My Romance Game Updated – Chapter 122

Just a Game

Mu Ning cast a cool glance at Ren Muhui, who had just landed flat on his backside. Terrified by her look, Ren Muhui scrambled back to his feet on all fours, offering her an incredibly fawning smile.

“Goddess, ask! Please, ask! If you have any questions, I’ll tell you absolutely everything~”

            

“…” Confronted by Ren Muhui’s eager, obsequious display, Mu Ning found that the questions she had spent so long preparing felt like a thorn wedged in her throat. She couldn’t bring herself to speak.

Sighing softly, Mu Ning turned her head to look at Ren Chenxi, only to see her quickly avert her gaze. Mu Ning’s brow furrowed slightly.

When she looked back at Ren Muhui, her eyes had grown much colder. She took a deep breath, but the question she murmured was incredibly quiet.

            

“Back then… did you swap identities with Ren Chenxi?”

Though the words were quiet, they struck the surrounding crowd like a bombshell.

A swap? What did that mean? While the shocked, suspicious gazes of the onlookers darted back and forth between Ren Chenxi and Ren Muhui, the only two who knew the truth remained dead silent. Especially Ren Muhui; facing Mu Ning’s question, his first instinct was actually to flee. However, under Mu Ning’s freezing glare, his trembling legs felt glued to the floor; he couldn’t budge an inch.

            

Since escape was impossible, Ren Muhui could only keep his mouth shut. Adhering to the principle of “more words, more mistakes; fewer words, fewer mistakes; no words, no mistakes,” he hung his head and waited for Ren Chenxi to handle it. If anything, Mu Ning’s outwardly calm demeanor terrified him even more. Who knew what kind of madness lurked beneath that serene mask?

Ren Muhui clenched his teeth tightly, cold sweat dripping from his brow. Yet after waiting for what felt like an eternity, he received no explanation from Ren Chenxi. Instead, his silence was met with another vicious, impatient strike of Mu Ning’s whip. This time, the lash slammed directly beside his feet, missing his toes by mere millimeters.

Staring at the deep gash left in the ground right by his toes, Ren Muhui had absolutely no doubt that if the whip had hit his foot, it would have been instantly crippled.

            

“I asked you a question! Speak!”

The two siblings had clearly conspired to play her for a fool, yet now that she was demanding accountability, they were both playing dumb! What was this? Did they plan on keeping up the lie forever?!

Mu Ning glared bitterly at Ren Chenxi, who was still standing there like a wooden block, before cracking her whip at Ren Muhui once more. This time, the lash grazed the edge of his shoe, tearing away a layer of leather. Terrified, Ren Muhui lifted his leg and shrieked, hopping two steps to the side on one foot.

            

“Goddess! Goddess, please don’t get excited! I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything!!!”

Without needing any further threats from Mu Ning, Ren Muhui hugged himself defensively, whimpering and sobbing as he spilled everything. He held back only his and Ren Chenxi’s identities as players; the rest came pouring out.

“Boohoo… Goddess, I really didn’t do it on purpose! I never wanted to swap identities with Ren Chenxi! It was Ren Chenxi herself. She kept hearing me complain about how hard it was to pursue you, so her competitive streak flared up, and she took my place to woo you instead… If anything, I’m a victim too! Aaaagh!”

            

“…” Tsk. Did my useless older brother really have to be so pathetically terrified? Shifting all the blame onto my head? Since when did I take over this stupid dating game just because my competitive streak flared up? Fine, maybe I did have a bit of curiosity and competitive drive, but more than that, I wanted to experience this realistic virtual game world, alright?

But… meeting Ren Muhui’s resentful, terrified gaze, Ren Chenxi opened her mouth, only to close it without offering a rebuttal. In truth, there was nothing to explain. She was indeed the one who had actively chosen to play this dating game; Ren Muhui was largely innocent. At the end of the day, it was all her fault.

“Is what he said true?”

            

Facing Mu Ning’s demand for confirmation, Ren Chenxi didn’t try to make any more excuses.

“It’s true.”

“So… the person who took such meticulous care of me during that time was you? The one who gave me all those little gifts was you? The one who celebrated my birthday and confessed to me was also you?”

            

“It was me.”

“Then…” Mu Ning stared directly at Ren Chenxi, a sliver of pleading in her eyes that she herself didn’t even notice. “Why did you do it?”

“Because…” Ren Chenxi swallowed hard and took a deep breath. She looked back at Mu Ning, her lips curling into a forced smile as she replied in an incredibly flippant, uncaring tone, “Because it was fun~”

            

“…” Fun? Was it really just for fun? Mu Ning stared intently at Ren Chenxi for a long time, trying to unearth some other emotion from those deep, bottomless eyes. But there was nothing. All that met her gaze was the inscrutable, dark abyss in Ren Chenxi’s eyes.

“Fine. I understand.”

Leaving those words behind, Mu Ning turned and decisively walked out of the Men’s Building.

            

Whether it was an illusion or not, Ren Chenxi thought she saw a tiny teardrop glisten at the corner of Mu Ning’s eye the instant she turned. By the time she tried to get a closer look, all that remained was Mu Ning’s resolute silhouette walking away.

Watching Mu Ning’s straight back slowly recede from her sight, Ren Chenxi finally let out the breath she had been holding since the start. It was finally all out in the open. Then let it end like this.

Casting a flat glance at Ren Muhui, who was still standing there dazed, seemingly unable to grasp the situation, Ren Chenxi wiped the fake smile from her face. She shook her head slightly at him before turning and leaving the Men’s Building as well.

