Category: After I Abandoned the Protagonist [Quick Transmigration]

Chapter 192: The Ones Who Can’t Be Shaken Off (11)

After Rong Rong hailed a taxi at the hospital entrance, the way she sat in the car happened to be seen by Tang Yiyi, who was walking out of the hospital behind her. She found that the other person was sitting in the back seat of the car, applying lipstick, and the aura she was giving off… was really different from what she had seen before.

It was to the extent that it made one wonder if they were twin sisters.

…After all, Rong Rong’s demeanor had always made people feel soft and gentle, so much so that Tang Yiyi was often unsure if, given her girlfriend’s personality, she wouldn’t be bullied by others when she was out.

The profile she had caught a fleeting glimpse of, however, was particularly cold, especially when she lowered her eyes. The slightly upturned lines had cooled down… but after all, it had only been a flash, so it was more like Tang Yiyi’s illusion.

She stood at the hospital entrance for a while. Until a driver pulled up in front of her and personally opened the back door for her, Tang Yiyi remembered the license plate of the car that had just left. When she saw the traffic jam on the main road in front of the hospital, she got into the back seat and suddenly changed her itinerary. “Don’t go to the Empire Building. Follow the car in front with the license plate 3454.”

The driver had probably seen this type of thing many times before. He didn’t even give her a surprised look in the rearview mirror. He just turned the steering wheel and, with his superb skills, quickly and steadily followed the car in front.

In this city.

*

-Underground fighting ring.

As evening approached, more and more people filled the seats in the audience. When the spotlights on top were turned on, the octagonal cages where the fighters battled became the focal point.

And in the shadows, those who could hide their thoughts were even more boisterous. Using the cover of darkness, they shouted loudly at the fighters on stage, whether they were about to come out or were currently in a life-or-death struggle:

“Hit him! Get up and hit him!”

“Don’t be a coward! Headbutt!”

“Kick him! Kick him!”

The smells of blood, sweat, saliva, and the heated emotions filled the air. But this was only the most lively lower level.

Few people knew that there was another level below this fighting ring, which was a real game of power. Not only could they “customize programs,” but the identities of the customers were also hidden by masks, allowing them to see what they liked most without exposing their true faces.

Rong Rong was actually visiting this place for the first time, but the person leading the way was very familiar with the route. The mask on their face only covered half of it, and the other half that was exposed was covered with heavy makeup. If they had met on the street at any other time, Rong Rong probably wouldn’t have recognized them.

She lowered her eyes. After hearing the program for the underground second level tonight from the guide, she suddenly realized that… perhaps the possibility of sending Wei Shang in there to accompany Po Er wasn’t very high.

Even though this was a game world, it had its own rules and regulations. Given Wei Shang’s outlaw-like behavior, she wouldn’t be an ordinary person to be able to open a fighting ring like this in such a lively and prosperous location, and dare to put on this kind of program.

Rong Rong immediately had some thoughts of retreating.

She felt like she had come a bit rashly.

But it was already too late to leave. When she walked through the employee passageway to a large black door, the woman had already organized her plan—

It would be best if she could send her in.

If not, ensuring her own personal safety was the most important thing.

Rong Rong made a point of looking at her skill. The cooldown had already ended. As long as the conditions were met, it could be activated.

Even if it was something she didn’t like, it was her last sense of security now, and she would accept it.

*

On the other side.

While Rong Rong was leaving the hospital, Su Mingxiu was actually relaxing in the small garden below. The scenes of Rong Rong interacting with those people in the past flashed through her mind one by one. She had once speculated whether the other person enjoyed it, but after these few interactions…

She had basically ruled out any sea king potential in Rong Rong.

There was a very small possibility that Rong Rong was tired of the people who were surrounding her, and just happened to be interested in her.

So she had deliberately put on an act in front of her, so that she could both use her to get rid of those people, and to have a new toy.

The only problem was that she herself hadn’t been able to figure out what was so special about her, so how could Rong Rong know it all so well?

And also.

Where was the system that had disappeared, and where was it controlling everything from?

Su Mingxiu was standing under an osmanthus tree, lost in thought. But a few osmanthus flowers drifted down in front of her, attracting her attention and making her look up involuntarily.

Half a minute later.

On a small branch that had split off from the main branch, a few osmanthus flowers were falling from the branch between two tender green leaves, swaying and passing her line of sight, slowly falling onto the road at her feet. The ground was already covered with a thin layer of osmanthus petals, like the matcha powder that had been finely sifted on top of a matcha cake.

The rich fragrance entered her nose.

Su Mingxiu stared at the branch. She found that after another half a minute, flowers that were exactly the same as before appeared on the branch. The branches and leaves that had been crowded and had fallen off were now flourishing again.

This time, she started to count the seconds in her heart.

One, two, three… twenty-nine, thirty.

At the moment when the last number fell—

The golden osmanthus flowers between the two tender leaves also separated from the branch, twirling and passing through her sight and landing at her feet.

Su Mingxiu looked at this scene for a long time, and then suddenly looked away at the semi-transparent map that had always appeared in front of her. The clouds had dispersed, and a new location had emerged.

Rong Rong was most likely there.

She first logged onto a website and searched for information about the location. After finding out that it was a very famous fighting ring, she started looking at the map again.

Compared to the movie theater, school, and hospital from before, the white dots that she could log into at this fighting ring were densely packed on the lower level.

And on the map of the underground second level…

It was surprisingly sparse.

Su Mingxiu hesitated for a moment and clicked on a location on the lower level.

Six o’clock in the evening.

Rong Rong and Wei Shang were sitting shoulder to shoulder in a spacious area that could fit five bedrooms. Wei Shang seemed to be very sensitive to heat. No matter when she saw her, the base layer she was wearing was always a tank top.

This time, the base layer she was wearing was black. Because it was too tight, Rong Rong could vaguely see the outline of Wei Shang’s abs. The outer layer that she was wearing was more like a sun protection shirt. Because of the special water-resistant material, it had a flowing, colorful look under the light.

Paired with her expression, no one could resist such a cool and cold woman.

—If Rong Rong hadn’t seen her making the dogs eat people with her own eyes, she would also be unable to resist her beauty.

Because Rong Rong hadn’t had dinner, Wei Shang was feeding her. But this woman’s actions were strange even when she was feeding other people. She was wearing a glove and tearing off the edges of the bread, piece by piece, to dip them in the curry, and then dangle the food in front of Rong Rong, waiting for her to raise her head to take it.

When feeding her the cubed beef brisket, she would also place the food in her palm with a transparent glove and wait for the other person to bite it from her hand.

…It was completely the action of feeding a dog.

Even if Rong Rong thought the food was delicious, after being fed two bites by her, she had completely lost her appetite. She only said that she had gone to the hospital yesterday because she had caught a cold, and her appetite was bad. She was full now. Then, she picked at the green grapes in the fruit platter next to her.

With the excuse of having gone to the hospital, Wei Shang assumed that her listlessness today was because she was sick. She didn’t argue with her. She only watched her eat the grapes and asked with a smile, “Then you should take a look at tonight’s special program. Maybe it’ll be able to wash away the sickness in you.”

Even though Rong Rong knew that nothing good would ever come out of her mouth, and the program that she had prepared was probably not something that a normal person would like, she still couldn’t help but ask, “What is it?”

“You’ll know when the time comes. There’s still half an hour.”

Rong Rong was quiet for a moment and had even mentally prepared herself for the possibility that this person would use that kind of thing to pass the time.

But Wei Shang only looked at her lazily, and then randomly grabbed one of the dogs that were surrounding her to rub its head and smooth its fur. She didn’t do anything else.

Half an hour later.

Rong Rong followed her out the door. Before entering the underground second level, she heard countless dogs barking from a distance. She reflexively looked at Wei Shang’s side and found that there were fewer dogs surrounding the other person than there had been at the movie theater.

It was as if…

They had gone off to do other things.

She suddenly guessed, “The program that your guests ordered this time isn’t dog fighting, is it?”

Wei Shang scoffed lightly, her expression unreadable. She couldn’t tell if she was happy or angry. Only after she made eye contact with Rong Rong did the curve of her lips widen a bit, “Would something that small be worth my time?”

She suddenly reached out and put her arm around Rong Rong’s slender waist.

As the woman stiffened for a moment and then tried to relax, Wei Shang’s other hand took two masks from the side of the door. She put one on her own face and pushed the other one onto Rong Rong’s face.

Then, she had someone push open the entrance door. Compared to the cheerful shouts on the first floor, this place was very quiet. Only countless people with playing card masks were looking at them.

If Rong Rong hadn’t seen their movements, she would have thought that this was a scene from a pre-set horror movie, and that these people were all robots.

In the next second.

The people with the playing card masks whispered to each other. An inaudible buzzing sound spread throughout the arena. Then, an extremely delicate voice that sounded like it had been processed was directed toward Wei Shang,

“Little boss, we can’t wait any longer.”

Wei Shang lazily snapped her fingers. Rong Rong, who was standing by her side, saw the spotlight fall from the ceiling through the small holes in her mask, suddenly illuminating an unusually large octagonal cage that was a sinister crimson color.

Inside the cage…

Were all of Wei Shang’s bull terriers.

They were restless, their eyes were even red, and saliva was constantly dripping from the corners of their mouths.

It was as if they were on the verge of madness.

In the darkness, the sound of shackles slowly approached. The chains dragged on the ground, creating a grating sound that made one’s teeth ache. Rong Rong watched two staff members in half-masks push an ordinary-looking person towards the edge of the cage and started to unlock the shackles on their wrists and ankles.

She suddenly realized something and felt cold sweat break out on her back.

Rong Rong had finally guessed what kind of program the guests wanted to see tonight.

Wei Shang, who had been holding her waist and was leading her up the stairs to the highest part of the audience, noticed the change in her mood and chuckled softly, “What’s wrong? Don’t you like today’s program?”

Rong Rong didn’t have time to speak—

Because she saw that after the person with the shackles was pushed into the cage, a thin mist suddenly spread around them. When that mist dispersed, she could see…

That person’s image quality had suddenly dropped by many degrees.

Slowly, they turned into the pixelated person that Rong Rong was most familiar with.

Behind the mask, her pupils suddenly shrank!

She subconsciously shouted from the stairs, “Wait!”

Chapter 191: The Ones Who Can’t Be Shaken Off (10)

When Rong Rong woke up, she first saw a snowy white ceiling. Within her field of vision, there was also a drip bag slowly dripping down. As her vision gradually cleared, she heard a soft question beside her, “You’re awake?”

She moved her pupils slightly and saw the pixelated person sitting next to her bed. Her chaotic thoughts returned, and Rong Rong curled her lips slightly, “Is everything resolved?”

Su Mingxiu gave a soft “mm” sound.

When Rong Rong had fainted, Su Mingxiu had already finished the process of handing over the surveillance footage to the police, reporting Po Er for illegal imprisonment, and going to the police station to make a statement as a witness. She even had the energy to come here and stay with her until she woke up.

Actually, Rong Rong hadn’t told her about her relationship with those women. On the small hill by the school lake, she had only asked Su Mingxiu to receive the images from her camera and begged her to help her call the police at the crucial moment.

Rong Rong had thought that when she was in the middle of her breakup crisis, Po Er might pull out a craft knife from somewhere, just like last time—

In her plan, once the other person expressed the intention to harm her, she would immediately inject the anesthetic needle that she had hidden into Po Er’s body.

But what she hadn’t expected was that, in a situation that was different from cheating, Po Er’s way of handling things was different as well. So she had fainted first, which put her in a passive position.

“Thank you…”

Rong Rong could only thank her dryly like that, but she could guess how much trouble Su Mingxiu had solved for her.

At least she had been lying in the hospital for so long without Po Er finding her. This meant that she had gotten rid of another problem.

The pixelated person sitting by the bed was calmly peeling an apple, the peel falling in a curved line, her knife was particularly steady, and her movements were very elegant.

But the temperament that would make other people feel calm was tinged with a bit of comicality because of the rigid shadows on her face.

Rong Rong forgot how long she had been looking at her when she suddenly saw the other person open her lips. The pleasant sound of mountain spring water gurgling over pebbles fell into her ears:

“When I brought you here, the doctor said that you had some external injuries and asked me to help you deal with them. But because I had to make a statement at the time, I delayed it for a bit… When I was about to help you apply the topical medicine earlier, I found that you don’t seem to have any wounds on your body.”

Even the subtle marks on her body where she had been injected by a needle when she had entered the room to save Rong Rong had returned to their original state.

Rong Rong was stunned by her words.

She couldn’t help but think about how she should explain this. Should she say, Hey, friend, this world is just a game?

