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Chapter 3




Edited by: kapekopicoffee
Before Li Shuoxing could react, another text bubble appeared above the little person’s head.
“Let’s talk. Why are you keeping me here?”
Li Shuoxing was a little confused. He couldn’t help but put down his phone, hold his head and think calmly.
His stress reaction is real.
His questions and answers are quite logical.
Love nurturing mobile games can already do this now?
Exquisite games can certainly attract people’s attention.
Li Shuoxing proceeded to turn his eyes to the screen and found that in the silence just now, the little person had added a sentence:
“Are you unwilling to communicate with me?”
Li Shuoxing wasn’t unwilling, but mainly unable to communicate. He took the cup like before and wrote again.
I-am-not <sup>1</sup> He first uses Chinese 我-没-有. Afterwards he uses English. …
The three Chinese characters were really lengthy. Li Shuoxing gave up halfway through writing, opting for a more concise expression.
N-o.
The little person seemed to understand. He pulled half of his upper body out from under the covers. “You’re unable to talk?”
Li Shuoxing:
I can’t talk now. The system will only unlock the chat function when I reach 5 favourability points.
But, even if I write down that long sentence, it can’t be displayed in the game.
Li Shuoxing thought for a long time, and could only simplify it.
Y-e-s, N-o.
The little person was silent, his grey eyes fixed on the cup of water.
Could it be that he doesn’t understand?
Li Shuoxing speculated to himself for a while, then began to write:
N-o-w, Y-e-s, A-f-t-e-r, N-o.
His fingers were red and tired after writing those four words.
Little person: “I don’t understand.”
I can’t speak and can’t write. What else can I do?
Li Shuoxing was a little depressed. For a moment, he didn’t know what to do with the game. If he wanted to unlock the chat system, he needed to reach 5 favourability points. Now, the favourability was…
-127!
His mind seemed to have been attacked.
Li Shuoxing said to himself, “Forget it, don’t bother. Let’s just take my phone to be wiped as I originally planned.”
Before he could close the game, a new text box popped up above the little person’s head.
“You’re unable to talk, but you’re willing to communicate with me.”
He described the current situation in a declarative tone, paused for a moment, then added, “We can communicate more intuitively by using √ and ×. I’ll ask and you answer.”
That’s smart!
Li Shouxing was surprised. He even wondered if there was someone remotely operating the little person to talk to him.
But he thought it over and denied it again.
This kind of privileged enjoyment of being accompanied throughout the game was generally treatment only given to big whales. The reason why the little person was so smart was probably because the recent game AI systems had made breakthrough progress. But they were still unstable, which was why the game always jumped between stupidity and wit.
He then turned his eyes to the screen and saw that after a short pause, several text bubbles appeared one after another.
“You want to communicate with me.”
√
“But you can’t talk.”
×
“You can’t talk for the time being.”
√
“You can control everything in the room.”
√
“You control the room, and I can only use things in the room with your permission.”
√
“The doors and windows are locked. I can’t go out.”
√
“You can open the doors and windows to let me out.”
After they agreed on this method of talking, the efficiency of communication between the two improved by leaps and bounds. Li Shouxing was also pleased with the smooth communication at first, but after just a couple questions, he found himself a little unable to answer the other’s questions.
He began to think.
The first few are all based on facts, so right and wrong are very simple.
The last few have become judgement questions. I can still answer the “control the room” question, but the last “let me out” is worth pondering.
Li Shuoxing didn’t answer for a long time. A new text bubble appeared above the little person’s forehead.
“You can’t let me out for the time being, right?”
Like the previous pattern of asking if he could speak, this question and answer method was witty.
Perhaps the day when artificial intelligence would rule mankind wasn’t far away.
√
Li Shouxing cautiously gave a tick.
“But I really want to go out.” The little person continued, “Is there any other way I can leave?”
How would I know? If the game itself doesn’t have outdoor content, then you’ll never get out!
Li Shuoxing thought, and his reply became slow, so text bubbles popped up one after another.
“Please help me.”
“…Help me.”
Li Shuoxing’s finger on the screen shook, causing a tick to turn into a crooked curve.
He looked at the little person on the screen in surprise.
During the conversion, the little person on the screen had come down to the ground from the bed. He was standing on the ground, tilting his head up with his eyes fixed on the cup of water suspended in the air, as if he was staring at him through the screen.
Li Shuoxing suddenly put down his phone.
He sat up from the bed, rubbed his face, shook his head, and turned on his brain.
“This can’t be the game company’s trick, right? First, use a bunch of random reasons to deduct favourability to drive the player crazy, and then have the ‘lover’ talk to the player according to the text built into the system… Come to think of it, because I can’t answer, the rhythm of the dialogue has always been controlled by the little person, so that he can naturally talk to the end without any surprises. The player is then tricked into the trap of empathising with the little person, deeply remembering this game and getting addicted to in-app purchases.”
