Arc 2: Amnesia
Chapters 46-85
After Xin Hexue’s heart stopped, he spent a few days as a ghost, watching his own funeral take place with his own eyes. He was buried on the cliff by the seaside, very close to the hillside where Qiu Yuan had taken him to watch the meteor shower that night, just across the mountain path.
To be able to witness one’s own funeral was probably a rare experience. Even based on all the scientific knowledge he had learned in the past, this experience is impossible.
The weather was quite good on the morning of his burial and many people came to pay their respects. In his soul state, Xin Hexue could finally remember their faces. But perhaps due to his previous face blindness, even though the symptoms of facial recognition disorder were gone, Xin Hexue still couldn’t tell who they were.
Most of them were probably people he had only met a few times in the past.
Xin Hexue had no particular impression of them.
They might have come out of curiosity about this person who had blown up the Hive and became widely talked about, or perhaps they came because they wanted to establish some connection with Qiu Yuan.
The funeral was already in black and white, and when it was about to end, dark clouds took away the last patch of blue sky, and autumn rain began to fall.
It was cold.
His soul could actually feel the sensation of rain.
Out of the corner of his eye, Xin Hexue caught a glimpse of someone.
The person was sitting in a wheelchair in the far distance. He lingered outside the funeral garden for a long time, looking toward it but never once stepping inside.
Rain started to fall. Before the Alpha in the wheelchair could say anything, the person beside him, likely his assistant, had already opened a large black umbrella.
The shadow fell, covering the Alpha’s face and blocking the view, so Xin Hexue couldn’t see him clearly.
But he instinctively knew it was Pei Guangji.
‘How pitiful.’
Xin Hexue waved at him.
This wasn’t just a farewell to Pei Guangji, but a farewell to this small world.
[Pei Guangji’s love value is full, heartbreak value is full]
[Xi Zhengqing’s love value is full, heartbreak value is full]
[Qiu Yuan’s love value is full, heartbreak value is full]
[Qiu Jing’s love value is full, heartbreak value is full]
[Pei Ying’s love value is full]
Xin Hexue exited this world.
The Alpha in the wheelchair seemed to sense something and looked up into the distance.
The fine drizzle continued to fall, but the sky seemed to tear open slightly, letting a single ray of golden sunlight through.
Bright and gentle.
Only, that ray of light didn’t fall on him.
Pei Guangji lowered his gaze. “Let’s go back.”
………
Xin Hexue had half a month of rest time in the big world.
This counted as the vacation granted to him by the company before the post-production of the drama was complete.
Even when Xin Hexue was still in the small world, Dianxing Company had already begun promoting him as the rookie of the year. The official profile photos and teaser videos released on Dianxing’s official account had made it to several hot searches.
The photos released were ones the company had gotten from K.
K had picked through his own encrypted folder for a long time and barely managed to find two or three not-so-cute cat pictures.
He handled it all like business, coldly sending them over.
Actually, they were still very cute.
The noble, snow-white lion cat had no bad angles from any direction.
The video provided was from shortly after the plot began, during the scene where Pei Guangji suddenly became agitated and confronted Xin Hexue in the aircraft.
Under the light, the beauty with a cold silently shed tears.
Crystal-clear tears welled up from the corners of his slightly red eyes. With a gentle blink, they slid down his cheeks.
It took the Star Network by storm that night.
The number of reservations on Star Network for the yet-to-be-released TV drama “Flower of the Universe” has exceeded 10 million.
The finished product that had been edited last week was uploaded.
The footage that couldn’t be shown due to sensitive content was either deleted or censored with light, and some daily life scenes that didn’t contribute much to the plot were appropriately trimmed as well, so the resulting final cut had a complete and tight plotline.
The views had already surpassed one hundred million, and the company’s official account posted a celebratory message.
Xin Hexue hadn’t had the chance to look at the feedback yet. To him, the most intuitive impression this data gave was that the big world must have a huge population.
But the company was obviously very satisfied with him. On one hand, they raised his salary, and on the other, they arranged for him to live in a luxury residential area with strong security.
Xin Hexue also received a health experience card for the big world, which allowed him to temporarily gain a physique that wouldn’t catch a cold even after soaking in cold water.
This experience was very novel for him, especially after having lived through the decline and final cardiac arrest of his body in the small world. Even though that process hadn’t brought real pain, it still gave him a feeling of helplessness from being unable to control his own life, which left him uncomfortable.
Being able to have a normal person’s body in the big world was like timely rain to him.
The company also arranged a new physical checkup and psychological counseling for Xin Hexue, partly to avoid employees being unable to exit their roles, but more importantly, to ensure they could set off into a new small world after the half-month vacation ended.
After all, this half month was a paid holiday.
Xin Hexue had been casually scrolling through the homepage of star network.
A post that had been shared tens of thousands of times happened to refresh right in front of him.
Xin Hexue glanced at the related section and judged that this was a discussion thread about “Flower of the Universe”.
