Jiao Bai’s whole body stiffened, and the pores on his back opened instantly. He was facing the bathroom door so he had no time to control his expression before a gust of steamy, fragrant air hit him right in the face.

A man in a grey bathrobe walked into the room, gently closing the bathroom door behind him. He looked to be in his thirties, tall and straight. His black hair was damp. Water dripped from his hair on his forehead and slid over his full, defined brows.

Jiao Bai’s mouth hung open, eyes wide, staring blankly at the comic character approaching him.

Qi Yilao’s appearance was identical to how it had been drawn in the comic, but because he was alive and three-dimensional, he felt even more dazzling. He looked easy-going and friendly, yet there was an irresistible air of authority and elegance about him.

Jiao Bai’s heart pounded wildly, his brain swelled with blood and his limbs were weak. This wasn't a reaction brought about by attraction—it was physiological anxiety.

He felt dizzy, his vision was doubling, and the heaviness brought by fever grew stronger.

“Qi, Qi…” Jiao Bai was tongue-tied and choked on his own spit. He coughed a few times. His voice sounded even more unpleasant, like the uncanny sound emitted from an old, worn-out record player.

Jiao Bai’s palms were sweating. As someone who had read comics for a long time, he had seen stories similar to this so he knew that the protagonist would typically inherit the memories of the original owner of the body, but why hadn't he?

How did the original Wang Chuqiu address Qi Yilao? Jiao Bai couldn’t breathe properly and felt like he was about to suffocate. He pulled out every title and address used for Qi Yilao in the comic.

Qi-ye[1], Chairman Qi, Uncle Qi, Mr. Qi, San-ge[2].

Let’s rule out the most unlikely fifth title first, and the remaining four… are all equally plausible.

Jiao Bai tentatively called out, “Chairman Qi.”

A gaze pierced through the light and landed on him.

Jiao Bai instantly broke out into cold sweat. Did he guess wrong? Just as he was preparing to come up with a way to bluff his way out, the man walked past him and sat on the sofa behind him.

“Why are you still here?” Qi Yilao’s voice was deep and gentle with a hint of confusion.

Jiao Bai stared blankly at him. So, can I leave now? He felt slightly dizzy, and couldn’t make sense of what  was going on right now, so he just stood there stupidly.

“With Mr. Shen… Didn’t you two…”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Qi Yilao took a brown towel to wipe his hair, and the sleeves of his bathrobe slid up to reveal a lightly tanned forearm which emitted the clean scent of grass after rain.

For real? Then I seriously won’t worry about it, okay? Jiao Bai took a moment to get himself into the right emotional state and then pretended to choke back tears. “Chairman Qi, please take me.” He lowered his head, exposing a delicate nape beneath the man’s gaze.

“Stop that. Lao Shen[3] was drunk. How can you take him seriously?” Qi Yilao said sternly with a frown and then continued, softening his tone, “At the time, I only agreed because I thought it would be too troublesome to refuse. I don't have any such needs myself. My subordinates misunderstood.” He placed the towel on the back of the chair and ran his slightly damp black hair through his defined fingers. “You may leave now. Go home, take a bath, and have a good sleep. Take a more relaxed view on things and find your place, and you can avoid unnecessary troubles.”

Qi Yilao’s words were filled with the concern of an elder and his every gesture was gentle.

The room was silent.

Jiao Bai lowered his head and stared at his toes. This development deviated from what he'd expected by a long shot. In the comic, Wang Chuqiu stayed here until the middle of the night and was hit by a car when he left so Jiao Bai originally wanted to take the opportunity to sneak out of the room now and then go on from there. However, he didn’t manage to. He ended up facing off with Qi Yilao and had still been coming up with a way to deal with him, when Qi Yilao told him to leave. On top of that, Qi Yilao looked like he had wanted him to leave a long time ago and was surprised that he was here. Jiao Bai sounded him out and his response was consistent. It appeared that Qi Yilao truly didn't want him to stay.

Then what was up with the original plot?

Jiao Bai didn't know where the problem was and didn't know where to even start looking, so he decided to organise the information he had about Qi Yilao’s character.

Qi Yilao’s character information wasn’t explicitly stated. The only thing the comic revealed was that he was a powerful real estate mogul in West City with the charm of a mature man and an endless succession of lovers. The character himself wasn't fully fleshed out, appearing only sparingly throughout the story, each time accompanied by a young man—some beautiful, some slender, some striking, and there were also average-looking, fair and plump, and simple and honest-looking...

All various kinds but they all shared the common trait of being well-behaved little pets.

In terms of appearance, skills, social status, experience and charisma, Qi Yilao stood head and shoulders above the rest. No matter the occasion, he would always be the absolute centre of attention. Naturally, such a character would not have an official partner, and fans enthusiastically created all sorts of pairings for him, shipping him with any character possible and even going as far as breaking up the official main couple just to pair him with one of them.

