The newspaper article about the game was a loophole that Yan Hui exploited.

It contains a lot of information, which I can't say directly, but since the BOSS rarely pays attention to it, much of the information is closely related to this world.

Mingmei and Muchen quickly shared this information with everyone they could, except for Lu Xiaoyao, who was very close to the BOSS.

After all, her every move seemed to be under the BOSS's close scrutiny.

The next day, Mu Chen delivered the message to Qi Haikui and Li Yuan by delivering milk. Li Yuan, in particular, was approached by Mu Chen when no one was looking because of the matter that Mingmei had mentioned to Mu Chen about him and Hu Yue the day before.

Li Yuan's expression was also quite unpleasant upon hearing this.

"I don't know either. The character's identity records that he has someone he likes, but it doesn't say that he's married." Li Yuan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Hu Yue was playing the character he liked.

However, the passion that followed, the uncontrollable emotions upon seeing the other person, and the unrestrained things they did in the street made Li Yuan feel embarrassed when he thought about how people he knew might have seen all of this.

Mu Chen's words about Hu Yue's role made Li Yuan's mood sink.

“Ah Yue didn’t tell me exactly what her role was in this game, but I was the one who cleaned up the mess with Doug yesterday. I can guess some things, and I don’t think she was worried that I would have objections if I knew…”

Li Yuan said softly, "More than A-Yue not telling me what her true identity is, I've sensed something else." (M.cascoo.net)

"You noticed something?"

Mu Chen knew that he and Qi Haikui were both highly mentally strong and extremely sensitive, and their intuition was really accurate when it came to certain things.

"I have a vague feeling that the character I'm playing isn't something I can fully control... I know that when we play games, we're told that we'll be influenced by the character's own settings, and that the system will automatically identify and take over some actions in place of us when there's a possibility of OOC (Out of Character)."

This feeling is just more pronounced in this game.

Nanami has always believed that her mental strength is so high that the rule in the game that character data affects the player is just for show.

However, precisely because of this, these players with super S-level mental strength can be very keenly aware of these subtle changes, and they feel very clearly the constraints that the characters in the game place on them.

"Sometimes, while I wouldn't say I hate the choices and decisions my body makes, I certainly don't like them. Yet, when my body does these things, it feels perfectly natural."

For example, yesterday 'I' dealt with Doug with just one sentence—fired him, without making a big deal out of it or calling the police… In my opinion, how this was handled was very wrong…"

At least, Li Yuan felt that if the person in question was not Hu Yue, but a complete stranger...

If someone beats up a school teacher and reports the teacher for XSR, would he still dismiss the teacher so rudely and decisively without any investigation or police intervention?

Even if we disregard the character of Hu Yue, if he can still perform well, it means that the character is foolish and only believes one side of the story.

If it was a case of differential treatment, because Hu Yue's character convinced him that the other person wasn't a good person, then firing her directly would have been a way of venting his anger for the character Hu Yue was playing.

His role wasn't particularly good either.

Blinded by beauty, oppressed by power...

Li Yuan vaguely sensed that his character might not be a good person.

...

"He feels good."

After delivering the milk in the morning, Mu Chen went to Mingmei's shop and chatted with Yuan Fang about what Li Yuan had said.

Yuan Fang touched the mutilated limbs of his character and whispered, "I can feel that inexplicable negative emotion spreading in my heart. It's like someone keeps telling me I'm a useless person... I can't even bear to see my own child..."

"Wait a minute, your characters have a child?"

It was the first time Mingmei had ever heard them talk about children.

"Yes, but he passed away a couple of years ago." Yuan Fang took a breath, and his chest suddenly felt tight when he mentioned his child.

"My wife and I couldn't accept the blow, so we moved to a new place to start a new life."

"How did 'your' daughter die?"

"Jumping off a building," Yuan Fang said quietly. "Why do you guys think game characters commit suicide so easily? Life is so precious!"

As he spoke, Yuan Fang sighed. He had said that he would get used to killing after seeing it all, but Yuan Fang felt even more uncomfortable seeing these lives being lost after playing so many games.

As Mu Chen watched Yuan Fang's face flash between disbelief and sorrow, he said, "Shouldn't you be concerned about a child's mental state? Who would want to go to that point without utter despair?"

“This…” Yuan Fang looked up at Mu Chen, who didn’t offer further explanation, but simply said, “Although ‘A Girl’s Heart’ was an adult horror game, it mainly focused on the mental health of minors. I think the game shouldn’t only have the perspective of the BOSS as a teenager, right? Perhaps… in stories we don’t know, your stories also exist, filling this world. Just like this…”

As he spoke, Mu Chen pointed to an article on the newspaper he had been holding—about the city's middle schools' plans to conduct mental health awareness campaigns. The article included information about tragedies that had occurred in recent years in the city's schools due to the neglect of mental health.

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