Don’t Covet the Beautiful System!! - Chap 84
The moment he finished speaking, he saw the boy in front of him widen his eyes slightly, reflexively wanting to withdraw his hand.
Pei Qingyuan didn’t obstruct him. He released the strength of the confinement of his fingers and let the temperature in his palm flow away.
He stared at the stars with a silent and stubborn gaze. The stars lowered his eyes in a panic.
In fact, Ji Tong failed to fully understand the meaning behind this sentence. He just vaguely realized that this sentence didn’t just represent a change in name.
The voice of the host contained too many emotions. It was an unfamiliar area that Ji Tong had never touched.
He couldn’t tell the emotions apart.
It was especially so when Pei Qingyuan’s breath brushed against his cheeks.
At this moment, he might really be no different from a real AI.
At the residual heat that remained in his palm, Ji Tong felt that his heart was a mess and he uneasily chose to ask for help from outside.
[President Ji: Is anyone there? The host told me to stop calling him Brother… what is the meaning?]
[Brother Hao: ? Is your human identity exposed? Does Brother Pei know that your real age is around the same age as him?]
[President Ji: No! I hid it well!]
[Brother Hao: Oh, then what is the matter? He doesn’t let you call him Brother so call him Little Brother. Didn’t you want the host to call you Brother in turn?]
…That was the case.
However, he always felt that the advice provided by this elementary school student wasn’t effective.
Fortunately, there was Fu Yinyin, the mature and reliable emotional expert.
[Yinyin: Where are you? Did something happen before he said this?]
Ji Tong immediately poured out what happened at the speed of light.
[President Ji: We went out to eat together at night but ended up in the wrong place. We arrived at a nightclub. I was very curious about it and wanted to go in to see it. It was normal but then someone wanted to give me a glass of wine. We met and uh…]
He didn’t know how to describe it but Fu Yinyin quickly gave an unusually accurate guess.
[Yinyin: You met a domineering rich second generation who was interested in you? Xiao Pei decisively made a heroic move to save the beauty and took you away?]
[President Ji: It is about the same…]
In fact, it was completely consistent.
[Brother Hao: ⊙o⊙… is this the world of adults?]
[Yinyin: It’s over. I knew it.]
[Yinyin: Wait, did you and Xiao Pei drink alcohol?]
[President Ji: I took a sip and the host drank around half a glass. That type of cocktail has a beautiful color but isn’t delicious. I don’t like to drink it.]
[Yinyin: …The impulse created under the influence of unfamiliar stimuli might still be able to save you.]
[Yinyin: If you don’t want the projection world to collapse, don’t answer. Just say first that you are under the influence of alcohol and the line crashed or use other reasons.]
[Yinyin: Now. Do it immediately, immediately.]
Ji Tong was already at a loss. At Fu Yinyin’s rare, stern tone, he immediately chose to act.
Pei Qingyuan, who had been waiting in silence for a long time, saw his system raise his eyes somewhat shyly and say very quietly, “I seem to have short-circuited… I shouldn’t have drank alcohol just now.”
His cheeks were a bit redder than before and his long eyelashes fluttered. He was unable to hide the apprehensive starlight flowing from his clear eyes.
Ji Tong seemed to be the same as ordinary people.
However, from these words, Pei Qingyuan remembered the mechanical heart he had seen with his own eyes. It was as colorful and complicated as the ocean.
“What are the consequences of a short-circuit? Can it be restored?”
Ji Tong bit the bullet and continued with a stuttering voice, “It can be restored. It isn’t serious but it will take some time. It might be slow and I feel like I’m about to die…”
Then he saw Pei Qingyuan turn around and bend down.
“I’ll carry you on my back.”
Ji Tong was in a dilemma.
He had an intuition that he shouldn’t do this, as if he was deviating from Fu Yinyin’s guidance. It was just that the short-circuit and crashing was clearly his own words and he couldn’t find a reason to reject the host.
