The fourth world, he became the wife of a king-level esports player.
The champion jungler loved the team’s young, arrogant mid-laner with godlike mechanics.
During the championship match, Yan Mo sat among the audience holding a support sign for his husband, looking up as the two of them embraced the trophy and smiled brilliantly at each other.
The top celebrity of the fifth world.
The doctor of the sixth world.
The seventh…
Yan Mo wanted to laugh.
They kept telling him that bitterness came before sweetness.
Yet he endured year after year.
[Host… are you sad?]
“No.” Yan Mo looked at the dishes on the table and softened his voice. “I’m just tired.”
After trying too many times to nurture a love that was never returned, after being disappointed too many times, heartbreak no longer felt painful.
It only left behind a hollow exhaustion.
[Gu Yanhui is the worst! Scumbag! ]
The system angrily defended Yan Mo while secretly peeking at his lost expression and cursing Gu Yanhui with all its might.
Yan Mo shook his head.
“I approached him with an objective too. I don’t have the right to hate him.”
The system muttered:
[What you did wasn’t a strategy at all… it was obviously sincere. I’ve never seen a host as foolish as you. I told you to treat them like fictional characters. Even a playboy wouldn’t have done what you did. Yet you insisted on seriously falling in love with every one of them…]
Yan Mo nodded.
“You’re right.”
[…Then what are we going to do now? Try to win him back?]
“No.”
“I want to rest for a while. I don’t want to do any more missions.”
“Sorry for not being able to help you, System.”
The system felt a sting in its chest.
More than anything, it wanted to hug the young man smiling in front of it.
[It’s okay. Maybe it’s better this way. An honest person like you isn’t suited to being someone who treats love as a game. Don’t worry. I’ll convince the Main System to send you back to your original world.]
[Though… when that happens, we’ll have to say goodbye.]
The system was reluctant to part with him.
Waaah…
Even though none of the missions succeeded, the host himself was wonderful.
It was all those scumbags’ fault!
At the thought of separating from the system, Yan Mo felt reluctant too.
“How long can I stay?”
[At most, two months.]
“Alright.”
He pushed his suitcase to the entrance.
Turning back, Yan Mo took one last look at the home he had lived in for a year.
The pair of matching mugs still sat on the coffee table.
In the wedding photo, he and Gu Yanhui were leaning close together, laughing brightly.
His gaze finally stopped on the two pairs of slippers by the door.
Yan Mo placed the bank card and house key on the shoe cabinet and left with his suitcase.
Click.
The door lock closed.
From then on, they would each go their separate ways.
Standing at the station, Yan Mo suddenly felt lost.
Where should he go?
He had come to this world because of Gu Yanhui.
His identity was fake.
His background was fake.
He had no family, no friends, no coworkers, no job.
Completely alone, Yan Mo didn’t even know which direction to walk.
[Host, let’s go traveling!]
[Lijiang, Fragrant Hills, Dali—and I want to visit Changbai Mountain too!]
The system’s lively voice interrupted his confusion.
Hearing the deliberate cheerfulness in its tone, Yan Mo smiled and nodded.
“We’ll go to all of them.”
He still had some money left.
Since he wouldn’t be staying long anyway, he might as well spend it and enjoy himself.
[Yay!]
The system cheered and immediately pulled out the travel routes it had already prepared.
[Then let’s leave right now! Take Bus 21! Charge!]
“Let’s go!”
Yan Mo laughed and shouted along with the system before boarding the bus with his suitcase.
A spontaneous trip really did feel wonderful.
There was no need to worry about money or work.
Yan Mo’s enthusiasm gradually returned.
They headed straight to the airport, bought a random ticket, and leisurely sat in the waiting hall watching the hurried crowds pass by.
Half an hour later, the boarding announcement sounded.
As Yan Mo lined up and walked forward, he suddenly heard someone call out amidst the noise.
“Mr. An.”
Yan Mo froze.
He immediately turned around.
