Han Yanyan did not know whether she should be grateful to the attendant officer. She had overlooked the fact that Leo Parker suffered from social anxiety. Years of isolation had left him with a weak understanding of normal human emotions, especially empathy. His feelings towards others’ sadness, pain, and despair were shallow and difficult to stir.
If she had known this, she would have cursed loudly.
“Does that mean... she wasn’t pretending?” Leo Parker asked hesitantly. He had some awareness of himself. When submerged in his research, he felt incredibly clear-headed. Yet once he was in a crowd, the reactions of those around him always left him confused, as if he was somehow out of sync with them. Their mocking, sarcastic, and pitying gazes made him even less inclined to interact with others.
“How would I know? You’d best ask yourself,” the attendant officer replied. “What were your previous constructs like?”
Leo hesitated and said, “Some were similar to her... some were a bit mad, while others, like her, started off silent and then couldn’t construct a world anymore.”
If one couldn’t construct a world, that was a serious problem.
The attendant officer’s face turned ashen, and he gritted his teeth, “She doesn’t look completely mad to me. I won’t care how you do it, just bring her back to us!”
Leo stared wide-eyed, “How am I supposed to do that?”
The attendant officer squeezed out the words through gritted teeth, “That’s your problem. If you can’t bring her back, you and your ship can disappear.”
Faced with a woman, the attendant officer could be gentle and dignified, but when facing men… he had cut through many competitors to become Duke Klin's first attendant officer, his most trusted person, proving his iron will and skill.
Through the cabin window, they could see the warships reflecting the light of the stars, emitting a cold, distant glow. Countless curses came to Leo’s mind, and he finally braced himself, “I’ll give it a try.” He hurriedly added, “But you need to give me time!”
The attendant officer extinguished his cigarette, “Fine, how much time do you need?”
“Hey!”
Hearing that voice, Han Yanyan raised her eyes to see Leo suddenly appear in the virtual space. She slowly sat up, silently staring at him.
Leo squatted down in front of her but found the position uncomfortable—this virtual reality was incredibly realistic. So, he simply sat cross-legged on the ground. The two of them stared at each other, both cautious of the other.
The wariness and indifference in Han Yanyan’s eyes, however, gave Leo a sense of relaxation. If she remained weak and beggary, regardless of the attendant officer’s beliefs, he would definitely not believe her.
“What do you want?” Leo asked, staring at her.
Han Yanyan looked up and replied, “I want to go home.”
Leo immediately rejected her, “No way.”
The space fell silent, killed by the chat of a socially awkward man.
They continued their silent standoff for a while before Han Yanyan shifted back slightly, curled up on the ground, and closed her eyes.
Leo: “...”
“Damn it.” He jumped up, “Han Yanyan, listen! I’ll count to three, and then you better get up and work! Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
Han Yanyan moved slightly, turning her back to him.
Leo was furious, raising his finger to begin counting, “One! Two—! Three—”
“Three!” He finally extended a third finger, but Han Yanyan didn’t respond. She continued to lie on the ground, curled up, showing him only her back.
Leo was about to explode with anger.
I’ll make her feel my wrath! he thought. If he were outside the virtual space, controlling Han Yanyan through a screen, he would have immediately executed the punishment command.
But now, he was in the simulated space, and Han Yanyan was right in front of him. She lay on the floor, her dark hair spilling like ink, creating a beautiful but chaotic scene. Her body had delicate curves; her waist and arms were slim, even her calves and ankles, exposed by her long dress, were slender.
Leo hesitated to approach her precisely because her femininity was too evident. Her feminine features made him feel threatened, stripping away his sense of control and safety.
Just like now, he thought he should have sent a direct order to increase the punishment for Han Yanyan, but staring at her frail white shoulders, his lips moved but the command just wouldn’t come out.
It was easy from behind a screen; fighting monsters in a game was no different. The “constructors” had no gender; they were simply slaves.
She was a woman, as the attendant officer had said.
Han Yanyan hugged her knees, curling her body. From behind, Leo observed, noticing how delicate her fingers were.
Her unmistakable femininity finally awakened Leo’s dull sense of gender awareness. He palpably felt the attendant officer was right; this constructor, this Han Yanyan, was indeed… a woman.
After struggling for a while, he crouched down at a safe distance, “Work for me for half a year, and I’ll let you go.”
Han Yanyan asked, “How long has it been now?”
Leo replied, “Half a month.”
Han Yanyan scoffed softly and returned to silence.
“Hey!” Leo called her.
“Half a year is pointless if you won’t let me go. By then, I’d have surely gone mad.” Han Yanyan spoke softly, “All the previous constructors, they went mad too, right?”
Leo was momentarily speechless.
Han Yanyan closed her eyes again, not saying another word.
Frustrated, Leo paced around the space a few times, then returned to crouch behind her, “How about this? I’ll let you rest.”
Han Yanyan remained still.
Taking a pause, Leo added, “I’ll let you go out to rest.”
Han Yanyan stirred slightly. After a few seconds, she turned to sit up and looked at Leo.
