He Ming held his phone—its back adorned with a cat face design—in one hand, swiping through the page to admire the twelve consecutive shots he had taken. He heard the girl softly exhale against his chest muscles.
A cloyingly sweet fragrance spilled from her lips, as bewitching as a siren’s call.
He swallowed hard, unable to resist burying his face into her snow-white neck for a sniff. Lifting his head, his tone was casual yet tinged with a hint of hoarseness. “Young Miss, why didn’t you turn off the System’s sound when you were secretly taking photos? What if we get caught?”
[……What is this game’s NPC trying to do?]
[Wants to]
[I’ve had enough, quitting the game]
[Sweetie, don’t sleep too soundly tonight, or he might poke you with his knife handle]
Jiang Yingxiao noticed the fleeting bullet comments and instinctively grabbed He Ming’s hair. Her slender forearm pressed against the side of his face as she held him even tighter.
It was unclear what she was afraid of, but her entire body trembled faintly.
He Ming arched his back, lifting Jiang Yingxiao by her thighs. The girl’s warm, soft palms caressed his face before finally wrapping around his neck.
A few beads of sweat dotted her clean, snow-white nape, emitting a soft, sweet fragrance that could easily intoxicate anyone, silently luring them to taste it.
Damn, this is insane.
He Ming’s dark, ambiguous gaze shifted to the wooden door directly ahead. His large hand rested on her fair, tender thigh, but the heat of her body temperature made him clench his fist. The skin there darkened from the rush of blood, veins bulging prominently.
“Why were you secretly taking photos of me, hmm? Young Miss?”
Jiang Yingxiao’s calf was still pressed against the knife handle in the man’s pocket, making her afraid to speak carelessly. She had intended to obediently beg for mercy, but her words came out differently. “……Why do you care what I do? I’ll take photos if I want to.”
A soft chuckle escaped the man’s lips. His large hand tightened around her leg, giving her a slight jostle. The rough calluses on his fingers rubbed against her skin, leaving faint marks.
“You’re not planning to do something inappropriate with my photos in the middle of the night, are you?”
Jiang Yingxiao let out a couple of uncomfortable whimpers, causing his Adam’s apple to bob up and down as an unconscious dryness crept into his throat.
“Can you manage it all by yourself?” The other seemed to seriously consider the question before answering himself. “If you can’t finish, you’ll end up crying and looking for someone to help you. How pitiful.”
He Ming buried his face in the girl’s neck, watching as her delicate earlobes flushed a vivid red from his words. “And then… everyone who comes to help you gets—”
“Aroused.”
He paused, expecting—and indeed hearing—her breath hitch for a moment, as if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.
[What is this guy doing?]
[Am I late? Is this the Towards Death livestream room?]
[Not sure if they’re dead, but it feels like someone’s about to give birth]
[Why does this game even have a cuckolding fetish?]
[Ahhhh, let go of my sweetie!]
Jiang Yingxiao’s fingertips trembled with anger as she struggled to slap him.
A sharp, clear sound echoed in the deliberately quiet locker room. The man turned his head to the side, pressing his tongue against the inside of his cheek.
She was small, and her strength was weak.
The slap against his face felt like a kitten kneading milk—so gentle he worried his rough skin might scratch her hand.
Jiang Yingxiao raised her hand again, intending to slap him unconscious, but He Ming pressed her neck against his chest, holding her tightly. All she could do was vent her frustration by pounding his back a few times, eliciting a muffled grunt from the man.
“What, did I say something wrong?” The man with a palm print on his face leaned in again as if nothing had happened, sniffing the air. Before Jiang Yingxiao could open her mouth to curse him, he softly reminded her, “If you don’t want to attract the others over to have their way with you too, keep your voice down, my little princess.”
Letting those bastards catch a whiff of her scent was already giving them too much. He couldn’t bear to imagine how pitiful she’d look, soft and delicate as she was, being pressed against by a bunch of filthy dogs with their muscles.
Just the thought made his heart throb with rage.
Jiang Yingxiao whimpered pitifully, swallowing back a few feeble curses that held no real threat.
She thought it was already unlucky enough to be inexplicably thrown into this Game, but now, before she could even step outside, she was about to be hacked to death by a group of murderous maniacs.
Wasn’t this supposed to be a Game? She didn’t want to play anymore. She wanted to quit.
She wanted to go home so badly.
[Please be advised, Players cannot exit the Game unless they die or complete it.]
076’s emotionless mechanical voice echoed in her ear. Even if Jiang Yingxiao was slow, she realized she didn’t need to speak aloud to communicate with the System. So, like a coward who only bullies the weak, she vented all the anger she didn’t dare unleash on the murderers onto this intangible Light Sphere:
[Do you think it’s fun watching me talk to thin air?]
[Why didn’t you stop me when I was speaking earlier?]
[Aren’t you my System? Why aren’t you helping me?]
Thinking of all this, Jiang Yingxiao’s soft, delicate voice even carried a sob. The last few words were swallowed by her choked-up cries, making them unclear.
[Who made my baby cry??]
[How can your Game be so heartless?]
[Don’t cry, baby 【Donation 10 Points】]
076 was dragged into it, its mechanical voice stalling and falling silent. It seemed unsure how to handle the situation, its Central Processor burning so hot it was practically smoking.
The System couldn’t proactively provide answers; it could only explain when Players thought to ask questions.
This was a core setting given by the official Towards Death, designed to let Players unknowingly break the rules, fear death, and give the audience the greatest thrill.
But saying these things in this situation was simply inappropriate.
076 imitated the clumsy, straightforward men from the human world who tried to comfort their partners, its clear voice tinged with unstable transmission static.
[I’m sorry, I was wrong. It won’t happen again.]
