Pretend to be crazy

Shen Yan woke up.

He didn’t know which SVIP room this was, but the walls were made of mirrored metal, and the overall style leaned more towards minimalist sci-fi with a future aesthetic. The main tone was white, in sharp contrast to the previous bossy room’s style.

He stared at his reflection on the ceiling, suddenly realizing that this room looked eerily similar to those used in horror movies, specifically designed to lock away patients in psychiatric wards.

The entire space was white, and any color would stand out sharply.

He touched the wound on his neck. It was a thin, long line, already scabbed over. It scraped against his fingertips but didn’t hurt anymore.

He tried to open the door, but as expected, it was locked. He glanced at the time, surprised to find that two whole days had passed.

No wonder he felt so hungry and weak.

He slowly shuffled back to the bed, curled up in the blankets again, wrapping himself into a ball.

It didn’t seem like things were completely ruined.

He escaped, he broke the rules, and Ruan Zhixian was angry—understandable.

It would have been fine if he had really gotten away, but now that he was stopped by Gen and hadn’t left, he had instead become a traitor, a failure.

But there was still a way out. He thought.

What if he linked this situation to Ruan Zhixian’s emotions?

Ruan Zhixian suspected that the puzzle in this game was about information gaps. Shen Yan had indeed considered the information gap as the answer at first, but since he was the one setting the puzzle, the final interpretation lay with him. Therefore, emotions could also be the answer to this game.

In the first round, he had anticipated the emotions of everyone involved.

Fear, anger, the joy of surviving a near-death experience…

Using these, he manipulated Ruan Zhixian’s emotions, turning him from a player into a pawn.

So, Ruan Zhixian lost.

In the second round, if Ruan Zhixian wanted to kill him, he could bring up this reason.

If he couldn’t stop his murderous intent…

Then, he would just die.

What else could he do?

He wrapped himself up even more tightly.

Since waking up, he had been feeling increasingly cold, and no matter how tightly he wrapped himself in the blankets, he couldn’t get any relief.

It was probably the effect of that needle.

Shen Yan, being a pure, naturally healthy person, had not been exposed to any pollutants in a world where everyone had undergone modifications and injections. His resistance to drugs was practically nonexistent, and any medication injected into his body would work at full potency.

He was shivering, yet he couldn’t stop the chill.

All he could do was grit his teeth and endure, closing his eyes, trying to lull himself back to sleep.

He tried counting sheep, singing lullabies, and telling stories to himself. He almost gave himself multiple personalities but still couldn’t feel the slightest bit of sleepiness.

His brain was unnervingly clear, and his senses were heightened. He could even clearly feel every soft fiber of the blanket.

Luckily, it was extremely quiet here, and there were no ticking clocks or noisy machines. Otherwise, the sounds would have driven him insane.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but as he rested his eyes, suddenly, he opened them again.

He turned to look towards the door, and there stood Ruan Zhixian.

There was no discernible emotion on his face, and his attire was as simple and understated as usual. He walked straight over to Shen Yan’s bed.

He sat on top of him, looking down at him from a height.

Shen Yan met his gaze.

He couldn’t tell what his attitude was now, so it didn’t seem appropriate for him to speak first.

His gaze shifted from Shen Yan’s flushed face to the scar on his neck.

His fingertips lightly traced the almost disappeared scar, as though guided by some impulse. His hands gripped the line, tightening.

He stared at him, whose face was slowly reddening, his expression unreadable. He didn’t understand why he was acting this way—was it anger? Revenge? Or was he afraid that before Shen Yan died by his hand, he might be taken away by something inexplicable, something that shouldn’t have been involved in their affairs?

He didn’t know.

He looked at Shen Yan with questioning eyes, hoping that this victim who knew everything could show mercy and guide him through his confusion.

The “god” simply smiled at him, tears falling down to his temples, and the pure white cloth darkened where the tears spread. His mouth trembled as if he wanted to speak.

He leaned down, bringing his ear close, and all he heard were broken, hoarse whispers—

“Do you know why you lost?”

The hand on his neck stayed for three seconds before abruptly pulling away.

Shen Yan gasped for air, and immediately began coughing violently.

As soon as he stopped, just as he was about to say something, Ruan Zhixian’s kiss came down, blocking all his unfinished words.

He hungrily kissed his lips and tongue, the taste of blood spreading.

