Gu Jiu’s hand touched something that shouldn’t have existed under a girl’s skirt—a “monster.”
She appeared calm, showing no extreme reaction. She paused briefly, then casually withdrew her hand, her eyes fixed steadily on the person in front of her.
Or rather, on the “girl” in front of her—or, more accurately, the “boy.”
A boy with a strikingly androgynous appearance.
Lu Ji stood stiffly, his entire body rigid. After realizing what had just happened, his face flushed a deep crimson, so red it seemed like it could drip blood. He looked as if he were about to explode and disappear on the spot.
But he didn’t dare vanish. He didn’t dare explode.
He was terrified that if he did, Gu Jiu would explode even more dramatically. She might blow him away completely, leaving no chance for reconciliation between them.
Even though he didn’t regret confessing to her, his heart was still gripped by worry—what if she started to hate him? What if she rejected him, withdrew her affection, and even saw him as despicable for deceiving her trust and feelings?
Truthfully, he could have kept hiding it from her.
If she loved the “girl” he presented himself as, he could abandon his identity as a man, transform into the girl she liked, and continue living as a woman.
But an inexplicable intuition compelled him to confess before making that change. He couldn’t keep it from her.
He wasn’t human. He didn’t adhere to human morality or their views of the world. In fact, many human concepts were utterly foreign to him. His understanding of humanity only came from observing players in the game world.
Through observation, he noticed that trust was the cornerstone of relationships between humans. Mutual trust, without deceit.
So he didn’t want to deceive her—especially after learning that she liked him too. Deception in this regard felt even more unacceptable.
It might have been just a few seconds or maybe several minutes, but finally, Gu Jiu reacted.
She fell off the curb.
Lu Ji acted quickly, catching her before she hit the ground. He held her securely, pulling her into his arms.
Even in his female form, he was slightly taller than her. Earlier, to create an air of dominance, she had deliberately stood on the edge of the curb. Originally, she had been falling sideways, but Lu Ji subtly adjusted his position, ensuring she fell directly into his embrace.
Gu Jiu grabbed onto his arms, momentarily stunned.
It was evident that the sudden revelation of her “girlfriend” turning into a boyfriend had left her too shocked to respond.
Lu Ji looked down at her, his heart tightening at the sight of her expression.
“Ah Jiu,” he said, his voice dry. “I didn’t mean to deceive you. Since entering the game world, I’ve always dressed as a girl, I…”
Before he could finish, the person in his arms vanished.
She had left—gone from the Boundless City.
Lu Ji stood there, his outstretched hand frozen mid-air. After a long while, he slowly lowered it. In the end, he didn’t tear through space to chase her into the real world and drag her back.
Under the dim streetlights, beside the magnolia tree, a lone figure stood in silence for a long time.
—
Winter had arrived in Haishi. (TL: It should be Haishi not Haicheng ✌🏻)
Last night, a light snow fell, stopping by early morning. The Gu family villa’s garden was lightly blanketed in snow, the icy layer spreading across the ground and filling the air with a cold chill.
It was Saturday, and with the weather being so frigid, no one in the Gu family had gone out.
Gu Mingli, a high school senior buried in studies, often took the opportunity to sleep in on weekends, giving himself a rare break from the stressful grind of the school week.
By the time Gu Mingli got up, it was already 9 a.m. The rest of the family had long finished breakfast and gone about their own activities.
But what he didn’t expect was that someone else had gotten up even later than he had.
“My sister isn’t up yet? I’ll go wake her and tell her to eat breakfast!” Gu Mingli, holding a sandwich in his mouth and a glass of milk in hand, headed to knock on Gu Jiu’s door.
From the living room, the Gu family’s elderly matriarch called out, “If Ah Jiu isn’t awake, don’t disturb her. Let her rest.”
“I know, I know.”
After a moment of knocking, the door opened.
The sky was overcast from the snowfall, and the light in the hallway was dim.
