Hanako, who was engrossed in her game, noticed Zhao Yao leaving his bedroom before sneakily calling for Baiquan.
"What the h.e.l.l is he doing? Why is he acting so strange?"
Hanako"s brief shock was quickly disrupted by Rice Cake"s deafening screams which reverberated into the living room.
"Hanako! What the h.e.l.l are you doing? He is going to kill me! Aren"t you supposed to cover me?"
Even though Hanako had no idea what Rice Cake was screaming about, Rice Cake"s sudden screams managed to capture her attention.
"Oh Rice Cake, are you dead?"
Rice Cake fumed with anger and began throwing her tantrum by rolling around on the floor.
"It"s all because you were distracted!"
"Faster, get behind the box. That guy is hiding behind the box!"
"Faster! I"ve already landed three shots on him, I"m sure you can kill him with a single bullet or even a punch!"
However, regardless how hard Rice Cake meowed at Hanako, all she heard were white noise which made no sense at all. Hanako was just slowly sneaking around on the map, she had no idea her enemy was just hiding meters away from her. Her stupidity sent Rice Cake trembling with anger.
After a series of cries and screams, the air particles surrounding Rice Cake began vibrating slightly. Unbeknownst to the naked eye, invisible ripples had erupted from Rice Cake"s body and swept across the living room.
Just when Hanako finally notice the enemy, the enemy had already landed a headshot on her, instantly killing her. This moment was punctured by Rice Cake"s most deafening scream.
"Hack! That guy definitely used a hack! Hanako, come with me and report this guy to the moderators!"
Following Rice Cake"s scream, the vibrating air molecules in the air somehow reached a resonance which amplified a gentle yet m.u.f.fled voice into Hanako"s ears.
Hanako was taken aback by this mysterious sound. She c.o.c.ked her head towards Rice Cake"s direction and was positive she heard the word, hack, coming from Rice Cake"s direction.
"You spoke? Rice Cake, you know how to talk?" Hanako was so excited that she immediately got to her feet and set her eyes on Rice Cake.
Rice Cake simply raised her paw in the air before slamming it against the table, "Sit down, quickly sit down! We still have time for one last match!" However, she failed to vibrate the air molecules in the same manner as the previous time, hence no audible sound waves were projected into Hanako"s ears.
However, Hanako was still in shock by Rice Cake"s apparent ability to talk. She pressed her forehead against her palm and immediately bolted towards Zhao Yao"s bedroom. She screamed, "Zhao Yao! Come here and take a look! Rice Cake just spoke!"
When she was about to slam open Zhao Yao"s door, she was interrupted by a series of whispers coming from his bedroom.
"Are you done yet? Quickly get in Baiquan."
"But boss, this is really too small. Are you sure I can fit within it?"
"I"ve repeated to you umpteen times that there is sufficient s.p.a.ce. Many things have entered this place."
Hanako"s hand which rested on the doork.n.o.b fell from it as her forehead creased together. She felt a warm gush of energy spreading into her face, turning her skin crimson instantly. All kinds of images floated into her head. She wanted to leave but could not control her body as her ear pressed against the wooden door in order to eavesdrop on this immoral conversation.
"Stop being so wishy-washy, are you sure you are even a man? Quickly get in now."
"Alright boss, I will go in now, but please spread the opening slightly wider."
"This is already the maximum. Can you just get your a.s.s inside and stop complaining? Hmph, Hanako, why do you keep standing outside my door?"
Hanako had already turned crimson from head to toe and sweat beads drenched her body. She had never expected Zhao Yao to be so sensitive to the sounds around him even in such situations. She instinctively took a few steps backward, back into the living room before screaming, "It"s … it"s nothing! I heard nothing! Nothing at all! Just continue with what you are doing! Continue! Pretend I do not exist!"
Zhao Yao"s ears gave a quick shudder as a "what the f*ck" expression appeared on his face, "I really have no idea what"s going through woman"s head."
At this moment, Hanako was both excited and agitated. She could barely sit on the couch without the excitement jolting her onto her feet. Flames of curiosity shot through her body as she craved to know what was happening beyond that door.
