☆ Chapter 17

As for this “Third Spring” that he had only just met today—someone he didn’t even choose willingly, but was forcibly assigned by the system—how much could Ling Shaoze possibly like him? So even his confession was half-hearted, casually picked from some corny pickup lines he’d seen before.

However, when he saw Hunter’s confession, Ling Shaoze was momentarily stunned. The guy’s words… why did they sound like love at first sight, as if he genuinely wanted something long-term?

Then the cool guy with short white hair said coldly, “I was just saying that to finish the quest. Don’t take it seriously.”

In truth, that public confession on the world channel did reflect He Yi’s (Hunter’s) true feelings for Ling Shaoze—but he didn’t dare admit it. Otherwise, this little guy would probably get scared and run off immediately.

Maybe it was because Hunter lacked the kind of aggression and oppressive aura that Wuying and Yijian Fenghou had exuded, but weirdly enough, Ling Shaoze didn’t find him all that unlikable.

He grinned and said cheerfully, “Good. As long as it’s not real.”

Hunter wiped his lips—still tingling from the young man’s sudden kiss—with an expression of clear disgust, then strode out of the room.

But not long after, the young man caught up, naturally hooking his arm through Hunter’s like they really were an affectionate couple.

Seeing the cold and slightly confused look on Hunter’s face, Ling Shaoze blinked innocently and said, “Take a look at today’s Daily Task Three.”

In the task list, the requirement for Fated Partner Daily Task (3/3) was:
“Hold hands with your partner, go shopping in the main city for 1 hour, and team up to fight monsters for 2 hours.”

This was also the last task in the day’s couple daily quest set.

They’d already done the first two. If they skipped the third, the previous two would be for nothing—since the requirement to dissolve the partner bond was to complete all daily tasks for three consecutive days.

Hunter’s face darkened. “Got it.”

But deep down, he couldn’t help regretting it—if he had known, he would’ve asked the programmer to increase the duration of third task of the day.

The two left the inn and walked down the bustling main street of the capital city.

Both of them were exceptionally good-looking—and since they were walking hand-in-hand, they quickly drew a lot of attention.

Back when Ling Shaoze was with Yijian Fenghou, he had used a female mage avatar. His current priest alt had been inactive for a week and was still only level 26—slightly low compared to the general level 30 average, and not particularly eye-catching.

But the Hunter beside him was level 35—consistently top ten in the level rankings—and the number one on the archer leaderboard. A cool guy with short, white hair and a fierce aura—he was well known across the server.

Not far away, someone exclaimed, “It’s the Great God Hunter! And that handsome priest beside him… isn’t that Domineering Lingling?”

“He’s seriously good-looking—so delicate and refined and elegant, a real visual treat! No wonder he managed to charm two top-ranked great gods!”

Someone else sneered, chimed in with a sour tone, “He’s just a pretty face. His level’s not even high, and that whole set of purple gear probably came from mooching off men. I honestly don’t get what Hunter sees in such an obvious pretty-boy vase.”

“They made it official on the world channel, so theoretically, they should be all lovey-dovey. But Hunter seems a bit indifferent and cold towards Domineering Lingling, and it’s only Domineering Lingling doing all the chasing… Hah, just a fake plastic couple. I bet they won’t even last a week!”

The onlookers chatted away, some curious, some offering blessings, and others full of sarcasm and spite.

Their voices weren’t exactly quiet—anyone who hadn’t muted nearby player chats could hear it all.

Ling Shaoze had muted them, so his expression stayed relaxed and indifferent.

Of course, even if he had heard them, he probably wouldn’t have cared. He might’ve even cheerfully called back, “Yup, we are a plastic couple! Forget a week—once we finish the task in three days, we’re done!”

But Hunter’s expression turned even colder. His sharp, blade-like gaze swept toward the person who had called him and Ling Shaoze a “plastic couple.”

Even if a good portion of what that player said was technically true, it wasn’t what He Yi (Hunter) wanted—he wanted to respond to Ling Shaoze affectionately, wanted to stay together in a steady, lasting relationship.

But after slowly figuring out that Ling Shaoze was the type to respond to gentle teasing over direct pursuit—and didn’t like overly clingy people—he had no choice but to keep up a cold, distant act.

