Wan Tong stayed inside Lou Yan’s optical computer with an extremely complicated mood, troubled over how to explain things to him.
He was working, the code on the screen updating rapidly. Suddenly, Wan Tong appeared in the lower right corner of the screen. His fingers paused for a moment, and he softly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Wan Tong looked up at him and shook her head. Just then, a line of code moved toward her. She lightly kicked at it, not expecting to actually affect it. She kicked the line of code… out of existence.
“Oh…” Wan Tong covered her mouth in shock. She hadn’t realized her destructive power had grown to this extent…
Lou Yan’s fingers stopped, and he let out a quiet laugh.
A few colleagues nearby peeked over, thinking he had discovered something amusing. Ai Rui even got up and ran over. “Lou Yan, what’s up?”
On the screen, Wan Tong was busy restoring the line of code she had just kicked away. Then she shifted herself into a more inconspicuous corner.
Today, she was wearing a beret, knee-high boots, and a short skirt, which flattered her figure—sexy yet adorable.
Lou Yan’s gaze lingered on her, momentarily forgetting about the people around him. It wasn’t until Ai Rui let out an exclamation that he snapped back to reality.
But he didn’t immediately hide Wan Tong. Instead, he lazily glanced at Ai Rui. “What are you yelling about?”
“Is… is that Xiao Wanwan? Another program?”
Lou Yan, naturally, didn’t answer.
Everyone in the development department still believed Lou Yan had created multiple Wanwan programs. No one suspected that, from the beginning, there had only ever been one Wanwan—one who could freely traverse the optical computer.
After restoring the code, Wan Tong noticed several curious faces crowding the screen, staring straight at her while discussing.
“What’s the purpose of this program? Isn’t it annoying to have her there while writing code?”
“You don’t get it. She’s cute!”
“What was she just doing? Can she talk?”
“Hey, which version of Wanwan are you? Can you tell me your function?”
Fang Jie directly voiced his question, and the group fell silent, all turning to look at Wan Tong.
Wan Tong’s eyes flickered. She met Lou Yan’s amused gaze, immediately catching his meaning, and then, *poof*, she disappeared.
“Eh? She ran off?” Ai Rui was itching to tear apart Lou Yan’s optical computer to see what was going on.
“Lou Yan, how did you do that?” Qin Yang couldn’t help but ask. That didn’t seem like an ordinary desktop assistant program. It seemed… more intelligent, capable of hiding itself…
Lou Yan really was a genius.
“She’s Wanwan,” Lou Yan murmured.
“Huh?” Everyone looked confused.
Lou Yan couldn’t be bothered to explain, leaving them to guess for themselves.
Back at his desk, Ai Rui suddenly let out another startled cry. “Who touched my optical computer?! My ‘thesis’ is gone!”
Knowing chuckles sounded from the surrounding desks, followed by more exclamations.
“Hey, my algorithm seems to be complete. Who helped me?”
“I beat the level!!”
“Is Boss playing pranks? My ‘thesis’ is gone too!”
Only Lou Yan remained unfazed, tapping lightly on the sleek edge of his optical computer. His lowered voice carried indulgence and amusement.
“Wanwan, don’t go to Ai Rui’s terminal.” No need to dirty her eyes.
In the development department, ‘thesis’ always referred to uncensored adult videos.
Lou Yan didn’t say the second half of his sentence, but Wan Tong understood. She obediently nodded. “Okay.”
Lou Yan was becoming more and more comfortable letting her wander around.
That evening, the development team left work early for a rare outing, following Ai Lun to a sky lounge for some relaxation.
Wan Tong had never been to a place like this before. Previously, she had either been in the slums, Ruili Corporation, or Lou Yan’s apartment. This was her first time in such a crowded venue, so she kept looking around curiously. Lou Yan, worried she might get lost, grabbed her wrist and occasionally lowered his head to explain things in her ear.
She had absorbed a lot of knowledge into her program, but there were still many real-world things she didn’t understand—like the cocktail-mixing robot, which fascinated her for a full twenty minutes. She memorized all the demonstrated mixing techniques before looking at the robot’s head and muttering, “But the robot is too ugly…”
Unexpectedly, the robot’s hand paused, and a polite, gentlemanly baritone voice came from its steel-forged mouth.
