NOVEL NEXT 1: There's a White-Haired Loli in My Bed
Night.
Ye Xinglan dragged his tired body home and collapsed directly onto the bed.
“Having to work every day, I can’t take it anymore. My heart is so weary.”
A mumbled soliloquy echoed in the silent room, with no one to respond.
Lonely and desolate.
This was a young man who had graduated from university just a year ago, 23 years old, named Ye Xinglan.
His parents passed away when he was very young, leaving behind nothing but a small house.
Raised by relatives, he went to university, successfully found a job after graduation, and has been living a plain and ordinary life until now.
Today, having accumulated considerable stress and grievances, he just wanted to hide under the covers and have a good cry.
Ye Xinglan changed his position to lie flat on the bed, the light in his eyes very dim, as if he had lost the luster called hope.
“I really wish someone would keep me company.”
Since graduating from university, classmates who could still be called friends had gone their separate ways, with almost no further contact.
The work environment after starting his job was not easy.
Those people he worked with were not true friends, just colleagues who nodded to each other when they met.
Apart from occasional team-building activities, there was almost no interaction.
Well, it might also be because he was a bit introverted.
“Hmm…”
Ye Xinglan gradually sank into deep thought.
Okay, the workplace environment really didn’t suit him.
He couldn’t adapt, couldn’t fit in, and couldn’t learn to compromise himself.
Perhaps this was the reason he hadn’t had any friends since graduation.
Being lonely since graduation wasn’t without reason.
Now, finding someone online to play games with was probably his greatest spiritual comfort.
The internet really was a good thing.
Now Ye Xinglan lived a simple life.
Although it was a bit lonely most of the time, at least he could survive.
He liked ACG culture, usually watching anime and such after work. In short, he was just an anime enthusiast, not really what you’d call a “two-dimensional” otaku.
[ TN: ACG (“Animation, Comics, and Games”) is a term used in some subcultures of Greater China and East Asia. ]
Day after day, life was still somewhat fulfilling.
If possible, he even wanted to quit his job and become a shut-in at home.
But once he quit, there would be no source of income.
If he just gave up, it was very likely that:
He’d be covering himself with a small blanket under a bridge, secretly wiping away tears under the covers, continuing to sleep after wiping his tears, and agreeing with everyone he met.
In short, he wouldn’t even be able to eat his fill.
He had considered writing novels, but he didn’t have that kind of talent.
He had tried writing, but it was a complete failure, even dogs would shake their heads at it.
Editors who saw it advised him to go plague other websites.
Game over.
“Forget it, I’ll play some games and then take a shower and go to sleep. I want to be happy!”
Even if no one responded to him, Ye Xinglan would still talk to himself.
Perhaps speaking his thoughts out loud gave him a particularly strange feeling.
For example, there might be some weird thing in this empty room listening to him.
Like some unreliable ghost or monster.
But thinking about it carefully, it seemed impossible.
Sometimes Ye Xinglan also thought about buying a pet to keep him company, to tell it the things he wanted to say.
But once he thought about how he couldn’t even take care of himself properly, buying a pet home would probably harm a little life, so he decided against it.
“Hey, I’m really a national first-class protected waste.”
If it were before, Ye Xinglan might have thought that being a waste was a very bad thing.
But now…
Being a waste was fine, as long as he could stay alive.
Then Ye Xinglan sat down at the computer desk, turned on the computer, and muttered.
“Technology is so advanced now, and I’m still using this old relic. That’s so like me.”
Recently, he had found an online friend he got along with well.
They had been playing games together online for a while, and it was quite fun.
But they hadn’t added each other on social media.
Ye Xinglan was too shy to bring it up, and the other person hadn’t said anything either, so every time they logged off, he had a very reluctant feeling.
Perhaps this was love, probably.
Anyway, Ye Xinglan had never been in a relationship.
He was quite good-looking, and with a bit of grooming, he could be quite handsome, but he had never actively pursued any girls due to his lack of initiative.
Maybe it was because his interest in ACG culture and the beauty of the two-dimensional world made him less interested in three-dimensional girls.
“Whatever, let’s log in.”
As soon as Ye Xinglan logged into the game, he saw his online game friend.
The ID was “What’s Wrong with Just Wanting to Live”.
“Every time I log in, he’s online. Could it be that he doesn’t have to work? Damn, I’m so jealous!”
After muttering to himself, Ye Xinglan directly contacted him.
“Want to play a game together?”
The other person replied quickly.
“Sure.”
The communication between the two was very simple, without much small talk.
So they joined the game together and started voice chat.
“By the way, are you a guy or a girl? Your voice sounds kind of androgynous, I can’t tell.”
“Guess?”
“Teasing me again, you really have a wicked sense of humor.”
“Ha~ We’re just gaming friends anyway, what difference does it make if you know?”
“I suppose you’re right.”
Meeting in person was impossible, it would never happen in this lifetime.
Otherwise, he might get tricked and have his kidneys harvested.
Ye Xinglan had always been very vigilant about such things.
Men must protect themselves when they go out.
After playing for a while.
Ye Xinglan said goodbye to “What’s Wrong with Just Wanting to Live” and logged off.
“Let’s play together again next time.”
“Mm.”
After two hours of gaming.
Ye Xinglan sat up and stretched his body, feeling a sense of refreshment.
Then he found some clean clothes and walked into the bathroom, coming out ten minutes later with barely visible steam rising from his body.
“Time for bed, I have to work tomorrow. If I doze off and get caught by the boss, my wages will be docked again.”
