Friday morning sunlight was a bit glaring.
After a hazy breakfast made by his sister, Lu Qing hazily stepped out the door and drifted to the subway station. Gripping the handrail, he zombied through the 30-minute commute, drowning out the chaotic mix of noise and mechanical hum with his earphones turned up to full volume.
The music playing was piano pieces by "Mose."
"Crying Sea Lily."
"Some August Night, Stars Bright."
And her latest recording, "Moonlit Walk of a Maiden."
"So good..."
He silently gave it a thumbs up.
Though they were all covers, they showcased impressive skill and a personal touch of emotion. It brought back some unpleasant memories.
"Sigh."
Lu Qing muttered, "It's been so long since I dared to touch that again..."
— ACG and all that.
His fingers itched, but he had promised himself not to look back, no matter what.
"Feels nostalgic though."
...
His phone screen glowed, showing the personal page of NetEase Music.
— "Level 9."
5,244 more songs to reach max level.
0 more days to log in.
The official musician certification and annual black VIP badge stood out prominently in the corner of his avatar. His message list had 99+ unread fan comments.
"Forget it."
"I'll just help her with sound effects and post-production.
— Absolutely no more composing."
Mm-hmm.
...
Time flew by, and he arrived at the classroom.
The morning's memories faded like blank paper, leaving no trace in his mind.
Same Friday, same seat.
Everything in the classroom felt familiar, just like last week.
Bai Xing wasn't here in the morning, probably still asleep.
They had an appointment at noon, skipping lunch to meet at Cheng Kai Center.
"Ahem!"
"Ahem!"
As soon as he sat down, he saw a bespectacled otaku squirming in his seat, making strange noises that seemed to mean "You should speak first."
His restless demeanor resembled a big fat worm.
Lu Qing glanced at Wen Le.
He knew that even if he didn't speak, Wen Le would soon come over and start chattering.
Three seconds later.
"Alright, alright, you little brat, you stole Rinae from me, and now you won't even give me a way out! I've got you figured out!"
Wen Le wiggled over with a mischievous grin, his skinny face full of eagerness to talk.
His antics instantly dispelled Lu Qing's gloomy mood.
"..."
He observed, "What's got you so happy? You in love?"
"?!”
At the taboo word, Wen Le slapped his shoulder with one hand like a nun, denying vehemently:
"No way. That's impossible."
"Then why are you grinning like that? You seem weird today." Lu Qing gave him a sidelong glance.
Sure enough,
The guy seemed to have forgotten his past sorrows, eagerly spilling, "Hehehe... I'm telling you, it's a good thing I didn't listen to your long-winded lectures and experienced it myself..."
"Huh?"
"You know, in life, you've gotta rely on practice."
He boasted with great feeling, "Although, I admit, the maid outfit on Jing Jing isn't as high-end as you said, but! She provided me healing, comforted my shattered heart! Even made me not jealous of you being Rinae's old man anymore, so I'm fully recharged! And it only cost me three grand! Let me tell you, I'm terrifyingly strong now!!”
"???!?!? Dude, you?"
A flood of information suddenly hit Lu Qing, nearly making him pass out from shock.
"You mean you spent 3,000 at that maid café?"
"Yeah." Wen Le nodded naturally.
"..."
Lu Qing pressed, "Didn't you tell me a drink there costs 50 yuan?"
"Yeah."
"Then what did you buy to spend 3,000?"
"Didn't buy much, just had three maids play games with me, table games, you know? Little cards, with role-playing, I had a great time." Wen Le recalled.
At the same time, he showed a wise expression.
"..."
"Are you being rational?! Also, who's Jing Jing? Is there really such a person at that place??"
Lu Qing was baffled, feeling like something mysterious was dragging his good friend into a weird place.
"Of course, one of the three maids, she kept playing with me, brought me milk tea, made omelet rice, and even cast magic on my omelet rice!!"
Wen Le grinned, mimicking in a high-pitched voice:
"Moi~Moi~Chu!... Oh my god, it's so awesome, I wanna go again! Qing, you coming with me?"
"Spare me."
"Tsk, good, you don't want to, I'll be more free."
