Great Zhou World
The system felt like its core code was about to mushroom—it and Chen Ye had maintained the longest silence in history. Like a robot unplugged, Chen Ye zipped back from the Great Zhou world and was nailed to her computer chair, her eyes fixed on the screen, as if she could watch a slow-motion replay of Nangong Xi's suicide through the black screen. The warm, rusty virtual blood seemed to still linger on her senses, while the cold text and data streams mercilessly scrolled "The End" beside her.
"Ahem!" The system cleared its nonexistent throat, attempting to break the silence that rivaled a late-night library study room. "Um... Host? Let's stop being so emo and settle the bill first. Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the extra hidden mission in 'Hell-Level Dungeon: Great Zhou Storm'—'Finding garbled data for the system'! A bonus of 50,000 yuan has been received, along with the 'Five Insurances and One Housing Fund' package, although you probably won't need your pension, host!"
He paused, then continued in a tone like someone announcing a lottery jackpot (though the winner didn't seem particularly pleased): "Main quest score: Passing for affection (50%), good story progress (80%). Total bonus: 500,000! Host, you've made a killing! Sad as it is, isn't the money sweet?"
Chen Ye finally moved, like a rusty joint, slowly picking up the glass of water on the table that was still theoretically "cold", and gulped down a few gulps, trying to physically cool down the CPU (brain). She shook her head, as if she wanted to throw out the folder called "Da Zhou" inside, but unfortunately the folder was encrypted and pinned to the top. "System," Chen Ye's voice was a bit exhausted after staying up all night to finish the game, "I think I... have a work-related injury. I was too immersed in the role and can't get out. Is there any 'Quick-Acting Heart-Saver Pills for Actors to Get Out of the Play' or 'One-Click Clearing of Character Memory' function? It's okay for extra money!"
System: "...Host, let's not rush to take medicine yet. Let's review and calm down. My CPU is almost burnt out and I still can't figure it out. Why did the heroine Nangong Xi... suddenly click 'Permanently Offline' for herself? This doesn't go against the basic law of survival!"
Chen Ye rolled her eyes: "System! Your reaction arc is longer than the koi in the Imperial Garden! Haven't you figured it out yet? This broken world is a 'dead end experience center' built just for the heroine, like an SVIP! Solution? There's no such thing! They're the ultimate 'either you die or I live' bundled package! During those days when I was struck by the 'Seven Days of Cold', I lay in bed and went over 'The Art of War', 'The Thirty-Six Stratagems', and even 'Postpartum Care for Sows' in my head! In the end, I realized that the only way to rewrite the ending is probably... to travel back to the first chapter and give the still-young Xiao Ziyi crazy 'Sister's Love'! Use family affection to influence that little pervert and make him stop obsessing over Nangong Xi. But the problem is-" She sighed, "This little pervert's personality is 'factory-set, broken version'. Boosting his favorability? I'm afraid he'll end up with an 'Orthopedic Warning' ending!"
System: "Hiss... Hell-level difficulty, well-deserved reputation! Then, host, based on your experience completing the BE version, could you offer some valuable suggestions on 'reducing the difficulty' to the planners of the next world? For example... can you become stronger by paying?"
Chen Ye perked up and started counting on his fingers, complaining, "First of all! This 'annihilate the entire clan right from the start' thing is such a rip-off! The heroine is instantly reduced to a 'three-nothing' (no background, no support, no escape route), and even I, the princess, am left with a mere backdrop! Either don't exterminate the clan, or make Xiao Ziyi's love for Ning Yangyang truly moving, so that they can serve as a resurrection armor at the critical moment! Secondly!" She emphasized, "That forced 'official match', Crown Prince Xiao Yuhuan! A pure 'annoying artifact'! Awkward and useless! I was counting on him to be a cheat, but in the end, his effect was about the same as... a mount for a turtle? Finally! Give that NPC Nangong Xiang some extra IQ! Please! She actually believed Xiao Zihuan's lies and thought Xiao Yuhuan was the murderer? She took the male protagonist's bullshit as an imperial decree! In the end, she didn't even care about her own sister's life or death? This isn't love-brained anymore, this is brain stem deficiency!"
The system scrolled quickly, "Received! 'Refuse to annihilate the entire clan', 'Delete the awkward official pairing', 'NPC IQ recharge pack'... have been added to the patch list for the next world update! But host..." The system said cautiously, "In our next world... can we try to write a 'happy ending'? In two consecutive worlds, either the male protagonist or the female protagonist has died. Our 'Life Experience System' is about to be called the 'End of Life'! The user experience is too cruel!"
Chen Ye smiled bitterly. "The point isn't whether I want a happy ending, Tongzi! It's the plot that has its own ideas! I don't want Nangong Xi to swing her knife either! But for her, that might be the only 'escape button'. Should I rush up to her, hug her thighs, and yell, 'Sister, don't die! Think about the bonus! Think about the five social insurances and one housing fund!'? Is that appropriate?"
System: "Host! Stop! Don't get too caught up in this! Nangong Xi is just a string of carefully designed code, a few lines of beautiful words! Her blood is 'warm', that's because your imagination is too strong! But..." The system paused, and in a tone of discovery, "Host, your performance in the Great Zhou this time... is a bit 'emotional'? You are completely different from the calm host who said 'to live forever'! I thought you would just find a place to hide in a cellar until the end, regardless of the flood outside."
