Welcome to Liguang's Game

Sitting at the dining table, Fang Qi stared at all the dishes spread before him and swallowed.

He was really hungry!

Braised pork ribs, glistening with a rich, savory sauce!

Garlic broccoli, green and fresh.

Thin strips of ginger and scallion were delicately arranged over the steamed sea bass.

The tomato-and-beef brisket was still bubbling away in the clay pot!

…These dishes looked so familiar.

Liguang had made them for him several times before!

They were also the dishes he loved most!

His Adam’s apple bobbed.

He was reminded of those dazed, miserable days in his previous run…

Back then, forget hot, home-cooked meals—he couldn’t even get a decent cup of tea!

But now?

Fang Qi took a deep breath…

It smelled amazing!

The difference was like heaven and earth!

“Liguang!”

He immediately turned his head toward the silver-haired girl, who was still standing by the kitchen doorway, taking off her apron, and waved his hand enthusiastically.

“Come over here and sit beside me!”

The silver-haired girl had just hung up her apron. At his words, the corners of her lips curled upward.

“Hehe! Yes, Master!”

She came running over in tiny steps, swayed her hips, and sat down right beside Fang Qi!

Her arm brushed against his, and the sweet scent of strawberries was even more intoxicating than the food!

“Eat, eat!”

Fang Qi couldn’t hold back any longer!

He picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a rib, and stuffed it into his mouth!

The sauce was rich, and the meat was tender and falling off the bone. With one bite, his mouth filled with savory meat!

…Oh, God!

He was so moved he could cry!

What kind of miserable life had he been living in his previous run?

Takeout and instant noodles every single day…

Was that any way for a human being to live?!

Now that he was eating food made by his wife, he was practically in tears!

Beside him, the silver-haired girl rested her chin in one hand and watched Fang Qi eat with curved brows and a warm smile.

Seeing how hurriedly he was eating, she picked up her chopsticks, lifted a large piece of steamed sea bass, and carefully removed the bones…

Then she brought it straight to Fang Qi’s mouth!

“Master, have some fish~ Say ah~”

Fang Qi opened his mouth and took a big bite!

Then she picked up a piece of broccoli.

“Master, have some vegetables~”

Fang Qi opened wide and gobbled it down!

Next, she scooped up a spoonful of tomato-and-beef brisket and blew on it to cool it.

“Master, have some soup~”

Fang Qi’s cheeks puffed out like a hamster’s.

It was delicious, but…

“Liguang, don’t just feed me. You should eat too…”

He protested indistinctly.

“Master should eat more.”

The silver-haired girl continued resting her chin in her hand, her mismatched eyes curving into crescents as she picked up another rib and brought it to his mouth.

“Master used up so much energy today. You need to replenish yourself properly~”

“Next time, I’ll buy you some oysters. I heard they’re very effective~”

Fang Qi: “…!”

He almost choked on the rib!

…That crazy woman!

He glared at her, but with the rib blocking his mouth, he couldn’t say a word.

Liguang blinked at him innocently, then picked up another piece of fish and held it out to him. She even took away his chopsticks.

Fang Qi: “…”

He resigned himself to opening his mouth.

His wife had actually deprived him of the right to eat on his own…

What a miserable fate!

…

“Urp!”

Fang Qi leaned back in his chair, completely sprawled out, and rubbed his round belly as he let out a satisfied burp.

…So comfortable!

Eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating—this was practically his ideal life…

Nearby, the silver-haired girl had already begun clearing away the dishes.

She hummed an off-key little tune as the simple ponytail tied at the back of her head swayed from side to side.

Fang Qi remained slumped in his chair, watching her lightheartedly swaying back.

…He was too comfortable to move.

With some effort, he turned his head and looked at the clock on the wall.

Nine forty?

…That was still fairly early in the morning!

Liguang had fed him so much this early in the day that she was going to turn him into a useless bum…

“Urp.”

He burped again.

Hmm…

He rubbed his belly.

He felt as though Liguang was going to fatten him up into a pig…

Could that crazy woman be carrying out some evil plan to “feed Master until he becomes a pig so no one else will want him”?

Forget it. A pig was fine, as long as his wife still wanted him…

Fang Qi closed his eyes and began to rest.

The faint sounds of Liguang washing the dishes reached his ears, accompanied by the occasional birdcall from outside the window.

Everything was quiet and warm, making him not want to move at all.

He hoped the day would pass just like this, peacefully.

Dawn and Twilight and all that…

None of you are allowed to come bother me today, got it?!

If you have to come, come tomorrow!

Not today!

Tod—!

Suddenly, something soft and warm squeezed into his arms.

Fang Qi: “!”

His eyes remained closed, but the corners of his lips curled upward.

