After Saving the White Moonlight, the Black Moonlight Went Crazy - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: The Second Playthrough World

◎A Kiss Worth a Fortune◎

So that’s how it is…

As expected.

Yan Sui looked at Lu Shutian’s face and thought calmly.

“Why did the first playthrough of the world end?” she asked.

Lu Shutian pouted. “Why don’t you look surprised at all, Jiejie?”

Because I already guessed that possibility, Yan Sui thought to herself. “Rather than being surprised, it’s better to solve the problem with a calm attitude.”

Lu Shutian blinked. “Kiss me again, and I’ll tell you.”

Yan Sui lowered her eyes and reached out to push the person opposite her away.

“I was wrong, Jiejie,” Lu Shutian apologized stickily. She suddenly leaned in, and her right hand pulled open the neck of the pajamas, lightly biting her collarbone.

She smiled a little foolishly. “If Jiejie won’t kiss me, then I’ll kiss Jiejie myself.”

Yan Sui sighed. “Is that a kiss? You’re biting me.”

“But it didn’t hurt, did it, Jiejie?”

Yan Sui didn’t want to continue the topic. “Okay, tell me, how did the first playthrough of this world end?”

Lu Shutian sat up and leaned back on the sofa lazily. She raised her hand toward the glass window. The golden sunlight shone on her face through her fingers, and her originally dark pupils were also tinged with a golden halo.

“I discovered that I was the protagonist of this world, so the world began to collapse, and then it ended.”

Yan Sui also sat up and rubbed her temples. “You’re being too brief.”

Lu Shutian put down her hand and closed her eyes. “I can tell you the detailed version, but it’ll cost you extra.”

Yan Sui rubbed her temples. “How much? I’ll transfer it to you when I get back.”

Lu Shutian poked her own cheek. “A kiss. Jiejie’s kiss is worth a fortune.”

Yan Sui was shocked, Yan Sui was helpless, Yan Sui was numb, Yan Sui conceded.

These four emotions transitioned smoothly. She leaned over and kissed the other person’s cheek.

Only then did Lu Shutian speak with satisfaction. “Actually, in the first playthrough, I noticed something was off from a young age. No matter what I said or did, I was always unconditionally liked by everyone around me.”

Because you’re the female protagonist of this world, and you have the protagonist’s halo. It’s normal for that to happen.

Yan Sui thought to herself and didn’t speak.

“But over time, I became very lonely,” Lu Shutian’s tone shifted.

“At that time, although I didn’t know I was the protagonist, I knew that the reason these people liked me and affirmed me wasn’t because they truly liked me, but because of some kind of setting or ability I had that made them like me.”

“It was like I had a superpower. I just had to snap my fingers, and everyone would flock to me, expressing their affirmation and love.”

Lu Shutian looked at Yan Sui. “Doesn’t Jiejie think that kind of life is wonderful?”

Yan Sui didn’t say anything.

Lu Shutian, who didn’t get a response, wasn’t annoyed. She continued on her own. “But this kind of love wasn’t real love. I was ‘loved’ by so many people, but not a single one truly liked or appreciated me.”

“At that time, I was probably the happiest person in the worldly sense, but also the loneliest.”

Lu Shutian shrugged. “To be honest, although living in that environment felt a little strange, you could get by. Until He Chenyu appeared.”

Yan Sui’s right eyelid twitched.

“Everyone said that he and I were a perfect match and that I had to be with him.”

Lu Shutian’s tone became colder and colder. “However, there were two reasons why I could absolutely not accept him. First, he was indeed unlike others; he didn’t unconditionally like me, but he had ulterior motives for me. As for the second reason…”

Lu Shutian smiled. She suddenly wrapped her arms around Yan Sui’s waist. After the other person bumped into her arms, her smile became more and more obvious.

“At that time, I had already realized that I was the female protagonist of this world, and He Chenyu was the male protagonist of this world. No matter if it was a novel or a fairy tale, the princess and the prince were always supposed to end up together—”

“But Jiejie, I don’t like men at all.”

Yan Sui was speechless and didn’t know what to say.

Lu Shutian tilted her head and affectionately rubbed her cheek against Yan Sui’s thin shoulder. “So, the world’s will, or you could say Heaven’s Way, started to punish me. It forced me to be with He Chenyu. If I didn’t comply, there would be a punishment.”

Yan Sui’s voice tightened. “So that’s where the scar on your chest came from?”

