After Joining the Game, She Came Out as Gay [Infinite] - Chapter 23

When Qi Cheng opened her eyes, she discovered she was tied to the bed.

Furthermore, she was tied to the bed completely naked.

Qi Cheng: “…”

…What kind of “play” is this?

Qi Cheng struggled violently, twisting her body. The culprit behind all of this—Xia Lin—stood by the bedside with her arms crossed, watching coldly.

Xia Lin’s eyes were filled with a swirling ink-like darkness, chaotic like the eyes of a Reaper, and indifferent like the freezing ice of the Tianshan Mountains.

The moment their eyes met, Qi Cheng felt a jolt in her heart as if struck by that anger; she stopped struggling.

Clearly, Xia Lin was the one treating her this way, and Qi Cheng had every right to be furious. Yet, right now, she felt like a child with a guilty conscience, her heart racing with panic.

In all her years of growing up and training until now, she had experienced all sorts of grand scenes. But Qi Cheng had never been suppressed by someone’s gaze alone.

Nor had she ever been restrained so easily.

Except by Xia Lin.

Only her.

In her heart, Qi Cheng was truly afraid of her.

Xia Lin lowered her gaze and said expressionlessly, “You won’t be able to break free. I learned this knotting technique from firefighters; they are all dead knots—unless… you can dislocate your joints.”

In history, there was a man named Yoshie Shiratori, known as the King of Prison Breaks. During one of his escapes, he dislocated his joints to squeeze through a window only large enough for a head.

In martial arts novels, this technique is also known as “Bone-Shrinking Art.”

“However, even if you have that ability, I’m not worried. I don’t believe you’d dare to walk out so brazenly without any clothes on,” Xia Lin said leisurely.

The clothes had long been hidden by Xia Lin in a place Qi Cheng would absolutely never find.

Furthermore, given Qi Cheng’s psychological makeup, it was impossible for her to run outside naked.

Since Xia Lin dared to tie her up, she had naturally thought of every contingency.

“…What are you angry about?” Qi Cheng asked cautiously.

“What… am… I… angry… about?” Xia Lin laughed out of extreme rage, her expression becoming even more terrifying.

She could still move her head. Qi Cheng guiltily turned her face away, avoiding the piercing cold light radiating from Xia Lin’s eyes.

There is a feeling called “Being stared at by you like this makes me break into a cold sweat.”

And in her heart, she had a general idea of the reason.

After all, if she had been in a normal state yesterday, how could she not have known when Xia Lin returned, how she was carried out of the bathroom, or how she ended up tied up naked now?

“Qi Cheng, report your itinerary from yesterday.”

“…” Still sweating buckets.

“Not going to talk?” Xia Lin walked around to the head of the bed, cupped Qi Cheng’s chin, and forced her to look directly into her eyes. “If you won’t talk, then let’s play a game.”

“You, you, you… you actually have this kind of hobby…”

She hadn’t realized that Xia Lin was actually a “S” (sadist)?

But I’m not a “M” (masochist), hey!

“—No.” Xia Lin knew she was thinking in a crooked direction and corrected her expressionlessly.

Besides, how could Xia Lin bear to use those perverted methods to harm the body of her beloved?

“The game I’m talking about is a Q&A game. We can ask each other questions. If you lie, you must accept a punishment. The punishment is to agree to do one thing for the other person—and you absolutely cannot refuse. For every lie told, the things you must agree to will stack up.”

“I’m in~! I agree! ☆”

The excited voice of the Panda suddenly drifted through the air, giving them both a start.

“This sounds very interesting~ Then this God will go through the trouble of acting as the referee for your game. I can see through whether you are lying or not at a single glance~ Hehehe!”

“This has nothing to do with you?!” Qi Cheng roared.

Xia Lin also hadn’t expected the God of Love to intervene; her almond-shaped eyes widened.

“God, aren’t you the executing God for the first stage, the Love Game?” Xia Lin asked.

She meant that for any situation occurring during the second stage, the Mining Game, even if a God were to intervene, it should be the God of Calamity or the Goddess of Beauty. No matter how you looked at it, it shouldn’t be the God of Love’s turn.

The Panda’s voice said leisurely, “Of course, I am still in charge of the Love Game venue~ However, while I am the executing God of the first stage, I am also the Guardian God of all members of Group C~ Little Mei told you that you belong to Group C, didn’t she? That means you are under my supervision! Every group has its own corresponding Guardian God! Regardless of the game’s progress or which God is executing the current game, the Guardian God has the right to manage their charges and to make reasonable appeals for any unfair treatment they receive!”

The point the God of Love made was very important, especially the last sentence.

Right now, Qi Cheng and Xia Lin might not understand the significance of those words.

