At that moment, Li Yue was holding her breath while performing a sacred and solemn operation—
Pulling cards.
She had saved diamonds and free pulls for nearly a month, all for the limited SSR card from the “Whispers of the Starry Night” event.
On the screen, a gorgeous gacha animation was playing.
Brilliant light seemed almost ready to spill out from the screen.
Xia Yaoyao was currently matching with teammates. When she turned her head and saw Li Yue looking as if she were facing a life-or-death battle, she couldn’t help teasing her.
“Yue, are you making offerings to your digital husband again? Can you bring him home this time?”
Li Yue completely ignored her.
All her focus was fixed on the streaks of light flashing across the screen.
The glow gradually faded.
The card flipped over—
A dazzling golden light erupted with a pleasant sound effect.
“I got it!”
Li Yue, who had been expressionless the entire time, suddenly sat up straight. Her eyes lit up, and the corners of her mouth rose uncontrollably.
“Tsk, as expected of President Yue. Lucky again.”
Zhou Rui glanced over briefly and smiled.
She didn’t know much about otome games, but every time Li Yue pulled cards, it looked like she was conducting a major scientific research project.
It left a deep impression.
Then Zhou Rui turned and saw Wen Chu.
Her eyes immediately lit up.
“ChuChu! You’re back! How was the date? Did anything happen… hmm?”
That one shout successfully attracted the attention of the other two.
Three pairs of eyes instantly focused on her.
“It was… okay.”
Wen Chu answered vaguely, walked to her desk, and picked up her cup to pretend to drink water.
“What do you mean okay?”
Xia Yaoyao scooted over.
“Tell us quickly! Did handsome Senior Xi do anything romantic? Did you… hold hands? Kiss?”
Wen Chu choked on her water and started coughing.
K-Kiss?!
How could it be that fast!
No, that wasn’t right.
It would never happen at all!
After finally escaping her roommates’ teasing, Wen Chu climbed into bed in exhaustion.
Her mind involuntarily drifted back to Xi Liye.
Why did she have the strange illusion that she wouldn’t be able to break up with him?
At that moment, Xia Yaoyao lost another match.
She twisted irritably in her chair like a cat with nowhere to sharpen its claws.
Turning her head, she happened to see Wen Chu on the opposite bed, with only half her head exposed and her eyes blankly staring at the ceiling.
“ChuChu—”
Xia Yaoyao dragged out her voice with the twisted mindset of someone who refused to suffer alone.
“Do you want to come down and try playing games?”
“Sure.”
Wen Chu thought she had nothing else to do anyway.
Playing games was fine too.
An hour later, when the victory sound effect rang out, Xia Yaoyao still looked utterly stunned.
After being carried by Wen Chu, she was completely shocked.
“ChuChu, you actually know how to play games?!”
Wen Chu felt a little embarrassed.
“Just… back when I had nothing to do at home, I played a little.”
“You call this playing a little?!”
Xia Yaoyao nearly jumped out of her chair.
“With that game sense and those mechanics, I’d believe you were a booster!”
“Tell me honestly, have you been secretly practicing behind our backs?”
Wen Chu smiled helplessly.
“Really, I haven’t…”
Before transmigrating, she had stayed at home most of the time.
Games had been one of her few channels of connection to the outside world.
She had deeply played most of the popular competitive games on the market.
And because she had plenty of time, her skills were genuinely good.
Of course, she also played some anime-style mobile games.
But unlike Zhou Rui, who preferred building and management games, Wen Chu was purely a meta player.
Whichever character was strong, she built.
Her teams pursued optimal solutions.
Failing to fully clear a dungeon felt worse than death.
It was only after transmigrating that she had been busy adapting to her new identity and figuring out how to avoid her cannon-fodder fate, so she hadn’t touched games much.
Xia Yaoyao clearly didn’t believe her.
She grabbed Wen Chu’s hand, eyes sparkling.
“I don’t care!”
“ChuChu!”
“From today onward, you are my god.”
“Please!”
“Carry me up the ranks!”
“Save me from this suffering!”
She almost cried from joy.
Only heaven knew how many stars she had lost because of terrible teammates.
And now, a hidden master had been living right beside her.
It was like a pie had fallen from the sky.
Wen Chu was a little overwhelmed by her enthusiasm.
But seeing Xia Yaoyao’s expression that practically said I’ll cry if you don’t carry me, she couldn’t help finding it funny.
The heaviness in her chest caused by Xi Liye also faded a little.
“O-Okay…”
She agreed.
After all…
Playing games was much easier than figuring out how to deal with Xi Liye.
“Yes!!!!”
Xia Yaoyao cheered and immediately started another match.
“Come, come, come!”
“While your hands are warm!”
“Let’s keep fighting!”
…
By the next day, Wen Chu regretted everything as she went to class with two dark circles under her eyes.
Last night, Xia Yaoyao and she had gone completely wild.
Later, Zhou Rui and Li Yue joined in too.
Although the other two didn’t play Honor of Kings often, almost everyone had played it at least a little.
So the entire Dormitory 408 stayed up all night.
Fortunately, the 8 A.M. class was an easy lecture.
Wen Chu woke up so late she didn’t even have time to eat breakfast.
She came to class dizzy and hungry.
Skillfully finding a seat near the back, Wen Chu finally opened her phone.
The moment she turned it on, she noticed two unread messages from Xi Liye.
They were from ten o’clock last night.
【L.YE: I’m going to sleep.】
【L.YE: Good night.】
【L.YE: ?】
Ever since they started dating, Wen Chu would occasionally send daily updates to Xi Liye, mainly for the sake of affection-bombing him.
Especially good morning and good night messages.
Those were mandatory.
Perhaps because they had practiced it for a while, Xi Liye had also gotten used to sending her good night messages.
But last night, she had played games with her roommates until very late.
Only now did she realize that she hadn’t sent him a good night message.
【ChuChu Hiding: I was playing games with my roommates last night and forgot to say good night.】
【ChuChu Hiding: Guilty.jpg】
【ChuChu Hiding: But I can send you good morning instead.】
【ChuChu Hiding: Good morning, boyfriend.】
After typing the word boyfriend and sending it, Wen Chu’s fingertips paused.
That title still felt awkward and deliberate to her.
After all, in her heart, this was only a temporary identity she would eventually discard.
…
In the medical laboratory building not far from the lecture hall, Xi Liye had become irritable after a full night of data observation because Wen Chu had not replied in time.
He was leaning against a hallway window.
Drinking a cup of black coffee in the cold morning air.
His phone vibrated in his pocket.
He took it out, unlocked the screen, and saw the messages from Wen Chu.
His gaze first landed on the words “playing games.”
It stopped there for two seconds.
With her roommates?
So during the gap last night when he had sent good night and received no reply, she had been with other people…
Playing games?
The realization made his fingers tighten almost imperceptibly around the coffee cup.
He was not someone who needed others to respond at all times.
In fact, he usually found overly frequent contact unnecessary.
But after dating Wen Chu, saying good morning and good night had somehow become an unspoken routine between them.
And that routine had clearly been started by Wen Chu first.
When that routine was suddenly broken—
And the reason was that Wen Chu had been doing something else with someone else and ignored him—
An extremely faint yet unusually clear obstruction pierced his otherwise calm thoughts.
Uncomfortable.
This emotion felt unfamiliar to him.