Jiang Liyue raised an eyebrow, looking at Zhao Chenxing with a hint of surprise, and asked, “Hmm?”
Zhao Chenxing admired his expression for a moment, feeling quite satisfied, and half-jokingly said, “No way, Jiang Liyue, are you really buying this?”
“With my lazy style of sitting when I can, and lying down when I can sit, do you think I’d go through the trouble of making something like this?” Zhao Chenxing exaggeratedly belittled himself.
Jiang Liyue knew Zhao Chenxing was being self-deprecating because, in his eyes, Zhao Chenxing was a dazzling gem, shining brightly like a treasure.
Even though this treasure always thought about burying itself in the ground pretending to be a pebble.
In middle and high school, Zhao Chenxing was unsurprisingly a genius in the eyes of others, while Jiang Liyue, having decided to pursue an arts exam from middle school, wasn’t as focused on academics.
Calling Zhao Chenxing a genius was justified.
Because he was truly lazy!
Jiang Liyue remembered that several times, to avoid regular coursework and evening self-study, Zhao Chenxing would find excuses to go to Jiang Liyue’s arts exam classroom.
You could say he rarely did those college entrance exam assignments, and when faced with the envious, jealous, and hateful expressions of other students, he would always respond indifferently, “What can I do? Aren’t these questions just things you can learn from reading?”
Every time classmates heard Zhao Chenxing bargaining with teachers about not doing college entrance exam assignments, they felt a pang of frustration. While they were still struggling with the exams, someone had already gained a relaxed policy from the teachers through competitions.
Jiang Liyue restrained his expression, studied Zhao Chenxing’s face for a while, then looked away and said blandly, “When you have a reason that you must put in the effort, you will…”
…
Zhao Chenxing obviously didn’t expect Jiang Liyue to say that. He never thought Jiang Liyue held him in such high regard.
After all, Zhao Chenxing had always been the type to wait to be served, with no grand ambitions since childhood.
“Why suddenly say this?” Zhao Chenxing scratched his head awkwardly and then said, “Let’s quickly think about how to start the game pod.”
The design style of the holographic pod was ultra-modern, with a cyberpunk feel. When the power was turned on, the red, blue, and purple lights around the pod interplayed, giving off a strong sense of technology.
Zhao Chenxing, looking like someone who had never seen the world, circled the holographic pod, examining it as he went.
“Hey, do you think it might be something with these random lights?”
Jiang Liyue looked at the holographic pod, unable to pinpoint the feeling. He felt the design style of this pod seemed familiar, but he couldn’t recall where he had seen it before.
“Beep—” A cold female voice echoed in the game room, “Welcome to ‘Huan World’.”
Hearing the voice startled Zhao Chenxing, who then raised his hands innocently, “I don’t know, I have no idea what I pressed.”
“Don’t panic, it looks like we accidentally started the game.”
Just as they were wondering where to enter, the cold female voice sounded again, accompanied by the sound of the pod door opening, “The pod door is open, please prepare quickly.”
After the two entered the holographic pod, the pod automatically switched to dark mode, and from that moment, the live broadcast room suddenly changed from [Mandarin Ducks] to [Heartless].
[What’s going on? Why did it suddenly go dark again?]
[Didn’t the couple group just land?]
[Woc@#@#￥! Brother!]
[Heartless! Heartless! It’s actually called Heartless!]
[The director is a genius! This room name feels so meaningful, hhhh]
[Did the brothers just get in?]
[Don’t add them! Just the brother, no assistants…]
[Yeah, wouldn’t it be better if it was just the brother alone? Otherwise, Heartless would have to share the spotlight.]
At this moment, the audience in the live broadcast room, like Zhao Chenxing and Jiang Liyue, couldn’t see anything.
As soon as Zhao Chenxing entered this enclosed dark space, he suddenly said, “Jiang Liyue, do you remember the boxed lunch we had at the staff place just now?”
“Hmm?” Jiang Liyue’s voice sounded particularly indifferent through electronic transmission.
Zhao Chenxing couldn’t discern Jiang Liyue’s emotions.
“That…” Zhao Chenxing needed to analyze Jiang Liyue’s state while thinking about how to continue the conversation. After all, he had just randomly brought up a topic to divert Jiang Liyue’s attention.
“Ah! The boxed lunch we had with the staff last night, wasn’t there a dish of spicy chicken?” Zhao Chenxing said excitedly, as he hadn’t had much traditional Chinese food while abroad.
“Yeah.”
“It was really delicious! Next time, we should ask Director Qian if we can have another serving!”
“Okay.”
“You just ‘hmm’ and ‘okay’, how am I supposed to respond?” Zhao Chenxing said, feeling deflated, “You’re killing the conversation, you know?”
…
For a moment, the holographic pod fell into a deathly silence, with only the surrounding 4D microcurrent sounds and Jiang Liyue’s slightly heavy breathing.
“Jiang Liyue.”
“I’m here.”
