Chapter 184: The Ones Who Can’t Be Shaken Off (3)
Su Mingxiu didn’t have time to see her current appearance. So, she didn’t know what kind of impression she had left on Rong Rong. Her peripheral vision was focused on Wei Shang’s actions. She could smell a lingering scent of blood on this woman, and she guessed that she was most likely a dangerous individual.
She tried to do something unrelated to “cleaning,” but unfortunately, her body seemed to only be able to execute the “cleaning the floor” program at this time. She couldn’t even make eye contact with the person in the arms of the dangerous woman, let alone speak or do other actions.
Su Mingxiu suddenly understood the system’s malicious intentions this time—
Before, it always made Su Mingxiu appear around the protagonist, but only to add difficulty to their love. Either it was hard to fall in love, or they couldn’t love each other, or the tasks would bind them and force them to separate.
This was the first time the system had stripped Su Mingxiu of the opportunity to get close to the protagonist. It had even made her a character without a name, making it impossible for her to change anything. It wanted Su Mingxiu to watch the protagonist fall in love with countless people. It wanted her to be nothing more than an ordinary background character in the protagonist’s life.
Although she hadn’t found the system yet, Su Mingxiu already knew that the tasks that had been disguised with all sorts of lies were just the system’s camouflage. The reason she was able to gain stronger soul power through these worlds wasn’t because she abandoned the protagonist, or because she had to step on multiple boats, or because she had to create all kinds of hardships for them.
Through seven traversals, she and the protagonist had unknowingly achieved only one thing: to love each other.
To love each other regardless of anything.
But this time, would the protagonist still fall in love with her?
Su Mingxiu mechanically completed the floor-cleaning program and stood quietly to the side, hidden in the shadows.
Rong Rong, who couldn’t stop herself from looking at her, had her head turned by Wei Shang, who couldn’t take it anymore.
But the woman didn’t show any displeasure on her face. She had hidden all those emotions: “Little thing, am I not attractive enough?”
Rong Rong felt a chill run down her back for no reason and obediently shook her head. But when she thought about the pixelated quality of the cleaner, she subconsciously looked up to meet Wei Shang’s eyes. She remembered the system’s description of this person as the owner of a fighting ring whose only hobby was raising dogs.
She originally wanted to ask Wei Shang if she didn’t find the person strange, but when she thought about how jealous these girlfriends were and how they could put on a “Criminal Law” performance, she thought it would put herself in danger.
So, she obediently restrained her gaze and mustered up the courage to kiss the corner of the other person’s lips. This was the limit of intimacy and flattery that a single dog could think of.
Wei Shang was naturally not satisfied with this level of appeasement. To her, it wasn’t even worth a piece of candy wrapper. Just as she was about to press the person’s neck towards her, she suddenly heard a “thud”—
The two of them looked over at the same time.
The mop bucket that was placed next to “Cleaner A,” had somehow been knocked over, and dirty water was flowing everywhere, causing a chorus of woofs in the theater.
Wei Shang narrowed her eyes, looking at the person who had ordinary features, and who was so forgettable, “Looking to die?”
Rong Rong, however, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, frowned, and said to her, “I want to go outside for some fresh air. Is there anything you want to drink? I can bring it back for you.”
Wei Shang certainly didn’t want her to leave, but she was indeed in a bad mood because of the cleaner’s clumsy actions. Thinking about how the timid people outside would react when they saw her precious darlings, she waved her hand dismissively, “No need.”
“Remember to come back soon. Don’t get too carried away. You don’t want to know the consequences if I catch you.”
Rong Rong: “…”
She sighed painfully in her heart and deliberately left through the other side of the aisle, racking her brains on how to shake off all these people separately.
Su Mingxiu watched the light blue dress walk out of the theater. After retracting her gaze, she saw that the woman who was still sitting in her original seat was petting a black dog next to her. The breed was a pit bull, a specially bred gene whose only characteristic was viciousness— both crazy and fierce.
Then, she saw the other person pat the pit bull’s head under her hand and say with a smile, “Go.”
She saw the dog rush towards her, and she could only stand still in place. At the same time, a map suddenly appeared in front of her, a floor plan of the movie theater. Along with marking the location of each theater, there were also countless white dots.
And the place she was standing in was a red dot.
The moment this map appeared, Su Mingxiu suddenly could move. She subconsciously raised her hand and happened to touch a point on the map that was the movie theater service hall. At this moment, the black pit bull rushed in front of her, revealing a mouth full of saliva-covered teeth. Just as it was about to bite down—
It suddenly felt a terrifying aura that made it instinctively tremble, and it took half a step back.
“Oldest?”
Wei Shang slightly furrowed her brow.
In the next instant, the terrifying aura disappeared, and the pit bull remembered its order, ferociously lunging at the person in front of it.
