Jiang Shian embraced Lu Ye from behind, his dark eyes carrying a hint of an unsettling, almost pathological intensity that was difficult to decipher. "You are mine, no matter how far you run, you can't escape my grasp. I wanted to lock you away, to keep anyone from seeing you, but I failed. You want to leave me? How can you leave me? Let's die together instead, then no one can separate us."
[SYSTEM WARNING!
Affection Level of Protagonist: -20%
Immediate action is required to prevent further decline.
If the affection level reaches -100%, the host would immediately be erased!]
—Stop… I don't want to die…
[SYSTEM WARNING!
Affection Level of Protagonist: -60%]
—Why? I did all I could… but still couldn't change anything…
[Warning! Serious Warning!
Affection Level is currently -100%
Mission Failed!
Target: Host
Status: Marked for termination.
Execute complete obliteration. Elimination starts at 10… 9… 8…]
—I… don't want to die…
—Help… someone… help…
—Shian…
10 months ago—
"Lu Ye, it's so hot out here. I want to eat ice cream. Go buy me one of the strawberry kinds over there, with chocolate chunks inside. Don't get the wrong one, or else I'll tell Xiao about it!" A young girl in a red dress instructed a young man sitting next to her, with her hands on her hips.
"Lu Yu! Do you even remember that I'm your brother? Can't you just ask me in a more polite way?" Lu Ye glared at his little sister, who was lying on the bench, exasperated.
Lu Yu rolled her eyes at him, then kicked him on his butt, "You're gonna buy it anyway, what's wrong with helping me buy one. Stop complaining and hurry up, I feel like I'm melting in this weather."
Lu Ye let out a long sigh but still moved his steps slowly towards the convenience store at the end of the street, quietly muttering, "At least call me 'brother', does she even know to respect me?"
He walked into the store, muttering complaints under his breath as he obediently went to buy things for his sister.
At the same time, Lu Yu was attracted by a wedding dress across the street. The bodice of the wedding dress was delicately embroidered with star-like shapes, shimmering with fine crystals scattered around the stars, as if it were reflected by the moonlight.
"This is so beautiful… How happy I would be if I wore this wedding dress to my wedding…," while saying so, she started walking towards the crosswalk unconsciously.
Honk—!!!
All of a sudden, there was a truck that sped out from the side of the street. The driver tried to hit the brake, but it malfunctioned somehow.
Lu Yu turned her head and saw the truck driving towards her. Her body froze, her foot stuck to the floor, unable to move an inch.
Just as the car was about to hit her, a shadow suddenly hopped out from the side—
"Lu Yu, careful!"
It was Lu Ye! He pushed Lu Yu aside with all his might, where she almost tumbled to the ground; but Lu Ye himself was being hit by the car the next second, followed by the screech of brakes that tore through the air, with no time for anyone to react.
Bang—!
Lu Ye's body was flung upward and then landed heavily on the ground, blood covering his whole body.
Lu Yu was shocked, still trembling when crawling towards him, her voice cracked as if it was torn out of her throat, "Lu Ye…? B-brother?"
…
—My heart… feels so tired…
—My body… hurts…
—It's so dark out here…
[System Initializing…]
—Who is it?
—Am I dead already?
Hopefully, Lu Yu will remember to delete my search history; I wanted to leave this world with my innocence intact. These are his last thoughts before his consciousness faded into darkness.
When his consciousness finally returned, he realized that he was lying on a hotel bed. He felt the softness of the sheets covering him. Sunlight filtered through the curtains, shining in his eyes. The room was small, and there were spider webs and dust near the corners of the room, with a wooden door that looked like it's gonna fall apart immediately.
Lu Ye stood up from bed, and just as he was about to look around the environment, he heard a sudden sound coming just from his mind…
[Ding!
Verifying Identity… Verification Complete!
Host Confirmed!
Host Name: Lu Ye
Connecting… Connection Successfully Processed!]