Lai’s voice echoed through the headset, and for a second Ji Ning didn’t know how to react, his expression twisting in disbelief.
‘Dark Kingdom of Heaven’ turned out to be a romantic game for couples? How could that be? How could such a well produced and elaborate RPG be a romance game? You couldn’t tell at all by the title.
Furthermore, even if it really was a love game, why had Lai only told him now…
Beneath the VR headset, Ji Ning frowned slightly. His expression was faithfully transmitted onto his game avatar, and the beautiful Necromancer showed an embarrassed look.
“How do we pass this level, do you have a strategy?”
Ji Ning didn’t take off his headset as he spoke, but made sure to avoid the eyes of the succubus Queen. The game characters only had set paths of programming and wouldn’t respond to player dialogue outside of their designated trigger phrases.
“Our level isn’t high enough to challenge the succubus Queen, so is there any other way to clear the level? Can we temporarily withdraw from this dungeon to grind our level before proceeding with this mission? There’s no way the only way to pass the level is by kissing, right?”
He asked Lai, a glimmer of hope still in his heart, however his hopes were immediately smashed as the blond boy shook his head.
“There really isn’t any way for this level. It’s impossible to pass without kissing.” Lai smiled slightly, “Teacher, it isn’t really us kissing anyway. It’s just the virtual characters we’re controlling. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.”
But he couldn’t accept it!
Ji Ning thought about it, but even if it was only an avatar, he couldn’t kiss his student’s character. How could he face Lai’s parents in the future? This was simply corrupting their child!
He tried to remove the VR headset to immediately end the game, but it had somehow got stuck. No matter how he pulled at it, it wouldn’t come off. Plus, he didn’t dare to use too much force as he didn’t want to break the expensive VR headset.
This meant he could only watch helplessly as the blond knight came forward and grabbed his robe. His clear blue eyes gazed pleadingly at him.
“Please teacher, it’s just this once.”
“!”
Inside the game, Ji Ning’s Necromancer was nominally the knight’s teacher, but his character level was lower than Lai’s. Knights also had higher strength stats than mages, so even though he was struggling, the game judged his actions as invalid and the Necromancer was still swept into Lai’s character’s arms.
Through the VR headset screen, Ji Ning could only watch as the handsome face of Lai’s avatar come closer towards him, until his lips were captured in a kiss.
Without thinking, Ji Ning closed his eyes. Although there was no sensation of touch, his face still blushed deep red. He had actually been kissed by his own student!
Ji Ning couldn’t help but feel ashamed. Although Lai quickly manipulated his character to step back several steps and the kiss was only a brush of lips, Ji Ning was still embarrassed and angry. He called out in a low voice, “Lai!”
He looked annoyed but his stern face was just because of his terribly guilty conscience. His mind was already filled with all kinds of messy thoughts and he was terrified that Lai’s parents might find out what happened.
But compared to his nervous fidgeting, Lai appeared to be much more calm, as if he hadn’t been affected by the kiss at all. He said with a smile.
“It’s okay teacher, it’s just a game. Ah, there’s the tailbone.” He took the offered tailbone from a succubus maid. “But it’s only the lowest quality. I guess the kiss wasn’t intense enough.”
His attitude was so relaxed that Ji Ning couldn’t tell what he was really thinking. Did he really do that just to clear the game level? Why was he so dedicated?!
“I don’t want to play anymore.”
For some reason, seeing Ark so unaffected made Ji Ning a little angry. He tried to take off the VR headset again, but failed. He really couldn’t get it off…
“…Teacher, did I make you angry?”
Lai noticed Ji Ning’s bad mood and finally realised his mistake. He quickly suppressed the smile on his face and apologised solemnly to Ji Ning, “I’m sorry teacher. I didn’t take your feelings into account. I won’t do it again in the future.”
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.
“Mbgufa la…pera qjs jaafcalbc cfza alwf.”