“Beautiful lady, I will truthfully report your feedback. I, too, wish for a more handsome appearance.”
Wan Tong’s pupils shrank in shock, her mouth slightly open.
It was intelligent? She hadn’t kept up with the latest advancements in AI.
“Pfft—hahaha!” Laughter erupted around them, Ai Rui’s laugh especially loud.
Flustered, Wan Tong quickly bowed her head in apology to the robot. Then, she buried her face against Lou Yan’s arm, muffling her voice. “Let’s go…”
“Mm.” Lou Yan was in a good mood. She could even feel his chest vibrating slightly with laughter.
But suddenly, someone blocked their path. A girl at the front was frowning at Wan Tong and Lou Yan.
“Ruirui, she looks a lot like that Wish Ambassador…”
“It’s her, right? That’s so weird. And that’s Lou Yan beside her!”
Hearing the whispers around her, Rui Rui’s expression changed slightly. She pointed at Wan Tong and spoke.
“You…”
Then, as if realizing something, she suddenly turned to glare at Lou Yan.
“Lou Yan, you were messing with me on purpose, weren’t you? <Wish Wand>’s Wish Ambassador—was that your doing?!”
“Damn, didn’t the game officials previously suspect it was a virus? Could it be that Lou Yan did it?”
“But wasn’t it later clarified? They said Lou Yan never wrote a virus.”
The voices of several girls were a bit loud, drawing the attention of the people around them.
Wan Tong had made headlines before because of <Wish Wand>, so even those who didn’t play the game had seen her face.
Besides, a beauty’s face was especially recognizable, so some people in the crowd recognized her and moved closer to watch the commotion.
Lou Yan glanced at Ruirui a few times, his refined features glowing with a cold white light under the lamp. His voice carried a hint of impatience, “Who are you?”
“You—You don’t remember us?” Not only Ruirui, but her whole clique turned pale with anger.
Lou Yan frowned. In just this short moment, the developers had been surrounded like a spectacle, with most of the attention focused on Lou Yan and Wan Tong.
“This is amazing. Her face looks exactly like that Wish Ambassador from before…”
“I wonder if Lou Yan put her into the game.”
“That would be too much, invading someone else’s game? But a big company, would it really be that easy for Lou Yan to hack?”
“But it’s Lou Yan… He almost single-handedly brought down Sou Ben Games. He’s definitely not that simple.”
…
Just as everyone was caught up in their discussion, the girl who had been leaning against Lou Yan a second ago suddenly disappeared, leaving only a flickering streak of blue light.
That way of disappearing…
A projection!
The crowd fell silent in an instant.
Lou Yan was the developer of <Palm Pet>. He could create any kind of pet character he wanted.
Across from him, Ruirui and her friends were equally stunned.
Ai Lun directly pushed through the crowd and led the group away in a grand exit.
The restaurant was crowded, and Ai Lun had booked a private room. Since Wan Tong had no physical body, and considering what had just happened, she ended up staying in Lou Yan’s palm to join in on the fun.
However, Lou Yan didn’t like excessive noise and remained nestled in a corner. Later, a few more girls joined the private room, including some familiar faces to Wan Tong.
One of them was the woman who had once confessed to Lou Yan, and she still hadn’t given up.
She held a small, handsome brunette pet character in her hands and sat beside Lou Yan, extending her palm forward. “Xiao Wanwan, right? This is Xiao Ke~”
Wan Tong looked at the smiling little companion being presented to her, her lips twitching slightly. She felt like she was being treated like a pet dog.
Xiao Ke politely extended a hand. “Hello, I’m Xiao Ke. Nice to meet you.”
Before Wan Tong could react, Lou Yan’s lips pressed into a cold line. His long fingers curled inward, shielding Wan Tong loosely before bringing her back in front of his abdomen.
The woman next to him was momentarily stunned but quickly offered an apologetic smile. “Lou Yan, I just wanted the little ones to say hello. We could add each other as friends, and they could visit each other in the future…”
“Not necessary.” Lou Yan didn’t even glance at her as he responded coldly.
The woman, momentarily rejected, was at a loss for words. At that moment, Ai Rui stepped in to smooth things over. “Lou Yan doesn’t play <Palm Pet>. Xiao Wanwan is his own unique program. How about letting Xiao Ke befriend my Minmin instead?”
