The night after the college entrance exam felt like the entire city had breathed a collective sigh of relief.
For the average student, this was the most important battle of their lives—the end of one chapter, and the beginning of another.But for Yang Tian, the real battle had only just begun—one hidden beneath the surface.
The Shen Residence.
The night breeze was gentle, and warm light spilled across the courtyard.
Shen Xue had changed out of her school uniform and into a light blue loungewear dress. She sat on the balcony, sipping fruit tea while scrolling through the news on her phone.
"Yang Tian, the sole heir of the Yang Group, completed the Gaokao today. Media outlets highlighted his unusual composure and performance."
A faint smile curled her lips as she murmured, "This man… really has changed."
Suddenly, her phone vibrated.
Yang Tian had sent a message:
[Want to go for a walk? I'm nearby.]
Shen Xue paused, heart skipping a beat.
She didn't reply—just threw on a jacket and rushed downstairs.
Under the streetlight, a black car sat quietly. Yang Tian leaned against the door, hands in his pockets. Moonlight outlined his sharp features, making him look distant, yet reassuring.
"You came," Yang Tian said softly.
Shen Xue nodded. "You just show up like this… aren't you worried my dad will misunderstand again?"
"I am," he smiled. "But I'm not afraid."
He opened the passenger door. "Come drive with me. Tonight's the first day I'm truly free."
With the windows partly down, the summer night breeze carried the scent of grass and dew.
Shen Xue looked up at the stars. "What do you plan to do now that Gaokao is over?"
"First, pay back some debts," Yang Tian's tone was calm, but held an icy edge.
"Ji Xiaolan?"
"And the ones behind her." He glanced at her. "You helping me get into Shen Corp—that was part of the plan. Thank you."
Shen Xue's eyes flickered. "I didn't do it for your plan… I did it because I wanted to."
Yang Tian said nothing, just turned away, eyes fixed on the night.
They drove to a hillside overlooking the city.
Leaning against the window, Shen Xue whispered, "If everything could start over… if I had never helped hurt you… would you still like me?"
Yang Tian paused, then replied quietly, "Maybe not like before. But the person you are now… I don't dislike."
Tears welled in her eyes, and she smiled faintly. "That's good enough."
Elsewhere.
Ji Xiaolan sat in a dimly lit system space.
[System Notice: Host behavior is excessive. Trust level is declining. Initiate memory read mode for the heroine?]
"Do it."
[Target: Liu Ruyan. Estimated duration: 6 hours.]
Her face was expressionless, but her mind roiled with frustration.
"You all betrayed me… Then I'll make you love me again."
Suddenly, a red warning flashed on the system screen:
[System fluctuation critical. Heroine's psychological defenses increasing. Risk of backlash now at 82%.]
She sneered coldly, "I have no way back."
That night, Liu Ruyan couldn't sleep.
Though the exam was over and classmates were already partying and planning graduation trips, her heart was like a kite caught midair—unable to land.
Ji Xiaolan had been acting… off.
"He avoids me, yet keeps trying to control everything around me," she muttered, staring into the mirror. Her reflection looked clear but weary.
She'd noticed the strange "kindness"—the seat saving, the breakfasts, the eerily perfect book choices. It all felt rehearsed.
But what unsettled her most were the frequent memory displacements.
She remembered intimate moments with Yang Tian—but Ji Xiaolan's version of events always differed.
A chill crept over her.It felt like someone was rewriting her mind.
She started reaching out to Yang Tian, trying to confirm details, but he always stayed vague.
He was waiting.
Waiting for Ji Xiaolan to fully expose himself.
Meanwhile, Ji Xiaolan's system interface buzzed on.
[Memory reading progress: 75%. System stability: 46%.]
"Damn it… Her defenses are too strong." Sweat trickled down her temple.
Liu Ruyan was no longer a naïve puppet. Her beliefs were solidifying. She was starting to question even her past.
Ji Xiaolan reached for a small box in the drawer—a sleek silver earring lay inside.
A system reward: "Memory Projector."If Liu Ruyan wore it, the system could implant visualized false memories—forcing her to believe in the fabricated past.
He whispered, "No matter how you struggle, you'll come back to me."
The next morning.
Shen Xue received a message from Yang Tian:
[I'm heading back to the Yang family estate tonight. My mother may have left clues related to the Ji family.]
Shen Xue:
Want me to come with you?
Yang Tian:
No need. I'll go alone. Just keep Shen Corp stable. Don't let Shen Tianming catch on.
Shen Xue:
…Alright. Be careful.
She put down her phone, worry written all over her face.
Yang Tian was too calm. So calm… it felt like he wasn't just seeking answers—he was ready to confront someone.
That evening, Yang Tian drove alone to the old Yang estate.