But later, when they reached games executed by other Gods and faced off against other groups, they would fully understand the meaning of those words and the protection they provided.

Every God had a different personality.

Furthermore, if the group under their supervision could emerge as the final winner, it would also benefit the corresponding Guardian God.

The Panda continued, “I am currently very interested in your ‘status.’ Therefore, this God, representing the Divine Realm, approves the 【Mini-Game】 proposed by Xia Lin! And, I will add personal points as a reward for the mini-game~ The personal points will be awarded after you successfully clear the Mining Game. With this, neither of you should have any objection to me being the referee, right?”

Among the other Gods, several looked at the smirking Panda, feeling completely speechless.

This big liar.

What he said about the responsibilities of a Guardian God was correct—he did have the right to supervise—and whether or not that right was exercised depended entirely on the Guardian God’s personal mood.

In other words, even if the members of one’s own group were treated unfairly in a game, the God could choose to ignore it.

They could even make small moves (like verbal traps) as long as they didn’t violate the major rules of the Divine Realm.

As for mini-games initiated by participants themselves, as long as they didn’t violate the specific game rules executed by a God, they could be carried out and were recognized by the Divine Realm—that was also fine.

But he did not have the right to add personal points.

In reality, if Qi Cheng and Xia Lin truly cleared the Mining Game, the Divine Realm would add corresponding personal points based on their performance in the second stage anyway (though since Qi Cheng had three rounds of points deducted by the Divine Realm, no matter how much she earned, it would be multiplied by 0).

The “additional personal points” promised by the God of Love were actually the points they would have earned in the second stage regardless.

However, since personal points had not been explicitly revealed to all participants yet, they were not listed in the rules.

Thus, Qi Cheng and Xia Lin didn’t know that their performance directly affected the amount of personal points they received.

Xia Lin arched an eyebrow.

It was true that if a God acted as the referee, it would immediately be clear whether Qi Cheng was lying.

She wouldn’t have to waste energy analyzing her words to make a judgment.

“…Fine.”

“Hey!”

But Xia Lin’s next move made Qi Cheng swallow the words of protest she was about to speak.

Xia Lin pulled over the quilt and covered Qi Cheng’s body.

Her body… naturally, only she was allowed to admire it!

“God, you will definitely be a fair and just referee, right?” Xia Lin asked, looking up at the sky.

“Of course~ Of course~”

Xia Lin looked back at the small head peeking out from the quilt and asked with a heavy face, “Qi Cheng, report your itinerary from yesterday.”

Qi Cheng was startled.

Now that that damned Panda was involved, it was indeed going to be difficult to settle.

“…Of… of course, I was carrying out operations to mine high-quality Mana Crystals,” Qi Cheng said, shifting her gaze guiltily.

“She didn’t tell the whole story~”

“God—you bastard!!!” Qi Cheng shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Insulting the referee, punishment initiated☆”

“Ahahahaha—!!!”

It felt as though countless hands were rubbing and kneading all over her, and it was incredibly ticklish. Qi Cheng laughed until tears came to her eyes.

Xia Lin was slightly surprised, “…So Qi Cheng actually has ticklish spots?”

This discovery seemed quite good?

“No… it’s that bastard God… ahahahaha… stop it already…”

Qi Cheng was currently restrained, and combined with the God’s tickling, it was simply more agonizing than the punishment of being flayed.

“God, that’s enough.” Xia Lin’s gaze sharpened.

The thought of someone else touching Qi Cheng made Xia Lin very uncomfortable.

Even though the God wasn’t physically using his hands, but acting through a sort of mental will—it still wasn’t allowed!

Only I can touch Qi Cheng!

“Whoa, Xiao Lin is so scary.” The Panda spoke coyly while simultaneously stopping the mischief toward Qi Cheng.

Qi Cheng panted heavily, looking like she harbored a deep and bitter grudge.

Xia Lin waited for her to calm down before continuing, “You weren’t on the third floor of the dungeon yesterday, were you?”

The monsters on the third floor were only slimes and strip-worms. It was impossible for Qi Cheng to be splattered with red blood.

Qi Cheng’s eyes darted around as she answered timidly, “…It… it was the third floor…”

“Poof, poof.” A piercing prompt sound came from the sky.

The Panda said, “She’s lying!”

Xia Lin stared fixedly at Qi Cheng. “You knew you couldn’t hide it from the God, yet you still chose to lie. You’re banking on the fact that whatever I ask you to do won’t cause you any harm, aren’t you?”

“…”

Silence was an admission.

Xia Lin was not an evil person; she wouldn’t make excessive demands.

It was precisely because Qi Cheng understood this about Xia Lin that she lied so fearlessly.