Shen Yan forced himself to focus, grabbing Ruan Zhixian’s hair at the back of his head, trying to pull him away.

His crush’s disguise was gone now. He wasn’t the obedient, docile person anymore—he had strength and methods!

Ruan Zhixian let out a low, hoarse laugh, grabbed his wrist, and pressed it back down onto the bed, then kissed him again.

This time, it was more passionate, more suffocating.

Shen Yan felt dizzy from the kiss.

He wouldn’t die from being kissed, would he?

What an absurd way to die.

Just before Shen Yan passed out from the kiss, Ruan Zhixian stopped and pulled back slightly.

His nose brushed against Shen Yan’s, affectionately nudging him.

His eyes were filled with some indescribable emotion, something that wasn’t suitable to discuss openly.

Amid Shen Yan’s harsh breathing, he narrowed his eyes in pleasure.

“Lost, so no reward?”

“I really like your game.” He leaned down and kissed him again, whispering between their lips, “Continue playing with me, brother.”

The clean, immaculate white room had now become a mess.

The sheets and blankets, replaced countless times, were now in disarray on the floor. The dark water stains and blood on the carpet and walls destroyed the room’s pristine simplicity. Tangled trash was left in the corner, awaiting disposal, and the well-maintained air circulation system ensured there were no lingering, thought-provoking smells.

Shen Yan trembled as he reached for a cigarette.

The cigarette hung from his lips when a hand, marked with bite and scratch marks, reached over and lit it for him.

He didn’t look at Ruan Zhixian. He took a deep drag and exhaled.

Ruan Zhixian leaned in, kissed his temple, and casually licked the wound on his shoulder from where he had bitten. He then got out of bed to change the bandages.

Ruan Zhixian’s upper body was covered in wounds, the most serious being a gash on his abdomen. Shen Yan, driven to the brink, had bitten and hidden a shard of glass, pushing it into his waist and abdomen.

It was a small wound, nothing life-threatening.

But Shen Yan’s palm was covered in cuts from the glass, and blood flowed down, mingling with his own blood.

They were truly connected now.

Ruan Zhixian paused while unwrapping the bandages, a bit frustrated as he looked at his own reflexive behavior. He glanced at Shen Yan, but Shen Yan didn’t look at him. He was quietly smoking, lost in thought.

He glanced at “Little Ruan Zhixian,” the bandages wrapped around him, and then went to the bathroom.

Shen Yan didn’t pay attention to him.

He lit another cigarette. When the cigarette tip touched the wound on his lips, there was a slight sting, but compared to the pain from his neck, chest, ankles, and thighs, it was negligible.

He bit the cigarette, lost in a haze of smoke, quietly thinking:

Ruan Zhixian is gay.

As for him…

He wasn’t sure if he could still call himself completely straight.

He put out the cigarette, and the strange sensation from the medication dissipated. Despite everything that had happened, he only felt mentally exhausted. His physical state was even better than when he first boarded the ship.

He could easily take on another animal fight if needed.

He got up, dressed, and walked to the window.

The jagged and orderly buildings stood tall on the vast land, a city with a unique three-step tiered layout. It was bustling, with suspended tracks encircling the city and the latest flying cars operating under air traffic regulations.

Shen Yan looked past these signs of technological advancement and gazed far off at the distant clouds.

He opened his terminal and took a photo, sending it to Blaze.

【Blame’s Most Loyal Dog】: Want to meet, princess?

At the Seventh District Port City, ships were constantly coming and going, thanks to its advantageous geographical location. It was a special port city that catered to guests from other districts. The order was impeccable, even for massive ships like the Pearl No. 8, which was the largest ship from a district below the Seventh District. It still managed to dock smoothly.

Shen Yan and Ruan Zhixian stood in the port’s safe zone. Ruan Zhixian handed Shen Yan the prepared passes and identification cards.

Shen Yan was technically dead in the animal arena, and now he was a black-market citizen, hunted down in the Thirteenth District. It was even worse in the Seventh District, where everyone was considered superior.

Before the second round of the game began, he had asked Fei Shen to help him obtain a Thirteenth District identity. He knew the plot and understood that Ruan Zhixian would stay in the Seventh District for a while after the ship explosion. Shen Yan planned to find a way back to the Thirteenth District. Staying in the Seventh District was less safe.