The woman’s expression softened a little, but when she turned back, she saw that Lou Yan had already gotten up and moved to a seat closer to the window.
She wasn’t willing to give up and wanted to follow, but Ai Rui casually dragged her into the lively crowd. “A beauty shouldn’t just sit there spacing out. How about a song?”
At the window-side single-seater, Lou Yan leaned back lazily. He poured himself a glass of juice and downed it in one go. However, he didn’t immediately pick up Wan Tong from his abdomen. Instead, he lowered his gaze to watch her movements.
She was bold. She stood up and climbed toward his chest. But because his sitting posture wasn’t stable enough, she had to pause.
She had put away her shoes earlier, so she was barefoot now. Through the fabric of his clothes, she felt something firm and uneven beneath her feet. Was that… abs?
So the development team’s constant workouts under Ai Lun’s orders actually paid off. He had abs now.
As she was looking down in curiosity, a slender finger gently pressed on the top of her head, and a low voice came from above. “What are you thinking?”
“Lou Yan, if I had a physical body, what would you do?” She tilted her head up. As his finger lowered slightly, she reached out and hugged it, rubbing against it lightly.
Lou Yan’s fingertips tingled slightly. He could feel her soft touches, pressing lightly and then retreating over his heart, melting him completely.
He gazed at her for a long time without speaking. The light under his long lashes shimmered brightly.
—I’d do something crazy.
“Lou Yan?” Wan Tong urged again, releasing his finger.
Lou Yan set his glass down and cupped her in his hands.
“I’d eat you.” His lips curled into a gentle smile.
Wan Tong found him shameless and stomped her foot, giving him a hard step—only to provoke a low chuckle from him.
Not far away, the woman glanced toward the window, her face stiffening at the sight of the natural, affectionate smile on Lou Yan’s lips.
So this man, who had only ever had games in his head, was now putting so much thought into a pet character he created himself?
Could he be like those men with questionable tastes, using sensory suit to…? But aren’t the conditions for that much stricter now?
Then again, he was the developer. Maybe he left himself a backdoor…
The woman stared resentfully at the tiny figure in Lou Yan’s palm and let out a cold scoff. No matter how advanced the touch simulation was, could it really compare to the real thing?
The group stayed out until late at night. Some of the female colleagues who had joined later got drunk, and everyone discussed how to get them home.
Wan Tong noticed that one woman kept trying to lean against Lou Yan, her voice dripping with sweetness as she specifically requested him to take her home. The other men, naturally understanding the cue, pushed Lou Yan forward.
Lou Yan lowered his gaze to the girl in his palm, her small face puffed up in frustration, and rejected her outright. “I’m busy.”
The woman, having been rejected three times, was fuming inside, but she couldn’t break character from her act of being drunk.
Watching Lou Yan and his two roommates walk away, she inexplicably felt a little satisfied. Tonight, Lou Yan was definitely going to embarrass himself!
As soon as they returned to the apartment, Qin Yang and the others collapsed into deep sleep.
Lou Yan hadn’t drunk much, so he fed each of them a sobering pill before heading to the bathroom.
The water temperature was on the cooler side, yet he felt something strange in his body.
Abruptly, he turned off the water, bracing both hands against the gray wall, his breath growing rapid.
In just a few seconds, he realized what was wrong. At some point, he had ingested an aphrodisiac.
There were plenty of people selling such drugs in the bar; he rarely went to places like that and had let his guard down, so he fell right into the trap.
In <Wanwan’s Little House>, Wan Tong tried on a few new outfits, then glanced at the pile she had tossed into the corner. She’d have Lou Yan clean them out later—otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough space for her clothes.
Hearing the sound of water outside stop, she grew curious and opened the camera feed.
The first thing she saw was a close-up of Lou Yan’s handsome face. Strands of his damp hair clung to his forehead, water droplets sliding down his cool, pale skin.
Had he finished showering?
Something seemed off. His gaze looked unfocused, and his cheeks were beginning to flush.
However, he didn’t call for her. He simply grabbed his optical computer and walked out of the bathroom.
Wan Tong exited the little house and arrived at the optical screen’s main interface.
A door closed with a soft thud. She waited for Lou Yan to project her image into the room, but he didn’t.
“Lou Yan?” she called out. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m going to sleep,” Lou Yan murmured, lying down and pressing a hand over the optical computer. His voice was hoarse, the kind of raspy tone one had upon just waking up.
