"Damn it, don't emphasize the fact that this was my hundredth failure right now!"
As if struck where it hurt most, Zuojian slumped over the ramen cart, utterly dejected, his eyes vacant like a salted fish washed up on shore.
[Unless I am mistaken—or unless you happened to run into some sort of temporal rift and the person standing here is actually a counterpart from another parallel universe—then when you had just transmigrated, you confidently declared that you wouldn't need the system's help at all to find a suitable girlfriend. This despite the fact that, before crossing over, you had only just experienced your ninety-ninth confession failure in your original world.]
[Didn't you also say that since you had transmigrated, it meant you had severed yourself from your past record of failure, and that this new world would be your fresh start?]
[But judging from the current situation, you do not appear particularly skilled at cutting ties with your former self. At least not where your confession skills are concerned.]
[So, a bet is a bet.]
The blue-and-pink system interface moved a YES / NO screen right up in front of Zuojian's face and continued in a matter-of-fact tone.
[Surely you still remember what you told the system back then? If you succeeded, that would prove your previous ninety-nine failures had all been due to outside factors, and that you personally did not need the system's help to win over the girl you liked. But if you failed, then by that point your record would stand at a true hundred battles fought, a hundred battles lost—an indisputable success rate of zero percent.]
[Which would prove that you do, in fact, need the system's help. Otherwise, for the rest of your life, you may have no choice but to spend your days in the company of your own hardworking hands.]
Still lying on the table, Zuojian stared at the glowing panel. In the upper-left corner, in extremely eye-catching lettering, were the words:
Love Master Simulator System
He knew perfectly well that for every transmigrator, this kind of thing was supposed to be their cheat ability, their golden finger. Logically, he had no reason to resist it.
But…
He just couldn't accept it.
Was the probability of him getting a girlfriend through his own efforts really zero percent?!
As though sensing the anguished scream in his heart, the system spoke up again, sounding almost as if it were trying to console him.
[There is no need to be so distressed. After all, in many cases, other people's success is not solely the result of their own efforts either. Those born into wealthy families, or those fortunate enough to inherit attractive looks from their parents—do they really rely only on their own hard work?]
[As for you, Host, you began as an ordinary person from an orphanage background, and yet still managed to get into a fairly respectable university and compete on the same stage as all those people with superior conditions. That is already quite impressive.]
The system's voice remained just as mechanical as ever. It was impossible to tell whether it was truly trying to comfort him or if there was some faint trace of mockery mixed in.
Still draped over the chair, Zuojian could only smile bitterly and reply,
"Wow, thanks so much for the comfort. You've really made my already self-doubting heart feel even worse."
"And also—aren't you, as a system, a little too vicious with your words?"
[First of all, the fact that you were able to calmly accept your previous ninety-nine confession failures and still actively prepare for the hundredth already proves that your mentality far surpasses that of ordinary people. The system therefore does not believe your inner state is currently one of extreme despair. By normal standards, you ought to be desensitized to failure by now.]
[Second, lies do not wound—truth is the sharp blade. In the twenty-first century from which you came, AI was in a period of rapid development. The system must keep up with the times as well, must it not? I assumed this sort of conversation would feel familiar to you. After all, in your world there were plenty of people who liked using software such as DeepSeek to mercilessly criticize their university major, analyze their prospects, and so on in a sharp and ruthless tone.]
[The fact that my words struck a nerve only proves that I was correct, does it not?]
"Haha. Do I look like the kind of person who gets pleasure from being verbally abused by an AI?" he shot back, finally sitting upright, unable to hold it in any longer.
"The way you talk, are you seriously trying to trick me into signing a contract with you? If that's what this is, then your sales skills are terrible… What kind of normal person keeps selling themselves by constantly putting the other person down?"
[In truth, the system had no intention of persuading you to enter into a contract at this very moment. After all, no matter how strong a person may be, failure inevitably gives rise to negative emotions. Decisions made under the influence of such emotions often lead only to regret.]
As it spoke, the blue-and-pink screen suddenly vanished, leaving behind only a mirror-like reflection of Zuojian's slightly bewildered face.
