The Gloomy Paper-Man Came to My Door to Pursue His Love - Chapter 18

A few days later, Qin Fei finally received an email reply from the game’s official support team.

Dear Player:

Hello! Thank you very much for your continued support and understanding of our game. We are also deeply sorry that you have encountered the issue where Intimacy levels are not increasing. We have conducted an emergency investigation and repair; however, due to the complexity of the problem, the current fix remains unstable. We are deeply sorry for the unpleasant experience this has caused you.

The terminal felt shocked. “Heavens, what kind of bug is this? Even the officials could not fix it properly?”

Qin Fei said nothing, but he inevitably felt a sense of disappointment in his heart. He put down the email, took a deep breath to steady his emotions, and then continued reading.

For a better gaming experience, we recommend that you switch to a new account. To express our apologies, we have decided to issue compensation. This includes: 1. A full refund of all your top-up amounts. 2. 5,000,000 points issued to your account. 3.

Seeing this, Qin Fei spoke to the terminal to confirm. “Has Shabei been abandoned by the officials?”

The terminal sounded a bit pained. “The meaning expressed in the email seems to be just that.”

Qin Fei lowered his eyes, silently finishing the rest of the email.

From the wording of the email, it was clear that the officials were being very cautious in their reply. Their attitude was quite good, and the compensation offered to Qin Fei was considered very generous.

After finishing, Qin Fei did not close the email immediately. The fluorescent glow cast mottled patches of color across his face.

The terminal said, “According to the email, the officials have opened a fast-track account creation channel for you, allowing you to directly copy Shabei’s appearance data. What do you plan to do?”

Qin Fei asked, “Are you suggesting I switch accounts?”

The terminal replied, “Yes, it is the best solution so far. Although most netizens on Star-Blog have indeed been distracted by your plotlines, this is not a permanent solution. Badis, the Minister of the Marriage Department, might be looking for ways to force you to submit. Your purpose for playing this game is to escape the Marriage Department’s control. Unlike other players who play just for fun, you cannot afford that luxury.”

The word “control” made Qin Fei frown slightly. The terminal’s words were harsh, but they were the truth.

The first-class cabin was quiet. After a moment, Qin Fei looked up and opened a previous official email. That email contained the contact information of a programmer whom Qin Fei had already called once before.

He said, “Contact the programmer.”

The terminal responded, “Calling for you now.”

The communication took a while before the other party picked up. The programmer’s voice came through cautiously. “Mr. Qin Fei?”

“Hello, Mr. Programmer.” This was just a simple voice call requiring no projection. Qin Fei still sat up straight and softly explained his intent. “I received the official email.”

Likely because they had not completed the work of fixing the Intimacy bug, the programmer sounded very nervous. “Uh, do you have any questions? Or are you dissatisfied with our compensation plan? It is okay, you can state your thoughts and I will report back to my superiors.”

“I just wanted to ask,” Qin Fei looked at a specific phrase in the email and asked in confusion, “The email states ‘the fix remains unstable.’ I wanted to ask what ‘unstable’ means.”

Before the programmer could speak, Qin Fei asked, “Does it mean Intimacy still cannot increase?”

“Uh,” Qin Fei could almost hear the sound of the programmer scratching his head. After a moment, the programmer said, “It does not exactly mean that.”

Qin Fei’s tone lifted. “Can Intimacy increase now?”

The programmer replied, “I cannot say that either.”

Qin Fei pursed his lips. “Please, go on.”

The programmer organized his thoughts. “It is just, how should I put it? It does increase, but it increases in a very strange way.”

Qin Fei was puzzled. “Strange?”

“Yes,” the programmer said while scratching his head again. “How can I explain this to you? For the sake of every player’s experience, the code for every 2D character is actually different. The algorithms are distinct; it is not the kind of mass-produced underlying code.”

Qin Fei said, “Every 2D character is a special existence.”

“Ah, yes, exactly,” the programmer said. “So the code regarding Intimacy calculations for each character is also different.”

Qin Fei asked curiously, “Is there a problem with my Shabei’s Intimacy calculation code?”

“Calling it a problem is an understatement; it is simply bizarre,” the programmer could not help but mutter. Likely reminded by someone nearby, the programmer realized his tone and quickly apologized. “Sorry, I did not mean it like that.”

Qin Fei replied, “It is okay.”

The programmer took a deep breath and said, “Your 2D character has a layer of camouflage over his Intimacy code.”

Qin Fei did not quite understand. “Camouflage?”

The programmer continued, “Yes. Under the operation of the camouflage code, he mistakenly thinks he has no feelings for you, or rather, he pretends to have no feelings for you.”

Qin Fei was lost. “Why would he do that?”

“I do not know,” the programmer said. “However, after we cracked it, we viewed your character’s true Intimacy code.”

Qin Fei was extremely curious. “What is the true Intimacy code like?”

The programmer let out a long sigh. “Even stranger than the camouflage code! It even made us suspect for a moment that it was just another layer of camouflage. You definitely will not believe it. Your character already has 60% Intimacy with you.”

