Welcome to the Misogyny Game

The sightseeing elevator quickly ascended, and Liu Chaoque looked down at a corner of the city.

"Ding." The elevator doors opened, and Liu Chaoque finally felt grounded, as if he were walking on cotton.

This floor was full of clothing stores. Liu Chaoque followed Biancheng blankly, wondering why she had agreed to let Biancheng go shopping in a men's clothing store with her.

"Welcome, sir. What style of clothing would you like to buy?"

"Let's just wander around for a bit," Biancheng said.

The shop assistant glanced at Liu Chaoque, then at Biancheng, and smiled enigmatically: "Okay."

She felt like she had misunderstood something... Before she could even start to think about it, Biancheng pulled out a brightly colored shirt: "Little Smile, what do you think of this shirt?"

She couldn't think of any description other than beachwear for such a bold color scheme.

"Whatever makes you happy," she could only say reluctantly.

“That’s not very good.” Biancheng nodded to himself, then took out a burgundy shirt and held it up.

Liu Chaoque once went with her mother to pick out clothes for her father. How should I put it? The colors weren't as vibrant as they are now. She could only distinguish which age group the men's clothes were for. She had some aesthetic sense about boys' clothes, but not much. She just had a rigid sense of what should look good or not.

So when Biancheng lifted the curtain and came out of the changing room, she thought: Hmm, there are plenty of shirts available online.

"Is it pretty?" Biancheng asked.

"Looks good." Liu Chaoque murmured, "He's extremely handsome. He looks like he's gone from a pampered young master to a big CEO."

"Should I put on a suit jacket too?" Biancheng asked.

"Another Maserati? Then the servants open the door, and you make your grand entrance?" The two couldn't help but chuckle.

After trying on several outfits, Biancheng finally figured out Smile's style for choosing men's clothes: red shirts, windbreakers, and blue shirts.

Finally, seeing Liu Chaoque's indescribable expression, Biancheng chose the floral shirt he had initially selected, as well as a burgundy shirt.

Well, it's like the gold-brown shirt my fiancé wore. You can't say he looked ugly, but if someone else wore it, it would be a disaster.

Is this what it means to be able to do whatever you want just because you're good-looking?

As they walked, Liu Chaoque would occasionally glance at the bag Biancheng was carrying, then turn his face away with a slightly contorted expression, as if his eyes had been stung by the stench.

"Is it really that disgusting?" Biancheng couldn't help but ask.

"No, not at all..." Liu Chaoque was afraid he would be unhappy: "Actually, it's not so bad after looking at it for a while, haha."

"If you don't like me wearing this, I won't wear it in front of you."

"It's just everyone's freedom to dress as they please, but I'm still not quite used to it..." Liu Chaoque imagined what it would be like if a man had the same personality as President Cha. "For example, if you wore this outfit, you would need to wear sunglasses, dye your hair in a flamboyant way, and exude confidence. That would be even better. But these are just my personal opinions, and you don't need to take them as a reference."

“That sounds great,” Biancheng replied earnestly. “Perhaps I can give it a try.”

"Hmm?" Liu Chaoque smiled. "After shopping with you in a men's clothing store, I'm actually starting to feel like buying some clothes myself." This exchange of gifts had also given him a bit of an impact from women's clothing.

"Hmm?" Biancheng blinked. "Women's clothing? Maybe I can give you some advice. After all, I'm a photographer, so I'm quite experienced."

"Hmm? Aren't you just taking landscape photos?" Liu Chaoque narrowed his eyes: "Sure enough, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, you obviously like taking photos of girls to attract other people's attention."

"You're quite experienced, aren't you? You must have a lot of young girls who like you, right?" Liu Chaoque teased.

"Hmm?" Biancheng shrugged, saying nonchalantly, "They can do whatever they want. I'm just putting together a nice photo composition. You know, sometimes when you're shooting landscapes, if there are no people in the photos, they look very empty and monotonous. That's when you have to include people in the shot."

"So you approached me also to complete a perfect photograph?" Liu Chaoque asked bluntly.

Biancheng suddenly paused, then laughed, a bright laugh. He fiddled with his phone for a moment and handed it to her: "If it's the photo you're talking about, I would have taken it long ago. I just wanted to get to know you better."

"Oh?" She looked down at the lit screen. "How's the understanding?"

The image above is a screenshot of a game she used to play when she was still alive. It shows a silent, bewildered girl in a hospital bed, fluttering curtains, and a ray of sunlight shining through the window onto the ground.

"?" After a long silence, he saw the man's face getting closer. "Well, how should I put it? The more I get to know you, the more I like you. I think you are my muse. Can I take more pictures?"

"Come on, didn't you want to give me some advice?" Liu Chaoque glanced at her and strode forward, his steady steps carrying an air of fleeing in panic.

"Isn't this what you wanted to ask?" Bian Cheng muttered in dissatisfaction. The person in front of her quickened their pace. She wasn't asking if he had ulterior motives; how was she supposed to know he had confessed to her? Liu Chaoque quickened his pace even further.

