IWOL Chapter 162: Swapping Pointers

Life after joining Heimdall didn’t seem to be much different from the past. They trained in the castle as usual, and only went to the training room at the headquarters to use the equipment they didn’t already have. 

Unless nothing major happened, Heinrich wouldn’t organize meetings, so the other members of Heimdall only knew that a new S-level team had joined the organization. They didn’t know what this new team looked like nor what kind of team it was.

Cui Zuojing liked to run there if he had nothing else to do. He had Fu Zhe’s key and could go in and out at any time. He would often go to the kitchen everyday to eat and drink, play in the back garden, or find Beverly or Tao Ji for a chat and inquire about outside information. He would then patronize the amazing ice cream business outside on the street. 

Dong Zheng sometimes accompanied him. He knew how to boil frogs in warm water. Since Cui Zuojing hadn’t gotten his emotions back, Dong Zheng wasn’t too forward with him. In the meantime, he must quickly allow Cui Zuojing to become accustomed to having him in his life. After that, if Cui Zuojing decided he didn’t like him and wanted to avoid him, he would at least have some buffer time.

After spending about two weeks in this way, in order to avoid becoming idle and prevent the ease of life from making them lazy, Dong Zheng and the rest found a challenge-type box and successfully passed it without any risk. 

Lin Hangzhi and Wang Que, who were exhausted from the box, went back directly to rest. Dong Zheng, Dong Linhai, and Cui Zuojing went to Heimdall to return the box and give the organization ten points. 

While Dong Zheng went to register, Dong Linhai and Cui Zuojing waited for him in the lounge. Dong Linhai hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in the box, and he was stretched out on the sofa, his head leaning crookedly on one side. In the blink of an eye, he began to snore loudly.

He rarely snored so loud; it seemed that he was really tired.

Cui Zuojing let him do as he pleased. The setting of the box they’d just come out of was based on a small movie crew. They were a group of people who were fighting hard to accomplish their dream of creating a movie. They wanted to make a low-budget horror film that would transform the domestic production scene. Adhering to the status quo of horror movies, they went to an ancient, abandoned village to shoot the film.

They were all actors invited from all over to perform. Suddenly, everyone discovered that the horror scenes they filmed would happen to them in real life. In the bloody deaths and horrific accidents that followed, they discovered the truth behind each death little by little. 

In fact, the script was pretty standard for Cui Zuojing. Although the box’s difficulty wasn’t too high, it was all embodied in those terrifying events that could scare people witless. Therefore, after staying in the box for a whole week, no one dared to sleep peacefully. Ghost knows whether one of them would find himself lying in a coffin after waking up, facing an ossified corpse, and being buried alive. 

When Dong Zheng finally came out, his hands were shaking. Wang Que’s whole body was like a cat with its fur standing on ends, and a slight movement would make her jump in horror. Although Lin Hangzhi was a doctor, he wasn’t a forensic doctor who was used to examining so many weird and bloody corpses time and again just to uncover hidden clues. Therefore, he also couldn’t withstand it for long. 

Only Dong Linhai was better. This instance vividly reflected the benefits of being simpleminded. Although he was scared, once he was out of the box and knew he was safe, he stopped worrying so much and simply fell asleep on the sofa without caring about his appearance. 

Cui Zuojing sat on the other side, waiting for Dong Zheng. He was also very tired, and he stared out the window at a little floating cloud in the sky, supporting his head with his hands and not wanting to move or speak at all.

But the sounds of footsteps gradually approached the lounge they were resting in. From the sounds of it, it seemed to be coming from a group of people. Cui Zuojing thought that they were just passing by, but he never thought that the footsteps would stop in front of their door. A knock sounded.

Cui Zuojing lazily raised his eyelids. Not wanting to pay attention to the people outside, he yawned and covered his ears with his hands, as if he could pretend that there was no one out there. 

When the lounge was occupied, the occupant’s name would be displayed on the outside. When no one responded after a long time, a young man with yellow hair stretched out his head, as if he wanted to look through the door itself to survey the situation inside the room. Uncertain whether he should or not, he said, “Boss, is it this one?”

The brawny man called the boss was nearly 1.9 meters tall. He had a shaved, bald head, which had grown a layer of cyan stubble that looked a little strange and funny. He raised his chin to the word “Dong Zheng” on the display, and said in a low voice, “I’ve seen this name on the rookie list. This is the captain.”

He knocked on the door again, but no one answered.

“How about…I check out the situation inside?” Huang Mao asked. 

The brawny man nodded slightly, giving him permission. “Take a look.”

Once Huang Mao got permission, he closed his eyes tightly. For a minute, he made no other actions. The other people in the team knew what he was going to do and kept silent so as not to disturb him.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes. At some point, his ordinary black pupils had turned into silver white, nearly blending into the whites of his eyes. He stared straight ahead, extended his focus, and began to see directly inside the lounge through the door panels and walls.

Cui Zuojing’s eyes flew open.

He frowned, jumped off the sofa, walked to the door of the lounge in two to three steps, and pulled it open.

