Jiang Mo certainly wasn't the type to let a single person keep him away from the archery range. The only reason he hadn't been going lately was because he'd rearranged his schedule. Back then, he never bothered planning his time at all; whenever a class ended, he would simply wander over to the range on a whim. These days, however, he treated the whole thing much more casually.
He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel in a steady rhythm. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Lin Shuang's head beginning to droop again. Leaning slightly toward the passenger seat, he asked in a tone that sounded far more serious than he probably intended, "Aren't you going to get jealous, Lin-xiaojie?"
Lin Shuang cracked one eye open and looked at him as though he had asked something absurd. "You haven't bought me any gifts. Why would I be jealous?"
Jiang Mo fell silent.
So that was what this was about.
The realization washed over him with surprising force, leaving him almost relieved. At least the problem wasn't what he had feared. "Then what if I bought you a gift?" he asked. "Would you get jealous then?"
"Hmm..." Lin Shuang considered it seriously. "Depends on what it is."
"I think you're definitely going to like it."
The confidence in his voice immediately drove away any remaining drowsiness. Lin Shuang sat upright in her seat and waited expectantly. If he was this certain, then whatever he had prepared had to be something special.
After parking, Jiang Mo got out and opened the trunk. A moment later, he dragged out a wooden crate nearly a meter long and handed it to her.
Lin Shuang stared blankly at the thing in her arms.
What was this supposed to be?
She had been expecting a small gift box, perhaps something ten centimeters long, the sort used for jewelry or accessories. Instead, she was holding something that looked as though it belonged in a museum collection or an equipment storage room.
Wait a second.
Don't tell me the Male Lead had actually bought her a regulated weapon.
"Open it," Jiang Mo urged.
With the solemn expression of someone preparing to read an imperial edict, Lin Shuang carefully undid the latches.
The lid swung open.
Nestled within black velvet lay a sleek metal recurve bow. The cold metallic frame reflected the light with a sharp brilliance, every curve elegant and precise. Even sitting motionless inside the crate, it possessed a strangely imposing beauty, as though it had stepped straight out of a fantasy novel.
"A bow?" she asked.
"A recurve bow, to be exact." Jiang Mo's voice softened noticeably when he spoke about it. "It's simple, lightweight, and easy for beginners to learn. When we have time, I'll teach you."
Since she still had afternoon classes, carrying around a giant wooden crate was obviously out of the question. In the end, Lin Shuang only took her textbooks along with another gift Jiang Mo had prepared—three identical lipstick gift sets intended for her roommates. He had picked them up at a nearby mall while shopping.
In her memory, that particular set contained five shades, all of them famously versatile. There wasn't a single disaster color among them. Honestly, she wouldn't have minded receiving one herself.
After all, what girl had ever felt she owned enough makeup? Most people only ever felt they needed more.
Still, the recurve bow wasn't bad at all. At the very least, it showed that Jiang Mo had been thinking about her safety.
Having successfully talked herself into satisfaction, Lin Shuang returned to campus and distributed the gifts among her roommates.
The reaction was immediate.
Several minutes of excited shrieking later, the three girls unanimously condemned her betrayal.
Just this morning, they had all been standing together on the front lines of the anti-scumbag-men alliance. A mere few hours later, Lin Shuang had already defected and was spending her time with one.
Of course, after taking another look at the lipstick gift sets, they decided they could reluctantly forgive her.
The afternoon lecture was one of those enormous cross-major classes attended by students from all over campus. Professors lectured from the podium, students occupied an entirely different world below it, and unless the course happened to be professionally important, most people simply hid behind textbooks and prayed not to be selected for a random question.
Lin Shuang wasn't even pretending to listen.
Keeping her head lowered, she scrolled through a discussion thread on the Player forums.
**[Discussion] Just how certain are we that "Great God Mo Jiang" is actually the Main God?**
"Lin Shuang, lend me your book for a second."
One of her roommates nudged her shoulder.
