ATIGIBTC Chapter 136.2

He Fang was somewhat reclusive inside his small house.

He no longer went to the sensory simulation pod; instead, he operated directly on the computer’s offline panel. He watched with wide eyes as his money grew steadily, and then, according to the situation, gradually purified the Nightmare Beast Forest bit by bit.

The city was developing rapidly. He Fang watched the city’s growth with wide eyes. His heart was glad.

But he didn’t dare to face it. He longed to be relied upon, yet he never expected to bear the hopes of so many people.

He was afraid, but not of social anxiety. He was afraid that he lacked the ability to meet everyone’s expectations.

For a full three months, He Fang kept developing the city, filling in details, inputting commands, and checking event statistics. But he didn’t dare to look at the people he knew on the offline panel; he feared they would find out.

During this time, He Fang never opened the door for the deliveryman. The Divine Lord came to deliver takeout unfailingly, but He Fang didn’t even secretly peek at the Divine Lord through the peephole anymore.

He felt that he was unworthy of the Divine Lord.

After all, that was a god.

But thinking carefully, wasn’t it actually that, in the eyes of these people, he himself was the god?

He Fang didn’t think he was avoiding anything; instead, he was doing his best to keep himself calm, giving himself a chance to rejoin everyone’s side.

He wanted to return before everyone with the best face everyone expected.

Today, He Fang still stood at the door, ready and fully prepared. He is about to go out.

He had been preparing for a month. Every morning, he would dress up, ready to go out, but he never actually succeeded in leaving, always giving up halfway.

During this time, He Fang bought many, many clothes online. He even checked out fashion styling on the terminal. But as someone who hadn’t truly gone outside for a long time and had social anxiety, he was completely clueless about fashion. He repeatedly tried to find his own style, but no matter how he looked, he always thought he looked strange.

Wearing a hat didn’t look good, but without a hat, his messy, self-cut hair looked even worse.

All-black clothes seemed too gloomy. But if he wore all bright colors, he felt he lacked authority.

He bought a big pile of clothes and spent every day trying the best outfit combinations for going out. But in the end, He Fang still didn’t dare to step outside.

Today, He Fang failed again and returned to his computer to open the event statistics.

“Armed Forces Department’s Chong Ying, crying and wanting to see the Creator, was annoyed endlessly by his own brother Chong Xiao, who knocked on his head until a big bump appeared.”

“To retaliate against his brother Chong Xiao, Armed Forces Department’s Chong Ying tried to make Chong Xiao wear a wedding dress to propose in front of the Creator’s door, but was sternly stopped by Yuan Zhiran.”

He Fang: “……”

“The Research Institute’s Zhu Yan developed a fashion random outfit recommendation app, which is now being sold in online stores.”

He Fang was startled, then went to find the store and placed an order.

“The Finance Department’s Lu Hu promoted Creator cosplay makeup within the Finance Department, encouraging everyone to look at each other to ease their longing.”

Lately, He Fang’s expressions when looking at the event statistics had become increasingly strange, because the event statistics only covered major events inside the city. For information outside the city, He Fang learned from the in-game terminal. So now, the system panel’s event statistics were becoming more and more bizarre. The style gradually shifts from serious to odd. Every time He Fang saw them, he was left laughing and crying at the same time.

He Fang opened the outfit-matching app and entered all his clothing information into it. It really gave him a very good-looking set of combinations. He Fang wore the clothes and stood at the door, but then hesitated again.

He wondered if he should get a haircut. But his own skills were really too poor. What if he cut it badly and ended up looking even stranger than now? Go to a barber shop? But the barber shop would also require going out, right?

He Fang took a deep breath.

He felt he couldn’t keep putting it off until tomorrow. He had stayed here for three months already. In the game, three or four years had passed.

He Fang closed his eyes, steeled himself, opened the door wide, and rushed out directly.

He didn’t dare to take the elevator. He ran down the stairs.

But after rushing down, he regretted it. He was supposed to come out to see people, yet now he had made it so he wouldn’t meet anyone. His behavior was really too pointless!

He Fang mustered his courage, adjusted his clothes, and resolutely stepped into his city.

