Welcome to the Misogyny Game

"So, Smile isn't actually Smile." Xu Wangchuan said with a wry smile.

...The aquarium, before the accident...

"Hey, Wangchuan? Why are you calling?" Liu Chaoque found a secluded corner and answered the phone.

The person on the other end of the phone remained silent for a long time. Liu Chaoque put the phone in front of him and looked at it. He hadn't dialed the wrong number. Could it have been a mistake?

Just as Liu Chaoque was about to hang up the phone, there was a sound on the other end.

“Smile…you’re actually called Si Man?” he asked with difficulty, as if longing, or as if confirming his guess.

Liu Chaoque: ...That was scary, I almost dropped my phone. She pressed her hand to her chest, trying to calm her pounding heart.

Then I remembered the question he had asked me, but what was it again?

"You startled me just now, I didn't hear you clearly," Liu Chaoque said truthfully.

The other person was silent for a second before repeating, "Your name is actually Si Man, Si as in 'each performs their own duties,' and Man as in 'graceful'?"

“Yes.” Liu Chaoque asked, puzzled, “Then what did you think my name was before?”

“Smile, ... smile.”

Upon hearing "Xiaoxiao" again, Liu Chaoque froze, her mind going blank for a moment before she quickly regained her composure. "Hehe, my English name is Smile, but it's actually fine for you to call me Xiaoxiao." Her smile was forced, but thankfully the other person didn't notice.

He was lost in deep memories. When Sman was still called Smile, and her school registration had been changed to Sman, he should have thought that if she was called Smile, it would be strange for a Chinese person to have an English name on their school registration. But at the time, everyone was used to it, and he was used to it too. But when it was changed to the name Sman, it seemed that everyone except him had changed their memories of her name to Sman.

This is actually a very scary thing. It's like being in a Truman Show where your identity, your name, and your experiences are all pre-set. You can even change your name simply by modifying the program, and then everyone's memories will be completely altered.

Then what is he? Is he a bugged program character, or part of the plot? Are his current thoughts and actions predetermined by a program? Is his affection for Siman also part of that? Are his feelings also part of that?

"I'm going to be the woman who saves the world!" Suddenly, the conversation from that night at the martial arts gym came to mind.

Smile told him he was the protagonist, that he would experience many hardships, and subtly hinted that his hardships were unavoidable, part of the predetermined program...

At the time, he just thought she was having a fit of teenage angst, but he never expected that everything she said was actually true.

He touched the stubble on his face and looked at the heavy curtains hanging on the window, preventing sunlight from getting in.

Aside from experiments, he would force himself to stay awake, otherwise he would hide in his room, refusing to see anyone, like a vampire hiding in a dark corner, listless and melancholic.

Looking at Liu Chaoque's WeChat Moments, I peeked into her life.

Liu Chaoque doesn't like posting on WeChat Moments. Her last post was about learning English. She doesn't like posting selfies or other photos, as she finds it troublesome and has to add captions.

He found a photo of them taken when they went to a martial arts class. In the photo, she had just come out of the training room, covered in sweat, and was wiping the sweat from her face.

He instinctively picked up his phone and took a picture: "Smile, look!"

He handed her his phone with a look of self-satisfaction, and Liu Chaoque took it instinctively, looking at the screen: "When did you take this picture?"

Even though he was covered in sweat, he didn't look disheveled in the picture; instead, he looked rather sharp... So cool.

Liu Chaoque admired the photo for a moment, then looked up at Xu Wangchuan, his tone expectant: "Could you send me this photo?"

"Of course, this is a picture of you... um... can I keep it?" Xu Wangchuan asked shyly.

"Keep it..." Liu Chaoque looked at the photo he sent, then at Xu Wangchuan, his face full of hesitation.

Xu Wangchuan said with some disappointment, "Then forget it..."

With its hair drooping, it looked pitiful, like a puppy that hadn't eaten its delicious food.

Liu Chaoque didn't know why she had such a connection, but at the time she softened and said, "You can keep it."

Liu Chaoque laughed and said, "I suddenly feel like posting this on my WeChat Moments." She lowered her head and typed on her phone, while instructing, "But don't save my photos after you find a girlfriend, or your future wife will misunderstand."

The content was deleted and revised repeatedly until a relatively satisfactory version was chosen. Xu Wangchuan was then asked for his opinion: "What do you think of this copywriting?"

"Feeling refreshed! (with picture)"

"Very good." Xu Wangchuan gave a thumbs up in approval: "Very energetic!"

“I think so too.” Liu Chaoque smiled, wiped her sweat with a towel, and posted one of her few WeChat Moments posts with photos.

