After Entering a Romance Reality Show Disguised as a Man to Win Over All the Female Leads - Chapter 15

Rong Yu felt a sudden softness on her lips as a sweet fragrance poured into her nostrils. He Jiao’s face, looming so close, delivered a massive visual impact of pure beauty. Her ragged breathing hitched, forced into a slower rhythm. He Jiao tilted her chin even higher; Rong Yu could barely breathe, yet for some reason, she felt much better. The darkness fading from her vision began to clear, and the thumping heart in her chest gradually steadied.

He Jiao’s other hand slid around her waist, stroking up and down her spine to soothe her breathing. The frequency of the touch was just right, and Rong Yu couldn’t help but close her eyes in comfort. It might have been her imagination, but she thought she saw a flash of blue light in He Jiao’s eyes. Since her eyes were already blue, the flash was subtle, like a glint of light on the surface of water.

The next second, Mu Shuiqing’s voice exploded in her ear, trembling on the edge of a breakdown: “I think that’s quite enough!”

Only then did He Jiao release Rong Yu. She glanced at Mu Shuiqing and raised her hands, stepping back half a pace. Rong Yu took quick, small breaths, but the feeling of suffocation was completely gone. He Jiao looked at her; her crimson lips were still stained with a glistening moisture, carrying a decadent allure. Even the tip of her nose and her cheeks were flushed with a hint of springtime heat.

Every inch of that reaction was like dancing on a landmine for Mu Shuiqing.

Mu Shuiqing’s face remained expressionless, but her crimson eyes seemed to swirl with blood-red intent. The look she gave He Jiao could have killed. The little paper doll in her pocket waved its hands in mid-air in condemnation, its paper head “on fire” to the point that the edges were turning to charcoal.

Mu Shuiqing gritted her teeth, pulled a tissue from her pocket, and vigorously wiped Rong Yu’s mouth.

Her words, however, were directed at He Jiao: “He Jiao, don’t forget our agreement.”

The blonde, blue-eyed girl smiled slightly, though the mirth didn’t reach her eyes. “I was just helping her.”

Mu Shuiqing didn’t buy the excuse. Her face was blank, but her words were hissed through her teeth: “You could have told me and let me do it!”

He Jiao spread her hands, looking innocent. “I forgot.”

Mu Shuiqing: “…” The fragments of talisman paper scattered at her feet suddenly caught fire, exploding in mid-air.

Both sides were conscious entities of Lian Langsheng. Rong Yu stayed quiet, letting Mu Shuiqing do as she pleased while she played the role of an invisible person.

I feel like a real player (scumbag woman)… she thought.

Mu Shuiqing had told Lin Mengxing “not to forget the agreement,” and now there was a similar pact between her and He Jiao. What exactly was this agreement? Rong Yu wanted to ask, but she felt it wasn’t right to pry into others’ affairs.

At that moment, rustling footsteps came from the darkness. All the other guests and Host Zhang Yongan arrived, accompanied by two staff members. Zhang Yongan ran ahead and was the first to reach them. He scanned the three girls to make sure they were unharmed before letting out a sigh of relief. “Are you guys okay?”

Rong Yu and He Jiao both shook their heads. Mu Shuiqing pointed at Seven on the ground. “He seems to be in bad shape.”

The area was pitch black. Since it was late at night, the solar streetlights were starting to dim. Zhang Yongan had ended the filming for the day to come looking for them. In the darkness, he had only noticed the three girls until Mu Shuiqing pointed. When he saw Seven lying there, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. “What happened to Seven?”

Mu Shuiqing glanced at Rong Yu and He Jiao. Rong Yu decided not to mention the “possession” part. “He seemed to have fainted from drinking too much.”

Mu Shuiqing chimed in: “Yes. He was walking along and suddenly just collapsed.”

Seven lay there quietly without a scratch on him; he didn’t look like he’d been in a fight. Zhang Yongan didn’t think much of it and called for the staff: “Quick, send Seven back!” This was their only celebrity guest; nothing could happen to him, or they’d never attract talent again. Zhang Yongan felt like crying—their small show finally got some traction, only to face a potential boycott from Seven’s fans.

He and the staff tried to lift Seven, but they found the man’s arms were as heavy as lead. Zhang Yongan used all his strength to pull him up, but he lost his grip for a moment. Seven’s head hit the curb with a “thud” that everyone heard.

Zhang Yongan: “…Ahem.” Luckily, the cameras were off.

Mu Shuiqing watched the struggle and, while no one was looking, slipped a talisman into Seven’s pocket. Suddenly, the weight lifted. Zhang Yongan assumed they’d just been using the wrong leverage before. Since he was unconscious, Seven couldn’t stay in his tent, so Zhang Yongan arranged a hotel room for him. To be fair, he offered hotel rooms to all the guests for the night, reimbursed by the show.

