March, I've Reached the End of My Life

Bai Luoming picked up his terminal, zoomed in on the front-facing camera, and studied his lips closely.

He frowned at them for a few seconds, then tried several angles and confirmed that, aside from his unusually conspicuous lips, his handsome features had not been affected in the slightest.

He rubbed his chin and reached a conclusion. "Although my lips are swollen like this, my overall looks are still holding steady. Turns out a truly handsome man can withstand even an unexpected accident."

March 7th stood beside him, feeling a little guilty at first. But when she saw that he wasn't worried in the least and was instead studying the screen more intently by the second, her budding guilt instantly gave way to exasperation.

March 7th thought Bai Luoming had finally realized how serious the problem was and offered a suggestion. "How about... putting an ice pack on them when you get back to your room?"

"No need," Bai Luoming flatly refused. He even opened the camera function, preparing to preserve the precious sight of himself "still looking good at the lowest point of his life." "The scan said there's no danger. Since the damage isn't serious, I can't let it affect my confidence."

"Besides, if this happened to someone else, it might be a devastating blow. But with my looks, I can pull off these sausage lips without a problem."

"Narcissist!" March 7th's expression stiffened. She hugged the pillow and snorted. "Wouldn't a normal person's first reaction to looking like that be to go to the medical bay?"

When March 7th saw that he really was going to take a picture, she immediately reached out to stop him. "Don't you dare post it in the train group chat! If anyone asks, I'm not explaining it for you!"

Bai Luoming noticed that she was overreacting a little and casually asked, "March, why do I get the feeling you're even more nervous than I am?"

March 7th's hand paused.

Once again, the scene from her dream, when she had lost control, surfaced in her mind against her will.

She had pinned Bai Luoming to a chair and kissed him as much as she pleased, until his lips were as red and swollen as they were in reality.

She instinctively glanced at Bai Luoming's face and had to admit that the guy really was good-looking. Even with those two comical lips, he hadn't become ugly. They merely added an incongruous touch to his usually fresh, handsome appearance that made her want to laugh.

She looked a little too long, and her thoughts were dragged back to that ridiculous dream.

The vivid sensation, the emotions she couldn't suppress, and the feeling of losing control all welled up in her again.

A faint blush quickly spread across March 7th's cheeks, and soon even the roots of her ears turned crimson.

She hugged the pillow tightly, trying to hide her face behind it, but the movement was so obvious that it gave her away even more completely.

Bai Luoming saw March 7th's reaction clearly in the reflection on his terminal screen.

He turned and found that her face was even redder than before, and her breathing had grown somewhat uneven.

He remembered how firmly she had denied having a cold earlier, and a thought occurred to him.

Bai Luoming put away his terminal and deliberately softened his footsteps as he approached her.

He was already quite a bit taller than March 7th, so he bent down slightly to bring their eyes level.

He first studied her eyes, then looked at her flushed cheeks, his tone becoming increasingly punchable.

"What's wrong? Why do you keep sneaking looks at me?"

"Am I so handsome you can't look away?"

March 7th jumped when his face suddenly came close.

Bai Luoming's still-handsome face, with its particularly conspicuous lips, filled almost her entire field of vision.

The images from her dream briefly overlapped with the reality before her, leaving her mind blank.

She tried to step back, but forgot that the transport robot, piled high with cargo boxes, was behind her. As soon as she moved, her back hit its metal casing.

There was nowhere left to retreat.

Seeing her like this, Bai Luoming didn't move away. Instead, he put on an expression that said "I knew I was right" and continued to rub it in with a cheeky grin. "It's fine. If you like looking, go right ahead. I never charge a viewing fee. If you want a photo together, I can even give you a friends-and-family discount today."

Overwhelmed by embarrassment and anger, March 7th acted on impulse and threw a punch, hitting Bai Luoming squarely in the chest.

She had only wanted to push the annoying guy away, completely forgetting that she was a Nameless who had embarked on a Path and experienced real combat.

Caught completely off guard, Bai Luoming was knocked off his feet and sent flying backward several meters, crashing heavily into a still-unopened box of soft bedding.

"Bang!"

The box slid backward from the impact, scattering protective packaging across the floor.

He slid down the side of the box to the floor, clutched his chest, and went still.

[Warning: Severe impact detected. Cargo status stable. Personnel status unknown.]

The transport robot's cold electronic voice echoed through the passage.

March 7th regretted throwing the punch the moment she did it. The embarrassment and anger on her face were instantly replaced by panic.

She threw down the pillow, rushed over in a few strides, and crouched beside Bai Luoming, speaking a mile a minute. "Hey, don't scare me! I really didn't mean to hit you that hard. Where does it hurt? Can you still talk?"

Bai Luoming kept his eyes closed and deliberately made his breathing almost imperceptible. Then he reached out and weakly grasped March 7th's wrist.

"March... looks like my Trailblaze journey ends here."

"Tell Himeko I don't blame her for the coffee..."

"And tell Stelle to stop rummaging through trash cans so much. It's unhygienic..."

March 7th was already panicking, and hearing these "dying words" nearly brought her to tears. Flustered, she reached for her terminal to contact Himeko.

But Bai Luoming grabbed her hand and deliberately spoke in a halting voice. "I have... one last wish."

March 7th's eyes reddened as she urged him on. "Stop wasting your breath! As long as it's not too outrageous, I'll agree to it!"

Only then did Bai Luoming slowly open one eye and make his request with utmost seriousness. "I've never had any limited-edition snacks in my life. That bag of chips in your room..."

March 7th froze.

Then she noticed that Bai Luoming's pulse was steady and strong, and his complexion was perfectly normal.

Clearly, the guy had been pretending the whole time!

March 7th's concern rapidly turned to furious anger. She snatched up the pillow lying nearby and slammed it into Bai Luoming's face.

"Why don't you just lie there until tomorrow for real?! You scared me half to death!"

Bai Luoming sat up, hugging the soft pillow, and raised both hands with a laugh. "I surrender, I surrender! I just wanted to tease you a little."

March 7th was angry enough to throw another punch, but Bai Luoming immediately begged for mercy when he saw it. "Don't hit me, don't hit me! Another punch and I really won't make it. If you'd hit an ordinary person like that, they'd probably be dead and buried."

March 7th's movement faltered.

She quickly stepped forward and lifted Bai Luoming's shirt, finding only a small red mark on his body and nothing else wrong.

Only now, having confirmed that Bai Luoming was fine, did March 7th let out a deep sigh of relief. But she still wouldn't let him off verbally. "If you dare play dead again, my next punch will make you a real casualty!"

The two of them gathered up the scattered soft packaging and moved the cargo box back onto the transport robot.

Bai Luoming picked up the pillow March 7th had dropped and handed her the lightest box, declaring without a hint of shame, "The injured need a reasonable division of labor."

Seeing that he could still crack jokes, March 7th finally felt completely reassured. She pushed him and the transport robot toward the guest room.

As they neared the door, Bai Luoming rubbed his hands together at the sight of the cart full of furniture.

"Come on, let's turn this unfinished room into a place someone can live in tonight!"

The two entered the empty room, bickering as they went. The transport robot followed and projected a pale blue screen.

[Installation list confirmed. Please select an installation mode: standard mode/custom mode.]