The Red-robed BOSS Says I Killed Him - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I felt as if I had fallen into a long, long snowfall.

At the end of the snowy field, nineteen-year-old Li Shuheng sat by the hospital bed, restraint cuffs still around his wrists.

He looked up at me, still wearing that same fierce, cold expression.

“You’re here again.”

“Mm.”

“Did you bring grapes?”

“I did.”

“Are you going to run away this time?”

I walked over and knelt before him.

“I’m not running this time.”

“Then will you forget?”

My eyes burned. I reached out and unfastened the restraint cuffs on his wrists.

“Even if I forget…”

“You’ll just have to recognize me one more time.”

The youth looked at me and suddenly smiled.

“Fine.”

“It’s a promise, then.”

The snow shattered into light.

When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I smelled was the scent of a real-world hospital.

There were no broadcasts, no rules, and no singing voices during the nightly rounds.

There was only the sunlight outside the window and the steady ticking of the heart monitor.

I stared at the ceiling for a long time, tears suddenly surging forth.

“You’re awake?”

Jiang Yichuan was sitting in the companion chair, so tired he could barely keep his eyes open.

Seeing me wake up, he looked as if he had finally come back to life.

“If you hadn’t woken up soon, Ji Qingyan was actually going to start burning paper offerings for you.”

“Where is she?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

“Alive.”

“In the next room over.”

“What about the Deep Well?”

“Closed.”

“They’re still clearing out the fragments, but the main System is gone.”

My heart finally eased.

“Lin Xizhe?”

Jiang Yichuan scoffed.

“He was consumed by the Main Control’s backlash.”

“He died a pretty ugly death.”

I closed my eyes, but that wasn’t my first thought.

“Where is Li Shuheng?”

The hospital room fell silent for a couple of seconds.

Jiang Yichuan’s expression suddenly turned a bit strange.

“See for yourself.”

The door was pushed open from the outside.

A man entered wearing ordinary hospital pajamas, bandages wrapped around his shoulder. His complexion was much paler than it had been in the Instance.

But those eyes-I recognized them instantly.

Li Shuheng stood at the door, looking as if he wanted to rush over but was afraid I would vanish the moment he got close.

My throat tightened.

He didn’t say anything either.

He just looked at me.

Jiang Yichuan tactfully stood up and gently closed the door behind him.

Only the two of us remained in the room.

Li Shuheng walked to the side of the bed and asked softly, “Do you remember me?”

My nose stung immediately.

“Why is that still the first thing you ask?”

His gaze flickered slightly.

“Because that is the only thing I fear.”

I reached out to touch him.

His wrist was warm.

His pulse was warm.

He was a real person.

Not a serial number, not a Red-robed BOSS, and not 0719 locked inside an Instance.

I looked at him, my voice very soft.

“I remember.”

“I remember everything.”

His shoulders relaxed inch by inch, as if he finally dared to believe it.

“That’s good.”

He sat down, his palm covering my hand.

His grip was light, yet he refused to let go.

I noticed a bunch of washed green grapes sitting on the nightstand.

“Did you buy them?”

“Ji Qingyan bought them.”

“Who washed them?”

“I did.”

“Who’s peeling them?”

“Still me.”

After saying that, he actually plucked a grape and lowered his head to slowly peel it.

The fruit was bright and translucent, droplets of water sliding down his fingers.

He held the grape to my lips.

“Want one?”

I opened my mouth and bit down, the sweet and sour flavor spreading through my mouth instantly.

Tears almost fell along with it.

Li Shuheng looked at me, his thumb gently brushing the corner of my eye.

“Why are you crying again?”

“Because you’re finally sitting here, alive.”

“Then you should smile.”

“Can’t I cry and smile at the same time?”

He gave a low laugh, finally showing a bit of ease he hadn’t possessed before.

“Fine.”

“Whatever you say goes.”

I turned my hand over and gripped his tightly.

“Li Shuheng.”

“Mm?”

“This time, don’t wait for me to come back and recognize you round after round.”

“Okay.”

“Then what do you want me to do?”

“It’s simple.”

He looked at me, the hint of red in his eyes finally being suppressed bit by bit by the light of reality.

“Don’t run away.”

“Stay and finish these grapes with me.”

The wind blew in from the window, gently swaying the white curtains.

I gazed at him, suddenly feeling as if all those broken years of mine had finally been reconnected.

It wasn’t because the System had shut down.

It was because the person I had abandoned so many times had finally been brought out by me this time.

I squeezed his fingers and said softly,

“I’m not running.”

“This time, I’ll stay with you and eat them slowly, one by one.”