I'm living off a woman in Arknights.

Page 45

ps:

I've received feedback from the book review section, and I'll be revising Swire's response to eavesdropping in the next couple of days. Hmm, it needs to be more proactive.

Additionally, I'd like to clarify here that if you feel the protagonist is acting strangely, as if she's completely oblivious to danger, or if her perception of Terra is veiled by a fog, that's normal. She needs a thorough stimulus to truly "wake up."

Well, of course, I also realized that this initial character design doesn't seem to be very appealing, and is even quite off-putting (mainly because the author's writing style and pacing aren't very good, which can't offset the discomfort).

However, since it was the first book, the author couldn't bring himself to drastically change the protagonist's character design once the foundation was already laid.

The author could only kneel down and cry loudly, T﹏T Don't go.

Finally, if you have any other questions, or find any logical inconsistencies, illogical points, or things that bother you, please feel free to provide feedback!

The author will answer the question seriously if they can.

The author will do their utmost to revise anything that can be modified!

Convention:

New author, new book! Please add to your favorites, leave comments, and vote!

Volume Two: Fireworks at Longmen: Chapter Sixty-Six - Like a Tide Surges In, Leading You Away from Home

Pure One? Cage (One) A Startling Seagull m Long Private (Nine) Dad's Coincidence Can Still Be Guessed?

This is way beyond the scope of the curriculum.

Yun Yi chose to give up thinking and his tone softened: "Forget it, no need to explain, just give me the conclusion."

These words instantly ignited Swire's anger: "You bastard!"

She grabbed Yun Yi by the collar and pulled him forward, her tiger tail whipping through the air like a supple whip: "Don't you dare back out halfway!"

She said she was being so long-winded and wasting so much time, and Yunyi still dared to give her a perfunctory answer!

Swire gritted his teeth: "Now that crises and traps are lurking right at our doorstep, why are we still giving up!"

Do you really want to be arrested and used as research material?

Her almond-shaped eyes widened as she stared at Yun Yi's poised stance, as if to say that if Yun Yi continued to act like this, her steel whip-like tail would be the next one to lash out at her: "There are no ready-made answers falling from the sky. If you don't use your brain now, do you want to be led by the nose in the future, sold out and still counting money for others?"

"Get your brain working right now!"

"But even if I think about it, I can't come up with an answer that's beyond the scope of the curriculum." Yun Yi was pulled and floated towards the seat. She subconsciously raised her hand to press down on the wrist that was pulling her, trying to break free from the control.

As he struggled, Yun Yi looked back at Shi Huaiya, his gaze mirroring her current emotions, calm yet tinged with confusion: "Wouldn't it be better if you just told me directly and I did it? There's no need for me to necessarily understand, is there?"

In Yun Yi's eyes, the causal chain of Swire's anger, from a sense of responsibility to a sense of crisis, is clearly discernible at each stage.

But those burning, almost obsessive persistences remained as blurry to her as looking through frosted glass.

She couldn't understand, just as she could deduce every step of the formula for a certain mathematical problem, but couldn't empathize with the obsession that drove the other person to frantically verify the calculations—was it really necessary to go to such lengths?

Of course it's necessary; how can we rely on others!

Yun Yi's subconscious struggle was like a kitten tickling Shi Huaiya. She opened her mouth to speak, but the coolness and smoothness of his fingertips touching her skin interrupted her preparation of emotions.

The temperature difference created by the interplay between that cool, jade-like touch and the burning heat in his chest was like a bucket of cold water poured on his heart, causing Shi Huaiya's burning anger to inexplicably subside a bit.

As her emotions cooled, Swire unconsciously loosened her grip on her collar slightly, and her voice softened, but she still kept a straight face and persisted: "Then what will you do if I'm not around?"

As she spoke, she frowned and pulled Yun Yi closer, her bright green eyes, still radiating a sparkling anger, reflecting Yun Yi's bewildered face: "Have you thought about it?"

“Not by my side…” Under Swire’s intense gaze, Yun Yi felt his body being completely controlled by her. He murmured Swire’s words and his expression suddenly became strange.

A mixture of confusion and anxiety appeared on her face, finally settling in her eyes and turning into a cold, unfamiliar look that startled Swire.

But before she could react, Yun Yi suppressed all his outward emotions.

She nodded in agreement as usual, and said slowly, "I hadn't thought of that. You're right, we should indeed consider that this situation might occur and accumulate some experience in advance..."

"However, listening to your explanation bit by bit doesn't seem very efficient for me. How about this: tomorrow, when I have more points, I'll activate the training ground function, and you can explain it to me in detail again? Is that okay?"

"Why are you suddenly speaking in such a formulaic way?" Swire didn't answer but instead asked in return.

A sense of unease crept in. She released her grip on his collar, nervously rubbing her fingertips together, her gaze lingering on Yun Yi's face: "What's wrong?"

"Hmm? Hmm, I just suddenly remembered..." Yun Yi stopped halfway through her sentence, a thoughtful look on her face that was both unfamiliar and familiar to Shi Huaiya.

