I'm the game character you dated for five years

It had always been like this.

Except when it came to meeting in person.

Bai Luochuan had never refused any request from Qi Yu.

Granted, when he played the game, those requests were mostly simple things like "kiss me" or "say you love me."

But now...

At last, he could fulfill that request to meet in real life, too...

He barely hesitated at all.

The moment Bai Luochuan heard those words, he had already walked to the door on instinct and opened it for Qi Yu.

Although the video call had given him some preparation.

When he saw his lover come to open the door with a towel wrapped around his waist, Qi Yu still froze for a moment before the smile in his eyes grew even brighter.

Without saying much.

He reached out and swept Bai Luochuan into his arms, bridal-style.

By the time he stepped inside, his ears and a big, fluffy tail had emerged as well.

His tail curled backward.

The door closed with a bang.

Only after the tip of his tail secretly hooked around and fastened the lock beneath the handle did Qi Yu lick his lips and say contentedly, "Ge, you just got out of the shower, and you rushed over to welcome me dressed like this. Are you really not trying to seduce me?"

Bai Luochuan blinked in confusion.

Only then did he belatedly realize.

There really was something a little inappropriate about how I look right now!

When he had played the game before, although he had always treated the other man as his lover, Bai Luochuan had also known, deep down, that his lover was only a collection of data.

So he had never worried much about appearances when logging in.

Often, he would even open the game as soon as he opened his eyes.

His hair would be a mess.

His eyes would still be bleary with sleep.

As for opening the game right after a shower, or leaving it running while he showered, that had happened often, too.

He had never found anything embarrassing about it then.

But now that the man really stood before him, the embarrassment any human ought to feel instantly rushed into his heart.

Bai Luochuan struggled a little.

He wanted to get out of Qi Yu's arms.

But the other man seemed to be doing it on purpose.

Not only did he refuse to let go.

He even reminded him with a smile, "Ge, stop struggling. If you struggle until your towel falls off, you'll be even more embarrassed."

Bai Luochuan: ...

Then put me down if you know that!

Bad fox! You're getting more devious by the day!

But his mischief did not end there.

Qi Yu did not put Bai Luochuan on the bed.

Instead, he carried him over to the sofa and sat down.

The leather sofa.

The fully dressed Qi Yu.

They made Bai Luochuan's current appearance seem all the stranger.

He instinctively curled in on himself.

Bai Luochuan frowned. "Let me put some clothes on first..."

"No."

Qi Yu refused without hesitation.

His voice, however, was sweet and syrupy.

As though he were acting cute.

He lowered his head.

And gently rubbed the tip of his nose against Bai Luochuan's cheek.

Only then did he tilt his head, take Bai Luochuan's lower lip into his mouth, and bite it gently.

His teeth scraped across his lip.

It did not hurt much.

But the prickling, ticklish sensation still successfully brought about a certain unmentionable change in Bai Luochuan.

He could not bear to part from that fresh vetiver scent.

Yet he was embarrassed by his own state.

As Bai Luochuan accepted the kiss, every muscle in his body went taut. His breathing grew ragged and uneven, and he nearly embarrassed himself by losing his breath from being kissed.

Fortunately, Qi Yu knew when to stop.

Seeing Bai Luochuan's face flush from holding his breath, he obediently pulled back a little, giving him a chance to breathe.

His big tail swished twice more.

It swept from behind him to the front.

And lifted a corner of the towel.

Qi Yu's eyes curved with his smile. "Oh, little brother's looking lively!"

Bai Luochuan's face went explosively red.

Was this fox getting better and better at this!?

But there were still so many unresolved things they needed to talk through.

He did not want to simply gloss over them and move on to something else.

He could only push against Qi Yu's chest...

Hm?

That feels nice.

He could not resist squeezing it twice more.

Bai Luochuan's face lit up with delight. "This feels exactly like I imagined! The game didn't lie to me at all! Your pecs are amazing! How long did you train?"

Qi Yu: ...

This time, it was his smile that stiffened a little.

Although he had always known Bai Luochuan could be a little oblivious in certain ways.

With the atmosphere this intimate.

