Pei Ji had probably never considered whether falling in love would violate school rules.
Jiang Liyue could see the momentary freeze on his face—a rare look of bewilderment on that handsome visage.
It was actually kind of adorable?
“Actually, even if we don’t date, we can still be good friends first,” she proposed her good-friend theory again. “Good friends can help each other too.”
Jiang Liyue spoke in a coaxing tone, a barely perceptible slyness hidden beneath her smile. “We can be each other’s only good friend. What do you think, Classmate Pei?”
Even if Pei Ji hadn’t deliberately lured her into breaking school rules, judging from his expression, romance was absolutely forbidden at Xingfu Yizhong.
Jiang Liyue wasn’t about to actually do anything risky.
“Only good friend?” As if persuaded by her words, Pei Ji repeated the phrase.
Jiang Liyue nodded with certainty. “That’s right—just the two of us. We’ll be each other’s best friend.”
Something in her words seemed to strike a chord, and Pei Ji’s eyes lit up instantly. “Okay! We’re good friends!”
His expression was so earnest that Jiang Liyue inexplicably felt like a heartless woman deceiving an innocent young man.
But the moment she remembered he was a Guiyi NPC inside the Fuben, her heart cooled back down like someone who’d been gutting fish at a supermarket for ten years.
“Then we’re good friends from now on—remember to help each other out.” Jiang Liyue tilted her head with a beaming smile.
Goal achieved. She still remembered she was inside a Guiyi Game Fuben, so she glanced around and naturally changed the subject. “Is the Jiaowuchu here?”
The female teacher had said the Jiaowuchu was on the first floor. After descending to the first floor, she could see that there was a small garden in front of the teaching building—though it looked like no one had tended to it in a long time, with weeds growing wild as far as the eye could see.
The wind blew past, carrying a wailing sound, and something seemed to be lurking in the darkness, waiting for an opportunity.
“The teaching building is here; the Jiaowuchu is on the other side.” Pei Ji, indeed too flustered to be shy anymore, gestured toward the opposite side of the small garden.
Jiang Liyue asked, “Is it far?”
“Not far.” Pei Ji paused mid-sentence, then looked down at her feet. “Are you tired?”
If she was tired, he could actually carry her.
That way, he could touch her without scaring her…
The more he thought about it, the better the idea seemed. Pei Ji was already preparing to bend down and scoop her up.
“No, I’m mainly hungry.”
But Jiang Liyue shook her head.
She wasn’t lying. Although the physical hunger from the real world had disappeared after entering the Fuben, the psychological sensation of hunger remained.
Recalling the shadow of starvation from her childhood, her stomach had felt uncomfortable ever since she entered the game.
Pei Ji was disappointed he couldn’t carry her, but upon hearing she was hungry, he furrowed his brow. “Then let me take you to get something to eat first.”
Jiang Liyue’s eyes lit up at the mention of food, but then she grew worried—could she even eat Guiyi food?
Pei Ji seemed to see right through her thoughts and emphasized, “Many transfer students like to eat there.”
Transfer students—those should be players.
Jiang Liyue immediately understood what he meant. She couldn’t rule out the possibility that the Guiyi was deceiving her, but if Pei Ji wanted to, there were far more ways to make her break Xingfu Yizhong’s rules and devour her. There was no need to go through all this trouble.
Besides, her stomach really was uncomfortable, and she’d be staying in the Fuben for several days. She couldn’t maintain this state the whole time—she’d have to find food eventually.
So Jiang Liyue didn’t hesitate much and nodded with a smile. “Then thank you, A-Ji, for taking me to eat.”
Hearing her address him that way, Pei Ji felt as if he were floating on air as he led her down a different path.
Streetlights were spaced far apart along the road, each one standing like an isolated island in the night.
“It’s fine—everyone is in class at this hour, so no one’s outside.” Pei Ji explained, afraid she might be scared.
“Mm-hm.” Jiang Liyue analyzed his words in her mind.
In other words, as long as she could make it out of the exam room successfully, the journey to the Jiaowuchu would be relatively safe as long as she didn’t deliberately court danger.
That made sense. Even for an A-grade Fuben, there had to be some way for players to survive—there was no way they’d kill everyone on the first day.
Jiang Liyue was lost in thought, and when she snapped back to reality, she noticed Pei Ji kept turning his head to look at her feet, seemingly with a hint of anticipation.
He asked with concern, “Yueyue, are you not tired from walking yet?”
As if he couldn’t wait for her to get tired.
Jiang Liyue shook her head. “No.”
Pei Ji hung his head, looking dejected—a bit like a puppy that hadn’t gotten a hug from its owner.
Jiang Liyue seemed to catch on to what was happening and extended her hand, waving it in front of him. “I’m really not tired. But… do you want to hold hands? It’s totally normal for good friends to hold hands, right?”
Her fair, delicate hand waved before his eyes, and Pei Ji reached out almost without hesitation to grasp it.
[It’s totally normal for good friends to hold hands—Yueyue, don’t you feel guilty saying that, hahaha]
[Damn, damn, I thought this was a horror boss forcibly taking a poor fragile little player, but it turns out it’s a scheming scumbag woman deceiving an innocent boss story]
[If you ask me, my wife being willing to deceive him—he should be secretly thrilled. I’d beg to be deceived by my wife]
[Wait, do you guys really think Pei Ji was deceived? I think I just saw him smirk]
[Told you, the big boss definitely has his plans. He definitely wasn’t deceived!]
From an angle Jiang Liyue couldn’t see, Pei Ji slowly curled the corners of his mouth.
His Yueyue really is clever.
He could feel it—Jiang Liyue’s warm, smooth skin and her pulsing heartbeat.
Pei Ji’s breathing quickened slightly.
He didn’t dare use too much force. Back then, crushing those humans’ heads with one hand had felt like nothing, but now he worried that even the slightest pressure might make her uncomfortable.
Yueyue, I like you so much, so much…
When Jiang Liyue wasn’t paying attention, the black mist spreading from his body secretly coiled around her wrist, then slowly crept up her neck, gently brushing against her cheek again and again.
There was no physical sensation, yet Jiang Liyue couldn’t shake the sticky feeling of being entangled by something.
Pei Ji held her hand with a composed expression. Yueyue said holding hands between good friends was normal, so him secretly getting close should be normal too, right?
[Is this something I should be seeing on Guiyi Zhibojian?]
[Not only can I not enter the Fuben to get some action, I’m even forced to watch someone else date my wife. I won’t say who’s breaking down right now]
[Doesn’t anyone think this little human is pretty reckless too? She clearly saw her companion get eaten in the exam hall, yet she can still date a Guiyi without batting an eye]
[I thought you all figured out her unconventional tastes when she complimented the female teacher for being pretty]
[But seriously, the boss is really in love!]
[Wait, why did the screen suddenly switch? I want to watch the romance, I want to ship this CP]
[Probably because the exam is over?]