The Gloomy Paper-Man Came to My Door to Pursue His Love - Chapter 14

The room was quiet, save for the faint hum of the fresh air system.

Having just exited the game, Xi Li finally realized that he was in the first-class cabin of a starship. He frowned, wondering what Qin Fei’s destination was.

It was not a wise move for an Omega to travel during their sensitivity period. Even if the first-class cabins were coated with pheromone-blocking layers, the ventilation system would still pick up traces of an Omega’s pheromones and distribute them elsewhere. If a predatory Alpha took notice, things could easily go wrong.

With a darkened expression, Xi Li checked the terminal’s connection to the cabin’s equipment. At least he knew to lock the door, and he had put the emergency alarm program at the top of the priority list.

Xi Li reached out and adjusted the power of the air system to its lowest setting. Then, he switched back to his messaging interface to send the text that had been temporarily interrupted. He had just entered the first digit of the military terminal number when he heard another murmur.

It came from his fiancé. He was calling out, “Duan Duan.” Because there was no response, he called out several more times in succession.

“Duan Duan.” “Duan Duan.” “Duan Duan.”

The fiancé raised his arm, shaking the terminal on his wrist. The camera wobbled, turning the fiancé’s face into a blurred shadow. The only thing Xi Li could see clearly was the needle mark on the fiancé’s arm left by the inhibitor injection. He did not know how this person had injected it, but a small bruise of blood had formed.

The fiancé’s voice sounded extremely resentful. “Duan Duan, are you ignoring me too?”

Xi Li finally realized that “Duan Duan” was the nickname the fiancé had given the terminal. Recalling the name he had been given in the game, Xi Li scoffed. This person truly had a talent for naming things.

Xi Li asked crossly, “What?”

“Why won’t the intimacy level go up?” the fiancé asked in that same tone.

Xi Li looked at him. Likely due to the side effects of the inhibitor, the fiancé did not notice anything unusual about the terminal’s voice. He said coldly, “If it does not go up, it does not go up. There is no why.”

The fiancé appeared somewhat aggrieved. “But I even said all those things.”

Xi Li asked, “What things?”

The fiancé answered seriously, “Hubby, you are so handsome. Hubby, I love you. Hubby, I want to be with you forever. Like that.”

Xi Li was silent. That scene flashed through his mind, but he quickly shook it away. He tried to restrain himself, but he could not help but ask, “Are you willing to say anything just to achieve your goals?”

The fiancé answered quite frankly, “Otherwise?”

Xi Li said nothing more and continued typing the fourth digit of the military number. When he reached the seventh digit, he stopped again. “Those sweet words to my, to the little Prince. Were those also just to achieve a goal?”

The fiancé said, “Not to him.”

Xi Li froze. He involuntarily looked toward his fiancé. In the charred camera feed, his fiancé was still breathtakingly beautiful. Those eyes were misted with heat. With just one look, Xi Li felt as if he were being pulled into a swirling fog where both the path forward and the way back vanished.

He asked in a husky voice, “Was what you said to the little Prince true?”

The fiancé laughed. “What goal could I possibly have with him?”

Xi Li’s heart seemed to skip a beat. Before he could process it, he heard the fiancé’s voice again. “It was just to disgust him.”

Xi Li was speechless. He said expressionlessly, “Then you were quite successful.”

Qin Fei did not want to linger on the topic of his late ex-husband. He asked again, “Why won’t the intimacy go up?”

Xi Li replied vengefully, “It would be strange if it did.”

“Why?” Qin Fei found the answer hard to accept. He pressed, “Why?”

“I said there is no why.”

A good portion of the twenty minutes had been wasted. For the remaining time, Xi Li simply muted the outside sounds. The surroundings became quiet as Xi Li continued to type the rest of the military terminal number.

Perhaps he was genuinely annoyed by Qin Fei. The quieter it got, the more his irritation bubbled up like foam. He tapped the characters violently, as if he could shatter his dissatisfaction through the keys. After venting his frustration, he looked down at the input box. It read: 7346234HeDisgustsMeHeDisgustsMeHeDisgustsMeHeDisgustsMe.

Xi Li was silent. With a mental boom, the ball of anger inside Xi Li exploded. He turned on the camera and the microphone. He was going to tell Qin Fei that he had always known about his hypocrisy, that he had never taken it seriously, and that he had never cared about it.

However, when he turned his angry gaze back to Qin Fei, he suddenly paused.

Qin Fei was slumped in the semi-enclosed solo sofa, his body conforming to its curves like soft clay. Xi Li had an illusion that if the sofa were shaped like an S-curve, this person would melt right into it. He seemed to have no strength left in his body.

Compared to the last time Xi Li had seen Qin Fei inject an inhibitor, his condition this time was much worse. His hair was messy, his eyes were glassy, and his face was terrifyingly pale. His voice was thick with nasal congestion and a tremor of painful endurance, yet he was still forcing himself not to let his plight show too easily.

The fire in Xi Li’s heart vanished instantly. “What is wrong with you?”

He must have heard Xi Li’s voice. Qin Fei opened his eyes with difficulty, his long eyelashes trembling. He asked guardedly, “Where am I?”

“On a piece of junk ship,” Xi Li asked again. “What is wrong with you?”

“The starship,” Qin Fei looked around, confirming he was on a starship rather than in the Royal Palace. He sighed in relief and said, “I feel so miserable.”

Xi Li pressed, “Where does it hurt?”

