Thirty Days

At the same time.

Lu Xiu's residence.

Jian Li and Shen Nian eventually managed to stay at Lu Xiu's house.

The issue of bed allocation ultimately ended with Shen Nian decisively choosing to sleep on the sofa.

After confirming that she could stay, Shen Nian originally planned to change out of her maid outfit. After all, staying at a hotel was one thing, but she couldn't keep wearing that outfit forever.

But when she made this request, Lu Xiu refused.

"No."

Lu Xiu retorted confidently, "How can a maid take off her uniform so casually in her master's house? That's disrespectful to the profession."

Shen Nian was about to say something.

Lu Xiu continued, "At least until today, you are my maid, and that's the condition for staying here."

Looking at Lu Xiu's expression, which clearly said, "I'm going to do maid cosplay today,"...

Shen Nian finally gave in.

Mainly because Lu Xiu had just gone through a lot of trouble—she had gotten used to it.

The owner has called it countless times.

Surprisingly, Shen Nian didn't dislike this feeling too much.

It even felt like playing along with a young lady—after all, seeing Lu Xiu's radiant smile, it was really hard to say no.

Moreover, for Shen Nian, Lu Xiu was also her benefactor.

She's willing to do these things.

However, staying here is one thing.

Lu Xiu did not chat with them in the living room as she would with ordinary guests.

She simply told them where there was food and drink, and to make themselves at home, before turning and entering the Construction Space.

---- Seems quite busy.

As Lu Xiu entered the Construction Space, the living room immediately fell silent.

Jian Li remained taciturn. Having achieved her goal, she ignored Shen Nian, maintaining her aloof and unapproachable demeanor. After sitting for a while, seeing that it was still early, she also summoned the System Panel and entered the dungeon.

soon.

Only Shen Nian, dressed in a maid outfit, remained in the apartment.

She stared at the spot where Lu Xiu's figure had just disappeared. Her head, which had been burning with shame and playfulness, finally calmed down. She adjusted her posture slightly, letting her skirt fall naturally.

Next.

Shen Nian began to look around and observe Lu Xiu's residence. Previously, she had only caught a glimpse of it and had not really taken a close look at it.

The room was decorated very simply.

There aren't many decorations with a strong personal style, and plush toys or cosmetics are nowhere to be seen.

But it's clean and tidy.

Moreover, perhaps because Lu Xiu herself left such a deep impression, even without much decoration, she still exuded a sense of warmth.

At this time.

Shen Nian remembered something her bald boss had once told her—to pay attention to Lu Xiu's mental state.

to be honest.

Judging from the replica Lu Xiu created, her mental state is truly worrying.

Leaving aside the action-adventure games, just the Resident Evil and Outlast games alone make one seriously suspect that Lu Xiu is insane.

However, Lu Xiu's living environment was exactly the opposite of that in the original story.

Far from being oppressive or gloomy, it exudes a clean and gentle atmosphere.

And after getting to know them...

Lu Xiu herself is also vivid and lively—she exudes a clean and gentle aura.

Is this really the person who created the kind of twisted and terrifying worlds like those in Resident Evil and Outlast?

This raises suspicions.

"Wait a minute—could her relaxed demeanor just be a facade to mask the immense pressure she's under?"

Shen Nian seemed lost in thought.

Then, looking in the direction where Lu Xiu disappeared, he made up his mind to observe her carefully from now on.

After all, it's a rare opportunity to observe so closely.

Time passed slowly.

An hour and a half later.

Shen Nian realized she had nothing better to do, and she really didn't want to enter the dungeon today. Looking at her black and white maid outfit, she sighed and decided that since she was already dressed up, she might as well not waste the time. So she picked up a rag and started tidying up the living room for Lu Xiu.

Just then, a ripple appeared in the center of the living room.

Lu Xiu withdrew from the Construction Space.

As soon as she landed, she turned her head and saw a tall, beautiful woman dressed in a maid outfit wiping a table with a rag. She was clearly startled and shrank back.

But a few seconds later, she realized that there was a maid staying at her house, and her tense shoulders relaxed again.

Shen Nian: "----"

Over the next few hours.

Lu Xiu came out several more times.

If Shen Nian were to describe Lu Xiu's work status and mentality in one word, it would definitely not be "crazy" or "abnormal."

There are only two words: "Young girl".

A girl full of life.

She would step out of the Construction Space every now and then to get some fresh air.

Sometimes she would come out with a furrowed brow and mutter a few words that Shen Nian couldn't understand, as if she had encountered a problem with the Constructed Instance.

But soon, as soon as she ran to the refrigerator, found an ice cream, and took her first bite, her beautiful face, which had been somewhat irritated, immediately broke into a faint smile, and all the gloom vanished.

Moreover, she doesn't have the anxiety that ordinary girls have about being afraid of gaining weight.

Sometimes, when things are going well, she'll come out and hum a tune softly, a very special tune.

Because of her naturally beautiful voice, she sounds especially lovely.

The worst time.

Lu Xiu exited the Construction Space for the fourth time, seemingly annoyed by the system's judgment, and cursed the garbage system.

But she only cursed once, then, like a salted fish that had lost its dreams, she plopped down on the sofa, rolled around once, and then cheered herself up again.

Shen Nian was washing vegetables, preparing to cook dinner.

Seeing this, Peach Blossom's eyes were filled with disbelief.

Is this really the grandmaster that players are talking about?

Is this really the Architect who let loose in Outlast and scared people so badly they developed psychological trauma?

It's truly unbelievable!