Vfflcu Ojl jqbibulrlcu rb rfglberis, Al Rlcu mbeivc’a yglcu tlwrfio ab rmbiv tlw jcs wbgf. Lf tjvc’a yffc atja jcugs jcskjs, rb tf ifa la ub.
Coafg atlcxlcu jybea la obg j yla, tf ofia atja la kjrc’a j rfglber wjaafg. Coafg jii, atf xlrr tjv bcis tjqqfcfv yfakffc atflg jnjajgr lc atf ujwf, cba atfw. Pa kjr yfmjerf atflg jnjajgr ibbxfv lvfcalmji ab atfw atja tf’v tjv remt j ylu gfjmalbc. Po la kjr jcbatfg ujwf klat gjcvbwis rfifmafv jnjajgr, tf qgbyjyis kbeivc’a tjnf mjgfv fnfc lo atflg mtjgjmafgr uba wjgglfv.
“Then should we continue?” Lai pursed his lips and asked.
“…Continue.” This game was indeed very interesting and Ji Ning had a lot of fun playing it. He quickly added, “But if we encounter similar options, we quit the level.”
“Okay, I’ll listen to teacher.”
The young knight in the game nodded with a smile, and the two continued. Fortunately, the following plot points were normal, without such strange options. Occasionally there were some more intimate actions required such as hugging, but Ji Ning felt comfortable enough doing them.
The plot continued to develop. After gathering the necessary materials, the knight finally created his own staff. What followed was basically a battle story and there were no other instances like the succubus Queen plot. Ji Ning almost suspected that the mini game was a virus, or a prank from the game company, otherwise he had no explanation for why that plotline was so different.
Soon, the plot reached a turning point. As the activities of the Necromancer, ‘Eidolon’ became more and more frequent, he and the knight were finally discovered by the Temple of Light and began to receive attacks on a large scale.
Even though Eidolon’s mana was powerful, he was overwhelmed by the forces of the entire temple and after receiving severe injuries, was finally caught.
Before his capture, he exhausted the last of his mana to create a teleportation array to send the knight away. The knight was no longer the darling of the Temple of Light and had degenerated into a black mage. If the temple saw what he’d become, they would kill him.
After a trial that lasted seven days and nights, the temple finally decided to publicly execute Eidolon at the stake, using sacred fire. Citizens from all over the city came to watch the execution.
The execution was set for half a month’s time. During this period, the knight who had been teleported to the other side of the continent risked his life to return to the capital.
Originally, the knight had hated Eidolon, but during their long travels, his feelings towards the Necromancer had unconsciously changed. In his heart he’d already began to accept both the Necromancer and his own identity as a black mage.
He decided to rescue the Necromancer.
This was how the game explained the situation in a cutscene. Next came the fight scene. In this level, Ji Ning’s character’s weapons and items were sealed. He couldn’t participate in the fight until Lai’s knight character ‘rescued’ him.
Even though Lai was a talented gamer, it was a difficult level. For once he wasn’t smiling as he played, devoting his entire focus to the level.
His character was overwhelmed twice, but he didn’t give up. The most irritating part of the level was that there was a limit to the number of failures you could have. When Lai failed for the third time, the game declared the rescue failed and announced the Necromancer ‘Eidolon’ would be executed by the temple.
An automatic cutscene followed. Eidolon was tied to a huge cross, as white holy flames ignited around him, mercilessly devouring his body.
Eidolon was cold hearted and strong willed, but he still cried out in pain.
The automatic cutscene used the player’s avatar which was Ji Ning’s face. Seeing himself get burned alive by holy fire made Ji Ning feel a little uncomfortable. Worse than that, his character’s level had plummeted back to zero and all the items he’d collected were ‘burned’ and couldn’t be used.
Was the game really that cruel?!
Ji Ning was still in disbelief when he suddenly heard a heavy thud as something was thrown to the ground.