Without looking up, Lin Shuang slid the book over. At the same time, a comment in the thread caught her attention.
**Mystic_Sanctuary:** *I don't know whether Mo Jiang is the Main God, but I do know that nobody has ever matched into an instance with him. Every Player uses the forums. If someone had ranked alongside that Great God even once, there's no way they wouldn't brag about it.*
The comment quickly accumulated a flood of agreement. Several self-proclaimed truth-seekers immediately began theorizing that "Mo Jiang" was probably nothing more than a disposable alternate account.
Lin Shuang almost laughed.
Truth-seekers, huh?
You people were dead wrong.
"Lin Shuang. Hey, Lin Shuang."
The roommate who had borrowed her book poked her arm again.
Assuming the professor was approaching, Lin Shuang instantly straightened her back and adopted the expression of a model student.
Her roommate sighed and pushed the textbook back toward her.
"There's a necklace stuck inside."
Lin Shuang looked down.
A silver necklace with a snowflake-shaped pendant had been carefully sealed inside a transparent bag and taped between the pages.
For a moment, she didn't know whether to laugh or get angry.
Jiang Mo...
Why did he insist on acting like such a troll?
Did he genuinely enjoy watching her sulk? Was provoking her somehow one of his hobbies?
"Is that another surprise from your boyfriend?" her roommate asked dramatically, clutching her chest. "Ugh. You disgusting lovebirds. Could you please stop poisoning the atmosphere for the rest of us single people?"
Lin Shuang chose not to answer.
There were some things that simply couldn't be explained.
When Jiang Mo returned home that evening, he happened to run into Lin Yingnan on her way out.
The woman was dressed more formally than usual, as though she were heading off to meet someone important.
"Auntie, if you're going somewhere, I can drive you," Jiang Mo offered.
"It's nearby. Walking is fine." Lin Yingnan waved him off before suddenly remembering something. "By the way, how have things been between you and Shuang-shuang lately? She hasn't messaged me in several days. Classes started today, didn't they?"
"Ah..." Jiang Mo rubbed the back of his neck. "I just came back from her school."
In front of elders, he appeared remarkably different from the person he was inside the instances.
The ruthless killer capable of terrifying countless Players was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he stood there awkwardly, shoulders stiff, while Lin Yingnan patted his arm with a smile.
After class, Jiang Mo drove Lin Shuang back to her residential complex.
The car descended into the underground parking garage.
Lin Shuang was in an excellent mood, although she still felt obligated to condemn his earlier behavior. The necklace hidden inside her textbook had nearly given her a heart attack.
Jiang Mo listened with an expression of exaggerated humility and repeatedly promised that next time he would hand gifts directly to her instead of forcing her to peel tape off random pages.
"Help me grab something," he said after opening the trunk.
Lin Shuang hurried around the vehicle from the passenger side.
Before she could react, a white gift box was deposited directly into her arms.
"Hey!" she cried out. "You tricked me again!"
The box was identical to the lipstick gift sets he had claimed were reserved for her roommates.
"How exactly did I trick you?" Jiang Mo reached out and flicked her forehead. "I told you I bought you a gift. I never said the recurve bow was the only thing I bought."
Lin Shuang stared at him for several seconds before arriving at a conclusion.
"I had no idea you were such a wicked person."
Rather than feeling guilty, Jiang Mo looked inexplicably pleased with himself. That expression alone was enough to make Lin Shuang suspect he had planned the entire sequence from the very beginning.
* * *
"You come here on the fifteenth of every month?" Lin Shuang looked at the heavy sandbags hanging in the boxing gym and the scattered trainees working out. "This is... different from what I imagined."
"How is it different?" Jiang Mo handed her a pair of boxing gloves. "Put them on. Let's spar in the ring for a bit."
Lin Shuang: (Wait, what?)
(Spar?) She'd been exercising with him for a month, sure, but that was limited to jogging, archery, and swimming. Her hand-to-hand combat skills were barely past the "absolute beginner" stage, and now he wanted to go head-to-head with the Main Lead?
