Three, two, one, cheese~

"Our company really is something," Bai Song marveled.

"Wasn't that obvious?" Si Weizhe said, pointing at the lively Nanmen Yingyun.

"So have we actually made it into the company's inner circle?" Gu Yu asked uncertainly.

"Probably not. My guess is that we belong to different departments. It's hard to unlock the V badge through emotional missions alone, whereas the combat department next door probably unlocks it pretty easily," Si Weizhe analyzed.

Just then, the mummy beside them cried out in delighted surprise.

"I've got an invitation! It's from the combat department next door. They're inviting me to join them."

"Are you going?" Wen Xuanjing asked, looking up.

"No way. It's way too dangerous." Nanmen Yingyun firmly shook her head.

"There isn't much difference in the benefits. The combat department's pay might just include some special serums, like ones that strengthen your body. Judging from that Gene Serum description earlier, the side effects seem pretty significant. Growing muscles, for example," Si Weizhe explained.

"Then I'm definitely not going. I'll stick to being a friendship expert in peace." Nanmen Yingyun promptly made her position clear.

"All right," Si Weizhe said.

"Take a look and see if there's anything you want to redeem. If you don't have enough points, you can borrow some from me. I found out we can transfer points between accounts."

"Woohoo! Time to shop on Taobao!" Nanmen Yingyun ripped off her bandages, grabbed Gu Yu's arm, and promptly chased Bai Song away, commandeering the computer.

Half a pill had brought Li Douyu back from the brink of death. That had been well worth it.

But because he had only taken half a pill himself, something had gone wrong with his own body.

Was he dead or alive?

Zhang Youzhi felt as though he existed in a superposition of life and death.

Old Master Xue was probably pretty familiar with this sort of thing.

He had noticed a pattern: he had a physical body. He could hold chopsticks and eat, drink water, and ride elevators. Even automatic doors opened when he approached them.

An Infrared Thermal Imager could detect Zhang Youzhi, too.

In fact, when Li Douyu picked up her phone to take a picture of them together, Zhang Youzhi's handsome face showed up perfectly clearly.

Yet other people simply couldn't see him.

Unless Li Douyu operated the camera, he didn't appear in anyone else's surveillance footage or phone videos, either.

They couldn't see or touch him. Li Douyu was the only person who could see him. Aside from her, no one could prove that he existed in this world. Li Douyu was his sole observer.

Of course, as a dead man, he didn't particularly care.

After all, he could still kiss her, hug her, and- ahem.

The problem was, now that he had decided to live properly, he couldn't stay stuck in this world as a bug forever, could he?

The cat had to come out of the box eventually.

The person who caused the problem had to solve it, so Zhang Youzhi still needed to find Number Two.

All right, that brought up another problem.

Where was Number Two?

The next day, Zhang Youzhi took Li Douyu to complete her discharge paperwork, then headed to Songjiang University hand in hand with her.

"Youzhi, what are we going to do?" Li Douyu asked, nibbling on an ice cream and hugging Zhang Youzhi's arm as though she wanted to squeeze her entire body into his embrace.

Of course, to strangers, she looked like a sweet, innocent girl pressing herself against thin air in a bizarre pose and occasionally saying a few words to it.

"Find someone," Zhang Youzhi said succinctly, stroking his girlfriend's head.

"That Number Two you mentioned? Who is he?" Li Douyu asked curiously.

"He's definitely not a normal person. You've noticed it too, right? Nothing we've been through can be explained by anyone in the world of the living. He's the one who started it all. Anyway, finding him is the right move."

"Okay. Wherever you go, I'll go." Holding Zhang Youzhi's large hand tightly, the girl looked utterly at ease.

Li Douyu soon regretted saying that.

"Youzhi, y-you go in. I'll stay outside." Standing outside the door and listening to the noisy voices inside, Li Douyu refused to take another step.

She had already recognized them. The people inside were the same five from last time.

"Huh? What's with that look?" Puzzled, Zhang Youzhi cupped Li Douyu's face and made her look him straight in the eyes.