When Gu Mingli saw the person who appeared behind the door, his instincts screamed at him like a small animal sensing danger. His nerves tensed, and he had the sudden urge to run. His blood seemed to freeze in his veins.
Gu Mingli swallowed nervously and tentatively called out, “Sis?”
“Hmm? What’s up?”
It was his sister’s voice—gentle and soothing, like a clear stream flowing over mountain stones, calming and tranquil. But today, there was an indescribable undertone in her voice, a subtle tension that made him instinctively uneasy.
Gu Mingli studied his sister’s face. In the dim light, her features were slightly obscured, carrying an inexplicable air of danger.
Before he could figure it out, she spoke again. “Is that milk for me? I’m a bit thirsty.”
She reached out, took the glass of milk from him, and turned to shut the door.
Gu Mingli: “…”
A moment passed before Gu Mingli turned and walked away.
Back downstairs in the living room, Gu Mingli sat next to his grandmother, finishing the other half of his sandwich.
“What’s wrong? Is your sister up yet?” the old matriarch asked without looking away from the television.
“She’s up. She took my glass of milk, and I’d already drunk from it,” Gu Mingli replied, his nerves tightening again. That strange sense of danger from earlier lingered, and he realized he had completely forgotten to remind her about it.
Would his sister beat him up? Kill him, even?
Gu Mingli felt so anxious that he wanted to curl into a ball.
For some reason, when he saw her this morning, his usually familiar and approachable sister had suddenly seemed terrifying. His small-animal instincts had kicked in, warning him not to act out in her presence.
The old matriarch gave her grandson a strange look. “What’s the matter with you? If you’re not full, go eat more breakfast.”
Gu Mingli pouted, glancing nervously upstairs to make sure his sister hadn’t come down yet. In a low voice, he asked, “Grandma, has anything strange happened to my sister lately?”
“What strange things could possibly happen? Ah Jiu has been at home for months now and hasn’t gone out much,” the old matriarch replied, sighing softly as she spoke.
“If only her eyesight weren’t an issue, she should already be learning how to manage the company with her parents. As the eldest daughter of the Gu family, Gu Jiu has inheritance rights. She’s supposed to inherit the company her mother left behind, so she needs to learn from the older generation.”
Gu Mingli understood why his grandmother sighed.
He wondered, could it be that his sister, unable to accept the deterioration of her vision, had undergone a drastic change in personality, becoming so dangerous that even her aura felt threatening?
That didn’t make any sense. Just last night, she seemed perfectly normal. There was no sign of this eerie and terrifying presence, one so oppressive it seemed to freeze the air around her.
Besides, he didn’t think his sister was so fragile.
While Gu Mingli racked his brain, unable to figure it out, Gu Jiu came downstairs, dressed neatly.
Gu Mingli glanced at her, scrutinizing her from head to toe, and noticed that she seemed normal again. The extreme sense of danger she exuded when opening the door earlier seemed like nothing more than an illusion.
But he was certain it wasn’t his imagination.
Gu Mingli’s scrutiny was neither subtle nor concealed—there was no need for it. After all, his sister’s vision had deteriorated so much that even with assistive glasses, everything beyond 20 centimeters was a blur. She shouldn’t have been able to notice.
However, when Gu Jiu sat down, she turned toward where he was and asked, “Mingli, why are you staring at me?”
Gu Mingli froze for a moment. “Sis, how did you know I was looking at you?”
“I could feel it,” Gu Jiu replied casually. Though she couldn’t see, her heightened sensitivity, honed as a player, allowed her to perceive that her silly younger brother had been watching her closely.
She knew why he was doing this but didn’t feel like explaining right now.
Gu Jiu sat down next to their grandmother, leaning her head on the older woman’s shoulder, just like when she was a child. Back then, she loved clinging to her doting grandmother, listening to stories about her mother’s younger days.
The old lady gently smoothed her granddaughter’s hair, smiling warmly. “Ah Jiu, you’re up! Go have breakfast with Mingli. He hasn’t had enough yet.”