It was probably audience feedback and ranting.
Before swiping past it, he glanced at it again and frowned slightly. Something was off about the title of the post.
#Even if wife slaps me, I’d still lick his palm#
1L: [animated GIF]
2L: My wife’s slap came down and I went “shhlup” and licked it right up.
52L: From the title, I knew it was about my wife…my kitty only gently patted my face with its soft paw pads… and I went too far and sucked the cat into a mango pit… sorry, I’m thinking about my kitten again…
77L: This drama dominated my homepage recently. I went in expecting the sweet and sour, dog blood drama in wealthy families because of the promo, but after watching it all the way through…it’s so cool! This is obviously a cool and refreshing drama, why did they advertise it as angst! And then I got to the ending… Snow Cat, don’t leave me! Wife, how can I live without you!!! My heart’s all tight, my eyes are hot and misty…
111L: I thought I had a heart of stone, but after watching, I immediately went to look for Snow Cat’s social media account, only to find that Dianxing Company never even opened one for him. What kind of trash company is this! I must have fresh cats to rua!! If you don’t give me new cat content I’m going to die!
133L: It feels like the only regret in this drama is that there’s no 18x scenes. Every time it gets to the 18x part, it’s either holy light or a black screen, and I can only listen to the sounds. I feel like I’m the husband hiding under the bed or in the closet… You damn dogs better not eat my cat ahhhhhh!!
340L: Xiao Xue’s little Xue is not allowed to sit on their faces…
668L: Every time an 18x scene came on, all I could do was impatiently jump around while staring at the holy light. Are you doing it or not? (knock knock on the bed frame) Are you there? (crawling in the shadows under the bed) Are you doing it? How far have you gotten? (peeking through the bed cracks) Did you kiss? Are the clothes off yet? (anxiously diving into the wardrobe) What round are you on now? (crawling all over the ceiling) Can you show me or not? (restlessly pacing back and forth, back and forth) Are you doing it or not??
801L: Do you guys know? xhx has never denied being my wife. The more I think about it, the scarier it gets. My hands were shaking as I typed this!
Xin Hexue exited the post and carefully checked which section it had been posted under.
?
Was this really a discussion about “Flower of the Universe”?
Xin Hexue tried typing out the letters “xhx” to decode the meaning, and the autocomplete suggestions that popped up in the input box were: _, Xue Huaxiu, Xiao Huaxian, Xiao Hengxing, Xiao Huxian…
Hmm, didn’t seem to have anything to do with him.
Probably posted in the wrong section.
He lay on the sofa in his pajamas. The air conditioning was on full blast, and K came over and covered him with a thin blanket.
Xin Hexue hadn’t taken a nap that afternoon. He yawned sleepily, wiped away the reflexive tears at the corners of his eyes, and asked K, “Are we ordering takeout tonight? Or going out to eat?”
In the small world, K was just a support system, but in the big world, he held many roles; he was Xin Hexue’s agent, assistant, and live-in butler.
If K’s cooking were good, he’d also be the chef.
But the food he cooked wasn’t tasty.
In the big world, K had a tangible physical body, unlike the translucent form he took in the small world.
The tall man with black hair was wearing a floral apron with cat-paw patterns that didn’t quite match his temperament. He had bought it himself. Xin Hexue had no comments on his good partner’s aesthetic tastes.
K took off the apron and carefully hung it up. If Xin Hexue paid attention to star network, he’d have found that this was a merchandise product that was very popular some time ago. The white cat was based on him.
K: “I tried cooking again tonight.”
When this system left the factory, the inspector probably failed to detect the bug in its taste detection module. As a result, the food K made always turned out too salty.
Xin Hexue picked up some food with his chopsticks, tasted it, and his expression changed.
Xin Hexue: “I have a great idea.”
He opened a drawer under the TV stand and took out two cups of instant noodles.
K: “…”
Xin Hexue: “We bought these last time at the supermarket.”
Of course K remembered.
Back then, while Xin Hexue wasn’t looking, he’d secretly put three out of the five cups of instant noodles back on the shelf. The remaining two were only still there because Xin Hexue caught him in the act.
Xin Hexue pretended not to see K’s disapproving expression.
Hugging the two cups of instant noodles, he said, “Let’s see, one is braised beef flavor, the other is…spicy beef flavor.”
Xin Hexue looked up. “Which one do you want to eat?”
K: “We can go out to eat.”
Xin Hexue pushed the braised beef flavor, which he wasn’t too interested in, into K’s arms. “Oh, so you wanted this flavor.”
K: “…”
K: “If you want to eat beef, there’s a nice Western restaurant nearby. The steak reviews are really good…”
Xin Hexue had already poured in the boiling hot water. “You’re not eating? Then I’ll try the taste.”
K silently opened his own cup of instant noodles.
Steam rose, and a light sheen of sweat appeared on Xin Hexue’s forehead. He lowered his gaze and said, “So this is what it tastes like.”