"Come on, what did you do?"

Li Douyu blinked without saying a word.

The atmosphere between them grew stranger, and their lips drew closer and closer.

Clunk.

The door opened.

Si Weizhe saw Li Douyu standing outside and instantly shut the door again, his face expressionless.

"Just my luck."

Li Douyu: ...

Watching Li Douyu's little face flush bright red, he couldn't help laughing.

"Oh, come on. You got all five of them hauled into the police station. It's only natural they'd hold a grudge. C'mon, let's go in."

With that, Zhang Youzhi tried to turn the handle. Finding someone holding it firmly from the other side, he simply pulled harder and tore the door off.

Why was this door so flimsy?

The people inside stared at Li Douyu in shock.

"S-she's breaking in?" Bai Song exclaimed.

"She's come to get revenge on all five of us." Gu Yu hid behind the others, afraid to meet Li Douyu's eyes.

The mummy, however, freshly wrapped in bandages again, walked over and looked this way and that before reaching out to pull Li Douyu inside and press her down onto the couch.

"You're... you're...?" Li Douyu stared in surprise at the mummy who had led her inside.

"This is our ninth time meeting." Nanmen Yingyun pulled the bandages off her head, revealing her face.

"It's you! I'm so glad you're okay. You're amazing at fighting, and you're so pretty, too." Li Douyu looked at Nanmen Yingyun with delighted surprise and gave her a big hug.

"Amazing, my ass. If you hadn't saved me, I'd probably be dead by now. You three, stop hiding. She's our mission target, not some evil overlord." Nanmen Yingyun irritably glanced at the three people huddled by the refrigerator as though facing a mortal enemy.

Only Si Weizhe calmly drank his water.

Half an hour later.

All seven of them were finally seated around the large wooden table.

After a chaotic round of introductions, Li Douyu finally understood the whole story.

"Brother Si, I'm really sorry. I was so scared at the time that I got all of you taken to the police station." Copying Nanmen Yingyun, Li Douyu cupped her fist in salute to Si Weizhe.

"Please, don't. There's no need for that. Honestly, we were at fault, too. Strangers following you around and investigating you would naturally cause misunderstandings. But..." Si Weizhe trailed off.

The other four winked at him, their eyes full of encouragement.

"Li Douyu, you know everything now?" Si Weizhe asked hesitantly, choosing his words.

"I do. So, do any of you three still want to date me?" Li Douyu asked bluntly with a cheerful smile.

Si Weizhe, Bai Song, and Wen Xuanjing shook their heads in terror.

"Then that settles it. From now on, the six of us are friends. Let me introduce you to my boyfriend, Zhang Youzhi."

Li Douyu hugged her boyfriend with one arm and pointed at him with the other.

The five stared at the empty air beside Li Douyu, their expressions gradually souring.

They exchanged looks.

(Bai Song: We're screwed. I think she's lost it.)

(Wen Xuanjing: What do we do? I've read about this. I think she misses him so much that she's hallucinating.)

(Gu Yu: She's so pitiful. Boohoo.)

(Nanmen Yingyun: Shut up. None of you are allowed to expose my savior. Play along.)

(Si Weizhe: Listen to Cherry. Let's play along for now and see what happens.)

Their silent exchange ended.

"Oh my, so you're Mr. Zhang Youzhi! What a fine-looking gentleman. The love between you and Miss Li Douyu is truly sincere and profound. We're so envious."

Watching them heap praise on empty air, Zhang Youzhi doubled over laughing off in another direction.

Knowing they had misunderstood, Li Douyu resignedly produced some evidence.

"No, he really is here. You just can't see him. Come on, let's take a picture."

As she spoke, Li Douyu pulled over the laptop on the table and took a selfie with everyone in frame.

Click.

In the photo, the five were all in different poses, while Li Douyu tenderly held her boyfriend's arm. The man who had suddenly appeared in the picture held her little hand and smiled at the camera, flashing a peace sign.

His expression seemed to say:

Three, two, one, cheese~