The “not pure” four-person gossip group immediately rushed to find a teacher who could make decisions.

After learning that the missing ones were these five big troublemakers, Head Teacher Li realized that things were getting bad. Luckily, he had some matters to discuss with the parents of these five, so he quickly gathered them together and prepared to make a call.

However, when the phone rang from the class’s small genius phone watch, both Head Teacher Li and the parents turned pale.

The one whose face was the most grim was Su Yi.

He had an inkling that Su Qing’s disappearance was definitely linked to that yellow-haired guy.

Head Teacher Li didn’t dare to delay. He immediately called Principal Zheng, and Principal Zheng decisively called the deputy captain of the local police station next door.

The deputy captain happened to have free time and personally led a few officers who were working overtime to come over.

While the four-person gossip group felt relieved that the teachers were taking things seriously, they couldn’t help but feel nervous. With such a big team, and even the police being called, what if, when they found these people, it turned out it was just a romantic issue?

They couldn’t imagine how chaotic things would get if it turned into a scene of singles fighting singles, or mixed doubles battles.

While the four-person gossip group trembled in fear, where were the missing ones now?

Su Qing stood in front of the school’s west wall alley, watching a bunch of spirited young men and women riding noisy motorcycles. She furrowed her brows and asked Zhou Mu, who had a serious expression.

“Is this what you meant by just going out to have fun?”

Zhou Mu nodded, turned his face, and positioned his jawline toward Su Qing. He looked quite melancholic and said: “This is the promise I made to you a month ago. Unfortunately, it was interrupted by the school teachers. But now, this is my first and last time fulfilling this promise.”

Zhou Mu had expected that Su Qing would be touched, especially since he had already set the scene. He even wore his most invisible height-increasing insoles for this occasion.

But what Zhou Mu didn’t expect was that Su Qing before him was no longer the same as before.

—it wasn’t that she had turned into Niu Hulu Su Qing, but her mind was clearer now, and she remembered the traffic safety lesson with the cat head and various mosaics.

Su Qing looked at Zhou Mu’s serious expression and found it hard to believe. She then turned her head to look at the boys and girls outside riding their noisy bikes, occasionally revving the engines, making the electric motorcycles roar. Finally, she couldn’t hold it in anymore and said: “Zhou Mu, I thought you meant for us to go to the amusement park for a last date, or even just go to a free park and enjoy the river. At least we’d leave each other with a good final impression—not like this, riding noisy bikes with a group of people, disregarding our safety and making a ruckus on the streets!”

For the first time, Su Qing shouted at Zhou Mu like this.

Did Zhou Mu really not realize how much trouble his actions were causing for others around him

Did he not realize that his actions were irresponsible to his own life as well?

No, Zhou Mu knew, but he arrogantly thought he would never get into trouble, and that attitude had already shown itself during their relationship.

Ironically, Su Qing had once thought his behavior represented freedom, but now she asked herself, what freedom? American-style freedom?

Su Qing’s angry words immediately made Zhou Mu, who had been a bit smug, darken his face.

This was the first time he had been treated this way by Su Qing—even in front of his so-called “brothers.”

He could already hear some of his “brothers” laughing at him.

Shamed, Zhou Mu walked toward Su Qing with a gloomy face, forcing her against the wall before he spoke in a low voice.

“Top student, is this the first time you’ve met me? What was fine before, why is it not fine now?

Acting so high and mighty? Weren’t you with me in the school bathroom—slap!”

Before Zhou Mu could finish, he felt a force that made his head turn to the side with a loud slap, followed by a sharp pain from his cheek.

“Zhou Mu, you’re really a horrible person!” Su Qing’s voice trembled as she said.

Zhou Mu used his tongue to numb his cheek from the pain and turned to look at Su Qing, just as she gazed at him with teary eyes.

Her eyes were red and glistening with unshed tears.

She was still wearing her school uniform, looking exactly the same as she did when she went out to play with him a few months ago.

But now, what flashed in her eyes wasn’t infatuation for the guy in front of her—it was complete disgust, as if she had seen garbage.

Zhou Mu ignored the slight pain in his heart. He mockingly curled his lips and said: “Fine, Su Qing, you’re something. Don’t regret it!”

He turned and hopped onto his electric motorcycle, joining the thugs to race noisily down the street like monkeys.

