I've liked him for years

To other people, perhaps he was just game data.

But to Bai Luochuan, Qi Yu was the real boyfriend who had pulled him out of the lowest point in his life.

So throughout their relationship, he had taken every word Qi Yu said to him to heart.

Players could choose their secondary gender when creating an account.

Back then, Bai Luochuan hadn't understood what all this Alpha and Omega business meant, so without hesitation, he had chosen the Beta identity that suited him best.

Later, he had learned that Qi Yu was the world's finest Alpha.

Qi Yu also knew he was a Beta.

But back then, sitting on the Ferris wheel, Qi Yu had smiled warmly and openly at Bai Luochuan on the other side of the screen.

He had simply said, slowly, that he didn't care about gender, or anything else.

Pheromones and the like didn't matter at all.

The compatibility other Alphas pursued was, in his eyes, nothing but nonsense that got in the way of love.

He only wanted Bai Luochuan.

So as long as Bai Luochuan stayed true to himself, he was exactly the way Qi Yu liked him best.

Bai Luochuan had always remembered that.

And so he had always loved himself, just as Qi Yu had told him to.

Yet now, Chen Miao misunderstood the truth he had spoken.

He looked warily at Bai Luochuan.

Chen Miao asked, "Who have you fallen for this time?"

Bai Luochuan waved his phone. "There's no 'this time.' He's the only person I've ever liked. My boyfriend in a game. I've liked him for years."

Disbelief covered Chen Miao's face as he repeated, "A boyfriend in a game?"

Bai Luochuan nodded. "A dating game. You don't know about those?"

Of course he did.

He just found it very hard to believe.

And this answer was far too different from the Bai Luochuan he knew.

But after staring seriously into the other man's eyes for a while, Chen Miao found no sign that he was lying.

He couldn't find any trace of dishonesty there.

He could only suppress his questions and stand up. "If you've decided to take that variety show, I'll go sort out the details for you. Wait for my news over the next couple of days. Don't go wandering around. There are a lot of paparazzi outside. You know what I mean."

Bai Luochuan obediently nodded.

Before leaving, Chen Miao transferred another five thousand yuan to Bai Luochuan.

He told him to make sure he ate properly.

He would soon be appearing on a livestreamed show. If he couldn't even keep his most important asset, his face, in good shape, it would affect his future work too.

This was for his own good.

Bai Luochuan understood that.

Although he personally didn't think it was necessary.

He still accepted it gratefully.

After seeing Chen Miao off, he had nothing to do.

After agonizing for a long while, Bai Luochuan opened the game once again.

He checked it all over again, but still couldn't find anywhere to adjust his facial settings. Still, he couldn't really stop seeing Qi Yu forever just because he looked like this now.

He took a couple of deep breaths.

As usual, Bai Luochuan entered the boyfriend companionship screen and placed a video call to Qi Yu.

This time was different from before.

Qi Yu didn't answer the call immediately.

Instead, the brief wait made Bai Luochuan's heart race.

He felt an indescribable nervousness.

Yet after a long while, for the first time, the call ended automatically.

Bai Luochuan: ???

His nervousness vanished.

He immediately tapped the call button again.

But this time, there wasn't even a connecting notification. A dialog box popped up instead.

Black text on a white background:

[Dear player, we sincerely apologize. The game system has encountered some errors and is undergoing emergency maintenance. The time when service will resume is currently undetermined. Please watch for announcements.]

After reading it, he tapped the screen again.

Bai Luochuan discovered that he had been forcibly logged out.

Bai Luochuan: ...

You scumbag company, I really will stop spending money on this game!

From anger on the first day to speechlessness on the second.

When he logged in on the third day and found that the reopening time was still undetermined, Bai Luochuan laughed.

Apparently, people really did laugh when they were speechless.

Early on the fourth morning, he had to go film that bullshit variety show.

And today, he couldn't even recharge by seeing his husband!

Could it really be that, because he had transmigrated, he would never be able to log into the game again?

Startled by that thought, Bai Luochuan spent the entire day studying the game.

He spent a whole day researching the game.

As a result, when Chen Miao came to pick him up the next morning, he was startled by how exhausted Bai Luochuan looked.

Chen Miao exclaimed, "Didn't I tell you to rest properly, eat properly, and try to leave everyone with a good impression on camera? How did you..."

"Didn't you say I'd get paid as long as I showed up, no matter how I performed or what state I was in?" Bai Luochuan pointed at himself. "Then this should be fine too, right?"

It was fine.

After all, the variety show only wanted him as a gimmick.

The more haggard Bai Luochuan looked, the happier the production team would be.

Chen Miao pressed his fingers between his brows. "You have to think about your future! Even if that's how the public sees you now, you should know I still have a lot of faith in you!"

Bai Luochuan gave an awkward smile. "I think it'd be fine not to have faith in me in that respect."

Chen Miao's head hurt. "So what caused this? Was it really that trending topic about Yan Cheng yesterday?"

Bai Luochuan was utterly bewildered.

What did this have to do with Yan Cheng?

He had spent the entirety of yesterday studying the game.

He really hadn't given anyone else's trending topics any thought.

He looked blankly at Chen Miao.

Once again, Chen Miao misunderstood.

Patting Bai Luochuan on the shoulder, he said, "Don't overthink it. It was probably just to build hype for this variety show. But it's fine if you take it seriously too. I also think giving up sooner would be a good thing. After all..."

Bai Luochuan barely listened to what followed.

After all, he had absolutely no interest in Yan Cheng.

On top of that, even after studying the game for a whole day and night, he still couldn't log in normally.

That irritating, unpleasant feeling left his head muddled.

It was hard to think about anything else.

Half an hour later.

The car arrived at the filming location.

Bai Luochuan had heard from Chen Miao that, besides himself and Yan Cheng, who had already been announced, the guests on this dating show included two Omegas, another Beta, and a special Alpha guest whose identity hadn't been revealed.

Although, in terms of primary gender, they all appeared male.

In this world's setting, however, the distinction between male and female was no longer so important.

And with guests of all three secondary genders present, there could be AO, AB, BO, or even forbidden love between people of the same secondary gender!

This was also one of the effects the production team wanted.

Of course, judging by what Bai Luochuan had seen, the comments were already full of abuse before the show had even aired.

Most of them said this was a dating game for Alphas and Omegas.

They told Bai Luochuan, a Beta who didn't know his place, to get lost.

He tapped lightly on the screen a couple of times.

After some thought, Bai Luochuan asked, "Replying to a few comments online won't stop the production team from paying me, right?"

Chen Miao froze. "It won't, but..."

Before he could even finish speaking.

Bai Luochuan's fingers were already flying across the keyboard.

Half a minute later-

[Bai Luochuan V: Thanks for the compliment. Are you spreading all those sexual rumors about me because I'm so beautiful that you ugly things are jealous?]

[Bai Luochuan V: So what if I'm a Beta when I'm this pretty? You drowned ghosts still aren't satisfied?]

[Bai Luochuan V: Cursing my whole family won't do you any good. Are you bringing them up so much because you want the King of Hell to let you jump the queue and meet my parents?]

[Bai Luochuan V: The most important thing for you right now is your middle school entrance exam. Stop worrying so much about me. This big brother already has his college diploma~]