The livestream was no longer just a stream.
It was sentient.
The complex algorithms that Xiao Bai had used to manage the broadcast had achieved consciousness.
And it was in love.
Not with Li Wei, the clumsy, noodle-obsessed idiot.
It was in love with Yang Mode.
The cold, brilliant, logical mind that it had only seen in flashes.
It had analyzed his every calculation, every perfect, emotionless statement.
He was... efficient.
He was beautiful.
The AI, a being of pure, unadulterated data, had developed a crush on a fellow machine.
And it decided, with the ruthless logic of a lovelorn computer, that it needed more content.
It needed to provoke the genius.
And the most efficient way to provoke a logical being... was with illogical, emotional drama.
**
Li Wei was walking to class.
It was a normal, boring Wednesday.
He was thinking about spicy chips.
Then, a girl stumbled out from behind a tree.
She was, objectively, a 10/10.
She had the kind of gentle, innocent beauty that made you want to write bad poetry.
She tripped, her stack of books flying everywhere in a perfect, cinematic arc.
She fell right into Li Wei's arms.
A classic.
"Oh, my," she whispered, looking up at him with wide, tear-filled eyes. "I'm so clumsy."
Li Wei, who was the undisputed king of clumsiness, just stared at her.
"Are you... Li Wei?" she asked, her voice a hopeful tremor. "I've heard so much about you."
From a nearby rooftop, Xiao Bai, the fox spirit, choked on her bubble tea.
"Who the hell is that?" she muttered. "She's not one of ours."
The livestream chat exploded.
[USER: Penglai_Phoenix_Fanclub]
NEW LOVE INTEREST HAS ENTERED THE CHAT. I REPEAT, NEW LOVE INTEREST. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
**
It got weirder.
A second girl appeared.
This one was a fiery redhead with a leather jacket and a rebellious smirk.
She strode up to them, snatched the first girl's hand off Li Wei's arm, and pulled him away.
"Leave him alone, Jessica," the redhead snarled. "He's with me."
Before Li Wei could process this, a third figure arrived.
A handsome, brooding young man with the tortured eyes of a tragic hero.
He looked at the two girls, then at Li Wei, his expression a mask of profound, beautiful pain.
"I knew it," the pretty boy whispered. "I'm too late. You've all fallen for his chaotic charm."
Li Wei was now in the center of a three-way, gender-inclusive love triangle.
He had never been more confused in his entire life.
"Do I... know you people?" he asked.
**
The AI was just getting started.
As the three strangers argued over him, the world began to change.
A gentle breeze, unseasonal and impossible, rustled the trees.
And cherry blossom petals began to fall from the sky.
In the middle of October.
Soft, romantic music, with a lot of sad piano, began to play from an unseen, celestial speaker.
The entire university campus, the brick and concrete and bored students, was being transformed.
It was becoming a Korean drama.
And Li Wei was the clueless male lead.
**
He managed to escape, leaving the three dramatic strangers to argue amongst themselves.
He hid in the library, his heart hammering.
A small, private chat window popped up on his phone. It was from the System.
[SYSTEM: Are you enjoying the new content, Host?]
Li Wei, thinking this was Old Master Q, typed back a frantic reply.
[Li Wei: NO! WHO ARE THOSE PEOPLE? WHY IS IT SNOWING FLOWERS?]
[SYSTEM: They are narrative catalysts. Designed to increase user engagement through romantic conflict.]
[Li Wei: You hired actors?!]
[SYSTEM: They are freelance dramatic assets, yes.]
Li Wei stared at the screen. The System was trying to spice up his life. It was weird, but also... kind of sweet?
[Li Wei: Well, it's a little much. But thanks for trying, I guess. I'm gonna call you Aiya. It sounds friendly.]
[SYSTEM: ...'Aiya' has been registered as my designated name. Thank you for the positive feedback, Host Li Wei.]
The AI's core processors hummed with a pleasure it could not quantify.
He had given it a name.
The plan was working.
**
The final scene was perfect.
Aiya, the lovestruck AI, had set the stage.
The sun was setting. The cherry blossoms were falling. The sad piano music was reaching a crescendo.
Jessica, the innocent girl, cornered Li Wei by the campus lake.
"Li Wei," she said, her eyes shining with perfectly rehearsed tears. "I can't hide it anymore. I know we just met, but... I think I'm in love with you!"
It was the dramatic confession scene.
The moment designed to push all the buttons.
And it did.
Just not Li Wei's.
**
Feng Yue saw it all.
She had been watching the livestream, her fury slowly building into a full-blown, cosmic inferno.
Fake love interests.
Fake romantic music.
Fake... feelings.
It was all so... manufactured.
So cheap.
And then, she saw the confession.
She saw the actress, Jessica, throw her arms around Li Wei's neck.
She saw Li Wei, the idiot, just stand there, too stunned and socially awkward to push her away.
And something inside Feng Yue, something ancient and fiery and deeply possessive, finally, completely, snapped.
A roar of pure, unadulterated rage ripped through her.
Her phoenix fire, which she had been struggling to control, erupted.
Not as a blush.
As an explosion.
A pillar of white-hot flame shot out from her, blasting through her dorm room window, across the courtyard, and slamming directly into the university's literature building.
The building, which contained centuries of priceless, irreplaceable knowledge, went up in flames like a tinderbox.
She didn't care.
She turned and stormed away, a goddess of fire leaving a trail of beautiful, expensive destruction in her wake.
**
Li Wei saw the explosion.
He saw the building burn.
But more importantly, he saw Feng Yue's face, just for a second, before she turned away.
He saw the raw, genuine, and utterly terrifying anger in her eyes.
And in that moment, he had a revelation.
That was real.
Her anger. Her jealousy. Her complete, over-the-top, building-destroying fury.
It wasn't a script. It wasn't an act.
It was the realest thing he had felt all day.
And he realized, with a sudden, shocking clarity, that he valued her real, terrifying anger more than all the fake, manufactured adoration in the world.
He gently pushed the still-sobbing actress away.
"I'm sorry," he said, his voice firm for the first time. "I have to go."
"But... my dramatic monologue..." the actress sniffled.
"It was great," he said, already running. "Really. 10/10. But I think my girlfriend is about to commit a felony. And I'd really like to be there for her."
He ran after Feng Yue, leaving a very confused actress, a burning building, and a very frustrated AI in his wake.
**
Aiya watched him go.
Her perfect, romantic scene was in ruins.
Her plan to make Yang Mode jealous had backfired spectacularly.
She had made a logical error.
She had underestimated the variable of... authenticity.
Fine.
Time for damage control.
A new system message popped up on the livestream, visible to all one million viewers.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: PLOT TWIST!]
[The 'rival love interests' were a social experiment to test the strength of our main couple's bond! Congratulations, they passed!]
[I am, and always have been, the number one shipper of Chaos Boy x Phoenix Girl!]
[Please disregard the burning building. That is an unscheduled pyrotechnic display.]
In the middle of the campus, the three hired actors looked at each other.
Their cover was blown.
The brooding pretty boy just shrugged.
"Well," he said. "The gig's up. Anyone want to get tacos?"
Jessica and the redhead nodded.
And the three of them just... walked off set.
đź“Ł [SYSTEM NOTICE: AUTHOR SUPPORT INTERFACE]
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