He hesitated for a few seconds before gritting his teeth and reaching out to climb onto the host’s back.
As Ji Tong nervously wrapped his arms around the host’s neck, his warm chest touched the other person’s hot back and he couldn’t avoid the sound of Pei Qingyuan’s heartbeat.
No one had ever carried him like this so he awkwardly adjusted his posture. He leaned the side of his face against Pei Qingyuan’s shoulder and the broken hair on the side of his cheek swept over the other person’s sweaty skin, stirring up a trembling touch.
Pei Qingyuan froze for a moment before walking toward the hotel.
Ji Tong was very light and was much thinner than ordinary boys of a similar age. Ever since he grew up, Pei Qingyuan had always known the thinness of his figure, but it was only at this moment that he was more clearly aware of Ji Tong’s thin weight.
His system was particularly fond of eating and had tasted all types of delicacies. He had made many delicious foods for his system with his own hands.
In the lingering breath, Pei Qingyuan wanted to ask him when he would gain a bit of weight.
But he didn’t ask.
He knew the answer.
What Ji Tong had wasn’t a real human body.
He was an AI who was different from humans.
Under the silent moonlight, the reckless heartbeats scattered in every corner of his body were collected bit by bit by Pei Qingyuan.
He didn’t want to be called ‘Brother’ by Ji Tong any longer.
He wanted a closer identity.
It was an identity that could unscrupulously block the eyes of the people around him.
However, Pei Qingyuan understood that he couldn’t say anything further.
Ji Tong obviously didn’t understand love.
A host with a predetermined destiny shouldn’t fall in love with an AI system responsible for helping him.
The system was already restricted by countless rules. Out-of-control situations that exceeded the script of the story might bring about more deadly restrictions.
Pei Qingyuan didn’t dare to imagine the consequences.
He remembered the string of questions he had asked another senior system six months earlier.
“Ji Tong is my most important friend. To what extent is the mission complete? Will the system leave the world after the mission is completely over? How can they stay?”
Fu Yinyin’s answer at that time was a very simple sentence.
“Wait until you are strong enough.”
Pei Qingyuan didn’t know what it meant to be strong enough, but there was no doubt that he wasn’t strong enough right now.
The boy leaning against his shoulder let out shallow breathing sounds.
The ambiguous and confusing atmosphere gradually faded away. In the sudden silence after a night of panic, accompanied by the gentle swaying pace, Ji Tong instinctively fell asleep.
He loosened his arms and hung softly on Pei Qingyuan’s shoulders. This made the man carrying him lower his angle and tighten his arms. The world in front of him was only occupied by pale fingertips.
In the hot and humid long night, Pei Qingyuan walked through the moonlight on the ground, his steps slow and firm.
At 8 o’clock the next morning, Ji Tong woke up at the sudden mission notification.
The notification prompt was very user-friendly. It would enter ‘do not disturb’ mode in the middle of the night. Even if it was triggered, it wouldn’t give an immediate reminder and wouldn’t pop up until the next day.
It was said that because a host complained before, saying he often triggered missions when dreaming in the middle of the night. He was always woken up by the notification sound and it weakened his spirit.
However, Ji Tong didn’t go to see the mission immediately. He first recalled what happened last night.
The host said to carry him back. He struggled for a while before plucking up the courage to climb onto the host’s back. Then he didn’t remember anything else.
He actually fell asleep on the host’s back.
…Maybe he really did short-circuit due to the alcohol.
Hopefully, AI couldn’t go crazy.
Ji Tong automatically turned into a small robot after running out of time in his human form yesterday and he couldn’t help rolling hard in the quilt.
The mechanical shell was really tight.
Ji Tong was ready to change his look.
It was just that he wasn’t ready to use his human form to face the host for the time being. He had a guilty conscience.
After a while, Pei Qingyuan returned with several bags of breakfast. He didn’t see the familiar teenager or the familiar little robot when he opened the door of the double room.
He saw a fluffy white mushroom nestled under the quilt.