"Don't worry, I'll go in slow motion." Jiang Mo climbed into the ring. He was already a pro at coaxing her. "Be good, come on up."
(Better to face it than run from it...) Lin Shuang muttered to herself. (Damn it!) Fine—she admitted it. She just couldn't handle his smooth-talking.
If Jiang Mo whispered a few sweet words, she'd follow him anywhere.
Summary:
Jiang Mo and Lin Shuang navigate a series of gift-giving interactions that shift from transactional misunderstandings to genuine emotional intimacy. Jiang Mo surprises Lin with a recurve bow and later a lipstick set, effectively lowering her defensive walls. The chapter concludes with Jiang Mo inviting Lin to a boxing gym to spar, further pulling her into his personal world.
Trivia:
Jiang Mo had been hitting the archery range whenever a class popped up previously.
Lin Shuang was expecting jewelry-sized boxes for gifts.
Jiang Mo is suspected by the Player forum to be the Main God, or potentially using a burner ID.
Jiang Mo has a consistent schedule of visiting the boxing gym on the fifteenth of every month.
Translation Notes:
1 ↩ In Chinese internet culture, "death-trap" colors refers to unflattering shades that make skin appear dull or yellowish, which are often avoided in gift-giving.
Notes:
• Jiang Mo - A cold, calculated strategist in the Infinite Stream, he masks a predatory nature with a gentle persona. As a former boxer living a solitary, tidy life, he balances lethal survival skills with a guarded temperament. He acts as a devoted protector to Lin Shuang, navigating the game's dangers with detached pragmatism and a methodical, controlled approach to both combat and his personal life.
• Jiang - Jiang Mo is a 6'3" elite survivalist and formidable leader in the Main God Space. A weary yet fit former athlete, he uses a stoic, cynical exterior to mask his trauma and intense, repressed devotion to his fiancée, Lin Shuang. Driven to uncover his parents' fatal accident, this pragmatic protector balances managing high-stakes combat and logistics with his deeply attentive, budding romance.
• Mo - Jiang Mo, or Great God Mo Jiang, is a towering 6’3” martial artist and archer in the Main God’s Game. Formerly a righteous police student, this hyper-vigilant yet calm protector serves as a devoted mentor to Lin Shuang. Their disciplined bond has evolved from rigorous training into a committed, mutual promise of marriage, blending his natural aloofness with deep, unwavering care for her.
• Lin Shuang - Lin Shuang is a college student transmigrated as a cannon fodder in an infinite game. To survive its horrors, she adopts a detached persona, clinging to the male lead for security while finding solace in small rewards like cake. Navigating the original owner's complex social ties with anxiety, she hides her true self, focusing solely on comfort and survival within the deadly, surreal game world.
• Shuang - Lin Shuang is a delicate-featured college student who transmigrated into a web novel as a doomed side character. Anxious to survive the infinite game, she masks her desperation by playing the opportunist. She clings to the male protagonist, Jiang Mo, monitoring game forums and leveraging their closeness to stay safe, even renting an apartment specifically to remain near him.
• Lin - A resilient university student and transmigrated "salt-fish" player, she navigates a deadly survival game as the POV character. Outwardly, she shifts between a delicate, bang-styled student and a combat-ready survivor in a high ponytail. While feigning helplessness to gain intimacy, she uses her plot knowledge and tactical skills alongside her partner, Jiang Mo, to forge vital alliances.
• He - A fierce, aggressive man who storms into a private training range to confront Jiang Mo over an alleged emotional deception involving his sister. A woman who speaks with strict, anxious bureaucratic formality over the phone. She is the sister of a man who caused an incident at an archery range.
• Lin Yingnan - A friendly, middle-aged neighbor in the apartment complex who is known for her kindness and hospitality. Lin Shuang's aunt, a mother of twins who is eager to play matchmaker for her niece.
• Yingnan - The given name of Lin.