Chapter 43

Bai Xingmiao hadn't logged into the game in a while either—midterms and all. When he finally opened it, a flood of messages inundated his screen.

His teammates were used to his coming and going like a ghost, but Ruan Ning's prolonged absence had them in a tizzy, chattering endlessly about why she'd dropped off the face of the earth.

【Well, I'll be damned. First time I've seen 0CeT online without Lemon.】

【What's going on? Where'd Lemon go? She doesn't even want her beloved 0CeT anymore?】

Everyone expressed their profound sorrow over Ruan Ning's disappearance.

【How are we supposed to form a raid group without Lemon? Where else are we gonna find a brick that's this sturdy, this durable, and this willing to do all the grunt work? (collapses.jpg)】

Sure, Bai Xingmiao would still carry them, but his natural aloofness kept everyone at arm's length with a layer of reverence.

In private, the group all preferred playing with Ruan Ning—she was skilled, good-tempered, and never looked down on them.

In the past, whenever Bai Xingmiao logged on, all he had to do was @ Ruan Ning and she'd be online within minutes, bounding over like a little puppy wagging its tail with a cheerful entrance: 【Boss, you start a raid and I'm there in a flash!】

Sometimes Ruan Ning didn't really want to get online, but everyone would use Bai Xingmiao as bait to lure her out. No matter how late it got, it worked every time.

Once they caught on to this subtle dynamic, they never missed a chance to tease Ruan Ning about it.

【Lemon, are you trying to chase after 0CeT?】

Ruan Ning rarely said much, usually just silently racking up kills in the group, but at times like this she showed a rare lively side.

【Yeah, and none of you are allowed to fight me for him.】

The group's #1 beauty had just admitted it out loud, and the chat room exploded like a pot boiling over—wave after wave of whooping and hollering, people playing matchmaker on the spot.

【Lemon, come over here, I'm giving up my spot next to the boss for you.】

【No way, Lemon, what do you even see in 0CeT? Aren't you afraid he's too cold and hard to chew?】

【Too bad you can't get married in Certain Death. With Lemon's persistence, though, 0CeT might actually get worn down and eaten.】

Gradually, shipping Ruan Ning and Bai Xingmiao became a fixture in the chat. Whenever the two were online at the same time, someone would ask.

【Lemon, did you manage to win over 0CeT today?】

【Not yet. The boss thinks I haven't been trying hard enough. (shrugs.jpg)】

Bai Xingmiao was used to their loose talk. From start to finish, he stayed like an outsider looking in, never saying a word.

Ruan Ning might talk big in the group chat, but in private she was strictly proper and never dared to bother him.

To outsiders, the two seemed familiar enough to have filed marriage certificates, when in reality they were total strangers—hadn't even had a real conversation.

Today, after Bai Xingmiao logged on and played a few rounds as usual, Ruan Ning's avatar was still gray. He suddenly felt a little out of sorts.

It wasn't that he was used to having a capable teammate around and now felt her absence—it was that people had stopped their silly matchmaking and turned to wailing sympathetically at him instead.

【Lemon's probably got a boyfriend now, too busy with dates to play games.】

【No kidding, with looks like that, it'd be hard for her NOT to have a boyfriend.】

In the chat, everyone was rambling about this and that. Bai Xingmiao habitually ignored them, but the gossip got so heartfelt and intense that people started @-ing him one after another like a relay race.

【@ 0CeT, Boss, you drove another one away.】

【Boss, why don't you actually try to keep her around for once?】

【Always acting like an iceberg—sooner or later, no one's gonna put up with it.】

【What a great Lemon—she carried me all the way up to Grandmaster. If you're gone, what happens to my points?】

【Lemon~ return to us~ Lemon~ return to us~】

Someone even photoshopped a marriage certificate for Bai Xingmiao and Ruan Ning, @-ing both @ 0CeT and @ Fiery Lemon.

【Lemon, I've already photoshopped the marriage certificate you wanted. Come back and take a look.】

Bai Xingmiao clicked the shortcut to mute the @ notifications, but his finger slipped and he accidentally tapped into Ruan Ning's personal page.

Bai Xingmiao furrowed his brow slightly. He never visited anyone's personal page. He should have closed it with a click, but the page lingered on his screen, refusing to be dismissed.

The page owner had a profile picture good enough to be an influencer, but the page itself was as simple and low-key as she was. No personal photos—just a few shots of evening glow she'd snapped on the way back from evening study sessions.

Bai Xingmiao's gaze darkened slightly. From his limited interactions, she was an unremarkable girl in every way—ordinary to the point of being invisible. He really couldn't figure out why Jiang Yihao and Bu Chen would come to blows over her.

Bu Chen and Jiang Yihao had never once argued over anything since childhood. She was the sole exception.

Not only had Jiang Yihao taken time during the break of his first match to look after her, Bu Chen had been willing to shoulder the label of an unfaithful brother just to pursue her.

Bai Xingmiao's brows knitted on their own as he made to close the page, but suddenly the owner's black-and-white avatar flickered to color.

Bai Xingmiao's index finger tapped lightly, a hint of displeasure creeping into his eyes—like a peeping tom caught red-handed by the owner.

The other person didn't notice his discomfort and pressed her advantage, sending a message box right away.

