Double A In Line Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Can You Stop Letting These Random People…

Hearing his name, Lin Sheng, who was immersed in his own thoughts, was startled. He stood up quickly and then froze.

What was the question the professor just asked?

Lin Sheng stared blankly at the electronic screen. The teaching display was currently on the chapter regarding organizational structure.

However, it was covered in bullet points and knowledge summaries; there wasn’t a single question written on it.

Should he just ask?

Just as he was hesitating, a voice reached his ears.

“The function of a simplified kinematic diagram.” Seeing Lin Sheng dazed since earlier and completely lost after being called on, Cheng Yan couldn’t help but mock him inwardly.

However, it felt awkward having the person sitting in front of him just standing there, so he whispered the question the professor had just asked in his usual impatient tone.

Of course, he didn’t provide the answer. Giving him the question was already more than enough. If Lin Sheng couldn’t answer it… well, he deserved the embarrassment for spacing out in class when he clearly didn’t know the material.

Lin Sheng glanced at Cheng Yan in surprise before beginning his answer.

“A simplified kinematic diagram uses specified simple symbols and lines to represent mechanisms and components. It highlights the connections and relative motion between components while ignoring other complex structures. Its primary function is to facilitate kinematic and dynamic analysis of machinery.”

“Completely correct. However, even if you have studied ahead, do not daydream in class. Sit down.” The professor gave Lin Sheng an appreciative look before offering a mild critique. After all, these two were in the first and second rows; the professor wasn’t hard of hearing and had naturally heard what Cheng Yan just said.

Lin Sheng nodded awkwardly. After sitting back down, he hesitated for a moment before turning slightly to whisper to Cheng Yan, “Just now… uh, thanks.”

“No need. You were standing in my way, it was a nuisance,” Cheng Yan replied coldly before lowering his head back to his textbook.

Once seated, Lin Sheng thought it was strange. He was sitting diagonally in front of Cheng Yan—how could he have been blocking his view?

Because he had woken up late today, there were no free seats left by the time he reached the classroom. The front rows were almost full, except for two empty seats in the first row near the door. Since it was an awkward angle to see the screen, no students wanted to sit there.

Cheng Yan was sitting behind one of those empty seats. Although Lin Sheng had been reluctant at the time, he had chosen the seat further from Cheng Yan, closer to the door. There was no way he was blocking him from that position.

Actually, this guy might not be that annoying; maybe he just has a sharp tongue.

The rest of the lecture covered material Lin Sheng already knew. Whether it was because he had spaced out earlier or because his first answer was good, the professor called on him several more times, making him afraid to lose focus again.

After class, the professor even made sure to praise him and hinted that he might call on him again next time.

Lin Sheng: “…”

What a stroke of bad luck.

Due to the professor’s whim, Lin Sheng had to spend his free afternoon studying hard. Although he had self-studied several chapters ahead, he didn’t dare slack off. He had performed well today, even answering some advanced questions correctly.

If he failed to answer or got something wrong next class, it would be mortifying.

Just as he was immersing himself in the sea of knowledge, a loud knocking on the door forced his thoughts away from the book.

“Who is it?” Lin Sheng asked, frustrated by the interruption as he went to open the door.

As soon as the door opened, the person outside pushed their way in.

“Old Lin, why aren’t you replying to my messages?” Ji Chen looked extremely excited. “We found a way to deal with the boss.”

Then he saw the copy of Introduction to Mechanical Engineering on the desk.

“You’re studying?” Ji Chen asked in surprise. “Do you even need to study?”

“I am a student,” Lin Sheng emphasized his current identity.

“I thought you’d finished the university curriculum ages ago,” Ji Chen teased.

In Ji Chen’s mind, Lin Sheng had always been that genius child of another family; his grades were always at the top, yet he never seemed to be working that hard.

Later, Ji Chen realized Lin Sheng simply started learning earlier than everyone else.

“I haven’t learned that much,” Lin Sheng replied. He had only skimmed the material from freshman to senior year before the semester started; he wouldn’t say he had finished it. But now wasn’t the time for that.

“You said you found a way to beat the boss?” he asked.

