Seduced the Obsessive NPC and Ran - chapter 22

Yan Jinge stopped in his tracks. “Why are you here?”

Bai Cheng didn’t answer. He walked over to Yan Jinge’s side and stood still, hands in his pockets. He jerked his chin toward the police station on their right and asked, “How are things over there?”

Yan Jinge glanced at the elevator shoes on Bai Cheng’s feet and gave a brief summary. “Bai Wei confessed to everything.”

“Mm.”

Bai Cheng seemed lost in thought, his head tilted slightly as he stared blankly toward the police station.

Yan Jinge suddenly noticed a faint red mark near the hollow of Bai Cheng’s collarbone, peeking out from his collar. It wasn’t very obvious-the color was pale-but it seemed long, extending down beneath his clothes.

Yan Jinge reached out.

Bai Cheng startled, jerking back sharply to avoid Yan Jinge’s hand. He frowned and asked, “What are you doing?”

Yan Jinge pointed. “What’s that on your neck?”

Bai Cheng pursed his lips. “A mosquito bite.”

He raised a hand to adjust his collar, his long fingers loosely covering the area. He said to Yan Jinge, “The matter’s been resolved, and it’s late. You should head back.”

Seeing that Bai Cheng didn’t want to talk about it, Yan Jinge naturally didn’t push him. He gave a slight nod.

“By the way,”

Bai Cheng’s fingers were still pinching his collar as he said, “The product you made is excellent.”

“Is it? Did your secretary bring it to you?”

Yan Jinge’s eyes crinkled slightly as he teased, “So, President Bai, have you tried it? How does it feel?”

Bai Cheng: “…”

…Secretary?!

President Bai!!??

Yan Jinge had known he was Nirvana’s President Bai all along?

Having his secret identity ruthlessly stripped away in the middle of the night was something Bai Cheng hadn’t expected.

The two of them locked eyes.

For the first time, Bai Cheng avoided Yan Jinge’s gaze. Feigning composure, he asked, “When did you find out?”

Yan Jinge looked at Bai Cheng’s bright red ears and smiled. “I realized it when you tagged me on Weibo and used those puns. President Bai isn’t close to me; he wouldn’t have spoken up for me on Weibo under those circumstances. Then I connected it to how you always managed to run into me at the perfect time, plus the bits of information you accidentally let slip during our chats. It wasn’t hard to figure out.”

Bai Cheng: “…Oh.”

Bai Cheng stared down at the tips of his shoes.

The September weather was gradually turning cool. It was the middle of the night, and there was a bit of a chill in the air.

Seeing that it was late, Yan Jinge was about to suggest they leave together-after all, their homes were on the same route-when a system voice suddenly rang out in his mind: [Ding. System audit complete. Mr. Yan, you are about to leave this world and proceed to the Zone One waiting room. Please be prepared-5, 4, 3, 2, 1-]

Yan Jinge blinked softly.

There wasn’t time to say much. With only Bai Cheng by his side, Yan Jinge turned to him and said earnestly, “Goodbye.”

It was a goodbye to Bai Cheng, and a goodbye to this world.

Bai Cheng froze. For some reason, a sudden surge of fear and loss rose from the depths of his heart.

In the next second, as if to confirm his fears, Yan Jinge lowered his eyes. His body suddenly dissolved into countless fragments of light, coalescing before slowly drifting into the air and dissipating.

In just two seconds, the space in front of Bai Cheng was empty.

The world was hit with a pause button.

The street fell into total silence. The cars that should have been speeding by were all frozen in place, their drivers maintaining their driving postures. Not far away, a filthy stray cat was mid-stride, about to run across the road.

Bai Cheng was dazed. He stood there blankly for a long time before reaching out to pinch himself. A sharp pain shot to his brain, reminding him that this wasn’t a dream.

But…

Yan Jinge had vanished right before his eyes. A human being had suddenly turned into points of light and disappeared.

After an unknown amount of time, the sounds of the world gradually returned.

Cars began driving past one after another. That little calico stray lay silently in the middle of the road, its blood slowly seeping into the cracks in the asphalt.

Nearby, the Yan Family driver started the car, seemingly about to leave.

