Chapter 3: Brought to My Knees Before the Boss

The live chat exploded:

[Huh?]
[!!!]
[Bro, you’re incredible]
[Respect, you’re a true man]
[This stream was worth watching]
[Place your bets, place your bets]

The instant Wen Nan’s lips met Qiqi’s, the stream’s popularity and the odds soared to their peak. Even among the notoriously stingy audience, a number of generous gifts began to appear.

[New here, the body’s still warm—can someone from D University explain why touching Qiqi made her reveal herself?]
[Qiqi is a three-and-a-half-star female ghost; her rating isn’t higher because she perceives human emotions through skin contact. Get it?]
[Not really…]
[…]
[Bro, are you a cloud player? Did you get eliminated before even meeting a female ghost?]
[Haha, pretty much]
[Do you know the core strategy to clear each map in this game?]
[Avoid every female ghost, right?]
[Of course not! That’s rookie mode. Once you reach the intermediate levels, you’ll see female ghosts everywhere. Hiding alone won’t get you through.]
[So what do you do? Defeat them?]
[…]
[Do you know how terrifying five-star female ghosts are? Who’s defeating whom? When you meet them, you’ll see.]
[Then what’s the solution?]
[Do everything possible to keep the female ghost in a latent state.]
[Latent state?]
[So she doesn’t reveal herself.]
[Can players control that?!]
[Absolutely!]
[Until the player intervenes, the female ghost doesn’t know she’s a ghost. As long as you don’t trigger her awakening, she won’t reveal herself.]
[It’s like a remote bomb—it won’t go off unless you set it off.]
[Fear, doubt, wavering, hesitation—these emotions in the player are all triggers.]
[Especially fear. The moment she senses even a hint of fear, you’re done for.]
[Just now, when Ye Jiu touched Qiqi’s cheek, he must’ve felt a bit hesitant. That’s the mildest trigger, which is why Qiqi only partially revealed herself and didn’t show her full ghost form.]
[So, if Ye Jiu keeps his emotions stable from now on and doesn’t trigger her again, he might be able to prevent Qiqi from fully appearing?]
[In theory, yes, but in practice, impossible.]
[This Ye Jiu isn’t a total rookie. He even dared to kiss her directly, meaning he’s using a bold approach to mask his inner fear and uncertainty.]
[But unfortunately, it won’t work.]
[No one can control their subconscious.]
[You saw it too—Qiqi’s already turned ghostly. A face, pale and bluish, only whites of the eyes, blood streaming from all seven orifices, right in front of you—could you feel nothing at all?]
['She’s a ghost,' 'She’s going to kill me,' 'She’s terrifying'—these thoughts and emotions are impossible to erase from your mind.]
[No matter how calm you act, if there’s fear inside, the female ghost will sense it clearly.]
[So, Ye Jiu is doomed?]
[He’s dead for sure.]
[Utterly done for.]
[No way out.]
[It’s over.]
[No suspense.]
[From here on out it’s garbage time, no point watching.]
[Just wait to collect your winnings, but the odds have spiked so much, there won’t be much to earn.]

The chat settled into a lull, a sage-like silence as all the viewers waited for Wen Nan’s inevitable demise.

Meanwhile, on the bleachers, Wen Nan was kissing Qiqi tenderly.

A drop of blood fell from the corner of Qiqi’s eye, landing on the back of Wen Nan’s hand. The icy, cool sensation made his movements pause.

A similar scene had played out just three hours before.

Three hours earlier, at Taoyuan Psychiatric Hospital.

Wen Nan sat on a soft sofa, his attending physician beside him.

“How have you been feeling lately?”
“Pretty good.”
“Any nightmares?”
“No.”
“Do you still see them during the day?”
“No.”

A drop of blood fell from the ceiling, landing on the back of Wen Nan’s hand.

He raised his hand and rubbed at the drop. It was dark, sticky, and faintly smelled of iron.

“What’s wrong?” Dr. Zhang pointed at Wen Nan’s hand.

Wen Nan glanced at him and smiled. “Dr. Zhang, there’s a leak in the ceiling. You should get it fixed.”

Dr. Zhang looked up and indeed saw a patch of dampness. “Yes, I should get someone to repair that.”

Wen Nan smiled softly at Dr. Zhang, but the doctor sensed Wen Nan wasn’t really looking at him, but rather past his shoulder, at someone behind him.

Dr. Zhang turned to look. There was nothing there but a wall with a landscape painting.

“Who’s behind me?” Dr. Zhang asked as calmly as he could.