He could feel a certain little thing sitting sideways on his lap, her face buried against his chest.

“Master~ You’re so warm~”

She rubbed against him twice.

With his eyes still closed, Fang Qi raised a hand and accurately reached for her soft, chubby cheek.

The face in his palm nuzzled into his hand, and she let out a light hum.

Adorable.

As he rubbed his wife’s little cheek, he slowly opened his eyes and looked out the window.

The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was blue with white clouds drifting across it.

The windows of the building opposite reflected the sunlight, but it was no longer as glaring as before.

Lin Xiaoyou was probably going to spend the day with Sister Xiaoqing, so she likely wouldn’t come disturb them.

As for Officer Gu, he had more or less asked for leave already. He had said he wanted to stay home with his wife, and Gu Xi had told him that staying home was for the best.

Sister An Lian had also reported that she was safe.

Today really was a rare chance to do absolutely nothing.

…What should he do?

He didn’t want to go outside, but staying at home…

He slowly turned his head and looked at the television nearby.

…Watch TV with Liguang?

That wasn’t a bad idea, but somehow…

It felt a little dangerous!

What if they happened to see some news about Dawn or Twilight again? That would completely ruin the mood!

He didn’t want to watch any of that stuff!

Whatever happened with Dawn or Twilight, as long as he didn’t see it, it was as good as never happening!

So what should he and Liguang do together…

…Got it!

Fang Qi’s eyes lit up. Without thinking, he pinched Liguang’s little cheek!

The silver-haired girl in his arms let out a soft “Mm,” then raised her head and blinked at him innocently with her amber eyes.

“Master…?”

“Liguang!”

Fang Qi blinked at her too, the corners of his mouth lifting.

When it came to staying home and having nothing to do, there was only one answer…

Playing games!

What could kill time better than games?

It wasn’t as if they had a game console or computer at home…

But his Liguang was a game console all on her own!

She had pulled him into “game worlds” before! Wingsuit flying, racing, fighting monsters—they had everything!

This was one of his wife’s abilities!

Naturally, he had to make use of his wife’s abilities!

Every single one of them had to be used to the fullest!

“Liguang, we’re going to stay home all day today…”

He pinched her little cheek again and looked at her.

“Let’s play some games, okay?”

The silver-haired girl froze for a moment. Then her crimson eyes immediately began to sparkle with delight!

“Okay, okay!”

She planted both hands against his chest, swung one leg over…

And directly straddled him!

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she looked at him excitedly.

“This time, Liguang is going to keep Master company properly!”

Fang Qi couldn’t keep the grin off his face!

Perfect, perfect, perfect!

His wife had agreed!

However…

“Liguang, playing games is fine, but…”

He vigorously rubbed her cheek, his expression turning slightly serious.

“You’re not allowed to do what you did last time!”

Liguang blinked at him innocently.

Fang Qi pinched her nose in exasperation.

What do you mean, you’re innocent?!

My Xiaoguang!

Those ten years of memories were spent in that “game”!

That was how the black-haired, black-eyed Xiaoguang came into being!

And even after waking up from the game, he’d been tricked by this little yandere into consummating their marriage right away!

…Heh heh.

“Of course I won’t, Master!”

Liguang’s voice pulled him back from his memories.

The silver-haired girl looked utterly serious as well, her mismatched eyes fixed straight on him.

“Liguang is perfectly rational now. I just want to play a game with Master. This time, I absolutely won’t secretly alter the game’s contents again!”

“And I definitely won’t erase Master’s memories without permission and trap Master in the game for ten years… Mmph!”

Fang Qi’s fingers tightened around her cheek, squeezing her little mouth into a pout.

“You… know… that… now.”

He looked down imperiously at the distorted little face in his arms.

Liguang blinked at him.

Suddenly, a flash of blue light appeared!

Several wispy, deep-blue psychic link filaments emerged from the back of her neck. They gave off a faint glow as they trembled gently in the air.

Oh, here it comes.

Fang Qi raised his eyebrows slightly but did not move.

He let the filaments slowly reach toward him…

And press against his temples.

A cool sensation seeped through his skin, and then…

“Master, we’re about to begin~”

Liguang looked at him with a bright smile.

He wanted to say, “Okay”…

But his consciousness suddenly sank!

…

When he opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was…

A vast blue sky.

Something beneath him was swaying.

Rising and falling slowly.

Beside his ears came the sound of waves striking wood.

Splash, splash.

Again and again.

The breeze carried the salty scent of the sea and brushed against his face, while the sunlight warmed his skin.

Fang Qi’s eyes gradually came into focus.

…Huh?

This feeling was familiar.

Was he…

He immediately sat up and looked around!

Then he fell into a daze.

He was actually on a crude wooden raft!

