Mu Jing, who had returned to watching from the side, slowed her breathing slightly. At last, she felt her heart rate completely stabilize.
The hand Xu Ge had placed on her forehead earlier must have carried some kind of ability. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have recovered this quickly.
“Right, what did he say to me just now? Something about telling me to get a good rest?”
【No. He said something about a life-saving favor.】
Mu Jing: …
She glanced at the brother value, which had been at zero…
–5?
What was going on? How did it turn negative just because she fainted for a moment?
“Worthy Younger Brother, did you notice the brother value turned negative?”
【I saw it. It’s fine. I’ve accepted it. A system’s life is nothing but great—great falls… it’s fine. I can always switch to being a literary system.】
Mu Jing bit down on the paper straw, feeling that this System lacked a bit too much motivation. Nothing had even started yet, and it was already so depressed. It made her feel just as unmotivated about the mission every day.
Forget it. She might as well come clean with the Male Protagonist first. If his mood improved, maybe he would actually help cure her body. That was entirely possible.
After the afternoon military training ended, Mu Jing found Xu Ge among the dispersing crowd. He was alone, and judging from his direction, he was heading toward the Canteen.
“Xu Ge!” Mu Jing called out.
She was certain that with Xu Ge’s hearing, he must have heard her. Not only did he hear her—he maliciously sped up his pace!
If she could beat him in a fight, she would have punched him already.
Not someone who could run very well—and not someone who really wanted to run either—Mu Jing took out her phone and dialed the contact she had gotten a few days ago.
“Hello.” Xu Ge’s voice sounded icy even through the phone.
“Why are you running?” Mu Jing laughed angrily. “Didn’t you hear me calling you?”
“I heard.”
“You heard me and still ran?”
“I’m hungry.”
“…Wait there. I’ll treat you to a meal, alright?”
Xu Ge, who was ahead of her, finally turned around. His lips moved, and his voice came through the phone receiver.
“Alright.”
They had missed the peak dining rush, so when they went to get food at the Canteen, they didn’t have to wait in line very long.
Mu Jing felt hot and had little appetite, so she only bought a bowl of fruit mix from the self-serve counter.
Xu Ge, however, didn’t stand on ceremony with her at all. Besides a bowl of mixed noodles, he also bought a box of fried chicken.
“Why were you punished with running today?” Mu Jing didn’t immediately get to the main topic. Instead, she used a roundabout approach and started by showing concern for Xu Ge.
Xu Ge thought for a moment. “Talking.”
“…You really talked?”
“Yeah.”
Mu Jing: …
Why was it that she couldn’t follow the Male Protagonist’s train of thought at all?
In the book, it had clearly said the Male Protagonist didn’t speak and was simply wrongfully accused. Yet after being reborn, he had chosen to make the accusation true instead of explaining things to the Military Training Instructor.
Mu Jing asked, “Do you like running that much?”
Xu Ge took a bite of a boneless chicken piece. “I don’t like it, but I don’t hate it either. Why are you asking?”
“I’m concerned about you.”
“…We broke off the engagement.”
Mu Jing was left speechless by that retort.
At that moment, the System suddenly spoke up to complain.
【Sister, talk back to him! He said you’re his girlfriend, right in front of the Military Training Instructor! I have video evidence!】
Mu Jing straightened her back, her confidence instantly rising.
“Then when the Military Training Instructor asked about our relationship, why did you say I was your girlfriend?”
Xu Ge pushed the empty bowl of noodles aside and pulled the fried chicken closer.
Hearing Mu Jing’s accusation, he casually placed a piece of fried chicken on top of the lid of her fruit bowl.
“Eat.”
“…Don’t change the subject. We both know what’s going on.”
It was a hint. Mu Jing knew Xu Ge could hear the meaning behind her words.
Sure enough, Xu Ge straightened up. His dark eyes grew even deeper than usual.
At that instant, Mu Jing felt an invisible force spreading outward from Xu Ge.
The next second, everything fell silent.
People around them were still walking back and forth, laughing and chatting, but the sound seemed blocked by a transparent barrier. Not a single noise reached them.
Xu Ge exhaled slowly.
“Alright. Let’s talk seriously.”
“…A gentleman uses words, not fists. We can talk, but we can’t talk with force. I’m a weak girl!”
Mu Jing became a little cowardly. In her mind, she frantically called for the System, but Worthy Younger Brother truly lived up to his name—there was no response.
“You’re definitely not just a weak girl. You’re an Ability User who has taken over someone else’s body. And you’re also an Ability User who knows the direction of the future—or at least part of it.”
Xu Ge leisurely resumed eating fried chicken. His words made Mu Jing freeze for a moment.
Xu Ge believed she was an Ability User. That made sense—this world was one where mysterious powers existed.
He could imagine that she was an Ability User, but he would never guess that she had come from another world, nor that she had a useless System.
Mu Jing calmed down. She didn’t even know why she suddenly felt so calm. In any case, Xu Ge didn’t know about the System yet.
Xu Ge continued, “I’ve been guessing when you would come clean. I didn’t expect you to be so impatient.”
“I do know quite a bit about the future.” Mu Jing’s mind raced quickly. She couldn’t expose the System, but she also needed a reason to stay in this world.
“Go on.”
“I can’t. Many things have to remain secret. If I reveal them, I’ll die.” Mu Jing shook her head. “I can only tell you this—I’m not from this world.”
Xu Ge had finally finished eating. He showed neither belief nor disbelief in her words. He simply wiped the grease from his mouth and nodded.
“Hurry up and eat.”
“Huh?”
“Finish your fruit.”
Mu Jing picked up her spoon, still somewhat confused.
“That’s it? You’re not going to ask anything else?”
“I was never interested in your past anyway.” Xu Ge rarely showed a faint smile. “Will you leave this body in the future?”
Mu Jing wasn’t sure. But looking at the brother value of –8, leaving might still be very far away.
“Probably not. There’s nothing in my world worth missing. And the Mu Jing of this world is already dead.”
“Probably not…”
“Most likely not. By the way, you were changing the subject earlier, weren’t you? I asked why you said I was your girlfriend.”
Xu Ge answered matter-of-factly, “Do you want to date?”
“Uh… I don’t have that plan for now.”
“Same here. So it’s mutually beneficial.”
Mu Jing couldn’t find any reason to refute that.
“Then why were you reborn?”
“Life was too boring. I wanted to try merging all the abilities I copied.”
How hardcore. As expected of the protagonist—he could do whatever he wanted. Even if he played himself to death, he could just restart life.
“Then now that you’re reborn, what are your plans?”
Xu Ge thought for a moment.
“To use a popular phrase these days, I want to be a salted fish.”
“The more popular phrase now is ‘lying flat.’”
“…Then lying flat.” Xu Ge took out his phone. “Which character is ‘lie,’ and which one is ‘flat’?”