"I..."
The words trailed off abruptly.
Liu Yuan didn’t know what to say, though reason told her she ought to say something.
Her throat felt clogged, as if something were stuck there, making it even harder to sort through her already tangled thoughts.
Or perhaps, she wasn’t even entirely sure what she was feeling at that moment.
...
Her mind began to drift.
Why was her relationship with Su Qi so strained?
No—strictly speaking, it wasn’t exactly strained.
There had been no arguments between them, no hatred.
They were simply strangers.
Like two separate rivers that had crossed paths by chance, only to part ways again without a second thought, flowing toward different destinations.
The only real tie binding them together was Su Qi’s father and her mother.
But shortly after the two had bought a house together, they vanished in an accident.
And with that, there was no one left to maintain the connection.
Honestly, what sense of right and wrong could an eight-year-old girl be expected to have?
All she saw was that Su Qi’s father was the "bad uncle" who had taken her mother away from her dad.
And Su Qi? He was just that bad uncle’s child.
As simple as that.
If it were you, would you have smiled and greeted him with, "Hello, brother"?
Probably not.
To put it in perspective, even many biological siblings grow up without the younger one ever calling the elder "brother." If they manage a casual "hey, bro," that’s already a sign of a decent relationship.
And after that...
No one ever taught her what to do next.
Su Qi went to his school, and she focused on her own studies.
When they returned home, they each retreated to their own rooms, barely crossing paths.
Over time, they grew accustomed to this strange, distant way of coexisting.
Because that was how it had always been.
But so many things only seem ordinary in hindsight.
Like how, as a child, you eat the meals your parents prepare every day without a second thought.
For years, it’s just routine—something so mundane that some people don’t even register it as significant.
But when you leave home for years and return to taste that same meal again, seeing your parents’ hair now streaked with gray, you suddenly understand it in a completely different light.
Liu Yuan was feeling something similar now.
Not that Su Qi was anything like paternal love, of course.
She thought back.
Back then, Su Qi had been fourteen, and she was eight.
Their parents were gone, leaving behind only that house and a modest sum of compensation.
As for their parents’ savings?
Great Xia would never pull something as absurd as demanding proof like, "Please confirm your father is your father" to access the account.
Absolutely not.
It was just that Su Qi didn’t know the password.
The bank certainly had no intention of withholding the money, but without the password, what could they do?
Rules were rules. They could only reluctantly write it off as a bad debt.
If anyone was to blame, it was their parents for not thinking to share the password with a fourteen-year-old, right?
In any case, the bank wasn’t at fault.
...
Back then, she hadn’t given it a second thought, assuming their parents’ estate was enough to sustain them comfortably until adulthood.
But now, digging deeper, Liu Yuan felt a chill run down her spine.
The compensation alone couldn’t possibly have covered their living expenses all those years.
Yet she’d never gone hungry, never lacked clothes, and her tuition had always been paid on time.
By all logic, she should have had to consider part-time work or scholarships long ago...
People often get trapped in their own assumptions.
So...
Even if Su Qi seemed unreliable on the surface, was he actually a dependable older brother?
He could have easily dumped her in an orphanage to fend for herself—he’d have had an easier life that way.
When she entered the Origin Realm for training, he could have shrugged it off with, "It’s just a lousy E-rank Origin Realm. The teachers are watching anyway—why should I care?"
But he never did any of that.
...
"I... Su..."
"Brother..."
"Su Qi, brother..."
Even without witnessing it firsthand, she could imagine how dangerous it must have been.
Old Li had nearly been left giving his last words in that fight.
And Su Qi?
He had simply lifted the tent flap, seen her awake, and—
No dramatic exclamations like, "Damn, I almost died out there."
No smug bragging in his usual tone: "Pfft, ran into some cultist. Even Old Li couldn’t handle him. You’d have been toast if I hadn’t shown up."
Instead, he just calmly moved to return to his bed, casually remarking, "Did I wake you? I’ll be quieter next time."
That was the moment Liu Yuan nearly broke down.
"I’m sorry..."
Huh?
Su Qi tilted his head, his narrow eyes filled with confusion. "What are you apologizing for?"
Liu Yuan bit her lip.
Making him hear something like this right after he’d risked his life for her—she really was sorry.
"I’m sorry... for making you go through such danger for me..."
Su Qi: ???
What did she mean, "for me"?
Since when did this brat become so full of herself?
Seriously, he’d just gone out to take a leak when some idiot, probably high on something, tried to ambush him from behind.
"Bro, you smell nice"?
"What ‘danger for you’? I just went out to... answer nature’s call and ran into some brain-dead cultist. Talk about bad luck."
But Liu Yuan clearly didn’t buy it.
Why would he need to go hundreds of meters away just to relieve himself?
Afraid Old Li would see?
But a Cardholder’s spiritual sense could only detect someone’s presence vaguely, not the specifics.
That excuse didn’t hold up.
The only plausible explanation was that Su Qi had noticed something suspicious and gone to investigate alone.
He was still trying to tough it out...
Just then—
[Daily Adventure (Special Three-in-One Edition): Su Qi, who promised to arrive on time, has unsurprisingly only just rolled out of bed at 10 a.m. Such unreliability is undeniably infuriating. Please "go back on your word" three times in a row, making him experience the same frustration and helping him rebuild his credibility. (2/3)]
[Peel off the bandage on his face and mock him: "You don’t actually think playing the hero makes you look cool, do you? Really?"]
[Complete the third instance of going back on your word immediately.]
Liu Yuan: "..."
If she remembered correctly, there was also this note:
[Warning: After the first instance of "going back on your word," the adventure is considered active. You must complete two more consecutive reversals, or the system will enforce compliance. Alternatively, you may destroy the card to end the enforcement.]
At that moment, Su Qi was still half-crouched.
Liu Yuan’s hand, having just withdrawn, hovered midair.
Su Qi was about to stand.
Liu Yuan’s expression darkened.
She sighed inwardly.
‘Sorry, brother.’
Then she spoke: "Wait."
Su Qi paused, confused but not yet rising.
Then, Liu Yuan's fair and cool little hands pressed once more against the band-aid.
……
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
