The bright sunlight streamed down onto the balcony, covering the ground with the warmth of spring sunshine.
Lu Shizhen admitted to Qiuqiu with a firm voice, when she suddenly felt something pulling on her body, causing her to gasp in pain.
"I……"
Lu Shizhen opened her mouth, but it felt like something was blocking her throat.
It was as if some force was preventing her from having these thoughts, baring its teeth and claws to pull her back to her original position.
But Lu Shizhen insisted on saying what she wanted to say: "I've only just realized that I seem to have fallen into a cocoon I've woven for myself. Rather than living in fear and trembling under the control of the system just to keep this body, I might as well take a gamble. I've already lived a healthy life for a while, so it's not a loss..."
With a snap, it was as if the needle stuck in my heart had broken open.
The excruciating pain split in two, piercing straight into Shi Zhen's heart upon landing. It was no longer something that could be simply summarized by the word "pain."
Unable to hold on any longer, Lu Shizhen clutched her chest, the back of her hand bulging with menacing blue veins.
Qiuqiu wagged its tail nervously and jumped onto the platform next to it in a few quick steps, stopping it: "Host, stop talking. The system page just showed that there were low-level warnings being generated."
"Damn, that really hurts." Lu Shizhen couldn't help but gasp and spit out a curse. "Why won't the system let me say 'I like...do you like it'?"
"It's because the Supreme God doesn't allow the mission taker, or the host, to develop feelings for the protagonist," Qiuqiu said.
Lu Shizhen scoffed at this, her composure revealing a hint of disdain for the main god: "But I still like her."
"Even though I knew from the beginning that I would pay a physical price for this affection, I still fell in love with her."
“Host…” Qiuqiu felt a pang of pity seeing Lu Shizhen’s distressed state, and even regretted having the audacity to expose Lu Shizhen’s thoughts earlier.
“We have to think of something. This world can’t collapse, and I can’t let Xu Shiyue be with Shen Yanxing.” Lu Shizhen said, propping herself up to sit on a small stool next to her.
"This is difficult, host," Qiuqiu said. "If the protagonist deviates from the main plot, how can the world not collapse?"
“But haven’t you noticed? Xu Shiyue has already deviated from the main plot.” Lu Shizhen caught her breath and told Qiuqiu what she had been thinking about all night. “There must be a reasonable reason for the collapse of the world. It can’t just suddenly break down when everything is fine.”
Qiuqiu had never thought deeply about this rule, which was written into their system manual as the first rule by the main system. She paused for a moment, and then heard Lu Shizhen say, "Is it possible that the reason the protagonist is the protagonist is because some of her actions will eventually cause the world to collapse?"
“It’s like Xu Shiyue turning evil later on. If we can’t control her, she will destroy the world.” Lu Shizhen raised her hands and gestured to Qiuqiu. “If Xu Shiyue doesn’t break down, the world won’t collapse.”
“But… if what you’re saying is true, then Shen Yanxing clearly doesn’t possess that ability anymore…” Qiuqiu was deeply puzzled, but thanks to its highly developed system algorithm, it quickly came up with a contradictory answer: “Host, you don’t mean you want to replace Shen Yanxing, do you?!”
"Is that alright?" Lu Shizhen did not deny it. "In that case, I think Xu Shiyue and this world will still be safe."
“The host’s deduction is correct, and the logic is sound enough.” Qiuqiu nodded first, but then changed the subject, “But all of this can only be done without the Lord God noticing it.”
“Host, you are not the first person to question the main god. In the past, there have been many hosts who tried to change the plot, and some were even used as negative examples. They all died, and like fixing bugs, they were all repaired by the main system.”
Clearly a living, breathing person, yet in the world of the Supreme God, they become nothing more than a piece of data.
The sunlight was mostly obscured by the clouds that had been pushed aside, and a colossal, unfathomable system loomed darkly before Lu Shizhen. This feeling of powerless insignificance fueled her fear: "How cruel..."
"so……"
"Then let's blindfold the Supreme God!"
Qiuqiu tried to persuade Lu Shizhen to reconsider, but was interrupted by the man's tone, which was completely different from his previous low voice.
The terrifying sight of the colossal creature did not seem to frighten Lu Shizhen. Her mind raced: "Do you think it's possible that we could create a shielding program, like a smokescreen, to create a false impression of the main system's monitoring of this world, for example, by switching my signal source with Shen Yanxing's in some way?"
"Host, if our actions are discovered, we will be completely erased," Qiuqiu earnestly reminded us. "Don't you want to enjoy life with this healthy body?"
Lu Shizhen did not answer Qiuqiu's question, but looked at Qiuqiu with the same serious tone: "But you can do it, right?"
A gentle breeze swept by, ruffling the hair on the side of Zhen's face as she landed.
She gazed at the endless greenery in the distance and whispered, "I've been running away for five years, and in those five years, not a single day has gone by without me thinking about her."
"Spending every day with her is a bonus. If the world doesn't collapse and I can still be with her, that would be the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me in my life."
As Lu Shizhen spoke, she raised her hand and hooked the hem of her skirt, which was fluttering in the wind, on the clothes rack, as if a god had seized her weakness: "I remember that in the past I was always resentful, resenting why I didn't have a healthy body, why I didn't have a pair of legs that could move freely. If I hadn't insisted on going out, would my health have been much better? If I had been more careful after one of my surgeries, would I have been able to stand up again..."
As Lu Shizhen spoke, her less-than-ideal past unfolded in her mind, each sentence proving how much she longed for her current healthy body.
But there is always a sword in the world that can cut a snake covered in venom in two.
The snake's head, with its fangs bared and tongue flicking, lay desolate beneath the withered tree, its ferocity rendered futile.
