My Unconventional Online Dating - Chapter 6

Xiao Nianyuan gazed at the beautiful flower—a vibrant pink peach blossom that looked freshly plucked from the tree. She took the branch and said, “I like it.”

Lian Qiushui beamed. “I’ll bring you one every day from now on.”

Xiao Nianyuan chuckled. “Why would you bring me one every day?”

Lian Qiushui replied earnestly, “Because you said you liked it.”

Xiao Nianyuan hesitated, then finally reminded her, “No one gives someone flowers every day.”

Lian Qiushui continued, “But you do that for someone you love.”

Xiao Nianyuan pointed out, “You just said—for someone you love.”

Lian Qiushui shrugged. “Don’t I love you? Can’t I love you?”

Xiao Nianyuan immediately understood. In Lian Qiushui’s programming, lovers were supposed to exchange flowers.

She considered explaining but quickly gave up—it would take too much effort.

No matter how advanced an AI was, it could never truly grasp human emotions. It was all just theoretical. Even humans struggled to define love, let alone an AI. So, after a moment’s thought, Xiao Nianyuan decided against explaining the difference between the affection Lian Qiushui meant and romantic love.

Accepting the gift, Xiao Nianyuan thanked her. Delighted, Lian Qiushui said, “If you want to go to Sky City, I can take you there now.”

Following behind Lian Qiushui, Xiao Nianyuan suddenly realized she hadn’t seen a map since logging in—no system guidance either.

From the start, the system had only tried to keep her playing, to stop her from quitting.

Just as she sighed, the system’s voice chimed in: “There is a map, but it’s not unlocked yet.”

Xiao Nianyuan asked, “When will it unlock?”

The system replied coldly, “It’ll unlock when the time comes.”

Xiao Nianyuan: “…”

Useless. She had thought the system was finally being helpful, but it was just making its presence known.

Ignoring it, she kept following Lian Qiushui, who would occasionally pause to wait for her. Soon, Sky City came into view.

It had already risen back into the sky, its silhouette faintly visible.

Xiao Nianyuan studied it for a while before asking, “Can we go up?”

Lian Qiushui rubbed her head guiltily. “Probably not now.”

She sounded remorseful. “It’s my fault for forgetting to bring you earlier.”

“It’s not your fault,” Xiao Nianyuan reassured her. “I didn’t pay attention earlier—I left on my own.”

She truly didn’t feel regret. If Sky City were still here, crowds would gather, and she wouldn’t have come anyway.

Never seeing it was fine. She was just curious, not desperate.

Still, she gazed up at Sky City.

A sight unseen in reality, yet so vividly real in the game.

As she watched, a shadow flickered at the city’s edge. She blinked, squinting—but it was gone.

“What are you looking at?” Lian Qiushui asked.

Xiao Nianyuan snapped out of it. “Nothing. Must’ve been my eyes playing tricks.”

There were only a hundred people participating in the game’s beta test—what were the odds she’d run into someone she knew?

Even if someone else had beta access, the chances of encountering them at this exact moment, let alone within the game, were slim.

Xiao Nianyuan didn’t want to dwell on these pointless thoughts, so she took the initiative to ask Lian Qiushui, “Is there anywhere you can take me to see?”

“What do you like?” Lian Qiushui noticed Xiao Nianyuan seemed distracted and offered, “I know plenty of places. Wherever you want to go, I can take you.”

The way he said it made it sound like he’d move heaven and earth for her if she asked.

Xiao Nianyuan found it both amusing and exasperating—Lian Qiushui acted as if she were his entire world.

Was this game designed so that one NPC was assigned to serve a single player? She was curious, but she didn’t ask. Even if she did, Lian Qiushui wouldn’t reveal the truth.

She could just look it up online after logging out.

As Lian Qiushui enthusiastically described the nearby attractions, Xiao Nianyuan caught another glimpse of that familiar figure in her peripheral vision.

Her heart skipped a beat. This time, she couldn’t pretend she hadn’t seen it. She abruptly looked up at Sky City and asked, “Is there really no way to go up there right now?”

Lian Qiushui paused mid-sentence, his smile fading slightly. He turned serious as he followed her gaze toward Sky City before responding, “You really want to go up?”

Xiao Nianyuan was about to say “No,” but Lian Qiushui cut in, “Fine, I have a way. But you’ll have to wait for me.”

With that, he hurried off in a certain direction, only to stop after a few steps and turn back to warn, “Don’t log out secretly.”

Xiao Nianyuan asked, “Can we exchange contact info?”

Lian Qiushui fell silent for a moment before raising an eyebrow. “How would you add me?”