A group of people liked the post, and below were comments like "Manman is so handsome" and "Manman's husband's words captivated her for a minute."

Wait, sis, is this guy serious about wanting to get married? Turns out my sexual orientation is older women! Can these people please tone it down? This is a comment section, not a no-man's-land! Oh, and this isn't even the author's original post...

Maybe I should just delete my Moments...

Xu Wangchuan still remembers the indescribable expression on Xiaoxiao's face after she posted the photo, and he couldn't help but smile.

Should he go on a trip to relax and see if this relationship is real? Is his desire to give up a result of defying fate, or is fate interfering with his self?

Even if he doesn't want to admit it, he's willing to believe the second one.

……

This was his second day of traveling in Yunnan and Guizhou. Standing under the waterfall, he smelled the cool, damp air, listened to the chirping of birds in the distance, and saw the lush, layered greenery in the distance.

Xu Wangchuan's mind went blank, and he relaxed completely.

I tried not to think about the lab, and I also tried not to think about... Xiaoxiao...

This may be why Liu Chaoque did not receive any news about Xu Wangchuan after going to Mount Emei?

He went to the mountains, the canyons, the sea, and the river bends. For five whole days, he was like a soldier on a mission; tourism was like fighting a war, where every second counted.

One day he was still experiencing the rivers, lakes, and seas, and the next day he was probably on his way to climb Mount Tai. It seemed that only in this way could he forget them and let time belong to him alone.

On the fourth day, however, he slowed down and decided to appreciate the scenery along the way and reflect. He sat on the boat, marveling at the insignificance of life and the eternity of the lake. If everything is just a drop in the ocean, then why bother with anything? Even if he was part of a pre-programmed sequence, so what? Even if his emotions were pre-programmed, so what? In all the pre-programmed sequences, his joys and sorrows did not belong to himself, nor to any one person.

His love for her was not a reflection of someone else's love for Xiaoxiao, nor was it a utopia built for her by abusing his power for personal gain. Besides, what kind of person would love Xiaoxiao so much that he would hurt her and make her suffer from a guilty conscience? She was the only individual with a self, but because of her compassion for others, she had to step into the plot that was designed for her.

"She really is a savior, she really is the heroine." Just like the heroine in a fairy tale, even if she is unreliable in ordinary times, it does not prevent her from stepping forward in critical moments.

And wasn't he attracted to her personality, admiring her calmness and enamored with her sunny disposition? Now, he's relentlessly denying it all—denying his feelings for her, denying her self, denying…the self that has always…loved her…

Standing atop the mountain, he took out his phone, snapped a picture, and instinctively tapped to share it, sending it to her.

He paused for a moment, then suddenly smiled with relief.

Yes... he likes her.

.........

"Manman...do you have another name?" the person on the other end of the phone suddenly asked.

Liu Chaoque broke out in a cold sweat. She stammered, "Haha, what are you saying? I don't have any other name besides Si Man."

lie!

“Well… can I call you Xiaoxiao then? My Hurry Poter,” Xu Wangchuan said with a smile.

Liu Chaoque: "Just call me Smile." That's a bit ambiguous, bro.

Got it, this "smile" might be a game name that Xiaoxiao used before?

“Okay, my savior.” Xu Wangchuan didn’t make things difficult for her. She wasn’t surprised by this sudden appearance of Hurry Potter, which meant that she accepted that she was playing the role of Hurry Potter here. And Potter… who is Voldemort in her world?

It feels like things are getting even more ambiguous!

The person on the other end hung up the phone, but for some reason Liu Chaoque felt uneasy. And when he mentioned Hurry Potter, Liu Chaoque thought for a moment, could it be that he was trying to find out more...? Liu Chaoque quickly stopped thinking.

At this moment, a belated voice rang out: "You are not allowed to fall in love with non-male lead characters, and you are not allowed to let non-male lead characters confess to you! Otherwise, you will be eliminated! Eliminated!" The voice was excited and shrill, like a broken radio amplified dozens of times. Liu Chaoque rubbed his ears, feeling a bit of tinnitus.

She cursed inwardly, "Damn these rules! If you keep yelling, I'll fucking kill myself and let someone else be your damn leading lady! I'm done!"

Liu Chaoque has gone mad. Damn it, in this game, she doesn't even have her own name. When someone finally wants to know her real name, she can't tell them. She's stuck with this crappy foreign name every day, and this idiotic rule system is in her head, constantly yelling "annihilation, annihilation." She's going to dart around and jump into a truck for an otherworldly trip. I'm going to commit suicide.

She really wanted to quit.

She returned to Mu Li's side in a bad mood.