The Days He Pretended to Be an AI

Blurb:

After eight years of slogging away, Qin Zhixing has finally been promoted to vice president.

Her current situation: her boss wants her to work herself to the bone, her subordinates want her out, and men want to use her as a blood bank.

Her only way to unwind is to hide at home and play a game still in closed beta.

There is a shabby neighborhood called Dustbound, and a man who cooks noodles on the street. He only asks:

"Tired today? Want an egg in your noodles?"

She tells the screen so many things: all the things she can't say at work or to her parents, she tells a character on a screen.

Until a System pop-up appears: [Character "Su Yu" has reached 100% affection. He will belong to you forever.]

She clicks confirm. Think of it as buying herself a place to vent.

That same day, her company tests its domestic service robots.

Qin Zhixing takes one home, model number 77. The manual says: Basic model, no emotional simulation.

On the first night, he makes four dishes and a soup. Every one of them is something she likes.

She asks him, "How did you know I like these?"

He pauses for a second, then gives her a standardized smile. "Based on the ingredients in your refrigerator, the System calculated the optimal combination."

She has never told anyone what she likes to eat.

Late at night, his fingertips trace a pattern, and the furrow between her brows is silently smoothed away.

This is a calming spell that, in his world, can only be drawn for "the one and only."

She pretends to be asleep, but her heart is racing.

His world has already been burned to ashes, and she is his only anchor.

In the backup logs, she finds a line: [Day 47: She smiled at a coworker today. It took me three seconds to remember that a robot like me shouldn't be jealous.]

She closes her laptop and starts reading patent law.

If she wants to keep him forever, she needs to give him a legal identity first.

#He escaped from another world and survived by pretending to be a character on a screen, all because she clicked once#

#He thinks he hid it well, but she has already figured out how to keep him here#

#He tries to act like an AI, but he just can't pull it off#

[Reading Notes]

A warm, everyday story of two souls slowly drawing closer.

The heroine sees through him but doesn't call him out x The hero tries hard to act like an AI, but can't help being good to her

A slow burn, but once it catches fire, it burns hot.

Written on March 24, 2026. Do not borrow ideas. Evidence has been saved.

Theme: Saving each other.