Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 58 - 045. I have few friends

Chapter 58: 045. I have few friends

"Wow..."

Qiu Ran huddled in the corner, covering her face with her ten fingers, but through the gaps between her fingers, one could still see her flushed, excited face. Nomi faintly heard her mumbling with excitement:

"Can I really watch this? This is too intense..."

Agent Yawen pressed Li Aozi under her, her long cyan hair splaying messily, adding a touch of femininity to the Fourth Rule black and white windbreaker that had originally exuded enforcer authority. Her body, affected by gravity, was tightly pressed against Li Aozi’s.

Their faces were close together, and in each other’s golden-green and gray eyes, they saw their reflections. For a moment, they realized there was a strikingly similar golden glint in both their eyes.

"Wow!" Qiu Ran’s eyes sparkled: "So cliché, but I love it!"

Smooch...

Yawen froze, her mouth open in shock, then sat up stiffly, separating from him.

Li Aozi’s head reeled from the impact. He was silent for a moment, then reached out to touch the blood on his lips. As expected, there were residues in his teeth that weren’t his own.

"Beast... pervert..."

Li Aozi muttered, his face flushing with embarrassment, wiping the marks off his lips, and then he burst out in curses:

"Civilization Red Arrow, you rogue woman! You stole my first kiss after 21 years of being single. I’m—I’m tainted now, damn it!"

"...Huh?"

"Give me back my purity! Damn, if a man stays pure until 30, he can become a magician. I was just 9 years away! It’s all ruined now, completely ruined! You’ve destroyed everything!"

Li Aozi, as if stung by a disgusting insect, quickly backed away, retreating to Qiu Ran’s side, gagging repeatedly.

"So gross... Ugh! I need a mud pit to rinse my mouth thoroughly!"

Why did this happen?

Yawen was kicked to the opposite side by Li Aozi, and he clung to a sofa chair, rubbing his mouth vigorously as if he’d touched something filthy.

Shouldn’t I be the one feeling wronged?

Her gaze lingered on Li Aozi’s handsome face for a moment, pondering the issue.

Maybe I didn’t lose out after all?

Yawen was stunned by Li Aozi’s curses, not yet comprehending. The two pistols that had hung at her waist suddenly fell from the holsters, landing on the floor between them.

Plop.

The next moment, the two of them erupted simultaneously, each picking up a pistol from the ground and pointing them at each other, pulling the triggers without hesitation.

Click—

No bullets fired.

"—I’m out of bullets,"

Yawen said in a low voice.

Li Aozi then realized that the shame of having his first kiss stolen had clouded his judgment.

The gun was out of bullets, as he himself had deduced earlier.

[I was just 9 years away from becoming a magician...]

This wasn’t just a rumor.

In *Starry Abyss,* if you were over 30 years old and had no friends of the opposite (or same) sex in your social circle, you could obtain a very powerful spellcaster achievement—[Pure Heart]: casting any spell would grant a 10% energy return.

He had intended to pursue this, but now it was all for naught.

"My pure heart... my first kiss—well, the kiss isn’t important. You’ve only lost a kiss, but I lost 10% of my mana return!"

Li Aozi was on the verge of tears.

He held the gun, now without bullets, pointing it at the woman who had taken it from him.

He had no idea what to do.

Because this woman named Yawen had a personal talent that he really wanted, it would be a waste to just kill her.

"I need to calm down, sigh... I’m not young anymore, can’t lose my head."

Ultimately, it was because he hadn’t encountered a worthy opponent in a long time that he’d become a bit anxious.

Li Aozi shook his head, while Yawen placed the gun on the ground.

Resistance was meaningless now. With three people on the other side, she couldn’t even defeat Li Aozi, who was clearly holding back.

"I lost,"

Yawen said in a low voice.

With that, Li Aozi felt worse than if he had lost himself.

"Hmph."

Li Aozi tossed out chains, ensnaring her tightly with their gravitational pull.

He didn’t return to the front passenger seat but sat on the floor in the back, staring at her the entire time.