The weather was very nice today, the sunlight bright, and everywhere was like a picturesque, beautiful scene. He Fang was becoming more and more accustomed to this scenery, even feeling joyful to be amidst such beauty.

There weren’t many people on the street, but without exception, they were handsome men and beautiful women. His NPCs were truly all of godly looks. With a bit of pride and a bit of timidity, He Fang observed.

He heard his heart pounding nervously. He saw the eyes of those around him flicker slightly—obviously a look of wanting to come over but not daring to. He Fang felt guilty; he should be more proactive, but his legs were weak.

A whole crowd stared at each other from afar, but not a single person dared to move.

All these godly, handsome men and beautiful women stood stiffly in place, as if afraid of scaring away a frightened little kitten.

When He Fang felt his breathing become difficult, suddenly, at the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a beggar, covered in gray dust and wearing tattered clothes. Before He Fang could react, the beggar directly grabbed his leg, crying out, “City Lord, please let me stay.”

He Fang had never seen such a scene before and stood there, at a loss. Instinctively, he glanced at the beggar’s attribute panel and found that the beggar wasn’t from the main city. But surprisingly, he had several quite good tags.

However, once He Fang realized he was still treating people with a game mindset, he felt ashamed and nervous. Looking around, he saw others with anxious expressions, wanting to come over but afraid of frightening him. One by one, they almost had the words “This is killing me, so anxious” written all over their faces.

He Fang quickly helped the kneeling beggar to stand up and stammered, “You… you need to follow the proper procedure. You… your tags are good, so you should have a chance…”

He wanted to sound more authoritative and say something meaningful, but after speaking, his face suddenly flushed. Why did he stutter so much when he spoke?! Ah, it was so frustrating!

He Fang felt utterly defeated, both scared and angry, and immediately fled the scene.

Behind him, the beggar looked at He Fang’s departing back. Wherever the Creator’s touch had reached seemed to have been purified.

The crowd looked at the beggar with envy and jealousy.

“That lucky guy actually received the Creator’s mercy—and even got praised for his tags!”

“Let him work for me. With him, maybe I’ll have a chance to catch the Creator’s attention. After all, he was personally told by the Creator that his tags were good.”

The puzzled beggar looked up at the crowd, then suddenly felt a chill behind him, a rising sense of fear. Maybe he shouldn’t have barged in so recklessly. He only thought that Mirage was the best city in this world…

Back in his house, He Fang cried quietly.

He failed.

He failed again.

He had clearly made a great effort, firmly determined to be an incredibly impressive city lord in front of everyone. So why couldn’t he show his majestic and commanding presence, only to panic and run back like a fool afterward?

This was clearly a perfect opportunity to display the city lord’s grandeur!

And he just missed it!

And he even stuttered while speaking!

So embarrassing…

Too embarrassing.

He really needed something sweet to soothe his wounded heart, like milk tea or something.

The Divine Lord was carrying out orders: to “have mercy on the world”, to accept the worship of believers, and then, bored out of his mind, watch those faith points grow endlessly, which meant nothing to him. It was extremely annoying. Beautiful? So what. Powerful? So what. Perfect? So what. What use was it if the Creator didn’t look at him?!

His Creator really hadn’t come to cuddle with him for a long time, and he had stopped doing daily tasks.

Now the Creator didn’t even proactively accept takeout deliveries anymore…

Suddenly, an order from the Creator appeared on the Divine Lord’s terminal. The Divine Lord, who had been crying miserably, instantly brightened his eyes. Without hesitation, he ran straight to a deserted corner, put on his yellow delivery uniform again, and his fierce half-body form eagerly transformed back into a small delivery vehicle.

The delivery vehicle’s two small wheels sped quickly, off again to deliver takeout to their Creator!

The Divine Lord stood downstairs, fixing his long golden hair while looking into the rearview mirror, worriedly asking his half-body form, “Do I look good today? Could I attract the Creator for a deliveryman romance?”

The half-body form howled a few encouraging words, different from the usual sarcastic remarks. After all, they were the chosen ones who had once officially entered the Creator’s room!

Right now, the Creator was just temporarily conflicted. Sooner or later, they would go back!

Keep trying, my half-body!

If you don’t see the Creator, don’t come back to see me!

The little delivery vehicle anxiously circled around downstairs several times, howling.