And the reason why I can leave these marks is all because of the skill’s simulation effects, and now they’ve disappeared because of the skill’s effects?

Under the snow-white quilt that covered her neck, Rong Rong’s throat moved slightly. Because she had just woken up, her voice was still a bit hoarse, revealing a parched dryness, “Is that so…”

“Maybe I’m the kind of person who recovers particularly quickly, and it’s very difficult for me to leave wounds and scars, so that’s why it’s like this.”

Oh?

Su Mingxiu’s gaze fell on the back of her hand that was exposed from the quilt. The pale blue skin of her veins was wrapped with layers of medical tape, allowing one to clearly see the change of the IV tube from thick to thin.

It was probably because the needle was too thick, or maybe the IV was too fast. In short, the area of skin that the needle had pierced through was a dark blue that the white tape couldn’t hide.

And this was what she called the kind of person who didn’t leave scars easily?

Su Mingxiu looked at the paleness of her fingertips, and she had no doubt that she could leave large pink marks if she just pinched her finger casually.

Just as she was about to finish peeling the apple in her hand, the sharp fruit knife that had been ringed by the peel suddenly stopped. At this moment, the window curtain that was behind her was blown open by the wind. The bright sunlight outside passed through the window lattice, over her shoulder, and landed on the blade.

The flashing light, like broken blades, accidentally flashed into Rong Rong’s eyes.

The person lying on the bed suddenly closed her eyes, and when her eyelashes trembled, her hand that was outside the quilt also involuntarily spasmed for a moment.

—She was afraid of this knife.

Su Mingxiu looked at her, who was showing signs of post-traumatic stress, and her movements suddenly sped up. Just as Rong Rong’s eyelashes opened again, the person who had been sitting by the chair had already gotten up, only leaving her with a view of her back.

Not long after the sound of rushing water came from the bathroom, the pixelated person reappeared by her bedside. The fruit knife had disappeared, and the apple was placed on the table with a paper towel underneath. Rong Rong’s face was covered by her shadow, and she heard her ask while standing by her bed, “Are you thirsty? Do you want to drink some water?”

Huh?

Rong Rong had felt a hint of uneasiness from this person earlier. She had thought that Su Mingxiu had seen through her lies. In her heart, she was still wondering how she should smooth over this situation. But who knew that after the other person came out of the bathroom, she acted as if she had forgotten all about it.

Even the storm that was about to come had completely subsided.

She suddenly felt a sense of inexplicable disappointment. She only felt that the distance between them that had been illuminated by the moonlight last night had become blurred and unclear again because of this small gap. “I want…”

Su Mingxiu helped her up. Her movements and strength were all by the book, like a professional caregiver. After she had sat up straight, the strength that was supporting Rong Rong’s back was withdrawn without hesitation, and instead, she placed the water cup in front of her, but stipulated, “Drink slowly, you’re only allowed to drink half a cup.”

Although a night had passed, the anesthetic components in Rong Rong’s body had been metabolized almost completely.

But to prevent the effects of the muscle relaxation on her digestive system from still being present, and the dangers that could be caused by eating and drinking too quickly, she made a rule for Rong Rong.

The beautiful figure on the hospital bed drank the water in small sips, as she had been told. She felt like she had just had a general anesthesia surgery. She felt a bit dizzy for no reason, and her whole body was also without any strength.

She felt that the air in the room had become quiet, especially between her and Su Mingxiu. It was as if every molecule of air was emitting a repulsive resistance. The strength in Rong Rong’s fingertips that were gripping the cup increased a bit, and her knuckles had become a bit pale.

Reason kept telling her that it was already the best that the other person could keep silent after seeing so many suspicious things about her. That way, she wouldn’t have to rack her brains to weave lies and have to worry about revealing herself all the time.

These inexplicable girlfriends were already enough to wear her out.

But her emotions were like drifting in the surging waves. She felt like she was about to suffocate from the suppressed air. Every breath she took in and out of her lungs only made her try even harder than before—

“You… won’t you ask me about my relationship with them?”

Before the reason and emotions in her mind could finish their tug-of-war, Rong Rong, who was looking at the reflection of her own face in the cup, had already had her mouth betray her body.

As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt the heart in her chest move restlessly twice.

It was as if a little deer had suddenly lost its way.

She didn’t even dare to look at the person sitting by her bed. Clearly, she was just a pixelated person who had difficulty making even subtle expressions, but at this moment, the pressure she was putting on her was even more terrifying than those girlfriends who could pull out a knife at any time.

“If the answer I hear isn’t the most truthful one,” Su Mingxiu raised her hand and picked up the peeled apple that she had just finished and placed it near her lips. As she took a bite, she swallowed the juice and flesh of the fruit in her mouth. Then she replied unhurriedly, “Then I won’t ask.”

“Ding.”

In the afternoon.

Rong Rong had been approved for discharge. It was probably because they were in the game. No matter how realistic these NPCs were, they would still ignore things that didn’t conform to the logic of reality. They completely didn’t think about why the wounds on her body had completely disappeared in such a short amount of time. After checking her condition, they quickly approved her discharge.

At this moment, she was in front of the elevator, holding a bag of fruit in her hand, which Su Mingxiu had bought and given her.

After learning that she was going to be discharged, the pixelated person, who had always appeared randomly around her, and who she could find easily as long as she looked up, had suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Her gaze swept across the vast crowd, and she didn’t see that familiar pixelated color block. Rong Rong was lost for two seconds, and then she suddenly realized—

People who came silently could also leave silently.

The elevator doors opened, and she entered. Because there were other people wearing hospital gowns, Rong Rong unconsciously walked to a spot closer to the wall. When she saw her own figure in the mirror of the elevator, she saw the dispirited aura that was emanating from her entire body.

“The elevator has reached the first floor, ding.”

She walked out with her head down. Just as her figure was about to disappear into the crowd, a tall figure in a suit walked out of one of the medical personnel’s private elevators at the very edge. The hospital president was standing next to her, and the two were talking about something.

Tang Yiyi inadvertently glanced ahead and suddenly saw a familiar back. She was stunned for a moment. She was taken aback by the desolate aura of the figure and immediately forgot what she was going to say.

…Why was she here? Was she sick?

Why wasn’t that distant cousin who she was very concerned about by her side?

The commotion from the phone call earlier had faded in her memory. What had surfaced instead were her usual obedience and compliance. Tang Yiyi stared at the other person’s departing back and suddenly felt like it wouldn’t be impossible for her to forgive her one more time.

At the entrance of the hospital.

Just as she had sent one Po Er in, Rong Rong found that she had received several messages on her phone. Rong Si seemed to have selectively forgotten the psychological test that they had done that day and asked her if she was in the dorm, and said she would send her some special products from her relatives at home.

The number five player, top star Yu, had sent her several magazine cover pictures that had been retouched. Although there was no text, the meaning of wanting her to say some rainbow farts was self-evident.

Rong Rong casually clicked on her fan supertopic and copied and pasted a few paragraphs for her.

Then, she clicked on the last person—

Wei Shang.

This woman told her that her kids had been a bit picky lately and didn’t want to eat anything she fed them. She asked her when she was free to go with her to pick some fresh dog food. If she didn’t have time recently, then she would come pick her up herself.

Rong Rong: “…”

That was a threat, right? That was definitely a threat, right?

Alright, I’ve decided on you, number three seed. Po Er had just gone in, and maybe she would feel lonely and cold in there. With Wei Shang’s personality, which was very good at finding fun for herself, it would be just right for her to go keep Po Er company.

She replied to the other person’s message. She randomly bought a baseball cap for a few tens of yuan from a stall outside the hospital, put it on her head, and headed toward where Wei Shang was.

Were you ready to welcome the storm, my number three girlfriend?

Chapter 190: The Ones Who Can’t Be Shaken Off (9)

Halfway through her beer, Rong Rong was interrupted by a not-so-pleasant message. The other person had sent her a picture of an oil painting. In the painting, there wasn’t a single ray of moonlight piercing through the darkness. The wisps of silver were all covered by heavy layers of clouds, and the rolling sea in the quiet night seemed to hide endless waves and torrents, making the viewer feel particularly oppressed and heavy at first glance.

After she had finished looking at the picture, the other person seemed to have timed it perfectly and quickly sent a new message, “Without my muse, baby, my world has lost its light—a day apart feels like three autumns. Baby, are you willing to watch my inspiration dry up?”

Rong Rong: “…”

She really wanted to get the person who kept calling her “baby, baby,” Po Er, an appointment along with Rong Si after she had gotten her appointment. Then they could have a companion in there. When you took medicine, I would bring you water; when you were in treatment, I would accompany you. How great.

She looked at her phone for a long time, until Po Er sent another picture, which showed her face, but she was wearing a leopard print outfit that made people suspect that her work wasn’t pure.

The fabric was very little, and it made people think of summer with just one glance.

“You didn’t like this outfit last time, so this time, I’ve prepared something more suitable for you. Do you like bunny ears? Little cat or little dog ears are also okay. As long as you come over, I promise that I’ll listen to you. Okay?”

Rong Rong was greatly shocked.

Sure enough, someone who could readily pull out a craft knife in public just for suspecting that their partner was cheating wouldn’t just violate one law.

This kind of behavior, under the guise of intimacy, openly collecting this kind of picture that was detrimental to the original owner’s personal image, giving others the feeling that their privacy could be spread at any time, and using this to threaten others to continue to maintain an intimate relationship with her—

Rong Rong, who felt the pain in her heart start to return, couldn’t help but clench the can in her hand, slightly denting the body with a “clack” sound. She felt that she had already found the most suitable way to break up.

After giving Su Mingxiu an apologetic look, she walked a few steps away with her phone and beer. Under the moonlight, she smiled and sent the other person a voice message, “I miss you too. How about I go find you now?”

When she turned back, the smile on Rong Rong’s face had disappeared.

Su Mingxiu felt that her good mood had disappeared completely. She had originally wanted to ask her if she had encountered any trouble.

But seeing that her eyes were clear, as if she had already made a decision, she only said, “Is there anything you need me to help with?”

“Will you ask me to pay you?”

Rong Rong looked at her, also half-testing the answer that had flashed in her mind earlier.

Under the moonlight, the person whose features were blurred by the color blocks was also covered in a layer of hazy light. She was more eye-catching than the other characters who could be seen clearly, “You’ve already paid.”

Su Mingxiu raised the beer can in her hand in her direction.

The light from the moon reflected off the light golden pineapple beer, making Rong Rong remember the way this person had looked when she had received her sunflower earlier. It was strange, even her appearance was blurry.

But why did she seem to be even more dazzling whenever she stood with those seemingly luminous objects?

Half an hour later.

Rong Rong adjusted her hair, making sure that the hairpin that was holding her hair wouldn’t come loose. She also adjusted the micro camera on her button. Then, according to the address that Po Er had sent her before, she knocked on the door of the other person’s apartment building.

The door opened, but she didn’t see anyone. Rong Rong carefully stepped inside. Before she could get scared, she saw the person who was hiding behind the door, trying to give her a surprise.

This time, Po Er wasn’t wearing that exaggerated puffy pink dress. Instead, she had changed into an ancient costume that was from a folk tradition. Rong Rong couldn’t tell which era it was from, but she thought it looked quite good.

Until her gaze landed on the silk ribbon in the other person’s hand.

[Detecting that the skill activation conditions have been met. Would you like to use it?]

Rong Rong: ?

No way, already?

But after seeing the silk ribbon in Po Er’s hand, she realized that she really didn’t have the interest to have any pre-skill interactions with the other person to see how it was all being set up.

So she used the skill without hesitation, and before she fell unconscious, she didn’t forget to remind herself to turn on the full shield mode and turn off the camera.

When she woke up again, Rong Rong saw that her body was covered in paint.

It was as if someone had used her skin as a canvas, recklessly splashing art on her. But she had no interest in admiring it. She just wanted to wash off these mud-like things from her body. So she got up from the sofa, stepped over the broken easel on the floor, and tried to find the bathroom.

“You’re awake?”

The person who had fallen asleep with her at the same time also looked at her with drowsy eyes. When she raised her hand, a thin blanket slipped off of Po Er’s body. Rong Rong looked away and didn’t see the rest of the scene. The person who was lying down felt that her girlfriend who was standing there today seemed to be different from before.

When she woke up, she didn’t want her to hug her, and her eyes didn’t show any dependence, “What do you want to do? I’ll take you.”

Rong Rong said, “Take a shower.”

The person who had been feeling a bit sleepy suddenly woke up completely, “Baby, are you dissatisfied with my performance today?”

