“How did you know I’m afraid of ghosts?”
22.
This was strange.
Giang Thanh Nguyệt hadn’t been afraid of ghosts before.
I’d never told Sheng Mingqi, either. So how had he found out?
Before Sheng Mingqi could explain, the game began.
The two of us threw ourselves into solving the puzzles.
Sheng Mingqi always stayed ahead of me. Whenever an NPC tried to scare me, he blocked it.
Near the end, an NPC called my name, and I had to take the penalty alone.
I was locked alone in a small cabinet in the dark for five minutes.
During that time, I had to endure all kinds of sound effects, like knocking at the door and ghostly sobbing.
One second before the cabinet door closed,
Sheng Mingqi broke the rules and squeezed inside.
The cabinet was tiny, with room for only one person.
When he squeezed in, it immediately became cramped. I could only press my back against the wall, with the rest of me pressed against him.
We were far too close.
We could feel each other’s breath, strangely warm.
As the horror sound effects blared, Sheng Mingqi put headphones on me.
The cheerful melody chased away my fear.
“You know, even if the rain turns the whole city upside down, I’ll still hold you in my arms…”
I suddenly looked up.
Sheng Mingqi stared at the wall, pretending to be calm.
He’d grown up, and his features looked more familiar now than they had when he was seventeen.
That’s right. I liked muscular men.
He worked out every day and was no longer that skinny boy.
Now he had exactly the build I liked best: lean in clothes, but all muscle underneath.
He’d transformed himself into my ideal type.
I was a little tempted.
I wasn’t exactly known for my modesty. I did whatever I wanted.
I reached out and felt his abs.
Sheng Mingqi panicked. “What are you doing?”
“I’m just feeling them a little.”
As soon as I finished speaking, the ghosts pounded on the door, their terrifying sounds cutting through the music in my headphones.
Sheng Mingqi said, “Don’t be scared. I’ll block them here. Even if they get in, you won’t see their faces. Just… just keep feeling me.”
“Beep—”
The system alert sounded.
“The host’s favorability toward Sheng Mingqi has increased.”
“The host’s favorability toward Sheng Mingqi continues to increase.”
“The host’s favorability toward Sheng Mingqi…”
My favorability toward Sheng Mingqi shot straight up to 90 points.
At that moment, I knew for certain.
I liked him.
If you like someone, you should say so. I didn’t want to hide it anymore.
“Sheng Mingqi, I have something to tell you.”
“Mm.”
“But before that, I want to make sure of something. Do you like Nguyễn Niệm Niệm?”
Sheng Mingqi thought for a moment. The name Nguyễn Niệm Niệm felt unfamiliar to him.
“That girl? I don’t like her. I don’t keep in touch with her—I even deleted her on WeChat.”
That was great. The plot had changed.
He asked, “What’s wrong? Why bring that up all of a sudden?”
“If you don’t like her, Sheng Mingqi, then I want to kiss you.”
Sheng Mingqi froze for a moment.
I rose onto my toes and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
Then I said, “I like you.”
23.
In the darkness, Sheng Mingqi’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
A dark flame burned in his eyes.
It held both longing and desire.
I smiled and asked, “Do you like me?”
I knew the answer. His favorability toward me had long since exceeded the maximum.
But I still wanted to hear him say it himself.
Sheng Mingqi didn’t answer.
He lifted my face and kissed me back.
At first, he kissed me urgently. Then, afraid of frightening me, he softened the kiss, gentle and careful.
“I like you.”
“Giang Thanh Nguyệt, I really like you.”
His breath brushed my ear, making it tingle.
“I really, really, really like you.”
“Giang Thanh Nguyệt, I love you.”
An NPC opened the cabinet.
I had my arms around Sheng Mingqi’s neck, kissing him passionately.
24.
On the way home, we held hands.
I asked Sheng Mingqi, “You still haven’t answered me. How did you know I’m afraid of ghosts?”
