I love you so much
Qiao Yu found it hard to describe her feelings after hearing those words from God.
All along, despite the obstacles and pain she had faced, she always felt like getting to this point was a matter of course. But now, hearing these words, it felt like waking up from a dream: Ah, so this was actually a really difficult thing.
At this moment, she felt a huge sense of unreality. Was it really that hard for her and Lin Qing to love each other?
Was this something that only happened in this world?
“What a strange expression.”
God tilted her head and looked at her for a while, then waved her hand to make the endlessly falling confetti disappear.
“Is it hard to believe?”
“…Not really.”
Qiao Yu lowered her eyelids and shook her head.
“I’m just… my feelings are a bit complicated.”
She spoke while furrowing her brows and sighed deeply.
“Saying that I never resented you after being brought to this world would be a lie. More than once, I wondered why it had to be me doing this inexplicable thing. I even thought that if I ever had the chance, I’d definitely punch you.”
“But then I fell in love with Lin Qing, and I started feeling grateful. I thought if I hadn’t been chosen to continue this story, I’d never have met her.”
“And now, you’re telling me that Lin Qing also exists in my original world. Not just my world—she exists in many worlds, and we even know each other in some, but we can never truly be together.”
“Being with her is the luckiest thing in my life. I’m very satisfied with that, and very proud.”
“…I just can’t figure out if I should… scold you or thank you.”
Qiao Yu’s voice was filled with genuine confusion as she candidly poured out her feelings to God, who raised an eyebrow thoughtfully, showing a faint smile.
“To me, it doesn’t matter either way.”
God spoke, completely unconcerned.
“Qiao Yu, when we do things like forcing innocent people to jump between world lines, we’re fully aware that we’re doing something very excessive.”
Her tone lost the previous warmth and appreciation, becoming increasingly indifferent. Qiao Yu felt a bit uncomfortable seeing her own face display such a cold expression, eyes filled with a complex yet resolute look.
“We can’t merge the world lines, so we have to select a few people—the so-called hosts—and send them to the target world.”
“We have certain criteria for selecting hosts. I can’t tell you what they are, but when we choose, everyone knows that for the selected hosts, this is an unjust calamity forced upon them.”
God’s eyes flickered slightly, and her presence felt as unyielding as a rock.
“I don’t want to tell you that this is the necessary price for exploring the unknown—but Qiao Yu, this is an acknowledged fact among us.”
“So if you hate me, that’s a normal feeling, and I’ll accept it completely.”
“I don’t dislike you. In fact, I even admire you a bit, but it’s like…”
“God loves the world, but God surely loves herself more.”
“…”
Silently listening to God finish speaking, Qiao Yu felt that she should be angry at this attitude, which treated her like an experimental subject. But at this moment, for some reason, she felt very calm.
“God…”
After a long pause, Qiao Yu finally spoke, murmuring the word and suddenly furrowing her brows.
“…Are you really God?”
“That’s not important, Qiao Yu.”
For the first time, Qiao Yu’s question was firmly evaded by God. There was no expression on her face as she gently shook her head.
“You just need to know that I am a being more powerful than you. Except for reversing time, I can control your world to a considerable extent.”
“And, regarding the earlier topic, your being brought to this world is for a different purpose than before… you should know this already, from Mi Yi.”
Abruptly changing the subject, God showed a self-mocking smile again and sighed.
“I have a colleague—this is really about a colleague, not myself—who made a mistake at work and accidentally sent Mi Yi, who wasn’t chosen, to another world.”
“This mistake, while not insignificant, isn’t that big of a deal. Though saying this might make you uncomfortable, for us, with so many world lines to observe, one person’s disappearance doesn’t cause much trouble. It’s the same with your original world; losing you wouldn’t be a big problem since it wasn’t our primary focus of observation anyway.”
