In Su Lin’s opinion, he should be the one who was not feeling well.
He spent every day in restraint. In fact, the word ‘restraint’ can be used to describe his constant state of existence.
But who could have imagined that between the two of them, it was Xu Qichen who broke first?
In fact, Xu Qichen still had a little control over himself, but this bit of control was too small compared to the desire that was about to burn him down. He lowered his head and kissed Su Lin without any restraint, the tip of his tongue eager to penetrate deep into the moist and cold mouth, in order to relieve some of this burning heat. As soon as the tip of his tongue touched Su Lin’s wet and soft tongue, his entire body seemed to turn into a puddle of water, his arms couldn’t support his body causing him to fall on Su Lin. A pair of dry and hot hands rubbed Su Lin’s black short hair, making his palms itch.
Su Lin had never seen Xu Qichen behave so outrageously before. He felt that his composure had reached its limit. He instinctively pushed the person on his body away, but Xu Qichen hugged his neck and kissed him while begging him, “Don’t push me away… Su Lin.”
His voice was incredibly soft, and the heat made his voice hoarse in an extremely sexy way, slipping past Su Lin’s defenses and capturing his inner desires.
Feeling that Su Lin was no longer trying to push him away, Xu Qichen gently licked his lips and then devoutly began to kiss his way down, starting from his pale neck. Looking at Su Lin’s slightly rolling Adam’s apple, he couldn’t help but take a gentle bite.
He’s really too reckless.
Su Lin’s legs bent up, his arms wrapped around Xu Qichen’s person, and he rolled over and pressed him under his own body, kissing his lips. Xu Qichen did not set any limits, allowing his flexible tongue to drive straight in and wrap around the tip of his tongue. With only a kiss, he completely surrendered, and all his strength was lost. Although he only took a gentle bite just now, Su Lin’s neck was now exuding a little blood. The smell of blood was too sweet, suffocating him and leaving no room for breathing.
Alcohol acted as a fuel, mixed with the temptation of blood brought in by the bond, making the burning of adult fever even more torturous. It could not be suppressed with reason. Xu Qichen could only yield to the demands of instinct. Dizzy with heat, every bone in his body was burning in the collision. His consciousness was thrown far away, and through the entire process he was only half conscious.
A fire ignited and spread, it spread recklessly, bursting into flames, before finally dissipating in the gentle rain of Su Lin.
Xu Qichen did not remember falling asleep. When he woke up, it was late at night. His throat was very dry and he reached out to feel for the switch of the bedside lamp. The warm yellow light suddenly spread, awakening the room soaked in darkness.
Xu Qichen wanted to get up and pour himself water, but found a glass of water on the bedside table.
The light seemed to permeate his heart, illuminating his half-awake state.
He reached out to pick up the glass of water and took a few sips, finally relieving the dry itching in his throat. He gently lowered the glass and gradually retracted himself into the blanket, afraid of waking up the person beside him.
Xu Qichen lay on the pillow, quietly watching Su Lin sleep. He slept soundly, with the warm yellow light like a soft filter that softened his usually cold facial features.
In fact, he was a very gentle person. Although he always kept others a thousand miles away and was not good at expressing his feelings, in his heart, he always left the softest side for Xu Qichen.
Thinking this way, Xu Qichen suddenly realized that in fact, the setting of Su Lin’s character seemed more like himself.
Just like a snail, hiding in a hard shell without seeing the sun, pretending not to need anything and seeing nothing.
But when he met his sun, he was still willing to take the risk and cautiously peek out of his shell.
Though, the slightest movement would startle him into hiding again.
Having ample time to gaze at his sleeping lover in the deep of the night was an ordinary yet romantic thing in Xu Qichen’s eyes.
He still remembered that before the last monthly exam in his first year at junior high school, he stayed at school during lunch breaks in order to revise. Reading alone in the classroom, he would rest his head on the table when he got tired. One particular day, after having lunch in the cafeteria, he walked back to the classroom and was surprised to find that the person who sat behind him had not returned home either.
When that person saw him, he smiled, “Don’t you go home for a nap during lunch breaks?”
Xu Qichen shook his head, “I’m going to do some reading.”
After this short conversation, Xu Qichen took his seat. The books he had been able to read in the past few days and the formulas he could memorize now seemed to deliberately oppose him, flying back and forth on the paper, making him dizzy and unable to read a single word.
His heart leapt out of his chest into the seat behind him.
The incessant sound of cicadas chirping outside the window caused him to panic.
In this state of confusion, he heard the person behind him cover the pen cap, flip the book close, and lie on the table.
The world suddenly became very quiet, and Xu Qichen didn’t even want to open a page of the book again, afraid of disturbing the person behind him. Even though he knew that that person could sleep soundly even in the noisy ten minutes after class ended.