But judging by their excited expressions, they thought they looked cool.

Su Qing stood there at the entrance of the alley, watching Zhou Mu ride away. Her tears finally broke free, falling uncontrollably.

As she cried, she yelled angrily at the retreating Zhou Mu: “I won’t regret it! You bastard, Zhou Mu!”

This scene was like something out of a youth movie. Watching it through 19’s surveillance, Ye Wangxing couldn’t help but say:【…I’m finally starting to feel like I’m just an NPC background character.】

Ye Wangxing looked at Su Qing, who had squatted down, crying, and shook his head.

【I could never write a script like this.】

19 looked at the script written by his host and fell silent.

Host, maybe you and these people are more alike than you think?

Ye Wangxing and 19 had gone out to prepare in advance, so that they could intervene in time if the male and female leads ended up in a “hero rescuing the beauty” situation.

After conducting a reconnaissance, 19 analyzed that there was a hidden corner outside the school’s south wall that had a 60% probability of being the scene of the incident.

Ye Wangxing, seeing the 60% probability, immediately made the decision and chose the location without hesitation.

“Host, are you sure? It’s only a 60% probability,” 19 hesitated, as his previous hosts were mostly cautious types, and rarely made decisions unless the probability was over 90%.

In a world where even plans with an 80% success rate often failed, only plans with over 90% success rate were worth taking a risk.

“60% is enough. And 19, didn’t you activate the surveillance? If anything goes wrong, we can just rush over,” Ye Wangxing smiled and patted 19’s arm.

19’s shoulders were a bit high, so Ye Wangxing had to lift his hand quite high to pat his arm. But Ye Wangxing still chose to pat his arm, as he had a bit of pride.

Thinking about that moment, 19 couldn’t help but sigh.

‘Host, what will you do without me?’

After 19 finished his sigh, they saw the male and female leads leave the school and followed them out, hiding in an alley.

They soon witnessed a scene that could rival the plot of a youth tragic romance movie.

Ye Wangxing couldn’t help but comment: “No wonder this is youth tragedy literature, the vibe is so strong.”

But quickly, Ye Wangxing noticed two characters who shouldn’t appear in this kind of story—two energetic young men, similar to Zhou Mu’s brothers. They approached Su Qing, smiling, until they stood in front of her.

At that moment, Su Qing was crying, holding her knees, completely disregarding her image.

She wondered how she had fallen for such a jerk, and even now, she still had lingering feelings for him, which led her to meet him again.

But…

The first person to show her that life had other ways to be lived was him, even though that path wasn’t suitable for her.

She cried so hard she was hiccupping, not even realizing that two men were now standing in front of her.

Then two voices spoke.

“Hey, little sister, all alone? Want to hang out with your older brothers?”

Far away, Ye Wangxing heard the voice in his mind, and his expression immediately darkened. He was about to go out, but 19 coldly pressed his hand on Ye Wangxing’s shoulder, pinning him firmly against the wall.

“Host, do not ignore the power of the protagonist halo, the female lead will be fine. Right now, your most important task is to complete the mission.”

Ye Wangxing struggled, but 19 showed him a live feed of Su Qing’s situation.

“Host, you have to trust the female lead’s halo and the brainwashing ability of those side characters.”

Ye Wangxing watched as Su Qing, after hesitating for a few seconds, kicked one of the thugs in the groin and then turned to run.

‘…Nice job.’

But soon, Ye Wangxing became nervous again because Su Qing, in her panic, ran into the alley, where there was no way out.

At the same time, Ye Wangxing heard footsteps coming from the south alley in real life.

“Host, the male lead is about to arrive. Please cooperate with the script.”

Before Ye Wangxing could react, 19, who was still pressing him against the wall, brought his face even closer to Ye Wangxing’s. He trapped him between the two of them.

Looking at the two men’s broad chests, which even their school uniforms couldn’t hide, Ye Wangxing thought: ‘If I had known, I wouldn’t have chosen such a big body when I picked the biological form.’

By the way, how do you chant the Heart-Calming Mantra again?

Zhou Mu stood at the entrance of the school’s south alley, listening to the increasing footsteps and the two thugs cursing the female lead in front of them. His face darkened as he played with a lighter in his hand.

He raised his hand to check the time on his “Little Genius” phone watch, waiting for Su Qing to be pushed into the south alley by the two thugs.