Chen Ye collapsed back, staring at the ceiling. He said quietly, "Tongzi, I feel like the background music of the Great Zhou Palace is still echoing deep within my soul. I'm afraid I won't be able to log off this 'actor' state for a while."
The system was silent for a few seconds, then, in a sweet, unruffled electronic voice, a truly "professional customer service" suggestion: "The host has been detected to be experiencing 'character immersion syndrome.' Recommendations: 1. Immediately watch half an hour of funny and adorable pet videos; 2. Consume a large amount of high-sugar junk food; 3. Sleep soundly. If symptoms persist, consider... paying to enable the 'memory blur filter' feature! 20% off for first-time users! Host, for the sake of your mental health and your next world's KPI, would you like to... give it a try?"
"Forget it," Chen Ye slurped the last of his happy water with a deafening slurp, as if to suck away all the bad luck in the Great Zhou world. "If I keep thinking about it, I'll be as low as Qi Yiwen, who even forgot her own last name. Tongzi, I'm going to call a truce! I'm going to squander it! I'm going to lie flat! I'm going to spend this 500,000 yuan bonus like I'm going to spend 5 billion yuan! See you in the third world in half a month!"
"Okay, I'll send the PDF to your email right away, please check it." The system's electronic voice was perfunctory, "As long as you're happy," "The Third World: The Youth Story of Nan Ya Middle School. Male Protagonist: Xiao Qingqiu, the arrogant, walking hormone, and troublemaker - the school bully. Female Protagonist: Yu Mian, the sensitive and self-deprecating academic bully with only her workbook in mind. Host Identity: Wu Shi, the legendary 80s sister behind the school bully, who 'would rather fight than argue'. Mission Core: Sever the red thread of ill will and protect the academic bully in his college entrance exam! World Difficulty Rating: Heaven Level!"
Chen Ye's days as a "hole-in-the-wall creature" at home are a textbook example of a modern-day homebody. Curtains drawn, day and night reversed, takeout boxes piled high, and the only light comes from his computer screen and phone. A half-billion-yuan bonus? Most of it still sits in his account, having only contributed to a few "revenge purchases"—like that ridiculously expensive gaming chair that feels like a tile, and a set of limited-edition action figures that he's been hiding in the back of his closet ever since he bought it.
Finally, one afternoon when she was staying at home so long that mushrooms were growing on her body, Chen Ye looked at herself in the mirror with a messy hair and a dull look in her eyes as if all the energy was sucked out. She thought to herself: "No! I can't stay at home any longer!" She decided to go out, breathe some free air, and buy some real food that could be kept in the refrigerator for more than three days.
The sunlight was a bit glaring, and Chen Ye squinted, his steps unsteadily like a groundhog just out of its burrow, as he walked along the tree-lined path outside the residential complex. He bought a cup of iced American coffee to refresh himself, and just after taking a sip, the familiar feeling of being spied on quietly and silently wrapped around him like an icy snake.
At first, she thought it was an illusion, a nervous breakdown from staying home too long. She quickened her pace, and behind her, a rhythmic footsteps seemed to echo. She paused, pretending to tie her shoelaces, and glanced quickly back—people were passing by on the sidewalk, and no one seemed particularly suspicious. But the feeling of being pricked in the back lingered.
The next day, she went to a mall a little further from home. Reflected in the gleaming window glass, she could clearly see a tall figure in a dark hoodie, trailing behind her, not too far away, through the crowd of people more than ten meters away. When she entered the store, the shadow stopped outside; when she left, it reappeared like a ghost. Inseparable, yet maintaining an eerie distance, like a programmed NPC. The only thing that reassured her was that the shadow never approached her apartment building.
Panic washed over Chen Ye's newly awakened nerves like ice water. "Holy crap! Someone's really following me?!" Countless legal channels and social news headlines flashed through her mind. Her fingers trembled as she reached for her phone. The number 110 was right there at her fingertips.
"Host! Calm down! Take a deep breath!" The system sensed her surging adrenaline and spoke hastily, "Don't be impulsive! What would you say if you called the police? 'Officer, I feel like there's a handsome guy in a hoodie silently guarding (following) me?' Where's the evidence? Besides... counting the days, there are only a few days left before we go to the 'next dungeon'! What if this gets out of hand and affects our time travel KPI? Just bear with it! Just... just think of it as a free, silent bodyguard?"
Chen Ye gripped the phone, her knuckles turning white. The system's words were like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the urge to call the police, but unable to quench the growing chill in her heart. Bodyguard? Whose bodyguard is so sneaky? An even more terrifying thought, like an icy tentacle reaching out from the abyss, gripped her tightly:
"System..." Chen Ye's voice trembled, even though he himself was unaware of it. He lowered his voice to a very low level, as if afraid of being heard by the invisible presence in the air. "Tell me honestly... could it be that... the Great Zhou world... collapsed?"
System: "??? Collapse? Host, have you watched too many science fiction movies?"
"I mean!" Chen Ye almost screamed in his mind, "Xiao Ziyi, that pervert! Did he... run away?!"
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