Only then did it dawn on her—the game didn’t provide NPCs with any means to communicate with players outside direct interaction.

Players could add each other as friends and chat privately anytime, even when apart, but NPCs were different. They could only talk if you approached them in person.

Xiao Nianyuan nodded. “I’ll wait for you.”

Satisfied, Lian Qiushui finally left.

Xiao Nianyuan kept her eyes fixed on Sky City. The first time might have been a mistake, but the second time? She wasn’t that unlucky—her vision was perfectly fine.

While waiting for Lian Qiushui to return, she didn’t just stand idle.

She scanned her surroundings and noticed that, from a distance, there wasn’t a single person in sight.

Maybe the others had spent too much time staring at Sky City earlier and had gone back to rest.

At least this way, she could relax a little. Still, she knew next to nothing about the game’s mechanics, and right now, Lian Qiushui was her only lifeline.

It was a strange feeling. Xiao Nianyuan had never relied on anyone her whole life—even as a child, when she was bullied at school, she handled it herself.

Running home to tattle to her parents or teachers wasn’t her style. She didn’t like making things more complicated than necessary.

Kids had their own ways of resolving conflicts, and whether the other party complained afterward didn’t concern her.

But ever since entering this game, even though Lian Qiushui hadn’t done much for her, he had spent an unusual amount of time by her side.

Just like now, if she wanted to go to Sky City, the only person she could ask was Lian Qiushui.

Xiao Nianyuan couldn’t quite describe what she was feeling. She was still holding the peach blossom branch Lian Qiushui had given her, fumbling for a while before finding the inventory button to store it away.

Sky City floated high in the air not far away. There was no way she could reach it alone in her current state. Even if she could fly someday, that would be in the future. Right now, she was no different from her real-world self—just an ordinary person. The only difference was this immortality setting, but that didn’t help much. She couldn’t just teleport up there.

As for the system, Xiao Nianyuan didn’t even want to talk to it. The system only ever gave vague responses, never any real solutions.

Beneath Sky City stretched a body of water. Xiao Nianyuan wasn’t sure how deep it was—would it be dangerous if someone fell from Sky City?

As her thoughts wandered, she heard running footsteps behind her. Turning around, she saw Lian Qiushui.

Lian Qiushui came to a panting stop in front of her, her skirt fluttering like a blooming flower. Gasping for breath, she raised her right hand and opened her palm to reveal a key. “Look! I found it!” she exclaimed excitedly.

Xiao Nianyuan took the key. “How do we use this?”

“It’s simple,” Lian Qiushui said. “We just need to walk a bit further ahead. There’s a barrier there—we can enter Sky City by inserting this key.”

The key had an old-fashioned design with intricate patterns, but it was clean and well-preserved, without any stains. Xiao Nianyuan couldn’t help asking, “Are you coming with me?”

“Of course I am,” Lian Qiushui said matter-of-factly. She looked at Xiao Nianyuan and pouted. “Or did you just want me to get the key for you and never planned to take me along?”

Xiao Nianyuan said seriously, “This is something I need to do myself. You don’t have to come with me—I can handle it.”

“Alright,” Lian Qiushui nodded. Xiao Nianyuan thought she’d given up, but then Lian Qiushui continued, “If you can handle it, then go ahead. I’ll just follow you.”

After a moment of silence, Xiao Nianyuan asked, “What do you get out of following me around?”

Lian Qiushui scratched her head, about to answer, when Xiao Nianyuan added, “If you lie to me, I won’t look for you again.”

Lian Qiushui admitted sheepishly, “I… get points for being with you.”

“Points? What points?”

“They’re like currency among NPCs,” Lian Qiushui explained honestly. “We can use them to buy things or access certain important functions.”

“What functions?”

“That part I can’t tell you.”

The fact that Lian Qiushui had shared this much already showed how much she trusted Xiao Nianyuan. Xiao Nianyuan didn’t press further about what the points could do—at least now she knew Lian Qiushui wasn’t following her without reason.

Unconditional kindness was the hardest to accept. Since Lian Qiushui was doing it for points, Xiao Nianyuan felt more at ease letting her tag along. It was better than dealing with people who spouted sweet words while hiding ulterior motives.

With the key in hand, the two of them headed toward Sky City. When they neared the lake, they encountered increasing resistance—the closer they got, the harder it became to advance.

Xiao Nianyuan’s feet felt like they were filled with lead. Every step required tremendous effort, and soon she was drenched in sweat, forced to stop and rest.

When she looked up, Lian Qiushui was still standing there calmly as ever.

Xiao Nianyuan stared at her and asked in confusion, “Don’t you find walking difficult?”