“Mr. Xia Che, it’s not that I’m lecturing you, but your ALS is transitioning to the late stage. Instead of spending this money on a foot bath, you’d be better off selling your house, getting a loan, and choosing our treatment. You must trust the doctors, trust current technology…”
“Hold it, hold it! What do you mean, foot bath?!”
Holding a critical illness notice in his hand, Xia Che limped out of the hospital entrance with great difficulty, leaning on his cane, looking displeased at the unscrupulous doctor who was urging him to sell his house and get a loan for treatment.
“I’m a writer! How can you call that a foot bath? I call that research!”
Xia Che said with a serious expression, “I’m washing away the mud of this life’s journey, and kneading away the sharp edges and misfortunes smoothed down by time.”
“But isn’t that still a foot bath? And in your current condition, can you even feel your feet when you wash them?”
“Doctor, have you ever had a foot bath?”
The unscrupulous doctor shook his head.
Xia Che leaned on his cane with both hands, looking up at the sky, “Initially, I also thought it was just an ordinary evening. She stood before me, carrying a suitcase, and said, ‘Hello, big brother, I’m Therapist No. 168, it’s a pleasure to serve you.’ ”
“In her soft whispers, I, a dying person, once again felt a hint of comfort in life.”
“My girlfriend broke up with me, my father disappeared, my mother and younger brother fought me for the house, and all my relatives treated me with cold indifference.”
“Only No. 168.” Xia Che exhaled a long breath, “With her, I felt that even in this cold society, there was still someone who thought highly of me.”
“My life has never been worth noticing, but she was different.”
“She held me in her heart, cradled me in her hands, cared about my situation, and told her own stories.”
“For many people, a foot bath might be her round-trip train ticket for the New Year, a down jacket to ward off the severe cold, a mother with a terminal illness, a gambling father, a younger brother in school, and her own broken self.”
“But for me, she was unique in some sense.” Xia Che lowered his head, then tore the critical illness notice to shreds, “Doctor, you tell me, if I don’t help her, who will?”
The autumn wind knows my heart, gentle and deep in affection;
Love arises with the bell, and when the bell stops, the feeling lingers.
“Sorry, Doctor, I’m not getting treatment anymore. From now on, I want to live for myself.”
Xia Che waved his hand and got into a taxi to go home.
Years ago, her mother died in a car accident, and after his father found a stepmother, he became addicted to alcohol and gambling, leaving behind a large gambling debt before mysteriously disappearing.
Coupled with the issues involving his girlfriend, stepmother, and younger brother, if it weren't for his good mindset and strong self-regulation abilities, his reddened heart would have probably long since turned gray and black.
And now.
“Sell my house and get a loan for treatment? I’d donate the money from selling my house before I give it to you!”
Xia Che sat on the sofa, rested for a long time to relieve muscle pain, and poured herself a glass of water.
Just then, a “ding” sound from her phone in her pocket rang. She looked up at the wall clock.
6:00 PM.
Xia Che quickly took out her phone and tapped on a small app with an icon featuring a two-dimensional white-haired beautiful girl.
Yes, she was a two-dimensional enthusiast.
【Seven-Day Girlfriend game loading… 】
【Loading save file… 】
The game screen appeared, and on a black background, several irregular, blood-red characters emerged.
【Your girlfriend has died】
Xia Che immediately gasped, “No… she really died on the seventh day? There were no preconditions for how she died?”
seven-day girlfriend.
A game that had suddenly installed itself on her phone a week ago.
At first, Xia Che thought it was some kind of virus, but then she remembered that her 6-digit password was protecting a balance that was only 5 digits if you included the decimal point.
So, she decided to try it out and opened this mysterious game.
The screen featured a gluttonous princess, the gameplay involved a companion system, and the game system was similar to Summer Radish. The main plot seemed to be about “I, in debt, picked up a runaway JK.”
Xia Che wasn’t entirely sure, but she had intended to thoroughly critique this game, only to find that this seemingly adult game was unexpectedly well-made.
It had a pixel art style, and the game was set in a classic domineering CEO female-oriented world view, filled with powerful family conglomerates.
All items displayed on the screen were interactive, game time flowed at the same rate as real-world time, and the female lead would respond in real-time based on the player’s typed input, making Xia Che feel as if she was interacting with a real person.
According to the game’s description, the girlfriend would repeatedly experience multiple death crises within seven days. Xia Che played cautiously and indeed managed to barely survive these crises.
But in the final, unplayable dusk of the seventh day, the girlfriend inexplicably died.
“I even lowered my favorability several times to keep her alive, but she died with no warning at all. Could it be a plot kill?” Xia Che was speechless and clicked to start a new game.