Of course, she was dissatisfied.

Rong Rong thought, who would be satisfied if they were transmigrated into this kind of role and met so many dangerous people? She stared at Po Er for a long time, and then returned to the other person’s side, mainly looking through the clothes to find her earlier hairpin and buttons.

After finding the micro camera again and turning it on, she took off the hairpin from her head. Po Er looked at her actions in confusion, “Are you leaving? Baby, I feel like something is wrong with you today. Did something happen?”

Rong Rong found the things and placed them within reach. She also wanted to find clothes to wear, and said somewhat perfunctorily, “No, it’s just…”

She paused and said to Po Er with some worry, “If those pictures that you took earlier were to leak out one day, I…”

Seeing her hesitant look, Po Er got up and hugged her affectionately, her voice warm and comforting, “How could that be? I won’t let you get hurt. I love you so much. I want to be with you forever.”

“Then what if I can’t give you inspiration one day?”

“Are you worried that I’ll abandon you? How cute, baby.”

…

They talked for a long time, but they were all talking about things that were completely irrelevant.

In the end, Rong Rong had no choice but to say that she had been scared by some of the recent news stories and demanded that Po Er delete those indecent photos in front of her. She also asked her to destroy all of the paintings that were related to her.

Po Er smiled and agreed to the first condition. But when she heard the second one, her face changed.

It was very obvious that in her heart, painting and inspiration were above everything else. Rong Rong was just the person who was loved because of that.

After understanding this, Rong Rong was even more certain that her plan would work. She used the same technique that she had used with Tang Yiyi, squeezed out tears, and asked her if she didn’t love her, and why she wasn’t even willing to give her this little bit of security.

“Baby, don’t cry.” Po Er was obviously more patient at coaxing people than Tang Yiyi, the money-grubbing merchant. She first coaxed Rong Rong softly, then went to pour her a glass of water and brought over wet wipes. She also filled a basin with hot water. While wiping off the ink stains on her, she coaxed her, saying that these paintings were her own treasures and that she wouldn’t let anyone else see them. She told her not to worry and to learn to trust her.

Rong Rong: Yeah, right.

She wasn’t here to reason with Po Er. After touching her hairpin, she looked at her with her red eyes and said, “So you’re not willing, right? Knowing that keeping these paintings is a hidden danger for me, you’re still not willing to destroy them for me. You think the paintings are more important than me?”

“How could you think that way? You’re the most important, of course…”

“The paintings and me, only one can remain. Which one do you choose?”

In the end, Rong Rong asked this question.

Po Er’s expression changed again and again, but she suddenly chuckled and leaned close, almost touching her nose, “Baby, you’re really strange today.”

Artists were very meticulous at observing life, which also meant that they were very sharp at capturing details. Even though these often appeared as inspiration, they wouldn’t hesitate to use any means to present them in order to verify this inspiration. So this group of people was also prone to extremes.

Rong Rong’s expression didn’t change. She felt that she was no longer the newbie from before. The person standing in front of Po Er was now Rong Nu Hou Lu Rong, “Is it because I didn’t do what you wanted, so I made you unhappy?”

“Po Er, I’m very scared. If you don’t delete all of this, I think I’m afraid to continue this relationship with you.”

“What do you mean?” The woman narrowed her eyes as she looked at her, “You want to break up?”

In the moment of Rong Rong’s silence, she sighed, as if she had suddenly given up her persistence. All her compromises were in order to salvage the relationship, “Okay, I’ll go burn the paintings. You can watch me personally. Is that okay?”

She reached out her hand to Rong Rong, not even caring if her clothes were in place. Rong Rong had only been looking at her eyes before, but now that the other person was getting up, she couldn’t avoid seeing many things. To be fair, this artist did have the assets to choose the best models. Because Po Er herself was like God’s most perfect work.

Every line was carefully crafted, making people feel that she was sacred, instead of those vulgar things.

But it was also this kind of person with an angel’s face and an angel’s body who had given Rong Rong the first cut in the movie theater. Rong Rong got up with her. There wasn’t much paint left on her body. She tried to fix her clothes for a long time but couldn’t get them right. She put the blanket on as well and tried to leave with Po Er. But she realized that the other person had gone into the room and moved a painting on the wall, revealing a secret room.

The secret room was pitch-black.

What normal person would have something like this in their home?

Rong Rong didn’t go inside. She saw the person who was walking ahead turn around to look at her, “Why aren’t you coming in?”

She was already suspicious enough today.

Rong Rong knew this as well. She exhaled imperceptibly and gripped the micro camera that she had brought. She had only taken one step inside when she suddenly felt like she had been bitten by an ant on her arm. After a slight pain, her whole body went limp, and she fell down.

The person who was walking ahead turned back and caught her while sighing softly, “I didn’t want to do this to you, but you’re too naughty.”

At the same time—

“Knock, knock, knock” a knock on the door sounded.

“Open up, it’s the property management!”

Su Mingxiu had already arrived at the person who was closest to Rong Rong when the infrared camera was shaking. While pretending to be property management and knocking on the door, she didn’t forget to call the police and say that she had discovered that the owner here was committing illegal imprisonment.

After settling Rong Rong, Po Er, who was somewhat confused and had gone to open the door, had already put on a bathrobe, “You’re property management? I’ve never seen you before.”

The enthusiastic citizen, Miss Su, went up and captured this criminal. While waiting for the police to arrive inside the house, she slowly replied, “I’m the light of justice.”

Chapter 189: The Ones Who Can’t Be Shaken Off (8)

Tang Yiyi was very surprised by the message. Her first reaction was to think that Rong Rong’s phone had been stolen. She thought that the scammers these days were really arrogant. Even the scam messages they sent after impersonating someone were so careless.

But she still called the other person, worried that Rong Rong had encountered a major issue related to her personal safety. As soon as she picked up, she heard a mournful sound from the other end, “President Tang…”

Tang Yiyi immediately became a little nervous and believed the contents of the text message a bit more. But the first words she spoke were, “Didn’t I tell you before? You’re not my employee. You don’t have to call me that. I don’t like you calling me President Tang.”

If not President Tang, then what should she call her?

Old Tang?

Rong Rong muttered to herself on the other end of the phone. She used a sob to skip over the unimportant matter of the address, and then started talking about how serious her sister’s illness was.

And how difficult it was to treat. Other than borrowing money from Tang Yiyi, she couldn’t think of a better way to treat her sister in time.

Of course, Rong Rong didn’t tell Tang Yiyi the specific details about Rong Si. She blurred a lot of the details, so that if the two of them accidentally met in the future, President Tang wouldn’t easily start chatting with her as if she were her brother-in-law, and accidentally reveal something, which would then get Rong Rong stabbed again.

After barely making sense of what she had said, Tang Yiyi chuckled softly, “Rong Rong, I know a few pretty good psychologists. I can introduce you to them. Don’t worry. Your sister will definitely get the best treatment—but no matter what kind of illness it is, it shouldn’t require borrowing a hundred million. Calm down first.”

Of course, she wouldn’t actually introduce a doctor. According to the plot rules of the domineering CEO character, usually such a psychologist would be a good friend of Tang Yiyi, who would then reveal the shocking truth about how “the sister is in love with her sister” to her without revealing the source.

Rong Rong thought about the patterns she had seen in dramas when she was a child.

One was crying, and the other was making a scene.

“P-President Tang, do you not want to lend me that much money? I, I know. My request is very offensive to you, but I thought our love was priceless. How could it be measured by such mundane money?”

Tang Yiyi: “…”

She rarely felt a bit of a headache. When she had met Rong Rong before, it was when she was looking for part-time jobs after leaving school. At that time, no matter how hard the part-time boss was on her, the kid still had her bottom line. At that time, she admired that innocence and stubbornness that hadn’t been worn down by society. But she didn’t expect that in the end, this innocence that she had indulged and protected would turn on her.

This didn’t feel so good.

“Rong Rong, listen to me,” Tang Yiyi said with unprecedented patience. Before she started reasoning with Rong Rong, she didn’t forget to take a sip of her Americano to wake herself up, “I don’t care who told you to borrow such a large sum of money, but I think you should calm down first, and listen to my advice on this matter.”

Rong Rong put her phone on the pillow of her dorm bed. Fortunately, as a player, she didn’t need to actually do homework. She only needed to hold the textbook and read the words to complete it.

So at this moment, she was letting Tang Yiyi’s nagging go in one ear and out the other while thinking about ways to get rid of the other perverts.

After about ten minutes, the voice on the other end of the phone stopped. Rong Rong answered the call, sobbed twice expressionlessly, and asked pitifully in a high-pitched voice, “Then… how much money are you planning to lend me to take my sister to see a doctor in the end?”

Tang Yiyi: “…”

She tried to tell herself that it was because Rong Rong was worried and confused, which proved that she was a kind-hearted person, even though according to her previous investigation of this person, she remembered that Rong Rong didn’t have a biological sister at all. She didn’t know where this distant relative had come from.

“I’ll send you a living allowance first. Consider it a gift from me to you and your sister. Use this money as an emergency fund. If you encounter any more trouble after that, just tell me—I’ll have my assistant contact a psychologist for you. I’ll send you her contact information later.”

Rong Rong was too lazy to check what amount of “allowance” that she was giving her through her fingers. She said directly, “Tang Tang, I’m so scared. She’s the family I finally found, the only family member who didn’t abandon me. She needs me so much now. What I can do is not just accompany her. I definitely have to give her a lot and a lot of love. Since I’m already in love with you, I definitely hope you can give her all of yourself, like I do… Do you understand?”

Tang Yiyi: She didn’t really want to understand.

She rubbed her temples with a headache. She didn’t know how her usually favored honeysuckle had turned into this because of the influence of others. Could it be because of that sister?

“Tell me, what do you want?” At this moment, her tone was still soft.

Until Rong Rong said that if she couldn’t have a hundred million, she needed at least fifty million to give her sister a sense of security. In addition to that, she wanted Tang Yiyi to put aside those mundane things and accompany her through her only family bond when she and her sister went to see a doctor.

Tang Yiyi: “…”

This time, she finally lost some patience, “Rong Rong, what are you doing? One moment you want money, and the next you want me to put aside everything to accompany you. I remember that you weren’t this unreasonable before.”

Oh ho!

Had she finally gotten angry?

Rong Rong thought that she had been waiting for this for a long time. She acted like she was a person who was trapped in extreme emotions. While there weren’t any roommate NPCs in the dorm, she did her best to act. On the phone, she asked, “Tang Tang, you used to treat me so well. Can’t you spoil me one more time now?” and then started crying about how tragic her sister’s life was.

She even deliberately adjusted her voice in hopes of creating the painful effect of a demonic sound piercing through the phone.

Sure enough, in less than half an hour, Tang Yiyi coldly said the lines she wanted, “You’re not very calm right now. I’ll give you some time to clear your head.”

“What do you mean, President Tang? Do you want to break up with me? I thought you were different from those utilitarian rich people. I thought you had a true heart for me. Was I thinking too much?”

Tang Yiyi endured the urge to vomit blood, “I don’t want to break up.”

“You do! If you hang up the phone today, it’ll prove that you don’t love me anymore!”

Rong Rong slowly opened her computer, logged into online banking, and started checking the money that the other person had sent her earlier. She found that it was only a few tens of thousands of yuan.

Although she wanted to keep it to use, she had asked the system and learned that the laws in this game world were quite complete. After Tang Yiyi had barely endured her crying for another five minutes, she returned the money the moment she hung up the phone.

She also included a message:

“Since you can’t stand me, then I won’t take any advantage of you. From today onwards, we have no relationship anymore. I wish you a bright future.”

The message couldn’t fit this many words, so Rong Rong sent it in a text message.

After completing all of this in one go, she felt like her whole soul had been sublimated. Every pore on her body was exuding the coolness of being free of a pervert. She leaned back into her chair, and, with her head tilted back, Rong Rong asked,

[System, have I completely gotten rid of Tang Yiyi?]

System, “Detecting that the character Tang Yiyi’s love for you has wavered. Congratulations on a successful breakup. But before you get rid of everyone completely, whether she will appear in your world again after the breakup is up to the character to decide.”

Oh, so it meant that even after the breakup, there would still be danger?

Trash system.

Su Mingxiu had originally wanted to be that flower-selling passerby forever. But because she couldn’t get close to the student dormitories, she hesitated and changed her identity. She found that the sunflower was still in her hand.

Golden and bright, it was full of hope.

She sat behind the window of the passageway on the first floor of the girls’ dormitory and carefully admired the sunflower in her hand. After a moment, she found a clean, transparent pen holder and inserted the flower into it at an angle. The flower was slightly lowered, with the large flower heart facing her direction.