Speaking in rather ruthless words, God—she really resembled a merciless deity at this moment—pressed her lips tightly. Qiao Yu knew they had fundamentally different values in this regard, so she didn’t intend to argue about it and simply nodded, indicating for her to continue.
“But what’s more troublesome is that we have a superior… who happened to be following the novel Mi Yi was serializing at the time.”
“…Your cultural life sounds quite lacking…”
Qiao Yu couldn’t help but interject, after all, it seemed absurd to resort to following novels from other worlds; wouldn’t it be more convenient to stick to literature from their own world?
God listened, slightly taken aback, then slowly frowned, showing a pained expression. She muttered that it was the side effect of technological advancement, lamenting that there weren’t many people left who chose to write novels anymore.
“—In short, Mi Yi’s disappearance will cause quite a bit of trouble, the most immediate being that our superior will have nothing to read.”
“And as Mi Yi told you, it’s really difficult for her to write in a place as challenging as the apocalypse world. We’re not heartless enough to force her into that situation…”
Seeing God hesitating to continue, Qiao Yu understood and continued, “So you found me instead?”
“Yes.” God clapped her hands, sighing. “Although I wasn’t involved at the time, hearing my colleague talk about it made me realize how unexpected it was to find such a coincidence in parallel world lines. To find Qiao Yu, who became a writer just like in Mi Yi’s world, was incredibly convenient. You can naturally interact with the male and female leads and write novels without arousing suspicion from that superior.”
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“…I don’t feel too happy about it.”
It’s like being conscripted at the last minute, Qiao Yu sighed deeply, and God, sympathetically, nudged a pile of snacks towards her.
“Don’t worry, because your story has now taken a completely different turn. The whole patching up one hole while tearing down another has been exposed. That colleague has been sent to exile world for self-reflection. Isn’t that a bit satisfying?”
“…”
For a moment, Qiao Yu didn’t know whether to say, “No wonder it’s you talking to me now instead of your colleague,” or “So, the punishment measures in your world also involve exile?” She was left speechless, seeing God’s slightly apologetic smile.
“About exile… although it’s a bit late to talk about it now, our original intention wasn’t to drive you all insane there.”
“The hosts who fail their missions are placed there because, on one hand, our interim objectives haven’t been met, and the hosts lose their foothold to stay in the original world. We need to find a place to settle them temporarily. On the other hand… as I just mentioned, exile is where people from our world go after doing something wrong.”
“So, without much consideration initially, we decided to put failed hosts there until we’ve completed the process for them to return to their original worlds.”
“It’s a very special area, like the convergence point of all world lines. Only there can the intersections of various worlds, devoid of any scientific principles, be realized. Just like your encounter with Mi Yi.”
“But… we overlooked one thing. That is the time flow rate in that place, which varies for people from different worlds.”
God frowned heavily, gazing deeply at Qiao Yu.
“For us, the length of time doesn’t matter much, but for most people in the worlds—like you—we realize that what we consider insignificant time may feel very long to you.”
“So, we’ve caused quite a few irreparable consequences. You might have seen those former hosts who lost their sanity.”
Recalling those mindless remnants, Qiao Yu’s throat tightened, feeling both shocked and horrified.
“…Perhaps I should say sorry. Because failed hosts are rare, we didn’t pay much attention to it, assuming they were just overwhelmed by the failure of their missions.”
“Until you became the first person to return from the exile world to the original world.”
God’s usually heavy tone lifted slightly as she blinked slowly at Qiao Yu.
“This was truly unprecedented, causing quite a stir in our circles. Everyone rushed to find out why you managed to come back unscathed, and that’s when we discovered the issue with time.”
“Although it’s too late to undo the damage for those irretrievable hosts, I still want to tell you—after you, no failed host will be hastily thrown into that place anymore. I assure you they’ll all be able to return to their original worlds safely.”
“And… ” God paused, appearing unusually hesitant, but still continued, “I think it might have been difficult for you to keep track of time back then. Although it’s not very important, as someone I greatly admire, I want to say…”
“In your terms, you persevered there for 2053 days.”