Qin Fei’s voice was intermittent, as if it might cut out at any second. “In my heart.”

He looked so weak that Xi Li’s chest tightened. “Chest pain? Or is it something else?” Xi Li quickly opened the terminal’s built-in health monitor to check Qin Fei’s physical status.

Qin Fei said, “The intimacy level will not go up. It hurts.”

Xi Li was silent. He gritted his teeth. “Qin Fei, I am asking one more time. Where are you hurting?”

Qin Fei insisted, “In my heart.”

Xi Li laughed in frustration. Fortunately, the monitoring results came back. He did not bother asking further and looked directly at the data. Upon seeing it, Xi Li suddenly went quiet.

During an Omega’s sensitivity period, changes in hormones and neurotransmitters cause intense emotional fluctuations. Inhibitors work by suppressing these emotions to reduce pheromone secretion. Qin Fei was indeed deeply disappointed, and the alcohol still in his system had magnified his emotions. This, in turn, increased the negative side effects of the inhibitor.

The monitor showed that Qin Fei was currently experiencing a state of intense dejection. So, Qin Fei had not lied. He really was hurting in his heart.

Xi Li could not comprehend the results. He said in a deep voice, “The fact that intimacy won’t rise makes you feel this bad?”

Qin Fei’s lips moved, but he no longer had the strength to let his words fall. Xi Li could only activate the terminal’s projection, generating a holographic image of himself. He took a deep breath, leaned over, and moved closer to Qin Fei’s face.

Then, he heard Qin Fei’s sigh. “But that was the real me.”

The voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, but it reached Xi Li’s ears clearly. He did not understand the meaning behind the words, but the sadness laced within them made Xi Li frown deeply. He straightened up, his gaze lingering on Qin Fei’s pale face for a long time. Finally, he said coldly, “I will call for medical help. Can you still move? Go put on a pheromone patch.”

Standard starships were equipped with medical facilities and personnel, but Xi Li was not sure about the gender of the medics on this junk ship. To be safe, he wanted Qin Fei to put on a blocker patch first. Otherwise, if the glands continued to release pheromones, the concentration in the cabin would become too high. Even if the medic was an Omega, they might experience a pseudo-sensitivity period because of it.

Qin Fei said, “I do not want to.”

Xi Li glared. “Then what do you want?”

It was because I know your true face that the intimacy will never rise. I cannot and will not let myself fall for you.

Only five minutes remained of the twenty. Xi Li suppressed his bad temper and said patiently, “Get up and put on the pheromone patch.”

Qin Fei’s vision was blurred. The sounds around him were noisy, and he only heard what he wanted to hear. The voice in front of him asked what he wanted. Qin Fei thought with his sluggish brain and said, “Feedback.”

Xi Li did not hear him clearly. “What?”

Qin Fei said, “Bug.”

Xi Li asked crossly, “What bug?”

Qin Fei struggled to say, “The bug where the intimacy level will not rise.”

Xi Li actually laughed in anger. “If you submit feedback for a bug about intimacy not rising, you will stop being sad?”

Qin Fei thought for a moment. “Yes.”

Xi Li felt that he was being incredibly bored. He had failed to send his message in twenty minutes and was now instead helping Qin Fei submit a bug report to the Exclusive ABO game developers. Xi Li’s fingers clattered across the virtual keyboard. In the feedback content box, he typed: Intimacy not rising.

Just as he was about to hit send, Qin Fei’s voice drifted over. “You cannot fill it out like that. I did that last time, and it was useless.”

Xi Li turned back to see Qin Fei struggling to keep his eyelids open while looking at the text. He gave a dry laugh and could not help but mock, “It is useless no matter how you fill it out.”

Qin Fei’s eyes dimmed, and his body shivered with pain.

Xi Li sighed. “You speak, and I will type.”

Likely because the feedback was being written, the sadness in Qin Fei’s heart lessened slightly. He gathered some strength and slowly opened his lips. “To the dear developers. On this long and lonely night, I sit before my terminal, playing this romance game called Exclusive ABO over and over again.”

Xi Li typed, thinking to himself that this was certainly true. The man had entered the main storyline three times in a row.

Qin Fei continued, “With every choice and every interaction, I am full of anticipation, hoping to build a deep emotional bond with my 2D lover. However, reality is so cruel. No matter how hard I try, the intimacy level remains as still as a pool of stagnant water, never moving an inch. I once thought that by giving my 2D lover a meaningful name, by carefully completing the node tasks, and by exchanging messages, I could feel the warmth of love in the game. But now, I can only feel deep disappointment and helplessness. Is it because I am not doing well enough? Is it because I have not found the correct strategy? Or is this so-called intimacy just a hollow concept, and I will never be able to touch true feelings?”

Qin Fei continued, “I have whispered to myself countless times that maybe if I try once more, if I work a little harder, I will see a different result. But every attempt is in vain. My heart is gradually being filled with disappointment, and that original passion is slowly fading away with every failure. I hope this is not an unsolvable puzzle. I hope you can hear my faint and resentful voice. Please tell me, what must I do to find a trace of real warmth in this virtual world?”

Qin Fei paused. “I look forward to your satisfactory reply. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to request an invoice for a refund.”

Xi Li was speechless. He turned his head to look at him. “Are you feeling better now?”

Qin Fei’s eyes were still glassy. “I feel miserable.” But then he instructed, “Sign it: A disappointed payer.”

Xi Li could not help it. He let out a low, soft laugh.