Sheng Mingqi thought for a moment.
“Thanh Thanh, have you ever considered another possibility?”
“What?”
“Actually… you’re Giang Thanh Nguyệt.”
I wasn’t surprised to hear that.
In fact, there had been plenty of signs over the past few years that I was Giang Thanh Nguyệt.
After the car accident when I was fifteen, a transmigrator had taken over my body.
The transmigrator who took over my body had a completely different personality and bullied the weak.
As for me, I’d lost all my memories and had no choice but to play the villainess in this world.
My parents were the first to notice.
They tried many things and discovered that the body snatcher had a terrible personality—she was evil by nature.
She’d taken over their biological daughter’s body, ruined her reputation, and refused to listen to their advice.
So their attitude toward me grew worse and worse.
The clearest proof was Sheng Ningye.
I’d hated Sheng Ningye since I was little.
So why had I become Sheng Ningye’s obsessive fan after the car accident?
Now I remembered.
My parents had only started treating me better recently.
No wonder this body had felt so familiar ever since I transmigrated here.
“Thanh Thanh, actually… I’ve liked you for a long time.”
“What?” I couldn’t help being surprised.
“We actually met in middle school. You just forgot.”
Sheng Mingqi looked a little sad.
“You weren’t like the others. They always bullied me, but you taught me how to get back at them. You had all these wicked ideas, but I liked that about you.”
I suddenly understood.
When Sheng Mingqi was in tenth grade, he’d written a love letter to Giang Thanh Nguyệt!
That letter had actually been meant for me!
It was just that, back then, Sheng Mingqi didn’t know Giang Thanh Nguyệt was no longer the same Giang Thanh Nguyệt he’d known.
But wait.
Wasn’t I supposed to have transmigrated into a book?
I asked the system, “What exactly is going on?”
Only then did the system admit, “In the book, Giang Thanh Nguyệt is the transmigrated heroine, and in the end, she’s defeated by the original heroine, Nguyễn Niệm Niệm…”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!”
“You never asked me.” It even sounded aggrieved.
“If I’m going home, why do I still have to complete these攻略 missions?”
The system said, “Because someone transmigrated into this world, the plot was already written, and the world had already taken shape. You, the host, were destined for a tragic and painful ending. I ran countless simulations, and this is the only path that can lead you to a happy ending.”
“Congratulations, host. The mission is complete.”
“Welcome home.”
Twenty-five.
The system completed its mission and left.
It was a good system, even if it was a little dimwitted… It had always helped me.
Afterward, Sheng Mingqi and I got a cat and named it System.
During that time, Sheng Mingqi displayed extraordinary talent and became the most celebrated young man of his generation.
As for Sheng Ningye, in the light of Mingqi’s success, he faded into mediocrity.
Chairman Sheng personally invited Sheng Mingqi to come back and manage the company.
That was because I had announced that I would only work with Sheng Mingqi.
Sheng Mingqi’s net worth doubled.
And I became the heir to the Jiang family corporation.
Not long after Mrs. Sheng fell seriously ill, she passed away.
After that, Chairman Sheng fell ill too. Perhaps it was karma.
Sheng Mingqi was incredibly sweet when he was in love.
It was just that… he was always exhausted during the day.
He spared no effort, day and night, proving to me that—
He wasn’t a puppy.
I regretted saying that.
If I’d known he’d “get back at me” like this, I wouldn’t have challenged his pride even if it killed me!
Later, Sheng Ningye and Nguyễn Niệm Niệm got married.
They had both changed a great deal.
Freed from the plot’s control, they finally returned to being ordinary people with ordinary personalities.
Each of them found the ending that was meant for them.
When I was twenty-four, Sheng Mingqi and I got married.
In the golden autumn, we walked hand in hand back to our home.
What did it matter whether we were the main characters or supporting characters?
We would write our own future.
We would head toward the sun.
Run toward happiness.
—THE END—