He could actually still bring it back to the game.

There was no denying it.

Bai Luochuan and that game really were true love.

A vein at his temple twitched twice despite himself, and he reached out to catch the hand Bai Luochuan was still feeling him up with.

With a soft sigh, Qi Yu said, "Ge, according to the normal rules, guests aren't allowed to visit each other's rooms at night during filming."

Bai Luochuan blinked and nodded.

There did seem to be a rule like that.

But he had not thought he would visit anyone's room before, so he had skimmed over it without reading closely.

Qi Yu continued, "If I stay here too long and someone else notices, that won't be good. So don't get me too worked up yet, Ge. Let's settle all the things I want to ask and the things you want to ask first, then we can talk about anything else."

He sounded utterly justified.

Bai Luochuan's reason returned.

He stared earnestly into those beautiful golden eyes.

Wait.

Weren't you the one seducing me the moment you walked in!?

How did it suddenly become the other way around?

But they did indeed have more pressing things to discuss.

So Bai Luochuan behaved himself for the moment.

Reaching out to squeeze the big tail Qi Yu had deliberately curled around in front of him, Bai Luochuan thought for a moment and said, "Are you... really the game character I dated for five years?"

Although he had already thoroughly talked himself into accepting it.

When he heard Bai Luochuan describe him as a "game character," the vein at Qi Yu's temple still twitched despite himself.

He nodded with a wry smile.

Qi Yu asked, "You can still log into that game now, right, Ge? Honestly, I'm still having a little trouble accepting that answer. So could you show me? What that game actually looks like."

Since they had already gotten this far.

Of course he ought to show him the game interface.

Bai Luochuan immediately picked up his phone.

The screen was still on the game interface.

But Qi Yu was no longer visible in the game.

It was pitch-black.

Qi Yu glanced down.

At some point while they had been kissing, his own phone had fallen onto the floor.

Its screen was now facing down.

And its camera was completely covered.

Naturally, it could not capture any images.

When he picked up the phone and pointed it at himself, Bai Luochuan's game interface did indeed turn into a video feed of Qi Yu.

It seemed no different from an ordinary video call.

But Bai Luochuan tapped the screen.

And switched to the gacha screen on the side.

He explained to Qi Yu, "Look here. Sometimes it updates with date banners for you. If I pull a date token from one, I can start a date with you."

As he spoke, his finger swiped again.

And he opened the shop.

Bai Luochuan continued explaining, "Here..."

"I know this one. You've sent me these, Ge, and every time you sent ninety-nine of each kind. Honestly, I still haven't finished using the ones you sent in the first few years."

There was no need for Bai Luochuan to explain.

The moment Qi Yu saw the shop, he had already learned to jump in with the answer.

And hearing his response, the expression on Bai Luochuan's face stiffened for an instant.

When he had bought those gifts back then, he had thought of Qi Yu entirely as data.

So he had been full of joy, thinking he had to give his darling every good thing. He had to max out every number and could not let Qi Yu suffer even the slightest grievance.

He had never considered what actually receiving them would be like.

Thinking about it now.

All the gifts he had sent in batches of ninety-nine-plus over those five years...

Had to be nearly enough for Qi Yu to open a shopping mall, right?

But seemingly unaware of these thoughts, Qi Yu merely paused before continuing his commentary. "This coat-shine cream costs fifty yuan? That's so expensive!"

"Ge, did you know? They send these tiny little sample sizes. Sure, it's a good brand, but with that amount, a tube should only cost ten or twenty yuan at most!"

"And this grooming brush-is this price just made up?"

"Ge, it lists these prices for you, and you still bought me ninety-nine of every kind each time. How much did you spend? Did you have money left to feed yourself?"

"I don't need these gifts. Taking good care of yourself is the greatest gift you could give me!"

Qi Yu went on and on.

His words were filled entirely with distress over what Bai Luochuan had spent.

He was not the only one.

Although he had no use for those gifts and supplies from the game shop in real life, Bai Luochuan actually knew that the game had ruthlessly squeezed money out of him for five years.

The prices of the shop gifts were indeed outrageously high.

