I Woke Up to Find My Paper Wife Had Quit

[Main content unchanged; blurb may be revised]

★

The wildly popular large-scale romance game Mottled Rose took the world by storm on its first day online, kicking off a craze that would keep it at the top of the gaming charts for years.

Wen Qian is an NPC who plays three different romanceable characters across three types of worlds in Mottled Rose.

In the modern urban world, she is a gentle, understanding flower shop owner. She has little education and a small social circle, making her seem provincial when taken out to meet people, yet she lacks the sultry sex appeal of a little kitten when kept at home.

In the Western fantasy aristocratic world, she is the unloved second daughter of a count. Starved of affection, insecure, and longing for care, she can be made to smile until her eyes crinkle with nothing more than a simple rose.

In the ancient imperial court world, she is a pitiful abandoned consort banished to the cold palace, who has never enjoyed a single day of imperial favor. Anyone who takes her to see the riotous blooms beyond the palace wall can win their way into her heart...

So the entire Mottled Rose forum knows:

Wen Qian in the modern world, Winnie in the Western fantasy world, and Lady Wen in the ancient world are the three easiest characters to romance. Together, they are known as "beginner practice NPCs."

The high-difficulty romance options are the rare, unattainable white moonlight and cinnabar mole. But Wen Qian, labeled a "beginner practice NPC," is as easy to get as a grain of rice, and just as easy to take for granted, like a mosquito's blood.

She is the original character no one cherishes, a diversion every player can casually ignore.

★

Until one day, this practice-level NPC named Wen Qian suddenly decided she was done.

She decided to quit.

That blindly gentle persona she had maintained for a hundred and eighty years had long since stopped reflecting her real personality. But until her resignation was approved, she had to wait for her replacement.

While she waited, Mottled Rose suffered the biggest bug in its history. Some high-level players in all three types of worlds became trapped online, and the three worlds merged during maintenance.

The players who had once shared a hundred ways to romance the "beginner practice NPC" on the forums turned red-eyed with jealousy when they finally met. After all, who could have guessed their bargain wife had a whole bunch of other men on the side?

Wen Qian announced she was done catering to them. Whoever wanted her could have her!

So when a group of players belatedly realized they had been cheated on, even their wife quit!

Players: So where's our gentle wife? The one we had so much of?

Wen Qian: Heh. I'm done serving you. Get lost.

★

The biggest secret Mottled Rose concealed was that a handful of its romanceable NPCs, who played multiple roles, were portrayed by real people. The secret was not exposed until just before the game's third anniversary celebration.

And on the list of romanceable NPC performers, the name "Wen Qian" was plainly written.

Before long, information about the former employee was laid on the desks of a group of powerful players. After an exhausting search, they discovered that their former paper wife was now living with someone on a remote planet.

Powerful Player A: Honey, look at me one more time! I'll cook and do the housework from now on, okay?

Powerful Player B: Honey, I can put your name on all my assets!

Powerful Player C: If you marry me, I can give you the most prestigious status!

Wen Qian smiled as she clung to the arm of the man beside her. "But I already have all that!"

[2022.10.23 01:11]

Theme: Always love deeply, always be free