right words to say at that moment. He only remembered the calm tone on the other side, carrying an acceptance of reality.

The person who used to be the most temperamental had learned to step back without him knowing.

Later on, the other person brought back a child from the shelter.

And the wanderer finally took root here, finding a home.

The barber shop owner smiled for the first time when he saw Jiang Yujin coming here. It happened when a customer who came to the shop for a haircut mentioned that the captain of the SIU team had dealt with a formidable strange species and received a substantial reward.

Afterwards, it seemed like Jiang Yujin had completely integrated into the community.

He would gossip with the neighbors and occasionally join card games. After his son went to school, he would come here to complain about his big son not smiling at him, feeling like he was not his father in his heart.

During the complaints, he also took out the certificate of achievement that his big son brought back from school.

“…”

The barber shop owner comforted him while clenching his fists.

The electric fan on top of the barber shop kept spinning, spinning until now.

“Bzzz—”

The sound of the blow dryer stopped. Watching the newly dyed black hair in front of him, the barber shop owner put down the blow dryer, lit a cigarette, and said, “Alright, hurry up and get out.”

Looking at his hair turned black again, Jiang Yujin temporarily tolerated the attitude of the person next to him. He looked at himself in the mirror a few times, expressing satisfaction.

A message popped up on his phone, inviting him to join the neighbors for some drinks and gossip. He quickly left, propelled by a burst of energy.

Watching the figure disappear outside the door, the exhaled smoke blurred the sight. The barber shop owner, cigarette dangling from his mouth, began to tidy up the shop.

If one ignored the past, that person seemed to be living okay, at least resembling a human being.

But he still remembered that Jiang Yujin who now frequently drank until dawn didn’t really like drinking before.

*

SIU Headquarters.

After continuous searches, the clues for 001 were completely cut off, and the SS-class strange species case in the Zhayi Mountains were archived.

Hu Li, who had pushed aside other tasks to run to the snowy mountains, had to deal with the piled-up work. He was running around outside all day.

When Xu Tonggui returned from the Lacuo Desert, it was already evening. The lights in the building were still on, but there weren’t many people left, and the office of Team 1 was particularly empty.

As he returned to his seat, he took out the glass shard from his pocket and placed it gently on the table.

A figure appeared at the office door, and Xu Tonggui looked up.

Standing at the door was Xu Gao, wearing headphones and holding a stack of files. He looked somewhat surprised to see someone in the office and then said, “I’m here to deliver the files.”

Xu Tonggui nodded.

Stepping into the office, Xu Gao glanced at the sand still on the person’s clothes and asked, “Did Captain Xu just come back from the Lacuo Desert?”

It was an obviously foolish question, and Xu Tonggui didn’t answer.

Fortunately, Xu Gao realized that the question seemed a bit stupid and shut up, quickly putting down the files. Just as he was about to leave, he glanced sideways and saw the glass shard on the office desk. He said, “I’ve seen this thing before.”

Xu Tonggui, sitting in his seat, looked up at him.

…

By the time Hu Li finished his busy work and returned to the office, it was already late at night, and most of the lights in the office were turned off.

But the lights in Team 1’s office were still on, the door was wide open, and there were people inside.

Inside was Xu Gao again, coming to deliver files. As he entered the office, Hu Li asked, “Why are you here?”

Xu Gao, who had already worked overtime for several hours, gave a miserable smile.

He got caught leaving early twice in a row, and the supervisor made him stay back to help the clerks with some tasks. Now, there were just three measly files left to organize.

Back at his own desk, Hu Li noticed a subtle change on the frontmost desk. He asked, “Has Captain Xu returned?”

Xu Gao nodded, “Yeah, he came back a while ago.”

Hu Li asked if there was anything unusual when he returned.

“Nothing unusual,” Xu Gao thought for a moment and then said, “He brought back a small glass shard, the same as the one you showed me before.”

“…”

Hu Li paused for a moment, a sense of unease rising in his heart. He asked, “You didn’t tell him how to use it, did you?”

Xu Gao showed a helpful smile and nodded, “The team confiscated a disc similar to the one you used before. I thought he might find it useful, so I told him about it.”

It seemed like he had indeed been of some help. The captain filed an application with the SIU, and then he went to the place where confiscated items were stored.

The next time he saw the captain was at the building’s entrance. At that time, Xu Gao took a brief break, standing in front of the self-service vending machine, treating himself to a bottle of a refreshing drink. He watched as the captain quickly drove away.

It was the first time he had seen the captain in such a hurry.

Xu Gao firmly believed that Captain Xu was chasing some heinous criminals, and his well-intentioned advice had become a useful piece in the puzzle to catch the criminals.

Hu Li said, “You’re really a genius.”

If Xu Tonggui came back directly from the Lacuo Desert, there was a high probability that he got the glass block from there. This person really dared to teach enthusiastically even though he was not sure what the content was.

Being praised again, Xu Gao rubbed the back of his head with a bit of shyness.

*

The city’s night lights were bright.

The vehicle sped along the road, and the whistling wind rushed in through the windows, bringing a chill with it.

Xu Tonggui gripped the steering wheel, and when he encountered a red light, he made a phone call.

The phone rang for a long time before someone answered. The moment the call connected, the sound of clinking glasses and a noisy conversation came from the other end.

The voice on the other end sounded hoarse, as if the person had already had enough to drink. Slowly, he said, “What’s up?”

Xu Tonggui said, “I want to see you.”

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