"Did you see that?" Liǔ Cháoquè turned her head to look at Wáng Qígē.
Wáng Qígē nodded. "The plot changed again." As she spoke, she opened her phone, tapped on the game app, and muttered to herself, "Let me check what this storyline on my phone has turned into. If it's just like yours, maybe I've caught the virus too."
After skipping through a flurry of operations, she fast-forwarded the progress bar, only to find that the plot remained unchanged, the final frame lingering on those pure white window curtains.
"Looks like the storyline on your phone is still normal," Liǔ Cháoquè said. "Still, is there a chance that both of our storylines are wrong? After all, there are only the two of us around who play this game, and there are no specific plot walkthroughs online. Whether it's correct or not, we have no way of knowing."
"There's another way." Wáng Qígē looked at the ticketing app on her phone. "We can take a train to visit the company that developed this software. To untie a knot, you need the person who tied it; if this game has a virus, the company has to take responsibility."
After tapping around on her phone, she booked two tickets to the Marine University for the following morning.
Liǔ Cháoquè turned on the light and began packing her luggage. "If we're going, we're going. I've never been to Marine University anyway, and since you're on leave right now, we might as well stay there for a few days. I heard there's an anime convention happening over there around these days—wonder if we'll run into any UP hosts."
Neither of them was the hesitant, indecisive type. Although the trip was decided on the spur of the moment, since the tickets were already bought, they might as well take the opportunity to look around a bit more.
"I wonder if the DSN is far. Do you want to go?" Wáng Qígē asked her. "If you're going, I'll buy you a ticket too."
"DSN? I'm not really that interested," Liǔ Cháoquè replied, shaking her head. "If there's an ancient-style street or something, I might like it more." She crawled entirely inside the wardrobe, and after a frantic rummaging session, she dug out a cosplay outfit from some dark corner.
"Hehe, I heard you need to wear the clothes of characters you stan for the convention." Liǔ Cháoquè smiled mischievously. She pulled out an eye mask, put it on her face, snapped it open with a flourish, and looked at Wáng Qígē with a solemn expression. "I can feel it. This is the power bestowed by the God of the Void."
"Mortal, do you know of the God of the Void?"
"Be torn apart by the turbulence of time!"
"Stop, stop, stop." Wáng Qígē covered her face. "Why don't you cosplay Xiǎo Lù and I'll cosplay the female lead? This is just way too chuunibyou."
"Don't even think about tricking me into calling you 'big sister'." Liǔ Cháoquè's entire face spelled refusal. "At most, I'll cosplay a fiancé."
"That works too." Regret was unmistakably written across Wáng Qígē's expression.
Well, would you look at that—she actually managed to make the other person feel regret. Liǔ Cháoquè shook her head. Since Zǐjiàng was out of the question, she rummaged through the closet again and pulled out a suit and a women's business outfit.
She retrieved two wigs from the hair display case upstairs along with a bunch of bottles and jars, stuffing them all into her luggage. The two of them discussed a few more things they needed to bring, but it was getting too late, so the plans would just have to wait until they were on the train—besides, the train ride would take three hours anyway.
By the next day, because they had trouble sleeping the night before, both of them were running low on energy. Wáng Qígē forced herself to wake up, dragging Liǔ Cháoquè to wash up and eat. By the time they sat down on the train, forget planning any tourist itineraries—all they could think about was sleeping.
It was only when Liǔ Cháoquè set an alarm for an hour and a half later that the two of them used that brief window of wakefulness to hastily map out their sightseeing route.
The hotel was expensive, which made Liǔ Cháoquè's heart ache. What irritated her even more was the bus that simply refused to show up; after waiting for a full hour, they finally decided to hail a taxi.
When they checked the meter, splitting it came out to one hundred and eighty yuan.
"Haishi is truly prosperous, and truly unaffordable," Liǔ Cháoquè lamented as she sat in the reception lounge downstairs from the company building, sipping the plain water kindly provided by the receptionist. "Good thing I made some money in past years, and now I earn a bit from writing novels too, otherwise I wouldn't even be able to pay the taxi fare."
Wáng Qígē was feeling a bit depressed as well. "I suppose every city has its own rules for survival. Ningshi has lots of buses, Hang City has plenty of subways and buses, Huzhi makes it pretty convenient to hail cabs, and this place is probably similar to Huzhi."
The person arrived an hour later. The one who received them wasn't any high-ranking executive—after all, they didn't command that kind of clout. He wore a checkered shirt and had thinning hair; he was likely an IT employee.
Whoever he was, Liǔ Cháoquè handed her phone straight to him and said bluntly, "Your software got installed, but now I can't even uninstall it. Isn't this rogue software?" It was extremely direct, with no sugarcoating at all.
The man happened to be quite good-tempered. Knowing that these complainants had actually tracked him all the way to the company, he took a serious look at the phone. As he looked, his brow furrowed as well. "That's not right. When I designed the software, there wasn't any bug that prevented uninstallation."