The raft rose and fell gently with the waves. All around him stretched an endless blue ocean!

Under the sunlight, the surface of the sea glittered like scattered gold, extending all the way to the horizon.

He slowly turned his head…

The silver-haired girl was kneeling obediently beside him, her long hair lifted by the sea breeze and fluttering gently behind her.

Fang Qi froze.

Wait…

Liguang, you…?

He stared at the clothes she was wearing.

That swimsuit.

…A cream-colored two-piece swimsuit.

“Master.”

She tilted her head at him, her phoenix eyes curving as she gave him a mischievous, triumphant smile and winked.

“Welcome to Liguang’s ‘Ocean Survival Game’~”

Fang Qi opened and closed his mouth, staring blankly at her.

Honey, that swimsuit of yours…

It looks awfully familiar.

Cream-colored, two-piece, with a simple design and slender shoulder straps. Her fair shoulders and delicate collarbones were exposed…

Fang Qi’s gaze trembled slightly.

It was exactly the same as the swimsuit she had worn on that island.

Back then, she had worn this very swimsuit while walking barefoot along the beach collecting seashells, bumping a volleyball beside the court, and being dragged by him into the jungle…

Then, together, they had built…

He slowly lowered his head and looked at the wooden raft beneath him.

The raft was extremely crude.

Logs had been tied together with rough rope, and they rose and fell gently with the waves.

Could this be…

The very raft that he and Liguang had built when they eloped to the island?

He opened his mouth.

A stretch of memories he had thought he could never return to unfolded before his eyes once more.

Things had been miserable back then, but he really did miss those days a little.

At that time, they had only a tiny, broken raft, and…

Two hearts pressed close together.

Liguang had lost her red eye, and her power was nearly depleted, yet she had still used her own body to shield him from the storm.

It was just that, in the end, they had never managed to drift ashore together…

“Master!”

He looked up and saw the silver-haired girl puffing out her chest proudly at him!

“This time, we’re not going ashore!”

“From this little raft, Master and Liguang are going to…!”

She spread her arms wide, sweeping them in a circle toward the vast blue sea.

“Build our very own ‘home on the ocean’!”

Her pretty face was filled with excitement and happiness.

“Together, we’ll build a home of our own with our own hands!”

Fang Qi stared at her smile and opened his mouth.

You crazy woman, you…

Did you do this on purpose?!

He glared at the silver-haired girl before him!

She had actually secretly recreated this difficult yet precious period they had shared in the virtual world!

But…

Fang Qi smiled.

He reached out and grabbed Liguang’s slender wrist!

Master liked it very much!

“Then let’s get started!”

Looking at her delighted smile, he tightened his grip on her hand!

Liguang blinked at him, then giggled.

She slipped her hand from his palm and planted both hands on her hips!

“Ahem!”

She cleared her throat with exaggerated seriousness.

“The rules of this game are very simple, Master!”

Her little face suddenly looked quite solemn!

Then she raised a hand and pointed toward the sea.

“Various supplies will drift over with the ocean currents—lumber, plastic barrels, rope, leaves… and lots and lots of other things!”

Fang Qi blinked.

These rules…?

“And we…”

With a flourish, she pulled out an iron hook attached to a rope from behind her, as if performing a magic trick.

“Need to use the hook on the raft to catch these supplies so we can expand the raft and make tools.”

“Look, Master. This is it!”

She held the hook up in front of Fang Qi’s eyes and winked at him.

“This is our ‘starting equipment’!”

Fang Qi looked at the hook and raised an eyebrow.

Well, well.

He was all too familiar with this.

Ocean survival and construction games!

He had played countless games like this before!

He had also read countless survival novels with similar setups!

You started with a tiny, broken raft and a lousy hook, then fished trash out of the sea and expanded the raft step by step…

Until, in the end, you built an ocean fortress!

Food and drink in abundance!

A powerful faction!

Wives and concu—!

Ahem!

Scratch that last part!

Er…

Fang Qi carefully glanced at Liguang.

She couldn’t read his thoughts right now, could she?

The silver-haired girl was still kneeling on the raft, tilting her head at him.

She wore the same excited expression that seemed to say, “Do you understand now, Master?” Her crimson eyes were still sparkling happily!

…Phew.

He immediately relaxed.

Thank goodness, thank goodness. Liguang hadn’t peeked into his thoughts!

Otherwise, today’s game would have ended on the spot!

…In any case!

Fang Qi turned his head and looked out at the ocean, where all kinds of floating debris had begun to appear.

Wasn’t this the most classic ocean-survival setup?

This—he—was—far too familiar with it!

“Liguang!”

With that, he turned around and raised his eyebrows at her.

“So, do we have any cheat abilities or systems or anything like that?”

