Seeing who was coming, Bai Lixin greeted them familiarly, “Long time no see.”
There were two people approaching. The man in front was tall and straight, draped in a black cloak with a huge hood that covered almost his entire face, revealing only a sharply defined chin.
Following behind him reluctantly was a man with long, blonde hair and Western features. He had a Western face, deep eyes, crystal clear pupils, and was very handsome. He was tall and slender, and his delicate features were full of indifference.
“Long time no see, Bai Lixin,” the young man with blonde hair greeted casually, then turned to the tall man beside him, “I’ve greeted him, can I go back now?”
The man in the cloak tilted his chin slightly, and the young man with blonde hair immediately straightened up, “Aren’t you having a meeting with the top leaders? I’m not the vice president of the Sand Sea Guild. Why did you drag me here? It’s only a few o’clock. If I go back now, I can still get some sleep.”
“Let me tell you, Samael, you eat my food, wear my clothes and live in my house. Don’t push it.”
The man in the black cloak called Samael coughed lightly.
The blond-haired man shrugged his shoulders and said, “Okay, okay, I’ll give you face today.”
The man in the black cloak said in a uniquely husky and magnetic voice, “You’re so kind. Thank you.”
Emil rolled his eyes and snorted.
Hongyue looked at the two of them in amusement, “Emil, you’re just pretending. You have the toughest mouth, say the cruelest words, but do the most cowardly things.”
Emil glanced at Hongyue and then at Song Yuantian, about to say something, but the man in the black cloak quickly moved his broad body sideways, enclosing Emil behind him, “Emil isn’t pretending.”
Emil, who was behind Samael, nodded vigorously in agreement.
‘Well said, Samael!’
Samel: “He’s just a kitten being coquettish.”
Emil widened his eyes, “What do you mean a kitten acting coquettish? Are you crazy? I’m definitely not!”
These people were all old acquaintances of Bai Lixin.
The only woman was called Hongyue, who had been trapped in the [Doomsday Zombie] copy for many years and transformed into the Zombie Queen inside the copy after her body mutated.
Beside her was Song Yuantian, Hongyue’s lover. In order to rescue Hongyue, Song Yuantian founded the Sand Sea Guild and, following Dijia’s instructions, found Bai Lixin, who helped to rescue Hongyue.
From Song Yuantian, Bai Lixin also obtained a prop. The prop was originally a black iron box with an ominous aura. After being handed over to Bai Lixin, the black iron box transformed into a rubiks cube.
As for the young man in the leather jacket, he was the vice president of the Sand Sea Guild, and Bai Lixin had met him in the [Red Apple House] copy.
He appeared fierce and intimidating, but was actually even more so in reality.
Lastly, there were the two men who arrived. The one in the black cloak was called Samael, and the one with blonde hair was called Emil.
Their relationship was quite subtle; Emil seemed afraid of Samel yet close to him.
Samael wasn’t just a player; he was originally an NPC inside a copy. With Dijia’s help, he escaped the copy, concealing his true identity with a black cloak and lurking among the players.
“Hey, if you guys of the Sand Sea Guild are going to argue, go back to your own guild. If you stand at someone else’s guild door and argue, don’t blame me for blacklisting all of you.” A middle-aged man in a suit walked over from the direction of the Core Fire Guild.
He was dressed in a very formal suit with a tie around his collar. He had sharp features, his hair was meticulously combed back and he wore rimless glasses. He was dressed like a typical elite and gave people a very reliable feeling.
Of course, this wasn’t just a feeling; he was indeed reliable.
“Zhou Guang, it’s good to see you.” Bai Lixin showed a long-lost smile upon seeing the man in the suit.
Zhou Guang walked up to Bai Lixin in his shiny leather shoes, inspected him up and down before relaxing, “God Xin, welcome back.”
“Vice President Zhou’s aura is becoming more and more imposing,” Hongyue poked Song Yuantian in the waist, “but compared to our Tian Tian, he’s still a bit lacking.”
Upon hearing his wife’s praise, the silver-haired man immediately straightened his neck and gave a meaningful look to the other members of his guild.
The others immediately fell silent and stood obediently behind Song Yuantian, as well behaved as elementary school students.
Zhou Guang: “Everyone’s here, let’s go inside.”
Hongyue: “Where’s Cancan?”
Zhou Guang: “Cancan and the others are already inside. I came out to bring you in.”
Hongyue: “Ah, we’ve been here many times. We’re quite familiar, no need to be so polite.”
“I’m not being polite,” Zhou Guang scanned the members of the Sand Sea Guild expressionlessly, “I’m just afraid you’ll start fighting and splatter blood on our guild’s doorstep, ruining the feng shui.”