When he was the crown prince, he wasn’t allowed to eat any junk food. This kind of instant food was also under the ban.
Xin Hexue suddenly looked up and asked K, “Has the chance to draw a script been scheduled?”
He remembered K once explained that in most entertainment companies in the big world, scripts were randomly selected by the system from a script pool. Depending on the employee’s internal rating, they would be assigned to different levels of script pools. The higher the level of the pool, the better the scripts one could draw.
But based on his understanding of the tastes of the big world, he didn’t hold much hope for the higher-level pools either.
He just couldn’t sit still. The big world was still unfamiliar to him, so he wasn’t able to completely let go and enjoy a vacation life yet. He still preferred to throw himself into work mode, so he wanted K to draw a script as soon as possible.
K thought for a moment and explained to him, “The company has decided to change your acting path. Next will be a special assessment world. If you pass, the company will improve your benefits and adjust your development track.”
Xin Hexue: “What kind of acting path?”
He didn’t quite understand K’s phrasing.
K explained, “Actors in the big world’s entertainment companies are generally divided into three types. The first type follows the script perfectly. The second type allows actors to adapt the content based on the script, including but not limited to altering the character’s personality traits and behavioral patterns beyond the original attributes during performance. As long as the plot remains logically consistent and more exciting, the company allows it.”
“The higher-ups originally assigned you to the first type, which is standard and conventional.”
“Due to the host’s performance in the last world, they now believe you’re more suited for the second type.”
“So they’ve set up an assessment world. During the assessment period, the host doesn’t need to follow the character’s personality and behavior in the script. The plot can deviate from the script within logical bounds and if the assessment is passed, future small worlds will follow this model.”
“At the same time, the host still needs to max out the target’s love value and heartbreak value.”
Xin Hexue nodded. “I understand.”
Then Xin Hexue asked, “But what’s the third type of actor?”
K thought about it and explained as concisely as possible, “Immersive actor. This type of actor locks away their memories of the big world upon entering the small world and fully integrates into the small world’s character setting, though part of the soul’s instinct remains. Only a very small number of actors can perform the plot brilliantly this way.”
It was equivalent to completely becoming the character.
Xin Hexue had a cautious attitude toward this type of path, because it involved fully sealing away his original memories. Xin Hexue couldn’t be sure that after integrating into the small world’s character, would he still be the same person as before?
He believed that a person was composed of all past experiences, just like how he had once been the crown prince of planet b3081 in the Alpha Star System, had once been the fifth prince who inherited the throne in the ancient royal dynasty, and only then had he become who he was now.
In this light, it is no wonder that he was asked similar questions in the psychological counseling arranged by the company. After he expressed his views, the higher-ups had not chosen to cultivate him into the third type.
K: “The assessment world can be entered at any time, if the host is ready…”
Xin Hexue: “Mm.”
………
[Traveling a thousand miles to the Northern Terrace, the forest suddenly cleared and high peaks pierced into the sky, called Mount Zhaoyao.
The path was perilous, and no matter how high or low we searched, we could not find it.
—“Travel Notes at the Foot of Mount Zhaoyao”]
This was the legendary immortal mountain of the Great Cheng Dynasty.
On Mount Zhaoyao, the sea of clouds was vast, and misty waves were boundless.
At the summit, the water of Tianchi lake was expansive, and the surface rippled like a dragonfly had skimmed across the water, with a small white dot spreading outward in circles from the center.
A white carp skimmed close to the water’s surface, flicked its tail, and swam off into the distance. Its long tail swayed gently as it moved, light as gauze, and it looked like layers of snowy waves.
In this small world, Xin Hexue was a butterfly koi, a type of ornamental koi fish with a snow white body.
He had already cultivated for two hundred years. Even though he had only developed spiritual consciousness last month and gained the ability to think, it was only today that he could take human form.
Xin Hexue sat on a reef.
The clouds and water stretched endlessly.
He could see his own reflection.
His cultivation wasn’t enough to fully transform the fish tail, so his lower body had a fishtail and the upper body was human, and his hair was like splashed ink.
His tail was long and the scales were snow-white, and the fins were like floating mist.
It was very beautiful.
But…
[…K.]
Xin Hexue’s brows and eyes were displeased, and the corners of his eyes were tinged red from anger, like plum blossoms in the snow, yet cold and aloof.
He flicked his fish tail and half his body submerged in water.
From the waist down, the fish tail’s lines were smooth and the scales were like white jade.
Just then, ripples stirred on the lake, and his pelvic fins swayed softly with the waves, lightly veiling a faint shade of pink beneath them.
Xin Hexue: [What is this?]
He didn’t even dare lift the fins to look.
K explained awkwardly: [According to the character’s inherent attributes, this should be the host’s reproductive cavity in mermaid form.]
[But once you fully transform into human form, the structure will be normal.]
Xin Hexue took a deep breath.
[Gege, send me the plot of the small world.]
Even though Xin Hexue called him gege, K only felt a chill run down his spine.
White butterfly koi
