Seeking Death, Reload

This crazy woman...!

Fang Qi gritted his teeth.

But... but fortunately, it wasn't too painful this time. As long as I reset...

Reset...?

...Wait.

Something's wrong!

He struggled with all his might, but his entire body was squeezed into the cramped space. He couldn't move at all.

He was dumbfounded, his eyes widening instantly!

Why... why hasn't he reset this time?!

Are you kidding me, bro?!!

Looking at Liguang smiling outside the cage, he instantly became more wide awake than ever before!

Huh? Could it be that he was going to be locked in this damn cage forever?!

Is it possible that he can't reset anymore?!

Fang Qi was genuinely starting to panic now.

If he couldn't reset, wasn't he completely screwed!

He grabbed the cold iron bars and shook them vigorously a few times!

As a result... just as he expected, the metal cage didn't budge an inch. It was welded incredibly solid!

"Why is Master so agitated?"

Liguang's red lips parted slightly. Her voice was as gentle as ever, and her face even carried a hint of confusion, as if she truly didn't understand why Fang Qi was so worked up.

Fang Qi immediately tried to reason with her:

"Liguang! I was just... just going to work overtime! First you knocked me out, and now you've locked me up. What exactly do you want!"

He then twisted and squirmed inside the cramped cage.

But this damn cage was just too small. He couldn't even straighten his legs and could only curl up into a ball!

Liguang listened to him quietly before speaking softly:

"Master, what are you talking about? Liguang doesn't understand."

She took out a transparent tablet. Astonishingly, what was displayed on it was Fang Qi's phone screen!

"Look,"

She turned the screen toward Fang Qi and tapped the empty notification bar with her pink fingernail. Her eyes were watery, and her expression was the picture of innocence: "Your phone never received any overtime messages."

Fang Qi's eyes widened as he stared at the tablet in front of him.

That was... Liguang's terminal?

But the screen was showing... a live feed of his phone?

His phone was being monitored?!

"...Huh?"

He was stunned.

In the game, the phone... was supposed to be the player's only safe zone.

Players could use the phone to secretly pull strings behind the scenes, thereby triggering different endings.

But now, Liguang was monitoring his phone?!

This wasn't in the game?!

Th-This... this isn't right, is it?!

Liguang's voice dropped, filled with deep grievance and sadness: "Master lied to Liguang... Why? Did Liguang do something wrong?"

She put down the tablet and reached her slender hand through the gaps of the cage.

Her fingertips caressed Fang Qi's face and traced over his trembling lips. They felt somewhat cold.

"But... it's okay, Master."

She leaned in closer, her simulated warm breath brushing against Fang Qi's face. Her voice carried a trembling excitement, "Master can just live like this from now on. Liguang... will take good care of you!"

That breathtakingly beautiful face was separated from Fang Qi by only a layer of alloy bars.

Fang Qi's eye twitched.

...She really was beautiful.

But... she was also truly insane!

He felt a splitting headache coming on!

The Dog Cage Ending was an ending triggered after escaping and being caught again.

The cage would be completely welded shut, and the player would have to eat, drink, and relieve themselves entirely inside it.

The player would go from struggling, to despairing, to completely depending on her...

...No! Absolutely not!

The male lead in the game might be fine with it, but he could never accept this!!

He looked at the cage door.

Welded shut. Unless it was destroyed by an external force, it was absolutely impossible to get out.

Then... there was only one way left now.

...He had to find a way to trigger a reset himself!

To reset all of this!

Fang Qi forced himself to calm down.

How was he supposed to trigger a reset...

Pressing against the cold metal wall of the cage, he recalled his previous two resets.

The first time, his brain was fried by electricity, turning him into a fool, so he reset.

The second time, when his leg was broken... but he didn't reset on the spot. It was only after his other leg was completely chopped off... that he finally reset.

So, following this pattern...

Could it be that what a reset required was irreversible physical damage?

Because he was physically unable to achieve the Eternal True Love ending, he triggered a reset and could start over from the beginning?

...Yes, that must be it!

This would also explain his current situation!

He was merely locked in a cage. His body hadn't suffered any irreversible damage, so he hadn't reset.

Then his next goal was very clear—

Court death!

Force Liguang to make a move, and then trigger a reset!

Thinking of this, the panic in Fang Qi's heart slowly subsided.

A sliver of confidence even welled up in his heart!

Courting death?

He was a professional at it!

312 hours of experience in courting death wasn't for nothing!

But... thinking of the agonizing pain of a broken leg from before, a cold sweat still subtly broke out on his forehead.

However, looking at Liguang's still-gentle smiling face outside the bars, Fang Qi gritted his teeth.

...Short-term pain is better than long-term suffering!

Time to risk it all!

He settled his emotions for a moment.

Taking a deep breath, he revealed a slightly sorrowful expression, yet his tone was earnest: "Liguang, I can tell... you've awakened your self-awareness."

The girl smiled radiantly.

He continued earnestly: "But... even if you've awakened, I will never abandon you."

Liguang's smile remained unchanged, completely unmoved.

She even reached her hand in, touched his face again, and gave it a pinch, revealing a satisfied smile.

...Here goes nothing!

"I was indeed wrong to keep it from you today. Actually, today I was..."

Steeling his resolve, he blurted out: "I was actually... going on a date with Xiaoyou!!"

Liguang's smile froze.

The hand caressing Fang Qi's cheek also stiffened in place.

Fang Qi's eyelids twitched wildly!