After some time, he heard his gentle breathing that indicated he had fallen asleep. After some hesitation, Xu Qichen could not resist turning around silently to watch him sleep in the otherwise empty classroom.
The early summer sun shone through the glass windows, lighting everything up brightly.
Xu Qichen realized that even when he fell asleep, his lips were slightly pouting. Under his clean school uniform shirt, the slightly protruding scapula undulated slightly with every breath.
It was over ten years ago, but he could still recall every scene in detail like it was a movie playback.
Xu Qichen’s thoughts gradually withdrew and he focused again on the person in front of him.
Su Lin lay flat, his chin slightly tilted towards his direction, and there were two obvious wounds on his neck, one on the side, and the other on the Adam’s apple, which had already formed dark red scabs. Xu Qichen felt that he might have bitten too harshly and couldn’t help but extend his index finger, wanting to lightly touch it.
His fingertips were just a few millimeters away from his Adam’s apple when Su Lin suddenly made a vague sound in his sleep. However, it startled Xu Qichen and he quickly withdrew his hand, thinking he had woken him up.
His eyes were still fixed on Su Lin. For some reason, his brow furrowed, as if he was having a bad dream. Xu Qichen leaned closer to him and gently kissed the center of his brow.
Once again, Su Lin made a vague sound.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
It should be a nightmare. Should he wake him up? Xu Qichen hesitated, reached out and pressed his hand against Su Lin’s cheek, softly calling his name in his ear, “Su Lin, Su Lin…”
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If it weren’t for repeated confirmation, Xu Qichen would not believe it. The three words he repeatedly muttered were really what he thought.
This unexpected sleep murmuring made him unable to calm down anymore.
From 4:30AM when he woke up, til 7AM, Xu Qichen, who was lying on his side with his back against Su Lin, looked at the small gaps that lit up under the curtains and didn’t close his eyes for a second.
Until he felt the person beside him wake up and hugged him, when he pretended that nothing had happened and closed his eyes.
In these quiet hours, he gradually searched for the abnormal details that every world had once had, but were inadvertently overlooked by himself.
In the first world, Lin Ran was the person who controlled the pace of the romantic plotline. He didn’t originally like Ji Mengze, but after getting along, he finally understood his personality and gradually fell in love with him. He had always been the proactive and confident one.
But the Lin Ran he truly met, although very similar to the image he created in the original text, when he looked back, he was different from the very first meeting and even constantly helped and protected him in his own way.
Furthermore, this Lin Ran was also not confident, and when he didn’t respond or even retreated into his shell, he also retreated. Now that he thought about it, the words he said when he confessed, about the broken lightbulb, were not the words that the Lin Ran of the novel would say.
He simply did not notice it at that time.
Mu Yao from the second world was the same. Although he was the object of everyone’s pursuit, he always seemed to lack a bit of confidence. When knowing that he could unintentionally harm Xu Qichen, he reflexively tried to avoid it.
Could that Bayesian Theorem really describe Mu Yao?
Xu Qichen’s mind was a bit chaotic, and when those clips were replayed in his mind, they always brought too many emotions, making him unable to think calmly.
In the original text, Ye Han’s fear of dogs was much more severe than what the world presented, but in the later stages, he almost forgot the existence of this setting.
Just like his fear of blood in this world.
Song Yuanyan from the third world was clearly written as a young master who had no understanding of emotions. He had always thought that his relationship with Sun Lin was just friendship, but now it seemed that his approach was full of various hints, whether it’s chocolate, watching the theater, or playing the piano, he was clearly testing the waters.
The arm that was wrapped around him moved and his hand touched the side of Xu Qichen’s neck.
The person behind him breathed a sigh of relief and buried his head in Xu Qichen’s neck.
Feeling his cheek pressing against him, Xu Qichen suddenly felt sad for some reason.
He used to feel guilty about treating these characters as substitutes for someone, but now he realised that this was just a game. He didn’t want to see everything he has experienced as a conspiracy, but he was indeed the one who had been kept in the dark.
Lin Ran, Mu Yao, Song Yuanyan.
And Su Lin, who was currently hugging him.
Behind them was…
“Are you awake?”
Su Lin’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
Xu Qichen froze and breathed in, pretending to have just woken up. “En…”
Su Lin gently kissed his neck and hugged him tightly from behind, “Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”
Xu Qichen shook his head wordlessly.
“It’s the weekend today, so I don’t have to work. Go back to sleep.”
Xu Qichen replied again, “En.”