But when he gave them to Qi Yu and saw him smiling so happily, he felt the money was well spent.

After all, a person needed some interest in life to sustain them and keep them moving forward through its hardships.

Qi Yu was his only interest.

He had been perfectly willing to pay for that interest.

Taking his phone back from the other man's hand, Bai Luochuan thought for a moment and said, "I bought the gifts willingly, and I did eat properly. It's gaming. Who doesn't get fleeced?"

"But this fleeced you out of so much. Even I feel bad for you, Ge!"

Qi Yu shook his head.

He lowered his head and rested it against Bai Luochuan's shoulder.

Then rubbed against it hard twice.

Qi Yu mumbled, "I like it when you give me gifts, Ge, but don't give me gifts through this anymore. You can buy them and give them to me in person. I'd like gifts I receive that way even more than ones delivered by courier."

Bai Luochuan nodded.

Qi Yu asked him again, "What about dates? You said earlier that dates need tokens you pull. Those don't cost money too, do they?"

Bai Luochuan hesitated. "Well..."

He did not need to spell it out.

Qi Yu understood immediately.

Drawing a date token must have cost a considerable amount of money.

He figured it probably cost even more than those gifts sent in batches of ninety-nine.

There was no way to judge what had happened in the past.

Nor could the money spent in the game be taken back out.

Qi Yu sighed.

Somewhat helplessly, he hugged Bai Luochuan tight.

He leaned back against the sofa behind them, bringing him along.

He still let Bai Luochuan hold his big tail, while his own hand gently patted Bai Luochuan's back.

He murmured, "You really do like me so much, don't you? Liking me this much, and not having met me all these years... you must have felt just as awful as I did, right?"

Bai Luochuan blinked.

That part was actually all right?

After all, he had never thought there would be a chance to meet.

Without expectations, there would be no disappointment.

So in this respect, he and Qi Yu felt rather differently.

But if he said that, Big Fox would definitely be sad and disappointed.

So Bai Luochuan chose not to answer that part.

Fortunately, Qi Yu only touched on it briefly before continuing, "Luckily, we've met now. If you want to go on a date with me in the future, don't use that strange channel anymore. You can tell me directly, or I can invite you. I'm really looking forward to what it'll feel like to actually go on a date with you, too."

"Of course, I know playing the game has become a habit for you, so I won't ask you to delete it. You can keep playing it in the future."

"After all, you're only in the game to see me."

"I quite like meeting you that way, too."

Qi Yu spoke slowly.

Suddenly, as though something had occurred to him.

He looked into Bai Luochuan's eyes again.

Sounding a little puzzled, he said, "After you mentioned the game, I looked up a lot of similar romance games last night. But those games all had lots of characters you could romance. So this game you're playing..."

Bai Luochuan gave a light cough.

He answered honestly, "There are a few other romance options besides you. I looked through all of them when the game launched, but once I started playing, I was most interested in you, so I never saw the others again."

Qi Yu: !!!???

The smile on Qi Yu's face froze.

Then he patted Bai Luochuan's shoulder solemnly.

He said, "I've thought about it. Since we've already met, there really is no need for the game to exist anymore. Listen to me. You'd better delete it right now."

Bai Luochuan: ...

Sure enough.

Big Fox was still the Fox he knew.

He had known it.

When it came to something like this, Qi Yu would never let it go!

It was just that...

"But your situation is a little unusual. I discovered this before I transmigrated, but the missions were pretty pressing then, so I didn't have time to look closely."

He gave the big tail in his arms a few squeezes.

Bai Luochuan looked thoroughly conflicted.

He said, "I logged into the game's official website, and there wasn't any introduction to you at all. The other male leads all had one, though. There were also introductions to some storylines I'd never seen, all related to them. There was nothing about you."

Qi Yu raised an eyebrow. "You mean..."

Before he could finish.

There came a soft knock at the door.

Qi Yu immediately fell silent.

Then they heard Yan Cheng's voice from outside.

Trying hard to keep his voice down, he said, "Bai Luochuan, are you asleep? I want to have a proper talk with you. Open the door."