Chapter 129 - Li Ling Is Afraid

"Why...?" Li Ling was a bit confused as he saw the painting. 

It was a portrait of a person that he would never not recognize, after all, the face on the painting belonged to a man he deeply loved and cared for. 

Zhihao smiled as he looked at Li Ling, "When I saw this, I immediately knew who the vampire was."

"I don't get it," Li Ling shook his head, "Isn't it supposed to be the painting of the house owner?" 

Zhihao felt like this confusion was natural since he was also a bit stunned when he saw it for the first time, but instead of clearing Li Ling's confusion right away, Zhihao pointed at the man's pocket and spoke, "Take out the letter and read what was written on the back." 

Li Ling squinted as he did exactly what he was told to do. He took out the letter and turned it around to read the backside that he had ignored previously. 

"Oh...", was the only thing that he was able to utter as he read the content that surprised him a bit. 

[Like the dark side of the moon, let me hide this secret here. 

If you ever read this, I'm sure I'll die all over again from embarrassment. 

I like you, bellboy. 

No...

Actually... 

I love you a lot. 

If there is one thing in this world that I loved and wanted to keep living on for, it would be you. 

But it became torturous to see you suffering because of me every day so I knew I had to leave you. 

I'm sorry for never saying anything. 

If God gives me another chance, let's meet again and I'll say this to your face.]

"A beautiful painting of a man he admired very much." Zhihao looked at the painting as he spoke, "A vampire who despises himself would never have his photo up on his wall." 

"Oh... That's...." Li Ling was at a loss for words as he heard this. 

"Doesn't this seem like a sign to you?" 

"A sign?" 

Zhihao nodded his head enthusiastically, "We were playing the character of two lovers in the last game and we are playing the part of 'somewhat' lovers in this level as well. This seemed like a sign." 

"That we'll only have a bad ending if we became lovers?" 

Zhihao pursed his lips and looked at the man with an unimpressed expression, "It's a sign that we are perfect as a couple."

Li Ling chuckled as a response, not daring to say anything to that. 

"So would you date me?" 

"Hmm..." Li Ling looked at the man up and down before deciding to respond, "How about you ask again later?" 

Zhihao sighed as he took a step back and picked up something from the table behind them. 

Li Ling noticed this small movement and was curious to know what it was. 

Zhihao showed him the object in his hand that made Li Ling's eyes go wide. 

"A ring...?!" 

Zhihao nodded as he closed the box that contained the ring. 

"Was he planning to propose?" 

Zhihao shook his head as he responded, "Probably not."

"Then why?" 

"It doesn't belong to him." Zhihao replied, "It belongs to the bellboy." 

"Huh?" 

Zhihao pointed at himself as he continued, "It seems that this bellboy was also in love with the beautiful vampire." 

Li Ling didn't know if he should laugh or cry as he heard this. It was clearly not Zhihao asking to marry him, it was Zhihao's character proposing to the vampire Li Ling was playing, but for some reason, Li Ling's heart couldn't help but race as he looked at Zhihao's honest expressions. 

Thankfully, it seemed that even the system didn't want Li Ling to give a response as Alvi started fake coughing. 

[Cough~ Cough~] 

[Your ten minutes are over.]

[Do you want the character profile or not?]

Zhihao's eyes lit up as he looked at the small bot that seemed to be still a bit mad at them for leaving her behind. 

"Who are we role-playing?" Li Ling tried his best to make his voice sound as calm as possible as he asked Alvi. 

[Lord Versailles is the only vampire left in this world, however, he doesn't like that lonely title. He is in love with a man named Carmen who had been thrown out of the council for killing innocent people who tried to kill the only vampire left.]

[Carmen is a man in his late twenties who is driven by a need for justice. He is tasked to look after Lord Versailles under the new vampire protection act.]

"What's this council that you're talking about?" Zhihao asked in confusion. 

