Ex-Girlfriend – Chapter 42.2

Song of the Wanderer Arc

Great Demon King 01

In the first world, as the operator left, she realized that it was just a mission, but before she could react, she was ejected.

After being ejected, she was deeply impressed by the host, so she found information about that host and followed her into the second mission world.

She was still as intriguing, possessing a captivating and straightforward aura.

You could see her frankness, yet she didn’t seem easily understood, and she was unapologetically herself, not some perfect saint.

She’s truly charming, thought Commander A05 System.

Unfortunately, they didn’t arrange to have hotpot this time.

At that moment, the communication system rang, and she saw the face of B01.

“Hey, Wan Yan, come out for hotpot!”

Who wants to have hotpot with your unromantic system?, Commander arrogantly thought, then went out to have hotpot.

“I haven’t seen you around these days. Are you on vacation?”

“I took on a series of missions and went to the mission world.”

“What happened? You seem troubled. Could it be that you’re in love?”

Curiously asked B05, nicknamed Orange.

She was just joking, not thinking that Wan Yan was troubled because she fell in love in the mission world. After all, even though the system was like a human, there were still some differences in their structure. The chances of a system falling in love with someone in the mission world were almost nonexistent. It was more reliable to fall in love with another system of the same kind or with the operator.

“No.”

Wan Yan explained the situation to Orange, who fell into deep thought.

“Could it be that you’ve developed feelings for that host?”

“More accurately, I have a favorable impression of her. I think she’s adorable.”

“Then go for it! Get to know her. If you already know each other in the mission world, it’s even better. You can directly build a connection.”

“But then I won’t be able to be with her in the mission world, right?”

Wan Yan was torn.

“Why not?”

Orange was surprised, not understanding the conclusion.

“It’s her personality. She might not appreciate having a familiar system playing the role of an NPC in the mission world…”

“Why is that? Most hosts wouldn’t mind, right?”

“I can’t explain it. It’s just a gut feeling.”

That kind of self-oriented and individualistic girl probably wouldn’t appreciate having a familiar system in the mission world who acts as an NPC without any previous memories. It would be unnecessary and inconvenient to have to reintroduce themselves every time.

Wan Yan couldn’t put into words that feeling, but she could only imagine that if she revealed her identity to Xin Lan, she would receive a lukewarm response and they would remain ordinary friends.

“I see,” Orange rubbed her chin, “But you can’t keep avoiding getting to know her. Otherwise, you’ll forever be just a passerby, right?”

She hit the nail on the head, striking Wan Yan’s heart.

“Why don’t you switch to being her system?”

“That way, I’ll only be able to communicate with her in the system space, right?”

Wan Yan felt that this idea was even worse. If she couldn’t touch or feel the little tiger, what would be the point?

“Why don’t you coincidentally meet her when she’s not on a mission? Then you can have the best of both worlds, right?”

Orange snapped her fingers, very satisfied with her new suggestion.

“Alright then.”

“It’s actually good for you to accompany her to the mission world because you never know when the host might develop feelings for someone else.”

Wan Yan was about to refute that it couldn’t possibly happen, but her confidence wasn’t strong enough. What if, just in case, she feared that possibility.

“If the host wants to pursue someone else, only the system would know. If you don’t accompany her, even before this love blossoms, it might be crushed. So you must go with her. Have you seen that anonymous post on the forum? It was a system confessing that the host had feelings for someone else, and it happened more than once.”

“Yes, I’ve seen it.”

Wan Yan nodded. When she saw it, she felt suffocated by the whole situation.

“Take it as a lesson. Their operators are not AI. They can engage in intimate behavior without love. If you don’t confess your feelings soon, the one you’ve set your sights on might run off with someone else.”

Orange and Wan Yan had known each other for years. On the surface, Orange appeared cute, capable, sisterly, innocent, and cold-hearted, but deep down, she was reserved.

“She won’t run off with anyone.”

Wan Yan glanced at Orange, her lips curling into a smile.

Because that person hasn’t awakened yet.

It seems like a cycle. She wants to help Xin Lan awaken, but in order to do so, she must get close to her. However, the version of her in the mission world acts solely on instinct without memories. The version with memories can get close but cannot reveal her true identity. If she exposes her identity, she might not be able to go to the mission world anymore. If she can’t go to the mission world, they can’t be together. If they can’t be together, how can she help Xin Lan awaken?

The best idea is to make Xin Lan fall for her in the real world. That way, going to the mission world would naturally follow.

Orange looked at her with a mysterious confidence and quietly dipped a piece of lamb into the hotpot.

While enjoying the hotpot, Wan Yan’s mind was still tangled.

In reality, she wasn’t that confident. She did have some feelings and fondness for Xin Lan, but it hadn’t reached a very strong level. Although she claimed to want Xin Lan to awaken, she was still hesitating about whether or not to approach her.

In the world of AI, even love operates on sophisticated calculations.

Once the final decision is made, it will strictly follow the laws of love.

However, for humans or non-human hosts with emotions, it’s different. They can change their hearts, get tired, but AI cannot.

Systems can be great mission partners for hosts, but when it comes to emotions…

While enjoying the hotpot, Wan Yan was calculating in her mind the 108 possible ways to approach and strike up a conversation with the little tiger, along with the chances of success. Deep in thought, she finished her hotpot.

Unaware that a system was thinking about her, Xin Lan slept peacefully. When she opened the door, Zero Nine greeted her with a smile.

“Host, you’re awake.”

“Mm.”

“Look at these things I picked out.”

Zero Nine showed Xin Lan her shopping cart. She had spent the entire night comparing products and finally settled on the items she displayed, waiting for Xin Lan to pay for them.

