An Unusual Life Beginning with Evil Spirits-Chapter 145 : Friends

Volume 4: High School Arc - “I” Come to Find You~
He deliberately paused at this point, and I... vaguely guessed his conclusion.
"This person named Zhang Yang is most likely already dead."
Lu Haochen continued from where he had just left off, and just as he was about to go on, someone knocked on the door.
"Hello, are you the two who ordered wet cappuccinos?"
"Yes, bring them in."
Lu Haochen turned back and replied, then flipped his hand and covered the note.
The door opened, and the waiter walked in with a smile, glanced at the table, and placed the cappuccino in front of me.
"Please enjoy."
After speaking, the waiter politely exited the room and closed the door behind him.
Once the door was shut, Lu Haochen and I simultaneously withdrew our gazes.
He looked at me and signaled with his eyes, saying:
"Give it a try, cappuccino is generally pretty good, and it suits girls like you who don't like bitterness."
Girls...
The moment Lu Haochen uttered the word ‘girls’, my heart sank.
Although I had already gotten used to living as a woman, that didn’t mean I always acted accordingly in daily life.
In fact... if Lu Haochen hadn’t mentioned it, I’d still have felt like two guys were sitting together right now.
This word instantly soured my mood.
"Oh..."
I didn’t look at him again and just gave a weak response.
When Lu Haochen heard my reply, he seemed to sense something too.
But he didn’t seem to know what he had done wrong and just showed a trace of confusion on his face, without pursuing it further.
"Then let’s continue with this, Yunyan. Although I don’t know much about your family background, I can tell it’s not ordinary. You can try using some means to check the surveillance footage of Tianding Everything’s building. If we can find anything, that’d be best—it’d save us from running around like headless chickens."
Lu Haochen spoke as he took a sip of coffee, then continued.
"Now for the remaining four. I divided them into two parts. No matter how I look at it, your name seems a bit out of place among them, so I made this deduction."
As he spoke, Lu Haochen tapped the words ‘supervisor’ with his finger.
"From the last three paragraphs, the supervisor made a phone call and was behind someone. It seems to be connected. Judging by the appearance of this game, the phone is an important element."
"This mission is so bizarre—bizarre enough that even a parasite can’t detect it. Even though I’ve only been through one round, it’s clear this is serious trouble. So, all clues should be taken seriously. Therefore, I suggest... we go to Tianding Everything this afternoon."
"We?"
When I heard him say those two words, I was momentarily stunned.
From the beginning, I never intended to drag him into this.
That’s why I treated him to coffee—just so he’d help me analyze things.
I never thought he actually meant to come along.
So when he said those words, I was surprised.
"Yes, we."
At this point, Lu Haochen’s face showed a playful expression.
He looked at me with a half-smile.
"I mean... you still haven't considered me a friend by now, have you?"
"That’s not what I meant, I just..."
"Just what?"
Looking at the playful expression on Lu Haochen’s face, I couldn’t help but feel a little helpless.
"Lu Haochen, I do consider you a friend now. But relatively speaking, I don’t feel that close to you. So... I never thought of pulling you into this. After all, you know—this game might involve bystanders, and it might just as well involve players."
I had already come to this conclusion a long time ago.
The game might very well involve players.
Just thinking back, I could guess it.
Think about when we were at the mirror factory—why, aside from us, the designated game players, did neither the Death Coffin nor the Lucky Alliance assign anyone else to go into the factory with us?
Wouldn’t it have been safer to go together?
At least someone could help!
But not only did they not do that—on the contrary, the ones who came were all advanced players.
There’s only one explanation, and that is...
Because the players all knew that the game doesn’t only involve bystanders, it also involves players who are not part of the current mission.
And that’s precisely why other advanced players would choose not to get involved.
As for this point, I believed Lu Haochen could also figure it out.
So then... why was he doing this?
This guy... could he be interested in me?
"Lu Haochen, um... you..."
How was I supposed to ask that?
"Hmm?"
Lu Haochen looked at me with a smile, didn’t say anything, just gave a soft response, but that alone made it hard for me to continue.
"Nothing."
In the end... the question I wanted to ask never made it out.
Not because I was being shy, but because if he really wasn’t interested in me, saying it out loud would instantly make things awkward.
Given that I already had few friends, I still had concerns when it came to things like this.
Lu Haochen looked at me but didn’t press further.
He drank the rest of his coffee in one go, then set down the cup.
"Regardless, your real intention is to go check it out, right? Then let’s go."
As he spoke, Lu Haochen reached for his instrument bag, stood up, and made to leave.
"You... why are you helping me so much?"
Seeing how eager he was, I couldn’t help but ask suspiciously.
He paused slightly, then turned around with a very natural smile and said:
"Haven’t we already become friends? Or... do you think the word ‘friend’ isn’t worth that much?"
"...Alright."
In the end, my inner doubts weren’t resolved.
But what I needed now wasn’t to unravel those doubts, it was to find a way to deal with this game.
Whether or not he had feelings for me, at least for now, what he said wasn’t wrong.
Friends... huh?
I stood up, picked up my instrument bag, and followed Lu Haochen out.
At the door, of course I paid the bill.
After all, I was the one asking for help, and besides, the coffee here wasn’t cheap.
Lu Haochen didn’t seem to find it awkward, but the barista’s gaze was rather odd, like he was looking at a scumbag.
"Let’s go to my car first. We’re heading to Tianding..."
As we stepped out the door, I was speaking, but before I could finish, I suddenly felt a ringtone from my pocket.
It wasn’t the default ringtone of that phone. It was one I had personally set.
The moment I heard the ringtone, a vague fear surged in my mind, but it faded quickly...
It felt like I had experienced something terrifying associated with this ringtone before.
My body trembled uncontrollably for a moment, but quickly recovered.
Lu Haochen looked at me with furrowed brows but said nothing.
I shook my head.
I understood what he meant.
He was asking if it was ‘that call.’
And I shook my head to deny it.
He naturally understood.
Without saying anything more, I pulled out my phone.
And before I even looked, I already had a sense of who was calling.