Lu Shutian shook her head. “No, that scar is because I killed He Chenyu.”

?!

It took Yan Sui a while to find her voice. “The way you solve problems is really…”

Lu Shutian’s tone was dismissive. “When a protagonist of this world dies, the world naturally collapses. To compensate me, Heaven’s Way said it would find someone to save this world, and this person was someone it let me choose myself.”

Yan Sui’s voice was hesitant. “The person you chose was me?”

“Of course, Jiejie,” Lu Shutian’s tone carried a sense of nostalgia that she didn’t even know why she had. “You were the one I chose from thousands of souls.”

“After that, the world restarted, and I was probably dormant for a while? I can’t remember. Anyway, after that, the second playthrough of the world began.”

Yan Sui pursed her lips and fell into deep thought, staring at the calluses on her right fingertip.

“So, for this world not to collapse, you and He Chenyu can’t have anything happen to you,” Yan Sui said after a long time.

Lu Shutian denied it. “I can’t coexist with him. Either he dies, or I perish.”

Then what was the point of restarting the world?

Sensing what Yan Sui was thinking, Lu Shutian stroked the ends of her hair. “So I’ve been thinking of other ways. I was originally waiting for you. Waiting for you to come to this world and fight alongside me so we could deal with that despicable man together. But…”

“But my rescue target is neither this world nor you,” Yan Sui’s tone was emotionless.

Lu Shutian hummed. “So Heaven’s Way lied to me again. It’s a liar.”

Yan Sui didn’t immediately agree. She felt there were too many suspicious points.

“Jiejie, I’ve told you everything I know,” Lu Shutian started to act playful again. “Am I not a good girl?”

Yan Sui was immune to her playful attacks. “Don’t attack He Chenyu rashly. Let’s think of a good solution for this. We’ll take our time. There’s no rush.”

Lu Shutian turned a deaf ear. “Jiejie, we’re meant to be together.”

Seeing that Lu Shutian was once again being unreasonable, Yan Sui sighed. “Okay, the next time you feel unwell because of that scar, give me a call.”

Lu Shutian’s eyes lit up. “Jiejie, will you come find me?”

Then she turned her head away, and her voice became rough. “Forget it. Anyway, your rescue target is just Jian Liyun. It has nothing to do with you even if I die from the pain.”

“Don’t think that way…” Yan Sui was helpless.

Lu Shutian finally deflated. “It’s fine if you want to save her first. You’ll end up with me anyway. But Jiejie’s companionship seems to really work. After you helped me up yesterday, I really didn’t feel so bad.”

Yan Sui subtly changed the subject. “Okay, since we’ve cleared things up, I should go back and rest.”

Lu Shutian let out a coy hum. “Jiejie is always like this, using me and then leaving heartlessly.”

Yan Sui didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “How did I… okay, I really have to go back.”

Lu Shutian clung to her like an octopus. “Don’t go, Jiejie. Stay with me a little longer.”

Yan Sui’s tone was flat. “Okay, but tell me what Liyun’s ending was in the first playthrough.”

Lu Shutian fell silent.

She let go of Yan Sui and straightened her slightly messy clothes. “Jiejie, you can go now.”

Yan Sui stood up, her right hand held by the other person.

“Jiejie, you can pity her, but you can’t like her,” Lu Shutian said seriously.

Yan Sui didn’t respond.

Lu Shutian took the opportunity to kiss the back of Yan Sui’s hand, muttering something about how the one who wasn’t loved was the third party.

Yan Sui found it ridiculous. “Don’t say things like that.”

Lu Shutian was already lost in her own world and couldn’t be pulled out. “But this also feels a bit like having a secret affair, which is kind of exciting. I like that too.”

Knock, knock.

A knock sounded on the door. Lu Shutian scratched Yan Sui’s palm. “Go, Jiejie. Don’t forget the promise between us.”

Yan Sui wrapped her coat tightly and went to open the door.

Even without looking through the peephole, she knew who was standing outside.

Sure enough, Jian Liyun was standing outside, her lips pressed into a thin line. After seeing that the person who opened the door was Yan Sui, her tension instantly dissipated. “Suisui.”

Yan Sui patted her on the back. “We were talking about some file-related stuff, so it took a while. Sorry.”

Jian Liyun took Yan Sui’s hand and led her back to her own home. “You don’t have to apologize for something like this. Do you want to rest a little longer? I’ve turned up the air conditioner in the master bedroom, so it should be warmer for you to sleep.”

