Chapter 106 – Couch Potato
Zhou Ning couldn't help but get a bad feeling as he read this. Don't tell him this damn guy was seriously just going to slack off the whole time?
And sure enough, what happened next made Zhou Ning's blood pressure spike. He felt like he'd put his trust in the wrong person.
The simulation continued.
[May 1938. You got your first official girlfriend, Lisa. Her hands were exactly your favorite type—slender, fair, and delicate. You couldn't stop holding them.]
[Late May. After three months in Rome, your Italian finally reached a barely conversational level. You spent 2,000 lire in Vittorio Square, the Chinatown of Rome, to buy an ID card. There was a little incident along the way: some Mafia thugs in fedoras and trench coats mugged you at gunpoint—and even tried to kill you. One minute later, with your right hand in your pocket, you turned around. Behind you came an explosion and a towering fireball. If a Stand user had been watching, they would have seen the shadow of a toy car with a tiny skull on it rolling by.]
[June–July 1938. That small incident didn't disrupt your peaceful life. You kept going to work and coming home on schedule, sleeping precisely at 11 p.m. to ensure eight hours of rest every day, living like a robot. You went on dates with your girlfriend occasionally. Though you never made a point to learn, constant exposure in restaurants improved your cooking skills.
You gained the skill: Cooking (Intermediate).
You also developed a new interest in Italy—watching football. Maybe due to the influence of your other self, this world's football culture was far more developed than in your past life. At the end of June 1938, you watched the entire World Cup hosted in Italy. Because Mussolini had given the order that failure to win meant collective execution, the Italian team played ferociously, with players vomiting from exhaustion in every match. Unsurprisingly, they won the championship.
You couldn't help but wonder: What would happen if China's national team was under that kind of pressure?
At the award ceremony, you unexpectedly saw your other self for the first time. He looked very young. He also sensed your gaze, and when your eyes met, it felt like looking in a mirror.
There was none of the expected tension. After the match, the two of you gathered to chat. Upon hearing a familiar hometown accent, you both felt okay about each other's existence. For some reason, even though you don't like making friends, you still became friends with him after seeing that Nike-like smile of his.]
[August 1938. Starting in July, your other self began staying in Italy. He told you he was there to attend the funeral of his dear friend, Will A. Zeppeli, and at the request of Zeppeli's son, Mario, to help contain the Pillar Men.
You weren't interested, but you watched everything from the sidelines: before the Pillar Men even awakened, that cheat of a man had already moved their stone statues into direct sunlight and then smashed them to dust with a hammer.
Truly a hardcore badass.
With his permission, you kept a small fragment of a Pillar Man's body. It showed no signs of life, but having read the manga, you knew better than to take it lightly. You made sure to sun it daily.]
[September 1938. Your other self said goodbye and returned to Britain. Before he left, he asked if you wanted to go with him to London. You rejected him without hesitation, but the two of you kept in touch by letter afterward.]
[April 1939. After over a year in Italy, your Italian reached full fluency. You could read, write, and speak with native-level proficiency. You gained the skill: Professional Italian Proficiency.]
[September 1939 – April 1942. Germany invaded Poland, and war engulfed Europe. But your life remained ideal. Over the next few years, you dated thirteen girlfriends. Not because you were unfaithful—you've always been a one-woman type. It's just that you've always had a thing for girls with pretty hands. You earned the achievement: Don Juan.]
[June 1941. Through your other self's letters, you learned he had joined the Allied forces, determined to end WWII with his own efforts. As someone in an Axis country, you couldn't help but chuckle.]
[May 1942. Though you kept a low profile, you were promoted to head chef. Your cooking skill leveled up again. You gained the skill: Cooking (Advanced).]
[May 1942 – April 1943. Life was good. In late September 1942, the restaurant owner decided to immigrate to the U.S. Not wanting your life to change, you chose to take over the business and became the restaurant's owner, continuing your monotonous, plant-like routine.]
[July 25 – September 8, 1943. Just as in history, a coup took place in Italy. Dictator Mussolini was ousted, and Marshal Badoglio formed a new government. On September 8, Italy surrendered. But you were just a bystander of history—you didn't care.]
[May 8, 1945. Germany surrendered. On August 6 and 9, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Japan's unconditional surrender. WWII ended. Not long after, your other self wrote to say his mission was complete—but his wife, Elina, had died in 1944. You deeply understood how he felt—especially as a transmigrator.]
[1945–1948. Contact with your other self gradually decreased. He seemed to be diving into mysticism, believing that the end of science was theology.]
[August 9, 1948. It was your birthday—you were 33. In the ten years since you crossed over, you'd changed a lot. You learned to get along with others, hardly killed anymore, and always longed for a peaceful life, avoiding conflict. You married your new girlfriend Andrea, a beautiful radio host. Sadly, your other self didn't attend the wedding.]
[1952. You had your first daughter. You began to feel a true connection to this world. (Happiness +2)]
[1954. You had twins. That year, you met your other self again. He became your younger son's godfather. (Happiness +2)]
[1954–1967] You met your other self occasionally. Inevitably, he aged. In 1968, at age 53, you read in the newspaper that the famous scientist, writer, sports star, and three-time Nobel Prize winner Zhou Ning had died. You felt a bit lonely. Though you didn't meet often, the two of you were actually the same person. He had been your only connection to your old world. (Happiness -1)]
[1969. Your youngest son became a football player with tremendous talent.]
[1972. Your children got married one after another.]
[1975. You welcomed your first granddaughter and first grandson. (Happiness +1)]
[1983. At the age of 68, you unexpectedly died of dengue fever.]
You are dead.
Simulation complete.
Summary: Congratulations. You lived a long life this time. But one thing must be said: you were way too much of a couch potato. What did you even do? The world wouldn't have changed one bit whether you existed or not. Maybe, just as you wished, you really did live a quiet, unremarkable life. The only mark you left on the world was your son, who went on to become a football superstar and slightly shifted the course of history.
Rating: C-
World Exploration: 89.5% (+0.3)
Because you had virtually no impact on the Mist-Lost London world, you are awarded 2 Traversal Coins. Once your world rating reaches A, you will receive a Temporary Template Card from this random template. This time, you did not qualify.
Zhou Ning: "…"
He was practically coughing up blood.
After the insane Mad Clown template, he was now stuck with this ordinary office-worker one. The contrast was brutal.
He had never seen a lazier template. Clearly powerful, yet did absolutely nothing. It seemed that in a simulation where you couldn't control the direction, personality was far more important than combat strength.
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