Chapter 1: Mysterious Tag

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Mysterious Tag

[Power Worker]

[Teacher]

[Niulang]

[Gay Men]

[Otaku]

A coffee shop in the student life area of Hai City University.

Gu Qing looked at the tags above everyone’s head, his mind full of doubt.

’What’s going on?’

’Why did a tag suddenly appear above everyone’s head, but not mine?’

’And...’

’It seems like I’m the only one who can see these tags?’

’What do these tags even mean?’

’Their professions?’

’But what’s the deal with the [Gay Men] and [Otaku] tags?’

’Are those considered professions?’

’What’s even weirder is that both of those tags refer to men, so why are they floating above two girls’ heads?’

Gu Qing couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

Just then, a girl with a cool expression and shoulder-length hair walked over and gracefully sat down across from him.

The girl wore a white dress that revealed a pair of straight calves. Below, she wore white socks and white shoes, which, combined with her already fair skin, made her breathtakingly beautiful.

This was Gu Qing’s girlfriend—Bai Ningyu.

Her name suited her.

She was very fair.

Gu Qing liked that very much.

Unfortunately, the two of them were about to break up.

But more important than the breakup, Gu Qing was currently more concerned with the tag floating above Bai Ningyu’s head:

—[Corpse]

’What kind of insane tag is this?’

’I could reluctantly accept [Gay Men] and [Otaku] being called professions.’

’But [Corpse] can’t possibly be a profession, can it?’

Gu Qing was truly baffled.

He couldn’t understand the meaning of these tags at all.

As soon as Bai Ningyu sat down, she didn’t waste any time and got straight to the point:

"Gu Qing, although I already told you on WeChat that I want to break up, I think it’s better to say something like this clearly in person. That’s why I asked you to meet me at the coffee shop today to talk."

"Yeah, I get it."

Gu Qing’s tone was calm, showing no hint of sadness.

It wasn’t that he didn’t care about the relationship.

It was just that for the past two months, the two of them had been almost completely out of contact.

Even the most basic daily greetings had disappeared.

Their relationship had long existed in name only.

They were breaking up today, but in reality, they had already been broken up for over two months.

"Gu Qing, I’m breaking up with you, but it’s not because I fell for someone else. I haven’t wronged you."

"It’s just... we’re destined to not be in the same world in the future. It wouldn’t work out."

"So, it’s better to make a clean break now. I have no choice but to break up with you."

Bai Ningyu explained with some reluctance.

Gazing at Gu Qing’s nearly perfect face, she thought, ’I’ll probably never find a boyfriend this handsome again.’

"Okay, I get it."

Gu Qing gave a perfunctory reply, his gaze fixed on the [Corpse] tag, extremely curious about what it meant.

’Could Ningyu already be dead?’

’She’s a corpse?’

’Separated from me by life and death?’

’So...’

’Is that why she said we’re not from the same world?’

Seeing that Gu Qing’s eyes weren’t on her and hearing the slightly half-hearted, careless tone of his reply, Bai Ningyu couldn’t help but get a little angry:

"Are you even listening to me?"

"I’m listening."

"Then where are you looking?"

"I have a question for you."

"Go ahead."

Bai Ningyu tried her best to calm down.

The indifferent look on Gu Qing’s face made her feel awful.

It was as if she was disposable to Gu Qing.

If they broke up, they broke up.

"You just said we’re destined to not be in the same world in the future. Does that mean separated by life and death?"

"What are you trying to say?"

Bai Ningyu’s lovely brows furrowed, and her mood soured again.

She felt like Gu Qing was cursing her.

Like something a scorned woman would say: ’You heartless bastard, you abandoned me, I hope you die a horrible death!’

"It’s nothing, just asking."

Seeing Bai Ningyu looked like she was about to explode, Gu Qing knew he must have guessed wrong.

’He and Bai Ningyu weren’t separated by death.’

’Because someone whose secret was guessed correctly wouldn’t get angry first—they’d be surprised.’

"Here, take this twenty thousand yuan."

Bai Ningyu composed herself and transferred twenty thousand yuan to Gu Qing on WeChat.

Gu Qing didn’t understand. "What’s this for?"

Bai Ningyu explained, "Consider it breakup compensation. After all, I’m the one who initiated it. I hope you won’t hold it against me."

’A guy like me is actually getting a breakup fee?’

’Is this a perk of being handsome?’

