Life Game In Other World
Chapter 428: Is Heaven High Enough? (Long - for monthly votes)

Chapter 428: Chapter 428: Is Heaven High Enough? (Long Chapter for monthly votes)

"Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unreachable and will redirect to voicemail after the ’beep—’"

He Ao stretched out his hand and hung up the phone.

That was the fifth call he had made, and his daughter’s phone was still out of reach.

He found a length of cord, tucked the short sword inside his coat, and then opened the front door.

As he walked out, he managed to get through to the school counselor.

"Hello, may I ask who this is?"

A somewhat unfamiliar female voice came from the other end of the line.

"Hello, is this Ms. Eliza? I’m Ennie’s father," He Ao spoke rapidly, "I’m calling to inquire if the school had any extracurricular activities today? Ennie doesn’t seem to have come home."

"There were no extracurricular activities today at school; we dismissed on time at six o’clock, and no students stayed behind," the counselor said briskly, "Perhaps you could contact Ennie’s friends. At this age, kids can be rebellious and enjoy playing out. You might want to communicate more with her at home."

"Okay, thank you for your time."

He Ao hung up the phone.

He flipped through his phone contacts, only to realize that he didn’t have the numbers of any of his daughter’s high school friends.

It had been a long time since Pete had had a thorough conversation with his daughter. After his wife’s death, he had become engrossed in work and rarely communicated with his daughter. Since he lost his job, he had been afraid to worry his daughter, so as time passed, their communication dwindled even further.

As a result, Pete had almost no knowledge of his daughter’s social life or activities. Ennie barely brought friends home, or if she did, Pete was never there.

Moreover, since his wife’s death, his daughter had hardly spoken to Pete at all. They lived under the same roof yet seldom interacted.

In summary, in Pete’s memory, his impression of his daughter remained fixed at the time she transitioned from elementary to middle school when his wife’s illness hadn’t flared up, his income was decent, and the family was relatively happy.

After giving it some thought, He Ao called a few of Ennie’s close middle school friends while he was on his way downstairs.

The responses were mostly clueless.

Most of them had lost touch with Ennie after moving on to high school, except for one girl who lived near Ennie’s school and said she had seen Ennie near the school the previous night; she kindly provided He Ao with a rough location.

At night...

In Pete’s memory, every night when he came home, his daughter would be behind closed doors, presumably asleep.

He Ao rubbed his brow and took a cab to the location near the school that the girl had told him about.

On the way there, he reached out to Eve again.

The destination was a small commercial street bustling with people. The street was filled with teenagers handing out flyers or dressed in mascot costumes, beckoning to customers.

He Ao walked around the area but didn’t spot his daughter.

However, he didn’t stop continuously calling his daughter’s phone.

Finally, when he had completed a circuit of the commercial street, the call was answered.

"Hello," a youthful and somewhat immature female voice came from the other end, "Dad? Why are you calling me?"

"Where are you? Why haven’t you come home?"

He Ao’s voice was low and a bit hoarse as he asked.

"Dad, you got home so early today?"

There was a pause on the line, followed by the sound of noisy shouts, and then Ennie lowered her voice and whispered, "Dad, hold on a second, I’ll explain when I get home tonight."

"Where are you?"

He Ao pressed for an answer once more.

"Beep beep beep..."

The call was cut off from the other side.

...

He Ao sighed.

Raising a child is no easy task.

Then, taking out an earpiece, he placed it in his ear and asked softly, "Eve, have you pinpointed the location?"

"The target’s network address corresponds to a real-world location near 37 Davis Avenue," Eve’s gentle voice responded in his ear.

Davis Avenue was approximately midway between the school and their home.

He Ao directly hailed a cab and rushed over.

From the tone of Ennie’s voice on the phone, she didn’t seem to be in danger.

He Ao’s originally tense heart relaxed a little.

——

Trinity Convenience Store

This convenience store brand has a large number of chains throughout the Federation and is extremely well-known across the entire Federation.

Many office workers like to buy a quick meal box from Trinity Convenience Store to deal with a meal.

The Trinity Convenience Store located at 36 Davis Avenue is one of the most frequented convenience stores by the nearby office workers.

It is one of the few 24-hour convenience stores in Limen City.