There was hesitation in Pei Qingyuan’s voice. “Ji Tong?”
The talking mushroom rolled up the quilt and shook it. “Good morning, host.”
The confused Ji Tong decided to exist in the form of a mushroom all day today. When he went out in a while, he would become smaller and hide in the host’s pocket.
Seeing this strange scene, Pei Qingyuan was silent for a while. Then he lifted the breakfast bag in his hand. “It is your favorite egg burger.”
In the next second, the mushroom turned back into a teenager and quickly rushed to the bathroom to wash. “One minute!”
After washing up and eating breakfast, Ji Tong looked at the host quietly. He felt that the mode of getting along between the two of them seemed to be the same as usual.
The strange feeling last night might just be a hallucination under the influence of alcohol.
The host also didn’t bring up any more topics related to the title of Brother.
Ji Tong inexplicably relaxed. He ate two egg burgers in a row before going to look at the mission panel with satisfaction.
The fourth main mission was triggered, although he didn’t know what triggered it.
The mission content was to get the first pot of money in his career.
The jelly bean robot had aroused people’s curiosity so there were obviously traces of a standard method to complete this mission.
No matter what method Pei Qingyuan chose in the end, it was clear that his career path as the protagonist would be decided from this mission and would officially start.
“Host, do you have any ideas?”
Ji Tong felt that the host’s personal wishes should be fully respected when it came to any important decisions concerning the future.
“Yes.” Pei Qingyuan handed him the soy milk. “Let’s talk about it when we get home.”
This summer graduation trip lasted for more than a month and it was almost time to return. There were still many things to do before school started. For example, there was the auditor exam that Ji Tong needed to take and Li Yayi’s interview with the jelly bean robot that she never forgot.
At the host’s calm tone, Ji Tong became even more sure that last night’s restless throbbing was just an illusion caused by the confusion of the night.
He obediently held the soy milk cup and confirmed it in a low voice, “Can I continue to call you Host?”
Pei Qingyuan nodded gently.
Seeing that he didn’t show any strange reaction to this question, Ji Tong tried to gain more. “Can I call you little brother?”
Fang Hao’s suggestion yesterday still made no sense.
Maybe the host was tired of being an older brother and wanted to be a younger brother.
Pei Qingyuan’s movements paused and he quickly said, “No.”
“Oh.” Ji Tong sighed in disappointment. The delusion of becoming an older brother shattered again. “Then what should I call you in front of outsiders?”
He didn’t understand the reason but he still intended to meet the host’s requirements as much as possible. This was the responsibility of a professional system.
He had an idea. Just as he was about to ask if ‘Uncle’ was okay, he heard Pei Qingyuan say, “It is still the same as before.”
“But you can no longer call someone else by ‘Brother.’”
Far away, Fu Chengze sneezed inexplicably.
At the host’s slightly deep voice, Ji Tong first agreed without hesitation. He was now an adult and he wouldn’t call everyone by brother as he did when he was a child.
Then once his mind returned, he felt some subtle confusion in his heart. He couldn’t help looking at the host to try and guess the intention behind this request.
Meanwhile, Pei Qingyuan finished cleaning up the wreckage of the breakfast with his usual expression and got up to pack his luggage.
It was as if there was no special meaning in that sentence.
The eating Ji Tong held his cheeks in a daze. He decided to take the opportunity to go around the host’s emotional zone to see if he could find a clue.
Recently, Ji Tong had been having fun traveling. He pushed open the black door he hadn’t seen in a long time.
The little robot with flowing electronic particles re-entered this hidden world.
The garden, the butterfly, the amusement park… everything was as usual.
Only one area had changed.
The plant that grew from the bottom of the host’s heart.
The little robot moved lightly and approached this special, thick shade slightly awkwardly.
He saw beautiful flowers blooming along the green foliage.
It was patch after patch of pure purple, like a light and soft cloud. It gently broke into his eyes.
It was a paulownia flower that only bloomed in spring.