Before long, the sound of teeth gnawing on flesh and bones rang out amidst the theater’s humorous dialogue, and blood mixed with bone fragments dyed the steps red, like a red carpet spreading out layer by layer.
In the lobby.
Rong Rong didn’t dare to randomly go into the theaters again, afraid of running into the remaining stragglers. She walked out of the theaters, wanting to use this opportunity to get rid of Po Er, while also taking this opportunity to frantically flip through the original owner’s phone contacts, looking for the remaining fish.
Soon she heard the system’s ding.
[Ding! Congratulations, player, you have obtained Girlfriend 4’s information:
Name: Rong Si (N University Student)
Age: 19. Hobby: Yearning for all things bright and shining.]
Rong?
Seeing this surname that was exactly the same as her own, and the person in the wheelchair who called her “sister” in the restroom earlier, Rong Rong carefully recalled the other person’s features and inevitably had a thought:
[Is there no limit to your game? Are you not going to do incest?]
The system only said: “Please rest assured, she is a relative of yours who is outside of the third generation of your direct family line in the settings. This setting is to provide players with a comprehensive experience. The different personalities and hobbies of each girlfriend can satisfy all players’ fetishes.”
[Have you considered people who just want to be single?]
[We have. If you don’t want to be in a relationship, you can think about the name of our game.]
Breakup Strategy.
If you don’t want to be in a relationship, then you need to have the ability to survive and break up with them one by one, is that it?
Rong Rong flipped down again. Her way of finding these five fish was to search for the keyword “movie,” and go through the results by date. Sure enough, she quickly found the fifth fish.
[Ding! Congratulations, player, you have obtained Girlfriend 5’s information:
Name: Yu Wu (Top Star)
Age: 22. Hobby: Only loves what is real.]
From childhood sweethearts to a top star, Rong Rong was really stunned. Especially when she found that the chat log with this person was about meeting her an hour later when she came to this movie city to promote her movie—
Hilarious. Some players wouldn’t even live to meet the fifth fish.
Because she was too focused on looking at the information, she unconsciously stopped in front of the movie theaters. Po Er had sent her a message, asking if she had fallen into the restroom, and why she hadn’t sent her location for so long.
Just then, Rong Rong felt something bump her heel.
She stopped typing and looked back, seeing Rong Si, sitting in a wheelchair, weak and fragile, looking at her with a deep gaze.
“Sister said that she was going out for tutoring today and didn’t have time to accompany me to the movie theater. Why are you here alone again?”
Rong Si placed her hands on her abdomen. On the surface, she looked extremely calm, but in reality, she was pressing down on two movie tickets in her palm. Her gaze was also unconsciously looking around, worried about seeing a scene she didn’t want to see. Fortunately, no one was showing that they were familiar with Rong Rong.
She relaxed.
Rong Rong, relying on the fact that there were no other fish around her, and the risk of a mishap was low, said the most blatant lie with a straight face, “The students were naughty and made me come here to deliver some documents. I was just about to go back to school.”
She knew that the reason the original owner refused the child’s invitation was to do a part-time job, which was to give tutoring.
This should be the only one of the fish in the game’s settings that the protagonist had memories of. She had also successfully seen this from the chat logs that spanned many years.
“What about you? Why are you here instead of going to school?” She was outwardly concerned but inwardly urging the other person to leave to avoid increasing the difficulty of her own situation.
“I don’t have class today. I came out to watch a movie by myself. Is that not allowed?” Rong Si responded like that, looking a bit pitiful. Her palms tightened slightly. She thought that the other person would stay to accompany her after seeing her appearance.
“It’s not allowed,” Rong Rong said. “I just looked and the design of this theater is full of stairs, which is very inconvenient. If you really like it, I’ll take you to another one next time during vacation. I’ll send you back first today, okay?”
After a pause, she added dryly, “I’m afraid you might run into danger here alone.”
Rong Si’s expression changed again and again. Sometimes she said that she really liked the movie, showing a look of regret, and other times, she said that she had mustered up a lot of courage to come out. She tried all sorts of ways to show Rong Rong how pitiful she was, but unfortunately, Rong Rong was unmoved.
Pitiful?
If she hadn’t been stabbed by her once, she might have believed her.
Without saying another word, she insisted on pushing Rong Si away, wishing she could push the wheelchair like a rocket. Unfortunately, just as they reached the exit to the lobby, Rong Si looked at the claw machine next to the sales area, “Sister, can you get stuffed animals?”
“Do you want one?”
Rong Rong racked her brains to coax this yandere younger sister, “Then you go back first. I’ll come find you tonight, and I’ll give you one then?”
The person sitting in the wheelchair revealed a small smile, “Sister is so nice.”
She sat obediently, ready to be pushed away, but Rong Rong paused. Because she saw the pixelated person, who should have been cleaning in Wei Shang’s theater, had actually appeared behind the sales counter. The red modules on her body had turned into a server uniform, and the badge on her chest said…
Movie Theater Employee A.
