Chapter 187: 7.25

[Ding!]

[Breakmeter 0%.]

[Fatemeter 100%.]

Yunyu had a bizarre nightmare right now. He saw XuanLake continuously stab ZeroCheat with his sword until blood flowed like a river. His eyes were deranged and dangerous. 

Yunyu took few steps back because he got scared, but XuanLake locked his eyes at him and teleported in front of him so suddenly, "AAAAHH!" Yunyu screamed out loud.

XuanLake circled his hands around Yunyu's waist and pulled him closer. He had a gentle smile on his face, but there was a trace of bitterness in it, "Why are you scared? It's you who make me like this. I'm just adapting to your preference, my little Yunyu."

"No way, there is no way I can make you like this!" Yunyu struggled hard, "I never want anyone to be a deranged killer! Let me go! LET ME GO!" 

XuanLake locked Yunyu in his embrace without breaking a sweat, "I don't think you understand what kind of change you did to me, Bai Yunyu."

XuanLake grinned, and he rested his chin on Yunyu's shoulder, "Do you know that I'm always bored? Bored, bored, bored, bored with everything! I can defeat or solve every problem in my life easily. I also can get anything I want in real life without too much trouble because I was born wealthy. So instead, I create big trouble by signing up to be a debugger for the game's beta test."

"You see, I'm a natural genius, so instead of debugging, I learned everything about the game and create my own virus and bugs inside this game. I want to see what kind of fun and chaos I can create in this game," XuanLake rubbed his cheek against Yunyu's cheek and continued;

"Once the game has been released, and everyone started buying the game alongside the virtual reality helmet, I knew that they signed a death contract in virtual reality. Because the game is connected with their brain."

"It was fun and game for a while until I got bored by how dull the game became, so I decided to just… enter the debug world and trapped everyone inside this game, though I don't plan to do this forever."

"I wanted to play around for a while before conquering the Tower of God and see what was the fun at the peak. I knew that the last boss in Tower of God was the reset button of this game. If someone was able to kill the last boss, he or she could reset the game and kick everyone out of the virtual reality prison."

"It was my motivation for a while. I played with many newbies because I thought it would be fun to see them struggling, while I act like an angel who wants to help them escape this virtual reality prison. Until you came to me and wreak havoc inside my mind and heart."

"At first, I thought you are just a good toy for me to play with. But you truly fascinate me with your quirkiness, your shamelessness, your earnestness, and even your pettiness. I love all of it. You are my first love, Bai Yunyu."

XuanLake put Yunyu's palm on his heart. Yunyu could feel the accelerating heartbeat of XuanLake, "Feel this, my heart has been dead for a while because of boredom. I did everything I want because of boredom, and I'm still bored. But you come to me and finally fill this void in my heart."

"So I will never let you go, Bai Yunyu."

Yunyu finally opened his eyes after he experienced that nightmare. His chest was undulating up and down. He looked around to find himself in a familiar bed with strange round orbs on his wrists and ankles. 

After he realized that he was inside XuanLake's room in Kain Town, Yunyu panicked as he struggled to wake up, but the orbs were too heavy. It made him completely immobile. 

[No! I can't do anything! Am I going to stuck like this forever?! I don't want to! Pupa, help me! Pupa! Pupaaaaa!] 

[Pupa: Tsk, so noisy. Why can't I have a bit of serenity after days of overworking?] 

Slowly, an orange shaped object with two nonchalant eyes appeared in front of Yunyu. Yunyu thought that orange shaped object was ugly before, but now, it became the most handsome, the best thing in the universe! 

[PUPA MY LOVE, MY BABY BOO! MY HONEY BUNNY SWEETIE, YOU FINALLY RETURN TO PAPA!]

[Pupa:… Should I return back to headquarter instead? What kind of kinky stuff you are playing right now.] 

[NO! I NEED YOU HERE! YOU ARE MY ONLY SAVIOR!]

Pupa nonchalantly floated around Yunyu and checked the current condition. 

[Pupa: I just left you for three days, and you already screwed everything in this world.] 

[Wuwuwu… I'm sorry, I really don't expect that XuanLake can be this crazy. He becomes a full blown Yandere!]