Nomi drove silently, while Qiu Ran’s guard relaxed considerably. She glanced back and forth between Li Aozi and Yawen, with gossip clearly brewing in her eyes; who knew what she was thinking?

"Women are so annoying,"

Li Aozi brooded for a while and then shifted his focus to more serious matters.

Nimotin shouldn’t be able to catch up in the short term. Adding to that, Li Aozi had intentionally not killed anyone, opting instead to injure as many agents as possible and even let one car go, Nimotin would definitely have to divert some attention to rounding up scattered personnel.

And given the unpredictable climate of the Outer World... even if Nimotin wanted to chase him, she would have to return to regroup.

This would give him enough time to complete his task.

After checking his loot and experience, Li Aozi suddenly felt a bout of emptiness.

Boredom. He wanted to scroll through short videos, read online novels, and chat in groups...

Either he was bullying weaklings or getting crushed by high-level opponents—such battles bored him.

He could defeat someone like Nimotin. Despite the attribute gap, he could rely on maneuvering, gravity-based resistance, or terrain to kill her.

But that would delay his task.

So annoying, so very annoying!

Red and black hues shimmered in Li Aozi’s eyes. He focused his thoughts, and the cells within his body started to stir faintly. Warmth emitted from the pods on his elbows.

"What’s going on? Another mutation so soon?"

He quickly calmed himself, suppressing the unusual reaction.

It wasn’t a full mutation yet, but it was close. Keeping calm could to some extent stabilize the genes... although it was more of a psychological comfort.

"I’m no longer a player, yet I still see myself as one."

Li Aozi shook his head.

Players generally loved to challenge enemies, honing their skills and improving their combat abilities, and he was no exception.

He had no interest in bullying weaklings, as it didn’t help him become stronger and could even lead to him losing his edge.

A true warrior could only grow by continually challenging stronger opponents, but taking on an opponent way out of his league was like an elementary school student tackling graduate-level problems, the disparity too vast to provide meaningful practice even in the rare case of success.

Only opponents of equal strength could serve as true whetstones.

However, such behavior was, in itself, somewhat arrogant.

Li Aozi’s prominence among the Meteor Fall Masters came partly from his long-standing perseverance and partly from his relentless drive to hone his skills.

If examined objectively, the decline of the Meteor Fall Masters community was complex and significantly influenced by shifts in player mentality.

They had become too arrogant, thinking their efforts had made them invincible and thus uninterested in developing new techniques, mocking newcomers for their mistakes to enhance their own sense of superiority.

The first Meteor Fall Masters were trapped in the belief that they were one in a million, ignoring the challenging nature of the occupation. They relied on early accumulated experience and resources, blaming others for not working hard enough and focusing only on their own prestige and advantage. This attitude was nonsensical.

After all, a community with few newcomers and old-timers who refused to innovate, riding on past glories and benefits, would inevitably decline.

Li Aozi desperately wanted to change that situation.

He deeply loved the Meteor Fall Master occupation. As one of the first players at server launch, he had watched the rise and fall of the Meteor Fall Masters firsthand.

This issue wasn’t solely about the players. Even the NPC Meteor Fall Masters exhibited the same tendencies.

But changing NPC attitudes was challenging.

If players returned, Li Aozi hoped to leverage their efforts to root out the "arrogance" and "superiority" of those NPC Meteor Fall Masters.

They believed they commanded the power of the stars, earning praises from the cosmos. Black holes were merely spinning tops on their fingertips, and the sun served as their nightlight—who else could boast such lofty status?

Over time, arrogance had taken deep root.

Even Li Aozi, the top player among Meteor Fall Masters, wasn’t immune—looking back, he realized how often he flirted with death, feeling a bit scared in retrospect.

"I should avoid reckless actions; there’s only one life—sparring with players is much safer. I wonder if they’ll return; there are several players I really want to challenge... Hold on, am I overthinking this and taking too much for granted?"

Li Aozi felt both lonely and agitated.

Ever since Nomi had said those things to him, he had begun to realize he was no longer a player. Today’s series of mishaps, nearly getting beaten, left him furious and remorseful.

If he kept up this player mindset, it was only a matter of time before he died a stupid death.