Lu Shizhen took a deep breath and loosened her grip on the skirt: "But it is precisely because of all this that I have met Xu Shiyue now, so I don't want to think about 'what ifs' at all."
I wasn't intimidated by Qiuqiu's hints again, nor did I desperately remind myself that "I'm straight."
Lu Shizhen watched her skirt flutter in the wind and said calmly, "If the past had changed even a little bit, I might never have met her again. Forgetting her and missing her is the saddest thing in my life."
"If living is just about existing, then earning more points will only be boring."
As Lu Shizhen spoke, she turned to look at the kitten sitting next to her.
She looked into Qiuqiu's dark, bright eyes and chuckled to herself, "Qiuqiu, even if I told you, you wouldn't understand this feeling, would you?"
Qiuqiu leaned silently against Lu Shizhen's chest, its slender tail swaying dully.
It thought it shouldn't be able to sense the feelings Lu Shizhen was talking about, but for some reason, it seemed to understand the feeling Lu Shizhen was describing.
The constantly running program draws on feedback from its surroundings, and its massive computational power is constantly evolving.
Nothing is absolutely perfect, not even highly advanced algorithms.
Looking at the quiet cat in her arms, Lu Shizhen thought for a while and then bribed her, "If you succeed, I'll give you a bunch of starch sausage flowers, the kind with ninety-nine flowers, okay?"
"Meow! (Okay!)" This time, Qiuqiu answered exceptionally readily.
In any case, it was just a drifting duckweed in a vast system. It was the duckweed that chose Lu Shizhen, and it was Lu Shizhen that chose it.
It is the host's most reliable and loyal companion, and it is willing to fight for its host.
Just as Maomao was thinking this, she heard Lu Shizhen's voice reminding her: "But we can't let Xu Shiyue know about these things before things are done, you understand? I'm afraid it will scare her."
"Meow~ (Of course, don't worry, host.)" Qiuqiu assured her, her tail, which had been happily wagging, suddenly stopped.
Lu Shizhen found Qiuqiu's reaction a bit strange, and then she felt as if there was a tiny human figure reflected on the glass next to her.
The large glass window reflected the living room scene in a blurry way, and a slender and tall figure stood next to the sofa that had just been cleaned.
Xu Shiyue came out of Lu Shizhen's room.
The once impeccably tailored shirt had come undone, the ribbon at the collar hanging loosely, seemingly unintentionally revealing one rounded shoulder.
Her long, seaweed-like hair had lost its exaggerated, voluminous curl from yesterday, and the slight bend stopped just right on Xu Shiyue's shoulders, its smooth, flowing sheen carrying a touch of casual laziness from early morning.
Lu Shizhen stared blankly, forgetting even to consider whether the man had overheard her conversation with Qiuqiu, and simply mumbled, "You're awake."
"Hmm." Xu Shiyue nodded lightly and strolled leisurely toward the balcony where Lu Shizhen was.
Perhaps because her feelings had just become clear, Lu Shizhen, who had been single for many years and had no experience, felt somewhat at a loss.
She wanted to express her concern for Xu Shiyue, but after hesitating for a while, all she could manage was a clumsy, hesitant greeting: "Did you sleep well last night...?"
Before she could finish speaking, Xu Shiyue walked over and interrupted her: "Your lips are so white."
Her eyes were serious, and she leaned quite close to Lu Shizhen.
Whether she felt guilty or was already overwhelmed by temptation, Lu Shizhen's heart, which had just calmed down, started pounding wildly again.
Lu Shizhen's lips were white not because of anything else, but because she had only just recovered from the system's punishment.
She didn't want Xu Shiyue to know these things and worry about her, so she said to cover it up, "But, maybe I didn't rest well. I'll be fine after a good night's sleep."
"Go to sleep then, I haven't folded the blankets yet." Xu Shiyue said, hooking Lu Shizhen's hand around hers.
Her tone was as gentle as a spring pond, soft and captivating.
Before Lu Shizhen could react, she had already been led into the bedroom.
After a night apart, Lu Shizhen had never felt that her bed could be so soft.
Xu Shiyue thoughtfully covered her with a light blanket, and a faint fragrance wafted past her nose.
It's not just Xu Shiyue's hands.
It was the same blanket she had used last night.
The unfolded blanket held the warmth of the previous person, and Lu Shizhen was wrapped in it as if she were being enveloped by Xu Shiyue's body heat.
The delicate fragrance slowly wafted into Lu Shizhen's nostrils, and she felt waves of heat slowly rising towards her face.
She somewhat liked this feeling, but then she saw Xu Shiyue, who had helped her tidy up the blankets, stand up as if she was about to leave.
Not wanting Lu Shizhen's face to be filled with such emotions, she quickly asked, "Xu Shiyue, where are you going?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Shiyue stopped in her tracks and calmly helped Lu Shizhen recall what had happened last night: "Didn't Teacher Sixteen say last night that I should leave as soon as I woke up in the morning? I'm awake now, so it's time for me to leave."
Regret, remorse, and regret for not having done it sooner.
The gentle heat that Teng had been giving Lu Shizhen instantly changed, burning her with remorse.
Lu Shizhen, look what you've done!
After struggling with myself for so long, I'm the one who ends up suffering!
Lu Shizhen watched Xu Shiyue leave, struggled for a moment, lifted the corner of the quilt, and stretched out her hand that was tucked under the quilt. With innocent eyes, she pleaded, "Actually, the hotel can also provide room extension services."
Those slender fingers hooked onto the hem of her skirt hanging by the bedside, the white and black overlapping, clumsily conveying a sense of pleading.
Xu Shiyue looked at Lu Shizhen with her eyes half-lowered, pursed her lips slightly, and asked in a low voice, "What are the standards for Teacher Sixteen's renewal fee?"
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