From afar, it looked like the sun was also bowing to her, and Su Mingxiu was, in this quiet night, the sole possessor of a ray of sunshine.

Until a figure rushed by the window, went through the gate, and then backed up, knocking on her window, “Why are you here?”

Rong Rong had been about to go find her to celebrate. She had thought she would have to search all over the place to find her by chance, but she didn’t expect that she was always in the place closest to her. When the glass window was opened, she came closer with a smile and asked, “Do you want to drink beer?”

Su Mingxiu slowly raised her finger and pointed at the small blackboard that was hanging on the wall opposite her, letting her see the dormitory rules, and below that were the month’s confiscated illegal appliances and beers.

Rong Rong: Fine.

She raised a hand to touch her nose. Just as she was about to ask if juice was okay, she suddenly saw that the pixelated person behind the glass window was completely enveloped in fog.

When the fog disappeared, it was a stern-looking old woman. At the same time, someone else walked down the stairs behind the gate, wearing the simplest short sleeves and a skirt, with even the bow tie in place. Without a doubt, this was the pixelated person that she wanted to go have a drink with.

“It’s okay now.” Su Mingxiu reached out her hand to her, with a very faint smile on her face. In Rong Rong’s eyes, this appearance was just a blurred square at the corner of the pixelated person’s lips.

It had a feeling of being both smiling and not smiling.

She subconsciously raised her hand, wanting to wipe the blurred square clean.

Looking at her actions, Su Mingxiu didn’t want to dodge. So she was touched directly by Rong Rong’s fingertip, right next to the corner of her mouth. She stood quietly, and only after Rong Rong’s fingertip had pressed against the corner of her lips back and forth did she ask softly, “Is there something on my face?”

“It’s not.”

Rong Rong was reminded by her and suddenly woke up, remembering what she was doing. She hurriedly pulled back her hand. Her fingertips landed on Su Mingxiu’s sleeve. As she pulled her out, she subconsciously muttered, “I just thought that your touch would be a little different from theirs…”

She didn’t expect that even the pixelated person was soft.

“What?”

Su Mingxiu had actually heard her clearly, but she wasn’t sure if she was really comparing her to others.

But Rong Rong didn’t want to say anymore. She just pulled her toward the convenience store. In the end, she didn’t see many real beers. There were only fruit wines and pineapple beer.

She finally took two bottles of pineapple beer and led Su Mingxiu all the way to a secluded place. She accidentally saw a lake at the bottom of a hill. She could see small couples secretly dating around the lake from time to time.

Rong Rong glanced at it and then looked away, feeling a bit strange in her heart. After all, she already found the relationships in here annoying, so why did she seem to be rushing to… find another one?

Her scalp tingled from her own thoughts. Just as Rong Rong was about to retreat, she suddenly heard a “click” sound. It was the sound of Su Mingxiu opening the pull tab of the pineapple beer in her hand at some point.

The sound of the bubbles attracted her attention.

When Rong Rong looked up again, the moonlight was passing through the clouds and landing on the lake at the bottom of the hill, making the lake look like a piece of jade with restrained light.

The light spread out on the lawn, illuminating the faces of every couple who had come together. It was at this time that Rong Rong found that the person standing in front of her with the pull tab hanging on her finger suddenly became clear.

It was as if…

She had progressed from the pixels of a Little Tyrant learning machine to the… small ads on a web page.

As everyone knew, the image quality of these two-dimensional small ads was usually not very exquisite. But it easily gave people the illusion that they would be able to see it clearly as long as they clicked on it. Rong Rong blinked her eyes hard, thinking about seeing it more clearly. But in the next second, Su Mingxiu turned back into that low-resolution pixelated person again.

“Uh…” Looking at the person in front of her, whose expression was changing and tangled, Su Mingxiu took the pineapple beer from her and took a sip, asking, “What’s wrong?”

Rong Rong shook her head.

Then she laughed to herself as if she had discovered something new and funny. All of the bad emotions and thoughts from earlier had been swept away. She also pulled open the tab of her beer and took a big gulp of the pineapple beer.

She didn’t know why—

She suddenly really wanted to see Su Mingxiu in high definition.

She had a hunch that this person would definitely be a hundred times more beautiful than those girlfriends.

Chapter 188: The Ones Who Can’t Be Shaken Off (7)

Rong Rong first said that she was at a critical stage of completing her assignment, and asked Tang Yiyi if she could have her roommate go downstairs to help her get the takeout.

Because of her usual obedience, President Tang didn’t suspect much. She just told her to rest, and then, regarding the gift that Po Er wanted to send, Rong Rong directly filled in the name of a company that was closest to her school, planning to contact the delivery driver to sign for it.

Then, she would just give it to the students in her department.

As for her little cousin Rong Si—

Although, in terms of difficulty, Tang Yiyi was actually the most suitable one to be the first to sever the ties of love.

First of all, Tang Yiyi was already a successful person with her own career. She wasn’t the type to give her all to love.

So even if she liked Rong Rong a lot, at most, she would feel offended by her obedient girlfriend’s rebellion, but she wouldn’t take her life for disobeying her.

There were two ways to break up safely with people like Tang Yiyi. The first was to show a side she didn’t like, provoking her to actively dislike her.

The second was to suddenly rebel, showing a side that was completely different from her obedience and actively leave, but her life afterward might face trouble from her.

For Rong Rong at this stage, the first method was safer. But it took too long. No matter what, things could change if they were delayed, and besides…

She didn’t plan to live in this game forever. She could deal with the trouble that Tang Yiyi created later. She just wanted to get rid of all of this trouble as soon as possible and then return to her own life.

But before Tang Yiyi, she had to find a way to make Rong Si, the little pervert, a bit more normal. According to the strategy guide, Rong Si liked light the most. And the original owner had met her once when she was working part-time. After learning her story, she would always unintentionally help her. So Rong Si regarded her as her salvation, as her light.

But this kind of emotion was tinged with obsession.

For those who had suffered, it definitely wouldn’t be enough for her to save them alone. She absolutely had to assist them with some psychological treatment.

Tang Yiyi’s things could be ignored, and Po Er’s could be fooled, but this little brat, she had to see.

“Sister, I remember that you didn’t really like drinking cola before.”

After meeting her at the school gate, Rong Rong pretended to help her push the wheelchair. But just as she took two steps forward, the other person saw the cup in her hand.

“It’s not cola,” Rong Rong said casually, “It’s warm water.”

Rong Si felt that something was wrong. This cup clearly looked like it was from the movie city. But when they had met at the movie theater earlier, Rong Rong had said that she would go back with her. But why was she still holding a drink cup that was only available there?

And it was filled with warm water?

Who had she watched a movie with… or after sending her away, had she seen someone else?

Thinking of this, Rong Si’s mood became less pleasant. She kept guessing who this person would be in her heart, and still hadn’t figured out the answer even after she had entered the cafeteria with Rong Rong.

Su Mingxiu found that the fog that obscured the map changed depending on the protagonist’s whereabouts.

For example, when she was in the movie city earlier, and Rong Rong was also inside, the fog obscured the entire outside of the mall, and didn’t let her see the small roads either. But once the protagonist left, the place where she was would suddenly become clear.

When she was still in the mall and Rong Rong had left first, Su Mingxiu had almost seen the vehicle that was carrying her all the way from the movie city to the entrance of this university. On the map that was filled with fog, this unusually clear road was too conspicuous.

Now, a new location had appeared on her map: A University’s cafeteria.

Looking at this clear guide, Su Mingxiu’s eyes showed a hint of gentleness. She quickly tapped on one of the white dots in the cafeteria. The next moment, she was surrounded by countless fragrances.

She looked down and saw a whole large iron pan of chopped pepper fish head, next to stir-fried green peppers with meat, braised meatballs, and more. And in her right hand, she was holding a large iron ladle.

Alright, then.

This time, she was a cafeteria auntie, right?

Su Mingxiu wielded the large iron ladle with an extremely cold expression. Various prices for the food naturally appeared in her mind. She pressed the price on the machine on the glass, and after the students swiped their cards, she started scooping food.

At the end of the line.

Rong Rong, who was pondering how to get Rong Si a specialist appointment, glanced at the line and suddenly saw a very obvious pixelated person standing behind the window at the end.

She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but compared to the almost mosaic-like appearance she had had in the mall restroom earlier, this pixelated person had become a bit clearer.

Although she wasn’t that clear… it was about the same clarity as when they had first met.

This made Rong Rong, who was already worried about her, suddenly breathe a sigh of relief, and then she couldn’t wait to get in front of her. She even accidentally pushed Rong Si’s wheelchair into the heels of the student in front of her.

A few minutes later.

Rong Rong looked at the dishes in the window. After telling Su Mingxiu what Rong Si wanted to eat, she asked what she wanted to eat. Su Mingxiu was holding a plate and an iron ladle and was waiting.

It was clearly a scene that was filled with the atmosphere of everyday life, but because this pixelated person’s skin tones were too white, Rong Rong actually saw a hint of misery, like a pampered princess who had been reduced to working in the kitchen.

She inexplicably curled her lips and heard the person in the wheelchair say what she wanted to eat.

“Sister, I want to eat stir-fried green peppers with pork…”

“Clang.”

The iron ladle hit the plate. From Rong Rong’s angle, she could easily see that the ladle that had been dropped was filled with only green peppers.

Her eyes widened.

And Rong Si, who was sitting in the wheelchair and couldn’t see any of this, was still saying, “Braised chicken pieces… chopped pepper fish head… Okay, thank you, sister.”

Her sister was silent.

After a while, Rong Si, who had received her plate, was also silent. Because not only was there only a stingy little mound of rice in her plate, but the stir-fried green peppers with pork only had green peppers, the braised chicken pieces only had dried chili peppers and a few bones, and as for the chopped pepper fish head—

It was skinny and small. Not only was there not a single piece of extra meat other than the head, but when she used her chopsticks to separate the layer of chopped peppers, she was met with the fish’s pale eyes that had fallen out.

Rong Si: “…”

Rong Rong was ordering food at the moment, trying to see the pixelated person’s emotions on her face.

But she failed. After a while, she said carefully, “I… I’ll get scrambled eggs with tomato?”

Su Mingxiu was still expressionless, but the scrambled eggs with tomato that she gave her didn’t have many tomatoes. The rest was filled with golden egg pieces that had been soaked in the sauce, which made people’s pupils tremble involuntarily.

Then, a huge braised chicken leg was placed next to it, and then a meatball that could fill a part of the dish was placed next to it, the sauce on top still slowly dripping down. She heard the pixelated person say in her nice voice, “Oops, I gave you the wrong one.”

“But it’s too much trouble to take it back, so it’s yours.”

Rong Rong: !

Although this was a game, and the original owner’s wallet wasn’t her wallet, Rong Rong couldn’t help but feel happy that she had just gotten such an abundant meal for only 1.50 yuan.

She didn’t even know why she was smiling so widely like she was about to reach the sun.

“Student, you forgot your meal card.”

Su Mingxiu’s hand reached out of the window and pointed at a student card that was placed on top. Rong Rong was about to leave while pushing Rong Si, but she heard her voice and looked at the meal card. Then she picked it up and looked at it especially, flipping through both sides slowly. After confirming that the person inside could see her name on her student card, she turned to leave, “Thank you.”

So her name was Rong Rong.

Su Mingxiu lowered her eyes and remembered this name carefully.

Rong Si felt that something was wrong. She had originally thought that the cafeteria auntie was just in a bad mood today, so she had just unfortunately encountered this situation.

But she didn’t expect that the person who was serving food gave Rong Rong so much.

She felt strange, so she kept looking back at that window while sitting at the table. But she couldn’t see anything. After all, she was just an ordinary… old woman.

Her sister couldn’t have fallen for someone like that, right?

Rong Si thought for a while and lowered her head to eat the green peppers painfully. And her sister, who was usually very good at taking care of her, seemed to not notice how terrible her plate of food was this time and was happily eating the chicken leg and eggs, and then she dug a large spoonful of meatballs.

She exuded an air of happiness from head to toe.

After barely getting through dinner, Rong Si was about to take the other person to a place as a date for the two of them, when she was pushed all the way to the psychological department’s infirmary by Rong Rong. She immediately sat down, “Doctor, I think I might be sick.”

Doctor: ?

Rong Si: ?

They were both shocked as they looked at Rong Rong who had said that. After Rong Rong had described her anxiety symptoms, the doctor gave her a form. Rong Si, who had been worried about her, hadn’t even managed to ask a question when she realized that the form was being pushed in front of her as well.

