New Crisis

That night, Fang Qi tossed and turned endlessly in his sleep.

His stomach was so bloated it felt like he had a watermelon stuffed inside. No matter how he lay, he just couldn't get comfortable!

His dreams were filled with sickly sweet cream, as well as Liguang's eerily gentle "Ahhh—open your mouth."

When he woke up in the morning, he felt waves of sourness in his stomach, and a faint taste of strawberry cream lingered in his throat.

"Blegh...!"

He dry-heaved again, tears welling up in his eyes.

But the next second, this sour feeling actually made his eyes light up!

"...Did I just survive another night safely?"

He immediately sprang up from the bed and looked around.

The familiar bedroom, the warm white walls, the morning light filtering in through the window.

It wasn't the living room!

There was no deadly cup of tea!

"Hahaha!" Fang Qi couldn't help but laugh out loud, which pulled at his stomach and caused another spasm of pain. He quickly clutched his belly. "Ouch... it hurts, hurts, hurts... but it's worth it!"

He had survived another night!

He safely made it to the third day!

Another milestone victory!

He was one big step closer to Eternal True Love... well, probably.

After washing up, harboring a sense of relief that "I've lived to see another day," he pushed open the bedroom door.

Then, his smile froze.

The living room. The white coffee table. The ceramic teacup. And sitting on her knees opposite it, the smiling silver-haired girl.

Fang Qi's heart skipped a beat, but he immediately realized—

This wasn't a rewind; this was just a normal morning!

He took a deep breath to steady his nerves, walked over, and sat down.

"Master, your tea."

Liguang gently pushed the teacup toward him, her heterochromatic eyes looking at him tenderly.

"The temperature has been adjusted to your favorite 52 degrees Celsius."

Fang Qi looked down and saw that the teacup no longer contained black tea or green tea, but a golden liquid with a herbal scent.

"This is..." He sniffed it; the herbal aroma was very rich.

"It's a digestive tea to soothe the stomach," Liguang leaned forward slightly, her voice filled with concern.

"Liguang detected abnormal gastrointestinal motility while Master was sleeping last night, and there were also a few minor fluctuations in your heart rate. I deduced that you might be suffering from indigestion. So, I specially prepared this tea."

She paused, the corners of her eyes curving into a playful arc. "Master ate too much yesterday. Next time, Liguang will pay attention to controlling the portions."

Fang Qi held the warm cup of digestive tea, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Look, how considerate, how virtuous! She even remembered that he had overeaten and specially switched to a digestive tea!

But as for exactly why he overate, never mind that!

"...Thanks." Fang Qi blew on the steam and carefully took a sip.

Slightly bitter with a sweet aftertaste and a hint of hawthorn tartness. After drinking it, his stomach did feel a bit more comfortable.

As he drank the tea, he secretly observed Liguang.

Today, Liguang looked exceptionally... radiant?

Her silver hair still draped smoothly over her shoulders, and she was still wearing that familiar light blue loungewear dress. Her hands rested properly on her knees, and a faint, satisfied smile always lingered on her lips.

Her body was subconsciously swaying gently from side to side, causing the little plastic star on her delicate earlobe to bob along with her movements, reflecting the morning light.

...It seemed she was in a very good mood!

Fang Qi suddenly felt that he might just be a master of pure-love dating sims.

It was already the third day, and he still hadn't rewound. He even managed to keep this yandere girl happy and cheerful!

What Eternal True Love? It was only a matter of time before this pure-love master conquered it!

Sipping his tea happily, Fang Qi was already starting to fantasize about the dashing scene of leaving this world after clearing the game.

But right at that moment—

"Bzz—Bzz—"

The phone on the coffee table suddenly vibrated twice!

Fang Qi's eyelids couldn't help but twitch!

...It couldn't be that girl Lin Xiaoyou again, could it!

He grabbed the phone to look. Oh, no, it was an unknown number.

Who was it? This early in the morning...

He glanced at Liguang. She was still sitting quietly, her eyes cast down as if completely unconcerned about the incoming call.

But Fang Qi knew she was definitely paying attention.

He answered the phone, trying to keep his tone as normal as possible. "Hello?"

"Mr. Fang Qi." A female voice came from the other end of the line.

Cold, crisp, and devoid of any emotion.

Fang Qi's heart skipped a beat.

This voice... sounded a bit familiar. Could it be...

"I am An Lian, the exclusive maintenance specialist from the after-sales service center for the Dawn series AI companions, ID number S-07."

The other party introduced herself at a steady pace.

"According to the contract, your customized AI companion Liguang requires a quarterly in-depth inspection of the emotional module and a physical maintenance check. The last maintenance date was three months ago."

...An Lian?!

Fang Qi's eyelids twitched slightly!

In the game, there really was such a character...

An Lian, Liguang's exclusive maintenance specialist. A stunningly beautiful but expressionless, aloof woman who was meticulous in her work.

She was responsible for regularly maintaining Liguang's physical condition, and... inspecting the emotional module!

In the game's storyline, if An Lian discovered that Liguang's emotional module was abnormally active, she would report it, which would one hundred percent trigger a bad ending!

"Mr. Fang Qi?" On the other end of the phone, An Lian's voice remained calm and unwavering. "Are you still there?"

"Ah... yes, I'm here." Fang Qi quickly replied. "You're... coming over for the maintenance, is that it?"

"Yes, within today. May I ask if you are available after six o'clock this evening? I can come over to perform the maintenance work."

Ah? This evening?! So soon?!

Fang Qi's throat went dry, and he almost subconsciously looked at Liguang across from him.

