Life in a Simulation - Chapter 19

On his way back, Zhou Ming was puzzled.

How did the son of the steward Brunold, who was as fat as a pig, become Edward’s squire?

It wasn’t that Zhou Ming was envious or jealous; he was pondering why, despite being of common birth, Baum, the son of the steward Brunold, could outcompete the more noble and capable second sons from other territories to become the coveted squire of a knight.

Was it due to the abilities of Brunold’s son?

Or was it Brunold’s own sycophancy?

Or perhaps Edward had a blind spot in his head, preferring to choose a teammate as unremarkable as a pig over a more competent partner?

“Maybe it’s due to some inexplicable vanity and absolute confidence in his own strength, which led Edward to prefer someone who knows how to serve and flatter him over someone who could actually be useful…”

“This will surely become Edward’s fatal weakness…”

Having lived through several lifetimes, Zhou Ming had a very clear understanding of human nature. Whenever someone revealed a significant weakness, Zhou Ming was confident that he could use his mind to overcome them!

“Well, now that Brunold’s son has become a squire, at least Brunold’s focus won’t be on punishing and mistreating me anymore. His immediate priority now is to raise a large sum of money to equip his son Baum with a set of knightly armor. These armors are not cheap, and he won’t be able to deliberately cause me trouble in the short term.”

Zhou Ming was very familiar with the profession of a knight. Each knight was essentially made of money. The land required to support just one knight amounted to 4,500 acres, not including the cost of a fine warhorse that could cost thousands of silver coins, a set of armor with astonishing defensive capabilities worth hundreds of gold coins, and weapons such as lances, heavy swords, shields, and crossbows—all of which required a substantial amount of money.

The expense for a squire to equip himself was, of course, much less, but a decent horse, a sword, a set of leather armor, and a shield still added up to about 80-100 gold coins. Given Brunold’s income as a steward, it would be quite a stretch.

However, to Zhou Ming’s surprise, within just a week, Brunold’s son Baum appeared before all the subjects of Granling, spiritedly dressed in a leather armor with shoulder guards, wielding a medium-length sword, and riding a tall gray horse.

“Corruption, aside from corruption, I can’t think of any other way a baron’s steward could gather so much money in just seven days.”

Zhou Ming concluded that Brunold, who had his hands in the cookie jar, must have embezzled a considerable amount of money while managing the income and expenditure of Granling.

But whether Brunold had actually embezzled or not had nothing to do with Zhou Ming. He wasn’t foolish enough to run to the lord and report it. After all, Brunold’s attention was no longer on him, and he hadn’t been deliberately making things difficult for him in the past week. It was enough that he didn’t have to worry about offending a petty person, especially one who might hold a grudge.

Not only that, but in order to ensure that petty people like Brunold would no longer “remember” him, Zhou Ming also began another plan.

…

In the evening.

Under the dim oil lamp light, at the cozy dining table.

Following the usual dinner portion of one-third, Zhou Ming chewed slowly and finished a piece of bread, clapped his hands, and without drinking his favorite sheep’s milk and pea soup, he simply put down his bowl.

“Brother, why have you been eating so little these past few days? You’ve lost a lot of weight recently.”

Seeing that her brother had eaten only this much for dinner again, Alice said with a hint of heartache.

Recently, for some reason, her brother had reduced his breakfast by half and his dinner to one-third of what it used to be, deliberately not eating enough. She didn’t know why.

Her brother’s originally handsome face had become somewhat gaunt these past few days.

“Alice, don’t worry. I’ll take good care of myself. If I’m hungry, I’ll definitely eat more.”

“But if you’re not hungry, why have you lost so much weight? Your face doesn’t look as good as before.”

“It’s not that I’m thin; I’m just losing weight. Don’t you think my muscles are too eye-catching in town? I can’t be that eye-catching anymore. I need to reduce them, or else I’ll suffer.”

“I don’t think they’re eye-catching at all. They’re good-looking. I don’t want you to lose them. It won’t look good if you do,” Alice pouted and sulked.

“That’s the point.”

Zhou Ming sighed, patted Alice on the head, and walked to the backyard. He picked up the birch rod, whose handle was deeply indented from his grip and whose shaft was shiny with oil, and began his daily spear thrust training in the dim starlight, targeting the vague human-shaped wooden target.

…

Time flew by, and two months passed.

Zhou Ming now looked completely different from before.

He had lost over thirty pounds!

Now, the muscle groups in his arms, thighs, and chest had all disappeared. The padding on his buttocks had also become much thinner.

In their place was a gaunt face with sunken eyes and protruding cheekbones, ribs visible on his chest, and a belly that seemed as thin as paper. His frail body appeared as if it could be blown away by a gentle breeze.

And in daily life, he was like a walking corpse…

“Layne has been completely ruined. Brunold, with his heart of stone, didn’t even spare a child…”

“The devil has corrupted Layne’s soul, and demons are sucking the life out of him. If Layne can’t recover from that blow, we might not see him for long.”

“Alas… if only the child’s parents were still alive, he wouldn’t have to suffer so much.”

Even Brunold, who often mocked Layne by the field, gradually ignored this insignificant person. Slowly, in Brunold’s eyes, Layne became no different from the other emaciated, malnourished farmers, not worth his deliberate mockery or targeting. Teasing such a pitiful person seemed pointless to him.

However, when Zhou Ming, who had finished work and returned home every day, his lifeless eyes suddenly shot out a bright gleam, his true self was revealed.

“In the past two weeks, while doing the weekly labor, the number of times Steward Brunold has mocked and ridiculed me is 0, the number of times I’ve been punished is 0, and even the number of times he’s spoken to me is close to 0…”

“Yesterday, when Edward went hunting on horseback, he no longer looked at me with that despising and disgusted gaze, only with indifference…”

“The titles and nicknames like ‘Clever Little Layne’ and ‘Lucky Little Layne’ are no longer heard from the children in town…”

“The original Layne, who was smart, lively, full of miracles, and ambitious, has almost died in their hearts, hasn’t he?”

Hehe.

Isn’t this exactly the effect he wanted to achieve?

Using just thirty pounds of flesh that could be regained at any time, to exchange for a “death” in others’ impressions, no matter how you look at it, it’s a very cost-effective deal.

Moreover, with the original self “dead,” wouldn’t those memories of hatred, ridicule, mockery, and sarcasm towards him also dissipate together?

But…

Only Zhou Ming himself understood that he had always been alive, only in a different way, a way that others couldn’t fathom but would eventually surprise them.

And he would make “them” pay a heavy price!

Life in a Simulation - Chapter 19

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Hate that cliffhanger, don’t you?

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