“Since we’re already here—”

Rong Rong said to her enthusiastically, “It’s free anyway. Come, come, cousin, you should do one too.”

Rong Si: ?

Without a doubt, in the end, the only one who was found to have psychological problems was Rong Si. Compared to her, Rong Rong’s anxiety about not being able to break up was trivial.

Rong Rong cried loudly, saying, “We can’t make children suffer, and we can’t be stingy when it comes to seeing a doctor.” With the support of the school doctor in the psychological department, she didn’t hesitate to get Rong Si a specialist appointment.

Then, with an exceptionally caring attitude, she created the noise of fifteen hundred ducks all by herself, and successfully persuaded Rong Si to leave. Before the little cousin left, her voice could still be heard, “Don’t be nervous! Don’t be afraid, and don’t worry about the medical expenses. Your sister will take care of everything!”

Rong Si was pushing her wheelchair at a speed that seemed like she was about to take off.

When Su Mingxiu appeared again, she saw that Rong Rong was holding her phone and standing in front of a small forest on campus with a strange smile on her face—

She was sending a message to Tang Yiyi.

The content was especially cautious, “President Tang, something happened at home. My younger sister is seriously ill and has to be hospitalized. I know this is very troublesome for you. But I really have no other choice. You are the only person I know who could possibly help me. Could you please lend me a hundred million? I will definitely find a way to pay you back in the future. Please rest assured, I will only marry you in this lifetime!”

Good.

Only a fool would lend her a hundred million. Please let Tang Yiyi think she was brain-dead, unreasonable, and incomprehensible. And then casually give her a few tens of thousands of yuan to save her from her misery and get rid of her, both the person and the feelings!

Just as she put away her phone, Rong Rong saw the person standing beside her. The other person was riding a tricycle with bunches of ten-yuan flowers on the back. They were all common types.

“Su… Mingxiu.”

Rong Rong called her name not too smoothly, always able to recognize her unique identity in the crowd at a glance.

The tricycle stopped in front of her. Su Mingxiu quietly looked at her, thinking that she needed her help with something. Then she saw Rong Rong pick up a large sunflower. After scanning the code to pay for it, she handed it to her.

“Here.”

Su Mingxiu: “?”

Rong Rong gave her a bright smile, “I’m giving it to you. I hope you have a good day today.”

The little girl, who had always only asked for more love from her, finally had the extra energy to give her a ray of sunshine. Su Mingxiu looked at the sunflower for a long time and asked her, “Why a sunflower?”

“You’ve given me a lot of food and drinks. I’m giving you a sunflower. It’s beautiful and pretty—”

“And you can eat the sunflower seeds.”

Thinking about the women who were surrounding her for some unknown reason, each one more dangerous than the last, Su Mingxiu had been very worried that she wouldn’t be able to solve the danger for her in time because of the restrictions she was under.

But now Rong Rong could find the time to give her flowers. She inexplicably… felt very gratified.

So Su Mingxiu took the sunflower. And in her heart, which was already filled with a dazzling garden of roses, water lilies, lotuses, carnations, and more, a corner of it also grew a sunflower.

“Thank you,” she said, “I really like this gift.”

Chapter 187: The Ones Who Can’t Be Shaken Off (6)

The assistant and everyone else in the nanny van had left, and no fans of Yu Wu had been attracted to the nearby area.

But none of this was important. Rong Rong didn’t even know what kind of deadly crisis she had almost gone through again.

In the closed, warming space, what attracted her attention the most was a sound in her ear, “Ding! Detecting that the activation conditions for a skill have been met. Would you like to use the skill?”

Rong Rong: ?

Skills in games were usually used to save lives. Now that she was the only one in the nanny van with Yu Wu, using this skill shouldn’t matter, right?

She wanted to move to the side of the car door before using it, but before she could distance herself from Yu Wu, the woman, who exuded charm from every pore and was like a fox spirit who had stepped out of a Shang Dynasty myth and joined the modern entertainment industry, hooked her collar and pulled her back. “Didn’t I say? I just love how you love me to the point of being unable to control yourself. You don’t have to act in front of me. You can show your most authentic self without restraint. Don’t suppress your inner feelings. Come here. I know you like to be close to me.”

Rong Rong: …Help, help me.

It was said that actors in the entertainment industry were under a lot of pressure. She didn’t know what was wrong with other celebrities, but this Yu Wu was probably a narcissist, and probably the kind that couldn’t be saved.

[Use it, use it, use the skill!]

When Tang Yiyi had sent her to the school gate earlier, Rong Rong had asked the system how she could leave the game. The system’s answer was that as long as she could successfully break up with these girlfriends, she could safely leave the game.

Now that she saw that these perverts were more difficult to deal with than the last, it would be great if she could use a skill to get rid of one of them!

She waited with anticipation for the effect of the skill—

Even though the name of the skill alone made her confused.

[Skill activation in progress! Would the player like to choose ‘Viewing Mode’ or ‘Full Shield Mode’? Choosing the former will allow you to have a wonderful experience throughout the process. Choosing the latter will cause the timeline to directly jump to the end. Note: The length of time skipped is determined by the will and physical strength of the different targets.]

…It sounded like a trap.

Rong Rong was stunned for two seconds. She felt like she was sitting in an exam room, with two options, A and B, under a question. But she had circled the problem areas in both of them, and she couldn’t see any other options.

Which one should she choose?

What wonderful experience?

What will and physical strength?

Rong Rong hesitated for a long time between “a big pit” and “an even bigger pit,” but because she really didn’t know how to deal with player five, she ultimately chose “Full Shield Mode.”

After all, she was just a pure and innocent little Rong Rong who had been single for twenty years, and she was most suitable for harmonious things.

Another dot turned gray.

After receiving another kill from the dog-raising mogul who kept letting go of the leash, Su Mingxiu changed into a new passerby identity and frowned unhappily.

She was standing on the first floor of the mall. She saw her own reflection in the exceptionally bright window glass. She didn’t know why, but the fog that was originally only used to obscure the areas she couldn’t go on the map had actually spread invisibly to her body. Even the way she saw herself was a bit hazy.

Su Mingxiu had to admit that although the system hadn’t tampered with her memories this time, and even kept everything for her, this was indeed the most restrictive of her many worlds—

She had to work very hard to appear easily and casually around the protagonist.

And this world, which appeared to follow modern laws, was filled with lawbreakers. And these dangerous people were all surrounding the protagonist, making it very difficult for her to approach the other party as she pleased.

But she didn’t even know the protagonist’s name yet.

If it was in a low-danger world, Su Mingxiu wouldn’t care if the protagonist was indifferent, cold, or hateful towards her, and she wouldn’t force herself upon them. But seeing the other party in distress, she couldn’t stand by and do nothing.

After all… this was the soul she deeply loved.

Thoughts flashed by, and Su Mingxiu retracted her gaze. She stopped looking at the figure in the window that was almost submerged in the fog and instead started guessing, where would she be now?

Su Mingxiu decided to start looking from the places she had encountered her before, so that the protagonist wouldn’t be hurt in places she couldn’t see.

At the same time.

After waiting in the forest for her precious dogs to deal with that person, Wei Shang felt that she was having a very unlucky day. It was rare for anyone to dare to provoke her so fearlessly. But today she had actually met a few of them. This was really strange.

And the dogs she had brought out, she didn’t know if they had eaten too many snacks or what, but they were behaving very abnormally.

Although she liked the freshness that Rong Rong brought her, in Wei Shang’s heart, these dogs that had been accompanying her were her most important partners. She immediately decided to temporarily stop the hide-and-seek game with Rong Rong and take the dogs back first.

After walking out of the forest, she saw the nanny van parked at the back door of the mall. Wei Shang moved her gaze away expressionlessly, not looking at the slightly trembling car body.

Rong Rong never expected that this skill would be like this.

When she regained consciousness, she realized that she had already gotten out of the car. But her whole body was as weak as noodles. She supported herself against the wall and walked to a secluded restroom. Only then did she see the terrible marks on her body from her collar. Then, she desperately raised her hand to cover her face.

[Damn system, come out and take a beating!]

What kind of broken skill was this?

It was her fault for being too young. She didn’t know that any skill related to the word “sea king” wouldn’t be good.

Ha, use a skill to get rid of a perverted girlfriend? After using this skill, she was almost directly killed by this pervert, okay?

And it was this kind of embarrassing death. The soul of this single dog cried out with a “woof.”

She was no longer pure! She was dirty!

The system thought for a long time and gave a dry consolation, “This system has a passive skill, which is activated after the skill is used. After half an hour, all traces created by the skill effects will disappear. Please rest assured.”

Rong Rong: ?

What kind of passive skill was this?

Wow, no wonder she was a sea king. After doing all that with someone, she could still erase the evidence on the scene and then go find another fish, right? But she wasn’t a sea king! She was just an innocent salted fish who had transmigrated into a sea king’s body!

Rong Rong was in despair, and Rong Rong was shutting herself off.

The system thought for a while and gave another consolation, “Players who choose the shield mode are already assumed by the game to not accept intimate activities with their girlfriends. So during the shielding period, it only simulates corresponding traces based on the scene, and implants this memory in the target girlfriend’s consciousness. Nothing actually happened. You can rest assured.”

Oh.

Rong Rong thought, then you’re still a trash game.

She didn’t dare to leave the stall. She just hugged her arms and squatted on the ground. Taking advantage of the fact that she had gotten rid of the top star for now, she decided to be alone for a while, although she felt like she had forgotten something.

But oh well, since no one had found her or was on their way to find her, then it probably wasn’t important.

She didn’t know how long she had stayed in this restroom.

A gentle “knock, knock” sounded.

“Someone’s here.”

She said in a muffled voice.

The person who had knocked left. It was quiet around her. She felt like she wasn’t as uncomfortable anymore, so she opened the stall door, poked her head out, looked around, then quickly closed the door and walked to the mirror at the sink. She untied the scarf and found that even the kiss mark that Po Er had left on her collarbone earlier had disappeared.

She was clean and refreshed, without any aftereffects.

Rong Rong breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, a hand reached out from the side, holding a cup that was used to hold cola in the movie theater, startling her like a cat with a puffed-up back, ready to pounce.

“It’s… you.”

She saw the pixelated person and not only did she not lower her guard, but she became even more nervous. She also didn’t take the thing that Su Mingxiu was handing her.

Because the strategy guide didn’t have instructions on how to deal with this kind of passerby, she didn’t know what kind of attitude to have with the other party, so she just stared at the woman.

“Do you want to drink some hot water?” Su Mingxiu handed her the cup and didn’t forget to say, “I got it from the fourth floor. But I waited for you for a while, so it’s a bit cold now.”

Rong Rong originally didn’t want to take the cup, especially after she had learned that she would accidentally trigger those kinds of disharmonious plots with these characters. She didn’t want to get involved with anyone else.

But it was very strange. When she saw that the pixelated person had been holding the cup seriously for so long, she still reached out her hand. She also felt that if she died in this game later, it would definitely be because she was too careless and had lost her life.

“You’re not actually my ex-girlfriend, are you?”

Su Mingxiu looked at her and answered very seriously, even though that seriousness wasn’t very obvious on her face that was blurring, “If you want me to be, then I am.”

What kind of answer was that?

Rong Rong opened the plastic lid and took a sip of the hot water, something that clearly didn’t have any effect.

But after experiencing all of these things, the warmth that flowed over her tongue, all the way down her throat to her stomach, made her feel an unprecedented sense of comfort.

Just like the candied strawberry she had eaten earlier, which had made her very happy.

Or perhaps…

It was like the cup of sweet herbal tea from even earlier.

She held the hot water and leaned against the sink. Before she could calm down for two minutes, she received a message from Tang Yiyi, “Are you tired from doing your homework? I ordered you a takeout. Remember to go downstairs to get it. There’s a special gift for you.”

Rong Rong’s expression changed. She was about to put down what she was holding and run for her life when she received another message at the same time, “Are you working hard? Send me the location, and I’ll buy drinks for everyone at your company.”

This was from Po Er.

She clenched her phone, feeling a throbbing pain in her forehead, when her phone buzzed again without any sense of timing, making all of the excitement come at once, “Sister, can I have dinner with you? I’m almost at your school.”

Without a doubt, it was Rong Si.

Rong Rong clenched her phone, as if she could use it to squeeze all of these troublesome people together. Su Mingxiu, who was standing beside her, saw that her face was pale and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…”

She forced a smile and was about to thank the other party for the hot water when she looked up and realized that the other person’s pixels had become even blurrier, and the colors had also faded a lot, like a Little Tyrant learning machine that was running out of power.

