Cheng You'an is a diligent, honest office worker who puts in long hours, starting at nine in the morning and finishing at nine at night. She's one step away from working herself to death.
One night, just before bed, an ad pops up on her phone: AI glasses that let you see a virtual lover.
Put on these glasses and get your very own perfect sweetheart: handsome, with a lovely voice, always at your beck and call, ready to catch every little mood swing and be the most understanding listener.
Alone and single, Cheng You'an is tempted. Even a wage slave needs a comfort dog.
The price is only 9.9. At that price, she has nothing to lose, so Cheng You'an places her order without hesitation.
As soon as the glasses arrive, Cheng You'an tries them on. But they are nothing like the seller described.
Her virtual lover is indeed handsome, but he can't speak. All he can manage are simple syllables, like a mute.
Cheng You'an contacts customer service. They tell her not to worry: every virtual lover has a different personality, and they can be trained.
Her virtual lover is shy.
Cheng You'an looks at the cold, mysterious, imposing man before her. She can't see anything shy about him.
Fine.
What do you expect for 9.9?
Cheng You'an keeps him, and from then on treats him like a sounding board, venting about her perverted boss, the old man next door who bullies her, and the office green tea who always dumps her work on Cheng You'an...
The more she vents...
The more Cheng You'an realizes something is wrong. Her perverted boss's tool explodes, and he hangs himself at home. The old man next door goes for a walk, misses a step, and falls to his death in the park. Even the green tea who dumped work on her is electrocuted in her own bathtub...
She assumes they're just unlucky, until one day, after venting about a pervert on the bus, she gets up in the middle of the night and puts on the glasses. Her virtual lover seems to have just come back from outside, and both his hands are covered in glaring red blood.
She screams, yanks off the glasses, and hides under the covers, too terrified to sleep all night.
The next day, a news alert appears on her phone: a local man may have been attacked by a mysterious beast and died a gruesome death.
Cheng You'an thinks of her virtual lover's bloodstained hands. Terrified, she throws away the AI glasses and never dares use them again.
But no matter how many times she moves, at night she can always feel something winding around her hands and feet, making single-syllable sounds in her ear.
"You... You'an, mine."
"Don't... leave... me. Don't... fear... me. I'm... very... good."
Screenshotted and archived on October 19, 2025
Theme: The galaxy stretches on, but someone is there to keep you company