He looked at the details on his ID, where the address was listed as “Seventh District,” and his rank as “Level 3.”

Ruan Zhixian: “I replaced the identity Fei Shen made for you. Use this one. The Seventh District is more interesting than the Thirteenth. I’ve deposited five million into your account, so buy whatever you like.”

Shen Yan accepted the gift from Ruan Zhixian without hesitation, studying him with a strange look. “Aren’t you coming with me?”

“I do want to be with you, bro, but you probably wouldn’t want that.” Ruan Zhixian smiled, the sunlight softening the hardness of his features. “I don’t want to do anything that would make you unhappy.”

Shen Yan snorted, poking Ruan Zhixian’s abdominal wound with force. “Don’t give me that hypocritical talk.”

If he really wanted to make him happy, he wouldn’t have gotten the last word in after Shen Yan had reached his breaking point.

Ruan Zhixian grabbed his hand, pulling it back as he kissed the wrist marked with bite marks. Shen Yan showed clear disgust, which only made Ruan Zhixian smile wider.

“I’m sincere,” Ruan Zhixian said with a deep gaze. “You can go wherever you want. I won’t stop you, but when I want to see you, no matter where you are or what identity you have, I will bring you back to my side.”

“You get what I mean, right?”

His words couldn’t be clearer.

Shen Yan could only move within the freedom Ruan Zhixian allowed. Once he crossed that line, Ruan Zhixian would take back his freedom at any time.

On the ship, Shen Yan had avoided the threat to his life through a battle of wits, but one wrong step and he would have been treated as a controlled canary.

If anyone else had been in his place, Shen Yan would have fought to escape, even if it meant risking everything.

But this was Ruan Zhixian. He, unexpectedly, saw this as a pleasant surprise.

Ruan Zhixian wanted to control him, which at least meant his current status was on par with the major players in the original story, like Falson.

The Three Kings, working under Ruan Zhixian, were treated with the same logic.

They could do what they wanted, and Ruan Zhixian could help them, but once their actions conflicted with the team’s interests or Ruan Zhixian’s goals, he would ruthlessly revoke their freedom.

Before going completely mad and killing them, he had punished them several times for attempting to stray from the path, which had resulted in the Three Kings, highly skilled and fiercely dangerous, still being able to work together despite their mutual disdain.

Shen Yan stared at him for a few seconds before suddenly laughing.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be too far from you.”

Ruan Zhixian’s gaze softened, even tender, but how much of it was sincere, only he knew.

They parted at the port. He didn’t follow, simply watching Shen Yan walk away.

They both deliberately ignored someone they shouldn’t have overlooked.

On the ship, Falson, squeezed by the crowd, could barely contain his rage.

Leaning against the railing, he could clearly see Ruan Zhixian and Shen Yan talking intimately.

Though his visual and auditory enhancements were mechanical, it was still incredibly difficult to make out what they were saying amidst the noise.

But he could see everything clearly.

When he saw Ruan Zhixian kiss Shen Yan’s wrist, his pupils shook, and he screamed in a high-pitched voice.

“Dirty man, you can’t kiss my mom!!!”

“Don’t kiss him ah ah ah ah—”

“Mom!! Shen Yan! I’m here, Mom!!”

The voice drifted through the crowd, almost unnoticeable to the main subject.

Falson’s burning gaze may have moved Shen Yan, who was about to leave.

Shen Yan paused for a moment, turned, and looked at him.

Falson immediately erupted with excitement, almost wanting to fly straight to his side, shouting, “Mom, you forgot about me! Let him wait for you!”

But Shen Yan only waved his hand at him, making a “goodbye” gesture.

Then, he really said goodbye and disappeared into the crowd.

Falson stood stunned for a long time, feeling a heavy discomfort in his chest.

His frozen gaze slowly shifted to Ruan Zhixian, who was busy using a terminal, probably chatting with someone.

The sound of his teeth grinding was chilling, and Falson’s expression grew terrifying. If he had a gun in his hand right now, he would kill Ruan Zhixian without hesitation.

“Dirty man.”

What did he just say to Mom?

Did he tell Mom about those dreams?

His mind blanked, a sharp buzzing ringing in his ears.

