Chapter 187 – My Lady Heroine in the Holographic Online Game – A New World, A New Heartache (01)
In the previous world, Bai Tang and Luo Dai had almost stopped breathing at the same time.
By the time Bai Tang remembered everything, he had already returned to the system space, where Qiu’er circled around his feet, barking non-stop.
“You’ve worked hard, Qiu’er~”
Bai Tang had seen all that Qiu’er had done for him. If Qiu’er hadn’t followed him into that world, he probably would have died in the cold palace.
“You’re welcome! I’m your system, after all…” Qiu’er replied with a cheerful grin.
[Points settlement: Successfully breaking up the male and female leads – 1000 points. Side quest reward – acquired one system, reward: 500 points.]
As the mechanical voice announced the results, both the man and the dog suddenly remembered Xiao A.
Ever since Ma Aoshan had been locked away by Prince Zhuang, Xiao A hadn’t made a sound.
Bai Tang looked at the jade pendant hanging from Qiu’er’s neck and asked tentatively, “Xiao A, are you still there?”
“I’m here, Host.” Xiao A’s youthful voice was the same as always, though if one listened closely, there was now a hint of warmth in it.
That warmth came from Xiao A’s feelings for Bai Tang. To be honest, he had never experienced obtaining fate energy without doing tasks. When he realized Bai Tang was someone blessed with great fate, he had chosen to follow Bai Tang’s soul out of that world, only to unexpectedly enter another system space.
No wonder Ma Aoshan’s protagonist aura couldn’t defeat him—turns out Bai Tang wasn’t just an ordinary person either.
“Woof woof! Come out here—I want to duel you!” Qiu’er shouted in frustration.
Now that they had left that world, the effects of the love pollen on Qiu’er had worn off. The thought that he had spent decades licking that jade pendant made him want to rinse his mouth out with mouthwash a hundred times.
At Qiu’er’s barking, a wisp of white smoke floated out from the jade pendant and formed the shape of another little dog in mid-air.
Thanks to Qiu’er’s constant licking, Xiao A’s system had defaulted to believing his favorite form was a dog.
When he had accumulated enough fate energy to take shape, he ended up appearing as a little dog too.
Just thinking about it made Xiao A grind his teeth in anger.
He glared at Qiu’er with hostility— The battle between the two little dogs was about to begin.
“Xiao A, thank you for your help in the plane world.”
The boy smiled with curved eyes and brows, looking even more beautiful than when he took on someone else’s appearance.
Xiao A quickly waved his hands. “The host handled everything himself—I didn’t really help much.”
To be honest, Bai Tang was the easiest host Xiao A had ever worked with. Even if he didn’t need Xiao A’s help, he still shared his fate energy generously and was never stingy. Naturally, Xiao A was more than happy to follow him.
“So, what are your plans next, Xiao A?” Bai Tang asked as he munched on pine nuts.
He hadn’t eaten them in so long—he was absolutely craving them.
“Host, can I keep following you?” Xiao A asked hopefully. The benefits were good, and he had a lot of freedom.
“I see…”
“No way!” Qiu’er immediately rejected the idea. “Tang Tang already has a system—me! You can go away.”
Qiu’er stood protectively in front of Bai Tang, speaking in a proud and huffy tone.
Xiao A didn’t care about that. It wasn’t Qiu’er who was the host—only Bai Tang’s opinion mattered.
As Bai Tang hesitated, Xiao A dropped a heavy bomb: “If something like this happens again, Qiu’er might not be able to help. The male lead could be in real danger.”
Concerned about his own hubby’s safety, Bai Tang relented.
“Alright then. Xiao A, if you ever want to terminate the bond, just let me know. But you and Qiu’er need to get along, okay~?”
“Yes, Host.” Xiao A was satisfied. He ran over to Qiu’er and showed off triumphantly, which made Qiu’er so mad he bit down on Xiao A’s tail.
“You’re still mad? I’m not even mad you drooled on me for decades,” Xiao A said, trying to defuse the tension.
After all, Qiu’er was the original system, and as the newcomer, Xiao A knew he had to get along—especially since Qiu’er was currently the lower-ranked system.
Qiu’er was the type who responded to softness, not force.
Since Xiao A backed down and even admitted something embarrassing, Qiu’er huffed and turned away to look for the next world’s data.
“Tang Tang, here’s the next world’s information! It looks super fun~” Qiu’er presented a brightly colored novel like a treasure, laying it in front of Bai Tang.
It had been ages since Bai Tang had seen such a striking book cover. It was full of vibrant game-style illustrations. Bold calligraphy across the top read: “My Lady Heroine in the Holographic Online Game”
It was also Xiao A’s first time seeing a cover like this. One person and two dogs huddled together to read the plot summary:
This is a futuristic world, where the advancement of high technology has made virtual networks incredibly realistic—even to the point where people can fully immerse themselves and experience them as if they were real.
The female lead is named Jiang Yiran, a modern-day girl who transmigrated into this world. She’s a hardcore gamer, a typical gaming otaku. One night, while eating instant noodles and playing games at home, she choked to death. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a future world filled with advanced technology.
What delighted her the most was that this world had full-dive holographic gaming. All she had to do was buy a gaming pod, connect it to the system, lie down inside, and she could enter the game—just like stepping into a real world. It felt incredibly lifelike.
And so, Jiang Yiran began her gaming life. Among the many available games, she chose the most popular one at the time: a historical martial arts MMORPG developed by the Qi Corporation. The CEO of Qi Corporation also happened to be the male lead, Qi Hongyi.