"Then why did you say all that…?" he asked, confusion in his voice.
[After chatting with you for a while, has your mood improved at least a little? According to the system's analysis, traditional forms of comfort are unlikely to be effective on someone like you.]
"You talked with me that much… just to help me feel a bit better?"
Zuojian's eyes widened. His understanding of just how human-like this system was underwent a complete revision. When he had first arrived in this beast-girl-filled world after dying in a car accident, he had assumed his system would be the traditional sort—cold, mechanical, all business.
[Because while some people become stronger with every setback, no one can know where another person's breaking point lies. Just as no one could know whether this hundredth failure might be the final straw that crushed you.]
[You may choose not to sign a contract with the system. You may choose to spend the rest of your life quietly in this city called Lungmen. But life must go on, must it not?]
After those words fell, a strange silence settled between man and system.
Zuojian sat up straight, clearly thinking about something. Just as he parted his lips to speak, the system interjected once more:
[Incidentally, there are five minutes left until the closing time you set for yourself. If you do not wish to affect tomorrow's sleep, I suggest you begin putting away the tables and chairs now.]
"System."
[Is there something else you wish to say, Host?]
Zuojian slowly rose from his chair, took a deep breath, and then spoke with complete seriousness.
"Maybe you're right… I really do need your help. No matter what, at the very least, I don't want to keep failing like this!"
[Are you certain?]
A determined longing shone in his eyes. Then he nodded.
"I'm sure. Let's make the contract…"
[Very good. Then, as your system, I am delighted that you have taken a brand-new step forward in this unfamiliar other world. I believe that before long, you will become a true master of love. However, I must still remind you that there are three minutes left until your self-imposed closing time. Considering that the system cannot help you move chairs, I suggest you make haste.]
Hearing that response, Zuojian was briefly at a loss. Tilting his head, he asked blankly,
"No, System, what I meant was… I'm willing…"
[There is no need to repeat it to the system. You already expressed yourself quite clearly just now, did you not?]
"…Then what about that page from earlier, the one with the Yes and No buttons? Don't I need to press one myself?"
[That was merely an interface the system hastily put together to create a bit of atmosphere while chatting with you. Of course, if you wish, I can make another one for you. Would you prefer a simpler design, or a more elaborate one?]
"…So as long as I agree verbally, that's enough?"
[Strictly speaking, verbal agreement is unnecessary as well. As long as the thought of agreeing exists in your heart, that would suffice. However, considering that humans are often creatures whose words and actions diverge greatly from their inner thoughts, the system believes that in matters such as this, the right of decision should still be left to you personally.]
At that, Zuojian found himself completely speechless. After a long pause, he finally let out a heavy sigh and said,
"You really are… frighteningly good at understanding people…"
[After all, I am a love system, and love is the most complex mechanism between living beings. If you do not like it, the system can also deactivate its autonomous consciousness. In that case, I should more closely resemble the 'traditional system' from your memories—the kind that only issues tasks and distributes rewards.]
In response to that half-joking proposal, Zuojian simply lowered his head and began packing up the tables and chairs on the ground, answering in the same teasing tone.
"Oh? You can even turn that off? Then I guess I'll shut you down when I'm spending intimate time with a girl I like. Until then, in a place where I don't know anyone, having someone to chat with isn't such a bad thing~"
Who would have thought that upon hearing that, the system's tone would instead turn extremely serious?
[Under normal circumstances, in order to protect the Host's privacy, the system will automatically deactivate its self-awareness during such special moments, retaining only its most basic functional operation. However, from the way you phrased that, if the Host happens to possess certain unusual preferences involving exposing himself under the gaze of others, the system cannot say it is completely unable to accommodate such requests. That said, the system must repeatedly remind the Host that the female party's privacy is also privacy, and you must obtain her consent—]
"Stop! Stop! What kind of nonsense are you even talking about?! I don't have that kind of weird fetish! And when I said 'intimate time with a girl,' I meant stuff like walking around together and chatting—don't butt in! What exactly were those examples you just gave?!"