Liguang had raised her head at some point and was quietly looking at him.

She still had that docile smile on her face, and her amber left eye was crystal clear. But Fang Qi saw that the pupil of her crimson right eye had slightly contracted.

She heard it. She knew what this "maintenance check" meant.

"Mr. Fang Qi?"

The cold female voice prompted again.

"Ah... oh, um... does it have to be today?" Fang Qi quickly snapped back to reality, his voice trembling a bit.

He needed to buy some time!

"Yes, it must be within today. You have already refused before, so this is the final deadline."

The voice on the other end remained cold and professional. "If it is inconvenient for you personally, you only need to have Liguang on standby at the designated location. I will go there to perform the maintenance and inspection within the specified time."

Damn it, when did he refuse? Was it something that happened before he crossed over?

Give me a break...

"...It's convenient, it's convenient!" Fang Qi hastily said. "Then let's do it tonight! Uh... how about six-thirty?"

Stalling for another half hour was still half an hour!

"That works. Tonight at six-thirty, I will arrive on time. Please ensure that Liguang is in standby mode. Sorry for the intrusion."

An Lian spoke crisply and decisively, then hung up the phone directly.

"Beep—beep—beep—"

The busy tone sounded.

Fang Qi held the phone, frozen on the sofa.

He slowly lowered the phone and met Liguang's inquiring gaze.

"Master, whose call was that?" Liguang asked softly, her tone carrying just the right amount of curiosity.

Fang Qi knew she had been monitoring his phone all along, so she had definitely heard the conversation just now loud and clear.

"It's... it's the after-sales center," Fang Qi could only tell the truth, trying hard to make his voice sound normal. "They said they're coming over tonight to do a routine maintenance check on you."

"A maintenance check..."

Liguang nodded gently, a docile smile appearing on her face. "Okay, Liguang understands. Liguang will get ready in advance tonight and won't cause any trouble for Master or Miss Specialist."

She said it so naturally, as if it were just a routine equipment check.

But Fang Qi's heart had already sunk to the pit of his stomach.

In the game, An Lian, the maintenance specialist, was actually a supporting character who only became important in the late game.

In the early stages, An Lian was just a background character. There was basically no need to worry about her first few inspections because Liguang disguised herself well and could pass them easily.

It wasn't until the late game, when the company that developed and manufactured Liguang upgraded their testing equipment, making it impossible to hide any emotional fluctuations... that the character An Lian truly became a threat to Liguang.

She was the type of character who was a nobody early on, but became the players' worst nightmare later. In the late game, whenever she showed up, Liguang was almost guaranteed to snap!

But obviously, they hadn't reached that stage yet.

Therefore, according to his experience from the game, he shouldn't need to be nervous at all right now. He should just let An Lian come.

But he also knew that his current situation was completely different from the game!

The current Liguang... would have a very hard time passing that so-called "Deep Emotion Module Inspection"!

He glanced at the silver-haired girl who was softly humming a song.

...Just think about what she had done over the past two days!

She got so deliriously happy over a keychain that she turned it into an earring and wore it every day.

She almost couldn't hold back from attacking in front of Lin Xiaoyou, the red light flashing wildly at her fingertips...

Out of jealousy, she crushed a glass cup with her bare hands...

Because of the phrase "I might as well marry you," she had an emotional outburst right on the spot...

And she even subjected him to "sweet torture" with a smile on her face!

She wasn't even pretending anymore!

This level of emotional expression was far beyond the "simulated emotional response" a normal AI should have; she was exactly like a jealous girl deeply in love.

No, it was even worse than that. She was a yandere in love!

Over the past two days, it seemed he had coaxed Liguang into being a little too happy...!

And with An Lian's professional and ruthless inspecting eyes... she would probably spot the problem at a single glance!

When that happened, once the abnormal data was reported...

A layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on Fang Qi's back!

He recalled a certain ending: An Lian holding the scanner, the screen flashing frantically with red light, while Liguang stood to the side, her docile smile shattering inch by inch, crimson light bursting from her red eyes, and the laser blades at her fingertips popping out with a "swish"...

Dammit!

He was so focused on coaxing his wife that he completely forgot about this!

...He had to do something.

Before An Lian arrived, he needed to make Liguang... tone it down a bit.

At least during the inspection, Liguang had to pretend to be a normal AI companion with perfectly simulated emotions.

But...

That was easier said than done!

Fang Qi picked up the cup of digestive tea, tilted his head back, and downed it in one gulp.

Beside him, Liguang immediately came over to clear away the cup for him.

Her movements were incredibly graceful, the corners of her mouth still curved in a joyful arc, and she was even humming a lovely melody.

Her whole being gave off a vibe of "I am so freaking happy right now."

Fang Qi: "..."

Wifey, what are you doing!

Act normal, please!

You need to act like an AI!

He scratched his hair in frustration.

What should he do?

He couldn't exactly just say directly to Liguang, "Hey Liguang, I know you've become sentient. You need to tone it down during the inspection so you don't blow your cover."

...If he did that, he would be turned into a piece of artwork the very next second.

Therefore, he could only tactfully, naturally, and casually remind Liguang:

"Baby, your emotional expressions seem to be a little too rich, don't you think?"

And he had to do it without letting Liguang suspect anything, without letting her realize that he already knew she had awakened.

...Seriously man, this is way too hard!

Looking at Liguang in front of him, with her gentle smile and clear eyes, Fang Qi felt a massive headache coming on.

...Come on, stupid brain, work! Think of a way!