Yes, those two thugs were hired by him.

At first, Zhou Mu hadn’t wanted to use this method. He just wanted to reconcile with Su Qing, but his brothers had given him good advice: it’s always better to be prepared.

“Chasing girls requires some tactics. Otherwise, why would they talk about not wanting to be with us, when deep down they actually like it?”

This was something one of his brothers, who had been drunk, told him, and Zhou Mu thought it made sense.

So he had been introduced to these two thugs by his brothers to scare Su Qing. Even though his brothers didn’t seem great and had previously mocked him for his public confession, they were still quite loyal.

Unlike his younger brothers at school, who had shaken their heads in disbelief when they heard about this plan. They looked at Zhou Mu like he was a monster, warning him not to go through with it.

“Boss, haven’t you seen the laws online? This kind of thing is illegal. It’s considered creating trouble!”

The little guy even specially took out a hidden phone to show Zhou Mu some cases, which made Zhou Mu feel a bit scared. However, when he told his buddies about it, they immediately laughed at him for being timid.

“How brave can girls even be? Besides, being chased by thugs like that—most of them wouldn’t dare talk about it in public, afraid of getting involved in gossip with those punks. And you’re only two people, that’s hardly provoking trouble. Relax, relax.”

His buddies patted their chests and guaranteed it, even coming along to back him up. Only then did Zhou Mu finally relax.

They even helped him test Su Qing’s sincerity. Although now it seemed those guys just came for the drama, they did help Zhou Mu—to see Su Qing’s true colors.

Thinking of that, Zhou Mu sneered sarcastically. Seeing that the time on his watch was almost up, he slowly walked toward the alley.

His plan was to wait until Su Qing was so frightened by those two punks that she lost her senses, then he would step in as the hero saving the beauty.

Girls were all like that.

Zhou Mu thought carelessly.

By then, Su Qing would definitely be touched and want to get back together with him—and he would agree.

But when Su Qing thought they were deeply in love again, he would cruelly dump her. That would be her punishment!

A punishment for her heartlessness, her fickleness, her arrogance.

He had thought it all through. He was just waiting for Su Qing to break up before the college entrance exams. Even if her grades didn’t drop, she would still lose his love. So what if she got into a top university?

Let her cry while holding her precious admission letter!

As Zhou Mu thought this, the expression on his face grew more and more excited while looking around the alley.

He had already scouted the place before. The small alley on the west side looked complicated and had a dead end, but actually that dead end was connected to the small alley outside to the south.

Someone had smashed the wall at that dead end and placed two planks over it. It looked blocked, but it didn’t take much strength to move those planks aside.

Zhou Mu figured it was probably something the local residents did for convenience. He had seen plenty of things like that growing up.

But this actually made it easier for him to carry out his plan.

Just one wall away, Su Qing’s once steady voice started turning panicked. It seemed those two punks were getting closer to her.

Zhou Mu felt a sting in his heart, but thinking that Su Qing would soon fall back into his arms, he forced down the new wave of emotion and told himself silently:

“Su Qing doesn’t deserve it. She already betrayed you. Why are you still acting so devoted? You’re not pathetic enough to still like her, are you?”

He thought that, but the discomfort in his heart didn’t go away. Luckily, they were heading toward that opening, farther from him now, and he couldn’t hear them anymore.

Zhou Mu took a deep breath, quickened his pace, and walked swiftly toward the planned spot.

However, just before reaching the corner, Zhou Mu’s expression darkened immediately.

He heard noises coming from that corner.

“Damn it, don’t tell me those two didn’t stick to the plan and actually did something to Su Qing?”

Zhou Mu didn’t care that he had just called himself pathetic—he only wanted to teach Su Qing a lesson, not actually let her get hurt!

Thinking that, he rushed toward the corner at top speed, shouting loudly: “What are you doing?!”

But…

The scene before Zhou Mu wasn’t as horrifying as he had imagined.

After all, Su Qing wasn’t even in that alley—her voice was actually getting closer.

What appeared in front of Zhou Mu were two familiar faces.

Yan Yi and Nan Jiu.

Their arms were propped against the wall, and in between them seemed to be someone, but they blocked that person completely. At first glance, Zhou Mu didn’t even notice there was someone between them.

It wasn’t until he ignored their glares in disbelief and stepped closer that he realized the person between them was another familiar face—

Ye Wangxing.

