The Game Warrior Volume 1 Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Friends Once Upon a Time

Dugu Hong used to have a happy family, even if he didn’t think so. 

His parents worked at big companies and earned nice salaries. They had a house, a flying car, and a robot, they were doing well.

But everything changed a year ago.
 
Dugu remembers that day, it was his parents’ 16th anniversary and his 15-year-old birthday.
 
His parents took the day off and drove to the place they first met. They met from a near-accident in the air.

That day was also when the high-speed air traffic system went into effect.

He waited until midnight and his parents still didn’t come back.

His parents met from an accident that didn’t happen and died together in an accident that did happen. It was irony, thought Dugu when he got the news.

The accident report said both people drank before the accident and were primarily responsible.
 
No insurance, no compensation, what savings they had didn’t last after paying the fines.
 
They only drank a glass of wine before leaving and a small glass at that.

What was even more ironic... When the high-speed air traffic system was used, it would supposedly prevent all accidents, drinking and driving, and speeding...
 
The three men in front of him used to be Dugu’s school friends, and that was before the accident.
 
After the accident, things didn’t change at first, it wasn’t until after a while that Dugu could feel they were being distant.
 
What made everything change was when Dugu got his hands on the Index of the Duan Family while playing the game.
 
It was the key to learning the Yi Yang Finger.
 
After that night, when those men took off with the book, Dugu got stuck inside the game “Jiang Hu.” And in reality, the three of them constantly bullied Dugu too.

Dugu didn’t understand why they acted that way and what made them change. Was it because they looked down on him? Or that they hated him? Or that they had a lot of repressed emotions?
 
 “How have you been?” The leader of the three men, Zhang Yang, asked.

“Did you try going into ‘Jiang Hu’ again? Maybe you aren’t stuck anymore?” Snorted Lei Zhuang, who had the most obnoxious laugh. 
 
“Well, everyone has bad luck sometimes, but you can’t give up. In a game, you can always delete your account and start again, in real life though, are you gonna kill yourself?” Said Lei Yuxuan. He had the kindest-looking face but the most vicious words.
 
Dugu backed up a step. The three of them were obviously here to start trouble. There was no one else on the school bus except for them and a girl in glasses.
 
The fact that the school bus even ran anymore actually was relevant, as long as the bus ran, even if no one was on it, the school got a sizable chunk of government funding.
 
Most families who made a decent living wouldn’t have their kids ride this ancient vehicle.
 
“When you have time, you should play Jiang Hu again. Come to Dali in Yunnan Province, we’ll take care of you. Did you know our last names are all Duan now?” Said Zhang.
 
The Duan family of Dali were known for their Yi Yang Finger martial arts. They had a secret mantra which only passed on in the family, and only to the men.
 
They were in the Duan family now? 

They were here to show off. 

Dugu understood.
 
“I don’t know who said this, but we in Dali are the proper sort of clan, we don’t use down-low methods. I think he’s the one with a problem, hah hah.” Said Lei, followed by loud laughter from all three men. 

Dugu’s face changed, he got a bad feeling.
 
“Hey, we’re gonna make our own little group too, we have the guardians, but we do need a lackey --”
 
“Enough!” A crisp voice interrupted the three men’s lewd laughter. It came from Lin Ling. 
    
Lin Ling was tall and slim, wore a ponytail and had a healthy-looking tan. She liked to stick up for the little guys, while she was not the prettiest in school, she was definitely popular with everyone.
 
Dugu thought he was special to her once upon a time.

But she’s with Zhang Yang now.
 
Everything she said just made him feel worse.
 
“Stop it. You guys know he’s sick, why are you bothering him? Even if you insulted him, he won’t feel a thing. You’re so immature.”
 
Sick?
 
Yes, Dugu is sick.
 
A condition called logical autism.
 
This was a rare condition that was hard to diagnose.
 
People with this condition seemed free of the usual signs of autism, they could communicate with others and show emotion without an issue. 

But what controlled how they acted and felt was their logical thinking and not their hormones.
 
In other words, if their brain felt like they needed to cry, they’d cry, and if their brain felt like they needed to laugh, they’d laugh; it was like acting for them and not instinct.
 
They didn’t care about anything in the outside world, which they saw in a detached way. They liked to stay inside their own world, camouflage themselves with a shell of logic, and stop others from seeing their oddness. 

This type of autism came from some kind of trauma after birth, and only after their logic and judgement met their camouflage needs.
 
“How... how did you know?” Dugu’s face turned very pale.
 

Chapter end