“Are you scared?” Zhao Chenxing wasn’t sure if Jiang Liyue had overcome his fear of the dark and claustrophobia during the five years he was abroad. He decided not to beat around the bush.
Five years, not too long, not too short, was enough time for many things to happen and make them forget everything before.
“Brother.” Jiang Liyue’s voice trembled slightly, deep and sexy. In the place Zhao Chenxing couldn’t see, he furrowed his brows tightly, his eyes open in the darkness, as if trying to catch any bit of light.
“Sing me a song.”
Such a Jiang Liyue was too heartbreaking, and Zhao Chenxing couldn’t help but soften his voice, gently asking, “Which one do you want to hear?”
“‘Courage’.”
…
[Crying, brother, I didn’t know you were afraid of the dark!]
[Although… but… ‘Courage’ really makes me laugh!]
[I can sing ‘Courage’ too, brother, look at me!]
[Our brother calls him brother? Then shouldn’t we call the assistant ‘big brother’?]
[Hahahahaha, the nesting doll comment killed me.]
[Brother! You’re a tough guy, a straight man!!]
[I’ve never seen Jiang Teacher like this, did I join the fandom too late?]
[I really want to be the assistant!]
[555 Little brother~ Don’t be afraid, come to sister’s arms!]
[The one in front, aren’t you afraid Jiang Boss will knock you out with a hammer!]
[Is it my illusion? Jiang Boss seems too… towards this assistant.]
[What did the assistant feed brother? Did he cast a spell?]
[Attention! Jiang Teacher is homophobic, don’t cue! Please keep it to yourself!]
…
When Zhao Chenxing started humming the tune, the barrage decreased significantly.
[I really want to see the assistant’s face soon! I couldn’t see clearly in the airport video last time!!]
[This elegant voice with a youthful vibe, 555 I’m in love!]
[! Does the assistant have this skill? Can you be an assistant if you can sing?]
Zhao Chenxing didn’t hum for long before stopping, but the barrage was still lingering, surprised at why he stopped halfway.
In a few seconds, the cold machine female voice sounded: “Scan complete.”
[Wow! That’s so accurate, did he know the scan was done?]
[No way, it must be a coincidence…]
[If you don’t want to sing, don’t sing, stop pretending!]
[Hyb! Get out if you don’t want to listen.]
“Link Start! Game Start! Welcome to ‘Huan World’, I’m your AI supervisor, you can just call me ‘Huan Huan’~”
A cheerful, soft, and cute loli voice, along with corresponding subtitles, appeared in the live broadcast room.
The darkness around Jiang Liyue and Zhao Chenxing suddenly retreated, replaced by slightly dazzling light, as their consciousness began to connect to the vast data world.
Before losing consciousness, they heard Huan Huan’s welcoming voice.
[Huan Huan? I’m dying of laughter, it’s Huan Huan!]
[Huan Huan! Do you still remember the Prince of Guo by Daming Lake!]
[Hahahahaha, the game is so full of memes, my long-lost memories are being dug up!]
[I’ll rewatch it after the broadcast!]
As Zhao Chenxing felt the weightlessness of falling from a high altitude, he thought to himself, “Huan Huan? I don’t think that was the original name…”
Unbeknownst to the two, the cute girl Huan Huan started chatting with the barrage.
Huan Huan: Huh? Are you talking about my past life, Zhen·Niohulu·Huan?
[Wow! You can see our barrage?]
[Tql! Knows the meme and can talk back!!]
[AI supervisor, sounds so high-end!]
Huan Huan: Yup! I process all the data in this world~ Of course, I can see it~
[So what are you exactly?]
[Sweetie! Do you have a character?]
Huan Huan: Sweetie~ If you say that, I’ll get mad! I’m just like you, created by mom and dad~, I’m currently the world’s only super-intelligent AI, but I quite like you calling me Huan Huan~
Huan Huan: I do~ It’s just that my mom didn’t perfect me, so I can’t meet you guys for now~ But I believe we’ll meet soon!
[Huan Huan~ Let’s hook up!]
[Huan Huan, does your brother know you’re chatting with us? Aren’t you his AI supervisor?]
Huan Huan: During the immersion process, unexpected situations may occur, and my existence is to ensure the health and happiness of players in the world~
[Oh? What can you do?]
Huan Huan: I can do a lot! Protecting your brother’s personal safety is my primary task, including other players entering the world. Secondly, I fully detect their emotional values in the world and provide labels. However, this function is only in testing and for reference only~
[AI with a strong survival instinct!]
[Wow!! Emotion detection! That’s amazing!]
[So, we’ll be able to see brother’s true emotions?]
[Hey, brother usually has a poker face, maybe we’ll see the fiery heart beneath his cold exterior!]
While the barrage began teasing Huan Huan, Jiang Liyue and Zhao Chenxing didn’t arrive at Seine Square to meet everyone as expected.
After the weightlessness faded, they found themselves standing in a tall tower.
What’s going on?
This is a bit different from what they expected…