(LP: 5 years, 7 months, 2 weeks and 4 days… Even before a year, I think I would have gone insane! Qiao Yu so strong)
“For someone like you, a human, it’s truly groundbreaking. I hold you in high esteem and feel proud of you.”
To be honest, Qiao Yu didn’t have much of a reaction to the number. She felt overwhelmed by the weight of God’s words.
“Seems… quite long.”
That was all she could muster in response, feeling as if she were standing on a cloud, gazing at her murky memories until now, only realizing their length.
“…Seriously, Lin Qing and I haven’t even been together for that long.”
Suddenly coming to her senses, Qiao Yu grumbled angrily, furrowing her brows. God didn’t expect this reaction from her and couldn’t help but chuckle.
“What’s wrong? Missing her, are you?”
Being teased by God, Qiao Yu paused for a moment, then straightened her chest confidently.
“I’m always thinking about her.”
“…What’s wrong with you? How can you still boast about it? You’re unbelievable.”
This time, it was God who pointed and gestured angrily at her. The two individuals with identical appearances exchanged a glance and both burst into laughter.
“Don’t worry, after we finish chatting, we’ll send you back soon.”
“Just in case, let me ask first… There shouldn’t be any significant difference in the flow of time between here and my world, right?”
“No, no, I’m not lying to you.”
God raised both hands earnestly, speaking with a serious expression. Qiao Yu then felt a bit relieved and let her guard down slightly.
“Now, let’s talk about how to solve your problem.”
God said, becoming serious. With a wave of the hand, she summoned a familiar light screen in the air, displaying the interface of Qiao Yu’s writings.
“Satisfaction level 68, OOC level 12—these values increased during the two years you were writing the vacancy, right? Overall, it’s quite impressive.”
“Yes, but as long as this evaluation criterion remains, Lin Qing will still feel that I am at risk of being exiled.”
Recalling the pain of her lover, Qiao Yu couldn’t bear it and lowered her gaze, clenching her fists.
“Understandable. Once bitten by a snake, one is afraid of ropes for ten years.”
God nodded, casually sliding through the light screen.
“By the way, I’m also following your novel.”
“?!”
Looks like the cultural life in God’s world is really lacking!
Qiao Yu’s pupils shook as she saw God smile brilliantly.
“So, selfishly speaking, I really hope you can continue writing—just like writing your autobiography!”
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“Don’t say such difficult things!”
Facing God’s pleasing gaze, Qiao Yu grumbled through gritted teeth, but upon realizing that her reader was before her, she felt a strange and complex emotion. So, she softened her tone, coaxing gently.
“You heard what I said just now, Lin Qing is worried—”
“I know, I know. That’s why I said before that I will help you solve this problem,” God said earnestly, swiftly presenting her solution and pointing to the satisfaction level indicator.
“You’re mainly concerned about this, right?”
“…Yeah, the OOC level isn’t a big issue.”
Responding honestly, Qiao Yu looked at God skeptically, not understanding how she would solve the problem. God, on the other hand, enthusiastically clapped her hands.
“So basically, as long as it doesn’t drop to 0, it’s fine!”
“Which means…?”
“I don’t know if you remember, but the system should have mentioned that each reader’s impact on satisfaction level varies, right?”
Ah. It seems like there was something like that.
This memory felt somewhat distant. Qiao Yu furrowed her brow as she dug it out from the corner of her mind, listening as God raised her voice as if presenting a treasure.
“As the creator of this writing system and satisfaction rating, my selection proportion is the largest!”
“Which means, as long as I choose this satisfaction—”
She swiftly operated and logged into an account, opened the latest chapter, scrolled to the end, and decisively clicked the satisfaction button.
“—in this way, no matter how others choose, as long as I choose ‘satisfied’, your satisfaction level will never drop below 1!”