She couldn't see any psychological problems or abnormal tendencies in Lu Xiu at all.

I just feel----

This construction genius is almost unfairly good.

In Lu Xiu, one can truly feel an extremely strong sense of being alive.

Shen Nian looked at Lu Xiu, who was wearing a slightly oversized home short-sleeved T-shirt, the hem of which just covered the top of her thighs, and was playing the "no pants" look very naturally.

His expression was complex, with a feeling that was hard to describe.

Before joining the Coordination Bureau, she had met all sorts of people.

I've seen powerful individuals rapidly rise to prominence in the gamified world, ordinary people whose spines are crushed by the pressure of Survival Points, their eyes filled with calculation, and clever people who disguise themselves in various ways but are empty inside.

But it's rare to see someone like Lu Xiu, who is genuinely strong and intelligent—yet in private, she's so relaxed and genuine that you can't feel any distance from her at all.

It lacks the arrogance and stubbornness of those geniuses.

Shen Nian had heard Lu Xiu's story, heard that she had once slaughtered the members of the Builder Group without hesitation, and heard how she fought two against one on Maple Leaf Avenue and how decisive she was. She had also cleared all of Lu Xiu's dungeons.

But those things don't seem to match the person in front of me.

A calm and decisive action, leaving no room for compromise.

A lively and vivid child would call her "master".

It's as if two contradictory souls were being roughly yet perfectly kneaded into a thin, beautiful body by an invisible hand.

Despite their seemingly contradictory traits, they don't feel out of place at all in her.

This extreme contrast makes her both dangerous, like a weapon drawn from its sheath, and soft, like a snowflake falling on the palm of your hand in early winter—exuding a very special charm.

"What kind of person is she really? Which side of her is the real her?"

Shen Nian murmured to herself, then looked away and down at the sink.

However, she quickly forgot about the question.

Since the soup in the casserole still needed to simmer for a while, Shen Nian took the opportunity while waiting for the soup to be ready to casually bring up the System Panel and open the Nine Provinces Forum for a glance.

Upon closer inspection...

Her eyes widened instantly.

Construction Club? They actually stumbled upon something amazing?

Just as Shen Nian was looking at the forum posts and feeling incredulous, a familiar ripple once again spread through the central space of the living room.

Lu Xiu emerged from the Construction Space once again.

This time, instead of sprawling on the sofa like a lost soul, she simply stretched out in a big yawn, revealing her beautiful and graceful curves.

And almost at the same time.

Accompanied by Bai Guang.

Jian Li also appeared.

Seeing this, Shen Nian closed the forum in front of him and temporarily put aside the matter of Construction Club a lower-level alternative dungeon in his heart.

She turned around, casually wiping her still-dampened hands on her snow-white apron, and looked at the two who had just emerged from the dungeon and the Construction Space. "You're both out," she said. "Perfect timing, go wash your hands and get ready for dinner. The food is all prepared."

Lu Xiu was taken aback upon hearing this. She lowered her fair and slender arm, then looked across the living room and landed on the dining table not far away.

Several steaming hot home-style dishes were neatly arranged there, and the casserole was still bubbling with milky white soup. The rich and tempting aroma of the food was gradually spreading through the air.

Then, Lu Xiu's gaze slowly shifted back to Shen Nian.

Looking at this tall, beautiful woman dressed in a long maid outfit, adorned with exquisite hair accessories, and whose even her posture exuded an air of elegance and virtue—

Lu Xiu's expression slowly became somewhat strange.

She simply thought Shen Nian looked extremely attractive in that outfit, and to satisfy her own interest in admiring anime girls, she half-jokingly and half-forcefully used the excuse of the accommodation agreement to prevent Shen Nian from taking it off.

She really just wanted to be seen as a character illustration.

result----

Although she saw Shen Nian washing vegetables during that time, she simply assumed that Shen Nian was hungry!

Unexpectedly, she had even prepared meals for everyone.

It really feels like having a maid in the house.

"You actually cooked all the food?"

Lu Xiu approached the dining table, glanced at the appetizing side dishes, and then looked up at Shen Nian: "Thank you—but I only asked you to wear the maid outfit out of curiosity. You're not a real maid, so you don't need to force yourself to do anything."

Jian Li then came to Lu Xiu's side and peeked at the dishes on the table from behind Lu Xiu.

"Uh... I'm just killing time anyway."

Shen Nian's eyes darted around a little. "Anyway, I'm just staying here temporarily, I can't just stay for free. Besides, I happened to see some fresh ingredients in your fridge, so I just made something—let's not talk about that now, Jian Li!"

In the end, to hide the shame of increasingly identifying with the maid role, she forced a bit of bravado and tried to change the subject.

Lu Xiu smiled and pulled Jian Li to wash her hands.

Back to the dining table.

Shen Nian had already picked up the soup ladle very consciously and was skillfully serving soup to the three of them.

soon.

She carefully picked up a bowl of steaming soup and gently placed it in front of Lu Xiu.

"Try it."

Shen Nian blew on her fingers, then thought for a moment and said, "By the way, there's something I wanted to tell you. It seems the Construction Club has come up with something—"

Ding Shen Nian had only spoken halfway when a mechanical notification suddenly rang out throughout the living room.

Or more accurately, it echoed in the minds of all three of them simultaneously.

Then, in the next second...

The window popped up without warning.

[Version Update Announcement]

[New Expansion Preview - "Iron and Blood" Launch Countdown!]

[Countdown: 30 days]

[Effective immediately, all system instances will be closed!]

Have fun!

I saw this announcement.

All three of them stopped moving at the same time.