An old villa nestled halfway up the mountain, surrounded by dense cedar trees.
As a child, he had spent summers here. His mother used to brew tea in the backyard and tell him stories in a soft voice.
But ever since "that accident," he'd never returned.
He pushed open the door. The air was thick with dust and old memories. He turned on the lights; dust danced in the beams.
In his mother's study, beneath the lowest bookshelf panel, he found a hidden folder.
Unlocking it with his tablet and his mother's old passcode, the contents shocked him—
The Ji family had long-term cooperation with a company running behavioral experiments using subconscious influence models.
His mother had been investigating them.
And his father's fatal "accident"… might not have been an accident at all.
His fist clenched. His eyes turned ice cold.
"Ji Xiaolan… you're not the only one with a system."
At the same time, Ji Xiaolan approached Liu Ruyan.
"Ruyan, I heard you've been feeling… confused about certain memories."
He smiled gently.
"I'd like to give you something. It might help."
He pulled out the earring.
"My mother left this to me. It's said to balance mental frequencies. I thought… maybe it would help you."
Liu Ruyan looked at it, unease twisting in her gut.
"Thanks… but I'm not used to wearing things like that." Her voice was kind, but firm.
Ji Xiaolan's eyes darkened slightly—but he forced a smile.
"As long as you like it."
But in his mind, he knew: Liu Ruyan was slipping from his grasp.
"System, initiate Phase B: Memory Wipe Protocol. I want her to forget Yang Tian—completely."
[Warning: Action triggers heroine backlash mechanism. System collapse risk at 92%. Proceed?]
"Proceed."
The night was quiet.But no one knew—the storm had already begun to brew.
As the city returned to its usual hustle, for some, this calm was merely the silence before the storm.
Back in her room, Shen Xue couldn't sleep.
She stared at Yang Tian's message—just four simple words:
"Thank you."
But she read them over and over again.
Memories flooded back.She remembered the first time she saw Yang Tian during a mock trial in their first year of high school—he wore a black suit, sharp-tongued and composed. He was everything she had ever dreamed of.
But she'd made a mistake.Tricked by Ji Xiaolan's pitiful façade, she had signed a document at a crucial meeting—becoming the one who pushed Yang Tian to the brink.
Now, given another chance, she refused to choose the wrong side.
She was already helping him investigate Shen Corp's investments in the Ji family—quietly, methodically.
Meanwhile, Yang Tian returned to the villa—but didn't rest.
He entered his father's old study, opened the safe, and pulled out a yellowed dossier.
His mother had left it.
Inside were detailed records of a collaboration between the Ji family and an overseas lab on a project titled "Project M."
Key terms:
Memory implantation
Psychological manipulation
Host dependency feedback curve
Moral threshold simulation
Yang Tian's brow furrowed.
Ji Xiaolan… wasn't a random "system user."He was a designed puppet, thrust into the experiment.
And worse—the "system" was just a gamified interface masking advanced subconscious control technologies.
"In other words…" Yang Tian whispered,"You were just a tool."
And now, that tool was breaking.
At 3 a.m., alarms blared in Ji Xiaolan's system space.
[Warning: Memory reading interrupted. Heroine backlash triggered.]
[Liu Ruyan's mental self-defense activated. Host privileges revoked for 15 minutes.]
"What?!"
On the floating screen, memory chains shattered—Liu Ruyan was forcefully severing his influence.
"Why? She was always suspicious of Yang Tian… Why is she guarding against me?" he muttered.
[System Notice: Target has awakened partial memory fragments. Host behavior exceeds emotional balance parameters.]
"Emotional balance…" Ji Xiaolan suddenly realized—he'd pushed too hard.
But it was too late.
A seed had already sprouted in Liu Ruyan's heart—a suspicion that her past with Yang Tian was far deeper than she'd been led to believe. And the more Ji Xiaolan faked warmth, the more she resisted.
Sitting in darkness, he stared at the rejected earring—then smashed it against the ground.
"If you all want to betray me… then I'll use my final card."
6 a.m. Yang Tian's car rolled down the mountain.
He had made up his mind—he would no longer play defense.
If Ji Xiaolan was indeed a lab product, then the system likely relied on a central signal hub or energy core. He had to find it—and cut it off.
Just as he was about to call Shen Xue, a message popped up:
[From an unknown number]"Your mother's Project M documents are incomplete. The full version is in the basement archive of S City's First Research Hospital."
Yang Tian stared at the message, expression unmoved.
"So someone's finally getting nervous."
He dialed Shen Xue:
"Arrange a way in. I need to access the hospital's archives in three hours."
Shen Xue:
"What did you find?"
Yang Tian:
"Not what I found—what someone wants me to find. So let's play along."