✍️**"Chapter 35: Emotional System Error"**
❝Warning: Emotional deviation at 27%.
Host is experiencing unauthorized affection.
Immediate corrective action required.❞
The robotic voice echoed coldly in Lin Chaoxi's mind as she stood frozen on the rooftop, city lights flickering behind her.
Her fingers trembled. Not from the wind—but from him. Shen Muyan. The man she was never meant to feel anything for.
"You keep running away," he said, voice low, steady. "Every time I get close, you retreat."
"I'm not running," she whispered, eyes locked on the edge of the night. "I'm surviving."
Suddenly—
❝System Task Triggered]
Target: Shen Muyan
Objective: Create emotional rejection within 24 hours or face system penalty.❞
❝Penalty: Memory data wipe. Permanent loss of host identity progress.❞
She gasped. "No…"
Not again. Not another reset.
"Lin Chaoxi?" he stepped closer. "You're crying."
"I'm not," she lied. But her voice cracked.
He stopped in front of her, so close she could see the storm behind his usually calm gaze.
"Then look at me and say it again."
For a moment, neither of them moved.
She finally looked up—and saw it.
Real emotion. Real hurt.
Her heart twisted.
"Don't do this, Shen Muyan. Don't feel anything for me."
"Too late," he murmured.
Boom.
Her ears rang.
The system's alarm blared louder than ever.
❝Error. Emotional instability detected. Host control compromised.
Initiating Emergency Shutdown Countdown: 24:00:00❞
She took a shaky step back. "I need to go."
"No," he grabbed her wrist. "No more running."
His grip was gentle, but the plea in his voice was louder than any force.
"Tell me what you're hiding from me, Lin Chaoxi. What are you so afraid of?"
She opened her mouth—
But the system screamed:
❝Do NOT disclose mission parameters. Penalty: Host will be TERMINATED.❞
She smiled sadly, tears running freely now.
"Everything," she said. "I'm afraid… of everything."
And with that, she walked away—again. But this time, it wasn't cowardice.
It was survival.
🔚（To be continued…）