【Player has a preliminary understanding of the game mode. Do you want to enable immersive deep play mode? 】
【In this mode, players will have greater freedom, and the corresponding difficulty will also increase 】
Seeing this option that had never appeared before, Xia Che was stunned.
“Can the freedom be even higher?”
She clicked 【Yes】.
【Please select character gender. In deep play mode, this gender can only be selected once 】
“Are you kidding me? This is a girlfriend raising game, okay? If I don’t choose a girl, am I supposed to choose a good brother and then fence?”
【Gender: Female】
【Confirmed】
【Entering second playthrough… 】
【Note: Each death cycle is considered one playthrough 】
【Auto-save successful… 】
As the words appeared, Xia Che stared intently at her phone screen, feeling a wave of dizziness in her head.
With a “thud,” she collapsed onto the living room sofa.
…
“Hiss! My head hurts a bit. What exactly happened just now?”
Xia Che opened her eyes again, feeling a dizzying sensation. The living room was still the familiar living room, and the sofa was as usual. Except for the phone she was clutching, which was no longer in her hand, Xia Che’s first sensation was the immense vitality in her body.
Having been transitioning to the late stage of ALS, her body had been deteriorating, and even with a cane, she could only barely walk for a while, even needing frequent rests. But now…
“My body has recovered?!”
The surprised voice came out, then abruptly stopped.
Xia Che’s eyes widened, and she fearfully covered her thin lips.
“Wait a minute, something seems off.”
She immediately lowered her head. Her slightly rising “pectoral muscles” barely allowed her to see her shoelaces. Her outstretched fingers were slender and long, and her skin was fair and delicate.
Xia Che seemed to have thought of something and quickly picked up the mirror from the nearby table.
The mirror no longer reflected the young man whose face was withered from illness.
Instead, a short-haired girl with delicate features, a high nose bridge, and a resolute expression appeared. Her wine-red hair was tied into a high ponytail, with slightly curled ends, giving her a capable and neat look.
Above her lifeless, sunset-like eyes, long eyelashes trembled continuously, indicating the unrest in the heart of the mirror’s owner.
She had turned into a girl.
But what was even more exciting was this healthy body full of vitality!
“Wait a minute, this wouldn’t be because of that game, would it?”
Xia Che quickly picked up her phone, which had fallen to the floor at some point. Upon closer inspection, she found that the Seven-Day Girlfriend game that had been with her for a month had disappeared.
A thought surged within her, and she softly called out, “Exit game?”
【Do you want to exit the game? 】
【Yes / No 】
The game system’s virtual screen popped up before her eyes. It seemed she had indeed transmigrated into the game.
“This game is not simple!”
Xia Che gasped, still unable to suppress the excitement in her heart.
No matter what, this game had given her, a dying person, a brief second life!
Her gaze shifted, and the game system popped up again.
【Newbie Mission: Save seven-day girlfriend, bring her home 】
【Reward: Gold + 300, Real-world physique + 1 】
Seeing the reward, Xia Che stood up abruptly, her pupils wide.
This game could affect reality?!
Xia Che’s breathing became rapid.
Did she still have hope of living?!
Before she could think further, the system had already provided route guidance for the initial mission.
Go to a small alley, and just like in the previous playthrough, find that timid and adorable female lead.
To verify the authenticity of the game rewards, Xia Che left the room without hesitation.
Before long, she arrived at the entrance of that dark alley, following the system’s guidance.
At the alley’s entrance, a girl in a ragged white dress with grayish-white long hair was anxiously scurrying into the alley.
At that moment, Xia Che even met the girl’s panicked gaze.
Upon reaching the alley entrance again, she saw the girl squatting beside a dark trash can, her head bowed, her body trembling continuously.
The game’s female lead, Xu Yiran!
Indeed, just like in the previous playthrough, she was waiting in the alley for her rescue.
Recalling the soft, sweet, and pitiful appearance of the other party in the game, Xia Che couldn’t help but quicken her pace.
Taking three steps in two, she reached Xu Yiran, gently patted her shoulder, “Hello, I…”
Mid-sentence, the girl in front of her suddenly looked up.
Beneath her messy grayish-white bangs, intensely crimson eyes stared fixedly at Xia Che.
Her trembling small hand was tightly gripping a fruit knife.
“Sizzle—!”
A sharp pain shot through her as the fruit knife plunged into her chest.
Xia Che’s pupils constricted, and she met the girl’s equally terrified gaze. The girl was stumbling backward, tears streaming from her eyes.
She didn’t understand why the plot was completely different from the previous playthrough, or why this female lead wanted to kill her.
As the strength in her body gradually faded, a prompt from the game system appeared, obscuring her blurry vision.
【You have died… 】
【Loading save file… 】