My Romance Game Updated – Chapter 123

Persuasion

Faced with Ren Chenxi’s indifferent attitude, the girls had no choice but to head next door to the Men’s Building. They searched every nook and cranny of the base, only to find to their utter despair that not only was Mu Ning nowhere to be found, but those obnoxious espers from A City, along with their armored RV and every last one of their people, had vanished entirely as well.

The cold, hard truth was laid bare before them, forcing Zhang Tongqi and the others to accept it no matter how reluctant they were.

            

Mu Ning had truly returned to A City with her fiancé.

Mu Ning’s departure undoubtedly threw her small squad into a massive panic. In particular, subordinates like Zhang Tongqi and Chen Gu, who had followed Mu Ning since the beginning of the apocalypse, sank into a long period of anxiety once they lost her as their backbone. Even though they didn’t dare openly complain to Ren Chenxi, they deliberately excluded her during daily excursions, refusing to join her on runs. Whenever Ren Chenxi wanted to head to the beach, they would go hunting on the base’s outskirts by themselves.

Unable to stand it any longer, Ren Muhui stepped forward to mock the guys, suggesting that if they really wanted a clean break from Ren Chenxi, they might as well reorganize their groups based on the two buildings. From then on, they would live completely separate lives; they’d no longer use the gasoline Ren Chenxi provided, stop borrowing her spatial inventory to store their supplies, and return her game console and media player.

            

On the girls’ side, the four girls, including Jian Dan and Huo Keyu, had followed Ren Chenxi from the very beginning. S University students like Tang Ying were also clearly closer to Ren Chenxi. So while they deeply regretted Mu Ning’s departure, they couldn’t bear to watch Zhang Tongqi and the others treat Ren Chenxi so coldly. They spoke up several times and, mimicking Ren Muhui, suggested that if they truly couldn’t get along, they should just part ways and live separately.

After all that fuss, Zhang Tongqi and Chen Gu realized they’d indeed gone too far recently. First of all, their boss’s departure, emmmmmm… even if the feelings between their boss and Xi-jie were incredibly complicated, with both hurting each other, their boss was ultimately the one who’d chosen to leave! And she’d been picked up by her fiancé, no less!

Second, their boss was heading to Ning’an Base! That was currently the best survivor base in the entire country! Just look at the armored RV driven by those Ning’an Base espers—one of them had even bragged that not only was its engine also a crystal core engine, but its armored shell was so tough that even a 7th-order mutated beast couldn’t break through it! Since Ning’an Base could manufacture such secure and cool RVs, their boss would surely live in comfort once she arrived, wouldn’t she? Although they were reluctant to let her go, they’d definitely wish her well if it meant she could live a more comfortable and easier life.

            

Finally, there was Xi-jie’s attitude toward them. Even though they’d deliberately or accidentally excluded and ignored her during this period, she still provided everyone with gasoline free of charge, just as she always had. Every time they went out hunting, they stored their food in her spatial inventory. During their few joint operations, at the first sign of danger, she was still the one who stepped up to resolve it cleanly and decisively.

It had to be said that Ren Muhui was absolutely right about one thing. With weaklings like them, when they had a big shot¹ whose thighs they could cling to², and they relied on her for every aspect of their lives, what right did they have to throw tantrums at her? Besides, did the issues between their boss and Xi-jie have anything to do with outsiders like them? Even if Xi-jie had impersonated Ren Muhui and played with their boss’s feelings, only their boss had the right to call her out. Furthermore… judging by the dazed, muddled state Xi-jie had been in lately, she didn’t seem completely indifferent to their boss either, did she?

Once they sorted out their thoughts, the way Zhang Tongqi, Chen Gu, and the others treated Ren Chenxi returned to normal. As time went on, everyone gradually grew accustomed to life without Mu Ning. Occasionally, if someone brought up Mu Ning, they’d only smile and joke with one another, saying it’d already been nearly two months, and they wondered where Mu Ning and her group had reached. They figured they’d probably almost arrived at Ning’an Base, and wondered how wonderful life there must be.

            

Everyone seemed to have moved on from Mu Ning’s departure—except for Ren Chenxi.

Only now did Ren Chenxi realize that there was indeed something far more painful than acting like passing strangers with Mu Ning every day: Mu Ning leaving her side completely. Every time she heard those around her bring up Mu Ning in casual conversation, Ren Chenxi couldn’t help but feel a sharp pang in her heart. In the dead of night, when all was quiet, she’d always clutch her seemingly hollow heart in agony. On one hand, she resented Mu Ning—when she’d already decided to let her go, why did Mu Ning have to barge back into her life so forcefully and fill her heart all over again? On the other hand, she constantly consoled herself: This is fine, this is fine. We had to part ways sooner or later anyway. Mu Ning’s departure is the best, whether for her or for me…

Ren Chenxi didn’t know that her conflicted and anxious state during this period had actually been completely obvious to everyone else. Especially to Ren Muhui. As her older brother, how could he fail to notice that his sister’s mood had been off ever since Mu Ning left? Although her attitude toward others remained unchanged on the surface, Ren Muhui had spotted her staring blankly in a daze, completely lost in thought, on several occasions. Once, because she was daydreaming, she was nearly attacked by a zombie. If he hadn’t reacted quickly enough and cast his 【Whoever I Glare At Gets Unlucky】 ability on the creature, causing the running zombie to trip over its own feet and tumble right in front of her, she wouldn’t have snapped back to her senses.

