Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
Noon.
This piece of news exploded.
These days, news reports no longer relied on traditional print media. Whenever something happened, the news would be published online within a matter of minutes.
“Zhang Ye falls into a well!”
“Zhang the famous host, singer, and artist, falls into a well!”
“Rescued by the concerted efforts of the people, Zhang Ye fortunately escapes without a scratch!”
“Video of Zhang Ye’s fall into a well!”
“Set of 56 photos detailing Zhang Ye’s fall into a well!”
“A collection of 56 HD photographs of Zhang Ye’s fall into a well!”
…
On Weibo.
WeChat Moments.
In the forums.
It was posted everywhere.
“Pfft!”
“That fellow fell into a well?”
“I heard that he fell in twice!”
“I’m cramping up with laughter. To think that Zhang Ye also has his unfortunate moments!”
“This fellow has done too many wicked things before!”
“Hahahaha, I don’t know why, but reading these headlines makes me wanna laugh!”
“Face-smacking Zhang has been slapping faces for so many years. It’s finally time he gets his retribution!”
“I laughed too. This is such a delightful piece of news!”
“Where is the well that subdued this evildoer? I oughta pay it a visit someday!”
“See! See what this is? It is what happens to eunuchs!”
“He deserves to fall in! This is such good news!”
“Damn, aren’t you guys worried if Teacher Zhang was injured or not?”
“He can even shatter the glass window of a bulletproof car with one slap. Like he would get hurt from falling into a well!”
“That’s right, this fellow is too hardy. He’ll still be skipping around even if he falls into a well eight times!”
The netizens did not have any compassion at all as they cheered at this news. This was such a delightful piece of news to them.
Very soon, the news spread overseas as well. Although the restriction order was still in place, the Japanese and Koreans were more than happy to report about such news.
…
Japan.
“Well done!”
“This is great news!”
“The Heavens also can’t stand seeing him always getting his way!”
“Hahahahaha!”
“There’s a Chinese saying: The wicked will get subdued by the Heavens!”
…
Korea.
“Great! Awesome! Very good!”
“This fellow is finally down on his luck!”
“Pfft, did he really fall into a well?”
“What a dumbass!”
“Hahaha! This feels great!”
…
At this moment.
In China?
Japan?
Korea?
Wherever it was, almost all of the Asian people were clapping their hands in glee!
There wasn’t another person in the whole of Asia who had such bad public relations!
When Zhang Ye saw this news, he nearly vomited blood. This bro is suffering so badly, yet you all can laugh? And even cheer? Do you think that you’re celebrating the new year?!
It was a good thing that some people were still concerned about him.
His family and friends all called.
When the call connected, Ha Qiqi said anxiously: “Why didn’t you answer the phone?”
Zhang Ye said as he looked around warily: “I didn’t hear the phone ring.”
Ha Qiqi said worriedly: “Were you hurt?”
“I’m fine, I can bear it,” Zhang Ye said.
Ha Qiqi said: “What happened? I heard from Little Wang and the rest that something has happened?”
Zhang Ye didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “This isn’t something that I can explain in a few words. In any case, this bro is down on his luck. Just know that I won’t be going back for these two days. I’ll lay low outside for a bit. If anything happens, don’t panic or be alarmed, just wait until I get back to the office.”
“But—”
“I have to hang up; my mom’s calling.” Then Zhang Ye answered the other call.
His mother immediately said when the call connected: “Are you stupid? You couldn’t see such a large well?”
Zhang Ye said dejectedly: “It’s because there was something covering it. Some plastic somehow flew into the path and covered it, so I thought that it was just the ground and stepped into it.”
His mother said: “You’re so dumb.”
Wu Zeqing also called.
Old Wu asked: “How are you?”
“I’m fine, don’t worry.”
“Why were you so careless?”
“It’s not a matter of being careless. Hai, stop talking about it.”
With his moves and reaction speed, he was confident that he could manage to avoid such a situation 99% of the time. But somehow, everything fell into place and he had to encounter that 1% chance of it happening. He was absolutely certain this wasn’t a problem with him but the fucking increased difficulty of 5× from the die roll. He also knew that only an hour had passed, and he would encounter many more of such incidents in the following 48 hours. Just thinking about it left Zhang Ye shuddering in fear.
He finished taking the calls.
Zhang Ye did not bother to explain things because he was in potential danger at every moment. He had to avoid this calamity first! What should he do until then? Where should he go hide? There were still 47 hours and 50 minutes left to go. Zhang Ye looked at the countdown timer in the game ring and ground his teeth in hate.
Go back home?
That definitely wouldn’t work!
Stay out on the streets?
But there was danger everywhere!
He had to find someplace to take refuge!
When he came to an intersection, he raised his head and saw a brand name. He was stunned and started narrowing his eyes in thought.
Lotte Mart 1 ?
This sounded familiar?
Which Lotte was it?
Zhang Ye took out his cell phone to check online and discovered that this was actually a supermarket chain in China by Korea’s Lotte Corporation. It was exactly the same one as his previous world. So the Lotte Corporation that had been scolded and cursed at by the Chinese people back in his previous world also existed here? Was this what they called searching high and low only to find it where one least expects?
Damn!
It shall be you!
Zhang Ye was incredibly wicked. He crossed the road and went straight into the supermarket without a second thought. Right now, he was carrying misfortune with him everywhere and could easily get hurt even if he were standing there without moving. He was afraid of causing trouble for his family if he went home and afraid of implicating the people out on the streets. But in Lotte Mart, he wouldn’t have to worry about any of that. Even if this place were to collapse, he wouldn’t feel bad about it—this was just who Zhang Ye was. He couldn’t be blamed for having such bad luck since he could be really wicked at times. Just look at what was happening. He was in such a state, yet he still didn’t forget about dragging others down with him!
Inside Lotte Mart.
A bustling crowd was in here with customers walking up and down the aisles.
The hypermarket was very big and was likely one of the bigger branches in Beijing.
“The apples are on discount.”
“Korean airfreighted fruits, come and have a look!”
“Our shampoo is buy one, get one free!”
Although Zhang Ye was wearing sunglasses and a face mask, he was still quickly recognized by the staff. A few customers were pointing at Zhang Ye from a distance and whispering among themselves. Two security guards rushed over while communicating on their walkie-talkies.
…
Upstairs.
In the staff area.
The general manager received this news very quickly. He was Kim Seongjae and was sent here by the Korean headquarters to oversee the operation of the branch. His Chinese was pretty good too.
“What? Zhang Ye came to our supermarket?”
“Yeah, the security guards have verified it.”
“Didn’t he fall into a well?”
“Uh, he was already rescued.”
“This is a good thing, a good thing.”
“But his relationship with Korea is—”
“He’s basically giving free advertising to us. Quickly get someone to take a few photos and send them to the media. Tell them that Zhang Ye wants to come shop at our Lotte Mart after having just climbed out of the well and being injuries from his fall. Our branch here is gonna become really popular soon!”
“That’s right, that’s right!”
The general manager was very excited.
However, he did not realize that he would soon be unable to smile.
