He Arrived at Ten Ten

[Sweet romance + healing + mutual devotion + light comedy]

Qi Mo is a game designer at the country's biggest text-based game company.

His happiest daily routine is catching the company's free cab benefit after nine, getting home before 9:40, and going to bed right on time at 10:10.

But lately, something strange has been happening.

Whenever he falls asleep, he sees a little boy. The boy has exactly the same name as a character in the game he's designing.

At first, he thinks it's just work stress, but he's been seeing the boy every night for a whole month.

The other boy seems unable to see him.

Good heavens, this is awful. When he designed the character, he never imagined the kid would have such a miserable childhood.

So he turns the time after falling asleep into a limited-time dungeon he can play every day.

This is awful.

He wants to help the boy get better, he thinks.

As far back as Zhu Chenzhou can remember, everyone has treated him like someone they can kick around, simply because he's an illegitimate child who must be kept out of sight.

He hates his family's glittering facade, hates hypocrisy, and hates this world. He has no expectations of human nature.

One day, he notices that things in his room have been moved. He spends days trying to catch the thief.

But the thief doesn't seem to mean him any harm. In fact, the thief is even kinder to him than the people around him.

He starts keeping a diary to record it.

20XX, Month X, Day X: "He stole my things. I have to find him."

20XX, Month X, Day X: "He's not a thief. He's actually pretty nice to me. I can't see him."

20XX, Month X, Day X: "He's wonderful."

20XX, Month X, Day X: "I have a new name. I want to see him."

20XX, Month X, Day X: "What should I do? He's gone."

20XX, Month X, Day X: "He stole my things. I have to find him."

Hey, why does that line sound familiar?

Oh, there's more: "Find him, then lock him up."

How could someone who has seen the light stand being trapped in the dark again?

Of course he'll find that light and lock it away, so he can be the only one who sees it.

A few notes on the setting:

ALL CAPS: both are inexperienced, mutual love, no angst, happy ending, a little melodrama for fun.

To continue the thought above, the love interest isn't exactly normal, but he's very good at pretending he is. In private, he may have some extremely questionable thoughts about the protagonist, like boiling him alive. A little sinister.

The love interest has another identity in the real world. No spoilers, please don't compare him to any favorite fictional characters. He isn't based on anyone real!

The main theme is healing, and the protagonist's job means the story features text-based games.

The love interest falls first. Trust me, he's head over heels.

First the protagonist spoils the love interest when he's a kid, then the love interest spoils the protagonist.

I won't write too much of their childhood, because I like seeing people fall in love.

Date noted: 20250512. Weibo: @Jinjiang_SleepyAndNeverUpdates. Hugs and hearts!

Theme: Encounter the light, become the light.