<h4>Chapter 405: Partner</h4>


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Nyoi-Bo Studio <strong>Editor: </strong>Nyoi-Bo Studio


    “Why... Why?”


    This question passed through Mu Wanqiu’s mind. Her cheeks grew slightly hot.


    “I... I don’t know, I’m just asking. I don’t mean anything else. Don’t think too much about it, haha.”


    “Wanqiu, if I promise not to be too deeply bonded with the NPC girls in the game and to focus on real life—as a friend, would you be happy with this promise?” Li Dong suddenly tossed this question out in a very calm voice. In other words, he threw her a curveball.


    “Uh...”


    Silence.


    There were more than ten seconds of silence.


    Li Dong was about to type, “I’m sorry, I asked a strange question. Don’t worry about it,” and then blow the topic off byughing.


    “I think that a game is just a game, after all,” Mu Wanqiu said. “Isn’t it kind of weird to find a partner in the game, get married, and put most of one’s time into the game? What do you think, Commander?” She added a grin at the end.


    “...Well, it’s a bit strange.” Li Dong typed, nodding. “A game is just a game. It can’t rece real life.”


    In theory, a wife from Gxy Era had a realism level of over 99%, and there was also a certain possibility of extracting the character from the game into reality. This wouldpletely solve the problem of too many single males. In terms of thew and ethics, it was possible that such a thing could be legalized as long as there was a sufficient number of people calling for it to be approved. This was no possibility to pass up... All yers had hopes of finding their ideal partner.


    Therefore, for most yers, the game was more than just a game. It was truly possible for it to rece reality.


    But...


    Li Dong still gave Mu Wanqiu a reply that was quite reassuring.


    “Ok, Commander, our views on this point are the same. Thank you for being understanding.”


    “You’re wee.”


    The conversation stopped here.


    ...


    Eastern Jupiter.


    Li Dong logged into the game and returned to the familiar ssroom.


    He scanned his environment and looked at the students in the ssroom. Then, he turned his head and looked at the blue sky and white clouds outside the window.


    Within a short time, he sank into a state of mncholy and worry.


    Reality. Virtual reality.


    He was an ordinary person upying the bottom rungs of society, who experienced the pinnacle of life in a game that was infinitesimally close to reality.


    These two different life experiences produced basically the same reactions in the brain’s cranial nerves.


    What was more, it was possible, in theory, for a “wife” in the game to be “extracted” into reality.


    Therefore, generally speaking, many ordinary people chose thetter.


    Even Li Dong, who was considered an ordinary person, wavered in his heart. He did consider experiencing a perfect romance in the game.


    “Reality is always so cruel. There are only a handful of people who have a rich and fulfilling life in reality. And despite that, it ismon even among them to experience separation, hurt, and helplessness due to various reasons and conflicts... Trying to attain perfect happiness in the real world is just futile. It’s way too hard.


    “This is the only ce where, no matter how difficult a challenge is, it will always be a piece of cake to resolve.


    “The difficulty of attaining happiness here is only 1%, or even 0.01%, of the difficulty level in reality. It feels like you can obtain happiness by simply raising your hand. You don’t even have to bend over to pick it up.


    “In our dorm, Qinghai, Yichen, and Xukai all have a ‘wife’ in the game. Recently, they seem to have bepletely different people. They are more cheerful, lively, and confident. They have cast off their past persona of a useless homebody. It is surprising.”


    And... he felt a tiny bit of yearning and envy.


    That was it. Li Dong, who had never been in a romantic rtionship, was indeed highly envious. His heart was starting to get restless.


    He looked at the current situation again.


    There was no need to say anything more about delicate, gentle, and cute Denen Satoshi. She loved him with all her heart. In their rtionship, she had such a favorable impression of him—about 90 points out of a perfect impression of 100—that she would definitely agree if he asked her to sleep with him.


    Nishihara Kaori. Among all the girls in ss, she had a very close rtionship with him, and could be rather scheming. If he had been a man who was kind to everyone, he predicted that Nishihara would haveunched an offensive early on. It would be entirely possible to have some sort of rtionship with her.