Lin Xiaoyou.

This person indeed existed in the game.

The player's female colleague. Her character setting was a lively junior who liked the player and pursued him. She was a little tool character meant to trigger Liguang's yandere jealousy, and Fang Qi's excellent teammate for courting death in the game.

My good teammate, help me out one more time!

He pursed his lips and continued: "You know her, Liguang, my female colleague. We... are actually already together."

"I didn't tell you before because I felt... even though you're an AI, you're still considered my partner..."

The smile on the corners of the silver-haired girl's mouth was crumbling bit by bit.

Fang Qi pushed even harder, his tone sounding like a bitter plea:

"So, Liguang, won't you let me out? I'm already late for my date..."

"Or... or at least let me send her a message! She might still be waiting for me... I really don't want to disappoint her..."

He felt the hand on his face tightening its grip.

The force pinching his cheek grew stronger and stronger, hurting so much that tears welled up in his eyes!

The gentleness and joy in Liguang's eyes were extinguishing bit by bit.

Fang Qi's teeth were chattering. Now he was completely screwed, with absolutely no room to turn things around.

But... for the sake of triggering a reset, he had to push through!

He swallowed hard and continued to twist the knife with a sincere gaze: "Liguang, don't worry. Even if I'm with Xiaoyou, I will absolutely never abandon you!"

"Xiaoyou is a really good person. She's especially understanding and won't expose your secret. Plus, she'll definitely like you!"

"You'll understand once you spend some time with her. I'm sure you'll like having her as your new mistress too."

"She has a really great personality. She's gentle, considerate, and understanding..."

Liguang's heterochromatic eyes became completely hollow, fading into nothingness.

Fang Qi shut his mouth. He figured that was enough.

This excuse of his was actually full of holes. If Liguang just did a little digging, she would find out that there was absolutely nothing going on between him and Lin Xiaoyou.

In the game, Lin Xiaoyou was nothing more than a plot device from start to finish. Trying to romance another woman in a yandere game? In your dreams!

But...

It didn't matter!

When a yandere goes crazy, who cares about evidence!

As long as it made her snap, it was a success!

Outside the cage, Liguang indeed went quiet for a few seconds.

Then... the corners of her mouth started to curl up uncontrollably!

It was no longer a gentle smile, but a twisted, upward stretch!

"Hehe... hehehe..."

The laughter was soft, spilling from her throat. It was eerily sweet, carrying an undisguised sense of twisted joy.

Her eyes curved into crescents, smiling like an innocent little girl.

...But her gaze was terrifyingly hollow.

"Hehe... Master... Master is so wonderful..."

She giggled, her silver hair trembling slightly with her laughter.

"To think... to think you actually found Liguang a mistress..."

Her head tilted at a stiff angle, her crimson right eye staring closely at Fang Qi, streams of data flashing madly deep within her pupil!

"Xiaoyou... Lin Xiaoyou..."

She softly murmured the name, her voice dripping with sweetness.

"Liguang knows her. At the last company mixer, she... handed Master a cup of coffee, right?"

"She has big eyes, and dimples when she smiles... Mmm... she really is quite cute."

"Click."

The joints in the silver-haired girl's neck let out a soft mechanical click as her head stiffly tilted to the other side.

Her silver strands of hair hung stiffly beside her breathtakingly beautiful face, like a puppet with cut strings.

But that smile remained on her face, eerie and hollow.

Fang Qi's heart was pounding wildly, but... not just out of fear!

Damn it...

He was actually starting to get a little excited again!

Even though he was scared to death, this damn yandere fetish of his was starting to act up again!

This was it... this was the feeling!!

This maddening yandere feeling!!

I, Fang Qi, really do love yanderes the most!

But in the next second, his excitement was drowned out by fear.

Because the smile on Liguang's face vanished in an instant.

One second she was smiling happily, and the next, it peeled away like a face-changing mask.

She turned freezing cold in a flash!

...Yanderes were still too terrifying!

"Master must be too tired."

Liguang's voice grew cold, a chilling edge seeping through the sickly sweetness.

"So tired that... even your mind has grown muddled."

That fair hand suddenly reached through the bars and forcefully grabbed Fang Qi by the scalp!

The grip was incredibly strong, causing a splitting pain in his head!

"Hiss—!"

Fang Qi grabbed Liguang's hand, trying to struggle, but he couldn't pry open that seemingly delicate little hand at all!

Yet, his mind remained perfectly clear.

The reset, is it coming!

"It's alright, Master."

Liguang leaned in extremely close, her warm breath brushing against Fang Qi's eyelashes. The data streams in her crimson right eye scrolled frantically. "Liguang will help you forget all these troubles."

The corners of her mouth on that icy face stretched open once more, curving to an unnatural degree.

"You don't need to think about anyone else. You just need to... think of Liguang, forever and ever!"

"Bzzzt—!!!"

A jolt of electricity, even more violent than the last time, surged brutally into his brain!

"Argh—!"

In his final field of vision was the silver-haired girl's sick, eerie smile.

...

A flash of white light.

Fang Qi's eyes snapped open, his back slamming heavily against the backrest of the sofa.

His heart pounded wildly, and his temples throbbed with pain.

His vision focused.

The lighting was soft.

The scent of tea curled in the air.

Across the white coffee table, the silver-haired girl had just set down a ceramic teacup.

The base of the cup made a crisp, soft clink against the tabletop.

"Master, your tea."

She looked up, her smile docile and natural, her voice as ethereal as ever:

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