On the rooftop, after Li Nian slammed the rooftop door shut, she looked at Lin Yu who was currently operating under the identity of 'Zhu Ming'.

Ever since they had experienced the train dungeon together, although Li Nian had never explicitly said it, her attitude had long since treated 'Zhu Ming' as one of her own and a friend.

Therefore, it had been a long time since Lin Yu had seen Li Nian display this kind of demeanor towards him—wary, guarded, and on alert.

"What exactly are you trying to do by coming directly to my school?"

Li Nian asked Lin Yu, as alert as an animal whose territory had been encroached upon.

Lin Yu, on the other hand, looked quite relaxed.

"You said you were busy with finals, right? So I came to your school myself to collect my payment. It saves you a trip and doesn't waste your precious study time."

Lin Yu explained.

Li Nian didn't really doubt this explanation. After all, the persona of 'Zhu Ming' that Lin Yu had consistently portrayed did indeed seem like the type to do such a thing.

But believing Zhu Ming had no ill intentions didn't mean Li Nian had let go of her reservations at this moment.

"Didn't I also say to wait for my message... Why did you have to come to my school!"

Li Nian's voice already carried a hint of displeasure.

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow. "I went to your house before, didn't I? And that was fine."

Li Nian immediately retorted, "You sneaking into my house wasn't okay either—don't do that again in the future!"

"Besides, my house is empty most of the year, so maybe it's not a big issue... but school is crowded and full of eyes! What if someone saw you!"

Her own explanation was a bit contradictory, and to Lin Yu's ears, it sounded rather flimsy.

Of course... Lin Yu had already understood why this girl's attitude was so strange even before she explained.

Mentioning that he had snuck into her house earlier was essentially Lin Yu asking a question he already knew the answer to.

"It seems Li Nian actually identifies more with her school..."

Lin Yu thought to himself.

Lin Yu had noticed that a significant portion of players, after being drawn into the 'Death Game', tend to have a strong inclination to strictly separate and draw a clear line between their "real life" and the "game". They might even compartmentalize their identities—this separation is much more distinct than the usual division between "work" and "life" or "online" and "offline".

After all, for most people, the 'Death Game' is an unimaginably high-pressure environment compared to their past lives. Every week, they are forced to go to another bizarre world and play a game with the burden of "failure means death", when before they might have just been ordinary office workers or students.

Add to that the fact that people selected for the 'Death Game' all share the trait of "particularly not wanting to die", the pressure of "could die" itself is especially heavy for this group...

So, as a psychological self-protection mechanism, completely cutting off everything related to the "game" from their "real life" is a choice many players make.

They might join 'organizations' and attend offline 'gatherings', but they are extremely careful about their privacy...

The vast majority of players won't expose their real identities within the player community. Even if they become friends with other players, they rarely meet up for meals or gatherings.

On one hand, this is for safety considerations similar to the "dark forest principle". After all, Heavenly Artisan Chen Zhitie being identified and killed by Lin Yu is a prime example.

But many players do this... besides safety concerns, also because they are consciously making that "separation".

In fact, if many players happen to meet other players in real life, it could even escalate into a scenario of mutual harm—there are many such cases documented within 'Order'.

Originally, Lin Yu thought Li Nian wasn't this type of player, since he had even gone to her house and the girl hadn't had a stress reaction.

But now it seems...

"For Li Nian, home is not part of her inviolable 'real life', but school falls into that category."

This is also evident from the fact that the atmosphere at her school is completely different from what Lin Yu had seen before.

At home, Li Nian still very much resembled 'A Nian' from the 'Death Game', the 'Master Thief' of the 'Free Alliance'.

But at school... Lin Yu almost didn't recognize her.

Just this discovery made Lin Yu feel... this trip was worth it!

"You have quite a talent for psychological analysis. Really, why not consider joining the 'Psychological Society' and give it a try," Old Zheng replied, simultaneously giving Li Nian a more professional definition. "This girl seems to be the classic type with absent parents... Let me guess, her parents are probably both highly educated intellectuals, right? The kind who are often away from home, neglectful of her care, yet frequently impose strict discipline?"

Hearing Old Zheng's words, Lin Yu gave an affirmative answer.

"Based on my observations, that's pretty much it."

Upon hearing Lin Yu's confirmation, Old Zheng immediately fanned the flames. "Oh, then that's your strong suit. Giving affection-starved young girls care and all that. I think you did quite well in Sleepless City..."

Listening to Old Zheng's teasing, Lin Yu felt somewhat helpless.

Lately, Old Zheng and he had been getting increasingly familiar, which was a good thing—even though Old Zheng was just his summoned entity, it was obvious that getting along well with this former head of the 'Psychological Society' had many benefits.

But conversely, Lin Yu had discovered that once this guy got familiar, sometimes the things he said were truly a bit abstract.

Coupled with his superb psychological skills, his words could be abstract yet still hit Lin Yu's sore spots with precision—not a devastating blow, just a subtle, uncomfortable ache.

Like a slightly sour orange. You can swallow it, it's not harmful, but it's quite unpleasant.

Fortunately, Lin Yu had his own way of dealing with it.

"I didn't ask, so don't speak. Otherwise, I'll smack you."

A short sentence declaring a resounding victory for physics over psychology.

Then, feeling Old Zheng fall silent, Lin Yu redirected his attention back to Li Nian in front of him.

"Alright, you really seem to mind me coming to your school—sorry, I was abrupt this time. This kind of thing won't happen again."

For this kind of situation, the best approach, of course, was...

A sincere apology!

After saying this, Lin Yu directly stepped past Li Nian and walked towards the direction of the rooftop entrance.

"I'll head off now, A Nian. Just send me a message when you're free."

"The location is up to you."

Lin Yu said calmly, reaching out to open the rooftop door handle while silently counting in his mind.

"One, two..."

Before he could count to "three", he heard the expected voice from behind.

"Wait."

Li Nian spoke with a sigh.

Lin Yu turned around and looked at Li Nian, who was scratching her head. She sighed helplessly as she spoke.

"Forget it, since you're already here..."

"You're already here... right?"