Wen Le showed a madman's grin, "But hey, I gotta compliment you on one thing, I found out that maids are way better than 2D waifus!"
"?"
"I can't touch my 2D waifus, but this maid café is different! These maids can stand by you, accompany you, smile at you, listen to you, and they're real! That's something, huh? It's got me so hooked I haven't been watching VTubers lately!"
As he said this, Wen Le's eyes glazed over, as if brainwashed, rubbing his palms.
"..."
Lu Qing rubbed his forehead, thinking it was bad.
Last time he didn't stop him, this time it seemed like a full-blown case.
Even a simple board game shop could take him down, what if it was a real high-end maid café...
Tsk.
Lu Qing didn't dare to imagine.
"Wen Le."
"Huh?"
"You know what your spending level is close to?"
"Close to what?"
"Close to what Old Li spends on a night of foot massage." He bluntly said.
"No way, is it really that exaggerated? Also, how do you know how much Old Li spends on a foot massage? Did you go with him?" Wen Le attacked fiercely, countering with SSS-level ability.
"? He bragged about it himself, you were busy playing eroge and pushing dragon girls, of course you didn't hear." Lu Qing was never outdone.
"Alright, alright, you little rascal, you're full of bad intentions. To be honest, you must have already hooked up with Rinae, enjoying yourself every day, and then don't want your buddy to be comfortable, so you try to stop me from finding new happiness! Your heart is terribly bad!
Let me tell you, our relationship is very dangerous now, the friendship boat can capsize anytime, a line segment can break anytime. If you keep stopping me, we won't be good friends anymore, I'll go play with my Jing Jing, not be friends with you."
Wen Le had an annoying expression, speaking like a primary schooler with a university student's identity.
"..."
Seeing his willingness to be scammed, Lu Qing thought he might not have been scammed enough yet.
After all, the leeks had grown too high, perhaps with their own ideas.
So, he couldn't be bothered to talk to him anymore, just reminded, "Be careful of scams."
Then he turned his head to prepare for class.
"Hey, you, I haven't finished talking yet, why do you act like you're going to study..."
Wen Le muttered, but Lu Qing ended the conversation.
He didn't plan to continue persuading Wen Le because the guy usually hid his true nature well, so Lu Qing never figured out his financial situation.
What if he earnestly advised, only to find out the guy was richer than Old Li, then wouldn't he look like a clown?
Lu Qing didn't do such things.
He knew that although Wen Le seemed silly on the surface, he always gave off a vibe of a hidden rich guy when it came to spending money.
For the simplest example—
Like in the dorm, Wen Le never played mobile games, nor did he spend money on in-game currency;
But his Switch bag contained over seventy authentic game cartridges neatly inserted, which ordinary people definitely couldn't afford.
Also, his computer, besides Galgames, had a small black box software, apparently with many purchased games inside.
Lu Qing, though he hadn't touched games in recent years, was well aware that Wen Le's purchases were almost exclusively AAA titles, with a penchant for high-quality games. He was particularly picky, only playing the best experiences. As he put it, "MMOs are too expensive, mobile games are full of tricks, only AAA games won't deceive you. Console games are our ultimate destination!"
Indeed, one time when passing by his back, Lu Qing caught a glimpse of the numbers at the end of his game library...
It seemed to be a three-digit number starting with 5.
"..."
Never mind.
If he gets scammed, so be it.
Seeing how he didn't even blink when gifting Admiral to his favorite Vtuber, and how he evenly distributed his support across over eighty different streamers,
always listening to multiple streams at once,
muting some, using a tablet for one, and two phones each running two streams.
It was like some thousand-armed, hundred-eyed black Guanyin,
terrifyingly impressive.
So, Lu Qing stopped bringing up money-related matters with him, knowing that someone who finds a 50 RMB cup of instant Bird's Nest reasonable wouldn't appreciate being interrupted while enjoying his magical omelette rice.
In any case, as long as he's happy.
"Wait, no."
Just as he was about to send a couple of messages to remind someone not to be late, Wen Le suddenly leaned over, grinning mischievously, and probed:
"Qing, although I'm semi-retired from the scene, I'm still a bit curious. You, have you met Rinae offline?"
"Huh?"