Finally managing to unfasten the strap around his head, Ji Ning managed to remove the VR headset. He blinked a few times to readjust his vision and saw the dark expression on Lai’s face. His VR headset lay abandoned behind him. There was a large crack across the plastic case.
Had his headset fallen off?
Ji Ning guessed that this was the reason for Lai’s bad mood and said to him, “The headset should be able to be repaired. It might look a little ugly, but it’ll be fine.”
Lai shook his head and said, “I’m not upset because of the headset. I threw it because I’m angry.”
How could you vent your anger using such an expensive item…
Ji Ning’s eyes widened. It was obvious why Lai was angry. It must be because ‘Eidolon’s’ level had been reset to zero.
He couldn’t help feeling that Lai was taking the game too seriously. Not only did he kiss his tutor in order to complete a level, but he’d almost broken his own game equipment just because one of the characters had died. Did he need to be so angry?
Lai still looked annoyed and disappointed. Ji Ning watched him for a while, before a new idea occurred to him and he asked cautiously, “You don’t feel sorry for me, do you?”
“…” The blond boy nodded slightly. His eyes were a little reddened, and he looked like he was about to cry.
“You don’t have to…” Ji Ning was really surprised that Lai was taking it so personally. “Even if the level’s dropped, we can get it back up pretty quickly. I don’t blame you so there’s no need to feel guilty.”
He thought about it a bit more and felt that he should coax Lai some more. Games were supposed to relax the body and mind. If you get too worked up, it only becomes counterproductive, the more you play, the more tired you become. That kind of gaming experience wasn’t fun at all.
But before he could speak, Lai spoke first, “Teacher, let me tell you the story of the game.”
“When the Necromancer died, the knight fled from the land. He’d failed to save the Necromancer and hated that he wasn’t strong enough. He felt that his former title of ‘genius’ was mocking him as he’d failed to even protect his teacher.”
“He regretted his stubbornness even more. Before the Necromancer died, he’d never once called him ‘teacher’.”
“But at the same time, the knight felt confused. He didn’t understand why the death of the Necromancer was so painful for him. He’d obviously always hated the Necromancer, because it was because of him that he’d been taken from the Temple of Light and degenerated into a black mage.”
“Confused and in pain, he travelled to the dark side of the continent. These were the lands where the dark creatures gathered. For the knight who’d become a black mage, this was his paradise.”
“He remained dormant within the shadows of the dark side of the continent for hundreds of years, until he finally became the most powerful black mage in the lands. He returned to the mainland, inciting war. Every step he took brought the dark shadow of death.”
“His terror quickly swept across the continent.”
“After destroying the Temple of LIght and completing his revenge, his powers rivalled a god’s. By mastering the combined powers of Necromancy and time, he could look into the past and the future.”
“He went back to his memories of the past and examined them once again. The knight was shocked to see the gentle smiles he would often look at the Necromancer with. He’d never noticed how much happiness the mage had brought him.”
“It turned out he’d fallen in love with his teacher. But it was only hundreds of years after his teacher’s death that he realised.”
“He fell into an abyss of regret, but the past could only be watched, it couldn’t be changed, and his teacher couldn’t be resurrected. For a time, he went completely mad, tortured by his grief. It wasn’t until he was on the verge of collapse that he inadvertently glimpsed the future.”
“He’d never intended to look into the future. As his teacher wouldn’t be there, he felt his future was meaningless.”
“But to his shock, he saw that his teacher would be resurrected one day in the future. His teacher hadn’t really died because he hadn’t belonged to the knight’s world.”
“At the same time, the knight glimpsed other secrets. Secrets relating to his own identity.”
“After seeing his teacher once again, the knight found he had another identity, a ‘truth’ he had never realised for hundreds of years. He was part of someone else, representing that person’s ‘desire’.”
“He was a dark, unspeakable, infinitely amplified desire. The master of this desire couldn’t touch his beloved, so he used other means to prevent others from getting close to them. He wanted that person to only look towards himself.”