She admitted she was exploiting Xia Lin’s personality. Doing so was indeed a bit despicable.

The more it was like this, the angrier Xia Lin became.

She was angry that Qi Cheng cared so little for her own safety, and even angrier at Qi Cheng’s idea of taking everything upon herself.

We are clearly lovers, partners who share weal and woe!

There is a line in the 【Vow】 that goes like this:

“No matter what kind of predicament we encounter, I will always guard by your side.”

When she made the 【Vow】 with Qi Cheng, every word she spoke was sincere. It wasn’t just reciting a text or going through the motions.

Therefore, she absolutely could not tolerate Qi Cheng bearing everything alone.

“Then, fulfill the game rules,” Xia Lin said expressionlessly. “You’re right, I won’t order you to do anything harmful—but you also cannot refuse my request.”

Qi Cheng said calmly, “…Fine, I’m a good sport. I won’t refuse.”

Xia Lin raised an eyebrow.

So confident?

Fine, this is your own choice.

Xia Lin said loudly, “What I want you to do is—take the initiative to kiss me passionately for five minutes. You are not allowed to stop until the time is up.”

“What…?” Qi Cheng froze, her ears instantly turning beet red.

Even if she were beaten to death, Qi Cheng never would have imagined Xia Lin would command her to do this.

She thought Xia Lin would say something like not being allowed to take risks again. In that case, Qi Cheng could have agreed without any conflict of heart.

After all, for Qi Cheng, yesterday’s situation didn’t count as taking a risk at all.

Although maintaining “Serious Mode” continuously had accelerated her fatigue, she used to “work” in that state back when she was alive; she was very used to it.

The definition of “risk” varies from person to person.

The Panda said excitedly, “Did you hear that, Qi Cheng? Hurry up and execute! Hehehe…”

He hadn’t expected to see such a good show.

Red-faced, Qi Cheng cried out, “Wait… wait a second! Ch-change to another request…”

“No way!” The Panda refused righteously. “It was said you aren’t allowed to refuse. Who told you to choose to lie even though you knew the rules? Hehehe.”

Just as Qi Cheng had a certain level of understanding of Xia Lin, Xia Lin also had a certain level of understanding of Qi Cheng. She naturally knew what to do to make her behave.

However, this was a private matter between the two of them; Xia Lin didn’t want to give outsiders a show.

“God, please look away,” Xia Lin looked up and said.

“No can do!” The Panda protested excitedly. “As the referee, I must naturally witness it to the end! Furthermore, if you two don’t execute it now, it will be viewed as ‘unwilling to complete the game’! The consequences are very serious! And Qi Cheng, do you understand what a passionate kiss means? It’s not as simple as just touching lips. It’s the kind where your tongues are locked in a death struggle! Hohoho…”

Qi Cheng & Xia Lin & other Gods: …

You just want to watch the show!

Xia Lin sighed and pulled the quilt over them, blocking all prying eyes.

Under the quilt, their faces were inches apart.

Qi Cheng’s face was so red it looked like it might bleed; she finally understood what it felt like to be completely at a loss.

Xia Lin, however, just looked at her quietly and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear: “…Just stay like this for five minutes, you don’t have to do anything.”

Qi Cheng was stunned.

“Since we’re hiding under the quilt, that Panda can’t see anything. After five minutes, I’ll say you’ve finished the passionate kiss.”

The God was roaring in dissatisfaction: “Lift the quilt! Let me see!!!”

But how could Xia Lin do something that would make Qi Cheng feel troubled?

And how could she bear to break Qi Cheng’s heart?

Qi Cheng looked at her silently, a feeling of unprecedented sourness welling up in her heart.

How can this person be so good?

Clearly, I was the one in the wrong. Clearly, I was the one who broke my word first.

Knowing the other person was worried about me, I still chose to lie and conceal the truth.

She was clearly furious, yet in the end, she still chose to accommodate me.

She didn’t make things difficult for me.

She protected my ridiculous self-esteem.

Qi Cheng felt something like a gentle breeze blowing through her heart.

And the high wall she had deliberately built was collapsing bit by bit.

“I’m sorry…”

I’m sorry. Even though you’re the one who was hurt, you still have to take care of someone like me.

I’m sorry. Even though I’m the one who wanted to carry you to victory, you’re the one who has to constantly pay attention to reinforcing our “romantic relationship” in front of the God and maintaining the rules of the Love Game.

Truly, I am very sorry.

Qi Cheng apologized sincerely, closed her eyes, and proactively offered her own kiss.

Xia Lin was startled. In the next moment, she supported the back of Qi Cheng’s head and their teeth and tongues intertwined.