Under Hunter’s death glare, the loud-mouthed player awkwardly shut up, suddenly unsure if what he’d seen was really the full picture.

Ling Shaoze, meanwhile, had mentally thrown caution to the wind. He didn’t care at all about the onlookers watching them along the way and strolled through the marketplace with great interest. Whenever he spotted something fun or quirky, he dragged Hunter over for a look—and even gifted Hunter several little trinkets.

They weren’t particularly expensive items, but most were clearly meant for couples—sold in matching pairs.

For example, he bought a set of hand-woven bracelets made from some glossy, red-bean-like fruits. He put one on himself and insisted Hunter wear the other.

There were also brooches, keychains, and other small accessories.

What he really enjoyed was watching Hunter—clearly reluctant—forced to accept the gifts anyway because people around them genuinely believed they were a sweet, loving couple. That look of miserable compliance on his face? Priceless.

Ling Shaoze smiled sweetly. “If you don’t like it, just throw it away later.”

The air pressure around Hunter was suddenly inexplicably low. “And will you throw them away too?”

Ling Shaoze didn’t hesitate. “Of course. Once we break up, keeping this stuff would be disrespectful to my next partner.”

Hunter pressed on in a low voice, “When you meet someone else in the future, will you also go shopping hand-in-hand and buy him gifts like this?”

Even though he knew that Ling Shaoze’s so-called “next boyfriend” would just be him—just under a different identity—He Yi (Hunter) still felt a little sour inside.
[Jealous of myself.jpg]

Even if this boy had shown some warmth toward him precisely because of his coldness, he clearly wouldn’t stay for him—there wasn’t even a hint of reluctance.

For a moment, He Yi really wanted to come clean and confess his real identity. After all, being with Ling Shaoze under a false persona could only earn him a fake affection in return.

But the very next second, he heard Ling Shaoze lazily mutter, “Still, after breaking up with you, I probably won’t bother with another online romance for a while. Love and all that? Ugh, such a hassle.”

Ah yes, the sweet scent of singlehood—it’s truly intoxicating!

And just like that, He Yi’s urge to confess vanished completely.

Alright then. Even if all he could get was his little wifey’s fake affection, it was still better than nothing. Play the fake game long enough, and one day it might just turn real.

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The next day, as soon as Ling Shaoze logged in, the first thing he checked was the Partner Daily Tasks.

Daily Task One (1/3) read:
“Because you completed yesterday’s tasks so perfectly, you’ve been rewarded with a shared marital asset: you very own Love Nest! Please decorate your new home with your partner…”

This task had over a dozen sub-tasks—buying daily necessities for the house, planting green plants and flowers in the courtyard, even cooking a loving lunch together, and so on.

Basically, the kind of stuff newlywed husbands might do in real life after moving in together.

Ling Shaoze felt completely attacked by today’s quest—this task was seriously pushing his limits! He’d rather just be asked to do something physically intimate with Hunter instead!

Hugs and kisses were easy to fake—no need for emotional or even physical investment. But decorating a love nest? That felt like something only truly close, emotionally-invested couples would do.

Put simply, it was hitting a little too close to the heart.

Soon, his third boyfriend, Hunter, also logged in. Upon seeing the task, his reaction was even more resistant than Ling Shaoze’s:
“Maybe we should skip it today and wait to see what tomorrow’s task is instead?”

Ling Shaoze instantly objected. “No way! If we wait till tomorrow, we’ll have to start the three-day cycle all over again! It’s just decorating a house—let’s pretend we’re roommates sharing a rental!”

Thinking of it from that angle—two roommates setting up a shared living space and cooking meals—it suddenly didn’t feel romantic at all.

Ling Shaoze relaxed immediately and waved his hand. “Let’s go! First stop, the marketplace!”

Since today’s task didn’t require them to hold hands, Ling Shaoze strode ahead energetically, completely dropping the clingy habit of dragging Hunter along by the hand like he did yesterday during their shopping trip.

Hunter began to feel that his task design hadn’t been thorough enough.

He quietly sent a message to the GM on the sly…

Not long after, Ling Shaoze received a new system prompt:
“Daily Task (2/3): While in a safe zone, if a third person is present, you and your partner must not go more than 2 minutes without physical contact.”