“What’s wrong with you?” Rong Rong rarely revealed a trace of concern in her eyes.

Su Mingxiu didn’t know why she had asked this question. When she glanced at herself in the mirror, she thought she had seen the fog that was wrapped around her, so she said casually, “I’m not sure.”

Thinking about how she was getting blurrier, and how different she was from the somewhat delicate pixelated appearance she had first seen, Rong Rong immediately became worried, “Did something happen to you?”

She clearly hadn’t exchanged the bug anymore.

Why was this person still getting blurrier?

Su Mingxiu thought, she hadn’t encountered anything, she had just been met by the perverts who were after you, so she had just blocked some trouble along the way.

She didn’t say anything, and Rong Rong didn’t ask again. But after she left, because she was too worried about this pixelated person, she was a bit absent-minded.

She even held the cola cup that contained water all the way back to her school.

—This pixelated person, oh no, she should be called a mosaic person. Would she suddenly disappear one day?

Rong Rong didn’t know the answer, and she guessed that the other person didn’t know the answer either.

But.

She found herself actually looking forward to this person who would appear as a passerby from different corners, either to give her candied hawthorns or to hand her a cup of hot water.

If she couldn’t meet this bug again in this game, and had to face those perverts endlessly, Rong Rong thought, that would be too tiring.

She didn’t realize that she had unknowingly become a little dependent on the other party.

And Rong Rong had forgotten to tell her her name again.

Chapter 186: The Ones Who Can’t Be Shaken Off (5)

[S-System.]

Thinking about reporting the pixelated person for a reward earlier, Rong Rong, overwhelmed by her inner suspicions, started calling for off-site support, trying to exchange this woman again and then secretly leave through this employee-like passage.

But she called for a long time without hearing any response.

Su Mingxiu leisurely watched her expression change again and again, slowly settling from initial surprise to fear, and then freezing in this state, like a startled roe deer on the northeastern grassland. She couldn’t help but chuckle.

The system had suddenly gone offline, and standing in front of her was someone who, like the other perverts, could very well be written into the criminal law. It was impossible for Rong Rong not to panic.

She even felt an itch on her neck, especially on the skin where the scarf was tied. Now that the wind from an unknown source in the passage was blowing on it, it was both itchy and cold, as if stung by venom.

Seeing that she was in danger, batches of Rong Rong’s brain cells died. She suddenly realized something wasn’t right, “Since… you’re my ex-girlfriend, how could you not know my name?”

Su Mingxiu was only teasing her and didn’t intend to scare her away. When she heard that, her laughter was even more obvious than before. When she heard the barking of dogs coming from nearby in the passage, she raised her hand to help Rong Rong pull up the already loose scarf on her wrist, not minding the other party’s action of taking half a step back.

After she had fixed it, she pointed to the road ahead, “If you want to leave early, go to the end of this road. Push open the door, and that’s where the mall’s employee elevator is.”

As soon as Su Mingxiu released her, Rong Rong immediately retreated two steps cautiously. She said thank you and turned to leave, but was called back again.

“You still haven’t said your name.”

Rong Rong thought, the ex-girlfriend was probably a lie, and asking her name was the real deal. But… this person liked to appear in every corner to watch her flirt with others, what else could it be but a cuckold fetish? Provoking her would definitely make her a criminal, so she decided to just forget it.

“I’ll definitely tell you next time we meet.”

Eight minutes later.

Tang Yiyi, who was using the walkie-talkie inside the escape room to contact the staff outside, saw the person who had been sent back and breathed a slight sigh of relief, but she didn’t show it. Instead, she went up and grabbed her wrist, “Didn’t I tell you to follow me?”

“I’m sorry…” Rong Rong apologized softly, letting her lead the way and pulling her coat tighter.

Not until they left the escape room within the allotted time did Tang Yiyi see that a part of her skirt was missing, as if it had been torn off.

Her explanation was, “I accidentally scraped it when I fell down earlier.”

Tang Yiyi was helpless. After taking her out of the escape room, she subconsciously arranged, “I know a good Japanese restaurant nearby. You can come with me to try it out. You can stay at my place tonight, and I’ll send you back to school tomorrow morning.”

“But…”

Rong Rong looked at her cautiously, “Our class group just sent out an assignment, and we have to send it to the email tonight… I, I left my textbook at school.”

Looking at Tang Yiyi’s expression, her expression became even more apologetic, “I’m sorry… or should I just tell the class monitor that I didn’t see the message, and spend the whole day with you today, okay?”

Her obedience made Tang Yiyi feel a little bad for bullying her too much, and she changed her mind, “Forget it, I’ll send you back.”

Not long before.

Wei Shang, who had followed the dogs to the outside of the mall but saw the dogs stop in front of a trash can, knew that she had been taken for a walk. She clicked her tongue on her upper palate. Not only was she not angry, but the light in her eyes became even brighter.

She took out her phone and sent Rong Rong a message, “Guess how long it will take me to find you? If it’s within half an hour, I’ll give you a reward.”

The person who had already gotten into Tang Yiyi’s car saw her message and subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. She thought about the strategy on the guide that said, for Wei Shang, she should [remain mysterious, like prey that has piqued her interest. Obedience will only make her want to crush your throat more, while running away will make her more patient with you].

So she replied, “If it takes more than half an hour, you won’t get your reward.”

Rong Rong thought, it was a good thing she hadn’t chickened out for too long in Movie Theater 2. Otherwise, she would probably have been taken by Wei Shang, who had lost all interest, to be used as dog food by now.

Tang Yiyi, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, looked at her a few times without being noticed. When she saw that her expression was solemn, she thought she was replying to a message from school, and even comforted her, “Don’t worry, we’ll be at school soon.”

“Okay.”

Rong Rong didn’t reveal any of her thoughts, and smiled at her, looking particularly obedient, like a child who would let her arrange everything.

“Roasted sweet potatoes, fresh roasted sweet potatoes—”

When Su Mingxiu heard this voice, she realized that she was standing at the entrance of an unfamiliar campus, holding a candied hawthorn stick in her hand. She looked down and saw that the name tag on her chest had changed to “Vendor A at A University Entrance.”

Alright, then.

She was still thinking about how her map had suddenly expanded to such a far range, when she looked up and saw that familiar figure getting out of the car. The person in the car pulled her down, and she didn’t know exactly where they kissed, but the scarf on her neck hadn’t been loosened.

Just after Tang Yiyi drove away, Rong Rong quickly looked at the time. Since she had left the movie theater, her survival time had exceeded half an hour. This meant that from now on, she couldn’t trigger any death traps, or she would die in this game.

[Sys, System?]

She greeted the game system again.

[What do you need, player?]

“How can I go offline or leave this game?” Rong Rong was still thinking about Wei Shang, who she didn’t know where she would suddenly pop out from, and the fifth player, the top star something-or-other, who was said to be meeting her soon.

She turned her back to the school gate, looking in the direction Tang Yiyi had left, feeling exhausted. She even made a point of checking the Moments and status updates of number two, Po Er, and number four, Rong Si, to make sure that none of them were secretly following her after saying they had left. Then, she relaxed her shoulders.

And then she bumped into something.

After turning around, Rong Rong saw the candied hawthorns that had been scattered into the grass, with hawthorns, strawberries, grapes, and more, crystal clear, and particularly tempting. But more eye-catching than this large pile of candied hawthorns was the person holding them.

“Hi, we meet again.”

This blurry pixelated person greeted her with a voice like winter frost, and Rong Rong realized that in the short time since they had last seen each other… this person seemed to be even blurrier.

If she continued to blur like this, wouldn’t she turn into a pixelated mess?

Her thoughts wandered off for a moment, thinking so non-seriously.

But soon, she remembered what she had promised the other person. She was vigilantly on guard against this person who was wearing a bystander tag, but saw the other person tilting the main branch of the candied hawthorns towards her and calmly asking, “What flavor do you like?”

Huh?

Rong Rong hesitated for a moment, thinking about how much money she had spent in the game today to buy all sorts of props to get rid of her love troubles. But she couldn’t resist the temptation of these red, crystal-clear, and delicious candied hawthorns, “Strawberry.”

She said it softly.

Su Mingxiu took the reddest and largest strawberry candied hawthorn for her. She was asked, “How much is it?”

“It’s okay,” she looked at the weariness on Rong Rong’s face and said faintly, “I’ll give you one to cheer you up.”

And then, until Rong Rong broke through the outer layer of sugar on the strawberry, bit through the slightly sour strawberry flesh inside, and the sweet fragrance filled her mouth, she didn’t hear the other person ask her the question.

Su Mingxiu seemed to have forgotten the sentence she had said earlier—

The next time we meet, I’ll tell you my name.

A nanny van stopped at the entrance of the commercial building. A professional security team cleared a path with fewer people, waiting for the person wearing sunglasses in the car to get out, but the person inside was still not moving.

The manager’s voice was low, “Grandma, what are you still waiting for? If you wait any longer, the crazy fans will be here again.”

“The craziest one isn’t here.” A low voice rang out.

The door of the nanny van was slightly ajar. A small figure had somehow sneaked into the shadows. Rong Rong, who had just finished the candied hawthorn and taken a taxi to her date location, thought, it was right to be single. Love hurt both your wallet and your body. It was simply killing her.

She had to break up!

She had to find a way to break up with one of them tonight! If things continued like this, she would want to kill herself even if they didn’t kill her!

Especially when she thought about the guide that the system had given her for Yu Wu, which said, [The great star Yu Wu is infinitely charming. She likes others to sincerely praise her, especially the love of rabid fans. Coincidentally, you are pretending to be a biased fan who likes to praise her beauty without reservation.]

Crap.

A simp persona.

A simp could not stay in the house!

She resolutely gritted her teeth, stamped her foot, and, holding up her skirt, got into the car.

Not far from the car.

Wei Shang, who was leading the dogs and strolling slowly nearby, still hadn’t left the movie city. She heard the dogs barking excitedly and guessed that Rong Rong was nearby. She was about to pat the dogs’ heads and have them lead her to her reward when, as she was about to walk near the nanny van—

The lead black dog suddenly looked at an employee at another exit of the mall with confusion.

After a few seconds, it pulled Wei Shang towards that side with all its might.

Wei Shang: “?”

“Stupid, where is she?” The woman tightened the dog leash and asked seriously.

The black pit bull understood its owner’s words and knew that she was about to get angry. It was about to lead her towards the star’s nanny van.

Suddenly, a water bottle rolled out of the trash bag in the employee’s hand and hit Wei Shang’s shoe.

Wei Shang paused and looked dangerously towards that person.

Su Mingxiu met her gaze for a moment, then slowly looked away, pretending that she hadn’t seen anything, and didn’t hear the angry black dog rushing towards her.

Chapter 185: The Ones Who Can’t Be Shaken Off (4)

Su Mingxiu saw that the white dot for the milk tea shop had also turned gray. She looked at the semi-transparent map in front of her, seeing the crowds of stuffed bears around, and the shelves displaying beautiful glass cups, various cosmetics, and nail polishes. She knew she was on the second floor of the shopping mall, in a boutique.

Outside the store, Rong Rong was trying her best to deal with Po Er, and she looked a little out of breath.

“Why did you come this way?”

Because of her outfit, which looked like a Disney princess on the run, a lot of people were looking in Po Er’s direction just while they were standing and chatting. They stared at her light golden hair, then looked at her face, as if judging whether she was a real mixed-race person or just pretending.

Rong Rong gave her a smile, “I knew you’d come out to find me. I wanted to have a hot drink, so I took a detour to buy it. Here, this is your cup.”

Po Er looked behind her, as if wanting to find some clues, but quickly looked away as if nothing had happened and took the drink she was handed. “Do you still want to go back and watch the movie?”

“No,” Rong Rong shook her head, thinking about Tang Yiyi, who was still waiting for her in the movie theater, and Wei Shang, who had come out of the next theater with a group of big black dogs, “That’s so boring.”

Before she could continue, Po Er smiled brightly, like a woman who had stepped out of a painting. She affectionately linked her arm with Rong Rong’s. “I think so too. Let’s go play something else. I heard there’s a pretty good escape room on the third floor. Come with me—”

On the way up, Rong Rong had already finished reading the strategy guide that the system had rewarded her with. It showed that Po Er had a costume fetish, but was very considerate to her girlfriend, and that the original owner’s persona for her was [A hard-working part-time worker].

“Maybe next time,” Rong Rong said, looking a bit troubled, “My boss just sent me a task, and I have to go back right away. I have to go work overtime.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt her phone “buzz” again in her pocket.

She didn’t know which demanding ghost it was.

