Chapter Five: Boy, I Once Met You Beneath the Sunlight

When Liu Mengchao smiled, he was truly beautiful, like a gentle ray of sunlight streaming obliquely into the room—never glaring, yet always warm.

“You want to know my name?” Liu Mengchao spoke as he deftly took the phone from the dazed Gui Yanye’s hands. It was a silver flip phone, the system set to Japanese, but Liu Mengchao navigated it with practiced ease, quickly finding the camera interface. He turned the phone around, glanced at the general shooting range on the screen to confirm it, then turned back unhurriedly.

“You should know that names are usually imbued with powerful magic. I don’t just tell anyone mine, you know.”

Click—the flash went off, and Liu Mengchao’s smiling face appeared on Gui Yanye’s phone.

“But you’re an exception.” As Liu Mengchao spoke, the countdown of the Lord God system began to tick in his ears. “Don’t you dare forget about me. My name is Liu Mengchao.”

“Um…” Gui Yanye stared blankly at Liu Mengchao’s photo on her phone for a long time before finally mustering the courage to speak. “Um… my name is… Gui… Yanye.”

The moment she finished, two spots of red blossomed on her cheeks. When she looked up again, only a slant of sunlight streamed in through the window, landing squarely on her knees.

A flash of white light passed.

When Liu Mengchao opened his eyes again, the white, endless world unfolded before him once more.

“Reporting system status:

Current Lord God Game participants: 0
Due to the Lord God falling into a coma, the proxy has temporarily assumed the duties of the Lord God.
Prize pool: 10,000.
Available worlds: School Days (fragment).
A connection with a character from the School Days world has been detected.
Special option unlocked.”

“Baiya,” Liu Mengchao regarded the system panel, “what does ‘connection’ mean, and what is this special option?”

“A ‘connection’ means the proxy Lord God has interacted with a character from a Lord God Game world. The next time this world is opened, the cost to do so will be halved or even free under certain conditions, and you will gain all the powers of that world.”

“What are these certain conditions?”

“If the male protagonist—marked by his protagonist’s aura—falls into utter despair about his world and agrees to join the Lord God Game, then, upon fulfilling this condition, opening the world next time will cost half the usual prize points.”

“And what about the condition for it to be completely free?”

“A successful conquest of the original world’s female protagonist.”

Was it Liu Mengchao’s imagination, or did Baiya’s tone seem a little unsteady when she mentioned conquering the female protagonist?

“By the way, if we return now, Joanna’s life shouldn’t be in danger anymore, right?”

“No, with ten thousand reward points in the pool, Joanna is safe for now. However, I think you’d best focus on yourself. Joanna consumes ten points a day to survive. It’s a trivial amount for the Lord God, but since you’ll need to open an entire world next time, we must quickly find someone willing to join the Lord God Game.”

“Understood!”

“And, since a Lord God Game player died in the Lord God space, some of his energy will be transferred to you.”

As Baiya finished speaking, a shaft of white light shone down.

“Liu Mengchao
Proxy Lord God
Race: Human
Cell Vitality: 6/10
Muscle Strength: 5/10
Immunity: 4/10
Neural Response: 6/10
Intelligence: 8/10
Mental Power: 7/10
Overall Rating: 7/10
Abilities: None.”

When Liu Mengchao came to his senses again, he was already back home.

“Brother! Brother!” Joanna, now full of energy, threw herself at him with a joyful leap, knocking Liu Mengchao to the ground. “I knew you could do it! You’re the best, Brother!”

No blood. No corpses. If not for the sudden surge of strength that allowed him to lift Joanna effortlessly, Liu Mengchao might have thought he was still dreaming.

“Brother, look, here’s your turtle!” Joanna’s innocent face was even more childlike as she smiled, her eyes squinting, lips curled up, and her small white hand extended.

A gray card appeared in her hand.

Lord God.

Heh, he really had found himself an extraordinary little sister. Liu Mengchao scooped Joanna up in a princess carry—nothing delights a little girl more.

“I want to fly, I want to fly~”

“All right, let’s fly.” Liu Mengchao laughed, spinning them around the house. Her bell-like laughter filled the empty room like sunlight, warming not only the space, but also Liu Mengchao’s empty heart.

“Brother, brother…” Suddenly, Joanna called out from his arms, “Baiya says she has something to discuss with you.”

With that, Joanna closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, the innocence had vanished, replaced by a wisdom and seriousness that made the little girl seem suddenly adult.

“Honored proxy, my apologies for interrupting your time with the Lord God. Would you mind… putting me down first?”

Liu Mengchao noticed that Joanna—or rather, Baiya—was blushing.

“Of course…”

He put the little girl down, and Baiya, as if by habit, found the teacups, stood on tiptoe, brewed two cups of hot tea, and placed them before herself and Liu Mengchao.

“Honored proxy, since we only gained ten thousand reward points from the last Lord God Game, and to ensure future development, I believe we should conduct another game in the School Days world. So, if you don’t mind, could you tell me the general plot?”

Liu Mengchao raised an eyebrow. “Are you joining in as well?”

“No, just to help you analyze the world structure more effectively.”

“Oh… then let’s go to my room. The first episode is still playing on my computer.”

With that, Liu Mengchao led Baiya into his room.

“If I may say, honored proxy, the books you read are really not appropriate for your age. They’re far too profound.”

Ten minutes later…

“Honored proxy, could you just tell me the story? I really can’t stand looking at the male lead’s face.”

Baiya pouted, her eyes full of undisguised loathing for Makoto Itou.

“School Days…” Liu Mengchao paused, searching for the words to express his thoughts. “In essence, it’s about the male lead, who, infatuated with Gui Yanye, sets her photo as his phone’s wallpaper, hoping the magic of love will come true.”

“The so-called ‘magic’ is just not letting anyone find out he’s put his crush as his wallpaper?”

“That’s right.” Liu Mengchao nodded. “Then, the male lead’s crush is discovered by Sekai Saionji, who, in an attempt to get closer to him, agrees to help him pursue her own rival in love, Gui Yanye.”

“That’s… such a cliché K-drama plot.”

“Well… it’s similar to a K-drama, but unlike the usual male leads, Makoto Itou is driven purely by his desires. Like a dog, he immediately accepts any hint of intimacy from a girl.”

“So, he’s two-timing them?”

“Hah!” At the mention of two-timing, Liu Mengchao’s eyes suddenly turned sharp.

“What’s wrong with two-timing? If a man doesn’t even dare to open a harem, is he even a protagonist? But… getting a girlfriend pregnant and still shamelessly sleeping with other women, dodging responsibility like a cockroach—there’s no scum worse than this. A man who pulls up his pants and leaves all responsibility behind is the lowest of the low.”

“Uh…”

“If you have ambitions in love, you must have the resolve to break through all obstacles. If you have desires, you must be ready to destroy everything in your way. If you let your instincts run wild… tell me, does he even deserve to live?”

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