"And then there's the plot you guys designed." Liǔ Cháoquè patted Wáng Qígē, signaling her to show him the screen-recorded video, which featured the cat-eyed youth they had seen last night.
The man's eyes widened in astonishment. "Impossible! This is a character from a storyline we haven't released yet. I designed it to be placed in the final segment of Chapter Two—how is it showing up already?" He hurried over to open the computer beside him and began tapping away, editing as he spoke. "Look, is this the section?"
Liǔ Cháoquè and Wáng Qígē crowded over and discovered that this segment really was an exact match. She scratched her head—could it be that her phone was broadcasting future plots?
That wasn't right either. She asked, "Then did you add any horror elements, like that kind of old granny in the dark?"
"This... would you mind describing it a bit more?" the man asked.
Liǔ Cháoquè recounted the plot she had seen the day before. The man smacked his forehead. "Oh no, this is the storyline from another software our team is developing! How on earth do you know about this?"
With a grave expression, he said, "Are you two really not sent by some rival company to make trouble?"
"How could that be? Even if we were making trouble, we wouldn't target stuff you haven't even released yet. Oh~! Could it be that you actually want to claim we're competitors sent to steal your trade secrets? But that doesn't make sense either—if I had that kind of ability, wouldn't we keep it under wraps instead of coming straight to your face to output like this? Do you think that's possible?" Liǔ Cháoquè retorted.
"That's true. But none of these plots belong to Chapter One. It's impossible for us to give bugs to just your phone alone, and nobody else has ever complained about this."
"My software still can't be uninstalled," Liǔ Cháoquè brought him back to the main point.
"Right." The man nodded. "I can try fixing that for you."
Since it was software he developed himself, if it truly couldn't be uninstalled, there was still a self-destruct method available: "However, you won't be able to play the game anymore. It's equivalent to the game blocking you."
"Is there no other way?" Wáng Qígē asked.
"Nothing else." The man nodded.
"Why didn't you let him forcefully uninstall the software for me?" Walking along the path toward a nearby affordable bakery, Liǔ Cháoquè asked in puzzlement.
"I originally thought this game was forcibly downloaded onto your phone by the company, or that it had run into some tricky bug. But now that the people at this company don't even know anything about it, tell me—is there a chance it's like one of those transmigration novels, except you transmigrated into a game?"
"The female lead in this game runs into murder cases every other day, just like that elementary schooler from next door. Don't go cursing me like that." Liǔ Cháoquè waved a hand while checking the map.
"Better safe than sorry. You should study the plot thoroughly right now so that if you really do transmigrate, you won't slip up. Turn right," Wáng Qígē said. "If we uninstall it, we'll really be left completely in the dark."
The two bought their bread and returned to the hotel. The next day, they attended the anime convention, with Liǔ Cháoquè lugging a gigantic rose and walking alongside Wáng Qígē.
Today's convention was exceptionally lively, with characters whose names they recognized and didn't recognize drifting past their eyes.
Liǔ Cháoquè's knowledge of anime was shallow, still stuck back in 2016, whereas Wáng Qígē was excitedly introducing the characters of the people who had just walked by.
Liǔ Cháoquè felt like her face-blindness was acting up.
However, both of them were quite socially anxious. Even though they had dressed up as an extremely social-butterfly fiancé, they only indulged their social-butterfly urges at home; out in public, there was no way they would ever say those embarrassing lines.
Unless someone wanted to do a photo trade.
"Hello, can we do a photo trade?" At that moment, a cute young lady walked up. Liǔ Cháoquè took one look and recognized the familiar little blue hair; if she remembered correctly, this outfit should be... a maid!
She felt just as awkward right then as someone who, while greeting relatives during the Lunar New Year, runs into an extremely familiar-looking relative but forgets what title to use.
Fortunately, the girl didn't test her on the spot to see what character she was cosplaying, and Liǔ Cháoquè maintained a poised and graceful smile.
"This fiancé of yours is just too accurate!" the lady smiled. "And that young lady next to you must be your fiancée."
"Yep, she's my fiancée," Liǔ Cháoquè smiled. "Though she's a bit shy."
Wáng Qígē was already curling her toes inside her shoes. After the person walked away, she swatted Liǔ Cháoquè. "I told you so! We should've just cosplayed President Xiǎo Lù instead—at least all I'd have to do is shout 'big sister'."
"Now that we're calling each other 'fiancée'—it's fine when nobody wants a photo, but when someone does, it's so awkward." Wáng Qígē let out a heavy sigh.
Liǔ Cháoquè looked thoughtful. "I think I have a way."
Standing outside the restroom, Wáng Qígē waited idly for Liǔ Cháoquè to come out, watching the men and women walking in and out. Under the camouflage of cosmetics, she had some trouble telling whether they were male or female.
While she was looking at others, others were looking at her too. In an awkward spot like the restroom entrance, people only spared her a curious glance before hurriedly going in or out.
