Online Girlfriend's Blind Spot Under the Light

[Ding!]

[Such a show-off move! You actually made the Joyous Sect’s Bell Attendant lower herself to give you a personal massage. Becoming an indispensable member of the sect is just around the corner!]

[Reward: 20 Spirit Stones]

At the dining table.

Lin Yu tilted his neck, enjoying Chi Qingchi’s shoulder massage service.

Her soft hands kneaded his shoulders—whether his body felt good or not was one thing, but his heart was thoroughly pleased.

Lin Yu was very satisfied with Chi Qingchi’s service.

But the system’s description? Not so much.

What did it mean by "lower herself"?

"Joyous Sect’s Bell Attendant"—sounded like some unimportant, idle position.

Probably no different from the "Altar Cleansing Envoy."

As an outer sect probationary disciple, couldn’t he indulge a little?

Before long.

Chi Qingchi complained with a pout, "Lin Yu, is this enough? My hands are sore."

Lin Yu: "I wouldn’t mind if you used your feet."

Chi Qingchi’s eyes widened. "You! Lin Yu, you’re such a pervert… I never noticed before. What a cunning, two-faced guy!"

Lin Yu: "Oh? From ‘pervert’ to ‘Lin Yu,’ then to ‘two-faced guy’—I guess the KFC trip is off the table now—"

Chi Qingchi hurriedly backtracked: "Take it back, take it back! You can’t go back on your word. I massaged you for ten minutes!"

For the sake of ice cream, chicken nuggets, and cola, she had no choice but to submit to his whims for now.

But resentment bubbled inside her.

Chi Qingchi deliberately pressed her elbow harder into Lin Yu’s shoulder.

And honestly?

The earlier kneading had been too light, barely registering for Lin Yu.

Now, with just the right pressure, it felt perfect—like hitting the sweet spot.

He almost didn’t want to let her stop.

Lin Yu glanced back at her.

For girls whose info panels he’d already unlocked, a simple thought was enough to pull up their details again.

Under [Host Intimacy Level], the original 30% had now risen to 31%.

Not bad efficiency.

Just a little interaction, without even fulfilling her eight major wishes, and it had already gone up by 1%.

With some effort and time, maxing it out shouldn’t be hard.

Observing Chi Qingchi’s info panel gave Lin Yu a better understanding of the system.

At low intimacy levels, he couldn’t see how many partners she had.

Makes sense, really.

How could you tell if someone was a player without getting to know them first?

Soon after.

Lin Yu took Chi Qingchi to the 24-hour KFC near his place.

Walking down the street with an anime-style girl turned heads everywhere.

Whether in 2014 or the future Lin Yu came from, lolita-fashion girls were rare.

If the girl was also stunningly pretty, in the future, she might’ve been swarmed for street photos.

The crowd wasn’t that wild yet, but Lin Yu still got a taste of being envied.

Not that he was narcissistic—it was the system ratting everyone out.

[Ding!]

[Such a show-off move! Walking side by side with the Joyous Sect’s Bell Attendant, mistaken by the world as each other’s destined partners, drawing waves of envy!]

[Reward: 20 Spirit Stones]

...

At KFC.

Lin Yu told Chi Qingchi to grab a seat while he ordered at the counter.

Ice cream, nuggets, cola—nothing missing, all maxed out.

One meal, triple the mission rewards!

For himself, Lin Yu just added a half-price ice cream to cool off.

Not to save money—he just didn’t have room for more after breakfast.

With two ice creams, he couldn’t balance them on the tray. The cashier girl, noticing his struggle, kindly tucked one into the crook of his hand.

Their fingers brushed in the process.

Curious, Lin Yu tried pulling up her info panel.

Would something unusual show up?

Well, it did appear.

But it was just a blank screen with a single question mark: "?"

The system’s prompt followed instantly.

[Ding!]

[Remember well—those outside the Joyous Sect walk a different path!]

[Potential partners must be fellow disciples of the Joyous Sect!]

Lin Yu thanked her and walked away.

It had been an accidental touch, just testing the waters.

Now it was clear—the system treated his apartment as Joyous Sect headquarters.

Step outside, and it called it "entering the world."

Partners were limited to tenants in the apartment.

Quantity-wise? Heh, plenty to go around.

But what man would complain about "too many" partners?

So, in summary—the system’s partners, missions, and rewards all revolved around the apartment. Outside? Useless.

Narrowing the scope helped focus his efforts.

"Useless outside the apartment…"

Lin Yu: "!!!"

Mid-step, Lin Yu suddenly realized something he’d overlooked earlier.

He rushed back to Chi Qingchi’s table, set down the nuggets and cola, and shoved the ice cream into her hands.

A smooth combo—followed by a rapid-fire system announcement.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, Host! Daily Mission "Meal Craving (Ice Cream)" complete! Reward: 50 Sect Contribution, 20 Spirit Stones!]

[Congratulations, Host! Daily Mission "Meal Craving (Chicken Nuggets)" complete! Reward: 50 Sect Contribution, 20 Spirit Stones!]

[Congratulations, Host! Daily Mission "Meal Craving (Cola)" complete! Reward: 50 Sect Contribution, 20 Spirit Stones!]

[Current Data:]

[Sect Contribution: 150]

[Spirit Stones: 160]

Chi Qingchi’s eyes sparkled as she thanked him repeatedly, completely absorbed by the snacks.