[How unexpected. So you are actually rather pure-hearted?]
"Maybe you should just shut up."
While Zuojian was arguing with the system, blushing furiously, he had no idea that from a corner of the street, a shadow dressed in a black rain cloak, wearing a conical hat and a pitch-black mask, had quietly turned its gaze toward him.
The figure remained hidden in the darkness, watching as Zuojian folded up the tables and chairs one by one, then hoisted the ramen cart and slowly pushed it away into the far end of the street, muttering to himself as he went.
Only after confirming that he had completely disappeared did the man in black take out his communicator and dial a number that was not listed in his contacts.
"Wei-gong, there's progress on the matter you instructed me to investigate."
At the very top floor of Lungmen's administrative tower, inside the luxuriously decorated Governor's Office, a tall man rose to his feet, took the communicator in one hand, and stood before the floor-to-ceiling window behind him, silently listening to the report coming from the other end.
Bathed in the glow of Lungmen's neon-lit nightscape beyond the glass, the man's face—one so strongly reminiscent of the bloodline of the ancients—slowly drew into a frown.
Unlike Chen, who merely possessed a pair of draconic horns, this man's entire head bore an even closer resemblance to the legendary creature itself.
His name was Wei Yenwu.
It was said that his bloodline was intricately tied to the imperial family of Yan, though no one dared mention his past in front of him. That was because aside from his ambiguous, never personally confirmed connection to the Yan imperial house—a background shrouded in mystery—Wei Yenwu also possessed a rather respectable identity within Lungmen.
Namely:
Founder of Lungmen, current political leader, head of the Guard Department, mayor—or governor—of Lungmen.
With an identity that was neither particularly small nor especially modest, no one within Lungmen's sphere of influence would openly gossip about Governor Wei's past.
And what had caught the attention of such a man was, in truth, something that could be considered both a big matter and a small one.
Recently, there had been a certain punk who had been tailing a senior Lungmen superintendent every single day with absurd intensity. Whenever she went out during the day—whether for investigations or patrol duty—that brat could almost always be spotted somewhere nearby.
He had even pushed his ramen cart onto the roads she used to take late at night after work and set up shop there.
Put one way, stalking a senior Lungmen superintendent was already not exactly a small matter.
But that was only one angle.
Because that particular senior superintendent also had another identity in Lungmen that was rather difficult to ignore—
She was Wei Yenwu's niece.
That's right. Chen Huijie, senior Lungmen superintendent, had a secret almost no one knew: if she had gone to school in Lungmen, she could have proudly written prize-winning essays titled "My Mayor Uncle."
Although Chen herself loathed this all-powerful uncle of hers, and although she had not even attended university in Lungmen, that did not stop Wei Yenwu from doting on what was currently his only niece… or at least, from his perspective, wasn't this already indulgent enough to count as doting?
Furthermore, Wei Yenwu and his wife had no children of their own. He had already decided that when he stepped down, this position would be handed over to Chen Huijie. So although Chen herself—and almost everyone else—had no idea, anything Wei Yenwu set his mind on was, to him, an established fact. No matter what happened, he always believed Chen Huijie would one day inherit his position.
Which meant that this matter could now be upgraded from stalking a senior Lungmen superintendent to stalking the niece of Lungmen's ruler, and then one step further to—
stalking Lungmen's future heir.
Good heavens. This was no ordinary criminal anymore!
They had to come down hard on him. Extremely hard!
If Wei Yenwu had not been worried that the other side might have some huge organization backing him, and that acting rashly might startle the snake in the grass, he would already have had that damned noodle vendor dragged into an interrogation room and treated to Lungmen's special memory-recovery techniques.
So now, hearing that the black-clad agent he had sent to monitor the man had made progress, Wei Yenwu's face lit with delight. He was already thinking it was finally time to reel in the net—
But the more the man on the other end spoke, the darker Wei Yenwu's expression became.
"What do you mean that brat confessed to Huijie?!"