Before they even entered the women's clothing store, a series of short, hurried voices reached their ears.

It sounded like a wail, yet also like a cry for help.

"Waaah, waaah~"

The sound was the alarm in the lab that one of her friends had complained about occasionally acting up. Liu Chaoque immediately became alert, grabbed Bian Cheng's hand, and tried to run outside.

If she were still in reality, she might have gone over to check if there was smoke somewhere, and whether she should call staff or the fire department.

In this game, if you don't run, you'll be burned to death!

Who knows what Conan-like qualities the female lead has? She keeps getting into accidents and getting injured when she goes out.

The crowd around them began to stir, asking those around them with curiosity and confusion.

"What's going on? What's making that noise?"

"Whatever it is, something must have happened!"

"This is a smoke detector. It doesn't mean there's a fire somewhere or someone is smoking in a no-smoking area."

"I ran out from the north gate. The stove over there exploded. The landlady is still inside. Does anyone know how to use a fire extinguisher?"

Where should I put the things?

"Did you call the fire department?"

Amidst the commotion, some people left with the flow of people, while others went against the current, determined and fearless.

She didn't know what ordinary people would think when they encountered a fire, after all, the biggest fire she had ever encountered in real life was also solved by firefighters.

Even ordinary people would rush forward to try to reduce the fire before the firefighters arrived, picking up fire extinguishers to extinguish the fierce flames.

It's not that they aren't afraid of death, but rather that they're afraid of seeing life pass away.

Liu Chaoque's steps, which were about to run away, suddenly stopped. She had asked herself what she would do if she saw someone drowning. Would she jump in and keep pressing to save their life, or would she just glance at them indifferently and run away quickly?

As someone who can't swim, her choice might be plan C: people will try to rescue her, but they'll just pick up a pole and try to get the person in the water to save themselves.

Grasping the footsteps of those leaving the border town, they turned a corner and rushed off in another direction.

She followed those going against the flow, but couldn't find a single fire extinguisher.

"What are you looking for?" Biancheng asked, puzzled.

"Fire extinguisher? Is there no fire extinguisher on this floor?" Liu Chaoque asked, trying to calm his breathing. "Ah, why is this cabinet still empty?" Wait, why hasn't the future solved this problem yet!

Liu Chaoque couldn't help but feel devastated.

"Shall we go downstairs and take a look?" Biancheng asked hesitantly.

They ran downstairs, but were somewhat bewildered by the vastness of the ground floor. How could this shopping mall be so big?

"Over here!" Biancheng called out.

With a bang, smoke spread out of the window like a black dragon howling towards the outside.

Liu Chaoque sensed something was wrong and, using the momentum from Biancheng, ran in the direction he had indicated. As they ran, a small mechanical sprite wobbled up to them and shouted, "Beep beep beep, alarm, alarm, fire on the fourteenth floor, requesting assistance."

"Little elf, just letting you know, there's a fire caused by a gas stove explosion, and someone is trapped inside, possibly unconscious." Although someone had already called the police, it was unclear whether the person the little elf was notifying was a firefighter, so he repeated the message anyway. After saying that, he didn't care about the little elf's reaction and rushed towards the fire hydrant.

Along the way, we encountered several people who went to get fire extinguishers. When they arrived, well, there were fire hydrants in the cabinet, but that was all we had.

To be fair, people in this world are still very responsible.

"Um, how about we go downstairs and take another look?" Liu Chaoque asked hesitantly. What she really wanted to say was, what's the use of the fire hydrants downstairs? Can they extend upstairs or something?

Liu Chaoque held the tube blankly as Biancheng connected it.

She aimed the hose at the smoking window upstairs and tried to spray water in. Even if the water pressure in the fire hydrant was strong enough, it couldn't bend another 90 degrees when it was already bent at 90 degrees to pour water in. At most, it would just spray some rain on the people on the ground.

So, after several unsuccessful attempts, Biancheng shut off the valve, and the two looked at each other in silence.

"It seems like this is no use." She hesitated again, realizing after trying that she couldn't help at all: "There were so many people putting out the fire, the fire is probably out by now."

“Let’s go upstairs and see if we can help,” Bian Cheng said. He was a little wet, and his carefully styled hair was messy. He rolled up his sleeves, rolled up the hose, and put it back in the fire cabinet. Then he picked up the clothes that were lying to the side: “The sound of the ambulance is still downstairs. The landlady doesn’t know what the situation is now.”

Liu Chaoque, however, was thinking about something else.

We can't take the elevator, but climbing these fourteen floors is exhausting too.

I wonder if the firefighters' high-pressure water cannons reach that height.

If they need to put out a fire, will they have to climb the stairs?

Liu Chaoque couldn't help but worry. If a fire broke out in a high-rise building, the fastest way to rescue people would probably be to break a window and hoist them out from inside.

She stared intently at the fire hydrant, and in a daze, she seemed to hear cries for help coming from the inferno.

"What are you doing with this hose?" Biancheng saw Liu Chaoque take a roll of orange-red hose out of the fire cabinet. The hose was very large and pressed against her neck.