The lively guy who had recently stolen all his spotlight at school was now caught between those two, looking dazed. When he saw Zhou Mu, he even looked curious and tried to peek out—

Only to have his head pushed back down by Yan Yi.

Seeing the three of them, Zhou Mu’s tension faded instantly. He even felt annoyed that they suddenly appeared here.

“Weren’t the persimmon trees at school enough for them to climb?”

—Although from the look of things, it was Zhou Mu who interrupted them, Zhou Mu never blamed himself.

But soon he realized something was wrong.

Weren’t the three of them standing a little too close?

And Yan Yi and Nan Jiu were supposed to be nice to Ye Wangxing—why did they suddenly drag him into an alley and pin him down like bullies?

But it didn’t look like bullying either, because both of them were looking at Ye Wangxing with tender, affectionate eyes—like looking at a girlfriend.

Meanwhile, after Zhou Mu showed up, their gazes at him were sharp as knives. Zhou Mu felt like his whole body was being sliced apart again and again.

He even heard faint grinding teeth. Looking at his watch, realizing it wasn’t time yet, he wisely backed away a few steps and returned to the corner. Only muffled conversation drifted to his ears.

“Heh, good thing he left,” Nan Jiu said.

“Finally,” Yan Yi said coldly.

Ye Wangxing’s voice, confused, followed: “We’re all classmates, isn’t this a bit much? Forget it, I’ll apologize to him when we’re back at school. Anyway, what did you two want to tell me?”

Then, the two who had just been annoyed at Zhou Mu went completely silent. The faint rustle of clothes followed.

Zhou Mu got curious and peeked out again—just in time to see Yan Yi and Nan Jiu trapping Ye Wangxing tightly between them and the wall.

Their faces were tense, even blushing slightly, like they were nervous or shy.

Zhou Mu looked at their positions, their close proximity—

“Biu—!”

It was like he suddenly turned into Detective Conan, background lasers flashing behind his head.

The questions that had confused him before suddenly made sense—why were Yan Yi and Nan Jiu so good to Ye Wangxing?

Why had they made such a big deal about climbing Mount Tai with him after a fight, refusing to return until he forgave them?

Everything made sense now.

—Those two families wanted something from Ye Wangxing!

The more Zhou Mu thought about it, the more it felt like one of those business war novels he’d read. Surely Ye Wangxing had some valuable formula, and both families wanted it, so they made their heirs get close to him.

Whichever side Ye Wangxing favored would get the formula.

What Zhou Mu didn’t notice was that when this thought appeared in his mind, the three people opposite him all froze for a moment.

He could only hear both of them nervously speaking at once:

“Wangxing, actually, I—” ×2

The next second—

Crack—Bang!

With the sound of breaking wood came a panicked cry:

“Help! Someone’s chasing me!”

A short-haired girl fell onto the planks, her red eyes and heaving chest showing she had just gone through a terrifying chase—she looked miserable.

Zhou Mu realized the time had come. He was about to rush forward, pretending to be the furious hero saving the beauty—but unfortunately…

The two boys who’d just been interrupted mid-sentence were even angrier than him.

The punks, clutching their bruised heads and aching crotches, finally caught up to Su Qing—only to see her already being helped up.

In front of her stood two boys, both over 1.9 meters tall, staring at them blankly.

“Well, look, they’re even holding sticks,” one of them said through clenched teeth.

“Assault with a weapon” the other said coldly, like his voice could freeze the air.

“…You two, just be careful not to kill them,” came a weak reminder from behind them.

The punks looked at the stick in their hands—the same one Su Qing had just grabbed and smashed over their heads: “…”Would anyone believe us if we said this was evidence?

Meanwhile, in the distance, Su Yi’s ears twitched.

Why did that voice sound just like Su Qing’s?

Thinking that, he felt a pang of dread and quickly led the four other parents and teachers toward the source of the sound.

When Su Yi and the group of teachers and parents arrived, the scene before them left everyone speechless for a full thirty seconds.

The five people they had been searching for were all right there in the alley.

Zhou Mu stood at the entrance, frozen in shock, staring ahead, almost drooling.

Su Qing leaned weakly against the wall, clutching her chest and gasping for air.

As for the other three…

They saw Yan Yi and Nan Jiu being held back by a boy trying to calm them down, while behind him, two delinquent-looking teens were trembling in the corner.