Yan Sui was actually a little tired.

She hesitated for a few seconds. “No. Before we head to the recording, I’ll teach you a little more about Go.”

Jian Liyun frowned. “But you’re very tired.”

Yan Sui comforted her. “It’s fine. I won’t have anything to do when you’re recording the show in the afternoon anyway. I can just sleep in the waiting room then.”

The two of them went to the study. Jian Liyun looked at the chessboard full of pieces and suddenly spoke. “What were you two… talking about?”

Yan Sui looked at Jian Liyun’s flawless face and called out to the system in her mind. “System, can you talk now?”

When she was talking to Lu Shutian earlier, the system hadn’t said a word. Yan Sui guessed that it had most likely been muted again.

[I’m here, Host. I was suffocating earlier, boohoo. Why are you still helping the female lead? She doesn’t even know that you bore the damage for her yesterday. I told you, in your current state, you can only help her three more times at most.]

“I have three more times. That’s a lot,” Yan Sui replied in her mind. “Now, show me Jian Liyun’s current ending trajectory.”

A black sphere that only Yan Sui could see appeared above Jian Liyun’s head.

Yan Sui lowered her eyes. It seemed that Jian Liyun’s current ending trajectory was still destruction.

Seeing that Yan Sui was just staring at her and not saying anything, the unease in Jian Liyun’s heart grew stronger. She was the first to give in. “If you don’t want to talk about it, Suisui, it’s fine.”

Yan Sui took a deep breath. “I’ll tell you later. Liyun, under what circumstances do you think you would be happy?”

Not just feeling happy, but also being happy enough to have a firm desire to live.

Jian Liyun opened the Go container and casually picked up a white piece. “Being able to do what I love and be with the person I love.”

“Oh,” Yan Sui responded softly, then asked a more pointed question. “Then under what circumstances would you be so desperate that you’d want to die?”

Jian Liyun’s actions paused.

“When I’ve lost all hope, I might want to use death as a release,” her answer was airtight.

Yan Sui picked up the pieces on the board one by one and put them back in the container. “Be more specific. For example, a career setback?”

Jian Liyun thought about it. “I might indeed be a little sad about a career setback, but not enough to seek death. If it really got to that desperate point, it would probably be because I couldn’t keep what I wanted to keep, and I lost the motivation to live.”

In the blink of an eye, Yan Sui made up her mind.

She methodically set up a Go game. “Liyun, use the methods I taught you to try and break this formation. I’ll give you half an hour.”

After saying that, she no longer looked at Jian Liyun’s expression and stood up and left the study.

“System.”

Yan Sui’s call in her mind was immediately answered. “Host, I’m here.”

“As the male protagonist of this world, if something happens to He Chenyu, it will also cause the world to collapse, right?”

“Yes.”

Yan Sui looked at the fruit basket that Lu Shutian had sent not long ago with a blank expression. “I think I understand why you wanted me to save the supporting female lead and not the female lead.”

“So why is that, Host?”

Yan Sui didn’t answer the system’s question but called out again in her mind. “That system that activated the True Vision for me, are you there now?”

There was no response.

Yan Sui sneered. “If you don’t appear, I’ll go tell the female protagonist, Lu Shutian, that after her first playthrough of the world ended, she came to my world and with me…”

“Hello, transmigrator Yan Sui, I am here. To differentiate me from that low-level system, you can call me .001.”

The system that was hit for no reason: ?

“.001,” Yan Sui squeezed her fingers. “What was the purpose of you activating the True Vision for me twice?”

“You need to use this ability to see the truth of this world.”

Yan Sui laughed sarcastically. “The truth? From the moment I came into contact with this world, everything has been a lie. And the truth you’ve shown me is only the truth you want me to see, not the real truth.”

System: That’s a deep conversation. I don’t get it. I’m going offline for now.

“That is not the case.”

Yan Sui casually picked up an apple and started to peel it. Her technique wasn’t very good. The apple peel broke just a few centimeters in.

“In the first playthrough, the female protagonist killed the male protagonist, so this world collapsed. Now it’s the second playthrough. To prevent the world from collapsing, the most urgent task is to stop the female protagonist from having that thought again.”

“But you wanted me to save the seemingly unrelated supporting female lead.”

Yan Sui finally finished peeling the apple with some difficulty. She slightly adjusted her grip on the fruit knife and started to cut it into pieces.