Po Er narrowed her eyes, and after a long pause, said with regret, “Okay, then you can come with me next time. I’ll send you back first.”

“No need…”

“Do you want to keep refusing me?”

Po Er looked at her meaningfully. Just as Rong Rong was considering calling a taxi and having the driver make a detour halfway, she saw the person in front of her sigh lightly, “It’s okay if you don’t want me to take you, but you have to coax me.”

Rong Rong: “?”

Then she was pushed into the shadows of the hallway next to them.

After a little more than half a minute, Rong Rong pulled her collar self-consciously and barely managed to give Po Er a smile as she sent her to the door. She got in the car first and had the driver go to the opposite side of the road. When she saw the other person leave in their car, she hurriedly paid for the short ride and ran back into the mall.

The wind whistled through her hair, revealing the obvious kiss mark on her collarbone. When she got inside the mall, she saw that there were already several missed calls on her phone, three from Tang Yiyi and two from Wei Shang.

The strategy guide showed that because Tang Yiyi herself was extremely controlling, the character for her was [An obedient, poor college student] who wouldn’t refuse any of her requests, and Tang Yiyi had obviously been waiting for her alone in the movie theater until she became impatient.

Not only were there a few missed calls, but she had also sent a message, telling her to return to the movie theater within one minute, or she would bear the consequences.

Rong Rong: “…”

She ran across the escalator, and almost took the wrong turn on the second floor. Fortunately, she was stopped in time. As she was about to thank the person, she turned around and saw the pixelated face.

Whoa!

She opened her eyes wide in shock, and subconsciously said, “Weren’t you…” caught by the system and exchanged for a strategy guide? How was she still here?

Could it be that there were countless pixelated people in this world, each a little bug? If she exchanged them a few more times, wouldn’t she become rich just from reporting them?

Rong Rong looked closely and realized that this pixelated person was a little different from before.

How should she put it? If she had to describe it, it was… it seemed a bit blurrier than before.

“Would you like a scarf? Three for fifty yuan. It’s a special offer in our store.”

It was still the same nice voice, a tone that was unforgettable once you had heard it. It was a strange setting, Rong Rong thought. Why could this person be designed so casually, yet have such a nice voice acting?

When she spoke to her first, Su Mingxiu found that she was still unable to speak freely. In the end, she could only ask this question within the scope allowed by her character. At the same time, her gaze fell on the kiss mark on Rong Rong’s collar.

She had already seen Rong Rong bounce between multiple people in this short amount of time. But a successful sea king wouldn’t let anyone leave marks on themselves at this time—

Unless, she was confident that she would never be caught.

Or, maybe she was a newbie who had accidentally fallen into this situation.

Which one would this protagonist be?

After Su Mingxiu finished reciting the sales pitch that a boutique shop clerk would say, she stared at Rong Rong. The person who was being watched had long since realized that the mark that Po Er had left couldn’t be hidden just by tugging on her collar. That cunning doll was determined to leave a mark on her before she would leave, and she couldn’t stop it.

So, she could only slump her shoulders and tentatively say, “Then I’ll buy… buy one?”

After she said that she didn’t know how to choose, she saw this pixelated person dutifully pick out the scarf that was most suitable for the dress she was wearing, in a serious and methodical manner, asked her to scan the code to pay, and was quite indifferent throughout the whole process, completely unaware that she had just been reported to the system by the person in front of her.

Rong Rong stared at the even blurrier pixels of her, and subconsciously felt that it should be related to her reporting, but she couldn’t figure out whether this pixelated person could randomly wander around like a wild boss, or if they were really everywhere, and the one she had seen at the milk tea shop and the movie theater entrance wasn’t the same person?

While thinking randomly, she paid and realized that she didn’t know how to tie a scarf. She picked up the scarf and said to Su Mingxiu, “Can you help me tie it?”

Tang Yiyi, who had waited through a long segment of the movie, waited and waited, but no one came.

She suddenly remembered that when Rong Rong left earlier, there was also someone who had left from the seat next to her.

Although she didn’t know the other person, Tang Yiyi’s suspicious nature made her unable to resist leaning over to look at the side. Sure enough, the seat was empty.

In the dim light, her angular face was full of coldness. Unable to wait any longer, she got up and strode towards the exit of the movie theater, preparing to personally catch the person who was running around for no reason when she received a call from her.

“President Tang, I was in the theater for so long and the wind was blowing on me, and my stomach feels a little uncomfortable. Can I not watch the movie?”

“Where are you?”

The next second, her location was sent, on the third floor.

Tang Yiyi frowned, not expecting her to be so weak. She immediately walked in that direction. After leaving the movie theater and going down the escalator, she quickly saw the person waiting on the third floor. When she saw the extra scarf on her, she paused her action of taking off her coat.

“What is this?” She raised her hand, wanting to touch the scarf that was tied so beautifully.

Rong Rong raised her hand, looking at her pitifully, “I bought it on the second floor. I was too cold, and this scarf was on sale, three for fifty yuan, so I bought it.”

The person standing in front of Tang Yiyi now had one scarf on her neck, and one wrapped around each of her left and right hands. If she wasn’t short on money, Tang Yiyi suspected that she could wrap herself up from head to toe.

Her suspicious gaze turned into a headache. She simply took off her coat and draped it over her, saying with some helplessness, “Let’s go, I’ll take you to buy clothes. Take off these gaudy things later.”

How could that be allowed?

Rong Rong thought. If she hadn’t had a flash of inspiration earlier and thought of taking two more, based on this person’s control freak personality, the one on her neck would have been exposed by now.

So she took the initiative to hold Tang’s hand, her eyes full of admiration and desire, and said obediently, “I’m not cold when you’re by my side.”

As she spoke, she pretended to look enviously at the escape room next to them, “I’ve never played this before. President Tang, you’re so knowledgeable, do you know what this escape room is? Is it fun?”

Tang Yiyi could of course hear the longing that she was trying to suppress.

Seeing that she had really stopped shivering after putting on her coat, she pursed her lips and said, “Whether it’s fun or not, you’ll know once you go with me.”

At the same time.

Movie Theater 2.

Wei Shang, who had been waiting for a long time and still hadn’t seen Rong Rong return, lazily opened her eyes, no longer looking at the mess on the floor of the theater. She patted the two dogs next to her, “Let’s go, take Mommy to find that little rascal who’s not listening.”

“Woof!”

Su Mingxiu stood expressionlessly at the entrance of the escape room, feeling like she had taken over all the service jobs in this entire mall, but she couldn’t show any clues.

Seeing that the scarf on the little bird-like girl’s neck hadn’t been taken off, and was still tied nicely, she mechanically recited the rules of the escape room, led them inside, and when she turned to leave, she looked at the map. She was still thinking about where to load into to watch Rong Rong’s entire journey when she heard a burst of chaotic barking coming towards her.

Her eyelids twitched as she saw the group of black pit bulls rushing towards her, and other shoppers in the mall were avoiding them.

The one in the lead reached her, opened its mouth to bark, but its nose moved first, and the sound that was about to come out got stuck in its throat.

Wei Shang came in a step later, patted its head, and asked casually, “Oldest, what’s wrong?”

The black dog squatted in front of the server. It was just about to express its confusion through barking, but it found that the scent on the server’s body had changed. It immediately started barking madly, “Woof woof woof woof!”

Wei Shang: “?”

She looked up at the person standing behind the desk who had been startled by the dog’s barking, and tilted her head in confusion. She couldn’t see anything wrong with the person, but still took out her phone and sent a message.

Then, she said to the person who was trembling, “Did a girl wearing a blue dress come in here earlier? Could you please tell me which room she went into?”

Inside the haunted house escape room.

Rong Rong, who heard the barking through the thin walls, was pale in the darkness. Although she wasn’t afraid of these prop ghosts, she knew that if Wei Shang saw her with Tang Yiyi, she would be dead. The most urgent thing was to find a way to get rid of Tang Yiyi.

She looked around and saw a coffin glowing red next to her. While Tang Yiyi was searching for clues to open the next door, she quietly took a few steps back, touched the edge of the coffin lid, and was still looking for a mechanism to open it when white mist suddenly came out of the coffin lid, rolling down and then slowly coming out from inside—

A pixelated person sat up.

Rong Rong: “…”

Thanks, that really scared her to death.

Before she could react, the person who had been popped out of the coffin reached out to her first. Rong Rong thought about it and didn’t refuse. She followed her and laid inside. The coffin lid closed, and suddenly turned. She and the pixelated person simultaneously flipped over and fell into a tunnel, sliding straight down.

After finally stopping, Rong Rong could no longer hear Tang Yiyi’s voice or the barking of dogs. She was lying on top of the pixelated person, and when she saw the badge on her chest that said “Escape Room Employee A”, she finally couldn’t resist poking the other person’s shoulder with one hand: “Hey, are you in love with me? Why else are you always following me?”

Su Mingxiu didn’t speak, mainly because she couldn’t say anything that didn’t fit the character settings.

Just then, she didn’t know what the person lying on top of her was thinking, but she suddenly took off the badge on her clothes, “This prop of yours—”

“What’s your name?”

The nice voice rang out again. When Rong Rong thought she was going to recite some sales pitch again, she asked a very different question.

“Me?”

Rong Rong just stayed lying on top of her, her fingertips playing with the name tag, not knowing what kind of restraint she had released for the other person. “You haven’t told me your name yet.”

“My name is Su Mingxiu.”

“Huh, then why is your name tag ‘Employee A’? Did a bug cause a different program to run?”

“What?” Su Mingxiu rarely asked that question.

Rong Rong, however, thought of something else. So far, every named character she had encountered who was around her wasn’t simple. This pixelated person who was Employee A on the surface but actually had a name, wouldn’t be a boss as well?

Out of caution, she very carefully asked, “D-do we… have some kind of special relationship?”

Su Mingxiu thought about her bouncing between different women earlier, blinked her eyes, and suddenly said, “I’m your ex-girlfriend, don’t you remember?”

Rong Rong…

Rong Rong immediately jumped off of her.

She hadn’t thought that this place was dangerous before, but now she realized that she was like Tang Sanzang who had fallen into the spider demon’s cave. She looked at this fake Employee A from top to bottom, and thought about her identity, and then about how the other person was always chasing her.

Not good!

Rong Rong shouted in her heart.

This time’s pervert seemed to have a cuckold fetish!

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.

Chapter 183: The Ones Who Can’t Be Shaken Off (2)

The system quickly gave Rong Rong the answer: “You have a total of five girlfriends—would you like to play the opening animation?”

Rong Rong: …

She felt like she wasn’t playing some “Breakup Strategy” game, but rather PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The game had thrown her into this movie theater right from the start, with five high-level players targeting her. How was she supposed to survive?!

Just then, she noticed the “newbie protection period” the system had mentioned earlier and quickly asked what that was about.

She quickly got her answer: “During the newbie protection period, if a player unfortunately cheats, is discovered by their girlfriend, and is killed, they can reload. However, once a player survives in the game for more than 30 minutes, it is assumed that the player is familiar with the rules. If another accident occurs after that, it will be considered a game failure, and the save will not be reloaded.”

[What is the result of a game failure?]

[Although this game is a holographic game, it adheres to the principle of ultimate realism. Game failure may cause irreversible damage to your real-world body.]

Rong Rong: ?

Good grief, so the so-called internal testing was just grabbing random lab rats? What a black-hearted game!

Her face was etched with the desire to complain about the shady company, but after her two previous death experiences, she was now like a startled bird. The perfectly timed adrenaline rush had her brain cells working at an unprecedented level. While talking to the system, she collected information about the movie theater.

Rong Rong noticed that even though she and the system had already talked quite a bit in her mind, the two main characters in the movie had only managed to say one line of dialogue.

She knew that since this holographic game had surpassed any technology she understood, she couldn’t approach it with a mindset of complaining.

So, she suppressed her extra emotions, pulled out her phone, turned on the screen, looked at the time, and estimated how much of her newbie protection period she had left. At the same time, she asked the system, “How long does your opening animation take to watch?”

Rong Rong needed to figure out a way to prevent the couple in the next seat from finding out about her relationship with the president before the cola bottle at her feet rolled over.

“In the conscious world, it only takes one microsecond,” the system quickly replied.

[Play it.]

“You are an orphan, raised in an orphanage. You always got into conflicts with other children, often fighting, until you received sponsorship and began to live a slightly better life.

But this sponsorship only lasted until college. Fortunately, you were very driven and supported yourself with part-time jobs for living expenses and tuition. Every weekend, you had to work many jobs. To best manage your work and study, you had a strict schedule.”