You didn’t even have to ask how Director Li knew those two weren’t good kids—he’d seen them hanging around the school gate for days before the police next door scared them off.

Director Li thought maybe he hadn’t really woken up yet if he was seeing such a bizarre scene.

Next to him, Zhou Mu’s uncle, who only recognized his nephew and the girl he was dating, whispered to him: “Those two being held back… don’t they look like good for nothing students?”

Director Li: “…”

How was he supposed to explain that?

Luckily, he didn’t have to. Unable to stand Yan Yi and Nan Jiu’s deadly glares, the two punks quickly confessed everything.

When Zhou Mu’s uncle learned his nephew was the mastermind, his face turned red with fury, and right then and there he put on a live demonstration of firefighter unarmed combat.

True to his profession, his physique was impressive—Su Yi didn’t even get a chance to step in and help discipline Zhou Mu.

In the end, Principal Zheng had to step in to stop him, fearing someone might actually die if it went on.

The deputy captain finally had work to do.

Since Zhou Mu and the two punks were already adults—and with the victim’s family demanding justice—he immediately handcuffed the three of them and called the local police for transfer.

When the four gossip-loving classmates finally rushed to the scene, panting, what they saw was Su Qing crying in her brother’s arms—while Zhou Mu and two shady-looking guys were being loaded into a police car in handcuffs.

Ye Wangxing stood beside Head Teacher Li, looking perfectly well-behaved.

—Only Yan Yi and Nan Jiu had resentment on their faces strong enough to feed ten evil sword immortals.

Even when they were taken away to make statements, their furrowed brows never relaxed.

The four-member gossip squad: “…”

Looking at the chaotic scene before them, they wanted to sip the hot tea of gossip, but unfortunately, they didn’t have the courage.

They could only obediently pretend to behave, hoping Director Li might spare them a little truth.

However, Director Li didn’t give them any truth. He even drove them back to school to go home with their parents.

Director Li, impartial and stern, shoved the students into their parents’ arms, and after sending Ye Wangxing and Su Qing off as well, he hurried to the police station.

He had to handle Zhou Mu’s matter.

The nature of Zhou Mu’s case was quite vile. If it spread, it could attract attention from all circles.

That would absolutely not be good news for Su Qing.

Director Li knew all too well how shameless some media outlets were. They would very likely target Su Qing. Even though her parents were rather wealthy locally, the various online outlets would still rush in desperately for clicks.

It was best to keep the incident contained within the school.

“If only some celebrity’s scandal would break right now—it’d help cover this mess up.”

Head Teacher Li thought hopefully as he arrived at the police station. But just as he stepped into the mediation room, he heard the shocked voice of a police officer.

“So, the reason you two beat up those guys was not only to act bravely for justice but also because they interrupted you two (emphasis) confessing to another person?”

Head Teacher Li: “…”Well, maybe that could be the distraction instead.

He couldn’t even tell which of the two matters was more serious!

The local police had never encountered something fit to appear on Guard Liberation West. They froze for a moment before regaining composure and were just about to gossip more when Head Teacher Li stepped into the room and abruptly dragged the topic back on track.

Seeing Head Teacher Li so furious he nearly fainted, the officers didn’t press further, though their gossip-filled glances revealed plenty.

Even the deputy captain who came along couldn’t help sneaking looks at the two boys.

Fortunately, the assistants were very professional, and the matter was quickly settled, leaving Director Li to handle the follow-up at the station.

That kept Director Li so busy he was dizzy for days.

While he was tied up, the four-member gossip squad wasn’t idle either.

Su Qing had already gone to Iceland to recuperate, and with the main figure gone, the incident soon blew over like the passing wind.

It wasn’t nearly as interesting as finding out what exactly Yan Yi and Nan Jiu had wanted to say to Ye Wangxing that night.

That detail came from Ye Wangxing himself. The next day, he had chased Yan Yi and Nan Jiu in front of the whole class, asking repeatedly, but they never gave a straight answer. Instead, their slightly guilty behavior caught everyone’s attention.

Most of the classmates, having learned their lesson last time, assumed it was just an awkward prank between good friends. Some others thought maybe they had a surprise or something important to tell Ye Wangxing.

Only the gossip squad sensed something off.