As the number of homeless people increased, the city at night often became less safe.

Therefore, stores that still operate at night generally face a higher risk factor.

However, these stores are also favored by those who still work late at night or who finish late, so their income isn’t too bad.

After all, there are no other stores open nearby anymore.

"Hello, that’s 4.9 federal coins, with tax it’s 5.19 federal coins in total. Would you like to pay with a card or electronically?"

The light gold braid cascaded over the left shoulder and down to her chest, the young girl with cute features and fair skin passed the discounted meal box to the middle-aged man in front of her wearing a baseball cap.

Standing there, the girl naturally exuded a youthful and vibrant aura that even the convenience store’s somewhat outdated blue and white simple uniform could not conceal.

The middle-aged man glanced at the girl and took out a ten federal coin bill and handed it over.

The girl was clearly taken aback by the bill, but still smiled and accepted the money,

"I received 10 federal coins, and your change is 4.81 federal coins."

As she entered the amount into the computer, the cash drawer below popped open.

Her movements were not skilled, and it took a while before she found four 1 federal coin bills, one 50-cent coin, one 25-cent coin, one 5-cent coin, and one 1-cent coin.

She neatly stacked the money and handed it over to the middle-aged man along with the meal box.

"Thank you."

The middle-aged man took the meal box and the change, gave the girl and the cash register a glance, and then turned and left.

Immediately afterward, the next customer came up to pay.

Several minutes passed before the girl finished processing all the customers.

She let out a long sigh and leaned against the cashier’s counter.

"Tired?"

A woman in her thirties wearing a work uniform walked out of the storeroom.

"No," the girl shook her head, "but a customer just paid with a bill. It’s been so long since I’ve dealt with cash payment that it took me a while to give the change."

"No helping it," the woman smiled and stood by another cash register beside the girl, "There are still many people like that. You’ll get used to it after a while. Some people just don’t like to pay with cards or electronically."

As she spoke, she looked at the girl, "What time do you get off today?"

"Until twelve o’clock."

The girl replied softly.

As she spoke, she glanced at the time on her bracelet. It was already eleven o’clock, she would soon be off work.

"You’re working part-time, right?" The woman glanced at her bracelet, "Don’t take such late shifts in the future. It’s not safe for a girl to be on duty at night. Go home early, I’m off now."

"I’m just happy to have a job,"

The girl nodded obediently, "Thank you, Lina."

"You’re such a sweet talker, but still, stay safe."

The woman smiled, bid the girl farewell, changed her clothes, gathered her belongings, and walked towards the exit of the convenience store.

Normally, late at night, to save on costs, there would only be one person on duty in the convenience store.

The woman had some things to do today that’s why she stayed on for a bit longer.

The vast convenience store seemed empty with only the girl remaining.

"Sigh..."

She sighed and looked at the string of missed calls on her bracelet, furrowing her brow into a ’chuan’ character.

"Check out."

A hoarse voice suddenly sounded in her ear, and at the same time, a packaged meal was placed in front of her.

"Hello,"

The girl immediately perked up and looked forward.

In front of her was a figure shrouded in a black hoodie; she couldn’t see the person’s cheeks or expression.

And...

When had this person come in?

She hadn’t heard any footsteps, seen any shadow, let alone a response from the door’s welcome sensor.

Could it be that she had encountered something she shouldn’t have...

The girl suddenly felt a chill at her back, but she still steeled herself to pick up the meal and scan the barcode, "Hello, that will be 19.9, including tax it’s 21.09. Will you be paying with card or electronic payment?"

"Card."

The shadow slowly lifted a hand, a pale, skeletal palm emerging, and within its grasp, a black and gold credit card.

The shadow passed the credit card over the card reader to verify identity.

Beep—

With a light chime, the payment was successful.

The girl’s heart eased.

She always felt that the hooded figure could, with the credit card in hand, slash her throat.

And as this thought surfaced, she suddenly noticed something crimson on the credit card, cleverly concealed within the black body of the card, not so easily detected.

Upon seeing this spot, she quickly averted her gaze.

Cold sweat began to seep down her back.

At this moment, the shadow also raised its ’head’ to glance at the girl.

But he said nothing, instead pocketing the credit card and picking up the meal to leave.