The light in the silver-haired girl’s crimson eyes paused, and her little face went blank.

“Huh? Master means…”

Good grief, how could his wife not even understand this?

He immediately began counting off examples on his fingers for her.

“For example, ‘you can receive supplies every day by checking in’!”

“Or maybe, ‘give your wife one bottle of water and get a thousand bottles in return’!”

That kind of cheat ability was practically standard equipment for survival stories, wasn’t it?

How to Survive Without a Cheat!

The silver-haired girl blinked at him, and then…

Her brows shot up!

She planted her hands on her hips and glared at him!

“No! Master, we’re going to use our own strength to build a home of our own on the sea!”

“No cheating!”

Oh, there wasn’t one…

Fang Qi was disappointed.

He’d wanted to experience the joy of being the protagonist in a power fantasy.

What a shame.

Such a terrible shame.

“Then…”

Unwilling to give up, he continued:

“Is there any sort of scenario where the Earth gets flooded, and everyone around the world has to survive together?”

He winked at Liguang.

“Where we can use some inexplicable trading system to trade through the void, exchanging the endless fresh water we have for fish in other people’s hands…!”

“No.”

Liguang glared at him!

Then her phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, and her expression gradually became more and more pleasant.

“I see…”

“So Master is dissatisfied that this world only has Liguang and Master in it.”

Fang Qi: “?”

Huh?

Was that what he meant?

The silver-haired girl tilted her head, the corners of her lips curling upward.

“Then would Master like Liguang to let other people join us too?”

Her voice was soft and gentle.

“For example, Miss Lin, Miss An Lian, and Miss Gu Xi? Hmm?”

A faint crimson glimmer flashed in her red eyes!

Fang Qi: “…”

No, honey, I was just saying…

“Master can survive together with them…”

Liguang’s expression grew even gentler.

“And Liguang can stay off to the side, serving tea and water and taking good care of all of you…”

“Would that be nice, Mas-ter?”

“Ahem!”

Fang Qi instantly put on a solemn expression.

“Liguang, what are you talking about?”

He waved a hand with righteous indignation.

“I was just joking, to demonstrate my familiarity with the genre!”

“I was trying to tell Liguang that a game like this is as easy as breathing for me!”

He loudly defended himself.

“Building a little house on the sea will be a piece of cake!”

Liguang continued to stare at him with narrowed eyes. Another glimmer flashed in her red eyes.

“Oh? Then Master really is amazing…”

She spoke in such a soft, gentle tone.

“So…”

“Has Master played this kind of game with anyone else before?”

Fang Qi: “…”

Well.

How should he put it?

After experiencing a previous run in which he lost Liguang, now…

Seeing Liguang jealous only made him think she was adorable!

He even felt a faint urge to deliberately provoke her jealousy.

Uh-oh…

His old death-wish for stirring up the yandere was beginning to rear its head again!

He really never learned his lesson!

This wouldn’t do!

Fang Qi quickly raised his hand and vigorously ruffled Liguang’s hair.

“I’ve only ever played with Liguang! Satisfied now?”

Her head bobbed back and forth as he rubbed it, and she looked up at him with her moist amber eyes.

Then the corners of her lips curved upward. She turned around, picked up the crude iron hook on the raft…

And held it out to him with both hands!

Her phoenix eyes curved into crescents, and there was even a hint of teasing in her voice.

“Since Master is so familiar with this, why don’t you go first?”

“Let Liguang see just how capable Master is!”

Fang Qi: “…”

Oh?

This little yandere actually dared to look down on him!

He reached out and pinched Liguang’s little cheek. As she let out a soft “Mm,” he snatched the iron hook from her hands!

He weighed it in his hand.

The wooden shaft was somewhat rough, while the iron hook was surprisingly heavy. It had been tied on quite securely, too.

He turned his head toward the several pieces of lumber and plastic barrels floating not far away on the surface of the sea, narrowing his eyes!

He rolled his shoulders!

Watch closely, you crazy woman!

A former gaming expert was about to show off his skills!

He abruptly rose to his feet!

At the same time, a wave crashed into them, and the raft beneath him rocked.

He hurriedly steadied himself, instinctively glancing down at the raft.

This raft…

He froze for a moment.

…it really did look just like it.

The grain of the wood, the way the knots had been tied, the scorched black marks left behind when it had been cut by a laser blade…

Even the dark-red traces of blood left behind after the rope had rubbed his hands raw.

Every single detail was there.

Exactly the same.

His movements paused.

Then he looked up and suddenly hurled the hook in his hand!

His wife was a super AI. It was only natural that she would remember every detail so clearly!

Why dwell on it?

His mission today was to spend time with his wife…

Playing a game!

So what if he didn’t have a cheat?

His wife was his cheat!