Half an hour later, they were in a five-star hotel. The men were on the second floor, and the women were on the third. Since the rooms were standard hotel layouts with no privacy screens, the crew hadn’t installed cameras. Zhang Yongan dismissed them, informing them of the next morning’s schedule.

“A little spoiler: tomorrow’s mission will be physically demanding, so please wear comfortable athletic clothes and shoes. Also, tomorrow concludes the first round of CP pairings. You will be voting for new partners, so start thinking about it or have some private chats. But remember, keep it fair~”

Usually, dating shows don’t give spoilers like “physical exhaustion” to keep the guests off-balance. Heartbeat Moments was clearly a conscientious crew. No wonder the ratings are low, Rong Yu thought. No drama or hype.

As the men headed to the second floor, Rong Yu followed. She had nothing in common with Qin Wenhan or Sheng Ming. The elevator was filled with a bizarre silence, made worse by the mirrored walls.

Once the doors opened, she bolted to her room and locked the door. Finally, the day was over. She treated herself to a nice soak in the bathtub. After getting into bed, she checked her phone, and a Weibo notification popped up:

#HeartbeatMomentsRongYu This ‘passerby’ just showed everyone what a top-tier ‘Male Omega’ looks like. Holy crap, he’s so charming.

The post featured a video edit of her surrounded by the girls at the table, set to a suggestive, breathy song. The poster was named @RongYu’sDog.

Rong Yu: “…”

The comments were a frenzy of people “waking up” to her charm and debating her “Omega” attributes. She felt a bit of PTSD thinking about Lin Mengxing’s “Enigma” pheromones. She also saw fans sharing photoshopped images of her in a skirt with long hair, wishing she’d do a “cross-dressing” episode.

Rong Yu chuckled and scrolled down. Suddenly, there was a loud “BOOM” from the balcony, and a red light flooded the room. It was so intense she couldn’t open her eyes. She got out of bed and walked onto the balcony.

In the air between the second and third floors, a two-meter-wide rift had appeared. It looked like a tear in space-time. Through it, she saw a sun-drenched beach with strange, sharp towers and UFO-shaped buildings—not at all like the real world.

A figure stepped out of the rift toward her balcony, but as they reached the edge, they went limp and fell.

Rong Yu lunged forward and caught the person, pulling them onto her balcony. Her hands were shaking. She had to remind herself: This is Lian Langsheng’s brain world. It’s a dream. She won’t get hurt. She won’t die.

But her hands wouldn’t stop trembling as she held He Huaiting.

He Huaiting’s sweater was clean, but her neck and wrists were covered in red welts, as if she’d been lashed with vines. Her left arm was a horrific mass of blisters and burns. It looked like scalding water had been poured over her.

Rong Yu burst into tears. Which dungeon was this? She could never bear to see Lian Langsheng hurt in her books; how could He Huaiting suffer like this?

She went to find the medical kit. He Huaiting woke up, her golden eyes reflecting her long white hair. She looked as alert as a leopard. “You saw?” she asked flatly.

Rong Yu nodded, sitting down beside her with alcohol and ointment. “I need to treat your wounds.”

He Huaiting stared at her for a dozen seconds. “You’re crying.”

“What do you think?” Rong Yu snapped.

“It doesn’t hurt,” He Huaiting muttered, looking at the bedsheets.

Rong Yu couldn’t hold back anymore. “You’re hurt like this and you say it doesn’t hurt?!” She gritted her teeth. “Which dungeon did you come back from?”

He Huaiting looked surprised. For once, she looked a bit childish. “Aghak.”

Rong Yu nearly crushed the alcohol bottle. Aghak was an S-class dungeon—one of the most difficult, with a near-zero survival rate. In her Infinite Flow novel, it was a “pure intelligence” dungeon designed to show how terrifying S-class challenges were. Players had to answer questions while a monitor around their neck threatened to decapitate them if they were wrong.

“Why would you choose Aghak?”

He Huaiting looked away. “The reward included ‘A Dream of Siam’.”

Rong Yu’s hand shook. She remembered that reward. It was a “useless” reward she’d designed for a dungeon no one would ever visit. It allowed a player to extend the existence of a dungeon even after it ended.

“Why would you want that?” Rong Yu frowned.

He Huaiting didn’t answer. She just watched Rong Yu carefully pop the blisters and apply the ointment. Rong Yu’s hands were shaking with heart-wrenching pity. He Huaiting, however, seemed to have no sense of pain, letting her do as she pleased.

