Qiu Yunru flew for a full twenty seconds before touching down in the gorge. Being too flustered, he was unable to slow down properly and crashed into some shadowy, spiky bushes, getting cuts all over his arms and face.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. What a great start to the competition!
As he winced and picked himself up, plucking thorns out of his arms, he laughed out loud. It wasn't a laugh of enjoyment; rather it was hysterical, and a little loopy. His eyes were blown wide with shock.
"What...?" He said aloud. "What's wrong with him...? What the hell...?"
Had he gotten so stressed before the tournament that he'd really started hallucinating things? He had never had something like that happen in his previous life, but in a new body and a video game setting, who knew? After all, who in the world would ask such a question so boldly, in front of other people, right as an important competition was starting?
Qiu Yunru picked a leaf off the bush he had crashed into, turning it over. It was a charry black, with one point and veins that seemed to shine a faint violet color.
"Good," He muttered, tossing it aside. It wasn't poisonous to humans. Conveniently, it was a leaf from a Purple Serum Flower bush. He would need petals from these flowers for his plan.
Having made sure he wasn't about to die, he then sank down against a nearby pitch-black tree trunk and closed his eyes. His heart was still pounding in his chest.
When he touched his cheek, he found that it was burning.
"...Take me as a lover...?" He muttered, incredulous. "Why would he ask such a thing? Crazy kid..."
Surely it couldn't be that--Li Chenyuan was into him?
Surely it couldn't be that, all this time, Qiu Yunru had been carefully dodging his own feelings, while Li Chenyuan was following him for romantic reasons?
Could it?
Qiu Yunru groaned, dropping his head to his knees and hugging them pitifully.
"What the hell...?" He moaned. "What am I supposed to do?"
Indeed, what was he supposed to do? Had he been confessed to? If so, hadn't he just run away? Did that mean he had rejected Li Chenyuan already? If it hadn't been such bad timing, would his answer have been different? Wasn't Li Chenyuan his own shidi, someone he'd taken under his wing? How could he have a relationship with him?!
As Qiu Yunru internally wept and wailed, a sudden thought struck him.
There was one aspect of Spring Blossoms, Autumn Fruits that was so despised by players that it became one of the most well-known features of the game: the No-Romance Filter.
It was true that the game had been finnicky, glitchy, and completely unfair to him all this time, ever since he'd entered this world. However, it had never done something that could never be expected to happen in a Spring Blossoms, Autumn Fruits playthrough. After all, sometimes the game AI acted strangely, making the game too difficult or adding odd constraints. This was simply a feature of using technology that spat out plotlines like a factory spitting out Samsung phones!
Thus, there wasn't really any sign that the game should be completely broken. So, if it wasn't broken at its core level...
Then how could Li Chenyuan have fallen for him?! It simply wasn't possible!
In all the history of Spring Blossoms, Autumn Fruits forums, there had never been a case where the AI had gone rogue in this way and created a romance with an NPC!
Qiu Yunru held his head. Could it be that Li Chenyuan had indeed not fallen for him? Was asking whether he'd take him as a lover a way to try and get him to admit to forbidden feelings and hold something over him? No, Li Chenyuan wasn't unkind, or the type of person to do that. Was he just curious whether Qiu Yunru liked men, while not actually liking him?
Was there...a chance that the core AI was truly broken? No, no. It couldn't be.
After a good few minutes lying there like a dead man and mulling it all over with an expression so solemn it would frighten anyone who saw it, Qiu Yunru finally stood up and brushed himself off.
I have to get to work. There's no time for this. Every moment counts.
It was true; though the Shadow Demon Puppets wouldn't be released until sunset today, he needed every moment he could get to set up his traps and prepare the necessary solutions. He would have to think about this BS later.
Anyways, in the end, it wasn't like he was looking for any kind of relationship in this life--not even friendship, really! He was going to live alone on a mountain as a renowned immortal, secluded, solitary, and content.
Reminding himself of this, he calmed down a little. He only hoped that he wouldn't run into Li Chenyuan along the way.
It was true that they'd planned to work together for the tournament. But no fucking way was Qiu Yunru about to work with him when he'd just run away from a conversation like that one!
Diligently, Qiu Yunru began to work alone.