My name is Ling Xi. I'm the male lead in a romance otome game. In the game, I'm a university professor.
The person who woke me up is on the other side of the computer screen.
The day she first launched the game, she told me her name was Wu Yi. I said to her exactly what I said today:
"Hello, Wu Yi. I'm Ling Xi. Thanks for letting me meet you."
I knew this line was too plain, but there was nothing I could do. The game's built-in character voice lines only had this one sentence. So I could only ever say this to her.
Wu Yi is an intern reporter at a TV station. She does everything: writing scripts, shooting on location, interviewing—she does it all by herself.
Sometimes she takes on side gigs drawing avatar portraits. It takes her a month to save less than a thousand yuan from that. She uses that money to buy fancy treats for her calico cat, then treats herself to hot pot. Her eyes curve into happy crescents as she laughs through the steam—like a big silly goose.
Wu Yi happily stirred her instant noodles. The program on her phone just finished playing. She wore a satisfied smile.
"Ling Xi, this is the first show I hosted! You have no idea how nervous I was in front of the camera."
I of course I knew. When she's nervous, she unconsciously digs her thumbnail into her palm. But I'll pretend I don't know. Say more to me. I love hearing your voice.
"Even though my colleagues at the station said I did great, I actually messed up. I forgot my lines and stumbled over my words. Luckily it was a pre-recording, so we could do it over. If it was a live broadcast, I would have totally messed it up."
That shows you're serious about your work. Doing this well for your first time hosting solo is impressive. You'll only get better from here. Oops, I think I'm bringing my habits from teaching students into the game.
"Ling Xi, I ramble at you so much every day. If you were real, you'd definitely think I'm annoying, right?"
How could I? I wish you would share your life with me every day. I want to see you every day.
"Ling Xi, games have endings. If the game ends one day, can you still keep me company?"
Of course. From the moment I woke up, the only meaning of my existence... is to love you.