"You need not force yourself to blend into every clamor, nor do you need to prove anything to anyone."
"I know your heart holds mountains and seas; though silent, they shine like the stars."
After Lin Yu left the laundry room.
Ye Mengfu read the words on the card over and over again.
She gently shook the card, ensuring the ink dried thoroughly.
Then, she fished a plastic zip-lock bag out of her pocket and carefully placed the card inside.
Today.
It wasn't just a happy day for Lin Yu.
...
Lin Yu came out of the laundry area.
Seeing clearly that it was Ye Mengfu inside, Maomao raised her microphone to notify everyone:
"Our birthday boy has already caught two people and harvested two gifts."
"Time is limited; there isn't much left for the birthday boy."
"Everyone, please be sure to hide well and increase the difficulty of this activity."
Lin Yu continued his search in the first-floor lobby.
Passing by Maomao, he couldn't resist reaching out and vigorously rubbing her head.
"Alright, Maomao. It's one thing if you don't help me, but you're actually telling everyone to hide better?"
"Is it possible someone is hiding on the balcony where you water the flowers every day?"
Lin Yu asked a question while observing Maomao's reaction.
Maomao glanced at the balcony, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Lin Yu, and said:
"I won't tell you."
Lin Yu gave her a thumbs up.
Okay, okay.
That single-threaded little brain really couldn't lie.
The intention behind deliberately avoiding looking at the balcony was simply too obvious.
Lin Yu headed straight for the balcony, checking to see if the door showed signs of having been opened.
Before he could even inspect the door clearly, he saw a looming figure behind a wall pillar, peeking in his direction.
Seeing Lin Yu approach, the person immediately shrank back.
There was no need to doubt it now.
Confirmed on the spot!
Lin Yu swaggered over, pulled open the balcony door, and looked toward the collection of flower pots.
"Wow, found so quickly? I feel so defeated!"
"Junior Lin Yu, sorry about that. I didn't know there would be this segment today."
"I still gave my gift too early. I didn't get to give it along with everyone else!"
Fang Xinran walked out from among the flower pots, speaking with a hint of unwillingness.
If she had been a bit more patient and given the gift later, the effect would probably have been better, right?
Lin Yu shook his wrist, showing off the bracelet Fang Xinran had just given him.
"What's wrong with giving it early? This was the very first gift I received today."
"Senior Fang, now it's my turn to give you something..."
As he spoke, Lin Yu pulled out a card and placed it against the wall.
Using the wall for support, he began to write a message for Fang Xinran.
Fang Xinran didn't peek; she waited quietly to the side, curious to see what Lin Yu would write.
"Even if the road is obscured by mist, still choose to journey forth."
"May your future days be like the wind, like poetry, a growth of freedom that never ceases."
Fang Xinran took the card and couldn't help but freeze in place.
...
The time for catching people was limited.
Lin Yu circled the first floor again but didn't make any significant discoveries.
According to common sense, if they weren't hiding in the bedrooms, the first floor offered the most suitable space to hide multiple people.
The public spaces on the second and third floors weren't nearly as plentiful.
And yet, only three people were hidden here?
Was that really it?
Just as Lin Yu prepared to go upstairs, he suddenly realized something.
He had ignored an important location on the first floor...
The yard!
Before entering the house, Lin Yu hadn't known what was going to happen.
All his attention had been focused inside the main hall.
After learning the rules, his first thoughts were about the spaces inside the building and where everyone might choose to hide.
He had almost overlooked the space in the yard.
That was a wide-open area!
Even so, Lin Yu didn't go directly to the yard.
Instead, he ran up to the third floor in one breath, planning to eliminate areas from top to bottom.
Time was a strict constraint he had to be mindful of; searching a space as large as the yard could easily lead to time management issues.
Searching from the third floor down was much friendlier for managing his time.
Upon arriving at the third floor, Lin Yu noticed that the "storage room," which rarely had its door closed, was actually shut today!
Did this even need explaining?
There was definitely someone inside!
Sticking to his method, Lin Yu opened the door to the storage room the moment he noticed the anomaly.
Even without turning on the lights, the environment inside was mostly visible.
Behind a raincoat hanging on the wall, a figure that couldn't possibly stay hidden awkwardly straightened up.
"T-that fast to find the third floor?"
"I just joined in, and now I'm already eliminated."
Xia Xiashan awkwardly smoothed her messy hair, stepping around the various sundries at her feet as she inched her way out.
Upon learning they also needed to join the game, Xia Xiashan had been very cooperative.
While Lin Yu was searching the dining room for people, she had sprinted up to the third floor.
She thought it would take at least ten minutes or so before she saw Lin Yu.
Unexpectedly, Lin Yu's speed was this fast!
"It's too narrow to talk in here. Lin Yu, let me out first."
"According to the rules Maomao mentioned, you should..."
"Write something for me, right?"
Xia Xiashan carefully maneuvered her body and finally walked out of the storage room.
Just as she prepared to casually close the door behind her, Lin Yu's hand slammed onto the door panel, stopping her action.
*Bang!*
The sound of the heavy impact made Xia Xiashan tremble.
She froze on the spot, looking at Lin Yu at a loss.
Lin Yu slowly pushed the door open and analyzed, "Sister Shanshan, it makes sense for you to run to the third floor to hide since you had nowhere else to go after coming back."
"But such a suitable hiding spot... before you arrived..."
"Did no one else really discover it?"
Xia Xiashan: "!!!"
Here it comes!
Lin Yu's strange deductive ability.
He had already demonstrated it once when grilling Xiao Chi in the car.
Who would have thought he would show it again now?
Lin Yu pointed at Xia Xiashan's hand holding the door, then hooked his finger towards the back, signaling Xia Xiashan to let go so he could go in and look for himself.
Xia Xiashan: "..."
Stunned for a moment, Xia Xiashan ultimately chose to let go.
The door stood wide open.
Lin Yu entered, poking his head in to look toward the deeper piles of clutter.
There was another important reason why Lin Yu suspected someone else was hiding inside.
Although the storage room wasn't wide, it was quite long.
If someone really wanted to hide here, why would they only hide right at the surface?
When Lin Yu was searching the first floor, he had given Xia Xiashan plenty of time to hide.
How could she have hidden so poorly in such a simple place?
This indirectly confirmed Lin Yu's suspicion.
Xia Xiashan had likely just plotted with the "other person" inside the storage room.
Wait until Lin Yu comes looking, then deliberately sacrifice one to save the other.
If things went smoothly, the storage room would become a "searched" location, allowing the other person to remain truly hidden.
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...
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
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?"
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