But shortly after, the Divine Lord returned disappointed, crying bitterly, “He didn’t see me. He made me leave the delivery at the door again, wahhh.”

The quiet little delivery vehicle silently spat out two words: useless!

The Divine Lord cried uncontrollably.

He really suspected that maybe the Creator was terribly disappointed when he found out the Divine Lord was just a landmark. After all, by now, the Creator had even forgotten the goddess statue from before.

Was he really that bad?

At this moment, the little delivery vehicle snorted coldly: He originally liked me!

This made the Divine Lord even more crushed. He lay flat on the ground, motionless, feeling that he was a complete failure at being a god.

Back at the landmark, the Divine Lord let out a deep sigh.

He still remembered clearly the first time he saw He Fang.

He Fang quietly stayed AFK in the game, occupying that territory without saying a word.

As the world manager, the Divine Lord had always been puzzled about why this player kept staying AFK instead of immediately starting to build a city like all the other players.

But He Fang went to many places, observing everything—terrain, weather, water sources, and so on.

At the time, the Divine Lord thought he was just spacing out, until after some time building his city, he entered He Fang’s computer and saw the carefully prepared, perfectly executed surveys.

Cities—cities, the NPCs full of countless obsessions—don’t they all wish to peacefully live out their days in a perfect city?

The Divine Lord understood why the residents all disliked him.

He had selfishly brought He Fang from another world into this one, presumptuously taking away He Fang’s right to contact his family, forcing him to start anew in a strange place, even trying to force He Fang to adapt to social anxiety.

He just couldn’t bear it.

He couldn’t bear watching He Fang suffer so much in that other world, couldn’t bear seeing He Fang count every bit just to have a meal, couldn’t bear seeing the landlord even trying to deduct wages, couldn’t bear seeing He Fang never receiving any care from his parents, couldn’t bear seeing He Fang get bullied but no one would speak up.

He watched as no matter how hard He Fang tried, he couldn’t become an excellent streamer. He watched as He Fang tried every way to make himself interesting but secretly cried in sadness over dreams he could never reach. He watched as He Fang, clearly bad at social interaction, still worked hard to make videos that involved communication.

The only player he truly cared about was filled with hardship in real life.

On the very day the landlord, because of rising housing prices, decided to proactively raise He Fang’s rent, the Divine Lord swapped this world.

Selfishly, he pulled He Fang into another world, hoping to give him a better life.

Here, he could protect him.

Afterwards, everyone recreated the NPC model so that He Fang would still think he was playing a game. It was an accident. Everyone just wanted to take care of the socially anxious city lord. This tacit agreement was reached naturally.

Perhaps the residents disliked him because of his selfishness.

But he and the residents shared the hope of protecting the Creator’s heart. That was the reason for their peaceful coexistence.

He Fang felt that stepping directly into real society now was still a bit too fast.

Maybe he could still transition through the sensory simulation pod like before.

He Fang had stopped using the sensory simulation pod partly out of embarrassment, and partly because he didn’t want to rely on it anymore. He wanted to truly step into this world.

But now, He Fang had lowered his expectations. He was just being a coward, and he admitted it.

After logging in, He Fang found his model was actually beside the Divine Lord.

Was it Sai Gu who had placed him there back then?

Thinking of Sai Gu’s terrifying mind-reading ability, for He Fang, the “deliveryman” should be his only link to reality. Was Sai Gu’s plan to use that link to help him adapt?

Sai Gu, who could understand everything clearly, was truly frightening.

He Fang stood in front of the Divine Lord, scratching his head a little embarrassed.

He hadn’t known before, but now he did.

This was a god.

He Fang shyly looked up, pondering how he should greet him, when suddenly he saw the Divine Lord’s statue crying.

It was crying very sorrowfully.

Though it was just a statue, before He Fang’s eyes, memories seemed to flash back of the Divine Lord, gasping and sobbing from a misunderstanding. Instantly, He Fang felt at a loss and panicked.

“Y-you… don’t cry, okay? Whatever it is, we can talk about it slowly. Please don’t cry…” He Fang was extremely nervous. The perfectly beautiful face with tears streaming down was just too impactful. At this moment, He Fang felt unbearably guilty inside and couldn’t help but try hard to comfort, “Is it a mission? Is there a disaster somewhere again? Did the nightmare beast attack humans again? Or… is it just a bad mood? Is it because I haven’t messaged you? But I haven’t messaged lately, so why are you crying today? It must be because something’s wrong outside, right? Is there a plague or something?”