Ye Xinglan climbed into bed and curled up under the covers.
“Ah…”
For some reason, he now had a very empty and tired feeling.
“I want to live a little easier than I am now.”
This was perhaps a sudden bout of wild thinking.
“Becoming a carefree little loli might not be bad, but it would be terrible to be targeted by some weird person and turned into a plush toy. The ability to protect oneself is definitely necessary, not needing to be unbeatable in a fight, just being able to run super fast when facing danger would be good.”
As for why he wanted to become a loli, maybe it was because they were cute and easily kept by rich women (fog).
Anyway, it’s not like he was into that sort of thing.
“Wait, what kind of nonsense am I thinking about?”
Coming back to his senses, Ye Xinglan had a look of questioning his life choices, even wondering if there was something wrong with his brain.
“Forget it, let’s sleep.”
Curled up under the covers, Ye Xinglan shrank his neck, suddenly feeling a bit of cold.
“If only I had a soft, warm pillow to hug.”
After muttering to himself, Ye Xinglan’s consciousness gradually blurred, and he fell into sleep.
A moment later, the body under the covers suddenly emitted a mysterious light, but it didn’t wake him up.
Ye Xinglan continued to curl up comfortably under the covers, as if immersed in his own sweet dream.
……
Meanwhile, in a certain mysterious organization.
The energy sphere at the center emitted a dazzling light, shocking all the staff around.
“Such a strong reaction, what’s the situation this time?”
A middle-aged man quickly reacted, operating the computer to retrieve the information captured by the anomaly detection sphere, displaying it as text on the computer screen.
“The vessel of the Supernova Exceptional Grade Star has awakened, named [Wishing Machine], usage conditions unknown, location unknown, danger level unknown, please contain and control immediately.”
Seeing this information, the middle-aged man’s pupils shook, falling into a state of utter shock.
“Holy… shit!”
Something big was about to happen.
That night, due to the emergence of an exceptional ability, all key high-level personnel in the organization gathered for a discussion meeting.
The meeting had already been going on for half an hour.
“Exceptional Grade Star, everyone should know what this means. Once, an Exceptional Grade Star lost control and caused unimaginably terrible damage, resulting in irreversible huge losses. So we need to control it before it goes berserk.”
A middle-aged man with leadership qualities spoke thus, his solemn expression indicating how seriously he took this matter.
At this point, a slightly younger man said,
“Boss, we all know the seriousness of this matter, but the key is that we don’t understand anything now, and the information given by [Star Knower] is a bunch of unknowns, how are we supposed to handle this?”
The man named Wang Chao sat very casually, compared to the seriousness and solemnity of others, he seemed like he was here for fun.
This made the woman sitting next to him very displeased.
“Wang Chao, can’t you be a bit more serious? We’re discussing a very grave matter, don’t use that flippant attitude to speak.”
“Ah, right, right, right~”
“I hope you have the same attitude towards your life.”
“Ah, right, right, right~”
The woman was angered, but she didn’t lash out directly, instead holding it in.
“Hmph!”
She had some understanding of Wang Chao’s frivolous personality, and nothing she said would change him.
Knock knock knock!
The person called Boss, that is, Xiao Jin, knocked on the table, signaling everyone to quiet down.
“Go back and tell the branches in each city to pay attention to the surrounding situation, if there’s anything abnormal, investigate immediately.”
Wang Chao sighed and said, “Will this be useful?”
“It’s better than doing nothing.”
“Alright then.”
The meeting dispersed.
All personnel returned to their posts, mobilizing for this matter.
But there was still one person who hadn’t left, a silver-gray haired girl came to Xiao Jin’s front.
“Uncle Xiao, can the Wishing Machine… make wishes come true?”
“I don’t know,” Xiao Jin shook his head, “But what can be certain is that if you want to use it to achieve some purpose, you might pay a price you can’t bear, so it’s better not to think too much in this direction.”
Bai Tu gradually lost focus, then came back to her senses and nodded.
“Mm, I understand, uncle.”
“Good that you understand.”
Then the two parted ways.
Bai Tu walked on her way back, constantly distracted.
“A price, huh? Actually, anything is fine…”
……
The next morning.
Dawn broke.
In a certain small house.
The alarm clock rang “ding ding ding”, waking up the little one sleeping in bed.
“Mm~ Wu~ I don’t want to go to work…”
Ye Xinglan let out a cry of grief in a half-awake state, emphasizing a strong resistance to being a bitter wage slave.
As consciousness gradually cleared, Ye Xinglan suddenly felt something in her arms.
Soft, warm, very comfortable to hug.
“Hm?”
Opening her eyes, what met her gaze was an incredibly cute loli face, with beautiful silver-white hair and a pair of jewel-like beautiful wine-red eyes.
The other also had a bewildered expression, just like her own current expression.
Heart stopped!
“Waaaaaah——“
Who is this!?
Two figures quickly emerged from under the covers, instantly distancing themselves from each other.
“Wait, something’s not right!”
After hastily retreating, Ye Xinglan suddenly realized that her voice had become much sharper.
“Huh?”
Then she also noticed the abnormality in her body, feeling that her body seemed to have shrunk considerably.
Then Ye Xinglan quickly ran to the mirror to observe, discovering a phenomenon that terrified her beyond measure.
In the mirror was also a petite and adorable loli, almost identical in appearance to the silver-haired loli not far away.
However, there was a slight difference: her hair was black.
“Game over!!”
This life, starting from becoming a loli, was already completely over.