Gao Sijin wasn’t a disciplined person. Although he tried his best to sleep on time, he couldn’t guarantee it every night.
Take today, for example. The thing keeping Gao Sijin up was—the classic “just one more game.”
Ai: You’re brutal. The enemy surrendered before fifteen minutes even hit.
Little Ai’s Fiancée: I gotta say, sometimes something called talent just messes things up.
Little Ai’s Fiancée: I was already holding back hard. I even threw on purpose a few times, but they couldn’t capitalize on it. Offered them chances and they still blew them.
Ai: I thought you were a girl at first, and duoing with you would tank my rank. Didn’t expect you to be this cracked. You’re insane!
Little Ai’s Fiancée: One more round?
Gao Sijin glanced at the time. It was already 1 a.m. If he didn’t sleep, he’d never get out of bed for work tomorrow.
But he’d been playing all night and had finally reached the promotion series to Diamond. If he logged off now, he’d feel antsy all over. He just knew he wouldn’t sleep a wink if he stopped here.
“Hit Diamond, then sleep!”
As it turned out, Gao Sijin queued up another seven games. He won some, lost some, but in the end he broke through to Diamond.
When he looked out the window, the sky was already bright.
But this life was worth it!
Even though pulling an all-nighter before a workday would leave him a wreck, Gao Sijin had no intention of dumping his workload on others the way a certain director did.
Just then, his phone buzzed. A WeChat message from someone at the company.
Tomorrow Will Be Better: Little Gao, you don’t need to come in the next few days. President Han says you’ll be transferred abroad soon and need to get into the best possible shape, so they’ve given you two weeks off.
A Corporate Slave Turns Over to Sing: What about my projects? I really love going to work, though.
Tomorrow Will Be Better: Hand everything over to Little Zhou. Little Zhou’s been here long enough; it’s time they got some real training.
A Corporate Slave Turns Over to Sing: Alright, thanks, Director Zhang. Actually, I wasn’t feeling all that great today anyway.
Tomorrow Will Be Better: Then rest at home. You can use this time to brush up on your Japanese. Though I hear there are a ton of Chinese people over there, so don’t worry too much about the language barrier.
A Corporate Slave Turns Over to Sing: Yeah, I know. My cousin actually studied in Ohtawara, J-Country, for eight years, so I can ask him about anything I’m not sure of.
Tomorrow Will Be Better: Little Gao, reach out anytime if you have questions.
A Corporate Slave Turns Over to Sing: Thank you, Director Zhang.
Talk about getting a pillow the moment you want to sleep.
No work today!
Woot!
The drowsiness vanished instantly. After Little Ai’s Fiancée logged off, Gao Sijin fired up two more games.
Truth be told, it was less about the games and more about using them to stave off loneliness.
Yu Qingxue had left. Xiaohe and Xiaona had gone to Magic City to chase their own futures.
Outside of them, Gao Sijin didn’t really have any true friends in Bincheng. The male colleagues he could shoot the breeze with were, at best, nodding acquaintances.
So Gao Sijin was all alone again.
But as long as I press E fast enough, loneliness can’t catch me.
Three hours later, through Gao Sijin’s tireless efforts, his Diamond V had blissfully returned to Platinum I. On the verge of tears, he shut off his computer and headed to the bathroom for a hot shower.
Lately, for some reason, he’d been feeling like someone was watching him while he bathed.
Probably just his imagination.
Whatever.
Who’d even be interested in a guy’s body? It’s not like some pervert girl was around.
Besides, Gao Sijin figured his average build wouldn’t even tempt a pervert.
After washing up, he stood in front of the mirror to dry his hair.
“So this is the guy that Young Miss Yu Qingxue likes? Gotta say, he’s pretty handsome.”
He flopped into bed and drifted off to sleep.
How nice would it be to wake up to the sound of someone cooking?
He remembered his college days, four guys to a dorm. Someone always stayed up late gaming, making the whole room chaotic. The guy in the top bunk was a chronic snorer. If Gao Sijin didn’t fall asleep before all of them, the whole night became pure agony.