“Although the knight had fallen into darkness, doesn’t it sound ridiculous that he, who once symbolised light, turned out to be an incarnation of desire?”
Lai said slowly. He laughed suddenly, but Ji Ning could see a faint layer of darkness in his eyes. He didn’t seem to be speaking about the game anymore, but about something else.
“That’s not ridiculous.” Ji Ning thought for a moment before answering, “The desire that comes from love, the possessiveness of desire, everyone has it. Did the person you’re talking about hurt the person he liked or anyone else?”
Lai paused before responding. “…I don’t think so.”
“Then I don’t think it’s a problem.” Ji Ning said, “He didn’t hurt anyone. It’s just another way of pursuing the person he likes, right?”
The room suddenly became very quiet as Lai looked at him. The darkness in his expression was abruptly swept away and his eyes curved into a smile as he said, “So teacher thinks that desire isn’t wrong and it’s okay to use some tricks as long as they don’t hurt others, right?”
“I think so…of course, it’s better if you don’t use any tricks.”
Ji Ning suddenly felt a little hesitant. For some reason his body turned cold, why did he feel like he’d been tricked?
“It’s a pity…the save file is corrupted.”
Lai smiled, his eyes on the screen. “I’m still not playing well enough. Let’s continue next time.”
It was getting late. Ji Ning left Lai’s house, taking the lift downstairs. Lai stood in the doorway and watched him, raising his hand to brush his fingers against his lips. He said in a low voice.
“What a pity…”
It was a pity the kiss only happened in the game. He couldn’t really kiss him because it wasn’t over yet.
He had to ‘be witness to’ the end.
When Ji Ning returned to the university, it was already dark.
There were strong hunger pains in his abdomen. Ji Ning rubbed his stomach and walked into the cafeteria through the cold night wind.
“Ji Ning?”
Ji Ning heard a voice from behind him. When he turned and saw Herinos, he said with a smile, “Professor.”
“Have you just come back to campus?” Herinos put his hands into the pockets of his white lab coat.
“Yes, I’ve just finished my tutoring session, so I was going to the cafeteria to eat.”
Ji Ning was quite familiar with him, so he felt comfortable speaking so casually to Herinos.
“Are you meeting with anyone? I was going to dinner too, so if there’s no one with you, why don’t you eat with me?” Herinos said.
“It’s just me.” Ji Ning smiled, “I’ll go with Professor.”
“Good.” Herinos said.
Ahhh – it’s been raining so heavily this week and my ceiling fell in! I had to wait three days and three nights before my laptop switched back on, so I couldn’t write my Saturday chapter. Please send love to your cute translator~ ｀、ヽ｀ヽ｀、ヽ(ノ＞o＜)ノ ｀、ヽ｀☂ヽ｀、
But please, everyone pay attention to Mianmian, who not only drew the sweetest little child Ningning, but also a stunningly beautiful adult Ji Ning:
You’re so talented!! The hair is so bouncy I want to touch it, and I love the little bubble details!! I can’t get over baby Ningning’s cute little face – ahh, I’m going crazy, you need to stop spoiling me, I’ll turn into a 紙性戀
Your ceiling caved in? How strong was that rain?? 😰😰 Hope everything is okay!!
And also thank you so much!! It really means a lot to me 😭💖💖
I didn’t think it was going to be this bad!! (T⌓T) I’m staying with a nice auntie, I just have to wait for the room to dry out…
Thank you so much for your art – your baby Ningning is unbelievable cute <3
Are you sure it wasn’t a tornado 💀? Thank God your laptop is ok!
It felt like a tornado ୧(𖦹﹏𖦹)୨ – joy for the laptop!! When it turned back on it felt like the end of a hospital drama when the CPR worked~
Yay happy ending!🥹✊🏻
I am late (didn’t even realise months passing by!) but I want to say that sounds so scary glad you are alright.