She didn’t notice Lin Yu’s utterly shocked expression.

One move, three waves of rewards.

His hourly "earnings" kept climbing.

Normally, Lin Yu would’ve been thrilled.

But right now, his attention was entirely seized by something else.

The system only worked on apartment residents—a fact he’d just confirmed, explicitly stated by the system.

Under that rule…

Where did his [Soulbound Partner] come from?

Before seeing Aunt Qimeng’s data, he might’ve guessed her.

After all, in the apartment, she was the closest woman to him.

But he’d clearly seen—Aunt Qimeng’s partner count was zero.

Ruling her out left only one possibility from his twenty years of life experience:

That "online girlfriend" of his!

Their relationship fit the [Soulbound Partner] label perfectly—purely text-based, no real-world contact.

Putting it all together:

His online girlfriend, his soulbound partner, was someone else in the apartment besides Aunt Qimeng!

Holy hell!

Back when his heart was pure and innocent, how had he missed it?

Someone had been playing "hide in plain sight" with him!

Who could it be?

Lin Yu’s gaze first landed on Chi Qingchi across the table.

She was eating the ice cream cone so hastily that some of it ended up on her chin.

Without a hint of panic, she wiped it off with a tissue, only to go right back to devouring it frantically.

And again, it smeared on her chin.

The wiping routine repeated itself.

Lin Yu: "..."

First, he ruled out Chi Qingchi.

Though he hadn’t seen the number of her Daoist partners,

a girl this unguarded couldn’t possibly hide anything.

Besides,

based on Lin Yu’s reasoning,

if two people were soul-cultivation partners, there should at least be some visible intimacy between them.

The level of closeness under [Close Friends and Neighbors] probably didn’t meet the standard.

Moreover, being soul-cultivation partners meant the other person also had feelings for him—

it wasn’t just about toying with him for fun.

Ugh.

Thinking about it, Lin Yu couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret.

How had he missed the signs back then?

Lin Yu pulled out his phone and opened WeChat.

The first chat at the top was with his online girlfriend.

Screenname: [Dreaming in the Rain]

A slightly artsy name.

The conversation had stopped at 10:30 p.m. the night before, right before Lin Yu decided to pull an all-nighter.

Reading the messages, Lin Yu finally remembered the real reason he’d drowned himself in beer last night…

Yesterday was their one-year anniversary as an online couple.

The usually timid Lin Yu had mustered the courage to ask, "Any chance we could meet?"

Only to receive the reply: "Isn’t it better to keep things as they are?"

That one bold move from an introvert had backfired, plunging him deeper into self-doubt and melodramatic misery.

In the chat, he’d even deliberately snapped a photo of several beer cans.

Half out of spite, he sent the message: "Heh. Celebrating our anniversary."

The pain.

Oh, the pain!

It hurt so much Lin Yu’s toes were practically carving trenches into the KFC floor.

Seriously, dude.

You’re a college junior already!

Still pulling this angsty, brooding act?

If it weren’t for his low pain tolerance, Lin Yu would’ve slapped himself twice.

The last two messages were from [Dreaming in the Rain]:

"Happy anniversary."

"Why are you drinking so much? Don’t do this."

And that was it.

Lin Yu, playing the aloof card, left her on read and punished himself by chugging more beer…

Damn, he’d really been doomed to stay single back then.

It was a miracle he hadn’t scared the poor girl off.

Meanwhile…

On the path outside the KFC,

a young couple walked hand in hand.

The guy’s gaze involuntarily drifted toward the pair sitting by the window inside.

Noticing his stare, the girl immediately frowned, pursed her lips, and pinched his arm hard.

"Ow! Damn—!" the guy yelped.

The girl huffed, "Oh, so you like Lolitas now? Didn’t know that was your type!"

She let go of his hand and sped ahead, ready to storm off alone.

Panicking, the guy grinned sheepishly, caught up, and grabbed her hand again, explaining:

"No way! I swear, you’re the only one for me."

"I just didn’t expect to see someone I know here."

"It’s Zhao Yuhao from our class—you’ve met him!"

The girl glanced skeptically at the couple inside.

"Nice try. Zhao Yuhao’s kinda chubby—I remember."

"That guy’s way too skinny to be him."

"And Zhao Yuhao isn’t nearly that pale!"

The guy quickly pulled out his phone, scrolled to Zhao Yuhao’s WeChat, and showed her a post:

"Not the guy—the girl!"

"Look, Zhao Yuhao posted a group photo with his anime club before."

"That’s the girl he’s been simping over for two years!"

At the mention of live gossip, the girl’s expression brightened. She grabbed the phone like it was breaking news.

Comparing the photo to the girl inside—Chi Qingchi’s face—

"Oh wow, it’s really her!"

"So… she’s cheating?"

The girl covered her mouth in shock.

Though, after stealing a glance at Lin Yu’s profile, she could kinda understand Chi Qingchi’s "infidelity."

Zhao Yuhao’s looks were no match for the guy sitting across from her.

Most college girls were still at the stage of judging guys purely by appearance.

The guy raised his phone and discreetly snapped a photo of the pair inside, smirking:

"Eh, who knows if it’s cheating."

"But Zhao Yuhao’s always bragging about how he’s already ‘locked her down.’"

"Saying how awesome it is to have a 2D girlfriend."

"Let’s see how he spins this after I send him the pic!"