    Both Ishinaka Mei and Shangguan Feifei were rather practical. They valued material goods and did not pay much attention to him at first. However, when the game The Brave Road of A Hero In An Alternate World achieved more than 10 million downloads and his personal ie surpassed 50 million, the attitudes of these two had changed a lot, and they became extremely enthusiastic about him.


    This led to inevitable cracks in the four girls’ clique, where they had formed deep sisterly bonds. Small conflicts and fights would break out frequently. The agreed to treat each other like real sisters, but in the end, they mutually hurt and alienated one another, and gave each other the cold shoulder treatment.


    Naturally, Li Dong was the source of all this evil.


    For him, this was, naturally, something that he had been looking for all his life but could never get. This was the treatment of the free and single male lead character in a “harem” story.


    But... when one had really experiences this so-called romance, one feels that it is not so happy and pleasant as one had imagined.


    On the contrary, it can often feel like a headache and a cause of irritation.


    The five love letters that were stuffed into his shoe cubby per day, on average, were enough of a headache.


    Falling in love with someone was painful, but it was also an ordeal to bear the weight of too much love... Unless one were to be total scum, one probably never fantasizes about how one could “handle a lot of women.”


    In truth, Li Dong supported monogamy. He believed that this was the most basic premise of love. If there was one more person, it would immediately destroy the sacred aspect of the rtionship, and the affair would be no different from those in the animal world.


    More importantly, the game world could make one feel good, but it could not actually fill one’s stomach or provide one with any actual nourishment. One day, he would leave the game and return to reality. If that happened, he would find that he had memories of a pipe dream and nothing else. That would just be too tragic.


    Besides, Li Dong also wanted to be a winner in real life. He wanted to have real happiness that had substance.


    So, there were some things that should be clearly ended.


    ...


    After making up his mind, he ranked the girls ording to how favorably they regarded him and how entangled they were with feelings for each other.


    After school, Li Dong pulled Satoshi to a deserted corner behind the teaching blocks. The two of them had a face to face talk.


    Li Dong looked at Satoshi’s petite head, which was lowered in shyness. Still, she was a girl with a very strong heart and mind. He felt pity, tenderness, and regret.


    So he asked simply, without beating around the bush.


    “Satoshi, you like me, right?”


    “Ah...”


    This shocked Denen Satoshi, and her cheeks grew red. But as she noticed Li Dong’s serious eyes, she nodded and said, “Mm. How did you know, Ryu?”


    “A few days ago, you were bullied and humiliated by a few girls. You were threatened to stay away from me, but you didn’t say anything. Your resistance was your silence... I knew it at that moment.”


    Of course, Li Dong had driven those girls away and helped Satoshi escape from her troubles.


    “Then, can—can I like you, Ryu?” Satoshi asked, her head still lowered. However, her words were firm.


    “Of course. Being liked is a really good thing, and I’m very happy,” Li Dong said with a smile.


    “That... then we...”


    Satoshi’s head lowered even further. Her cheeks turned red and plump. She fiddled with her hands restlessly. “Can... can we be...” She simply could not get the remaining words out, even though she had gathered all her courage.


    After all, the gap between them was too great.


    “Satoshi, I understand your feelings, but...” Li Dong said. “We’re not well-matched as a couple. I am really sorry.”


    “Ah...”


    Satoshi’s face paled, all the strength seemed to have been from her body, and she could not stop the tears that fell. Even her consciousness became somewhat transparent and fuzzy.


    “But... we can be partners, partners who will always be together.” Li Dong suddenly said.


    What?


    Denen Satoshi was taken aback. Half of the sadness in her heart seemed to have been lifted. She was totally perplexed. A partner? Together forever?


    Was there any substantial difference between that and being a couple?


    “Satoshi, there is something that I’ve suddenly and very recently remembered. Actually, I... am kind of the god of this world.”