Chapter 667.1
Chapter 667.1
According to the description given by the helpful gardener, Xia Chi didn’t have to exert much effort to find the row of employee dormitories.
The door of the fifth room from the left was closed, and there was no light in the crack.
Xia Chi tried turning the doorknob, and to his surprise, the closed door opened easily.
Why are you so unaware of safety that you don’t lock the door when you go out?
Then don’t blame him for going in.
Without hesitation, Xia Chi slipped inside and quickly closed the door behind him.
He fumbled along the wall, found the switch, and the dark room was instantly illuminated.
It was a single-occupancy employee dorm. Half of the room was a resting area, and the other half was for storing work tools.
A wooden bed stood against the wall, with a wooden table beside it.
Next to the table was a bookshelf, holding several books.
The room was somewhat messy, and the bedding was carelessly piled on the bed, unmade.
A few random books lay scattered on the wooden table.
Xia Chi walked straight to the table and flipped through the books.
One thick book was a dictionary, while the others were fantasy novels popular among male readers.
He carefully examined the protagonists in these books but found no mention of a character named “Li Mi”.
He set the books down, his gaze sweeping around the room until it landed on the pillow on the bed.
There seemed to be something tucked beneath the flat straw pillow.
Xia Chi walked over and lifted the pillow, revealing a large leather-bound notebook.
The notebook was old. Its black leather cover was worn and glossy from years of handling, and the pages inside had yellowed and softened with age.
He opened the notebook, and the first page had a few crooked lines of writing.
[You are the most beautiful reflection of the moon in the lake,
You are the brightest rose blooming in the garden,
And I am the one who longs to hold that moonlight in my hands,
The one willing to be covered in wounds just to pick the rose,
You will never know,
That there is someone silently loving you from behind,
I love you so much, but secret love is such a bitter torment,
You are so noble and cold, how could someone as lowly as me dare to touch you?
I can only pour my overwhelming love for you into these words,
In that world that belongs only to you and me, only there do you truly belong to me.
Dearest Li Mi, I love you so deeply.]
Xia Chi turned to the first page.
“Li Mi is a person full of inferiority.”
“He has a delicate and beautiful face, a slender and graceful body, and a voice like a nightingale.”
“But he doesn’t like his body, because he is intersex. Most of his appearance is male, with a flat chest, a small Adam’s apple, and a handsome male reproductive organ. But in the secret parts that others cannot see, he also possesses female reproductive organs, which troubles him greatly.”
“Since childhood, his parents always told him to guard this secret carefully. If anyone found out, he would be treated as a freak and shunned.”
“So Li Mi lived cautiously, always on edge. Even the slightest disturbance from others could make him nervous for days. He worked hard to keep his secret, and over time, the constant mental strain led him to develop skin hunger and tear incontinence.”
“Yes, Li Mi is such a boy—physically flawed, from a poor family, and deeply insecure and sensitive.”
“To protect his secret, he would do anything. He had no friends and lived in quiet solitude.”
“But one day, his secret was discovered.”
“The once insecure Li Mi became the poor Li Mi.”
These were all handwritten words, written by someone whose literacy level wasn’t high. Many characters were originally misspelled or written in pinyin, then crossed out and corrected.
On the right side of the page, a photo was pasted. It was taken at an odd angle, clearly a candid shot.
It was a photo of the young master, apparently taken while he was having afternoon tea in the garden.
Below the photo, the person had written a label.
——Li Mi’s appearance.
Xia Chi turned the page, revealing more densely packed handwritten text.
“That night, Li Mi went to watch a movie alone.”
“Even though there were many empty seats for the late-night movie, he habitually chose a spot in the farthest corner.”
“The dark, secluded corner gave Li Mi a great sense of security. He didn’t usually go to the cinema, but he really liked this movie, so he made an exception tonight.”
“As the movie started, with the plot unfolding dramatically on screen, Li Mi thought to himself that he had made the right choice.”
“Just as he was engrossed in the movie, he suddenly felt a hand creep up his leg.”
“Li Mi’s whole body trembled. The moment he turned in fear, a sharp knife was thrust right in front of his eyes.”
“It was a man dressed entirely in black. He was wrapped tightly in a black coat, wearing a black baseball cap and a black mask, with only his eyes visible. Faintly, there was a barely noticeable teardrop mole at the corner of one eye.”
“The man lowered his voice and threatened, ‘If you don’t want others to know your body’s secret, don’t move or make a sound. Nod if you understand.’”
“The man’s other hand was still moving along his leg, creeping higher and higher.”
“Li Mi’s body trembled uncontrollably, and tears streamed from the corners of his eyes like beads, one after another. He nodded slightly, pleading, ‘Please, let me go.’”
“Li Mi’s plea did not evoke the man’s sympathy. Instead, the man’s actions became even more aggressive. He lifted the hem of Li Mi’s clothes, his rough, calloused hand reaching inside.”
Xia Chi: “…”
This man’s fantasies really had no bottom.
