I Marked a Location

[Pre-release: Speedrun, but Not Including Winning Her Back] Speedrunner x NPC. Blurb at the very bottom. Save it if you're interested~

[Audio drama now available on Ximalaya]

Xuan Zhi gets fed by everyone on campus.

The young woman in Building 11 has sausage, the guy who passes by Building 6 every day has a nice touch, and the auntie in Building 2 even gave up her little cushion.

What can Du Bu'an do to make the kitten stay?

-

Xuan Zhi has found himself a new cat servant.

He has a sterling reputation and is gentle and friendly with cats. He's very polite to strangers, too, and took his human form out to eat lots of delicious food.

But there's still one problem: how can he turn down the man's advances?

One-on-one, happy ending

All-white, odd-eyed beauty cat bottom x disguise-loving, principled, possessive top

-

Xuan Zhi has a special identity. For the sake of the story, this is absolutely not an endorsement of keeping cats in dorms.

Cat demons are the exception.

Pre-release

Speedrun, but Not Including Winning Her Back

A speedrun is a way of playing games that involves learning the mechanics, using bugs wisely to plan a route, and beating the game as fast as possible.

Four years after the release of the full-dive Western fantasy game Laurel, the number of players is steadily declining, and the NPCs who serve them are preparing to enjoy the long-awaited retirement they've been looking forward to.

Except for the stubborn speedrunners, who remain highly active.

As one of Laurel's insignificant NPCs, Sylvan should have been able to leisurely look forward to retirement.

But his job is a little unusual: he has to weave the game's most important item, the laurel crown used for coronations, and give it to players who pass the trials.

In theory, all he has to do is say his assigned lines and repeat the same actions he's performed thousands of times, and the players will leave on their own.

Except for those damned speedrunners.

Some clip through walls to appear, skip dialogue, then launch themselves away. Others exploit bugs to fly and bounce around everywhere, breaking the game's mechanics and doing whatever it takes to achieve their goals, causing endless trouble for his work and daily life.

And some are even worse. Who knows how much junk is stuffed in their heads? They use all kinds of methods to repeatedly and deliberately harass NPCs. They are utterly heinous.

-

There's a well-known story on the speedrunning forums: Divine, one of the record holders who appeared out of nowhere three years ago, is sure to take down a record on whatever game they start playing.

And... whenever they livestream, they're almost always playing Laurel.

Bai Yanze is almost fanatically devoted to one of the NPCs in the game.

What makes Bai Yanze even happier is that hardly anyone online talks about the character he likes. The character is practically his alone.

In real life, he custom-orders outfit-change mods to take screenshots and admire, commissions countless pieces of art to suit his tastes, and has so much private merchandise that he bought several houses just to store it all.

In the game, Bai Yanze has played through countless endings for him and saved at countless points. They can be the closest of friends, traveling side by side; bitter enemies bound by a blood feud; or lovers whispering into each other's ears.

It's all because Bai Yanze believes that one day, his little game character will come to life.

Theme: Adoption over buying.