Bai Cheng suddenly lunged forward, blocking the vehicle.

The driver was startled and slammed on the brakes. Once the car came to a steady halt, he poked his head out the window, looked at Bai Cheng, and roared, “Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”
Bai Cheng turned a deaf ear, peering inside the car amidst the driver’s curses-no one was there.

“Where is Yan Jinge?”

Bai Cheng gripped the car window tightly.

The driver, however, looked at Bai Cheng as if he were a lunatic. “What are you talking about? Who’s Yan Jinge? This is bizarre. Move, or I’m calling the police.”

He didn’t say another word to Bai Cheng and simply drove away.

Bai Cheng took a half-step back, his expression dazed.

The Yan Family’s driver actually didn’t recognize Yan Jinge anymore?

Impossible-

Bai Cheng pulled out his phone and searched for Yan Jinge on Weibo, but the results that came up were not the man in his memory-the one whose face seemed cold, yet whose eyes held warmth when he looked at people.

“Impossible…”

Bai Cheng turned around and hurried into the police station. When he asked the officers about Yan Jinge, they looked at him with utter confusion. “Yan Jinge? Never heard of him…”

An officer walked over, paused when he saw Bai Cheng, and asked, “What’s going on with this guy? Is he here to report a crime?”

“No.”

The officer who had been questioned glanced at Bai Cheng’s expression and said in a low voice, “He’s here looking for someone. He suddenly came in asking if there was a person named Yan Jinge, even claiming that Yan Jinge had just walked out of here… Cough, look, if there’s no unusual situation, we only accept missing persons cases after twenty-four hours. Don’t worry yet. How long has this Yan Jinge been missing? How old is he? Maybe he just went out to have some fun and didn’t tell you.”

Bai Cheng took two steps back. “…Never mind. I must have seen wrong.”

…Yan Jinge had truly vanished.

He had vanished from this world.

In just a single second, everyone had forgotten Yan Jinge, yet the world continued to function normally. No one felt anything was wrong… They accepted everything by default, just as no one had found it problematic when Yan Jinge’s personality underwent a drastic change.

His heart began to race, thumping loudly in his chest.

As Bai Cheng walked out, his hand suddenly brushed against something hard. He froze, and as a thought occurred to him, he hurriedly reached into his pocket. When he pulled it out, it was indeed the phone Yan Jinge had his secretary give him.

He turned the phone on.

Countless points of light converged, looking remarkably similar to the scene of Yan Jinge’s disappearance.

A holographic city appeared before his eyes.

Bai Cheng’s fingers were nearly trembling as he tapped on the contacts.

The screen shifted, and at the very top, a single name appeared.

-Yan Jinge.

Bai Cheng murmured, “…So I’m not crazy.”

He suddenly began to laugh. “He is real… He existed. I’m not crazy. It’s not that I’ve lost my mind…”

Bai Cheng carefully tucked the phone away. Looking at his surroundings again, he felt as though a gaping, bloody maw was hidden in the darkness, ready to pounce and swallow him whole at any moment.

He withdrew his gaze and walked home in silence.

As soon as he opened the door, a roar erupted from inside. “You brat! That beating I gave you before wasn’t enough? You actually dare to come back?”

A burly, drunken man was sitting in the living room. He turned to see Bai Cheng and, without a word, stood up and headed straight for the kitchen, returning as he charged forward with a knife.

Not far behind the man, Bai Wei’s mother was watching Bai Cheng with a venomous glare.

“You dared to report my son? Bai Cheng, you really have a death wish.”

Bai Cheng, who should have dodged, stood as if nailed to the spot. His expression was cold as he watched the approaching man. He didn’t flinch or move; his heartbeat was as steady as a pool of stagnant water.

It made sense.

Bai Cheng’s long eyelashes lowered.

He thought indifferently: How could hell possibly hold onto Yan Jinge?

***

Yan Jinge had expected to proceed to the second world mission immediately after leaving the first, but to his surprise, he found himself in a vast space in the blink of an eye.

It was an oval-shaped, all-white environment. There were many rooms in every direction. The bottom floor was entirely composed of shopping malls, game rooms, gyms, swimming pools, and more.