Su Lin thought of yesterday’s incident and how uneasy he felt when he got home and didn’t see Xu Qichen. “Next time you’re going out, make sure to call me and let me know,” he gently rubbed the back of Xu Qichen’s neck. “I was very worried yesterday, I thought you were…”
“You thought I was?”
Su Lin shook his head, “Nothing. You’ve only just converted, so it’s not very safe.”
Xu Qichen said meaningfully, “It always feels like you’re expecting something to happen to me. Do you perhaps have powers of foresight?”
Su Lin said nothing, and Xu Qichen couldn’t guess what he was thinking.
Both of them were speaking in riddles and neither was willing to speak openly.
Xu Qichen remained silent for a moment and slowly turned around under the blanket, facing Su Lin and staring into his eyes.
“What is it?”
He said nothing, simply continuing to stare at him.
He had many questions to ask, and too many doubts.
He wanted to see exactly whose soul was behind those eyes.
Su Lin felt Xu Qichen’s abnormality, but he didn’t say anything about it, just lightly touched his forehead and said, “Do you still feel unwell?”
Xu Qichen opened his mouth, but when the words reached his lips, he paused again.
“No, I just wanted to look at you.” He lowered his gaze and hugged him.
When their eyes met, a possibility flashed in his mind. If he opened his mouth now and burst the fragile bubble, would everything be over?
And his first thought was that he wouldn’t be able to bear it.
His first love was only a small flickering spark that he had extinguished himself, but the ashes left after burning were kept in his heart and he dared not abandon them for ten years.
For some reason, entering these virtual worlds was like fulfilling his dream, and each target he encountered was like his shadow, filling in the regret of this decade.
But they were virtual, and could never be made real.
He had to remove that mask.
Xu Qichen took a deep breath and shrank down, burying himself in the blanket, his face pressed against Su Lin’s chest, unable to hear his heartbeat. He spoke quietly, “You had a nightmare last night.”
Su Lin didn’t answer, but his arm that held Xu Qichen trembled slightly.
“In your dream, you were calling a person’s name,” Xu Qichen couldn’t raise his voice and asked in a hoarse voice, “Who is it?”
Su Lin suddenly released him, slowly sat up from the bed, remained silent for a moment, and left the room.
Xu Qichen was left alone under the blanket, his chest feeling tight. He was only one step away from the truth, but he was unwilling to take that step.
He was still too afraid to close his eyes and choose a candy.
All he could do was close his eyes and ask cautiously.
Are you that candy?
And if you are, would you come out?
He had not expected things to develop this way, and he even regretted it a bit. If he hadn’t woken up last night, could he still continue to pretend to be foolish and act like Lu Xuan to stay with him in this world for a while longer? Perhaps there is another world, and another, and another…
“0901, are you here?”
“I’m here, Mr Xu.” 0901 replied very quickly, “Is this about the points? We’re currently…”
“No, I want to ask you about something else.” Xu Qichen stared at the ceiling. “The targets in these worlds are like me, right? We’re people from the real world.”
0901 was silent for a moment. “Mr. Xu, I don’t have the authority to answer your question.”
“Why not? Is it because your authority was given by him?”
“Why aren’t you answering? The target is the system’s administrator, right?”
0901 could only give the same response, “My apologies, I don’t have the authority to answer your question.”
Even an artificial intelligence has learned to evade like a human.
“I’ll take that as an admission.”
Xu Qichen gave up asking,
He didn’t know how long he had been lying in bed, but he eventually felt that he couldn’t go on like this. Tidying up and sitting up, he walked to the living room and saw Su Lin sitting on the sofa. At the moment he came out, he extinguished the cigarette in his hand.
“When did you find out?”
In the end, it was Su Lin who spoke first.
Xu Qichen looked at the extinguished cigarette end from a distance and replied hoarsely, “I… I found something wrong in the previous world, and have had many doubts since then, but I can’t guess who you are. I don’t even know whether you are a person in real life or a created consciousness.”
Xu Qichen walked barefoot step by step to the living room and onto the wool carpet that Su Lin had specially bought for him.
Su Lin lowered his head like this and didn’t say a word.
“You acted very well. I had almost no doubts in the first two worlds and was only focused on completing the tasks. However, just a few days ago, I suddenly discovered an obvious loophole that I had overlooked.”
Xu Qichen lowered his head and laughed, “Did you know? You’ve never called my name.”
“Whether I was Ji Mengze, Ye Han, Sun Lin, or Lu Xuan. No matter which world I was in or who I was acting as, you never called my name.” He looked up at Su Lin, “I couldn’t make sense of it. I don’t know who you are, but if you’re so clever, why would you make a mistake like that?”
He took a deep breath, “Until last night, I finally understood.”