【0CeT, can I ask you a question?】

Bai Xingmiao asked: 【What is it?】

Ruan Ning, staring at the screen, saw Bai Xingmiao's three-character reply appear almost instantly, and the breath she'd been holding finally released.

After returning home, Ruan Ning hadn't stayed in the city at all—she'd gone straight to her grandparents' place in the countryside to clear her head.

Iya had a routine midterm break, a good two weeks or more. Ruan Ning said she wanted to go somewhere quiet in the countryside to get some fresh air. Seeing their daughter was fine, the Ruan parents let her go—they stayed in the city to watch the games.

In the countryside, Ruan Ning cut off all electronics and contact with anyone, spending her days walking through the mountains and fields. The chaos in her heart finally began to settle, except for one thing that kept nagging at her, keeping her up at night, tossing and turning.

That thing was Bai Xingmiao's reward.

She still didn't understand what Bai Xingmiao had meant, or whether she should take it at all, and so quickly end all the missions and get away from all the male leads.

She'd spent days in the mountains thinking it over, then one night, at some ungodly hour, she woke with a start and, possessed by some madness, decided to just ask Bai Xingmiao directly.

She edited and re-edited her phrasing in her notes app over and over again as time trickled by, from pitch-black outside her window to the village roosters crowing at dawn. She nearly gave up several times.

Maybe she should just let it go—what if Bai Xingmiao got annoyed and never spoke to her again?

But the moment she put her phone down, the boulder hanging over her head pressed down on her chest again until she couldn't breathe.

Frustrated, she plucked a wildflower from by the door and started tearing off petals one by one. "Go... don't go... go... don't go..."

When she reached the last petal, which said "go," Ruan Ning's recklessness surged up. She held her breath and headed straight for the game group, ignoring the tidal wave of @ notifications, and went directly to Bai Xingmiao.

【Boss, if I have a box right now, but I don't know what's inside it, do you think I should open it?】

After sending, she let out a long breath, slapped her phone face-down, and didn't dare look—her heart pounding faster and faster.

Bai Xingmiao studied the message Ruan Ning had sent out of nowhere, pondering for a moment.

【What box?】

The reply came back almost instantly, with a hint of urgency and panic barely concealed: 【I don't know what kind of box it is either. My gut tells me it might be Pandora's box.】

Ruan Ning sent a pouting emoji, looking deeply beleaguered.

【If you know it's Pandora's box, why open it?】

Bai Xingmiao typed calmly.

【......】

【It's hard to explain. If I don't make a decision in time, I'll have to pay a huge price.】

【Um, you're really good at gaming, so you must be smart. I wanted to hear your opinion.】

【Circumstances are forcing me to open it, but I'm worried that once I do, things will spiral out of control. What would you do if you were me?】

Bai Xingmiao looked at the screen quietly. She'd thrown the question he'd given her right back at him, unchanged.

He replied without emotion: 【Pandora's curse isn't inside the box. It's outside it.】

Ruan Ning sent a scratching-head emoji: 【Boss, what does that mean?】

Bai Xingmiao: 【Sometimes, doing nothing is enough.】

The other person sounded skeptical: 【Are you saying I don't need to do anything, just wait for the box to open itself?】

Bai Xingmiao sent a circle.

The other person repeated it in disbelief: 【But this box was really hard to get. Are you saying I should just give up and never open it?】

Bai Xingmiao's expression grew faint and withdrawn, and he said no more.

People thought Bai Xingmiao was cold and untouchable, but in truth, he was open and fearless—answering any question put to him.

When others asked him things, he always spoke plainly and directly, regardless of whose side it favored.

Since Ruan Ning had dared to come and ask, he naturally answered honestly.

It was just that there were too many clever fools in the world who didn't believe what he said, and he couldn't be bothered to explain.

Once, someone heard he'd made dozens of times his money on his fund and came running to ask which stocks to buy. He pointed out a few companies on the brink of bankruptcy. The guy cursed him out and stormed off.

A while later, those companies turned around and their stock prices skyrocketed. The guy who'd missed the bottom-knifing opportunity regretted it bitterly, came crying to him, and begged for his advice again.

Bai Xingmiao walked right past the man without a glance.

He was just a spectator to the human world. He observed, he recorded, he took in the myriad spectacles of human life, probing the underlying rules of how things ran.

If someone asked about the mystery, he'd answer in passing, but he never held any intention of saving anything.

Because nothing had anything to do with him.

Besides, the viciousness and ugliness of human nature weren't worth saving.

The conversation went quiet for a moment. Ruan Ning's heart twisted with the urge to cry, but she didn't dare ask directly what he meant.

Bai Xingmiao's reward was like a tempting fruit. If she plucked it, in theory, she could retire victorious. But the closer people got to the finish line, the less courage they had to take that last step.

It was like the moment you hand in an exam paper—you're always terrified there's an unnoticed mistake on it, and once you hand it in, it decides life or death.

She could feel Bai Xingmiao cooling off as she kept double-checking. Though she still didn't understand why she should do it, she decided to listen to him anyway.

【Alright, I'll do what you say.】

Then she gathered her courage and asked again.

【Oh, and there's one more thing I wanted to ask you.】

【Next month is my birthday. Would you like to come celebrate with me?】