"Bang, bang, bang!"
"Ying'er, are you in your room? I'm back."
Lin Yu knocked on the door, wanting to see what was going on inside.
Ying'er was usually a cheerful girl.
What could have happened to make her hide in her room and cry in secret?
At that moment,
Lin Yu thought back to the WeChat message Ying'er had sent him.
Aside from the teasing tone, could there have been a subtle "cry for help" hidden in it?
As he knocked,
the system's notification chime suddenly rang out.
[Ding!]
[Time-limited Mission Issued: The Array Hall Elder has entered deep meditation but suffered a qi deviation, nearly losing his sanity. The Saint is urgently needed to protect and guide him through this crisis!]
[Time Limit: One hour.]
[Rewards: 150 Sect Contribution Points, 300 Spirit Stones, 1 free draw in the System Mall.]
Deep meditation? Qi deviation?
Nearly lost his sanity?
The sudden mission left Lin Yu even more confused.
What had Ying'er done?
This didn’t sound like an addiction she was trying to handle on her own.
For her, what kind of situation would require Lin Yu's protection to overcome?
"Bang, bang, bang!"
"Ying'er? Are you there?"
Growing anxious, Lin Yu knocked again, waiting for her response.
"Creak..."
The door opened just a crack. The curtains inside were drawn, and the lights were on.
Peering through the gap, Lin Yu couldn’t see Ying'er at first glance.
He knew—
she was hiding behind the door, but this time, she wasn’t just avoiding him.
Every light in the room was on?
This was completely unlike Ying'er’s usual style!
Her room was always dark, even during the day—curtains drawn tight, no light allowed in except the glow from her computer.
What was going on today?
"I'm coming in, okay?"
Lin Yu gently pushed the door open, careful not to hurt Ying'er if she was standing too close.
"Thud!"
The moment Lin Yu stepped inside, Ying'er, who had been waiting by the door, immediately pushed it shut behind him.
When she looked up, Lin Yu’s heart clenched in shock.
Ying'er’s eyes were swollen and bloodshot.
She must have been crying for a long time.
Had she been crying since she sent him that message?
"Ying'er, what happened?"
"Who upset you like this?"
"Don’t tell me you played some weird game and got a bad ending?"
Lin Yu stepped closer, his voice gentle but laced with lighthearted teasing.
Ying'er was usually easy to cheer up.
Besides, his guess wasn’t entirely baseless.
People who fixate on something often let their emotions get tangled up in it.
And the only thing Ying'er ever fixated on…
was her computer.
As Lin Yu ruffled Ying'er’s hair affectionately,
she suddenly lunged forward and clung to him tightly.
"Wahhh… Lin Yu, why did you take so long to come back…?"
Her petite frame melted into his embrace, her head barely reaching his chin.
Hearing her heartbroken sobs, Lin Yu felt a pang of guilt.
Without hesitation, he scooped her up—bare feet and all—and carried her to her oversized, plush gaming chair.
Sitting down, he settled her onto his lap.
"Hey, stop crying, okay? You’re breaking my heart."
"Won’t you tell me what’s wrong?"
Lin Yu grabbed a tissue from the desk and gently wiped the tears from Ying'er’s cheeks.
But who would have thought, the more she wiped, the more the tears flowed, unstoppable.
Fortunately.
Ying'er finally spoke, her voice choked with sobs:
"Wuwu... I stayed up really late last night, you know."
"This afternoon, around three, I suddenly felt so, so sleepy—like I couldn’t keep my eyes open."
"So I lay down for a nap and didn’t wake up until past six..."
"When I opened my eyes, it was already dark outside, and it was raining."
"The room was pitch black, completely silent. I reached for my phone, but there wasn’t a single message."
"I just... I just stared at the dark sky, at the dark room..."
"I felt like the whole world had abandoned me, wuwu..."
"Pretty ridiculous, huh?"
After hearing Ying'er's explanation.
Lin Yu secretly let out a sigh of relief.
So that’s what it was!
Before his rebirth, Lin Yu had experienced this exact feeling countless times.
Loneliness—perhaps a mandatory lesson for every adult.
Even someone as cheerful as Ying'er had moments of vulnerability like this.
Lin Yu didn’t feel like laughing. If anything, he was a little happy.
If anything.
Their Thursday meetup had started as mere curiosity, unrelated to emotions.
But now.
They had taken another step closer to understanding each other, deepening their bond.
Because in that moment when she felt "forgotten by the world."
The first person Ying'er thought to message was him.
"How could I laugh at you? I completely understand how you feel."
Lin Yu responded earnestly, without a trace of mockery.
Ying'er wiped her eyes and stared at him:
"You’re not laughing on the outside... but I bet you are on the inside."
Lin Yu shook his head. "Not even on the inside, I promise."
Ying'er sniffled, her eyes puffy. "Really?"
Lin Yu looked at her adorable expression and couldn’t help it—"I... hahaha..."
Ying'er threw a playful punch. "I knew it!"
Lin Yu: "You made me laugh! Have you seen yourself? You’re like a tear-streaked monkey."
Ying'er: "Hmph!"
With a defiant snort.
She rested her head on Lin Yu’s shoulder.
Her legs curled tightly, as if she wanted to melt into him completely.
As if only this way.
Could she feel truly safe inside.
Neither Lin Yu nor Ying'er spoke, letting the emotions settle in comfortable silence.
"Lin Yu... did I embarrass myself?"
Ying'er fiddled with the hem of his shirt, folding it absentmindedly.
Lin Yu gently stroked her shoulder, his voice tender:
"Of course not. Feeling lonely after waking at dusk is a memory etched in our DNA."
Ying'er lifted her head curiously, her eyes clearer now:
"Are you going to spin a story to cheer me up?"
Lin Yu booped her nose:
"It’s not a story—it’s the truth."
"In ancient times, dusk was when primitive humans gathered."
"That fear you felt upon waking alone? It’s your genes reminding you, 'I’ve fallen behind the group.'"
Ying'er listened intently.
After a moment, a thoughtful expression crossed her face.
"Hmm... sounds like some NPC backstory."
"But I like your... story."
She deliberately paused mid-sentence, then burst into giggles at her own joke.
Her playful, lively demeanor made Lin Yu grin helplessly.
...
(Bonus chapter delivered! Only 346 more "Power of Love" supports until the next bonus update—keep them coming, everyone!)
y came from. The chests contained supplies, currency, class-change scrolls, skills, talents… and even godhood! The laws of the world were completely rewritten. This became a world where everyone gambled with their fate! Some people, despite having nothing, opened a divine artifact and rose to the top, eventually ruling the world. Others went bankrupt, opened nothing but worthless junk, and leaped from skyscrapers in despair. Lin Ye arrived in this world from another reality, utterly bewildered. “What is going on? Why is everyone a gambling addict?!” “Opening chests? No way. I refuse to gamble. I’ll start with myself!” Until— On his first chest, he obtained a Mythic Talent: Void Incarnation! He could become completely intangible, pass through all things, and reduce everything to nothingness! … On his fiftieth chest, he obtained a Mythic Weapon: Blade of Karma! With a single slash, karma shattered, twisting the universe and overturning the myriad phenomena of creation! … On his ninety-ninth chest, he obtained a Mythic Divine Treasure: Primordial Purple Energy! It could split open the heavens and earth, create all things, and evolve countless worlds with a single thought! Lin Ye: “Now that I think about it… shouldn’t someone have told me that every chest is guaranteed to contain something Mythic?!”
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
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...
