[Content warnings: power couple, one-on-one romance, happy ending | coolheaded, rational commander bottom x roguish, devoted-dog top | Main story complete, extras written when the mood strikes]
[The bottom is rational above all else early on and uses the top at times | The top acts roguish but is actually unhinged | Not pure fluff: angst and satisfying moments]
When the names of quantum physicist Gu Linyuan and explosives expert Jiang Jin were entered side by side into the "Myriad Illusions Labyrinth"...
The System announced in a cold, mechanical voice: Coexist, or die together.
In a rule-based horror instance, Gu Linyuan deduced the time difference between mirrored images, while Jiang Jin's blade shattered every illusory reflection;
In a molten, ruined city, Jiang Jin blasted open a path, while Gu Linyuan instantly calculated the optimal solution for the cooling core;
In a star-track prison, their consciousnesses were trapped in a virtual universe by a chip. Jiang Jin went berserk and blew up the control center, while Gu Linyuan rewrote the ultimate code three seconds before the explosion: "If you dare to die, I'll rebuild the entire System."
From "tactical partners" forced together to "symbionts" who entrusted each other with their lives...
He would always leave his back to him, and his flames would always hold back their softest warmth for him.
When their deepest secret was revealed, they stood before the "Eye of the Abyss" at the System's core...
Jiang Jin grabbed Gu Linyuan's hand and pressed it to his chest. "The answer beating here is more real than any instance."
Gu Linyuan kissed away the blood at the corner of his eye. "Every calculation I've ever made ends with escaping together with you."
The most dangerous thing in the Infinite Abyss was never the monsters. It was two souls finding, in each other's light, the courage to stand against all darkness, and a spark called "Embers" that would never go out.
