Short-tempered, domineering, combat-maxed shou Fang Xi & grinning, wisecracking gong Ning Siyan
130,000 words drafted
Ever since that summer two years ago, Fang Xi's life had gradually grown strange.
People who didn't exist standing behind him. Hands grabbing his ankles at night. Soft, incessant voices in empty restrooms. Shadows of people dangling from streetlights, swaying in the dark...
One strange encounter left him anxious and on edge.
After several, he got used to them.
A gradual accumulation of changes finally led to a breaking point, and one day Fang Xi was pulled into a game.
The game was livestreamed for everyone to see. Players competed and cooperated of their own accord, and danger lurked everywhere.
Experienced players stabbed each other in the back.
Monsters hid in dungeons, waiting for a chance to strike.
The comments flew by, filling the screen with contempt and doubt.
[This new player is so skinny and clueless. He probably won't make it to the end of the first dungeon.]
[I bet he'll scream first.]
[No, he probably won't survive until tomorrow.]
The young man stood on the livestream screen, back straight, hands gripping the axe handle. He frowned in irritation and said coldly:
"...Cut the crap."
After a few dungeons, everyone knew that a short-tempered player had joined the game. Not only were his dungeons unusually difficult, he was always being targeted.
Every time he was on the brink of death, he turned the tables and won.
Come on! You're making things really hard for us veteran players!
Wait, you're the top-ranked player who died two years ago?
Veteran players: Oh, well, that explains it.
[Dungeon One: Fifteen Coffins]
"My grandmother told me to return to Fang Village, carry the fifteen coffins in the ancestral hall back to the old village, and bury them."
[Dungeon Two: The 72-Hour Documentary]
"I need to film a documentary in an apartment building I can't leave. It has to be seventy-two hours long. But the neighbors are dying for no apparent reason, and I'm trapped on the first day."
[Dungeon Three: The Real Player]
"I suddenly became addicted to online games. The character in the game obeyed my commands and did as I said. Then one day, he suddenly turned around and looked at me, on the other side of the screen."
Bonus scene: Smiling, shameless gong & cold-faced, adorable shou
Ning Siyan spread his arms. "Xi Bao~~ Come here and cuddle!"
Fang Xi shoved Ning Siyan away with one hand and said coolly, "You're messing up my aim."
The onlookers' jaws dropped. So even dungeon NPCs are attracted to good looks?!
Blurb written on 2025.12.6, screenshot saved.
Reader's Guide:
1. One-on-one romance. The gong isn't an evil god, nor is he strictly speaking an NPC. He appears as an NPC early on and makes his proper appearance in the second dungeon. Plot takes precedence over romance.
2. The story is entirely fictional, fictional, fictional.
3. Start date: Once I've collected enough bookmarks.
Theme: Step out of the darkness and into the light.