Huang Mao saw the whole scene inside the lounge, including the two resting people. He didn’t expect to be noticed by the young man who seemed to have his eyes closed and was restoring his mind. Therefore, when Cui Zuojing moved and opened the door in an instant, he didn’t have time to put away his ability and his silvery white eyes met a pair of cold, dark eyes. He was taken aback by the apathy contained within them.

Although Cui Zuojing had grown up quite a bit, his height stopped at 176 cm a while ago, and he couldn’t grow anymore. Except for his unfriendly expression, he really looked like an eighteen to nineteen year old young man

But seeing those savage, vigilant eyes, no one thought so.

“What are you doing?” he asked coldly.

“I heard that a new team has been added to the organization and got an S-level rating. We are a little curious, so we came to take a look.” A woman behind the brawny man quickly stepped forward to face Cui Zuojing with a smile. “Are we bothering you?”

She was very beautiful. Even in the Pure White Realm, where her life would be in danger at any time and anywhere, she still wore delicate, light makeup on her face and dressed herself up brightly and beautifully. However, the thin wrinkles in the corners of her eyes silently proclaimed that she wasn’t young anymore.

A woman’s gentle voice and soft smile could indeed reduce a person’s vigilance, but this wasn’t very effective on Cui Zuojing. He glanced at the woman and said, “But auntie, you knocked so rudely on the door and you still had the face to peek inside. It doesn’t look like you didn’t want to disturb us.”

Hearing the word auntie, the woman took a deep breath and the smile on her face became distorted. Judging from her suddenly tightened cheeks, it should be that she was clenching her teeth.

Huang Mao felt a drop of cold sweat run down his forehead, and he calmly moved two steps away from this volcano that might erupt at any time. His eyes had returned to their original appearance, and there was no trace of silvery white anywhere. He deliberately said: “Peeking? The door is closed. What evidence do you have that we peeked through the door?”

Cui Zuojing was very tired and didn’t want to fight with these people. He gave Huang Mao a very disdainful look and said, “If you’re looking for Dong Zheng, he’s not here. If you have something to say, say it quickly. I don’t have much time to bother with you.”

Everyone had managed to keep their life for this long. Who wasn’t a bit unyielding? Seeing Cui Zuojing acting so tough and in a bad mood, they didn’t flare out. The brawny man said, “We are also Heimdall’s S-level team, named Deep Disguiser. I heard that there is a new S-level team in the organization, so I wanted to find a chance to meet you.”

“Then you can find an opportunity.” Cui Zuojing stretched out the corners of his mouth, but there was obviously no kindness in his smile. He pointed to Dong Linhai, who was still sleeping like a dead pig, and said, “Half an hour ago, we just came out of a three-and-a-half stars difficulty box. There are five people in our team. Apart from the team captain, who went to register, I’m the only one who can keep his eyes open.”

“Under this circumstances, you now ran over and said you wanted us to get to know each other?”

“We didn’t know–”

“Say it,” Cui Zuojing interrupted the woman. “Why do you want to know us to know each other? The training ground is next door. If you want, I can go up and swap pointers with you.”

Cui Zuojing emphatically emphasized the word “swap pointers.” His bluntness stemmed from his knowledge of the Deep Disguiser’s true purpose.

As one of the Heimdall’s six S-level teams, the Deep Disguiser heard that a new team had joined the organization and received an S-rating as soon as they joined. Not only that, this new team had only just recently arrived in Top of the Giant Tree. Naturally, they took note of Dong Zheng and his team. 

Each organization had a strict test for evaluating the highest-level teams. Although Heimdall wasn’t a large organization like Shiratori or Valkyrie, Heimdall’s standard could not be much lower than theirs. Even the Deep Disguiser took three months to slowly achieve an S-level rating. 

What was the origin of this new team?

Aside from Heinrich’s group of three, everyone else in Heimdall was as curious as the Deep Disguiser 

The Deep Disguiser was just the first group to come and test them. There would be more and more challenges in the future. Cui Zuojing had experienced this many times when he was in Shiratori.

Therefore, he knew the best way to cut this at the root.

“If this little brother doesn’t mind,” the brawny captain said. He didn’t seem to be as reckless as his appearance, and up to now, his attitude could be considered quite polite. “If it is convenient, we would like to make an appointment.”

“No need. Let’s do it now.” Cui Zuojing stepped forward and walked out of the lounge, closing the door behind him and keeping the sleeping Dong Linhai inside. He rolled his wrists and said with a smile, “Just myself. Since you all specifically came here, how can I let you make the trip for nothing?”

Dong Zheng was registering the specific information regarding the completion of the box in the registration office and was filling in the points they’d earned at the end, when he suddenly received a text message from Cui Zuojing. 

“I’m in Training Room No. 2. Come and see me after you’re done.”

He still have the energy to go to the training room at this time? This thought appeared in Dong Zheng’s mind, but he rejected it in an instant. He frowned slightly, then stretched out his hand to continue filling in the form. 

But this time, his speed was much faster than before.

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