            

The moment Ren Chenxi left, the remaining crowd in the Men’s Building lobby instantly erupted.

“What did Ah Hui mean just now? What do you mean you swapped identities with Xi-jie, and she pursued the Boss in your place?”

“Yeah! It sounds ridiculous! Ren-xuezhang¹, you and Xi-jie might look somewhat similar, but it’s only a slight resemblance! You’re nowhere near as good-looking as Xi-jie! How could you possibly swap places like that?!”

            

“So, Ah Hui, you and Xi-jie teamed up to play with our Boss’s feelings! That’s way too much!”

“Hey, hey, hey! Why are you all coming at me? What does this have to do with me? I’m a victim here too, alright?!”

Given Ren Chenxi’s terrifying ability—which could instantly kill an 8th-order mutated beast—and her usual formidable presence, none of the onlookers dared to demand an explanation from her, no matter how indignant they felt on Mu Ning’s behalf. Left with no choice, they turned on Ren Muhui, who hadn’t managed to escape upstairs in time, turning him into the target of their collective wrath.

            

Ren Muhui felt utterly wronged. He hadn’t managed to win over his goddess, his sister had stolen her away, and when the goddess finally came to settle the score, she had directed all her fury at him. Now that both his goddess and his sister were gone, he was the one left behind to continue taking the blame! How was that fair?!

“And what do you mean I’m not as good-looking as Ren Chenxi? We’re twins! How can you junior xuedi and xuemei² say that with a straight face? Ren Chenxi took my place for so long and none of you even realized we swapped, but now you’re turning around and insulting my face! Has anyone considered my feelings?!”

Hearing Ren Muhui’s aggrieved outburst, the crowd belatedly realized that… it seemed that in this absurd farce, Ren Muhui was actually pretty miserable too?

            

Looking down at his shoe, which had completely lost its leather edge… tsk, tsk, tsk, this guy really was the most miserable one here!

Fine. No matter how unresolved and bitter they felt, they couldn’t take their anger out on Ren Muhui anymore. They could only disperse in unease, worrying about how things had escalated to this point. What choice would Mu Ning make tomorrow? After all, judging by the exchange between Mu Ning and Ren Chenxi just now, they had completely severed ties. No one, no matter how deeply in love, would ever want their genuine feelings to be treated as nothing more than a playful game.

As it turned out, their worries were entirely justified. However, they never expected that Mu Ning wouldn’t even wait for the next day to give her answer. Well before dawn, she quietly left the base all by herself.

            

No one in the Girls’ Building or the Men’s Building noticed Mu Ning’s departure. Except for Ren Chenxi.

Ever since she had spoken against her own heart, telling Mu Ning it was “because it was fun” and watching her walk further and further away, Ren Chenxi had been plagued by insomnia last night. Unable to sleep a wink all night, she had spent the entire time leaning by the window, staring blankly into the night outside. Then, just as a sliver of morning light began to bleed into the horizon while the survivors in the base were still fast asleep, she noticed a green dot on her mini-map quietly leaving her building.

Hiding behind the window, Ren Chenxi watched cautiously as Mu Ning’s figure appeared downstairs, and then walked away without a single backward glance.

            

Perhaps an ending like this was a form of relief for both of them.

Having stayed awake all night, a sudden wave of sleepiness washed over Ren Chenxi the moment the tiny green dot vanished completely from her mini-map. Groggy and dazed, she stumbled toward her bed, not even bothering to undress before collapsing onto it. The instant she buried her face in the pillow, her lips trembled slightly as she whispered two quiet words.

Early the next morning, after preparing breakfast, the girls went to knock on Mu Ning’s door, only to find it wasn’t closed at all. Zhang Tongqi cautiously pushed the door open, only to find the quilt folded neatly on the bed, but Mu Ning herself was nowhere to be found.

            

Mu Ning was gone. Everyone knew exactly what that meant. In their panic, the flustered, helpless girls rushed straight to the Third Floor and pounded on Ren Chenxi’s door. When Ren Chenxi opened the door with a cold expression, listening to the girls chattering all at once about Mu Ning’s disappearance and anxiously asking what to do, she merely frowned in irritation and asked, “What does that have to do with me?”

“…” The anxious hearts of the girls instantly turned to ice at Ren Chenxi’s extremely heartless response. Looking into her cold eyes, they finally remembered: just last night, Ren Chenxi and Mu Ning had completely severed ties!!!

“Xi-jie… you…”

            

Zhang Tongqi was extremely displeased with Ren Chenxi’s current attitude and wanted to speak her mind, but Sun Jia quickly grabbed her arm and shook her head slightly. Pulled back by Sun Jia, Zhang Tongqi reluctantly swallowed the words that had been right on the tip of her tongue.

Their Boss was already gone now. If they had a falling out with Xi-jie now, it might drive away their only other pillar of support. None of them wanted to see that happen.

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The author has something to say:

            

Big Brother Ren: Whimper, whimper, whimper, why did you only whip me? My sister was clearly the one who went too far…

Goddess Mu: …Because I couldn’t bear to.

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Also, how are there deep-water torpedoes… how are there deep-water torpedoes! The author wasn’t prepared for this at all! Aaaagh!

            

_(:3」∠)_ Sorry, I’ll make up for the double update tomorrow. Also… I need to let everyone know that I have to take some time off for the May Day holiday. My brother-in-law lives three cities over, and our families rarely get to interact. My sister just got married last year, and she’s invited our whole family over to visit for the holidays this year… So, yeah, sorry… I’ll be taking leave on May 1st. Please don’t throw any more torpedoes for now, I really won’t be able to catch up, and my kidneys will give out…

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