"So this is it. So this explains everything here."
Originally, Hanako had already found the dynamics within this apartment extremely peculiar. She always had a hunch that something was wrong between the two of them. This was her moment of epiphany. She finally understood all these small actions between them and how they constantly looked out for one another.
All sorts of movie t.i.tles rushed into her head, ranging from Brokeback Mountain to even Happy Together.
"Ah! This immoral love between them! This corrupt relations.h.i.+p! Faced with societal discrimination! The family"s failure to understand! The parent"s abject disappointment … This is just another taboo relations.h.i.+p!" Hanako could clearly feel her racing heart thumping against her chest. Subconsciously, her eyes had gravitated towards Zhao Yao"s room and she thought, "Did Zhao Yao resort to drowning himself in computer games to numb himself from the pain?"
Meanwhile, Rice Cake remained screaming at the top of her voice. All she wanted was for Hanako to return and continue their game. However, an ordinary human could not understand a single word she screamed, hence Hanako remained rooted to the couch with her imagination running wild and free.
The intensity of Rice Cake"s scream ballooned. The same invisible ripples erupted from her body and swept into the surrounding air molecules, producing an invisible sound wave.
"Hana! Hana!"
Hanako was taken aback by these sudden shrieks and turned her head towards the source of the sound. Rice Cake was yelling, Hana, with all her might as her finger pointing at the computer.
Hanako was left speechless by this out of the world happening and replied, "Rice Cake, I"m not hana, I"m Hanako."
"Hana!" Rice Cake remained indifferent to her words and vigorously slammed her paws against the computer.
Hanako quickly wiped off the sweat acc.u.mulated over her forehead, "From the looks of it, you still need some practice with your p.r.o.nunciation." Seeing that Rice Cake was about to burst into another outbreak, she immediately settled in front of the computer and comforted her, "Alright, alright, let"s start the next game."
Meanwhile, Baiquan had followed Zhao Yao into the extradimensional belly aka the Village of Dreams.
Their appearance was greeted by a wave of cats swarming at their feet. Some were tugging on Zhao Yao"s shorts while others rubbed their bodies against his calf. Some even meowed affectionately at Zhao Yao. It seemed as if they were all very close to Zhao Yao.
Baiquan was shocked beyond words by this amazing place as he uttered, "Is this … is this the extradimensional belly?"
"Correct. All the cats within this place are supercats. Hence, this has become their Village of Dreams." A beaming smile radiated from Zhao Yao"s face as he looked towards Baiquan, "This place is only going to get bigger with more and better amenities. This will be a haven for countless cats."
Zhao Yao bent down and cradled Airplane in his arms.
Baiquan stared at this intimate gestures in awe and muttered excitedly, "Boss, you really share such a close relations.h.i.+p with the cats here."
Zhao Yao curled his lips and gave a half shrug of his shoulders, " Yup, I guess you can say that."
At the same time, a wave of requests had flooded into Zhao Yao"s head.
Airplane screamed, "Zhao Yao! Zhao Yao! When are you going to bring in a b.i.t.c.h for me? It has been such a long time since my last release. I can"t hold it in anymore."
Uncle Egg shouted, "Young fella, do you have any more of the catmint lollipops? I"ve finished the last batch which you gave me."
Ares demanded, "Zhao Yao, the litter boxes are clogged up again! Faster unclog that piece of s.h.i.+t! Also, Gaia had refused to move for the past 24 hours. He even shat on himself. I think you need to give him a shower."
The smile on Zhao Yao"s face somewhat faded as he told Baiquan, "You just have to treat them with sincerity. Naturally, you will be able to earn their trust and friends.h.i.+p. Since you are already here, can you lend me a hand to clean the litter boxes?"
While cleaning the litter boxes, Zhao Yao"s eyes gravitated towards Roly Poly who was lying on the ground, motionless. This piqued Zhao Yao"s curiosity as he approached him and asked,"Roly Poly, where"s Lion Head? Why is she gone?"
"Oh, you"re asking about her? She"s just beside me licking my fur." Roly Poly commented nonchalantly, "I had already coated her with my power of invisibility."