Wen Nan shook his head. “No one.”

“Then what are you looking at?”

“This new painting—it’s nice.”

Dr. Zhang studied Wen Nan for a while, then nodded and dropped the topic. He lowered his head and jotted notes in his notebook. After a moment, he looked up again, his expression solemn.

“Wen Nan.”

“Yes?”

“We’re here to help you treat your perceptual integration disorder. There’s no need to treat me like an enemy. If you can clearly distinguish fantasy from reality, that’s good—just tell me. Don’t try to hide it.”

“I understand, Dr. Zhang,” Wen Nan replied obediently. “But I’m not hiding anything. I really didn’t see anything.”

Three hours later, Wen Nan was unexpectedly drawn into this game, sitting on the bleachers of a strange school’s sports field, passionately kissing his childhood friend.

At first, Qiqi was still lost in the sadness of her subtle confession being rejected. She never expected Wen Nan to suddenly kiss her; she froze, stiff as a board, utterly motionless.

As the kiss continued, Qiqi’s body slowly softened, and she began to respond. She wrapped her arms around Wen Nan, her palms caressing his arms softly.

Like someone starved for touch, Qiqi seemed almost addicted to skin contact. Seeing that Wen Nan didn’t resist, her movements grew bolder, her hands wandering to more suggestive areas, maximizing the contact between them.

Wen Nan chuckled softly, indulging her little explorations, and the two became inseparable.

[?]
[??]
[?????????]
[Wait, why hasn’t Qiqi fully revealed herself?]
[Not only hasn't she fully revealed herself, but even the ghostly features from earlier have vanished!]
[What is going on?!]
[How is this possible?!]

But five minutes had passed with their skin in constant contact, and Qiqi still couldn’t sense even a hint of fear or uncertainty from him.

[There’s only one explanation left—he’s truly not afraid at all.]
[He had that ghostly face right in front of him! Didn’t he realize Qiqi was a ghost?]
[That’s a female ghost! Is he blind? How could he do that to a ghost?!]
[Why does he even look like he’s enjoying it?!]

For a moment, the chat was filled with shock, confusion, and disbelief.

Then a message drifted by, casual but enlightening, resolving everyone’s doubts:

[He must be one of those nine legendary masters, right? Returned with a new account?]
[Damn, that’s actually possible!]
[I’ve heard that in the higher-level maps there are hidden items that let you change your account and identity.]
[So that’s it.]
[Which legendary master is he?]
[Bowing to the master.]
[Master, I was wrong, I shouldn’t have doubted you.]
[Master, all those earlier comments were posted by my dog, nothing to do with me.]
[Master, tell us your name and I’ll go top up your guild’s treasury right now.]

[Received a gift: 5 gold coins]
[Received a gift: 10 gold coins]
[Received a gift: 50 gold coins]
[Received a gift: 100 gold coins]
…

A flood of gift notifications filled Ye Jiujiro’s streaming room.

Wen Nan, oblivious to all of this, continued his entanglement with Qiqi, while summoning his system in his mind: [9527, check the mission progress.]

9527: [Main Quest 1, current completion: 10%]

Wen Nan: ?

Why so low?

The mission was “Go to the appointment”—he came, enjoyed a lovely evening, flirted, kissed, and planned to escort Qiqi safely back to her dorm. Wouldn’t that complete the task?

So why was the progress only a tenth done?

As he pondered this, a figure appeared in his peripheral vision.

Wen Nan released Qiqi and turned toward the figure.

A slim girl in a white dress, long hair draping over her shoulders, stood not far away, staring at them with a deathly intensity.

In her hand, she clutched a pink envelope.

Earlier that day, she’d slipped that pink envelope into Ye Jiu’s desk, inviting him to the field that night.

But instead of the tryst she’d hoped for, she saw him kissing another girl under the moonlight.

Her lips pressed together, tears shimmering in her eyes. Aggrieved, she said, “I was here first…”

Wen Nan was stunned.

Bzz, bzz, bzz. His pocket vibrated with a series of notifications.

He pulled out his phone—several messages popped up:

[Ye Jiu, 9 PM tonight, behind the classroom, I’ll be waiting for you.]
[Xiao Jiu, I bought some late-night snacks. My car’s parked at your school gate. Can you come meet me?]
[Big dummy! Our school’s on holiday—I’m coming to find you now!]

Wen Nan: ???

Wait, this so-called “go to the appointment” quest has five parallel threads?!

Does that mean he has to date all five of the love interests at the same time?!