“Okay, good night~” Wan Tong instinctively responded.
“Wanwan, good night.” It was tough to endure, but he had mistakenly taken this kind of drug before. He just had to sleep it off.
Silence settled in the air.
Wan Tong tried to activate her projection, but Lou Yan had programmed a restriction preventing her from appearing automatically.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with him. Her heart was uneasy.
[Shishi, how is my physical body coming along?]
[It’s 60% complete. You can use it now, but it’s unstable and won’t last long.]
[That’s enough. I just need to check on him.]
Excitement surged through her.
A glowing ring appeared at the bedside, slowly descending. Within its center, the silhouette of a girl materialized.
Her skin was porcelain-like, her light chestnut hair cascading down to her lower back, veiling the elegant curves of her body. But…
Wan Tong lowered her gaze—she was completely bare!
Immediately, she grabbed one of Lou Yan’s shirts and wrapped herself up tightly.
Still, she couldn’t help but sigh in delight as she touched the fabric. It had been so long since she felt anything real.
Turning her gaze toward the bed, she saw Lou Yan lying there, his eyes shut tightly, cold sweat forming on his forehead. He hadn’t even noticed her arrival. Had he already fallen asleep?
She climbed onto the bed, kneeling beside him, and placed a hand on his arm, giving him a gentle nudge.
“Lou Yan, are you sick?”
Slowly, he opened his eyes. Due to the drug’s effects, his mind buzzed like distant thunder.
Through the haze, he saw a face he knew all too well.
“Wanwan…” How had she come out?
His body yearned for her, but he knew, she didn’t possess human desires. Even if she agreed to be with him, it would only be to fulfill his needs, nothing more.
That wasn’t what he wanted.
Perhaps he should never have used the sensory suit to feel her presence. Then he wouldn’t have developed such greedy thoughts.
Wan Tong quickly pieced it together. He had been drugged, but the effect didn’t seem too strong. It should pass soon.
But he was just lying there, letting the desire build up without doing anything about it. Was he stupid?
“Lou Yan, do you want me to help you take a cold shower?” she suggested.
Her body wasn’t fully stable yet, it probably couldn’t endure much strain.
Lou Yan barely registered what she was saying. He must be dreaming.
Right, Wanwan couldn’t come out. Without him unlocking the restriction, she couldn’t appear.
This was a dream.
He raised a hand to his forehead, exhaling a burning breath, then reached out, pulling the girl beside him onto his body.
Through the gaps in his fingers, his blurred vision landed on the white shirt she was wearing, his shirt.
Flipping her over, he pressed her beneath him, arms wrapping around her.
He wanted to hear the sound of fabric tearing.
“Riiip…” The sound was slow, excruciatingly deliberate.
He wanted to hear her breath.
Tilting his head, he buried his face into the crook of her neck, his palm resting against her chest.
Wan Tong stared blankly at the ceiling, her lips slightly parted, momentarily stunned by his bold actions.
“Lou—” She barely got a word out before his lips sealed over hers, swallowing the rest of her sentence.
Later, Wan Tong almost lost all sense of independent thought. She only felt as if she were floating in warm water, gently enveloped by the current, wishing she could dissolve into it, swaying along with the flow. Lou Yan’s eyes remained shut, as if he were sleepwalking—sometimes restrained, sometimes rough. In the end, he consumed her, bit by bit.
Lou Yan jolted awake, sitting up in bed. Cold sweat trickled from his forehead, following the ridge of his brow before dripping into his eyes. A few drops slid down the bridge of his nose, falling onto the thin blanket covering him, leaving dark stains.
7:07.
His gaze shifted away from the holographic screen. He wiped the sweat off his palm, feeling sticky and uncomfortable.
Lifting the blanket, he suddenly froze.
The bed was a mess.
And he wasn’t wearing any clothes.
Beneath him were torn white fabric scraps—his dress shirt, it seemed.
On the floor beside the bed, his pajamas lay scattered, along with the shredded remains of his shirt.
He pressed his fingers against his temple, then called out quickly, “Wanwan.”
He vaguely remembered what he had done in his dazed state last night. Had Wanwan really appeared? Had he hurt her?
No, that couldn’t be. His sensory suit was off, and the projection had strict access permissions…