Chapter 19
Chapter 19
He stroked Zhao Xiuming’s forehead, nose, lips… His fingers grew bolder, exploring downward along his neckline.
Zhao Xiuming kept his eyes tightly shut. His Adam’s apple shifted slightly in his long neck.
Suddenly, the biker lowered his head and sniffed at Zhao Xiuming’s neck, pressing kiss after kiss there through his mask and goggles.
“Shit! They’re a couple!”
The male teammate with the backpack exclaimed aloud.
The atmosphere grew peculiar, with a faint edge of awkwardness.
Especially once they realized that the biker hadn’t been affected by the player’s enhanced skill at all. Instead, he clearly cherished the black-haired NPC in his arms.
He not only refused to let go but began eyeing the players menacingly. Raising his head behind his goggles, he radiated such palpable malice that alarm bells rang in their minds.
They couldn’t see his eyes, yet they felt watched. Hair-raising terror clung to them, more threatening than the anomaly doctors.
Sweat beaded on the shoulder-length-haired leader as she considered the situation.
When she’d first seen these two NPCs in the ward, she’d already thought they seemed unusually attached. Their relationship hadn’t looked ordinary.
Now, seeing such intimate behavior, she could be almost certain they had a close relationship.
She cautioned her teammate. “Well? Can you manage this? Don’t let it backfire and make things worse by angering him.”
The woman in red wasn’t taking it lightly, either. Her expression grew serious. “Don’t worry.”
“Even if the one behind him is unaffected, Zhao Xiuming is already under my control, isn’t he?”
She softened her voice, striving to calm herself, and called with exquisite gentleness, “Zhao Xiuming. Zhao Xiuming, are you listening?”
“Zhao Xiuming… Pay attention to me.”
“Xiuming, are you all right?”
“Didn’t you want to discuss working together? Let’s have a proper talk and get to know each other, shall we?”
Her words seemed to possess magic. Each time she spoke, Zhao Xiuming struggled.
Each time, the biker held him down. He could only lean back in the man’s arms.
Even when he resisted, desperately pulling at the biker’s arms, he couldn’t move them an inch.
Seeing his reactions grow more intense, the woman smiled. “Zhao Xiuming… Your friend is so frightening. He wants to kill me.”
“Xiuming, do you want to see me die?”
Zhao Xiuming stopped struggling altogether. The feelers on his right arm changed rapidly and began winding around the biker.
In his mind, the System’s boyish voice sounded rather serious. [Intimate contact achieved.]
[Fifty thousand points.]
[Please exchange your points for a protection or control-removal item immediately.]
Zhao Xiuming refused. [No.]
The System was about to force an exchange and use the item on him when he heard Zhao Xiuming’s calm instruction. [Don’t.]
[Exchange them for… In the Name of God.]
[It lets the user become a representative of any faith. It seems to be some kind of disguise item.]
The System fell silent. He didn’t know why Zhao Xiuming wanted something so irrelevant at a time like this.
It couldn’t protect him from the irresistible-charm ability, nor restore his clarity or remove negative effects.
Zhao Xiuming sounded perfectly leisurely. [Get it for me…]
The System gave a scoffing laugh. Whether from anger or from realizing Zhao Xiuming was all right and feeling embarrassed, it was hard to tell. [Fine.]
Once the exchange was complete, he recovered his composure. Relief threaded through his clear boyish voice. [Ha… You really are a naughty one, Ge.]
The moment the item was issued, it bound itself to Zhao Xiuming. Although he might have taken advantage of the System this time, it wasn’t true that the player had no effect on him.
He slowly rose and looked directly at the four players before him.
The conversation in his mind had taken no more than two breaths. To the players, the NPC named Zhao Xiuming simply stopped holding back and lashed the masked man behind him across the face with his feelers.
It didn’t do much damage, but it was deeply insulting.
Imagine your boyfriend being seduced away, then slapping you for someone else’s sake.
Even though the players were responsible, seeing the masked biker struck still made them feel a little guilty.
That small pang didn’t affect their determination to clear the instance. The woman in red’s eyes lit up.
Whether the blow hurt him through the helmet, goggles, and mask was beside the point. At least the two NPCs were now in conflict because of her.
That proved Zhao Xiuming was the one in charge between them. And Zhao Xiuming would listen to her.
The four watched as the masked man froze, then backed away looking rather wronged. Raising both hands, he released Zhao Xiuming in a gesture of surrender.
At last, Zhao Xiuming stood straight, rubbing his neck with his left hand.
The corners of his eyes were red, his cheeks abnormally flushed. His already striking looks had gained an air of vulnerability.
His coldness and languor were gone, as was his false smile. In their place was a childlike brightness.
He looked at the woman in red shyly, glanced aside, then couldn’t help looking back.
There was none of the obsession or feverish infatuation she’d seen in affected NPCs before. He looked like a child who had seen something he liked, eyes shining with interest.
Most notably, there was little sexual desire. Instead, there was appreciation and enthusiasm.
Under that gaze of simple affection, the woman in red found herself feeling guilty despite herself.
And Zhao Xiuming’s appearance was so deceptive: handsome and delicately featured, youthful and fresh-faced.
Meeting her eyes, he called gently, “Big sister.”