This game, Legends of the Wulin Heroes, was a martial arts-themed online game into which Qi Corporation had poured massive investment. It became beloved by many. In order to ensure the best gaming experience, the male lead, Qi Hongyi, personally bought a gaming pod to try it out himself.
The story unfolds within the game. The male and female leads meet while doing a quest that required players to form a team. The female lead happened to be playing a ranged class character—an archer—whose weapon was a bow, making her ideally suited for the quest, which required long-distance attacks.
As a seasoned gamer with years of experience, Jiang Yiran had impeccable skills. After completing the quest flawlessly with the male lead, her gaming prowess earned Qi Hongyi’s admiration. He added her as a friend, and from then on, they often teamed up whenever they were online.
Just like that, their relationship deepened over time. Eventually, the two became in-game partners, and when their feelings grew strong enough, they took it offline, got married, and lived happily ever after.
If the story ended there, it would’ve been a beautiful romance.
But the problem was—the male lead already had a fiancé.
That fiancé was none other than the male supporting character: Bai Tang.
Bai Tang was the young master of the Bai family, and the Bai and Qi families had been close for generations. The elders, seeing that the two children had grown up together and knew each other well, believed that if they were together, it would be a strong alliance—commercially powerful enough to become the top corporation in the business world.
Qi Hongyi was busy hunting for bugs in the game, and Bai Tang knew that. He had secretly admired his big brother from the Qi family for many years. When he heard that the elders had arranged a marriage between him and Qi Hongyi, he felt sweet and hopeful inside.
Since they were engaged, naturally it was time to nurture their relationship. Qi Hongyi was always cool and indifferent to everyone—even to Bai Tang, who had known him since childhood.
Bai Tang knew Qi Hongyi didn’t like him, but he liked Qi Hongyi. He didn’t want their marriage to be just a business deal—he wanted it to be based on real affection. So, he bought a gaming pod and entered the game, hoping to build a deeper bond with Qi Hongyi.
He entered the game full of joy, only to see Qi Hongyi walking with a girl—and they were acting very close.
Of course, Bai Tang was jealous. He remembered the girl’s name. By then, the male and female leads had already started to develop feelings for each other. Bai Tang tried to sabotage their budding romance, doing things like sending people to cause trouble when the female lead was on solo missions, deliberately stealing herbs she needed, and buying up jewelry crafting materials she wanted at high prices.
Jiang Yiran, the female lead, became increasingly frustrated. Everything seemed to be going wrong. She casually mentioned it to Qi Hongyi when he logged in, and he took it seriously. After logging out, he had someone investigate whether there was a bug in the game—only to discover that Bai Tang was behind it.
He warned Bai Tang, but Bai Tang assumed Jiang Yiran had tattled to Qi Hongyi and started targeting her even more.
In short, there were no major schemes, but the petty sabotage never stopped.
To further disrupt Qi Hongyi and Jiang Yiran’s relationship, Bai Tang even used his family’s influence to get Jiang Yiran’s parents fired from their jobs. Her family quickly fell into financial crisis. Jiang Yiran, a college student on summer break, had to take multiple part-time jobs to support her household and had no time to log in to the game.
When Qi Hongyi didn’t see her online for several days, Bai Tang clung to him in-game and spoke ill of Jiang Yiran.
Qi Hongyi left a message for Jiang Yiran. When she finally logged in, she told him about her family’s difficulties after some coaxing from him.
To Qi Hongyi, arranging a job was a small matter. And so, the male and female leads met in real life, and their relationship was confirmed.
Bai Tang, both furious and panicked, ran to complain to the Qi family elders. The elders were enraged and summoned Qi Hongyi and Jiang Yiran, demanding they break up.
Jiang Yiran happened to be interning in the Qi Corporation’s gaming department. She was extremely talented at game design and identified many bugs, even providing solutions. Several of the company’s game projects were able to launch early thanks to her contributions. Over time, she gained the favor of the Qi elders. Combined with Qi Hongyi’s unwavering support, Bai Tang was ultimately rejected, and the engagement was called off.
Public pressure is a powerful force. Online words can bring the dead back to life—and tear the living to pieces.
Qi Hongyi and Jiang Yiran, this golden couple of the gaming world, were adored by the public—while Bai Tang was relentlessly criticized. People said things like, “No way would the male lead settle for him; there must be something wrong with Bai Tang, or else Qi Hongyi wouldn’t have dumped him.” Rumors twisted the story until it became that the young master of the Bai family was a playboy, and Qi Hongyi had finally had enough and angrily called off the engagement.
Looking at photos of Qi Hongyi and Jiang Yiran, Bai Tang couldn’t take it anymore and attempted suic*de by cutting his wrist.
The Bai family, who spoiled Bai Tang, tore apart their relationship with the Qi family. The two families officially clashed, and the dispute ended with the Qi family prevailing. As a result, the Bai family went bankrupt and withdrew from the business scene.
Xiao A, encountering this kind of task for the first time, was furious: “What kind of male lead is this? My host is so good—making soup, accompanying elders—and yet he’s blind? How could that white lotus flower compare to my host?”
“Exactly! D*mn that lousy male lead. My Tang Tang is under my protection,” said Qiu’er, clutching his paws.
In each other’s eyes, the two little dogs saw a shared goal—the budding friendship of comrades in arms.
“Let’s teleport first,” Bai Tang said, no longer feeling so crushed. Was there any world whose original story didn’t make him miserable? Anyway, his ‘husband’ (the male lead) always recognized him.
But soon, Bai Tang’s words would come back to bite him.
Author’s note:
I originally planned to update twice today, but looking at the time, I might not make it. The second chapter may have to wait until after midnight. I’ll do my best! Mwah~