Chi Zhan stiffened.
“The bug… is actually me?”
The system replied, “Diagnostic data has been sent to the main system. Due to the simplicity of your code, the scan will only take a minute… Ding—initiating main system check. Please remain quiet.”
Chi Zhan had never felt so on edge.
He hadn’t expected it—he might actually be the bug inside the game.
Second by second, time crawled past.
The system remained silent, and the very air seemed to grow heavier.
What would happen if the scan confirmed a bug?
He didn’t need to imagine. He hadn’t even received his next paycheck, hadn’t had the chance to play a proper match with his new keyboard, hadn’t completed a single full assist mission—was it all really about to end?
A sudden buzzing hum shattered the stillness.
In the blink of an eye, Chi Zhan’s world turned black and white. It twisted and fractured around him. The robot vacuum before him dissolved into countless rectangular codes of ones and zeroes. The desk, the floor, the walls—everything morphed into raw data.
His entire world collapsed into its original form. Chi Zhan stood like an outsider, watching it unravel.
His ears felt blocked, as if submerged underwater. The world went utterly silent, as though trapped in a mute film.
His consciousness began to fade.
The sensation was unbearable. Chi Zhan squeezed his eyes shut, plunging into total darkness. And then—he heard a strange sound.
Faint and muddled, it echoed near and far, like whispers caught in a whirlpool, resurfacing in a kaleidoscopic haze.
“Why isn’t Secretary Chi awake yet…”
“Doctor, what’s his condition? It’s been half a month…”
“All vitals are normal…”
A distant light appeared. But he didn’t open his eyes. Why was there light?
The glow drifted closer, panic rising in his chest as it surged toward him.
It was a shooting star, its tail wrapped in radiant fire, streaking straight at him.
—And collided head-on.
But the expected pain never came.
The meteor burst into a point of light, piercing his brow and vanishing without a trace. In that moment, the heaviness in his body lifted. The ringing in his ears, the dizziness, the muffled voices—all of it faded away.
Color returned to the world. Bit by bit, the code dissolved, revealing Chi Zhan’s familiar surroundings once more.
He gasped for air, warmth unfurling from between his brows and spreading through his limbs, like being immersed in a comforting hot spring.
The system seemed unaware of anything unusual.
“…Main system scan complete. Ding. Result received. Diagnostic result: Normal. No bugs detected.”
Chi Zhan stared blankly ahead, still reeling from what he had just seen and heard.
The system continued, “It appears the issue wasn’t with you after all.”
Snapping out of it, Chi Zhan responded evenly, “So… what now?”
He appeared perfectly fine.
“In that case, you must inform both romance targets that you already have a boyfriend and ask them to give up.”
Chi Zhan thought for a moment.
“Why don’t you just tell me who the next two targets are, so I can avoid them entirely?”
“That’s classified information. Not something an NPC like you should be poking around in.”
Chi Zhan had a bigger question.
Why did Cen Chi like him too?
Didn’t he go on dates with players every day? Chi Zhan hadn’t seen any sign of affection. All those meticulous gestures—he’d chalked them up to Cen Chi’s personality. Just his way of being considerate, nothing more.
Chi Zhan couldn’t help but want to quote that classic line: “What exactly do you like about me? I’ll change it, okay?”
Lying in bed, Chi Zhan was nowhere near sleepy.
He pulled out his phone, intending to look for boyfriend-for-hire services again, when he noticed a reply from the store he’d contacted earlier.
Customer Service: Hey love~ X is our top choice~ You should totally message him~
54349: Do you have a photo?
Customer Service: Sweetie, X says you’ll definitely be satisfied with his looks~ But he only sends pictures once you two really hit it off~
Chi Zhan mulled it over before asking, “Is X a scumbag?”
He still didn’t quite understand what was meant by “scumbag voice.”
What did that even sound like?
Customer Service: Of course not, sweetie~ X isn’t a scumbag~ He doesn’t work as a virtual boyfriend either~
Customer Service: He just reads books for clients using different voices~ Totally safe choice~
All those cutesy tildes in the messages were giving Chi Zhan a headache.
54349: Then why did he agree to take my request?
That stumped the customer service rep.
They hadn’t met X in person—only knew him online. Lately, X had been busy and mostly MIA after signing a contract. The rep hadn’t even expected him to accept the job, but had asked just in case, since this “54349” seemed rather desperate.
They messaged X, and after a while, got a single line back.
Customer Service: X says… he really likes your name~ Feels like fate brought you together~
“……”
His name? Wasn’t it just a system-assigned string of numbers?
It sounded exactly like something a player would say when trying to be smooth.
Customer Service: You’re in safe hands with X, love~ But just a heads-up, he’s pricey~
Most standard employees cost x3 or x5, but X? He was x20 in real-world rates.
Chi Zhan did the math. Even by the hour, it was steep.
Still, he added the contact card the rep sent him. Hesitation was defeat.
54349: Hello.
X: Incoming voice call—accept?
Yes / No
That fast? Chi Zhan hesitated for a second, then tapped “Yes” and activated a voice changer just to be safe.
Chi Zhan: “Hello.”
The moment he spoke, the echo in his headset startled him.