Judging from the strange atmosphere between the three and the way those two had gone berserk the night before… they felt they had discovered a shocking secret.

—The two of them must have beaten those thugs out of frustration because their confession got interrupted

But the thought was too terrifying, so they didn’t dare say it aloud.

When they returned to the dorm and saw the two “gods” just back from evening study—one gaming, one doing math—they whispered to each other.

“Wouldn’t it be bad if we just asked directly…?” Li Jun said hesitantly.

“If we don’t ask, do you want to hold it in until graduation? I won’t be able to sleep tonight if we don’t ask!” Zhang Le whispered back.

Li Jun finally steeled himself and nodded.

—After all, he wouldn’t be able to sleep either if they didn’t find out.

So the two mustered their courage, looked at one boy gaming and the other solving problems, coughed lightly, and stammered: “Um, Brother Yan/Brother Nan, that day you two…”

“Were you going to confess to Ye Wangxing?”

The atmosphere went deathly silent.

A second later—

“Snap—!” “Crack!”

Yan Yi snapped the pen in his hand, while Nan Jiu crushed his screen.

Both turned to glare at Zhang Le and Li Jun—

With death in their eyes.

Very well, no answer was needed.

Seeing their expressions, Zhang Le and Li Jun swallowed hard and shut their eyes in tragic resignation.

—Please, let the organization remember their sacrifice!

The next morning, Zhang Le and Li Jun came to class like wandering souls.

They had indeed gathered first-hand information and confirmed that the two had really gone to confess to Ye Wangxing—but the price was steep.

“Planks! They made us do planks while solving math problems! And they even tempted us with Brother Yan notes! The duplicate notes he made for Ye Wangxing!”

Zhang Le sobbed to Jiang Yue and Zhao Xiaxia, snot and tears everywhere. Zhao Xiaxia patted his shoulder sympathetically. “You worked hard, comrade. The organization will remember your contribution.”

Luckily, when Ye Wangxing heard about it, he personally gave each of them a persimmon.

Though Zhao Xiaxia and the others had some too, Zhang Le and Li Jun were so touched that they hugged Ye Wangxing, calling him godfather.

After joking around with them, Ye Wangxing quietly went to Head Teacher Li and Principal Zheng’s office, leaving a few carefully brewed persimmons for them as well.

After setting them down, Ye Wangxing looked inward in his mind, took a deep breath, and said:【19, calculate the mission results.】

19 cold voice echoed in his mind.

【Understood, Host.】

Then the task interface appeared in Ye Wangxing’s mind.

[Task Panel]

Name: [Ye Wangxing]

Gender: [Male]

Age: [24]

Current Role: [Sophomore in Class 3, Baoning No.1 High School]

Attention Value: [154]

Mini World Currency: [37,635 yuan]
Gold (transferable to other worlds): [500g]
Main Quest: [Steal the attention of the male and female leads]
Progress: [100%]
Reward: [10,000 Attention Value]

Side Quests:
Quest 1: [Sabotage the male lead’s confession to the female lead during the sports meet.]
Progress: [100%]
Reward: [Attention +100, 200,000 yuan, 200g gold (transferable)]
Quest 2: [Sabotage the male lead’s hero-saving-the-beauty scene.]
Progress: [100%]
Reward: [Attention +150, 400,000 yuan, 400g gold (transferable).]】

【Congratulations, Host. You have completed all main and side missions. Your performance was S-rank. Thank you for your effort. You will return to system space in ten minutes. Do you wish to proceed?】

Ye Wangxing looked back at the school one last time, smiled, and said: 【Proceed.】

【Understood, Host. Initiating extraction sequence: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.】

As 19 voice faded, Ye Wangxing felt his consciousness slowly leaving his body.

The “Ye Wangxing” left behind only staggered slightly, then returned to class as usual.

“Yan Yi, Nan Jiu, those persimmons were for Zhang Le and the others! Yours are set aside, don’t steal theirs!”

“No wonder the company’s post-mission replacement was so good—you can’t even tell it isn’t me!”

Ye Wangxing watched the programmed “Ye Wangxing” with interest.

He wasn’t saddened that his friends didn’t realize it wasn’t really him. In fact, he thought it was better this way—without feeling loss or having their memories erased, this was the best ending for them.

“…Let’s just call it experiencing youth. As long as it was fun and happy, that’s enough. If I really had to study hard and take college entrance exams, that’d be a nightmare.”