"Whew—"

The girl let out a long sigh of relief, then she lifted her bracelet and opened the horoscope, "Could it be that my horoscope is off today..."

However, she didn’t look for long, as another customer soon walked into the store.

By the time she lifted her head, the customer had already made their way deeper into the store.

It was now half-past eleven at night.

At that moment, a figure in a black coat approached, not heading for the shelves but straight to the register.

"Open the cash register, quick."

With his back to the surveillance camera, the man took his hand out of the coat, revealing a small black handgun.

The girl was momentarily stunned, not quite processing what was happening.

"Open the cash register, quickly, take out all the money. Didn’t you hear what I said, bitch?"

The man glanced at the dazed girl and gestured with the gun.

His words snapped the girl out of her stupor, and she nodded slightly at the robber, reaching to open the cash register.

"That’s more like it," said the man, now smiling as he took a good look at the girl’s delicate profile, "Once the register’s open, you’re going to come with me."

The girl trembled as she gazed at him, carefully and slowly entering numbers.

"Why so slow?"

The man grumbled impatiently.

"In non-sales mode, I need to enter the employee code..."

The girl answered shakily, while her other hand pressed the alarm button under the register.

"Scan this, and it will open right away."

A voice came from behind her,

At the same time, a meal was passed over her body from behind, placed onto the counter.

There’s another one! A customer who just came in!

The other party took advantage of her distracted attention to vault over to the other side of the cash register.

"Shh," the person behind her grabbed the girl’s hand as it reached for the alarm button, "Cooperate if you want to live."

The girl found the voice somewhat familiar but had no time to think about it.

Trembling, she started scanning the meal box, opening the cash drawer of the radio.

The man holding a gun in front of the cash register kept his gaze shifting between her face and chest, a sleazy smile on his face.

At this moment, the girl recalled the news she had seen about girls murdered by criminals and their bodies dumped in dark alleys.

Her body couldn’t help shaking.

It was now deep into the night, and the streets were empty,

At this time, no more customers would come in.

Even if someone did come in, seeing the scene, they might not save her.

"Hurry up."

The person behind her urged.

Gradually, the girl opened the cash drawer.

The man with the gun swiftly robbed the cash drawer clean.

"Let’s go."

The person standing behind the girl, seeing his accomplice steal the money, let go of the girl’s hand and said calmly.

"Not so fast, buddy."

The man who took the money aimed his gun at the girl, "Sweetheart, come with me."

His index finger was on the trigger.

The girl stared blankly at the chilly gun muzzle, at the man’s aggressive gaze.

Two tears slid down from the corners of her eyes.

"Oh, crying," the gunman laughed loudly, "Your tears make me even more excited."

"How excited?"

A cold voice suddenly rang out behind him.

The girl’s gaze shifted to the man behind him, her face blank, then expressions of joy and worry appeared on her face.

"A nosy passerby."

The man spat disdainfully, turning around to point the gun at the person behind him.

It was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a coat, with a somewhat haggard face.

"With that look, you think you can play the hero?"

The gunman sneered, aiming his gun at the person’s head, "I’ll give you three seconds to get lost."

"Dad, run!"

The captive girl couldn’t help but shout.

"Cough cough—"

He Ao coughed weakly, then glanced at the gunman, "It’s been a long time since someone aimed a gun at my head. You just said you were highly excited. I can take you to a place that’s high enough."

"Oh, so you think you’re tough because it’s been a long time since someone aimed a gun at your head? Let’s see if you’re faster or my gun is," the gunman turned completely, stepped forward, and pressed the gun almost to He Ao’s forehead, his finger on the trigger, "After I kill you, I’ll still get out after a few years behind bars."

The dark trigger slowly depressed, "Die, you dog."

At that instant, his face turned dark.

Scarlet blood gushed out, obscuring everyone’s sight.

The gunman’s eyes widened, staring blankly at He Ao’s calm face, as a massive wave of pain shot into his brain in an instant, and fear from the abyss filled his heart.

"Is Heaven high enough?"

He Ao’s calm, icy voice rang in his ear, "I forgot, people like you, go to hell."

The blood splattered on his somewhat pale cheeks, setting off an unusual red.