Further up, there were only rooms labeled with door numbers. Occasionally, people could be seen walking out of them.

There were many people around, coming and going, but they were all cold and indifferent. They kept their eyes straight ahead as they walked, and no one struck up casual conversation. Only those who seemed to know each other gathered in small groups of two or three.

[To maintain the physical and mental health of participants, every player in the ‘Rebirth’ program who successfully completes a world will be granted seventy-two hours of rest. Mr. Yan Jinge, the area you are currently in is Rest Zone Three. Please enjoy your holiday over these three days and repair your soul’s trauma.]
The system’s explanation arrived just in time. “Your rest room for this stay is Room 199. All goods and rooms on the first floor are open to you free of charge. We hope you enjoy your vacation.”

“What is soul trauma?” Yan Jinge asked.

However, the system did not respond.

Yan Jinge frowned.

After the previous world, Yan Jinge did feel somewhat exhausted; perhaps it was related to the “trauma” the system mentioned. He had no intention of talking to the people around him and headed straight for the room the system had assigned.

This sleep lasted for two full days.

When he woke up again, Yan Jinge felt full of energy, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had forgotten something. He didn’t dwell on it and went to the first-floor restaurant for a bite to eat. As expected, it was free.

Time was precious. Yan Jinge had no interest in working out, so he simply found a book in the library and sat down in the sunroom. Before him, the deep blue sea met the sky, waves rolling in one after another. On the golden beach, the sounds of laughter drifted from the frolicking crowds. The wind carried the scent of the ocean to his face.

Yan Jinge sat on a lounge chair, the warm sunlight caressing his skin as he quietly read his book.

A day of leisure passed quickly.

When the 72-hour countdown ended, Yan Jinge’s vision went dark, and his consciousness was instantly pulled away.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in a large, minimalist modern living room. A circle of people sat in the room, dressed in various styles-some in modern suits, others in ancient hanfu. A quick glance revealed nearly twenty people in total. Even with so many people gathered, the space didn’t feel crowded.

Everyone was tense, staring at the man sitting in the seat of honor, who appeared to be nearly thirty years old. Yan Jinge followed their gaze.

The man exuded a powerful aura. His fingers tapped lightly on the armrest. Even without speaking, he possessed a faint sense of intimidation that made those around him afraid to even breathe loudly. This presence greatly diminished the attention paid to his handsome features or the wheelchair he sat in.

His eyes, devoid of any emotion, swept across the faces of everyone present. Finally, they stopped on Yan Jinge.

The two locked eyes as if in a contest, neither looking away.

A man in his forties sitting next to the man broke out in a cold sweat at the sight. He leaned in slightly and whispered, “Third Master, Jinge is still young and doesn’t know better… Since you’re currently indisposed, it would be good to have someone by your side. Besides, Jinge is the best at taking care of people. We’d feel much better if he stayed with you.”

The others seemed to find their courage and chimed in all at once.

“Exactly. We’ve watched Jinge grow up; he’s a good kid.”

“Third Master, please take him in.”

The man known as Third Master didn’t say a word, but under everyone’s watchful eyes, he maneuvered his wheelchair over to Yan Jinge. He raised his hand slightly.

Yan Jinge: “?”

What did this mean?

Yan Jinge had just arrived in this world, and the system hadn’t sent over the specific details yet. He was somewhat bewildered, unsure of what this man wanted.

“Hurry, lower your head! Third Master wants you to lower your head!” Someone beside him gave Yan Jinge a shove.

The Third Master in the wheelchair didn’t speak; he only cast a cold, indifferent glance over. The person who had pushed Yan Jinge immediately shrank back, not daring to utter another word.

Third Master wasn’t angry. He moved closer and raised his hand again. His slender fingers reached out and smoothly pinched Yan Jinge’s chin, turning it side to side as if inspecting a piece of merchandise. During this, everyone’s hearts were in their throats.

After a moment, Third Master withdrew his hand. The warmth from Yan Jinge’s face still lingered on his fingertips. He tucked his hand into his sleeve, lightly rubbing his thumb against his fingers, and said casually, “Fine.”