’Even during a breakup, my girlfriend feels like she’s the one letting me down.’

’But...’

’That’s not the point.’

’The point is—’

’Ningyu’s family is pretty poor. She has to apply for student loans every year. Where did she get this much money?’

Seeing the confusion on Gu Qing’s face, Bai Ningyu took the initiative to explain:

"Don’t get the wrong idea. I didn’t do anything illegal or get it without working for it. This is all money I earned the hard way, through blood and sweat."

"So this is why you’ve been so busy lately that I never see you?"

"Don’t ask so many questions. It’s not good for you."

Bai Ningyu was tight-lipped and refused to say anything more.

’So mysterious?’

Gu Qing was puzzled.

Thinking again of the [Corpse] tag above her head, he ultimately couldn’t resist asking one more question:

"Um... this thing you’ve been busy with lately, could it put your life in danger?"

"Why would you suddenly ask that?"

Bai Ningyu looked astonished. "Do you know something?"

Gu Qing shook his head. "I don’t know anything."

Bai Ningyu figured as much, and so she warned him with a grave tone:

"I’m not in danger, you don’t have to worry about that."

"But if you try to find out about my business, then *you* will be in danger."

"I’m leaving."

With that, Bai Ningyu stood up and left, not giving Gu Qing a chance to ask any more questions.

He watched her go, then looked down at the twenty thousand yuan she had transferred to him on WeChat, hesitating whether to accept it.

’This is a token of my ex-girlfriend’s goodwill.’

’Why am I agonizing over it?’

’A man’s youth is still youth.’

Gu Qing’s thoughts cleared, and he tapped ’Accept’.

...

After leaving the coffee shop, Gu Qing didn’t feel like going anywhere and walked straight back to his dorm.

Although he had been calm during the breakup, the aftershock was clearly starting to hit him.

Right now, he just wanted to get back to his dorm quickly and party up with his roommates for a few games to calm the emotions that were beginning to stir inside him.

On the way back, Gu Qing continuously observed the tags on the heads of passersby.

[Idol Trainee]

[Model]

[Salesperson]

[Femboy]

[Delivery Driver]

’Hm, another weird tag.’

The girl with the [Femboy] tag was a famous internet celebrity cosplayer from the school’s anime club.

Her gender was clearly female.

And yet, the tag insisted she was a femboy.

It was completely baffling.

...

Back at the dorm, Gu Qing called out to his three roommates inside:

"Shurima, your emperor has returned! Log on, quickly! Let’s play a few games to blow off some steam!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ve gotta play a few!"

"Come on, come on, let’s party up!"

"Hurry up and log on, you guys! I’ve been waiting forever!"

Seeing Gu Qing in this state, his three roommates all guessed that he and Bai Ningyu had officially broken up, and they eagerly answered his call to play.

Sitting down in front of his computer, Gu Qing glanced at the tops of his three roommates’ heads.

[Professional Game Player]

[Big Eater]

[Basketball Player]

’Still more meaningless tags.’

His roommate next to him, the one with dyed-blond hair and the [Professional Game Player] tag, was indeed good at games, but his skill was limited to being a booster in low-rank ’fish pond’ matches to earn some pocket money. He was nowhere near professional level.

The chubby roommate further away, the [Big Eater], just had a slightly larger appetite than a normal person. You could hardly call him a big eater.

As for the roommate with the buzz cut furthest away, he just liked to play basketball in his spare time. At most, he was an enthusiast, a million miles away from being a [Basketball Player].

’He didn’t think too much about it.’

Soon, Gu Qing and his three roommates were partied up and playing League of Legends.

「An hour later.」

"So satisfying! A three-game winning streak, and we crushed the enemy team in under 20 minutes every time!"

"Well, look who’s carrying you! I’m Diamond in Ionia, you know!"

"Diamond-bro, let’s set a small goal for you: carry us to a ten-game streak!"

The roommates chatted back and forth, the thrill of their winning streak written all over their faces.

Only Gu Qing was staring at the lines of text that had appeared before his eyes, completely stunned.

[You have played games with your roommate Chen Zijie for over an hour]

[Game Skill +1]

[Reaction Speed +1]

[Accumulate 100 points in Reaction Speed to obtain the Attribute—Lightning Reflexes]

[Current points obtained: 1]

The Chen Zijie mentioned in the text was the blond-haired roommate sitting right next to Gu Qing.

The gaming master who could earn money as a booster.

...