Five minutes later.
Xu Xi stood pensively at the crowded entrance of a burger joint, fingers lightly hooked around a takeout bag containing a couple's combo meal.
It was summer, and the heat hung thick in the air.
Yet the breeze brushing against his lips carried a strange, refreshing coolness.
"Is something wrong, Brother?" the girl asked, peeking at him with a bright smile.
"It feels... a little magical," Xu Xi replied, searching for the right words. "Like swimming through clouds, or as if I’ve been dreaming. Time seems to have passed, yet also feels frozen."
"It’s alright, Brother~"
Xu Moli raised her hands in a playful megaphone gesture, her cheeks flushed from the summer heat, and leaned close to his ear.
"Come here more often, and you’ll get used to it~~" she whispered.
Hearing this, Xu Xi instinctively glanced at the sky—no dark clouds, no thunder.
Everything was peaceful.
"Moli, did you learn this from that book too?" Xu Xi asked, holding the food in one hand and grasping his sister’s hand with the other as they looked for a place to rest.
"Wrong guess, Brother."
"Wrong?"
"This time, I learned it from four juniors."
Boom—!
Boom—!
The sky shifted in an instant. Dark clouds rolled in, lightning snaking across the gloom as a furious storm unleashed its wrath.
Today, Xu Moli hadn’t brought an oil-paper umbrella.
But it didn’t matter.
No matter how violent the wind and rain, none could touch her.
Casually, as they walked, she flashed a [V for victory] sign behind her back.
And in the next moment—
A blinding white downpour swallowed all of Yanshan City.
The raindrops fell like shards of ice, shattering against the ground, stretching as far as the eye could see in pure white.
Soon, shops along the street raised all manner of rain shelters—cultivation arrays, elemental magic barriers, or specially crafted technological devices.
The rain was so heavy that Xu Xi nearly blurted out, "Stop fighting already!"
But after a serious look at the storm, he decided it wasn’t quite that extreme yet.
"Let’s sit here, Moli."
"Okay, Brother."
At the entrance of the shopping district, Xu Xi and Xu Moli settled on a public bench, sipping complimentary sodas as they watched the deluge and chatted about mundane, trivial things.
"Moli, should we invite some disciples from the Heavenly Sword Sect to the wedding?"
"Why the sudden thought, Brother?"
Raindrops fell like silver threads, pooling into puddles on the ground.
Xu Xi watched the water’s surface ripple and expand before answering softly, "No real reason. Just thought more people would make it livelier."
The guest list was neither long nor short.
A closer look would reveal that aside from the princess and the hero, the others had few close friends or family to invite.
Xu Moli only wanted to invite her master, Li Wanshou.
Krisha’s mother had already passed into the cycle of rebirth.
Ailei acknowledged no one but Xu Xi.
That was why Xu Xi had asked—to fill the venue with more warmth.
But the girl refused.
"Brother," she said, taking a bite of her burger, "there’s no need to worry about that."
"A wedding isn’t measured by the number of guests."
"Having you and Master is enough for me."
"I’m sure Krisha and Ailei feel the same. Because none of that matters."
Her eyes shone with quiet certainty.
Xu Xi and Xu Moli locked eyes, understanding the unspoken words between them.
Whether there were guests or not had never mattered—even the wedding itself was insignificant. The only thing that truly mattered was the person standing here.
The one they would reach out and hold onto, no matter what.
"Ah, I think the one in your hand tastes better, Brother," Xu Moli suddenly exclaimed, her thoughts drifting as she reached out to swap her food with Xu Xi’s.
Her movements were swift.
In the blink of an eye, the unopened burger in Xu Xi’s hand was replaced with a half-eaten "flawed" one.
"Brother, Brother," Xu Moli urged, grinning mischievously. "Hurry up and eat it!"
Xu Xi first glanced at the burger, then at Xu Moli’s eager expression, before curling his fingers.
Tap—
The sound was faint.
"Don’t do it again," he said lightly.
"Hehe," Xu Moli rubbed her forehead, her smile radiant—a stark contrast to the increasingly violent downpour outside.
After finishing their free burger meal,
the two stood up
and continued down the bustling commercial street.
The rain still poured relentlessly, but the entire street was equipped with advanced rain-shielding technology. As a shimmering azure barrier materialized overhead, the raging storm was instantly blocked out.
Tap—
Tap—
Their shoes splashed tiny puddles, a reminder of the rain’s persistence.
Xu Xi and Xu Moli strolled along the street as children darted past, laughing and playing, brandishing the latest generation of extraordinary toys—
though their functions were deliberately restricted.
"Evil M78 monster, face my Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin!"
"Gah! I’m dead!"
Passing through the clamor and stepping into the kaleidoscope of neon lights,
Xu Xi tightened his grip on Xu Moli’s hand, just as he had when guiding her through crowded markets as a child, afraid she might get lost.
Deeper into the commercial district,
more shops, snacks, and entertainment unfolded before them.
"A gacha machine?" Xu Moli paused in front of a sleek silver machine, its interior filled with round capsules.
The prize list by the dispenser showed small trinkets meant for blessings.
It wasn’t expensive—just ten yuan per try.
"Brother, can I try this?"
Her fair hand extended, Xu Moli blinked up at Xu Xi, asking for the coins to play.
Even if she could summon endless wealth with a mere thought,
it wouldn’t have the same meaning.
Xu Xi smiled. "Of course. I’m curious about your luck."
He reached into his pocket, pulling out the cash he’d brought along and placing it all into her palm.
"Thank you, Brother~~"
She rose onto her tiptoes and pecked his cheek. "I’ll get you a golden capsule!"
Gold, silver, bronze—
these were the prize tiers of the gacha machine.
Without resorting to her supreme powers, Xu Moli suppressed her divinity and relied solely on mortal luck as she inserted the coins and turned the knob.
Clunk—clunk—rattle-rattle.
Inside the machine,
the capsules collided with crisp, melodic sounds,
like wind chimes swaying in a gentle breeze.
After using up all the cash, the results lay before Xu Moli:
Every single one was bronze.
The Supreme Being frowned, convinced the machine was rigged against her.
A hint of killing intent flickered—until a hand reached into the pile of bronze capsules, plucking one out and opening it.
"Moli, I think this one is perfect."
"May I have it?"
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)
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
] [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!"