Hongyue: “Hey, you!”
Bai Lixin walked along, silently observing their antics and feeling a sense of surreality.
He vividly remembered how they all looked when they first arrived in the horror game—panicked, terrified, and at a loss.
Back then, they had not yet formed a guild. After completing a challenge, they would tacitly wait for each other. The café gatherings were rare moments of relaxation for them.
Those times seemed close yet far away.
In the blink of an eye, they had come to this point.
Bai Lixin stopped and looked at Zhou Guang in front of him in confusion.
Zhou Guang stood before the guild door without making a move to open it, simply looking at Bai Lixin.
“God Xin,” eyes obscured by glasses, Zhou Guang pointed at the guild door, “you’re the guild president, so you should open this door.”
Bai Lixin walked over, “Okay, I’ll open it.”
The slender and fair fingers rested on the bronze-colored door. As Bai Lixin pushed it open, a burst of colorful lights greeted his eyes.
The guild hall was packed with people waving their hands, colorful streamers flying overhead.
Colorful ribbons hung in corners of the building, creating a festive atmosphere.
“Happy birthday!”
Familiar and unfamiliar faces all smiled brightly, their voices synchronized, causing a ripple in the air.
Xia Chi, Li Cancan, Liang Xi, and Sun Ning stood at the forefront, followed by members of the guild and the alliance.
Bai Lixin stood still. [What’s the date today?]
S419M: [Lord Host, according to the game’s calendar, today is April 21st, it’s your birthday.]
Bai Lixin: [… I forgot.]
Bai Lixin had indeed forgotten about his birthday.
April 21st was the day he was born as a human.
After becoming a god, he lost the concept of time. Time flowed differently across dimensions, so he didn’t celebrate birthdays much anymore.
The length and depth of life varied for each individual. During his human days, with a lifespan of just a few decades, he would still remember to celebrate his birthday.
But since becoming a god, the length of life had little meaning to him.
The thinking as a human and as a god were somewhat different.
Birthdays that are so significant to humans became less important.
For him and Dijia, every moment in the universe—every blade of grass, every star, every day and month—was equally precious.
So they no longer focused on specific days but valued each day.
Humans envied the endless life of the gods, but it’s the shortness of human life that gave rise to their various efforts to enrich it.
Some are heavier than Mount Tai, some are lighter than a feather.
Sometimes it’s for love, other times it’s for justice.
Sometimes it’s for oneself, sometimes it’s for others.
Knowing where life ends makes one more aware of what they want to achieve.
Even after becoming a god, he didn’t immediately get used to the role.
At the age of five thousand, he once rejoiced in his identity, not having to endure separations from loved ones.
But at the age of ten thousand, he started feeling confused.
He couldn’t see the end of life.
Life was an endless road for him.
As long as you lived long enough, you could witness enough.
At the age of ten thousand, he felt omniscient, and the universe even seemed a bit bland to him.
He began to question whether becoming a god was the right decision.
He filled out his age on forms as thirty thousand, and everyone around him thought he was joking.
But in this world, he had indeed lived for thirty thousand years.
They called him “God Xin” and believed he could do anything.
He wasn’t like this at first; it was simply that with enough time and experience, one could gain his current abilities.
If they could live for more than thirty thousand years, they could also have his abilities now.
“Brother, happy birthday!” Xia Chi rushed over and gave the stunned Bai Lixin a big hug. “You’re so smart but you probably never guessed that we prepared your birthday this time?”
“Are you surprised? Shocked?”
Looking at Xia Chi and everyone’s bright smiles and expectant eyes, Bai Lixin’s throat felt a little sour.
He, who was always carefree and relaxed, managed to tug his lips into a smile with difficulty. “Thank you, it’s quite a surprise. I admit, I’m surprised.”
Suddenly, someone draped an arm around his shoulder. Lin Jue approached Bai Lixin’s ear with a rogue look and whispered, “Vice President Zhou came to us yesterday, saying he wanted to celebrate your birthday and asked us to get ready. We came here today for no other reason than to have fun all day. The people in your guild are really good to you.”
Bai Lixin’s smile gradually widened as he looked at the room full of people, warmth filling his eyes. “Yeah, they’ve always been very good to me.”
Li Cancan pulled out a floral wreath from somewhere and placed it on Bai Lixin’s head. “Our only task today is to have fun! We’ve prepared a lot of programs. God Xin and the members of the Sand Sea Guild, come in quickly.”
The formerly formal hall had already changed, turning into a lively stage with tables and a platform.
Bai Lixin entered the hall surrounded by the crowd. The joy around made everyone momentarily forget that they were in a horror game world.