Gu Jiu nuzzled her grandmother affectionately, murmuring in agreement.
After breakfast, Gu Mingli had already put the earlier incident out of his mind.
As a stressed-out senior in high school, his life revolved around studying and striving to outscore his girlfriend on the next exam. He didn’t have the time or energy to dwell on other matters.
Once he confirmed that his sister was still herself, even if she occasionally had an intimidating aura, he didn’t dig any deeper.
Gu Jiu and her grandmother sat together in the living room.
The TV was on, broadcasting the morning news, but Gu Jiu was lost in thought, quietly keeping her grandmother company.
“What’s on your mind, my sweet girl?” the grandmother asked, sensing her granddaughter’s unusual demeanor. Normally, at this time, she would have gone back to her room to study or chatted with her grandmother, not sat here in a daze.
Gu Jiu snapped back to reality, blinking once.
In the real world, her vision was blurry. Even sitting this close, she couldn’t clearly see her grandmother’s face. But the image of her grandmother in her mind was vivid and detailed, as if etched into her memory.
She hesitated only briefly before saying, “Grandma, I’ve started… dating someone.”
When she mentioned “dating,” her expression turned subtly awkward.
Her grandmother looked momentarily surprised but quickly accepted the news with a smile. “Oh my, our sweet girl is old enough to have a boyfriend now! Which family’s young man is it? Do we know him?”
“You don’t know him,” Gu Jiu said softly. “I only met him recently.”
Though her grandmother wished to protect her granddaughter as much as possible, she wasn’t overly controlling. Aside from her initial surprise, she calmly accepted the idea of her granddaughter dating.
She trusted her granddaughter’s judgment and eye for people.
“What kind of person is he?”
Gu Jiu paused for a moment before answering, “He’s very beautiful, like a girl… Actually, I always thought he was a girl.”
Her grandmother was momentarily stunned, then chuckled, “Why did you think he was a girl?”
“Because he’s always dressed as one.” As she spoke, Gu Jiu furrowed her brows slightly.
Her grandmother carefully observed her expression, trying to decipher its meaning, but failed. She pressed on, “Do you like him?”
Setting aside the question of why this person dressed as a girl, for a man to convincingly present himself as a woman, and be accepted as such, his looks must be exceptional.
Her granddaughter had always been popular with girls since she was young. Wherever she went, she was surrounded by adoring female friends. It was clear she had a stronger inclination toward liking cute girls rather than men. Could it be that this person’s feminine beauty swayed her heart?
“I do,” Gu Jiu said without hesitation. “If I didn’t like him, why would I even consider dating him? I honestly thought he was a girl. I’d already planned that if we were together, I’d… I’d take the lead.”
Her grandmother raised an eyebrow. “Take the lead?”
“That’s not important,” Gu Jiu waved her hand dismissively, then continued pouring her heart out. “I didn’t know he was actually a man. When I realized I might have feelings for him, I made a point to observe him more closely. The more I observed, the more I liked him. And when I noticed he liked me back, I decided to take the plunge and date him…”
She had even planned to confess to him after they left the Death Train instance.
Who would’ve thought that as soon as they decided to be together, her “girlfriend” would suddenly reveal herself as a “boyfriend” with a hidden monster beneath her skirt.
And that “monster,” still dormant, was enormous—completely mismatched with his delicate and beautiful face.
Her grandmother nearly spat out her tea.
She had never expected her seemingly sweet and innocent granddaughter to fall for someone in such a comedic way. First, she believed she liked a “girl” and decided to date her, only for the “girlfriend” to abruptly confess their real gender.
Her grandmother patted her head affectionately, “Were you scared?”
“Not really,” Gu Jiu admitted. “I just can’t immediately wrap my head around my girlfriend suddenly becoming my boyfriend. I need some time.”
“Do you still like him?”
“Of course!” Gu Jiu rested her chin in her hands, gazing out toward the floor-to-ceiling windows. “Liking someone doesn’t just disappear because their gender changes. If it does, was it even real affection to begin with?”