He crouched down, clutching his head, muttering frantically:

“No, Mom must have misunderstood. Mom loves me, she can’t leave me, I have to kill that dirty man, I have to find Mom, I have to find him, I have to find him…”

He was in a bad position, and it would take at least half an hour to get off the ship. Unable to bear it, he reentered the cabin, took a different route, and jumped into the sea, swimming ashore.

On the shore, armed staff with cold expressions aimed their guns at him.

The wet Falson shook his head like a dog, cooperating by raising his hands to let the staff arrest him.

He would find his mom.

First, he needed to get an identity.

Shen Yan was shaken.

To be fair, his physical and mental abilities should be above average compared to ordinary people. With his understanding of the plot and the ship, he shouldn’t have let one small mistake cause his entire plan to fall apart.

Although, in the end, the result wasn’t much different from what he had originally planned, he still couldn’t accept the situation.

Mechanical modifications, right? He runs fast, right? He’s cold and ruthless, right?

He wants that too!

This world had advanced body modification and transplant technology, so even without medical black-market clinics, surgeries could still be done smoothly.

He decided to try installing a chip first to test the waters.

If it worked out, he would go for a full modification.

If someone dares to mess with him, and tries to inject him with needles, he would just shoot them!

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, downloading a map of the port city to prepare for his next move.

At the busiest commercial street in the port city, standing at the intersection, he was somewhat bothered by the noise and the pushing from the crowd.

Since having relations with Ruan Zhixian, his physical health had improved, but his mental state seemed to have deteriorated.

He didn’t want to go to too noisy places now.

The commercial street on the right side was packed with people, seemingly hosting an event, with loud music blaring that made his eardrums itch.

Without hesitation, he stepped forward and chose the left side, which had fewer people.

The flow of people on the left side was more normal, not as crowded, and he finally relaxed.

He started to observe the situation of the commercial street.

From the arrangement of the shops, the left side appeared more basic, with fewer tourist spots and eateries. Instead, there were more stores selling equipment and medicine.

The two sides had different functions, which explained why there were fewer people on the left.

He entered a private hospital called “Port,” thinking that the naming here was so plain and easy to understand, while he registered himself for an appointment.

There weren’t many people in the hospital, and he found a seat, checked his terminal, and saw that Blaze hadn’t responded yet, so he opened a game to play a couple of rounds.

Next to him sat an elderly man with mechanical prosthetic eyes.

From the moment he sat down, the old man kept staring at him, the red light of his mechanical eyes making it hard for him to ignore.

Shen Yan hadn’t even reached his turn yet when he turned to look at him.

The old man grinned and said, “Out of town? Here for a vacation or for surgery?”

Shen Yan replied, “Here to visit a friend, and maybe get a check-up too.”

“Hehehe, you’re really handsome, I can’t tell your age, are you 23?”

The conversation was casual, but Shen Yan secretly became more cautious.

If this were the peaceful and stable world he was originally from, an old man casually striking up a conversation would’ve been harmless. However, this was the chaotic and disordered cyberpunk world, and he couldn’t fully relax and reveal his information.

So, he smiled at the old man and said, “I’m 32, just look younger.”

As he said this, he stood up, and the old man’s gaze followed his movements, staring intently at his face.

At some point, the hospital, which had been bustling with people, fell silent. Doctors, nurses, and staff all stood still, watching him.

He opened his terminal, pretending to dial Ruan Zhixian’s number, and started walking faster, showing a worried expression.

“What? A car accident? Where are you? Wait for me, I’ll be there soon—”

A rough, large hand suddenly covered his mouth and nose.

The numbing drug released from the fingertips made Shen Yan lose consciousness in an instant.

The old man, leaning on his cane, walked over, his mechanical eyes scanning him, displaying various data in his mind.

With his gold-rimmed cane, he lifted the hem of Shen Yan’s clothes and prodded his abdomen.

He chuckled in an eerie way.

The others gradually gathered around.

“Really lucky, no need to search for someone.”

“Not a single trace of modification? How did he live to such an old age?”

The man who had knocked out Shen Yan looked at the old man, “Is he acceptable?”

The old man laughed creepily, “He looks good, ask for a little more from Kato, at least triple the price.”

“Agreed, send him once it’s settled, if not, we’ll sell him to someone else. He should be in high demand.”

“Alright, got it.”

In a corner where no one noticed, the recently connected communication flickered twice before being hung up.