Lu Qing's wrist jerked, reflexively flipping his phone screen onto the book.
"Don't spread rumors, of course not."
But at this moment.
Wen Le noticed something, pushing his black-framed glasses.
His smile grew wider.
"..."
Lu Qing suddenly felt uneasy.
Wen Le grinned and analyzed:
"Based on my understanding of you, you must have, after our last conversation, become even more aware of how the Vtuber scene works, and couldn't resist throwing a lot of money at her. And I'd conservatively estimate, that amount would have to be more than an Admiral. I'm guessing around 20,000."
"???"
Lu Qing felt the pressure.
"Don't spread rumors, Rinae isn't even streaming anymore, where would I even gift an Admiral to her?"
He tried to deflect further.
But as soon as the words left his mouth, he suddenly thought of something.
Sss.
The puppet he had ordered for Bai Xing...
The price seemed to be...
Emm...
"You think I'm stupid? Not streaming is not streaming, why not? Isn't it because she's got an old man?"
At this point, Wen Le's grin turned sinister, "Pretend all you want, but don't try to fool me. I've been in the Vtuber scene for so long, don't I know more than you?"
He calmly analyzed, "I checked Rinae's account, it's still there, and she hasn't issued a stop-streaming notice, which means it's not a definite graduation. If that's the case, then it's most likely she's been taken by an old man. Buddy, who in our class do you think looks most like her old man? Come on, tell me."
"..."
For a moment, Lu Qing didn't know how to continue the conversation.
Truth be told, he had indeed spent 20,000 on a puppet for Bai Xing.
And not just that, there would be more expenses in the future.
Originally, he had planned to recommend a more reliable Vtuber to Wen Le in the future, as a way to repay the favor of being introduced to his favorite female lead,
but now, this guy wasn't even watching Vtubers anymore, he had ascended to a new level—
studying maids.
Next level play, huh.
Alright, alright.
Lu Qing decided not to engage with him, nor did he plan to say more, knowing that Wen Le had always been relatively rational when it came to Vtubers, whether spending money or otherwise, he was quite sober (for his circumstances).
Now that he's obsessed with maids, at least he hasn't reached a point of no return.
"If one day he really falls ill, I'll accompany him to that 'Kuroro Café' for a visit..." he thought to himself.
Tsk.
Come to think of it, the name of this café is weird.
It doesn't sound like a maid café, but more like a magical girl card dueling association.
He retracted his gaze.
...
In front, the female lecturer's class began as usual.
Time flowed quietly.
The ambient noise in the classroom was soothing, making one want to sleep.
After an unknown amount of time,
just as his attention was about to drift off and he was on the verge of falling asleep—
suddenly, a voice caught the attention of the entire class.
"Sorry, teacher, I'm late. Can I come in?"
At this moment, the time was already approaching eleven, almost time to end the class.
However, that familiar voice, that sweet, top-tier frequency, made Lu Qing feel as if his cheeks were being pinched and a cup of sweet spring water was being poured into his mouth—
he reflexively jolted.
Then, immediately turned his head towards the classroom door.
...
There stood a girl with gothic sweet-style twin tails, wearing a black mine-style long dress, a Mars cross, and black bow-tie thigh-high socks.
walking with a girlfriend-level charm,
Her Don Quixote high-end custom shoes making light tapping sounds.
with a perfect, energetic smile, she slowly entered the classroom under the gaze of dozens of eyes,
and purposefully made her way to the second to last row, sitting next to him on his left.
"..."
Today, her makeup was flawless, her features exquisitely drawn.
The aura that was so different from usual,
the smile that could heal hearts without even speaking, was cute enough to melt anyone's heart.
It seemed she no longer needed to cover herself completely when going out.
It also seemed she had finally let go of some long-held, hard-to-open knot in her heart.
The black tide receded.
In its place came a brighter, warmer light.
Under the gossiping gaze of the entire classroom's teachers and students,
Bai Xing naturally and confidently smoothed her skirt, crossed her legs, leaned slightly towards him,
adorably hugged her beloved's arm, and then, in a voice that declared it to the whole world,
sweetly, in a girlfriend's tone, said:
"Senior, did you miss me?"
...
...
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