“Last night, in my sleep, I called your name.” Su Lin raised his head, which had been lowered the whole time, and misty eyes looked at Xu Qichen, “Right, Xu Qichen?”
Hearing his name from the mouth of this virtual character, felt both familiar and strange, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
“I haven’t called the names of those characters because I know that the name of the person standing in front of me is Xu Qichen.” Su Li’ns voice was also a bit hoarse, but his tone was very calm. “I don’t want to use any other name to replace these three words.”
Su Lin lowered his head again and turned his face to look at the windows covered by the curtains, which were very dark in color, like a deep night curtain.
“I know you’ve already guessed it.” Su Lin sighed in defeat, “I heard your conversation with 0901. You’re correct, I’m the system administrator. Or rather, I’m its developer.”
Xu Qichen’s fingers hanging on his side moved slightly, his voice hoarse and flustered, “Why did I enter this system? Am I dead or alive now? I…”
“I sampled your consciousness and allowed you to enter this virtual system. You can see it as an extension of some immersive game, and now you are not dead. I deceived you. The time spent by your consciousness is not synchronized with your physiological time. It seems that you have spent several worlds in this system for so long, but in real life, only a dozen minutes have passed.”
He explained everything in a clear and organized manner, but it made Xu Qichen even more confused.
Consciousness sampling…
He suddenly remembered that on the afternoon of the day he mistakenly thought he had died suddenly, he received a new pair of glasses online. Surprisingly, the store also included an earphone, which he thought was a gift at the time and didn’t pay much attention to. He put them on at night.
Was that it?
“I never thought about hurting you. I just created several worlds based on your work, borrowing more than ten minutes of your time. No matter what the outcome is, the system will bring you back to reality, and you can even choose to erase the memory from the system. Everything will go according to your wishes.”
Xu Qichen frowned, his mind so confused that his emotions and thoughts were mixed together, making it impossible for him to think calmly or vent his emotions. He could only speak in a daze and ask the question he most wanted to ask, “I don’t understand… Why do you know my name? Who are you?”
Su Lin looked up at him, “Do you really not know who I am?”
He completely tore off Su Lin’s supposed disguise, his eyes filled with sadness, reluctance, and various complex emotions.
Xu Qichen did not reply.
Or rather, he did not dare to reply.
Instead, it was 0901 who spoke once again, “Mr. Xu, I have just gained the authority to tell you something. My full name is 201509010739.”
What did that even mean…?
Su Lin explained with a smile, “1st September 2015, 7:39AM.”
In an instant, all the surrounding scenery, including the sofa, carpet, and the dim living room, turned into dust like dots of light in the line of sight.
In the next moment, it gathered again and turned into a familiar image that Xu Qichen couldn’t be more familiar with.
The gray bus stop, the slowly approaching green bus, the incredibly blue sky, and the students in school uniforms coming and going.
Xu Qichen looked down at himself.
Black school pants, white short-sleeved shirt, and the dark blue school crest on his chest.
His gaze naturally turned towards the person on the bus stop bench who was also wearing the summer school uniform. He turned his face and every detail of his facial features perfectly matched the ones he remembered.
The answer in his heart was finally verified at this moment. He had told himself countless times that it cannot be him, there was no reason for it to be him, it was just his own delusion.
But now, he could no longer find any convincing excuse.
It’s really him.
Xu Qichen spoke with difficulty, his voice so weak that only he could hear it.
“Xia Zhixu…”
He pursed his lips and smiled, grabbing the backpack that was placed aside and standing up, walking towards him step by step.
“It’s been so long since I heard you say my name.”
Xu Qichen was at a loss and said, “I don’t understand… Why did you do this?”
Xia Zhixu forced a smile and looked into his eyes.
“If I said, everything I did was for the chance to know how it feels to be loved by you, would you believe me?”
Who is cutting onions here 🤧
Those damn onion ninjas, it’s all their fault…
Oh?????
Omg qwq. I’m glad its all in the open now but it feels so close to the end.
Thanks for the chapters! <3
I’m glad that MC is not dead in the real world!
Thank you for the update.
fffffffffffffffffffffffffff
ahhhhhhhhhhh
damn are they still stuck in the high school timeline
screaming crying throwing up kicking my feet in the air
i thought he was just trapped in the system i dont expect him to be the developer omfg
Im shaking omg the reveal… AH the reunion… how come none of my crushes were ever this big huh…
…..ahh at last we get to know his name ..”xia zhixu.”…….so he did love him too ….it was not only our qichen that love him….it was mutual….just that they were both too scared and not confident to confesed ..?….ah they’hv gone thought so much to reach here….ml is such a great actor too…i never expected that he was conscious too….ahhh his acting really tricked me…
im really getting emotional here….finally…ahhhhhhhh