Qin Fei truly had not expected that. “What?”

According to the terminal’s previous calculations, based on the main storyline and daily tasks Qin Fei had completed, he should normally have around 10% Intimacy with the character. 60% Intimacy was an incredibly high value. In the Intimacy rankings, the highest-ranking player only had 69% Intimacy with their character.

Qin Fei asked, “Is it a bug?”

The programmer said, “It is hard to say. Your 2D character already had Intimacy with you five years ago. This is too strange; five years ago, our game had not even been developed yet. But after checking, the function values are normal. In other words, his Intimacy toward you is legitimate.”

The programmer tactfully added a condition. “Provided you have not used any external programs.”

Qin Fei thought for a moment and said, “My terminal was once infected by a virus.”

The programmer quickly asked for details. Qin Fei then explained the situation to him.

After hearing it, the programmer found it absolutely preposterous. “You are saying this feedback email was written for you by a virus?”

Qin Fei confirmed, “Yes.”

Sensing a challenge, the programmer said, “The terminal cannot trace the virus’s tracks; it is very likely the virus used advanced hidden commands. Would it be convenient for you to mail your terminal to us? We can help you look into it. Do not worry, we will cover all shipping costs and send you a temporary terminal to use.”

“I can do that,” Qin Fei glanced out the porthole. “But I am currently traveling. I can only mail it after I reach my destination.”

He turned the topic back to the 2D character. “Besides the 60% Intimacy, is there anything else strange about my character?”

“There is,” the programmer said miserably. “If the Intimacy could increase normally, we would not suggest you switch accounts. It is just that…”

Qin Fei listened intently.

The programmer said, “After a series of tests, your character’s Intimacy remains fixed at 60% without any new growth. We feel that he seems to be resisting the growth of Intimacy. For your long-term gaming experience, we still recommend that you switch accounts.”

Qin Fei murmured, “Resisting the growth of Intimacy.”

So that was why there was camouflage code.

After ending the call with the programmer, Qin Fei opened the game. The moment he logged on, Xi Li was alerted.

Thanks to those programmers, during his struggle against them, Xi Li had gained a new understanding of his own consciousness data. Before, he needed game data transmissions to know what Qin Fei was doing. Now, he did not need data transfers; he could actively sense Qin Fei’s actions.

He clearly sensed Qin Fei opening the Intimacy tab. The heart representing Intimacy was no longer empty; it held pink waves like a sea. The 60% Intimacy caused the pink waves to overflow to a certain height.

Qin Fei stared at that heart for ten whole minutes!

It was a strange feeling, like being stared at by Qin Fei while naked for ten minutes. Xi Li’s expression was stiff. He righted the chair he had kicked over and sat down heavily.

“Fine, if Qin Fei wants to look, let him look. 60% Intimacy does not prove anything.”

After a long time, Xi Li finally sensed Qin Fei closing the Intimacy tab. However, before Xi Li could relax, he sensed Qin Fei opening the Terminal.

According to the game settings, the Terminal could only be used for two-way communication between the player and the 2D character. Xi Li’s jaw tightened again. What was Qin Fei going to send him? Was he going to ask about the Intimacy? Or send more random nonsense?

It should be about the Intimacy; after all, this person cared a lot about it. Then he would reply to Qin Fei that the Intimacy was just a game program and did not reflect his true inner thoughts at all.

If Qin Fei sent more of those shameful words, that was fine too. The little Prince of the Empire was in charge of the First, Second, and Third Armies; he held a military rank himself. He had undergone professional training and knew how to resist temptation. He was confident he would not let the Intimacy grow any further.

Qin Fei deleted the message: “Hubby, I will not be online for a while.”

Sensing Qin Fei’s action in his mind, Xi Li paused.

Qin Fei deleted the message: “Finger Heart.”

Qin Fei deleted the message: “Hubby, do you like it?”

Qin Fei deleted the message: “Hubby, let me buy you some clothes.”

Qin Fei deleted the message: “Shabei, are you okay?”

Xi Li clearly sensed Qin Fei deleting every single message he had ever sent in the Terminal. Before Xi Li could figure out what Qin Fei was doing, he sensed Qin Fei closing the Terminal and subsequently opening the Game Mall.

Qin Fei refunded “Couple Rings.”

Qin Fei refunded “Shimmering Sway.”

Qin Fei refunded “Temptation of the White Moonlight.”

Xi Li was stunned. He did not know what Qin Fei was doing.

In the game settings, players had a three-day window for in-game refunds. But the items Qin Fei had bought were long past the refund deadline. A stream of Xi Li’s consciousness data reached out and saw an email sent by the officials in the Mailbox of Qin Fei’s game client.

For a better gaming experience, we recommend that you switch to a new account.

This email was marked as “Read.” So, the officials had specially opened a refund channel for Qin Fei.

And Qin Fei was taking it. Xi Li suddenly fell silent.