Arc 1

The private lounge was eerily quiet except for the faint hum of the air conditioner and the occasional drip of blood from the bodies scattered around the room. Seated in the center of the room were Gu Yan and Gu Xuan. They had executed another mission flawlessly as always.

Gu Xuan took a sip of his drink, observing Gu Yan. His golden irises reflected in the glass as he twirled it. Gu Yan had been quite gloomy for almost a week now, which was unusual for him. Even during the mission, he looked absentminded, and this made Gu Xuan a bit uneasy.

Gu Xuan decided to bite the bullet and asked, "What's eating you, Xiao Yan?"

Gu Yan clicked his tongue in annoyance. "It's nothing."

He really didn't like the way this 'Ye Jin' girl was affecting his mood. He thought he would be able to release some steam during the mission, but he was still very much annoyed.

"Gu Xuan, have you gotten what I asked of you?"

Gu Xuan replied, "You mean the information on that Ye Jin girl? I've got it; I'll forward it later." Gu Xuan raised an eyebrow, his voice laced with curiosity. "Is that what's been making you annoyed?"

Gu Yan's eyes darkened. "It's none of your business."

Gu Xuan chuckled. He never thought the day would come when a person could greatly affect Gu Yan.

The Next Day

GMS 005: [Good morning, Host.]

Ye Jin answered, "Good morning, GMS 005."

GMS 005: [Host, your completion rate is still at 0%.]

Ye Jin replied nonchalantly, "Oh."

She didn't really care. Besides, her plan was to slowly reel Gu Yan in, then after that, try to redeem him.

Hopefully.

GMS 005, however, was not too pleased with her nonchalant attitude, so it reprimanded her. [Host, we've been in this world for a week and some days, and yet nothing has been done. Don't forget that your life depends on this.]

"You don't sound too cute now, GMS 005," Ye Jin replied as she went to the kitchen and prepared some buns, fried chicken, and egg fried rice. She then packed some of it in her lunch box.

Maybe I should pack some for Mei Yun; she would like it, right?

Ye Jin picked a cute Hello Kitty lunch box and neatly packed the meal in it. As she admired her work, she couldn't help but think of Gu Yan. He had been pestering her for quite some days now, and she had been trying her best to ignore him.

Should she pack a meal for him too?

After a moment of hesitation, she packed an extra portion for Gu Yan and headed to school.

When she arrived, Mei Yun came hopping towards her. "Good morning, Ye Jin."

Ye Jin: "Good morning, Mei Yun."

She then heard Mei Yun say, aggrieved, "Do you know you haven't added me on WeChat? You only gave me your number. I really wanted to talk to you yesterday evening, but you weren't picking up, and I couldn't chat with you. I was so sad."

"I'm sorry, Mei Yun. My phone was on Do Not Disturb." She brought out her phone, a small smile playing on her lips. "Alright, let's add each other on WeChat."

"What's your username?" Mei Yun asked.

Ye Jin: "CuteYe6666."

Mei Yun laughed. "Cute Ye? That doesn't fit you at all. You are anything but cute. It's more like Bodacious Ye or Awesome Ye."

Ye Jin's lips formed a straight, thin line, seemingly cold, but Gu Yan could see clear as day, her ears gradually turning red.

Ye Jin said excitedly to GMS 005, "Did you hear what she said, GMS 005? She said I'm bodacious and pretty!"

GMS 005 remained silent. It studied its host carefully. The way its host acted was different from what it obtained from her memory; they were so different, so distinct.

Why?

As Ye Jin and Mei Yun added each other on WeChat, Gu Yan watched from his seat, his eyes cold.

He really didn't like any of this.

Gu Yan picked up his phone, opened his WeChat, and searched for her username.

His eyes lingered on her profile. He was quite amused by her profile pic. It was a cute panda chewing on a bamboo stick.

Her profile was a huge contrast from who she was in real life.

Gu Yan furrowed his brows and fell into deep thought. The information his brother sent showed that she was an ordinary girl, though her uncle was not ordinary. According to the report, she was an orphan and was quite timid, which caused her to be bullied in every school she went to.

Was his suspicion wrong, then? Was she not the one who killed the man? Was she just an ordinary girl?

'Maybe I should just send her a friend request… she is quite fun,' Gu Yan thought as his fingers hovered above the request button.

Gu Yan had always seen his relationship with people as a give-and-take situation. He had been unable to build emotional bonds with people. He didn't know how to cry for people, be happy for them, or be sad for them. He only built relationships with them on the basis that they added something to his life—that is, if they weren't turned off by his violent tendencies. That's why Ning Yin had been his only friend for over 10 years. He enjoyed Ning Yin's company, so he had something to gain from Ning Yin, and though he knew that Ning Yin was quite afraid of him, Ning Yin never stopped being friends with him. For that, he became extremely protective and possessive of Ning Yin.

But now he found someone else, someone with whom, oddly, in her presence, he felt comfortable. And she did seem quite fun to hang out with, but she didn't seem to really fancy him.

Not that he cared anyway. If he couldn't be her friend, then he could just turn her into a doll.

With this, Gu Yan's hands fell away from the request button, and he closed the app.