Even after being apologized to, Jiang Yingxiao still felt wronged. But there was no one here to hide behind, no one to scare the other party into kneeling and begging for her forgiveness.
She could only pretend to let it go.
076’s Central Processor really had malfunctioned. It was promptly sent for repairs, with the last line of its Code still searching for “101 Little Tricks to Make a Girl Happy.” It hardly seemed like a proper System.
The Livestream Room was forced to cut to a black screen.
Scalding teardrops fell onto He Ming’s firm pectoral muscles, the wheat-colored skin reddening where the liquid landed.
He Ming’s breath hitched. He gently set Jiang Yingxiao down on the ground. As soon her black-soled little leather shoes touched the floor, she lifted her leg and kicked him, leaving a dusty shoe print on his cargo pants instantly.
He didn’t care about anything else, bending down to look at her face. His heart ached with anxiety, but his words came out harsh and unpleasant, “Did the little princess really cry?”
Her tear-streaked face was buried in her cascading long hair. She was trying her best to hold back the sounds, but soft, whimpering sobs still escaped.
Sticky tears clung to thick black lashes, hanging in clumps before her eyelids. Those emerald-green eyes, beautiful as sunlit grass, now began to rain.
Drip, drop, dampness.
He Ming half-knelt on the ground, raising a large hand to catch the falling teardrops. He wanted to wipe the moisture from Jiang Yingxiao’s face but feared his rough hands might hurt her delicate skin, wishing he could just lick it clean instead.
“Don’t cry.” He searched his mind for comforting words from the Instance, but found nothing but barren emptiness. After struggling for a long while, he managed only this.
It sounded less like comfort and more like a taunt before murder.
Sure enough, the other party didn’t even want to look at him, turning her face away, unwilling to let even her tears fall where he could see them.
As if she would never forgive him in this lifetime.
“Fuck.” The man cursed under his breath. His clumsy mind came up with the simplest solution—his broad palm gripped her slender ankle and pressed it against his chest. “It’s all my fault, I’m a bastard. Kick me.”
Jiang Yingxiao shook her head slightly, lifting her foot to pull it from his embrace.
Who knew if kicking him would lead to him hacking her to death with a knife? What if this was just his excuse to kill her? Agreeing would be the end of her.
But He Ming clung to her frost-white calf like a shameless dog, pleading softly, “Tell me, what will make you stop crying?”
The girl’s lips curved downward, her pink-and-white face streaked with tear tracks as she glared at him with lowered, beautiful brows.
He Ming felt like he was about to die.
Jiang Yingxiao sniffled, her eyes red, her lips flushed red too. Finally, she deigned to speak, her voice trembling with a hint of fear between her teeth, “You’re not allowed to chop me.”
As if he were some heinous terrorist who hacked people on sight.
“When the hell did I ever say I’d chop you?” He Ming retorted, eager to prove his loyalty.
He was bare-chested, wearing only black cargo pants, with nowhere to hide a knife.
Jiang Yingxiao’s round eyes widened in disbelief. “And now you’re yelling at me?”
The tears she had barely held back threatened to burst forth again. Crying, she lifted her foot and kicked the inside of his thigh hard with the toe of her shoe. “If you don’t want to chop me, why are you hiding a knife there?”
A mix of pain and pleasure surged through his brain. He Ming grunted from the impact, his mind buzzing.
The man tightened his grip on her snow-white ankle, his breathing coming in ragged bursts. “Miss, that’s not a knife.”
“How do I know you’re not lying?” Jiang Yingxiao no longer wanted to step on him, but he still held her ankle tightly. “Let go. Show it to me, then I’ll believe you.”
From the nearby Locker Room, heavy, panting sounds began again, alarmingly loud.
Only then did the girl remember that more murderers might be waiting nearby to chop her. She dared not move her foot, her damp, soft pink lips trembling lightly.
He Ming released her hand, carefully wiping the wet traces from the sole of her shoe. He rose to his feet, pulling Jiang Yingxiao into his embrace, his large hand patting her back soothingly. “Next time, next time, okay, Miss?”
If he took it out now, the delicate young lady would probably faint at first glance, and then she’d hit him and call him a scoundrel.
A piercing bell rang through the corridor. Jiang Yingxiao instinctively closed her eyes as two rough hands obediently covered her ears like earplugs.
The sharp sound grew muffled. She reached out and grasped his little finger, the warmth of her touch rushing straight to the man’s heart.
The sweet scent seemed to have seeped into the gaps between her fingers, and she wasn’t sure if she should wash her hands today or not.
As the bell faded, He Ming only let go after being nudged, reluctantly releasing his grip. He then leaned in again, sniffing around her like a dog, his broad, athletic frame casting a shadow over her.
“I have to leave now. Wait for me here. Don’t go outside—it’s dangerous out there, understand?”
He repeated the warning, uneasy. “No matter what happens, don’t leave.”
The man pulled on his clothes, stole a quick kiss on her cheek, and left. Jiang Yingxiao wiped the saliva from her face in disgust.
She really wanted to wash her face.
The locker room suddenly felt vast and empty. The partition beside her was shoved violently several times, as if the person in Room 3 was desperate to break through.
Fortunately, the material of the cubicle was sturdy enough, and despite their efforts, nothing gave way.
It seemed truly safe here.
The girl curled up in the corner, her fingers clutching the hem of her skirt so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She was even prepared to stay here without food or water for seven days.
In the midst of her thoughts, another unfamiliar mechanical voice rang out, deep and magnetic.
[Mission Two: Stuff the sock into the mouth of the person outside the door.]
[Time Limit: 10 minutes.]
[Mission Reward: 2000 Points.]
Author’s Note:
The next dog is already in position outside the door.