Until she was about to leave, Qiao Yu still felt a bit bewildered.
“That’s such a simple solution.”
“As long as it works.”
Still wearing her expression, God nodded solemnly, giving her a thumbs-up.
“After you go back, remember to write occasionally, okay? I’ll be waiting for updates.”
“Don’t rush me!”
With a start, Qiao Yu blurted out subconsciously, sighing with mixed feelings.
“…Without any worries, I might have time to write.”
“That’s good!”
God immediately perked up, patting Qiao Yu’s shoulder satisfactorily. Seeing her frown, she chuckled and withdrew her hand, staring at her for a while before suddenly asking,
“Do you feel a bit dissatisfied?”
“Regarding you? Yes, I am.”
“No… I wasn’t referring to myself…”
Choked by the overly direct response, God deflated slightly, then regained composure.
“I meant you and Lin Qing.”
“You and Lin Qing are clearly a perfect match, but you’re trapped in two different worlds. If this hadn’t happened, you wouldn’t have met each other in your lifetime.”
“For Qiao Yu and Lin Qing, who are in the same world, they are not each other’s type.”
“It’s almost like a joke of the universe that the person you meet might end up being the one she loves.”
“Compared to this rare miracle, don’t you think it sounds better that every world is destined to be together?”
God’s voice subtly lowered, and Qiao Yu quietly looked at her for a while, without saying anything extra, simply stating,
“Either way is fine.”
“I just want to be with Lin Qing, that’s enough for me.”
This might be the first time Qiao Yu saw such a dumbfounded expression on God’s face – also the first time she saw her own silly face, immediately showing a disdainful expression, making God shake her head, and then she chuckled softly, half-nodding helplessly.
“Indeed, you are just like that.”
There seemed to be some profound meaning in God’s words, Qiao Yu frowned, but before she could ask, she felt God push her shoulder heavily.
Losing her balance, she fell backward, not hitting the ground as expected, but falling for a long time.
Qiao Yu saw God above her bend down and wave her hand, then everything went black.
“…Yu, Qiao Yu!”
First, she heard the voice, then felt the warmth of contact.
Finally, she opened her eyes, and what greeted her was the familiar delicate face, eyes red from crying.
Even though it was the same face, it was incomparable to how God looked moments ago. Just one glance, and it pierced Qiao Yu’s softest spot in her heart.
She smiled and, under Lin Qing’s pleasantly surprised gaze, stood up straight, gently embracing her lover.
“Miracle or not.”
Qiao Yu whispered softly, holding her as if embracing a treasure.
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“I love you so much.”
“Ah, you’re back.”
Hearing the familiar voice, the person inside the peculiar device slowly opened her eyes. With some effort, she removed the equipment on her body and finally took off her helmet, stepping out of the cocoon-like device.
“How did it go? Did you see her?”
“I did.”
With a voice that carried a hint of a smile, she exhaled deeply, then turned towards another person.
“It’s no wonder she managed to hold on for so long even after being exiled. She might have already figured out my identity.”
“Is that so?” The woman’s voice sounded a bit surprised, as she half-jokingly asked, “Does she look a lot like you?”
“Well… in a way, at least our appearances are quite similar.”
“Isn’t that to be expected? After all, you’re the same person.”
“That’s true.”
The woman chuckled softly, lifting her eyes to reveal the exact same face as the one that had just transformed into Qiao Yu, gazing gently at the other person.
“I also saw Lin Qing over there—so beautiful, still so young.”
“…”
There was silence for a moment, then the other person pretended to be angry and spoke up.
“What? Qiao Yu, are you implying that I’m old now?”
“How could that be? I wouldn’t say that. Just didn’t expect to see you like that, feeling a bit sentimental, that’s all.”
LP: Sorry for the no upload yesterday, my work schedule changed so I’m adjusting right now. I used to translate before work in the morning, but now I’m translating after work. Thank you for your understanding~