A rumour circulated on the internet that Qi Yilao would be the main character of the author's next work, but not long after, the author denied this rumour. She said in a fan group chat that Qi Yilao would not have an official partner—instead, he belonged to the fans.

Jiao Bai had a feeling that he couldn’t describe—he was a lover of tragic endings, preferring “I love you, but you don't love me back, then you do eventually, but I don't anymore,” or “you love me, but I'm dying” type plots, and never tired of it. On top of that, he was also a protagonist-devotee, and would skip over all the content with the supporting characters. Back when he was reading Broken Wings, he noticed Qi Yilao purely because he was ensnared by the author’s art style.

It wasn’t just Qi Yilao. Jiao Bai also didn't skip over any of the other supporting characters’ scenes. Those faces and legs, ah, every pen stroke was crazy splits on his F-rons.

Now the two-dimensional world had become three-dimensional, and the real person stood before Jiao Bai, but he was no longer in the mood to fawn over him. Jiao Bai’s identity and circumstances had undergone a complete transformation, and survival was his top priority.

Jiao Bai secretly made his own calculations. Qi Yilao’s territory lay in West City and he had come to South City to celebrate the Madam Shen’s[4] birthday. Once it was over, he would go back.

If he could hook up with Qi Yilao...

Jiao Bai’s mind grew increasing calm. Aside from Qi Yilao, there were other supporting characters who didn’t participate in the main plot nor delved into the romantic relationship between the protagonist couple, but there weren’t many that could make the Shen Family show deference to them.

From every angle, Qi Yilao was the most useful option.

If he could find a way to go to West City with Qi Yilao, then escaping at a later time would become much easier.

Since he had entered the comic world, he ought to live well and try his best to survive.

His life’s starting point of life had shifted here. Since he needed to come up with a new dream, he might as well dream big.

——I hope that I can live a long and worry-free life here.

The moment that thought crossed Jiao Bai’s mind, an electronic sound exploded in his head.

【 The player’s will to survive has exceeded the threshold, and the building dreams belief requirement has also been met. Click this link to activate your account. 】

A link appeared out of thin air in front of Jiao Bai, leaving him dumbstruck.

【 Account activation will begin automatically in five seconds. 】

【 Five, four, three... The delay is excessively long. The cache needs to be cleared again. Please wait patiently. 】

Jiao Bai was speechless.

This server was trash.

【 Player account activated. Account: Jiao Bai. Initial password: 000000. Logging in... 】

Jiao Bai looked at the list before him.

    →My Friends: 0/20.

Who are these people? As soon as Jiao Bai thought of this, the list opened, and twenty friends appeared in his field of vision.

He didn’t recognise a single one of them.

Jiao Bai’s scalp went cold. Could this be what he thought it was?

As if to confirm his suspicions, a second later, “My Boyfriend: 0/0” appeared under “My Friends.”

Jiao Bai stiffly scanned the names on the friend list.

This wasn’t right.

None of these people were characters from this comic. Wrong...wrong, wrong!

Jiao Bai screamed internally at the top of his lungs, System, assistant, guardian, or whatever you are, quick, look, you guys have a bug!

【 Warning! After analysis, player Jiao Bai’s data does not match this world. Transmission error detected. Please send the player back to correct world line immediately. 】

【 Warning! Warning! Player is already bound to Wang Chuqiu, a person who is about to die in this world, and cannot be unbound. Return failed. 】

Jiao Bai was still in a state of shock. Everything was fine now, right?

Etbj, good thing he wasn't sent to that world with those twenty people, or else he’d have to live a life out his days pooping and pissing his pants[5].

【 This world is not listed under R-Rated. Player Jiao Bai's account information will need to be updated. 】

【 Account updating... 】

【 Account update complete... 】

→My friends 1/1

Qi Yilao

Jiao Bai wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead and let out a long sigh of relief. For now, he decided to ignore everything else. Having only one friend on the list put his mind at ease.

【Currently adding friends… 】

Jiao Bai: Bye-bye.


[1] 戚爷 – Qi-ye – Master Qi - 戚 (Qī): surname. 爷 (yé): means "grandfather" or "sir" and is used to address an older or distinguished man in a polite and formal manner. It is used to show respect and often indicates that the person is of high status or older.

[2] 三哥 – San-ge – Third Brother - is a way of addressing or referring to the third-born son among siblings in a family, or it can denote a senior male figure with the position of the third brother in a particular context or group. It often conveys familiarity and respect, indicating a close or hierarchical relationship.

[3] 老沈 (lǎo shěn) – Old Shen - "老" (lǎo) is often used as a prefix to refer to someone with respect or familiarity, indicating seniority or simply to signify that the person is older. 沈 (shěn) is Shen Ji’s surname.

[4] 沈老太太 - Shěn lǎo tàitai – Madam Shen/elderly Mrs. Shen - 老太太 (lǎo tàitai) - is a respectful and somewhat formal way to refer to an elderly woman

[5] He’s probably thinking that that world with 20 friends is a harem world where he has multiple boyfriends. Hence, living a life with bladder and bowel incontinence.