My Unconventional Online Dating - Chapter 7

Lian Qiushui paused for a moment, then immediately put on a pained expression and said, “Yes, there is.”

Xiao Nianyuan: “…”

Before she mentioned it, Lian Qiushui had seemed perfectly relaxed. The moment she brought it up, Lian Qiushui pretended it was difficult—clearly acting this way because of her words.

Under Xiao Nianyuan’s gaze, Lian Qiushui whispered, “It’s not my fault. Sometimes it just happens.”

Xiao Nianyuan assumed it was due to the NPC’s program occasionally failing to load properly, lacking awareness of the environment, which explained why retrieving the key had seemed exhausting before but now felt effortless.

Such bugs were fairly common in games, especially with AI-driven NPCs. Compared to NPCs that only followed scripted dialogues, Lian Qiushui was already quite advanced.

Xiao Nianyuan reached out to touch the invisible barrier—the boundary Lian Qiushui had mentioned.

She took out the key, but before she could do anything, it seemed drawn by some unseen force, floating forward on its own.

As the key merged into the boundary, the weight on her body suddenly vanished, and the barrier dissipated.

She tentatively stepped forward, and sure enough, there was no further obstruction.

As she walked, she kept an eye on her surroundings and realized she was nearing the base of Sky City, with the lake not far ahead.

Puzzled, she glanced at Lian Qiushui, who said with a straight face, “Don’t rush. You’ll understand after walking a bit more.”

Though doubtful, Xiao Nianyuan followed her.

After walking for a long time with no change in the surroundings, she was about to step into the lake when she had to stop and ask tactfully, “Are you sure you didn’t misremember?”

Lian Qiushui frowned. “Maybe we can’t enter yet.”

Xiao Nianyuan eyed her suspiciously. Earlier, Lian Qiushui had claimed she would find a way to take her inside, but now she was backtracking.

Lian Qiushui explained, “We can enter, but we need permission from Sky City’s owner.”

Xiao Nianyuan was surprised. “Sky City has an owner?”

Lian Qiushui nodded. “Of course. Everything in this world has an owner. So you need to be careful and stay close to me.”

At first, Xiao Nianyuan was inclined to believe her, but the latter half of Lian Qiushui’s words made her wary, her face openly distrustful.

Lian Qiushui sighed. “Trust me, I wouldn’t lie to you.”

She hesitated, then added, “Even if I do sometimes, it wouldn’t affect our bond, right?”

She looked at Xiao Nianyuan uncertainly, her eyes tinged with unease.

Xiao Nianyuan was momentarily speechless, unsure whether to be honest or just humor her.

For an NPC, Lian Qiushui felt more vivid than a real person, even her nervousness coming across as genuine.

Aside from that minor bug earlier, Xiao Nianyuan couldn’t find anything unnatural about her.

She considered telling Lian Qiushui that she was entering to find someone and might log off at any moment.

After all, as a player, she could log out whenever she wanted, and the system had never stopped her.

But Lian Qiushui was an NPC. If she suddenly logged off, what would happen to Lian Qiushui alone in Sky City? The game might be lenient with players, but not necessarily with NPCs.

Unless it was a main storyline NPC—thinking of the main quest, Xiao Nianyuan suddenly realized she hadn’t encountered it yet and asked, “Are there any mandatory quests?”

Lian Qiushui looked at her in confusion.

Xiao Nianyuan clarified, “The main quest. Doesn’t this game have one?”

Lian Qiushui answered uncertainly, “There is, but not here. The main storyline hasn’t been unlocked yet.”

Xiao Nianyuan was at a loss for words. With a sigh, she accepted the game’s beta setting where the main quest remained unavailable.

A well-made game could retain players even without its main storyline—most were probably looking forward to it anyway.

“Alright, I can go in by myself.”

Before Xiao Nianyuan could finish speaking, she suddenly felt her body lighten as a flash of white light filled her vision.

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself inside a small room—clearly, she had entered Sky City.

She glanced around and noticed a window nearby. Walking over, she pushed it open.

Outside stretched an endless expanse of blue skies and white clouds, but Lian Qiushui was nowhere to be seen.

After waiting a while and confirming he wouldn’t appear, she finally stepped outside.

Opening the door, she found herself on a clean, orderly street. The architecture resembled ancient buildings she’d seen on TV, yet everything was immaculate—almost ethereal, like a fairyland.

Except the street was completely empty. Beyond the residential houses, further ahead lay only various shops and meticulously maintained flowers and plants.

Puzzled, Xiao Nianyuan pressed on, hoping to find that familiar figure.

As she walked, she memorized the surroundings.

Though Sky City was beautiful, its streets were nearly identical—easy to get lost in if one wasn’t careful.

After a while, she spotted a pool. Just as she was about to walk past it, she heard a “plop,” as if someone had tossed something into the water.

Alert, she scanned the area but saw no one.

Approaching the pool, she noticed the water hadn’t fully settled, ripples still spreading—proof the sound hadn’t been her imagination.

As she wondered whether this was friend or foe, the water suddenly surged into a towering column, taller than a person, and lunged at her.

Struggling, she grabbed onto a pillar to steady herself, but the force of the water was overwhelming. She was dragged into the pool.

The water was shallow, only reaching her knees, yet the column seemed alive—pulling her in before receding quietly, as if playing a prank.

Xiao Nianyuan: “…”

“Who’s there?” she whispered.

Her voice echoed through the empty street, as if countless unseen figures were mimicking her from the shadows.

Her heart tightened—this was no ordinary situation.

Just then, the system suddenly popped up: “We recommend returning after leveling up.”