“Oh, right, right! Look at the message I sent you.” Ji Chen’s attention returned. He had no interest in discussing academics; they could talk about it in middle school, but now they were in different departments with completely different subjects.

They had much more in common when it came to games.

Lin Sheng lowered his head to activate the optical computer on his wrist. He thought he had heard a notification while reading, but he had set the volume low and was so focused that he had automatically ignored external sounds.

Opening his friend list, he found the message from Ji Chen.

Besides Ji Chen’s excitement about finding an antidote, there was a link.

“Yeah, that link. Click it. I think this is the key to dealing with the boss’s venom,” Ji Chen said, leaning in as Lin Sheng opened the interface.

Lin Sheng clicked the link and found it led to the Dream Realm player forum.

In the post, the author mentioned receiving a flower-offering quest: pick a flower from the bottom of Moon-viewing Lake and deliver it to a tombstone.

The task wasn’t hard, but the requirements were tedious. The tombstone was far away, and players couldn’t use teleportation arrays. They had to travel on foot and avoid monsters, as the flower would wither if the player took too much damage.

Initially, the poster just complained about the effort required for a reward that was merely a decorative flower brooch. However, he had edited the post at noon today.

The poster was now thrilled. He felt that even if the brooch seemed useless, it was gear he had worked hard for, and since it occupied a decorative slot, he had kept it equipped.

While doing a quest in the swamp today, he accidentally discovered that the mobs that usually inflicted a poison debuff no longer had any negative effects on him—only pure damage.

After testing it several times, he realized the brooch was the cause.

He concluded by saying that such a troublesome quest reward was actually useful after all.

“I discussed it with I am a Fish and Lighthouse. We think this brooch is the key to defeating the boss. The quest is closely related to Moon-viewing Lake, and the reward grants poison immunity.” Once Lin Sheng finished reading, Ji Chen continued, “Logging off early yesterday was the right call, otherwise we would have just been wasting time.”

The I am a Fish and Lighthouse Ji Chen mentioned were the Merman and Elf players they had teamed up with yesterday. Their IDs were I am a Fish and Lighthouse respectively.

As for Ji Chen, his ID was a bit chuunibyou, fitting his game persona: MK-2000.

“It’s worth a try. Let’s all do this quest first when we log in today,” Lin Sheng said, closing the light screen. “Anything else?”

“Uh, no,” Ji Chen replied, blinking.

“So you ran all the way here for news I would have seen as soon as I logged in?” Lin Sheng asked after a moment of silence.

“I wanted you to know sooner!” Ji Chen looked innocent. He glanced at the open textbook on the desk and finally realized he was interrupting. “I’ll head out then. Keep at it.”

Lin Sheng: “…Okay.”

There wasn’t much else he could say. He watched Ji Chen leave the dorm. Just as the door opened, they saw Cheng Yan standing there with his student ID, about to swipe his way in.

Knowing that Lin Sheng’s roommate seemed difficult to get along with, Ji Chen simply gave a polite nod and left without a word.

Cheng Yan’s expression, which was already sour, darkened further upon seeing Ji Chen.

While out this afternoon, Cheng Yan had been pestered by an Omega for a long time because the Omega wanted him to tell Lin Sheng to go to the campus sky garden tomorrow.

The sky garden was a famous spot at Typhon United University, known for its elegant environment and excellent atmosphere—a prime location for dates.

Cheng Yan could guess the Omega’s intentions; they clearly wanted to date his roommate. But he wasn’t close to Lin Sheng, so why should he play messenger?

Cheng Yan told the Omega to find Lin Sheng themselves, but the person insisted they were too shy. They lingered for a long time trying to convince him. No matter what he said, they wouldn’t listen. It wasn’t until Cheng Yan finally lost his temper that the Omega left reluctantly, muttering, “What’s wrong with you? If you don’t want to do it, just say so. Why get so angry?”

This had left Cheng Yan fuming. Seeing a stranger in his dorm was the final straw. After Ji Chen left, he slammed the door shut and looked at Lin Sheng with irritation.

“Can you stop letting these random people into my dorm?”