SATURATION Chapter 2

 

Chapter 2: Small world

Translator: Abo Dammen

When Sui Cannong first came up with this ID, he didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. In fact, he thought it had a nice ring to it—maybe even a bit of a rhyme.

But the moment Ji Ling clearly and articulately pronounced all seven characters—"Peerless Beauty Sui Meili"—Sui Cannong had already begun considering which galaxy he should immigrate to.

Even so, he felt the need to explain himself.

"Actually, I’m pretty casual when it comes to names. For example, my pet turtle is named Sui Handsome. I keep him in the tank at the back of my classroom. And then I—"

He paused, realizing that Ji Ling was still standing there, looking at him. He also realized that his explanation was just making things worse. With a sense of defeat, he said, "Just sit down first."

Ji Ling nodded and took a seat across from him.

The quiet and reserved Antelope—his in-game companion who chopped trees, fought monsters, and gathered mushrooms with him every day—overlapped with Ji Ling’s composed expression in Sui Cannong’s mind.

It all felt incredibly unreal.

Ji Ling had joined the school nearly a year after Sui Cannong. According to Thomas, the chemistry teacher next door, his resume was impeccable.

Sui Cannong would occasionally run into Ji Ling in the stairwell or the campus cafe. Like with other colleagues, he would greet him with a friendly smile, and Ji Ling would nod politely in return. But that was about the extent of their interactions.

Thomas had mentioned that Ji Ling gave off an air of arrogance, but Sui Cannong didn’t see it that way. He just found Ji Ling to be a man of few words—reserved, aloof, and undeniably competent.

But now, in terms of social skills… well, it did seem like there was still room for improvement.

The waiter arrived with hot lemon water just in time. Ji Ling removed his trench coat, folded it neatly, and placed it on the seat beside him before ordering a latte.

Sui Cannong noticed a slight hesitation in Ji Ling’s movements before he raised a hand and gently removed his glasses.

He lowered his head, folded the temples of the glasses, and set them down on his right.

Sui Cannong couldn’t help but ask, "Can you still see clearly?"

Ji Ling was about to take a sip of his lemon water, but his hand paused mid-air. He set the glass down and looked straight at Sui Cannong.

Sui Cannong’s heart skipped a beat.

His brain kicked into overdrive: Wait, did I say something wrong? Or did I just come off way too familiar?

After five seconds, Ji Ling finally spoke. "I don’t actually have vision problems."

He explained, in surprising detail, "These are anti-radiation glasses with no prescription. I also noticed that when I wear them, students tend to focus better in class."

Sui Cannong blinked. "Ah… got it, got it."

Ji Ling let out a quiet mm and picked up his lemon water again.

Sui Cannong instinctively let out a breath of relief and took a sip of his own coffee to cover his awkwardness. After a moment, he couldn’t help but glance up at Ji Ling again.

Without his glasses, Ji Ling’s cold features seemed a little softer. His well-defined facial features carried a classical elegance, making for an undeniably pleasant appearance.

The steaming latte arrived, snapping Sui Cannong back to reality.

If they weren’t colleagues, they would probably be chatting excitedly about in-game events and hero strategies by now. Maybe even cursing out the developers together. At the very least, they wouldn’t be sitting here in awkward silence.

The tension was suffocating. Sui Cannong realized he needed to say something—anything.

"So… how did you get here?"

"I took a cab," Ji Ling replied.

"Oh, was the traffic bad?"

Ji Ling looked at him calmly. "We took the same route."

Sui Cannong: "…"

Yeah, that was a stupid question. But at this point, he had no choice but to push forward. "...Still, what are the chances that we’d meet in-game? Pretty crazy, right?"

Ji Ling was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "Yes, quite the coincidence."

"But the game's location feature already narrows the range significantly."

He paused, his gaze shifting downward before adding stiffly, "And our work hours, online times, and residential areas overlap to some extent. Statistically speaking, the probability isn’t actually that low."

Sui Cannong: "…Right. That makes sense."

Ji Ling let out another quiet mm.

Sui Cannong now genuinely admired him—this was his first time meeting someone with such a unique way of conversing.

Ji Ling’s tone was steady, his voice even, and his words meticulously structured. He sounded persuasive at first.

But when you actually processed his words, you realized… there was no way to respond back to them.

His expression remained composed, his side profile exuding a cool detachment—a picture of utter rationality.

But Sui Cannong also noticed that Ji Ling's speed of talking was slightly faster than usual. And during their conversation, every time their eyes met, Ji Ling would pause briefly before quickly looking away.

He was uncomfortable. Almost as if… he was trying to suppress something.

Well, that made sense.

Sui Cannong sighed inwardly. They had both arrived, excited to finally meet their online gaming friends, only to end up in this situation. Who could have seen that coming?

"Log in," Sui Cannong said. "I’ll transfer Little Butterfly to you."

Ji Ling hesitated briefly before nodding.

They both pulled out their phones in silence. Sui Cannong logged in a little faster. Within seconds, a system message appeared in the center of his screen: Your close friend, antelope, has logged in.

His fingers froze for a split second.

But he quickly snapped out of it, paired their Bluetooth connections, and efficiently pulled the hero into the trade window. The confirmation button popped up.

Sui Cannong tapped it. The progress bar began to fill.

"Little Butterfly relies heavily on weapons."

After some thought, he added, "I noticed you don’t mine much, and your overall gear level is a bit low. Want me to send you some ore?"

"No need," Ji Ling replied flatly. "Thanks."

It was clear—Ji Ling had no intention of continuing this conversation.

Ore was a crucial in-game resource. Nobody didn’t need it.

Sui Cannong was easy going, but he wasn’t the type to impose. From the moment they met, he had been the one initiating every conversation. And now, with such a firm refusal, it was obvious that Ji Ling didn’t want their in-game interactions to extend beyond this.

Sui Cannong understood completely.

Games were meant to be an escape—a place to unwind without the constraints of real-life social interactions. Ji Ling had probably been looking forward to that too.

But then he ended up meeting his online friend, only to discover that it was his real-life colleague.

From Ji Ling’s perspective, today must have felt like a complete disaster.

Sui Cannong said nothing more.

He watched the progress bar slowly reach 98%, then a message appeared: The recipient has accepted your gifted hero.

Ji Ling spoke again. "Thank you."

Sui Cannong responded lightly, "No problem."

Setting his phone down, his gaze fell on Ji Ling’s untouched latte. The delicate latte art had already dissolved into a shapeless, milky blur.

It was time to end this absurd day.

However, when Sui Cannong looked up again, he found Ji Ling staring straight at him.

His dark eyes were still, unwavering.

Sui Cannong felt a chill run down his spine.

What now? Why is he looking at him like that?

It seemed like Ji Ling wanted to say something.

But in the next moment, he averted his gaze.

Ji Ling nodded—just slightly.

"No need to be so polite," he said.

Later that evening, as Sui Cannong drove out of the underground parking lot, he thought the day would end quietly.

—Until he saw Ji Ling standing by the bridge.