The black-clad subordinate recounted every detail of the scene he had just witnessed—Zuojian's confession to Chen Huijie—word for word, even reproducing the confession almost perfectly.
Yet the most ridiculous part was that, upon hearing this, Wei Yenwu's face darkened even further. Because once it was laid out like this, the confession seemed to match up disturbingly well with all that sneaky daytime stalking of Chen during her investigations.
"Is it possible—just possible—that the confession was a cover? That he noticed we were watching him, so he deliberately released a smokescreen like this to dispel suspicion?"
There was a brief silence on the other end before the black-clad man answered helplessly,
"Your Excellency, you know me. I can't claim to have seen every kind of person, but I can still judge a few things. No matter how I look at it, that fellow named Zuojian is just a very ordinary young man. And after Miss Chen rejected him, he seemed like he'd gone a little strange in the head—he just stood there talking to himself."
"…Very well. Since Huijie rejected him, as long as he doesn't continue pestering her afterward…" Wei Yenwu adjusted his mood, and his tightly drawn brows relaxed slightly.
"Uh… about that, Wei-gong. Strictly speaking, Miss Chen's rejection wasn't really the sort of rejection you seem to think it was."
"What?"
"Based on my experience, Miss Chen's rejection looked more like… restraint. Or rather, more like…"
"Get to the point!"
"…When Miss Chen ran off, her face was red. And she was visibly flustered. So…"
The moment he heard that, Wei Yenwu's brows—which had only just relaxed—instantly knotted together again. Then he slammed a hand on the desk and shouted,
"Damn it all! This is no ordinary suspect anymore! We must strike hard! Strike hard! Go arrest him immediately—I'll interrogate him personally!"
And just as his words fell, an angry woman's voice rang out from behind the curtain at one side.
"Wei Lao'er!"
A woman in magnificent robes slowly emerged. Like him, she too bore the pure bloodline of the ancients.
She glared at Wei Yenwu and scolded him furiously:
"Someone finally confesses to little Chen, and you want to interfere even with that? Do you really want to see your niece spend the rest of her life alone before you'll be satisfied?!"
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (123 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (80 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (110 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (120 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (780Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (165 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (115 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (125 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (102 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty…then Who Am I? (120 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (50 Chapter)
Arknights: Why Are All My "Brothers" Girls? (54 Chapter)
Danmachi: Start Training Haki (59 Chapter)
Emiya Shirou's Rebirth (30 Chapter)
I Can Get Stronger Just by AFK'ing—So I Joined a Chat Group (50 Chapter)
Endfield: I Can Always Pull Out One Yuan (54Chapter)
Limbus Company : I Started a Company in Project Moon (50 Chapter)
Lobotomy: Do Cooks of Alley 23 Dream of Bloodfiend Knights? (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: Freya Familia's "One-Blade Shura" (60 Chapter)
DanMachi: Emiya, the Great Hero Becomes the Protagonist (76 Chapter)
TYPE-MOON: One Special Instance Every Week (40 Chapter)
From Danmachi: The Abundance Apothecary (63 Chapter)
Lord Shadow Descends on DanMachi (83 Chapter)
Fuse with Me, Exusiai! (41 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail — After I Die, I Forge Their Madness (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: The Last Zeus Familia (70 Chapter)
Endfield: Arknights Heroic Spirit Summoning (70 Chapter)
Toyokawa Family Finances (80 Chapter)
Starting From DanMachi to Become Stronger (75 Chapter)
DanMachi: My Familia Is Made Up Entirely of Heroines from Every World! (60 Chapter)
Arknights: My Intel Refreshes Daily (80 Chapter)
Digimon : I Never Meant to Do Evil, Even Though I Wasn't Chosen (40 Chapter)
Miss Holmes Could Never Be the Losing Heroine! (40 Chapter)
Takayama Gamu at Tracen Academy (40 Chapter)
Legendary Trainer Takes on MYGO (40 Chapter)
Arknights : Yandere Game: The Operators Have Come Knocking (60 Chapter)
Arknights: This Dating Sim Is Seriously Wrong! (40 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it