            

If Ren Chenxi kept this up, Ren Muhui truly feared that his sister might lose her life in the game the moment he let his guard down. That simply wouldn’t do!

Therefore, in the second week after Mu Ning’s departure, Ren Muhui sought out Ren Chenxi, wanting to have a proper heart-to-heart with her.

The moment Ren Muhui approached her, Ren Chenxi guessed what he wanted to say. It would be nothing more than urging her not to sink too deep, reminding her that this world was just a game, and so on.

            

But to Ren Chenxi’s surprise, Ren Muhui hadn’t come to tell her any of that.

Ren Muhui simply shared some official data he’d painstakingly unearthed in the game back when he was attempting to pursue Mu Ning. For instance, the kind of environment Mu Ning had grown up in, how her parents had treated her, and how her environment had made her despise hypocrisy and deception above all else…

Finally, Ren Muhui concluded, “I once heard Yang Xiangrui complaining that the boastful remarks I’d made backstage just to save face had been overheard by Goddess Mu. That’s why she was so resistant to your advances later on. Besides… you taking my place to pursue Goddess Mu caused her an immense amount of pain. Especially since… you even said you did it for fun… Ren Chenxi, I remember you’re not the kind of person who’d say such hurtful things on purpose!”

            

After listening to Ren Muhui’s long speech, Ren Chenxi fell silent for a long time. Eventually, she let out a soft sigh and said, “But if I hadn’t said that, I’m afraid Mu Ning would… After all, this is just a game world. Rather than letting Mu Ning still have some lingering attachment to me, I’d rather she hate me and… forget me…”

“So you really did fall for Goddess Mu?”

Faced with Ren Muhui’s gossipy³ expression, Ren Chenxi was unusually lacking the energy to snap back at him. She merely turned her face away and remained silent.

            

To Ren Muhui, her silence was as good as an admission. He’d originally intended to tease his sister a bit longer, but seeing her so downcast, he suddenly lost the heart for it. He stared blankly at Ren Chenxi for a long moment, then suddenly said, “Since you can’t let her go, why don’t you go find her?”

Ren Muhui’s sudden words caught Ren Chenxi off guard. Stunned, she shook her head with a bitter smile. “And here I thought you came to persuade me to move on.”

“Hey, hey, hey! If I really wanted to persuade you to move on, would I have spent so much breath explaining Goddess Mu’s background to you?” Ren Muhui rolled his eyes in exasperation. “I mean, I’m still pretty sore about it—after all, I was the one trying to win her over in the beginning, only for Goddess Mu to fall for my sister instead… But you’re still my sister, aren’t you? As your brother, of course I’m going to take your side. So…”

            

“So what? Ge, you haven’t forgotten this is a game world, have you? Have you forgotten that you and I will have to leave sooner or later?”

“Since it’s a game world, why don’t you just keep playing it like a game? Who gives up halfway through? It’s a game, for crying out loud! Obviously, you should do whatever makes you happy and comfortable! Why are you worrying so much?”

“What do you mean, worrying so much? Ren Muhui, are you really not treating the NPCs of this game world like real people? If I only care about my own comfort and happiness, what about Mu Ning? What’s she supposed to do? Ten… no, nine years from now, once I’m no longer in this game world, what’ll happen to her? Have you ever considered her feelings?”

            

“Since you care about her feelings that much, why did you have to say such heartless things to her? Do you think she didn’t hurt when she heard those words from you?!”

“…” Confronted with his question, Ren Chenxi fell quiet for a moment before letting out a soft sigh. “The pain right now is only temporary. Once she gets to her new environment and enjoys a better life, especially since her fiancé is so attentive, it’ll still be better than later…”

“But how do you know it’s only temporary?” Ren Muhui glared at her, frustrated that she wasn’t living up to expectations, and shook his head as he said, “Setting aside how deeply Goddess Mu felt for you, or how long the hurt from your words will last, let’s just look at her upbringing and how her parents treated her… Do you really think her life will get any better if she goes to Ning’an Base? Even if the living conditions there are excellent, do you think Goddess Mu can ever be happy with parents who are that selfish and mercenary? And what about her fiancé? Even if marrying him means she doesn’t have to stay with her parents, and even if he seems gentle and attentive, will she really be happy in the future? Personally, I think that although her fiancé looks polite and refined on the surface… the fact that he surrounds himself with lackeys like those guys just proves that birds of a feather flock together. That fiancé of hers is definitely no good either…”

            

Hearing Ren Muhui go on and on about Mu Ning’s fiancé, even mentioning that she would eventually marry that Zhou Zhilong, Ren Chenxi’s expression grew more and more unsightly the longer she listened.

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The author has something to say:

Hello everyone, this is the saved-draft queue! The author already slipped away this afternoon~ The bonus update owed from yesterday’s deep-water torpedo donation has been made up tonight~

            

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