[Pupa: I wonder why.]

[That… I wonder why as well…] 

[Pupa: Hmmmmm…. Should I show you the hidden plot again? I already showed it in your dream just now.] 

Yunyu gulped. He remembered the content of his nightmare last night and shook his head. 

[Okay, I admit it. I screw up real bad! I've played with XuanLake's feeling until he turns into a crazed Yandere! There, satisfied?!]

[Pupa: Sigh, because of your pettiness, I was in deep trouble back in headquarter. Other systems laughed at me because I have such a troublesome host and I have to create a temporary patch to stop those electric bugs from invading our invisible bind. You are truly a handful one, and I don't even have hands.]

[Okay, okay! I am sorry! Wuwuwu, I will never do it again, I promise!]

[Now, can we just… restart? I swear I will be a good boy and work hard to fill the Breakmeter!]

[Pupa: Unfortunately, because of the temporary patch to stop the electric bugs, I cannot do a restart in this world. You have to fill the Breakmeter, or else we will be stuck in this world forever. Either that, or you might die for real if you decided to commit suicide without completing the Breakmeter.]

[…]

[Pupa:…]

[So… no restart?]

[Pupa: No.]

[… Alright, I take back my words. You are not my saviour. Just when I thought you can be useful at least once, but you disappoint me yet again.]

[Pupa: At least be grateful that I can still return to you, you petty dumbass!] 

[Ouch! Ouch! I'm sorry!]

Pupa smacked Yunyu's head with its body a few times until it was satisfied and then said;

[Pupa: XuanLake is currently cooking for your lunch, try to find a way so he can open the binds. Also,… try to be compassionate. I know you are not the holy mother who should forgive all kinds of sin, especially those that hurt you. I know that you are still a human that has anger and bitterness. But you should not fight fire with gas. It would only create an unstoppable wildfire.]

Yunyu seemed to ponder for a moment, then he asked Pupa;

[Do you think I've done way too much for XuanLake? I mean, he is still a terrible person nonetheless. He trapped many people inside this game without remorse simply because of boredom.]

[Pupa: And you killed ZeroCheat by gaslighting that terrible person.]

[…]

[Pupa: You are not an angel, Bai Yunyu. But you should not be the devil because you feel like you want to destroy something. That is simply a man without self-control, just like Hu Xuan.]

XuanLake returned to Yunyu with a bowl of rice and fried chicken, alongside few side dishes, "Lunch is here, darling."

XuanLake was wearing a blue apron that looked cute on him. Combined with his youthful, handsome face, he was like a young husband taking care of his wife. 

After seeing the hidden plot that Pupa sent as a nightmare, Yunyu finally realized how much of a potential person XuanLake was. He was a genius, handsome, a son of a wealthy family. He was destined to be a great person in the future. 

But because he faced no challenge in life, he became bored of everything.

Honestly, Yunyu was conflicted right now. He could just blame it all on XuanLake for his crazy behaviour. But Yunyu understood that he was the gaslighter. He was the trigger that broke XuanLake's sanity.

"XuanLake, I—"

"Shh… don't call me XuanLake anymore. Call me Hu Xuan or Brother Xuan, we are two very intimate soulmates, remember?" XuanLake smiled. He put the food on the small table near the bed and propped Yunyu to sit on the bed.

XuanLake mixed the rice with sesame seeds and started feeding Yunyu, "Open your mouth, darling. You need to eat after what happened yesterday."

Yunyu didn't open his mouth immediately. He stared at XuanLake and said, "Brother Xuan… I'm sorry."

XuanLake froze for a moment. He was prepared for Yunyu to curse at him with all his might. But the first thing he said was… sorry.

"Why would you say that? You know I'm the devil here," XuanLake said.

Yunyu shook his head, "No, I am the devil that hurt you the most, Brother Xuan. The petty revenge that I thought was just for fun turns into something like this… I feel like it's not only you who killed Brother Zero."

"It's us. We killed Brother Zero…" Yunyu admitted.

"Yunyu…" 

"I know you locked me here because you have been hurting so much because of my deed. So… I want to gain your trust back. I will not struggle until you release my binds by yourself."

"I promise, Brother Xuan."