Ye Wangxing smiled as he followed 19 back through the time-space channel.

19 observed that although the host’s emotions fluctuated slightly, they hadn’t reached dangerous levels, and he felt relieved. It was good that the host could regulate himself.

“…Besides, aren’t you still with me? We’re partners who’ll travel through many worlds together.”

The young man, now in adult form again, smiled as the galaxies along the tunnel reflected in his eyes, shining like starlight over a lake—gentle and beautiful.

System 19 gazed at him for a long time, saving the image into his chip.

His data processor hadn’t given that command, but his emotional module had—and he followed it.

—Just as he couldn’t take his eyes off him now.

Ye Wangxing’s expression stiffened a little. He didn’t understand why 19 kept staring at him. Could it be that 19 wasn’t used to his current face and was scanning it?

While the two thought in opposite directions, the time-space tunnel finally reached its end.

They had returned to the System Company.

The moment they landed, they heard bang! bang! bang!—firecracker sounds. 19 instantly shielded his host, ready to defend.

The sound was too much like a handheld cannon.

But when they looked up…

19 relaxed his hold on his host and saw his embarrassed supervisor holding a confetti cannon—along with other logistics staff holding the same.

“…Did the company go bankrupt?”

Celebrating even a rookie host finishing a newbie mission with confetti cannons?

“…No, the company’s fine. The big bosses are still with us. It’s just that these years, most hosts stopped doing proper missions and started rebelling against their systems. Some even disrupted the Laws themselves. So when we see a good host like yours, the boss said to give him the treatment he deserves.”

System 17, who had talked with 19 before, spoke helplessly, his body still patched with data repairs.

“It’s not easy running a system company now. Nine out of ten hosts go rogue, and the last one poaches others. Even the shady system companies don’t dare force unfair contracts anymore—they’re scared of being destroyed. We’re not exactly shady, but we still provided dorm housing for the hosts.”

System No. 17 was currently in the apartment assigned by the company to No. 19 and Ye Wangxing.

It had two bedrooms and a living room, spacious and fully equipped with computers and game consoles—everything tailored exactly to Ye Wangxing’s preferences.

After all, No. 19 was a system. To put it bluntly, No. 19 was technically one of Ye Wangxing’s mission tools.

Fortunately, No. 19 didn’t really care—what preferences could a system possibly have?

“But there had been other promising hosts before,” No. 19 said coolly, crossing his legs on the sofa. “So what happened this time?”

—Meanwhile, Ye Wangxing was happily setting up the gaming console he had never been able to bring himself to buy before, cheering as he bounced onto the chaise lounge.

The smile on No. 17’s face finally faded. He sighed, stayed silent for a moment, then spoke abruptly.

“…No. 19, you were actually right.”

No. 17 went on to explain how his own host had tangled their fates together, tricked him into revealing some information about the Old Gods, and caused several small worlds to erupt into divine catastrophes.

“I never imagined he would betray me” No. 17 said quietly. “But thinking about it now, that host had always treated me as nothing more than a tool. It was partly my fault too—I never installed an emotional analysis system in him.”

When he said this last part, No. 17 casually activated a soundproof barrier so Ye Wangxing wouldn’t hear them.

Hearing that, No. 19 immediately understood why his supervisor was the way he was—and the data patches covering No. 17’s body now made sense.

He had probably paid a steep price to separate from that host, first patching himself up with data repairs before customizing new data modules for his system body.

“As it turns out,” No. 19 concluded calmly: “an emotional regulation system is necessary. But your host’s problem was most likely his own fault. It had little to do with the lack of emotion control. Besides, we’re systems—we don’t really have the concept of betrayal.”

No. 17 sighed. “As expected, you processors who came back from the war zones always think so clearly.”

He had indeed been spoiled by his former host—that was why he’d assumed all hosts were like that.

And then, in the very next second, the calm, rational, and usually cold No. 19 said in all seriousness: “Yes. My host told me on our way back that we’re partners who’ll be traveling together for a long time. He didn’t see me as a tool. My CPU, and the emotional monitoring system he carries, are proof that he meant what he said.”

No. 17, who had just praised No. 19 for his clear head: “…”

Wasn’t it a bit cruel to show off your host’s affection like that in front of someone who’d just been betrayed? Come on, man.

 

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