“With my help, the supporting female lead can be used to check both the female protagonist and the male protagonist, preventing the world from collapsing. That was your original plan, right? But—”

“You didn’t expect that even in the second playthrough, the female protagonist would still have the memories of the first playthrough.”

Yan Sui cut the apple and said bluntly, “From the moment I started talking about the female protagonist’s first playthrough, you should have completely muted my system, right? It can’t know the truth of this world either.”

“Transmigrator Yan Sui, you are indeed very smart.”

Yan Sui gave a fake smile. “A lot of things aren’t hard to guess. Even if I don’t know the specific truth, the existing facts are enough for me to make a guess.”

She took a deep breath. “Whether it’s Jian Liyun or Lu Shutian. They will have good lives, and they will never be tools to support the existence of this world. They are free.”

“.001, I’ll make a deal with you.”

“…You can speak.”

“Regardless, your ultimate goal is just to have this world run smoothly. So, I want you to modify the rules of this world—”

Yan Sui thought for a moment. Lily seemed to have told her a more professional term.

“Or the world’s laws.”

“What do you want to modify?”

“Allow the male protagonist of this world to be eliminated.”

.001 was not surprised. In fact, Yan Sui even heard a hint of pleasure in its cold electronic voice.

“Transmigrator Yan Sui, if the male protagonist is eliminated, the world will collapse.”

Yan Sui didn’t care. “Because the male protagonist’s ‘weight’ is very heavy to the world. But what if someone has the same weight as him, or even more?”

“If this world must have two protagonists to be supported, then I will make the supporting female lead a protagonist of this world as well.”

“Transmigrator Yan Sui, your idea is too bold.”

“But it’s feasible, isn’t it?” Yan Sui was very confident.

“It is. But you cannot use any method of actively harming the other party, such as assassination, poisoning, or setting traps, to eliminate the male protagonist. The male protagonist must walk toward his own destruction.”

A very harsh condition.

But Yan Sui agreed. “I can do that.”

“Transmigrator Yan Sui, I must warn you: The elimination of the male protagonist is extremely risky. In the end, you may fail. If that happens, you won’t be able to return to your original world, you won’t hear that sentence, and you will even disappear and perish from this world.”

“I understand.”

Yan Sui agreed and carried the fruit plate to the study.

“Liyun,” she said softly. “Have you figured it out? It’s okay if you haven’t. Have some fruit first.”

Jian Liyun saw the apple that had been poorly peeled and couldn’t help but laugh. “Suisui, let me peel the apples next time.”

She placed a piece on the board, then slightly opened her lips. “Suisui, feed me.”

Yan Sui put a relatively nice-looking piece of apple into her mouth and then looked at the white piece Jian Liyun had placed.

“What you put down is correct,” Yan Sui put down the fruit plate and then picked up a white piece and placed it elsewhere. “But look, wouldn’t it be better here?”

Jian Liyun chewed on the crisp and sweet apple. “…Yes.”

Yan Sui could see her dejection. She softened her tone. “Liyun, the place you put it was also very good. Many people say that in Go, one wrong move leads to a chain of wrong moves. But that’s not true. Go is like life. There are no absolute right choices, and as long as you want to, there’s always a chance to turn the game around.”

Jian Liyun’s eyes brightened.

She looked at Yan Sui. “Then stay with me forever, okay, Suisui?”

Yan Sui avoided her gaze. “Liyun, nothing is forever. It’s enough for us to live well in the present.”

Yan Sui changed the position of a few pieces and said, “This is the second game of Go. Imagine where the next white piece should be placed. After we finish this game, we’ll rest.”

“Host!”

The system’s voice was heartbreaking. “What happened just now?! This time I wasn’t just muted. I was suddenly unable to stay by your side and was sent directly to a little dark room QAQ”

Yan Sui’s mouth twitched. “System, how many times do I have to tell you to speak a little softer when you’re in my head?”

“I’m sorry, Host, boohoo. I was just too anxious. That stinky .001 system didn’t do anything to you, did it?”

“I’m fine,” Yan Sui replied to the system while looking at Jian Liyun, who was thinking seriously.

She asked in her mind, “System, if I fail my mission, will you be punished?”

She could put herself in the game, and she could sacrifice herself, but she didn’t want anyone else to be implicated because of it—

Not even the system, which couldn’t even be called a person.