It's not about deliberating on what to say, but about deliberating on whether or not to say it at all.

That expression vanished in an instant, and Yun Yi continued, "It just suddenly occurred to me that this is reality."

Actually, Yun Yi had always known, he thought to himself:

But to travel back in time after death, well, it's a bit like playing a real-life version of a virtual game.

Death is resurrection, boundless energy, no need to eat, sleep, or use the toilet, injuries leave no wounds, only vivid bodily sensations, all of which contradict common sense—the body and mind seem to be two separate entities.

At this point, the system issued the main quest: "[Please avoid the bad ending of being permanently imprisoned]".

The system store is similar to a game store, with a wide variety of goods. You can get things that only exist in your imagination as long as you have enough points.

A suitable gigolo, Hoshiguma, automatically approaches her, leading her into the story and offering her a choice of the three starter Pokémon. However, she cannot skip the dialogue and choose randomly; she must fight for it herself.

The initial "soft rice" partner she won over, Tiger Girl, was like the game's mascot; she didn't have to put in much effort before Tiger Girl naturally treated her as a close friend, and after the first hug, she dragged Tiger Girl along for everything.

Then this triggers a series of events and conspiracies that would normally only happen once every few years...

It's quite interesting, but unfortunately some redundant communication can't be skipped, and you have to rack your brains to reply—because it's a real person, which female mascot would leave?

Yun Yi sighed inwardly.

Although she was aware from the beginning that this was reality, after setting aside the shame of being a kept woman, she still inadvertently became immersed in the novelty of the virtual and real worlds intertwined, treating reality like a game.

After all, compared to traveling to a strange and dangerous world, it's definitely more reassuring to travel into a familiar game with countless chances to alleviate the anxiety of being in a foreign land.

So her mind and body inexplicably began to escape.

Having regained some composure, Yun Yi looked apologetic: "You know, in my eyes, Terra is a game—no, a novel. Now that I'm here and have a system, it's inevitable that I'd get a little lost, arrogantly treating my surroundings as my playground. I'm truly sorry, Shi Huai Ya..."

Shi Huaiya's sharp gaze swept over, and Yun Yi obediently swallowed the word "Miss".

She casually redeemed a Teyvat fruit gift pack worth 1 point, took out an orange-red, pear-shaped Sunset Fruit from it, and handed it to Swire as an apology.

Yun Yi's smooth and polite manner made Swire accept the fruit with a subtle feeling: "It's okay, and you don't need to change it into a novel. I can probably understand the game you're talking about."

Similar to a movie, except the protagonist is controllable and the scenes are not two-dimensional.

It's perfectly normal for the actor playing the lead role to have a different personality from the lead role after leaving the movie... Yun Yi himself seems to be exceptionally polite and courteous?

Swire immediately realized that this was a wrong guess.

Because Yunyi naturally moved closer, floated onto the chair, and sat next to her.

Yun Yi clung to the tiger's tail, pointing at the Sunset Fruit with a relaxed smile on his face: "Eat up, this is a fruit from another world, the Sunset Fruit. It's said to be very sweet and delicious. You can try it."

Shi Huaiya felt Yun Yi's sudden closeness and her ears stiffened. This was really... not polite at all.

She gave a bewildered "hmm," holding the sunset fruit, unsure whether to eat it or not—was it redeemed with points?

The lowest price for a product in the system shop is 1 point. Based on the land given away previously, 1 point is estimated to be worth about 19 Lungmen Dollars.

Fruit worth 1 point? Swire can eat a lot, but she has never been so extravagant before.

Most importantly, points obviously cannot be measured in monetary terms.

Swire looked at the fruit in her hand, which might be the only one of its kind in the world, and thought: But then again, since it's already been changed, it wouldn't be right not to eat it, would it?

Wait, that's not right!

Swire suddenly realized what was happening and glared angrily at Yun Yi, who was standing right next to her: "Why are you wasting your points again!"

Volume Two: Fireworks at Dragon Gate, Chapter Sixty-Seven: Thankfully, the system's automatic protection saved us from certain death.

"Points are meant to be used; you can always make up for them when you're short." Yun Yi smiled and spread his arms, indicating that Swire could make up for the points earned from Sunset Fruits anytime by giving her a hug.

"..." Swire was speechless, because Yun Yi's attitude had changed so much that he didn't seem to be affected by her at all, so she guessed that nothing she said would make a difference.

Seeing that Swire didn't express her opinion, Yunyi tacitly agreed and happily took the initiative to guide the conversation: "Okay, let's get back to the main topic. I just thought about it again and I think there's really no need for me to exercise my brain."

Shi Huaiya, who had just felt that Yun Yi's personality had changed drastically, held her forehead. "He hasn't changed at all!"

“Your reaction, well, I guess I skipped the explanation. Sorry, sorry.” Yun Yi scratched his face and handed Shi Huaiya a red, round strawberry-shaped fruit called “Luoluo Berry”: “Here’s another one for you. It’s a fruit from another world called Luoluo Berry. It’s said to be sweet and sour.”