Oh, this.
“Sister?” Rong Si looked up at her, wanting to know why she hadn’t left yet. She even followed her gaze and looked around, but she didn’t notice anyone particularly worthy of attention.
Rong Rong snapped out of it and quickly pushed her away. On the way, she asked the system in her mind, “Is there a bug in your game?”
System: “No bugs have been detected, but players are welcome to report them. The game will reward internal testers with generous compensation.”
Huh?
They didn’t detect any?
Su Mingxiu saw that the white dot inside Movie Theater 2 had turned gray on the map in front of her. And the dot for the service area in the ticket hall, where she was standing, was red.
She understood the meaning of these different colored dots.
The white dots were all the existences that she could randomly switch into. The red dot was the existence that was currently being replaced by her, and the gray dots… were the ones that had died and could no longer be switched to.
…She seemed to be able to randomly become any passerby in this game. But the map had only opened up the movie theaters so far, and she couldn’t leave—
Su Mingxiu suddenly frowned. Just when she thought she couldn’t leave the movie theaters, she saw that the map was showing a place outside the shopping mall, and there was even a road. She subconsciously tapped on a white dot next to the road.
A second later.
Su Mingxiu saw that she was wearing a server’s uniform and was next to the mall parking lot, holding a set of keys that didn’t belong to her.
“Park the car well for me, and I won’t skimp on the tip.” Someone patted her on the shoulder, but Su Mingxiu only glanced at them and shifted her gaze. She saw not far away, the girl was bending down and helping the person in the wheelchair into the car. She even folded the wheelchair and put it in the back of the car.
She quietly watched the other person leave, and after measuring the location, she switched back to the shopping mall on the map.
Rong Rong was speeding to find Po Er, thinking about her earlier excuse of buying a hot drink. She looked left and right and found a milk tea shop. She was just about to go line up when she was suddenly startled by one of the servers.
Holy crap!
It was still the pixelated person!
And other than the clothes, her face and hairstyle didn’t change at all! How perfunctory!
She looked at the other person’s name tag: X Milk Tea Shop Server A.
Rong Rong couldn’t help but complain to the system, “There are really too many bugs in your game. Why are there pixelated people everywhere?” It was really easy to get distracted from the breakup crisis!
System: “What pixelated people?”
Rong Rong was about to point at the person in front of her, but then she thought about something, guessing at what might happen, and said to the system, “I haven’t asked you yet. What’s the reward for discovering and reporting a bug?”
[A strategy guide.]
A strategy guide?
She walked in front of the milk tea shop, staring at the server behind the counter for a long time, thinking about whether the system’s strategy guide was worth using the bug to exchange for. Would the guide be a detailed, 100,000-word walkthrough, or would it be as perfunctory as the character introductions?
“Hello, what would you like to order?”
Just then, Rong Rong heard the server’s voice.
She realized that this was probably the first time she had heard the pixelated person speak.
The voice…
Was especially nice.
Like a small stream flowing through a mountain ravine after the high mountain snow melted, carrying the coolness of snow, and the softness of water, slowly sliding into her ears.
“Do you have hot drinks?” Rong Rong glanced at the menu, wanting to hear her say a few more words, even if it was just the names of the milk tea, before she used the bug to exchange for the reward.
Su Mingxiu looked at her, her eyes especially gentle, but unfortunately, the person in front of her didn’t seem to notice. She even slightly closed her eyes, listening to her name a few items on the menu.
“Then two hot hibiscus teas.”
She heard the girl say that.
Su Mingxiu really wanted to ask her name in this world. Unfortunately, those two sentences were already the limit of the character settings. She could only turn around and mechanically make the drinks.
There was a mirror on the wall inside the milk tea shop that allowed customers to clearly see the making process. While waiting, Rong Rong couldn’t help but point at the wall, “Hey, you… can you see what you look like?”
Su Mingxiu followed her gaze to look at herself in the mirror—
Her long hair was slightly drooping, her skin was fair, and even the location of the small mole at the corner of her eye hadn’t changed.
Why did she ask that?
Rong Rong took the hibiscus tea she had made and realized that this pixelated person still had a very indifferent expression. She had originally wanted to ask her name. But when she thought about the system’s unknown reward, she finally only looked at the other person with a hint of regret.
Maybe she shouldn’t ask.
It was just a game NPC.
When she turned around, Rong Rong bit on her straw and drank the hot and slightly sweet hibiscus tea. Recalling the other person’s nice voice, she said a sentence to the system in her mind.
As she got on the elevator, Rong Rong heard a sound:
[Ding! Congratulations, player, you have successfully reported a bug! The strategy guide has been issued.]
The purplish-red petals in her cup were scattered by the straw that had been randomly poked into them, and then she stirred them carelessly, making the color of the tea even more murky.
The elevator arrived at the second floor, and she almost tripped. She didn’t know why, but she just felt…
So regretful.
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