He Fang rambled on, his mind almost overwhelmed. But when facing the Divine Lord, He Fang found his words flowed smoothly without any hesitation.

He Fang was slightly stunned. He hadn’t expected that his familiarity with the Divine Lord could already withstand his own inner anxiety and fear.

But even though he was so anxious himself, the Divine Lord kept crying nonstop. Flustered, He Fang accidentally opened the daily missions.

A sentence appeared on the mission.

Mandatory mission: Comfort the crying Divine Lord (please offer your precious kiss to soothe the Divine Lord).

He Fang was stunned. This was… sadness, and the only way to stop the crying was with a kiss?

He Fang felt a bit embarrassed. But thinking of the delicate Divine Lord’s usual image, it seemed perfectly natural and without any awkwardness.

After hesitating for a long time, He Fang took off his shoes. He skillfully climbed up the giant statue, stood on its shoulder, placed his hands on the statue’s cheeks, and kissed the corner of its eye.

The touch of his lips felt somewhat cool and moist. He Fang blinked, but saw that the Divine Lord’s statue had stopped crying and was now very silent.

“Feeling better? Don’t be sad. If there’s anything wrong, we can talk about it slowly,” He Fang patted the statue softly, comforting it in a low voice.

On He Fang’s daily mission panel, a line appeared: “You haven’t come to see me for a long time. I deliver takeout to you, but you never see me.”

He Fang’s expression stiffened, and he awkwardly scratched his head: “Sorry, I’ve just been a little confused.”

He Fang thought he might not know how to face the Divine Lord, but unexpectedly, he realized he could already face him well. Now, in front of the Divine Lord, he wasn’t nervous at all.

Yet the mission panel appeared again: “Why is everything else getting better, but only our relationship is getting worse?”

Seeing this question, He Fang felt even more guilty and comforted the Divine Lord: “No, that’s not true. Really, we’ve always been fine.”

Mission panel: “So will you see me now?”

He Fang was momentarily stunned but finally smiled helplessly, leaning on the Divine Lord’s shoulder and taking a deep breath.

—Alright.

Maybe, just like before, he could start with the Divine Lord.

Little by little, reconnect with everyone.

The people he cared about, he didn’t want to keep them waiting anymore.

Mission panel: “I’ll bring you the things you love to eat.”

He Fang pressed his lips into a smile: “Okay.”

He Fang logged out of the game, lay down on the bed, and waited for the Divine Lord to come.

It had felt like a long time since he had last seen the Divine Lord.

He couldn’t help but feel very happy.

Actually… he missed the Divine Lord deeply too.

The Divine Lord was the first person who had ever broken into his life with all their might.

He Fang didn’t wait long. Only five minutes.

This was completely different from the past, when delivery took more than twenty minutes. He Fang knew in his heart that the Divine Lord was definitely cooperating with everyone else to play the role a normal NPC should have.

Even if the Divine Lord was a bit unconventional, he still treated He Fang with great care.

He Fang heard a knock on the door and stood up.

Starting from the very first step, reaching out to the Divine Lord.

Just like how he used to do often before.

He Fang opened the door.

The bright golden deity seemed to shine with radiant light, appearing right before his eyes. No matter how he looked, that beautiful face still gave him an overwhelming sense of awe.

The Divine Lord, just like before, confidently stepped in without hesitation and skillfully closed the door behind him.

He Fang watched as the Divine Lord placed the things he had brought onto the table. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, trying hard to think of the perfect opening words.

But while He Fang was still thinking, a warm palm suddenly cupped his cheek. Before he could react, a deep and lingering kiss was pressed onto his lips.

He Fang was stunned, standing there motionless, obediently receiving the Divine Lord’s gentle yet assertive touch.

Even in his daze, he could still feel from that kiss the release of all his suppressed emotions—restlessness, hope, and the deeply hidden love that now refused to stay concealed.

It was so intense that in the end, he couldn’t summon any thought of resistance.

-End of main text-

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