Ling Shaoze: …?!

This system was practically the devil!

If he weren’t a firm, cold and emotionless scumbag—and if Hunter also didn’t lack any interest in romance—then if this situation had happened to someone else, this kind of “Fated romance dropped from the sky” might really have succeeded in force-matching two people together.

Ling Shaoze stopped walking and waited a bit for Hunter, only to see the man maintain his usual cold expression, calmly walking past him without the slightest intention of stopping or initiating contact.

For some reason, Ling Shaoze actually started to miss his two former overly clingy, perverted exes.

A boyfriend who was too aloof and cold, and never clingy… wasn’t great either!

Ling Shaoze, wearing a look of disdain, strode forward and grabbed the man’s hand.

Hmm, that should count as physical contact. Then he immediately let go and even set a timer for every one and a half minutes to beep—a reminder to hit the next contact window right on time.

You could say Classmate Lingling was really giving his all to get unbound from this relationship as soon as possible.

But before he could finish congratulating himself, the hand he had just let go of was suddenly grabbed back.

Hunter said flatly, “There are a lot of people on the street—it’s easy to get separated. If we forget at some point and the task fails, wouldn’t that mean all our previous effort was wasted?”

Seeing that the man didn’t seem that resistant to physical contact, and that it was indeed safer to maintain some contact for the sake of the task, Ling Shaoze agreed.

He asked curiously, “Since you’re not interested in romance, why did you even use that orange-grade item, Cupid’s Arrow?”

Hunter replied with a completely straight face, “I only took it out to check its attributes, but accidentally activated it. I didn’t expect the system to choose you.”

His tone seemed to carry a hint of regret.

Ling Shaoze, even more curious, asked, “I guess it’s mainly because I’m not your type, right? So, what kind of person is your type?”

Hunter paused before replying seriously, “A beautiful boy who’s proud and arrogant, a bit feisty, and sometimes flirty—super cute.”

In real life, Ling Shaoze was exactly that kind of tsundere cutie—when mad, he was like a puffed-up kitten; when flirtatious, he was an irresistible little wildcat.

Ling Shaoze: …?!

So this guy had probably used the Cupid’s Arrow hoping the System God would match him with his ideal type—and unfortunately got him instead?

Ling Shaoze was instantly annoyed and flung Hunter’s hand off.

But the next moment, Hunter grabbed it right back and said, “Although your current apperance isn’t my ideal type right now, we are already a couple. If you’re willing, we can give a serious, long-term relationship a try. Feelings grow over time. Just spending three or five days together and then breaking up isn’t enough to know if we’re truly compatible.”

He Yi’s words carried a subtle implication—
Although in real life, he and the person Ling Shaoze had originally liked (He Yuteng) were completely different types, he believed he was far more reliable than He Yuteng—definitely worth getting to know on a deeper level.

Ling Shaoze: Date your ass!

Upon realizing he wasn’t this guy’s ideal type, he was practically itching wanting to break up on the spot!

…Wait a second—why did he even care about that?
If he were Hunter’s ideal type, wouldn’t that just make it harder to break up later? That’d be an even bigger headache!

Also—he wasn’t even this guy’s ideal type, and yet he already wanted to get serious and date him properly…

Ling Shaoze was starting to feel that Hunter might actually have some subtle similarities with Wuying and Yijian Fenghou after all.

He resolutely pulled his hand back:
“Don’t fall for me—it won’t end well.”

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T/n: The NEW CHAPTER is here🎉🎉. Our ML is really itching to hold our MC down once and for all😏 but he can’t help it doing otherwise😂 well He got his nemesis, What can he do😎😏. Well stay tuned for more chaos🤩. You can support the original author here. If you’re enjoying what I’m doing you can buy me a Ko-fi. Happy Reading 🥳😁.

P.S. There is a BIRTHDAY EVENT going on. To celebrate my birthday, both of my translated novels will be full unlocked for free for a week from 11/06 – 17/06 and you can search it here. The chapters will be unlocked normally after the event with two chapters per week. I hope you can celebrate this birthday here and really enjoy this.🥳🎉🥰