“See, I now remember this little person is called Su Mingqian, has grey eyes and medium-long hair, and wears pyjamas that look like a hospital uniform.”
“What a dirty plan. Games nowadays really have filthy hearts…”
After the self-analysis, Li Shouxing shifted his eyes back to his phone.
Although it seemed that he’d analysed the game producer’s fundamental purpose and sinister intentions, Li Shouxing still picked up his phone without hesitation.
What was the purpose of playing games?
They were interesting and exciting.
Now, he thought it was quite interesting.
He decisively replied to Su Mingqian, giving him a standard “√”.
If he was the scriptwriter, this question would be the key conclusion to this long dialogue. As long as the player selected the correct answer, there’d certainly be an outcome they were looking forward to…
Sure enough, shortly after his reply, a number showed up above Su Mingqian’s head.
+30
Yeah!
Favourability greatly improved!
Li Shuoxing felt that he’d figured out the right way to play the game.
He stared at Su Mingqian with a gleam in his eye, and he had a premonition that the little person would remind him of something.
He didn’t have to wait long before a new bubble floated up from Su Mingqian’s head.
“Is there any food here? I’m hungry.”
At the same time, a little hungry expression appeared above Su Mingqian’s forehead, blinking to prompt Li Shouxing to find food for him.
Li Shouxing looked at the interface and pondered.
There were two frosted doors in the room, one on the left and one on the right. One of the doors had opened to the bathroom yesterday, and the other one, if he didn’t guess wrong, should be…
His heart moved and he tapped.
The frosted door slid open, revealing the small kitchen hidden behind.
Li Shuoxing scanned the newly emerged kitchen area. Firstly, he noticed the frosted windows set into the wall like in the bedroom, with the outside unable to be seen. He also found that although it was small, its essentials—the cupboard, counter, sink, refrigerator and stove—were not lacking. There was also a sky blue rice cooker on the counter, which added a pop of colour to the relatively monotonous kitchen.
This rice cooker was different at first glance.
Li Shuoxing poked the rice cooker, and, sure enough, a bowl of steaming rice jumped out. With a swipe of his finger, the bowl of rice fell into Su Mingqian’s hands.
At some point, the little person, who’d originally been in the room, had come to the kitchen door.
He held the bowl in his hand, but his gaze didn’t linger on the bowl. Instead, he threw it forward onto the rice cooker.
What’s he thinking?
Li Shouxing thought with great interest.
It was a pity the little person had no expression and Li Shuoxing couldn’t get into his body to read the code. He could only look at the text bubble slowly jumping out of his forehead.
“Where are the dishes?”
Li Shouxing was stumped.
Yeah, where are the dishes?
He hesitantly poked the fridge and the narration popped up.
[The refrigerator is empty.]
Then he hesitantly poked the cupboard and the narration continued to pop up.
[The cupboard is empty.]
Then he poked at the stove, and this time, the narration didn’t pop up, but a new menu did.
Today’s Special Dishes:
Stir-fried Vegetables: 5 favourability points
Scrambled Egg: 10 favourability points
Li Shuoxing was speechless for a moment. His eyes couldn’t help but glance down at the favourability pool.
Favourability: -97
Can’t afford it…
Perhaps because Li Shuoxing hadn’t moved for a long time, a very sweet line of words appeared above the little person’s head at the door.
“It doesn’t matter. I can also get full from rice.”
-1.
After this line of words appeared, Su Mingqian no longer lingered at the kitchen door. He returned to the bedroom with the bowl in hand, sat at the table, and ate his rice bit by bit.
Li Shouxing: “…”
He was speechless again, and slowly complained, What do you mean you don’t care. You obviously care a lot. In fact, we could be a bit more genuine.
But the little person’s appearance of just eating plain rice was really pitiful.
So, Li Shuoxing did the only thing he was able to do. He gave a cup of water to the little person.
“Thank you.”
Another line of words appeared above Su Mingqian’s head, and then, favourability +1.
This time, the favourability came really refreshingly. But unfortunately, with an increase of one and decrease of one, it was the same as before.
Li Shuoxing worried for a while. The little person, having finished his rice, took the bowl and cup to the kitchen and turned on the tap to wash them.
Then, another text bubble appeared.
Su Mingqian: “Yesterday, I checked the house, and there was nothing to pass the time. Can you get some books?”
The moment the words appeared, new content popped up in the game.
[Limited Time Gift Bag]
[Super Value Classic Reading Gift Bag]
[Original Price 68 Yuan, Current Price 1 Yuan]
Must have:
Bedroom Decorative Bookshelf × 1
Contribution points × 68
One out of three:
Masterpiece Selection Gift Bag × 1
Science Fiction Selection Gift Bag × 1
Historical Selection Gift Bag × 1
[Super value discount! Knockdown price! Don’t miss this opportunity! Time is running out!]
[All for you, my beloved lover [love]]
1
He first uses Chinese 我-没-有. Afterwards he uses English.