[The council consists of a group of members who have vowed to protect the people and to make decisions for the people and for their well-being.]

Li Ling sighed, "So basically, they are the government." 

Zhihao nodded in agreement, "What's the new vampire protection act?"

[The new vampire protection act was made to protect vampires. It came into place after the death of a member of the council, Amy, who came out as a vampire and was burned on the spot by the people.]

"That's... Cruel." Zhihao frowned. 

[Your mission is to keep the last Vampire alive.]

[All the best! May you avoid all pitchforks and fires!]

"..."

"Were you trying to cheer us up or warning us?" Li Ling asked as he looked at Alvi who smiled wickedly. 

[Hohoho~ This is gonna be fun.]

"..." Zhihao had a bad feeling in his gut as he heard the bot being so happy. 

If they were happy, Alvi would be pouting in one corner and if Alvi was happily laughing, Zhihao and Li Ling had to make sure they had their sports shoe on in order to run away as fast as they can. 

"Can you tell us what happened before we came here?" Zhihao asked. He was sure that he wouldn't be getting a clear answer but it was still worth a try. 

[Why should I tell you?]

"..."

Li Ling shook his head as he spoke, "You should tell us because we want to know and you know the answer." 

[Is that a request?] 

"Sure, if you want it to be." 

[Hmm...]

[Maybe I'll give you a bit of a hint?} 

"..." Zhihao looked at Li Ling in shock and suspicion. He never knew there was such a feature. They could actually force an answer out of the bot by requesting her? Since when? 

Li Ling noticed Zhihao looking at him and immediately glanced back at the man, trying to justify himself, "I didn't know this was gonna work." 

[Before you guys came here, Lord Versailles had reported himself and was waiting for the people to arrive and kill him. He wrote a letter for Carmen and earlier that day, he made sure that Carmen wouldn't be able to come on time, however, Carmen unexpectedly arrived to give Lord Versailles a surprise.]

[The two ended up arguing with each other and... Now you guys are here.]

Zhihao, "Argue? About what?" 

[Just because I donated some extra information to you doesn't mean I'm going to give you some more.]

[You should figure it out yourself.]

Zhihao expected this so when he heard this, he wasn't annoyed or angry, he simply turned his head and asked Li Ling, "Carmen was going to propose, wasn't he?" 

Li Ling had a complicated look on his face that made it look as if he was thinking deeply about the topic, "Probably." 

Zhihao suddenly sighed, "What is this mess? The two like each other but they don't want to let themselves be together...? Why would someone do such a thing?" 

"Maybe they're just afraid?" 

"Hmm?" 

"They are afraid of hurting the one they love." Although Li Ling was talking about the game characters, for some reason, Zhihao couldn't help but feel that there was a deeper meaning behind what Li Ling was saying. 

"..." 

Li Ling, "I'm sure you'd do the same. When you love someone a lot, you'll be afraid of hurting that person. You would want to hide your flaws and only show the bright side. You'll be afraid of that person leaving you or getting bored of you. You'll start to find yourself being somehow dependent on that person and it would cause more fear. Fear of being found out and hated for all your flaws." 

"Then that's not love." Zhihao responded, "If you have to hide something to be loved back, I don't think you can call that love. It's simply deceit. You are fooling both yourself and the one you love. It's not gonna last long either." 

"What do you know?" Li Ling seemed to sound a bit hurt as he looked at Zhihao. 

Zhihao suddenly felt as if Li Ling was talking about his anonymous crush and when he thought about this, he couldn't help but feel unpleasant. He was certainly drinking vinegar; A few jars of it. 

Zhihao, "You think I don't know?" 

"..." 

"When I said I wanted to date you, I meant it." Zhihao didn't look too happy as he spoke, "I like you, Li Ling. Did you think my feelings were a joke?" 

Li Ling, who was always prepared for almost everything was suddenly left in a sticky position and he no longer knew what he was supposed to respond to something like this.