Leo blinked, “What I mean is, I’ll let you out of this simulation system so you can take a breath of fresh air. How about that?”
Han Yanyan opened her lips, but no words came forth. However, her eyes revealed a strong desire. This longing was genuine, with no need for pretense.
When someone expresses strong desire for something, and that something is in your grasp, it gives the holder a sense of extreme control and achievement. Han Yanyan’s uncontrollable yearning brought Leo a sense of indescribable pleasure, easing the threat her femininity had imposed on him.
In a good mood, he asked, “So… do you want to go out…?” His tone dragged a bit, hinting at a playful jab.
Both of them knew that Han Yanyan had no other options. She desperately wanted to get out of this simulation system.
Han Yanyan moved her lips and finally said, “Yes…”
“Alright, then it’s a cheerful decision. I’ll let you out to get some fresh air. You’ll rest and then come back to work nicely!” Leo declared unilaterally.
Han Yanyan pursed her lips, neither agreeing nor rejecting.
Leo understood how difficult it was to make this stubborn woman yield, so he didn’t wait for her response and vanished directly from the white virtual space.
Han Yanyan hugged her knees, quietly waiting in the space.
In this boundary-less, reference-less space, there was no sense of time. Han Yanyan was unaware of how long she had waited until darkness suddenly engulfed her.
What followed was a gripping coldness, her mouth and nose filled with liquid, stirring panic of drowning. Instinctively, Han Yanyan reached out, grasping the edges of the pod, struggling to sit up!
“Cough cough cough cough!” She coughed loudly, expelling the cultivating liquid that had entered her nasal passages and windpipe, breathing heavily as her eyes scanned the surroundings.
She found herself back in the same pod room where she had awakened before with her mental burst. Yet, now she was placed in a different sleeping pod on the other side. The damaged pod had been replaced, and the previous mess had been cleaned up by robots, leaving no trace.
Had she… escaped? Was she free from that cursed simulation system?
Han Yanyan couldn’t wait to leave the coffin-like sleeping pod, but her body felt weak and limp, causing her to fall directly to the ground with a bang.
“Hey! Are you alright?” a man’s voice rang out.
Supporting herself on the floor, Han Yanyan raised her head to see Leo holding a blanket, standing at the end of the sleeping pod, looking rather tense.
That man! Han Yanyan thought she could kill him!
Struggling to her feet, she gasped for breath, taking steady steps toward Leo Parker.
Ah, how she wanted to kill him...
Faced with this naked woman, Leo wanted to offer her the blanket and then turn his head away coolly. But he wasn’t the attendant officer; seeing Han Yanyan exposed made his first instinct to strip off his clothes and cover her. As Han Yanyan approached, Leo’s eyes froze, unable to move them away from her body.
What the hell! How did he end up looking like someone who had never seen a woman before?
After all, he had played with all kinds of women in the virtual space!
Han Yanyan steadied herself against the sleeping pod as she managed to reach the back. In the last few steps, she found no place to hold onto and could only unsteadily step forward.
As she got closer, Leo felt his heart racing.
Han Yanyan extended her hand toward him. Yet, regardless of how intensely she desired to kill him, this brief distance allowed her to recognize her weakness right after leaving the sleeping pod. Her hand found its way to his chest, and then she stumbled into his embrace...
Leo was caught off guard, holding her tightly, his heart pounding. It wasn’t until he realized Han Yanyan had closed her eyes, losing consciousness, that he released a huge sigh of relief.
When Han Yanyan awoke, she found herself in a rather standard, unremarkable room.
This was a bedroom. Han Yanyan now understood she was indeed on a spaceship. There was a bed, a bedside table, a wardrobe, a desk, and a chair—everything was simple, standard, and devoid of personality. She would bet that this bedroom’s decor was the same as when Leo acquired the ship, not a single detail changed.
Han Yanyan pulled off the blanket covering her and sat upright, feeling much of her strength restored.
Suddenly, the door to the room swung open, and Leo strode in, saying, “I saw the monitoring data; you’re awake... Oh my gosh!”
“I left your clothes over there! Why are you not wearing any?” His face was bright red.
Indeed, there was a dress on the bedside table, and some shoes on the floor—all women’s attire. Yet Han Yanyan didn’t put them on, staring at her own hands instead.
Her wrists were delicate, fingers long and beautiful, but it felt wrong to her.
“Hey! Put on some clothes!” Leo turned his head away, “You woman, how can you be so shameless!”
As Han Yanyan’s hand brushed over her collarbone, she felt a strange sense of loss. She had once had a vascular tumor there as a child, which was removed with lasers, leaving the area uneven. Because of this, she seldom wore low-cut outfits during her teenage years. But now, her fingers glided over that skin, which felt smooth and perfect, without a single mark.
Her gaze quickly swept across the room. She stood up with bare feet and rushed to the desk. On the wall beside it hung a mirror.
Han Yanyan glanced at her reflection in the mirror, then punched it, shattering the glass. With blood streaming down her hand, she grabbed a sharp shard and charged at Leo!
“You deceived me! You tricked me!”
“This is fake!”
“This is a simulated world!!!”