"Isn't this also a fire extinguishing device?" Liu Chaoque patted the hose and shook his head. "Let's go up."

"What's going on inside?" Liu Chaoque ran towards the fire scene, carrying a roll of hose.

"The landlady is still inside. There were three explosions. We tried to get in, but we couldn't," someone said.

She saw that someone's hair was singed and their skin was a dark red from burns, which she guessed was the man who wanted to go in to rescue people.

"Where is the kitchen located here? Was the owner in the kitchen at the time?"

"You can see it as soon as you go in; the proprietress went into the kitchen at the time."

In the kitchen, which is closest to the heat source, wouldn't...

Looking at the raging flames, Liu Chaoque couldn't help but laugh to himself. This was much more difficult than asking someone who couldn't swim to go into the water to save someone.

Seeing Smile staring at the direction of the burning flames, and remembering her asking the person next to her about the location of the trapped people, a bad thought popped into Biancheng's mind.

He instinctively grabbed Liu Chaoque's hand as he tried to leave, and said with a deep gaze, "Don't do anything foolish."

Liu Chaoque curved his lips into a smile: "I'm confident."

What kind of confidence...

Damn, isn't this just reckless behavior?!

Liu Chaoque ran off carrying a roll of tubing, pulling out a bit as he ran and spreading it on the ground. The orange-red trail stretched into the bathroom and down to the faucet.

Since it wasn't standard high-pressure water and there was no fixed connector, Liu Chaoque had no choice but to take out the delicate hairpin that was tied in her hair, bend it into a small arc, and place it against both ends of the pipe. The beautiful tassel became a lonely token, which was placed by the water.

Even at maximum speed, the water flow to the fire was as slow as flowing water. Biancheng didn't know what she was trying to do, but he still tried to push the hose in until he couldn't pull it any further. When Liu Chaoque came over, she was soaking wet, with water stains all over her head and clothes.

"I'm going to save them!" Before Biancheng could react, Liu Chaoque covered his mouth and nose and rushed into the pipe.

Sure enough, the kitchen was right inside the door, and even though the fire had warped the building, she could still see inside at a glance.

But she saw no one. She bent over and cautiously peered inside. The crackling sound of the burning firewood and the scorching heat made Liu Chaoque feel hot even though she was soaked to the bone.

Her vision was somewhat blurred. As she walked further away, the only thing that brought her a moment of peace was the water stains spreading on the ground.

She remained constantly vigilant about the overhead beam and the potential for a secondary explosion. Only when she felt the water on her body was about to evaporate did she vaguely see a figure lying down. Regardless of whether this person was the landlady or not, she had no choice but to take her out.

Unbeknownst to her, Liu Chaoque saw the window she had seen from the thirteenth floor; so she had reached the bottom.

"boom!"

Liu Chaoque instinctively lunged forward. Gas explosions are terrifying, and Liu Chaoque could only rely on instinct to drag people away quickly. After all, many people die from carbon monoxide poisoning, let alone high concentrations of carbon monoxide.

The heat wave carried her as she ran outside, but the air was thin, and she was dragging someone along with her. If Liu Chaoque hadn't been trained in martial arts, he wouldn't have been so brave as to carry one person at a time.

Fortunately, the hose hadn't melted from the heat, and the water was still dutifully lowering the temperature of the ground.

Liu Chaoque dragged people along and carried hoses.

He poured water on himself and those around him, the dripping sound—whether it was sweat or water—mixed with his heavy breathing, making Liu Chaoque's movements very slow.

The flames, billowing with a hazy heat, distorted her path, forcing her to remain half-bent over as she moved step by step outwards along the orange-red trail.

Knock knock knock, knock knock knock.

She could hear her own heartbeat. She had never felt that the road was so long, like the eighty-one tribulations of a journey to the west, with danger lurking at every moment.

The roof beam collapsed and almost hit her, making Liu Chaoque's heart beat even faster.

Fortunately, the path wasn't particularly long, and as she pulled herself forward with the hose, she finally saw a white light.

Biancheng paced anxiously, occasionally running to the toilet to check the tap water that Liu Chaoque had turned on before running in.

He didn't know why she turned on the water before going in—whether it was to cool down or to save herself—but he felt that if the water stopped or the device fell off midway, Smile would be in danger.

He saw the golden color, the same as the thin stick in the center of the tube, and while marveling at her irresponsibility in carelessly throwing away even valuables, he put it in his pocket, thinking he would return it to her when she came out.

This was repeated several times until a black figure appeared in the firelight and slowly walked away.

"It's Smile!" Biancheng exclaimed. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried to rush inside.

Someone stopped him; rushing in like that might actually do more harm than good.

"She really rescued them..." someone said.

The crowd quickly dispersed, some already holding fire extinguishers and ready to go, while others, still in wet clothes, were about to rush inside.

"bump."

The person spewing sparks was enveloped by wisps of white mist.

The nurses gently lifted the people on her back, carried them, and ran downstairs.

The beeping sound gradually faded away.

Liu Chaoque still couldn't see the suspended ceiling that had risen to the 14th floor.