After about five or six minutes—long enough for Wáng Qígē to start counting ants on the ground—someone called out from behind, "Fiancée."
Wáng Qígē turned her head, only to see a completely unfamiliar look: a white suit, a red shirt, and hair dyed back to black and styled simply with hair gel.
Judging by the face, though, it was definitely Liǔ Cháoquè. With sunglasses hanging from her shirt pocket, Liǔ Cháoquè flashed a gentle smile. "Right now, I'm Xiǎo Huā."
Wáng Qígē, who hadn't read much of Tomb Notes, was utterly bewildered. "Are we not even in the same universe anymore?"
Liǔ Cháoquè waved a hand. "He's the only suit-wearing guy I remember. Besides, I don't have any other wigs, so I had no choice but to change into this."
"Then what am I cosplaying?" Wáng Qígē asked. "We have to match."
"Uh, maybe you could try Wu the Dog?" Liǔ Cháoquè blinked.
"Huh?" Wáng Qígē wore a blank expression.
Looking at her outfit, which bore a strong resemblance to Yan Zi, she couldn't help marveling: "The female lead undergoing a radical makeover into the male lead—truly you, Liǔ Cháoquè!"
"Alright, alright, let's go, let's go." Liǔ Cháoquè's lips curved slightly. "You're the martial world's renowned Young Master San. Right now I'm Xiǎo Huā, and you're Wú Xié."
"Oh—"
Though she was still a bit fuzzy on the situation, seeing that after changing her cosplay, nobody came over to chat her up, she was actually quite satisfied.
It was only when a few bold souls cautiously walked up and asked, "Friend, are you cosplaying Yan Zi, Xia Mingxing, or Wú Xié?" that Wáng Qígē finally understood the crux of the issue. So she wasn't the only one who thought these three characters' cosplays looked alike.
Liǔ Cháoquè, standing beside her, spread her hands. She didn't smile like Xiǎo Huā, but rather like Black Glasses. Wrapping an arm around Wáng Qígē's shoulder, she beamed brightly, "Why, this is naturally our Young Master San Wú."
"Then you must be Second Master Hua," the girl stated with absolute certainty. "Though Second Master Hua, the way you're smiling doesn't look like Second Master Hua at all."
"Cough, cough." Liǔ Cháoquè pulled back her expression, putting on Xie Yuhua's signature cool look. "How about now?"
"Wow! That hits the spot!" The girl stomped her feet in excitement and pulled out her phone. "Second Master Hua, Young Master San, can we do a photo trade?"
"Sure." Liǔ Cháoquè offered a faint smile.
Surrounded by enthusiastic girls taking photos for a while, they followed the flow of the crowd into the main hall. As soon as they entered, Liǔ Cháoquè dragged Wáng Qígē straight toward the concert hall.
Listening to the passionate anime theme songs, Liǔ Cháoquè felt as though she had grown ten years younger herself.
Beside her, Wáng Qígē hummed along to the music from time to time, and Liǔ Cháoquè could chime in with a few notes of her own.
Until...
"Who is the light that kindles the candles to illuminate the riddles of time set up?"
"Light swaps the positions of light and shadow"
"Flowing wildly and wantonly"
...Walking toward the most forgiving execution ground with a fierce and stubborn heart, every crack and fracture echoes hollowly
In the end, I'm actually glad the sunset still lingers on my body
Too late to tell how turbulent the story is"
"Using the most rugged peaks to fulfill your and my wildness
The clear breeze of the sea and the full moon, poured into the cup's light."
Wáng Qígē stared blankly at the woman beside her, who was effortlessly switching into operatic singing styles while belting it out with exceptional enthusiasm and skill. It was only at this moment that she realized her tone-deaf friend actually had exceptions depending on the situation.
Liǔ Cháoquè was invited up onto the stage. Having finally run into kindred spirits, a few people started swapping tracks, and she began singing various ancient-style songs. Taking a closer look, all of them were songs by the exact same artist—such is the dedication of a stanning fan.
After a hearty and thoroughly satisfying performance, Liǔ Cháoquè bid farewell to the friends she had temporarily made and walked out of the venue with Wáng Qígē.
Right after that, Wáng Qígē watched with her own eyes as Liǔ Cháoquè's face turned beet red. Like Cinderella leaving at midnight, she stepped out of her idealized state and was left facing the harsh, social-anxiety-inducing reality.
"This was an accident. Do you believe me?"
Thinking of Liǔ Cháoquè, who had been eager and raring to go up on stage like a wild horse breaking loose, Wáng Qígē nodded calmly. "I believe you."
"Hey, I just got a bit too excited! I actually got to sing Spicy Sauce's song!" Liǔ Cháoquè chuckled foolishly. "I've been a loyal fan of Spicy Sauce for ten years, ever since the Manhan Quanxi days. I wonder if I'll ever get to go to his concert one day."
Wáng Qígē nodded. "You will. Next time he holds a concert, we'll watch it together."
Liǔ Cháoquè smiled.