“Until recently, you noticed some problems. At first, you just realized that you could never remember what happened between the time you got out of class and the next day when you went to school. But your homework was always done well, and your classmates treated you the same as before. You gradually relaxed, thinking you were just too tired and stressed, which was causing these memory lapses.”

“But the problem gradually became more serious. You realized you were losing more and more memories. Even the items on your schedule became particularly strange. Although all your part-time jobs were completed successfully, there would always be a strange ‘entertainment time’ after. Not only that, but a lot of strange clothes and accessories that didn’t fit your taste appeared at home. Even on your phone, you would often get messages from IDs you didn’t know, but they would ask you out in a very familiar tone. You finally began to panic.”

“You secretly sought help from the school psychologist. Fortunately, you quickly understood what your symptoms were. Unfortunately, your mental problems were already quite severe. You had to take a leave of absence from school to receive treatment. Fortunately, your treatment expenses were fully covered by a charity fund. You received the best treatment, and these memory lapses never happened again… but those forgotten parts from before never returned.”

“The ambiguous words and unfamiliar IDs on your phone kept sending you strange messages from time to time. You finally couldn’t resist your curiosity and decided to figure out what exactly you had done in the time you had forgotten— You discovered that the invitations they sent were all to a movie theater in the city center. To quickly resolve things and explain to them what had happened to you recently, you agreed.”

“Until you walked into this movie theater, you realized that the situation seemed to be much more complicated than you had imagined…”

The opening animation played frame by frame in Rong Rong’s mind. At the end, the movie in the scene was the same one that was playing in front of her.

…How terrifying.

Had this holographic game ever considered partnering with Resident Evil? It would guarantee scaring players to death at the start.

Rong Rong hadn’t experienced any sense of romance or breakups at all. She just felt like she was acting in “Horror Movie Theater.”

“Gluglugluglu.”

The familiar cola bottle rolled to her feet.

Rong Rong froze for a moment, then felt the woman sitting to her left turn her head, asking with some concern, “Don’t you like this movie?”

She had noticed Rong Rong’s action of looking at her phone earlier.

Rong Rong slowly swallowed and shook her head. At the same time, she felt like the plastic bottle at her feet was a death warrant. She didn’t dare to stay here any longer, waiting for the beautiful doll-like woman next door to discover her relationship with this rich woman. She also didn’t dare to run to the restroom like last time and deliver another headshot.

She had to find a safe place and get enough information as quickly as possible.

Rong Rong remembered the kill from picking up the cola bottle, and she couldn’t guarantee that this time, lowering her head wouldn’t attract the attention of the person next to her. This time her excuse was still “I need to go to the restroom,” and the woman in the white suit didn’t stop her either.

But after hurriedly opening the door, Rong Rong looked left and right, not heading to the restroom, but looking at the movie theater number 4. She quietly crossed the hallway, quickly went to movie theater 2 on the opposite side, pulled open the slightly ajar door, and closed it bit by bit without making a sound.

Other movies were playing here. When movies were playing, no audience members would be in the hallways. She stood in this dark hallway, listening to the anxious thumping of her heart.

Rong Rong looked left and right, gradually relaxing. She knew that movie theater 4 had a rich woman, a pink doll who might move to the restroom, and the restroom had a wheelchair-bound yandere. So, that meant there were only two people left outside!

Hahahaha, surely this big movie theater couldn’t be filled with all her death-prone girlfriends, right?

The person standing in the hallway took a long breath, slid to the ground, and said to the system in her mind, “Didn’t you say I had a newbie gift pack earlier? Let’s take a look?”

[Ding! Congratulations, player, you have obtained the skill: Sea King Boat Skills (Level 1). Cooldown: 2 hours. Usage conditions: Currently not met.]

Rong Rong: ?

What the heck?

What the heck was this?

She looked at the skill button that had lit up next to her. She clicked on it for a long time, but it didn’t do anything. She had no choice but to temporarily give up on this ineffective skill that didn’t meet the usage conditions.

At the same time, Rong Rong took out her phone and, using the light from the screen, started looking through the original owner’s chat logs, trying to capture some information about her death-prone girlfriends.

Buzz—

Her phone vibrated, displaying a message.

Tangyy: “Come back soon.”

She started flipping through the chat logs and found out that this Tangyy’s real name was Tang Yiyi. Her profile picture was a landscape photo that artistic people liked. The timing of her messages was very regular, conforming to the work schedule of a company employee, and she even often worked overtime. Most of their chats were about her telling the original owner to go to her company at a certain time. Although the content was very warm, it easily gave off a vibe of a superior giving a task to a subordinate.

And the last record was Tangyy booking a movie for her, taking a picture, and telling her the location.

[Ding! Congratulations, player, you have unlocked Girlfriend 1’s information:
Name: Tang Yiyi (President of Xincheng Co., Ltd.)
Age: 28. Characteristic: Extremely controlling.]

Buzz—

Po: “You asked me to come out, and then you stood me up?”

Po: “Baby, aren’t you going to explain who was sitting next to you earlier?”

Po: “ps: We agreed to meet in the restroom, but you ran away again. Are you playing hide-and-seek with me?”

While feeling despair, she couldn’t help but click on this person’s profile picture and continue searching for information. At first glance, it was a very beautiful painting, especially pretty, like a beautiful woman sleeping in a sea of flowers. But when she clicked on it, she realized that the flowers…

They were all growing from the woman’s body, from her nails, eyelashes, and the ends of her hair, extending into one flower after another. And the woman in the flower sea looked exactly like her.

The oil painting instantly changed from a woman sleeping in a sea of flowers to a woman cultivating flowers.

Rong Rong: Crap.

Her hand trembled as she flipped through the chat logs, wondering why the girlfriends in this trash game were all characters from crime documentaries.

[Ding! Congratulations, player, you have unlocked Girlfriend 2’s information:
Name: Po Er (Freelance Artist)
Age: 21. Characteristic: Likes bright and beautiful things.]

After reading the chat logs, Rong Rong racked her brain and started typing a reply: “I didn’t run away. I just thought the restroom in the movie theater was too far, so I went to the mall outside. But my stomach feels really bad; it must be because the air conditioning in the theater was too cold. And this movie isn’t very good. I want to go out and find something hot to drink.”

Po: “I even went to the restroom to look for you. Where are you? No, don’t change the subject. You still haven’t explained who you were sitting with earlier?”

Rong Rong: “My boss from when I had an internship. I just ran into them. Ah! I actually mixed up the seat numbers. I thought you had gone to the wrong seat. I waited for you for so long.”

Po: “Okay, send me the address when you come out. I’ll go find you something hot to drink. Don’t drink anything random. Be careful not to ruin your body again.”

Rong Rong knew that the crisis of encountering number one and two had been resolved, and she let out a long sigh of relief.

It was also at this moment that she felt like something was off.

The person standing in the hallway couldn’t help but turn her head, listening to the movie dialogue being played in the theater. She realized that it was actually a comedy. But there was no laughter in the entire theater. It had been completely silent since she came in.

Had someone booked the entire theater?

Rong Rong was about to move forward when she felt a chill on the back of her neck, like she was being watched by something.

“Clang, clang.”

The sound of hollow metal railings being knocked came from above.

The woman looked up and realized that someone was holding her chin, looking down at her from above. The person looked very heroic and had a smile on her lips, dressed in short sleeves and seemingly not afraid of the cold.

But that wasn’t the point. The point was that on the railing she was leaning on, there were countless eyes looking straight at her. They looked especially eerie in the unlit theater—

Until one of the eyes moved and let out a sound: “Woof!”

Rong Rong broke out in a cold sweat. She belatedly realized that they were actually a lot of black dogs. And it was very obvious that they had all been brought by this woman.

She looked up at her, staring at her for a long time, her heart turning cold.

Because Rong Rong saw the gaudy heart on this woman’s head.

And the number “99” in the heart.

Just then, the woman lazily hooked her finger at her, “Have you looked enough? Little thing, if you’ve looked enough, come over here. Me and the kids have been waiting for you here for a long time.”

Rong Rong: “…”

This was just ridiculous.

Movie Theater 4.

Su Mingxiu felt the power that had restrained her finally disappear. She heard the manager in her earpiece ordering her to clean up the trash for the distinguished guests in the last row while telling her not to disturb their movie experience.

But Su Mingxiu, who had regained her freedom, ignored the voice in her earpiece. She had already heard the same dialogue repeating like a broken record many times, and she had also seen the familiar figure making movements in different poses in the last row of seats.

She pondered for a moment and tried to walk in the direction that the person had left. All the way until she opened the theater door, she wasn’t stopped again.

But Su Mingxiu forgot about the exit of the movie theater and realized that it was just a mist, like a map that wasn’t open to her.

“Woof, woof!”

Su Mingxiu heard a dog barking nearby. Even though it was very faint, she still caught it.

But the manager in the earpiece, who was constantly monitoring all the distinguished guests, didn’t react at all. After thinking for a moment, Su Mingxiu walked towards movie theater 2 on the opposite side.

As soon as she pushed the door open, the previously faint dog barking became extremely intense, even reaching a terrifying level, as if the entire theater was open to dogs.

“Someone’s here to disturb us?”

An interested voice rang out amidst the movie’s dialogue.

At the same time, the manager’s scolding came from her earpiece, “Why did you go to theater 2? It’s been booked by a VIP. Don’t go near it without instructions. If you want to live, get out of there now.”

Rong Rong also heard the sound of the movie theater door being opened. But at this moment, she was sitting in the couple’s seat in the very center of the last row, acting as an emotionless popcorn feeding machine. When she heard the sound, she was afraid it was another one of her five fish, and her heart couldn’t help but feel a bit panicked.

Her expression was captured by Wei Shang, who paused her popcorn-biting motion. Her teeth slowly bit down on Rong Rong’s fingertip, which was still holding the popcorn, as if it was an accidental touch.

But soon—

Rong Rong, who had lowered her pain sensitivity, saw a bead of blood appear on her fingertip.

She instantly realized that this wasn’t an unintentional action. Because not only did the other person not dislike the blood falling into the popcorn container, she even quite satisfyingly licked her fingertip with her tongue. It didn’t hurt, but instead, it was a numbness that made Rong Rong unconsciously bite her lip.

Wei Shang propped her head up and leaned against her, laughing lazily. Suddenly, she grabbed Rong Rong’s fingertip, letting her spill the popcorn container in a startle. Her light eyes looked at her clearly, like a large dog resting in her arms.

“You have the scent of someone else on you, and you know that I don’t like it.”

She seemed to be explaining why she had bitten her earlier, just to leave her own mark.

Rong Rong… Rong Rong was already numb.

She knew that every fish in this game was a pervert.

Seeing that she wasn’t talking, only being silent, Wei Shang raised her hand to pat Rong Rong’s head, then patted it again. Then, she said to the side, “Since the ground has been dirtied, have someone come clean it up. Oldest and second oldest, go.”

The mop and bucket in Su Mingxiu’s hand were seized by the quickly pouncing black dogs. The two black dogs, with their cold and fierce gazes, used their physical strength to pull her towards the viewing seats. She followed their force and walked in that direction.

Until she stood in front of these two audience members.

As if there were instincts engraved in her body, she mechanically picked up the mop and began to clean up the popcorn that had fallen all over the ground.

Rong Rong, on the other hand, subconsciously glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, afraid that there would be another accident. But once she looked, she couldn’t help but keep her eyes on her, her eyes twitching. Then, she looked again—

Damn it.

How strange.

She had been shocked by the appearances of Tang Yiyi and the others she had seen earlier. After all, from that President Tang to the artist Po, and then to the wheelchair-bound yandere in the restroom, they each had their own sense of beauty, including Wei Shang, who was now leaning on her and eating—but the potential danger of these people diluted Rong Rong’s perception of beauty. She only felt fear.

But all of them were no match for the attention that the cleaner A who had just appeared was drawing.

Because…

In a world that was generally high-definition and flawless, this “Cleaner A” was like a different art style that had barged in from another dimension. She was actually a…

Pixelated person. Although her appearance seemed okay, in this world where the holographic simulation was so real that you could even see the fine hairs on people’s faces, she was inexplicably a bit comical.

It was like a Contra character, made up of squares from the old Little Tyrant learning machine, had suddenly walked into a high-definition game with 1080t graphics.

Rong Rong knew that looking at someone else while being in front of Girlfriend 3 was dangerous. But she couldn’t control her gaze. She watched this pixelated person use a mop that had details so fine that even the dirt stains could be seen clearly, carefully cleaning up the popcorn on the ground.

Pfft.

It was really strange.

No, one more look. Even if she died, she had to look one more time!