Behind him stood a same-sex couple holding hands.
Both were tall and seemed to be heading off on their honeymoon.
They were chatting animatedly, completely blocking his view.
[Host, what’s wrong?] the system asked curiously.
“…Nothing.”
Yan Mo turned back, his face slightly pale.
“I probably heard it wrong…”
Probably.
Probably.
This wasn’t that world.
How could An Zhihan be here?
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
Yan Mo tightened his grip on the plane ticket.
If there was one regret that never faded, it would undoubtedly be first love.
And if there was one pain that hurt the most, it was knowingly being someone’s backup.
An Zhihan had been his first mission target.
Ten years older than him.
Mature.
Handsome.
Powerful enough to command awe without even showing anger.
Having just arrived in a new world, Yan Mo couldn’t treat reality as a game.
He didn’t know how to love someone.
Nor did he know how to pursue someone.
The young man had many beautiful fantasies.
For example, if he married him, then he should become a proper wife.
If they were married, then he should treat the man well.
No one could help falling for An Zhihan.
Yan Mo fell in love with his appearance.
He admired his strength.
He believed there was a red thread connecting the strategist and the target, that they were destined to belong to each other.
With a sense of fate, Yan Mo threw himself wholeheartedly into his role.
Playing the part of the man’s delicate young wife.
Naturally…
He fell hard.
The person An Zhihan admired, longed for, and dared not profane was Yan Mo’s twin brother from that world.
Yan Mo remained completely unaware.
He tried his best to match every preference the man had.
Under the system’s guidance, he learned how to be a good wife.
If he couldn’t cook, he learned.
If he wasn’t good at caring for people, he forced himself through the awkwardness and embarrassment.
He searched online for love messages and ways to express affection.
An Zhihan woke up early.
He often left at four in the morning.
Back then, Yan Mo had been lively, no different from an ordinary college student.
He hated waking up early.
But just to say good morning to An Zhihan, he set multiple alarms.
Yawning endlessly, he dragged himself out of bed simply to catch a glimpse of the busy man.
At noon, he brought lunch to the company.
At night, when An Zhihan worked in his study until late, he delivered soup and blankets.
The system constantly urged him to make progress.
To hurry up and consummate the relationship.
“Isn’t this a little too fast?”
The young man blushed.
Carrying all the hopes and nervousness of first love, he brought soup to the study.
The man didn’t even look up.
“Just leave it there.”
Yet Yan Mo didn’t leave.
“Maybe… I should take the initiative too…”
His palms were drenched in sweat.
Trembling, he placed his hand over the man’s hand resting on the desk.
When the man looked at him, Yan Mo’s tongue tied itself into knots.
His head felt hot enough to steam.
His gentle eyes became misty as he avoided the man’s gaze.
“It’s already very late…”
“Today… today…”
“Would you like to sleep earlier?”
It was a stammering attempt at a suggestion.
The man looked up.
A trace of surprise flashed across his mature face.
Then, under Yan Mo’s shy and nervous anticipation, his expression darkened.
“Do you know?”
He said,
“While you’re doing these meaningless things to please a man, your brother Yan Fei is working part-time jobs. He can’t even bear to buy meat in the cafeteria. He endures ridicule from others while standing tall and pursuing his dreams.”
An Zhihan looked at Yan Mo.
The disgust on his face was unmistakable.
Only then did Yan Mo realize that An Zhihan looked down on him.
All of Yan Mo’s efforts appeared fawning and vulgar.
A desperate scramble for money.
For the title of Mrs. An.
Driven by greed and foolish ambition.
In An Zhihan’s eyes—
Yan Mo looked like someone selling himself.
An Zhihan asked:
“Don’t you feel ashamed of your intentions?”
“…”
“…”
But what the man never knew was that those intentions were simply Yan Mo’s feelings for him.
How was he supposed to feel ashamed?
Ashamed of loving someone?
Only later did Yan Mo discover that An Zhihan wasn’t actually that busy at all.