After half an hour, the wounds were bandaged. He Huaiting asked softly, “Aren’t you afraid?”

“You won’t kill me,” Rong Yu smiled. “Why should I be afraid?”

“You are the Core of this S-class dungeon,” He Huaiting said.

The Core. Rong Yu froze, remembering something Lian Langsheng had once said:

“If you were the Core of a dungeon, I probably would never clear it.”

Past memories flooded her mind. He Huaiting assumed Rong Yu was feeling the danger of having her identity exposed. Usually, the Core BOSS of a dungeon will instinctively kill players to survive.

“If I die in a dungeon, I leave no trace,” He Huaiting said coldly. “If you want to kill me, now is the time.”

The air seemed to freeze. He Huaiting lay there like a sheathed blade, her golden eyes dimming as if waiting for death.

Rong Yu was incensed by her disregard for her own life. She leaned in close, pinning He Huaiting to the bed. Her cool fingertips avoided the welts on the other woman’s neck.

“How should I kill you?” Rong Yu whispered, tears still on her face. “Like this?” She wrapped her arm around He Huaiting’s waist, their bodies pressing together.

He Huaiting’s throat tightened. She put a hand on Rong Yu’s shoulder, trying to maintain a final inch of distance, but she was too weak to resist.

“What is your mission?” Rong Yu asked.

“The final mission of every dungeon,” He Huaiting confessed, “is to kill the Core BOSS.”

“So,” Rong Yu looked into her eyes, “you should have killed me the first time you saw me. Instead of lying on my bed, unable to move, while I do… this.”

Rong Yu leaned down and kissed her red lips almost vengefully. Then she kissed her nose, and then those dazzling golden eyes. The “human weapon” who made thousands of ghosts weep was now lying docile in her arms, being showered with soft kisses. A secret sense of satisfaction rose in Rong Yu’s heart.

“Why didn’t you do it, He Huaiting?” Rong Yu whispered. “Do you like me?”

Rong Yu’s palms were sweating. She had waited so long to ask this.

Suddenly, a knock at the door broke the silence.

“DA-DA-DA.”

Rong Yu opened the door to find someone she never expected: He Jiao.

The blonde girl stood there with her usual cold expression. She held out a hand; in her palm lay a massive, shimmering blue pearl. “This is for you. It helps with sleep and breathing.”

He Jiao looked away, her ears turning red. “Don’t overthink it. I just… realized I mistook you for someone else before, and I was quite hostile. This is compensation.”

Rong Yu realized He Jiao had finally seen she wasn’t the “original male lead.”

When Rong Yu went back inside, He Huaiting was gone. The balcony door was wide open, the curtains fluttering in the wind. He Huaiting’s presence felt like a hallucination, but the bed still smelled of her medicine and alcohol.

In the room above, He Huaiting stood in the bathroom and took off Rong Yu’s sweater. She closed her eyes and whispered: “Exchange for a Restoration Liquid.”

A cold electronic voice replied:

【Player He Huaiting, exchange successful. 1,008 gold coins deducted. Remaining balance: 16,874,201 coins.】

She applied the green medicine to her body, and the welts vanished. She looked at her severely burned left arm, but then she remembered Rong Yu’s face as she cried while bandaging it.

She put the bottle away and re-applied the bandages Rong Yu had used. She bit one end of the cloth and tightened it. The stinging pain reminded her of the only warmth she’d felt in twenty years.

She picked up Rong Yu’s sweater and held it to her chest.

Back in the real hospital ward, Rong Yu woke up. Dr. Lin confirmed her findings.

“They are all Lian Langsheng’s conscious entities,” Rong Yu said. “I can feel her in all of them.”

Dr. Lin nodded. “Based on brain imaging, she doesn’t seem to like any of the male guests. Do you like Lian Langsheng?”

Rong Yu hesitated.

“If you like her, there might be a better way to save her,” Dr. Lin said. “Lian Langsheng is in love with you.”

Rong Yu was stunned. “How is that possible?”

“Based on dopamine levels when she is alone with you,” Dr. Lin explained. “You are the first person to ever successfully enter a patient’s brain world. Usually, the immune system kicks people out, but dopamine restricts that. Only because she loves you deeply could you bypass her mental defenses.”

“If you love her, we can induce more dopamine through ‘romance’ to stimulate her heart and brain. It could double the effectiveness of the treatment.”

Dr. Lin suggested Rong Yu treat the brain world like a dream and try dating her.

Rong Yu’s heart raced. She looked at Lian Langsheng’s pale face through the device. “I agree.”

She looked at the images of the conscious entities with the male guests and crumpled them into a ball. “The person I want to pursue… how can she be paired with anyone else? Not even for a show.”