Suddenly resuming normal social interactions, I forgot that Swire was a new acquaintance.

It is well known that top-notch novels and games require logic, but real life does not.

Coincidentally, Yun Yi was the one who could be categorized as illogical; in her previous life, only acquaintances from work were willing to talk to her.

The reason is simple: Yun Yi's topics jump around too much, and unless it's work-related, she's too lazy to explain.

Now, Swire, as a partner, is precisely the person Yunyi is willing to explain things to.

Still unaware of what was happening, Swire took the fallen strawberries, relaxed a little, and pulled the tiger tail out from between their pressed thighs, swinging it to the other side: "Another one,"

Her gaze swept over Yun Yi's expression, which showed no sign of pain, and she understood: "How many fruits did you buy with 1 point?"

"One gift pack, the exact quantity..." Yun Yi summoned the floating panel belonging to his backpack and looked at it: "27000? That's a lot!"

Swire turned to look at Yun Yi, who was staring into thin air, with surprise. Her tiger ears perked up. "Nearly 20 Lungmen Dollars can be exchanged for 1 point, and a piece of otherworldly fruit is only about 7 Lungmen Dollars? That's so cheap?"

1 point = 20?

"Oh, no wonder there are so many. The points are worth quite a lot of money." Yun Yi suddenly realized: "Seven yuan a piece, not bad, not bad..."

Her confused reaction left Swire feeling utterly helpless and completely disillusioned—believing that Yunyi had become reliable was indeed her illusion.

"Stop 'okay' and quickly explain to me why it's unnecessary."

“Okay, it’s actually very simple. Not only can I communicate with you at any time, but I will also be able to protect myself in the near future.” Yun Yi took out a chibi doll.

The doll is completely blank except for the human figure; it's a product she just bought [Soul Doll].

For some reason, it was positioned at the top of the first page of the mall, and its effectiveness was just right; Yun Yi took a liking to it at first glance.

She held the doll and said, "The first thing is communication," then placed it between her eyebrows and softly murmured, "Binding."

In an instant, air currents of unknown origin echoed through the driver's compartment.

These swirling winds, as if summoned by some mysterious force, suddenly converged at Yun Yi's toes.

The wind swirled like a dragon, surging and rising from below, whipping her clothes and making a rustling sound, while her white hair, like a waterfall, flew wildly in the wind.

Strangely, this powerful wind failed to touch Shi Huaiya, who was standing very close to Yun Yi, as if the wind existed in another dimension.

As the wind reached its zenith, Yun Yi slowly closed her eyes following the system's product usage prompts, and a faint golden-red halo emanated from her forehead.

The halo, like a dazzling galaxy ribbon, gently yet firmly extended toward the doll beside it, eventually merging into its forehead.

The entire space seemed to shimmer with light, as if some mysterious pact that transcends time and space was being forged, beautiful and dazzling.

But all of this was quite the opposite for Swire.

The moment the golden-red halo appeared, before Swire could even see it clearly, the air around her seemed to solidify into lead, and a fear rising from the depths of her soul gradually spread to her limbs.

At that moment, her bones creaked slightly, her head was forced to lower, and her internal organs felt as if they were being squeezed by an invisible giant hand, making even breathing a luxury.

This was more oppressive than any battlefield smoke she had ever experienced.

Even though Swire gripped the armrests of the chair tightly, she still swayed precariously, as if she would be crushed under this terrifying pressure at any moment.

Cold sweat rolled down her increasingly pale cheeks, leaving dark stains on the lining of her uniform.

Swire gritted her teeth, her nails unconsciously curling and digging deep into her palms. A scarlet line flashed by before she pressed her hand back onto the armrest. In that brief moment, with her iron will, she managed to straighten her almost collapsing body and try to lift her head.

Looking up, what appeared before Swire was not Yun Yi, the doll, and the wind, but instead, countless black and gray blocks of color exploded in her vision, tearing space to shreds and dancing wildly before her eyes.

At the same time, a sharp telegram tone suddenly rang out, like a thousand ants gnawing at her brain, drilling straight from her eardrums to the top of her skull. Every rapid and distorted syllable seemed to be trying to turn her consciousness into dust.

"This is... Yunyi's..."

soul……

Swire's throat spilled out broken murmurs, each word seeming to be squeezed out of his chest.

Before she could finish her rambling, a sharp pain emanating from within her body, accompanied by the astringent taste of blood, began to spread in her mouth, leaving her groaning and unable to utter another word.

Swire's mind struggled to function amidst the excruciating pain, each second feeling as long as eternity.

It is unknown how much time passed before the oppressive force, powerful enough to destroy one's mind, finally receded like a tide.

Swire collapsed into the chair, utterly exhausted. Her legs were numb, and she was about to slide down the back of the chair when Yun Yi, who had just freed himself from the restraints, caught her by wrapping his arms around her waist and steadily supporting her swaying body.