After graduation, when he entered the working world, he’d thought he’d enjoy the coveted solo life, only to discover quiet wasn’t so great either.
Being a lone wolf looks cool on the surface, but it’s really just a forced act. Especially waking up in the evening when it’s already dark outside—it feels like being dropped into the deep sea.
Gao Sijin felt that if he’d never met Yu Qingxue, the loneliness might one day literally make him awaken a Golden Pupil and enroll in Cassell College.
“Qingxue…”
Lying on his side, Gao Sijin looked forward to the day they’d reunite in Tokyo, when she would fulfill the kiss she still owed him.
Yu Qingxue was indeed wealthy. But Gao Sijin didn’t want to rely on her. He had a bit of a macho streak in him—he wanted to earn money by writing novels. Besides, his aunt had taught him from a young age to be a man of integrity.
Living off a woman, being a kept man—the mere thought of those labels being pinned on him made Gao Sijin feel like he’d betrayed his aunt’s teachings. And he wouldn’t even know how to proudly introduce Yu Qingxue to her in the future.
In short, even when he got to J-Country, he still had to keep grinding out his writing and working diligently. As for the lavish lifestyle Yu Qingxue could buy with her money, he’d enjoy it in moderation.
Plus, Gao Sijin had his own dream. He hoped that one day, the characters from his novels would come alive on the vivid screen.
In this fickle era, nearly everyone bends over to pick up a sixpence. It’s not that they’re wrong. Gao Sijin just hoped that while he hustled, he’d also have the time to look up at the moonlight. To him, the ideal life was one neither worldly nor aloof.
—Gao-kun, come here, quick!
His consciousness grew heavier. Faintly, Gao Sijin seemed to hear Rio’s voice, crisp and pleasant like silver bells.
Following the sound, he drew closer and closer. There, at the source of the light.
He raised a hand to shield his eyes. The light was too dazzling for him—it would pierce his darkness. But the moment he tried to block it, countless chains wrapped around his body, binding him so tightly he couldn’t move.
A girl in a kimono approached him slowly. Every step she took was deliberate—that was her habit. She didn’t like killing with a single slash; she preferred the slow work of a dull blade. Just like how Gao Sijin’s novels rarely featured hatchet yanderes, because a hatchet meant death, and death was a release.
The truly exquisite torture was imprisonment—endless, eternal imprisonment.
To sink into the ecstasy of the flesh, to let material desires numb the body, to lose all hope and dreams, to become a woman’s slave, the entire body stained with her scent, turned into something that would die without her.
This was the yandere girl Gao Sijin truly sought.
In a yandere’s world, death is actually a tenderness offered by those girls who love you to madness.
“Come, Rio.”
Gazing at the kimono as it slid off, revealing a slender, snow-white figure, Gao Sijin didn’t flinch. Instead, he grew excited.
He knew this dream was nothing more than his own fantasy. He wanted that, one day, to be imprisoned just like a character from his books, shut away without a single ray of sunlight.
He hoped that one day, a girl would make him thoroughly despair…
When he opened his eyes again, it was already dusk.
In his sleep, Gao Sijin’s whole body was drenched in sweat. He remembered that every time he dreamed of such scenes, he’d always break out in a sweat.
He glanced at his phone.
Little Ai’s Fiancée: Hey~
Little Ai’s Fiancée: Is Gao-kun home?
Little Ai’s Fiancée: Gao-kun’s ignoring me, sob sob QWQ.
Gao Sijin immediately grabbed his phone and typed back.
Ai: Sorry, I fell asleep.
Ai: Gonna write for a bit, then we can team up again tonight.
Little Ai’s Fiancée: It’s a deal.
Little Ai’s Fiancée: Actually, we can play other games together too. I know all the games Gao-kun plays.
Ai: Like which ones?
Little Ai’s Fiancée: Naraka: Bladepoint, Grand Theft Auto VI, Monster Hunter, Hearts of Iron V, Civilization VII, Rainbow Seven.
Ai: Damn, you’re a real pro!