As the writer got to this part, they seemed to become unusually excited. The originally neat handwriting grew hurried, and the strokes deepened significantly.
Xia Chi quickly flipped through the pages. The notebook that was about ten centimeters thick was almost entirely filled.
He randomly turned to another page.
“Li Mi didn’t like swimming, but he had no choice. Swimming was a course, and failing it would mean dropping out.”
“He waited in the locker room until everyone else had left before he slowly and reluctantly changed into his swimming trunks.”
“After changing, he looked up and saw a man in the mirror, completely covered from head to toe.”
“Li Mi was shocked and turned around, ‘Why are you here?’”
“‘Heh,’ the man chuckled coldly, cornering the helpless Li Mi, ‘I am everywhere. You can’t escape my grasp.’”
“Li Mi looked at the mysterious man in horror, ‘What do you want? This is a school.’”
“Seeing the timid and sensitive Li Mi, like a fragile doll who could be crushed at any moment, the man became excited. He placed his rough hands on Li Mi’s soft, fair waist, caressing it back and forth, ‘You look so good in a swimsuit, Li Mi. I’m so excited.’”
“Li Mi’s face turned red, and tears streamed down. He wanted to run, but his body instinctively went limp and leaned against the man, allowing him to do whatever he wanted.”
“‘Let go of that boy!’ Suddenly, a tall boy barged in. The man in black glanced at him, then at Li Mi, cursed under his breath, and vanished in a fit of rage.”
Xia Chi’s eyes widened at the last sentence.
It wasn’t handwritten but seemed printed, as if stamped on the page.
It seems that this was not the plot that the author originally intended.
Given this man’s fantasy-driven mindset, he would probably have preferred to continue playing with “Li Mi”, right?
There were deep scratches above this passage, as if someone had tried to erase it with a dried-out pen.
It seemed the author had once tried to cross out this section, but it hadn’t worked as intended.
This abrupt passage remained in the story.
Who was this boy who suddenly appeared at the pool?
Could he be a player?
Xia Chi seemed to have stumbled upon a secret and quickly turned to the next page.
“‘Are you okay?’ The boy was a little embarrassed and tossed a towel to Li Mi in a panic, ‘Maybe you should skip this class. I’ll get you an excuse.’”
“Li Mi clutched the towel, studying the boy in front of him. He didn’t have an impression of the boy. ‘Thank you, who are you?’”
“‘Uh,’ the boy hesitated for two seconds, seemingly thinking, ‘I’m also a student here. Just call me Brother Swim.’”
“Brother Swim continued, ‘I know you. You’re Li Mi. I heard that you failed your graduation project. If you need any help, just ask me. Especially if you run into something like what just happened. You must fight back. If you can’t, come find me, and I’ll help you beat him up.’”
This part was also printed.
There were numerous scratches crisscrossing the page, and the paper bore signs of being repeatedly crumpled and torn.
However, these marks didn’t cause any real damage to the page. Despite being covered with folds and scratches, this sheet was still firmly attached to the notebook and had not been destroyed.
From this passage, it seemed that “Brother Swim” was indeed a player.
The interactions between the players and Li Mi in the copy were all turning into indelible text.
Through this book, could he possibly know what happened to those players later on?
Xia Chi continued flipping through the pages.
Some were written in the author’s handwriting, while others were printed text.
Whenever the mysterious man in black created by the author tried to do something to Li Mi, printed words would always appear to interrupt.
Those uncontrollable characters gradually increased, not just Brother Swim anymore.
The author’s handwriting grew more sloppy and impatient, his strokes chaotic, slashing the paper as if he wanted to tear through it.
They were all good players.
Xia Chi let out a sigh of relief, feeling reassured to see that everyone was helping Li Mi. His heart, which had been tense, finally relaxed.
When Brother said the people who jumped off the building might all be “players,” Xia Chi’s brain shrinkage wasn’t just due to this unexpected revelation but also because he couldn’t accept it.
If those people really were players, then they did the same thing as the author. He could never accept that players, who had undergone nine years of compulsory education, could commit such heinous acts.
But fortunately, there were still more good people in the world.
But, who exactly were Handsome Senior and the other two?
They didn’t seem to know about the game or the system, so they probably weren’t players.
But just like Li Mi, they also didn’t have their own complete storylines, meaning they weren’t original characters in this novel.
So, were they, like Li Mi, also fan-made characters?
A flash of realization suddenly struck Xia Chi’s mind.
All fan-made characters—could it be that, just like Li Mi, they were also fan-made characters created by the author from the players?
They were players, but not players.
Seven players, seven characters who jumped off the building.
“Shua!”
Xia Chi quickly flipped through the book.
There were four people in total who appeared by Li Mi’s side to protect and help him.
At first, whenever tear-mole man with the concealed face appeared, these people would always stop him.
But gradually, it seemed the author had discovered a method.
He began writing these people into the story.
The first to be manipulated was Brother Swim.