Xin Lan graciously settled the bill, and Zero Nine happily handed her a cola.

Holding the cola, Xin Lan stepped out to find something to eat.

Xin Lan never quite understood the peculiar world she was in. But she had long given up trying to figure it out. Knowing it was strange was enough.

She boarded the hover train and took a seat by the window. She saw a person wielding a sword swiftly pass by, followed shortly after by an angel with six pristine wings soaring overhead.

Everyone seemed unfazed by these sightings, even discussing whether the sword-wielding individual was faster or the winged one.

Xin Lan didn’t pay much attention to it because she couldn’t wield a sword and had no wings.

After finishing her meal, she went to a café.

The café played soothing music, and a beautiful young man with cat ears and a tail brought her order. His face turned slightly red, and his gaze conveyed some kind of implication, but Xin Lan completely ignored it and coldly thanked him.

The young man didn’t seem disappointed by the rejection and casually walked away.

Xin Lan didn’t rush to touch the coffee and dessert on her table. Instead, she browsed some interesting tidbits online.

Most of them were various experiences and anecdotes shared by hosts and operators, as well as some daily life stories.

Xin Lan lifted her head again, took a sip of her coffee, and noticed a woman sitting at the table in front of her, facing her.

The woman had an attractive appearance, and her eyes were a captivating ice-blue, resembling exquisite gemstones.

Xin Lan and the person locked eyes for a moment before looking away.

Wan Yan, who had been hesitating in the same spot, came up with countless possibilities for a failed approach when she saw Xin Lan shift her gaze.

After resting for another two days, Xin Lan stood in front of the mission gate once again.

“The mission world has been selected. One, two, three, let’s go.”

Zero Nine pushed her glasses up and snapped her fingers.

Xin Lan felt a slight jolt beneath her, and when she opened her eyes, she found herself inside a van.

It was a minivan, and outside the window, dusk was approaching. The interior of the van was dimly lit, without any lights turned on.

Perhaps the road wasn’t smooth, as the van swayed and bumped, creating a bumpy ride.

Xin Lan sat in the passenger seat and glanced at the driver beside her. Leaning back in her seat, she began browsing through the memories of the original host.

As she delved into these memories, Xin Lan couldn’t help but smile.

Xin Lan couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

The original host’s name was still Xin Lan, and she could be described using a few words: infatuated, timid, fragile, and prone to crying.

These words were the antonyms of the characteristics exhibited by Xin Lan herself.

After reading through the experiences, one could only describe it as infuriating and unfortunate.

This was probably the most tragic original host she had encountered since taking on this series of missions, surpassing the previous two in terms of misery.

The original host was an ordinary girl from an ordinary family, living an ordinary life. The only things that stood out were her relatively attractive appearance and her less-than-stellar boyfriend.

Her boyfriend claimed to be a wealthy second-generation individual and was generous when pursuing the original host. They appeared to be very happy together, but it was all just an illusion.

In reality, once they were together, the boyfriend never took responsibility for their expenses, whether it was their shared rental or their daily life. The burden of these expenses fell solely on the original host.

Every time she tried to broach the topic of sharing the financial burden with her boyfriend, she would be intimidated by his gaze and back off. Occasionally, she mustered up the courage to speak up, but her boyfriend would dismissively claim that he was so wealthy, how could he possibly care about such small amounts of money? However, he still never gave her any money.

From this, the original host began to suspect that her boyfriend was likely a fake second-generation rich individual, but she didn’t say anything and continued to silently bear the burden herself.

The original host had been with her boyfriend since shortly after graduating from university. She worked hard to earn money to support the household, but her salary was meager. After paying rent and daily expenses each month, she had little money left.

After almost two years of financially supporting her boyfriend, they broke up.

Of course, it was not the original host who initiated the breakup but her boyfriend, as that’s why she became the protagonist of the ex-girlfriend series of missions.

When her ex-boyfriend left, he took away all of her savings from the past two years.

The original host could only cry but didn’t take any action.

It was because she was timid and didn’t dare to ask her ex-boyfriend for the money.

Xin Lan, while observing these memories, felt that this girl was too timid.

However, the truth proved that being a bit timid was never wrong because this ex-boyfriend seemed abnormal.

But instead of seeking trouble, trouble found her.

If she had only been deceived for money and love for two years, Xin Lan wouldn’t say that this was a more tragic original host than the previous two.

The ex-boyfriend came to see her this morning, hoping to have one final breakup trip where he would cover all the expenses. The original host still had feelings for him, so she brought her bag and got on the van, embarking on this journey.

But all the tragedy began with this breakup trip.

It wasn’t just a simple trip; it was a game meticulously organized and planned by her ex-boyfriend.

In the memories of the original host, she didn’t reach the agreed-upon destination for the trip. Instead, they ended up in a peculiar villa.

The villa was filled with horrifying and inexplicable events.

The original host managed to survive until the end, thanks to her ex-boyfriend’s protection.

Or so she thought, as it was her perceived end.

She died from excessive blood loss, and her ex-boyfriend was the culprit.

But it wasn’t a fatal stab wound or anything of that sort. Instead, she was bound and forced to watch as her ex-boyfriend cut pieces of flesh from her own body and cooked them.

One piece after another, in a manner resembling torture, until she finally lost consciousness in a dazed state, and her memories abruptly ceased.

Being deceived emotionally, financially, and even in one’s life, it’s truly a tragedy of epic proportions.

Xin Lan closed her eyes, concealing the excitement in her eyes.

This time, the scumbag must be asking for trouble.

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