The Dumped Ex-Boyfriend 1

A young man sat on the sofa in a hotel suite. The warm yellow light of a wall lamp cast his body half in shadow. He sat motionless, and there was no telling how long he had been there.

It was midnight, but the person he was waiting for still hadn't arrived.

Shen Ye lowered his eyes to the phone in front of him. None of his messages had received a reply... He pressed his thin lips together, irritation and unease surfacing in his eyes.

His father had really gone too far this time. Everyone knew how much Han Xu had poured into the Shen family and the company over the years. Yet now... over one trivial incident, his father intended to use such an absurd excuse to force Han Xu out. Anyone would be angry at being treated like that, wouldn't they?

As soon as Shen Ye heard the news, he had rushed back from out of town and arranged to meet Han Xu here tonight. He couldn't simply stand by and watch his father do this.

In the silent room, the second hand of the wall clock ticked steadily in his ears, each sound seeming to strike his heart... Why hadn't Han Xu come? Why wasn't he answering his calls? Was he angry, or had something happened? The thoughts kept turning over in his mind.

Shen Ye abruptly stood and headed for the door. He needed to see him! He couldn't keep waiting like this!

Just then, there was a soft sound. The door opened, and a man in a gray suit walked slowly inside. He raised his head, revealing a gentle, refined face, a faint smile on his lips. "Sorry. Something came up, so I'm late."

Shen Ye stopped where he stood, delight and apprehension suddenly mingling on his face. His voice was low and rough. "Brother, I thought you were angry and didn't want to see me..."

The man smiled and shook his head, his tone easy and his eyes soft. "So you've heard? Why would I be angry with you? It isn't your fault."

Shen Ye gazed at the man before him, his eyes brimming with ardent love.

Those few words... In an instant, all the anguish, anxiety, and uncertainty of his day-long wait vanished. This was the older brother who had protected him and indulged him since childhood. Even after being treated so unfairly, he had never thought of taking his anger out on Shen Ye.

Shen Ye suddenly reached out and pulled him into a tight embrace. Gazing at those pale pink lips, he couldn't help kissing him hard. He loved him so much. He didn't want to spend even a second apart, yet they had no choice but to conceal their relationship. Only when he held the other man in his arms could he be certain that he was here, that he loved him too.

A long time passed before Shen Ye slowly let go. Resolve flashed in his eyes as he said earnestly, "Don't worry. I won't let Father drive you out of the company... Let's go back now and tell him about us. I'm sure he'll understand. I'll take care of everything. I won't put you in a difficult position. Everything I have is yours. Han Xu..."

"I love you."

[Ding. Shen Ye's affection score +1. Current affection score: 100.]

[Ding. Romance target Shen Ye in this world has been successfully won over. 10,000 experience points awarded. The host will exit this world within three days.]

Listening to the system notifications in his head, Ye Ming knew it was time for him to leave again.

His identity in this world was Han Xu, the Shen family's adopted son, who had grown up alongside Shen Ye. To raise Shen Ye's affection score, he had diligently played the part of a good older brother. Now he had finally maxed out the score—but that also meant it was time for him to exit this world.

Ye Ming gazed at the young man before him. Shen Ye was strikingly handsome, with sharply defined features. Though still young, he already resembled a sword with its keen edge fully exposed. Only in front of Ye Ming did he reveal this tender, deeply affectionate, almost cautious side... What a shame.

A strange, elusive gleam appeared in Ye Ming's eyes. He stroked Shen Ye's face, seemingly reluctant to part, and gave a low chuckle. "I have a present for you."

Delighted surprise appeared on Shen Ye's face. He had spent an entire day waiting in torment; knowing Han Xu wasn't angry with him was already more than enough. How could he have hoped for a present too? His eyes shone with anticipation as he eagerly asked, "What is—"

Before he could finish, he felt something cold press against his chest. Looking down, he saw a black handgun gleaming in the light.

The muzzle was aimed at his chest. He knew the long-fingered hand holding it all too well... Countless times, their fingers had intertwined as they spoke of their love.

For an instant, time seemed to stop. Even the air froze.

Only after a long while did Shen Ye slowly raise his head. He looked at Ye Ming with a complicated expression, his lips moving. "Han Xu... Is this a joke?"

Ye Ming smiled and arched an eyebrow. An unprecedented chill gleamed in his usually gentle eyes. "What do you think?"

Shen Ye stared into his eyes. Gradually, the color drained from his face. "Why?"

Ye Ming's lips curled in a mocking smile. "Why? Because I want everything your family has, of course. After all these years at the company, even if I haven't earned any credit, I've certainly put in the work. And now you think you can just throw me out? You don't get off that easily. I'm not some dog your family keeps."

Pain surfaced in Shen Ye's eyes. "Father was wrong, but... I never wanted to drive you away. I never wanted to fight you for anything. Didn't we promise there would be no yours and mine? That we'd always be together?"

He loved him enough to hand over everything, even his own life. But why... why did he want to kill him? There was no need at all.

"I remember." Ye Ming chuckled softly. Just as a flicker of hope rose in Shen Ye's eyes, he continued slowly, enunciating every word. "But I don't want your charity. Once you're dead, everything the Shen family owns will naturally be mine."

Shen Ye looked at the indifference in his eyes and listened to his casual words. Little by little, his own eyes dimmed, as though every last trace of light had gone out.

Seeing his disbelief and anguish, Ye Ming couldn't help laughing aloud. "What? Don't tell me you really thought I loved you too. It was all a lie! I only sweet-talked you to get something out of you! If you hadn't spent all these years giving way and cooperating, how could I have risen so easily to my current position? I suppose I really should thank you. Unfortunately... I'm tired of pretending to love you. Since your father wants to throw me out of the company, I'll just kill you and take everything myself! It should have been mine in the first place!"

Shen Ye's face was deathly pale. Each icy word pierced his heart like a blade. What he had believed was profound love—had it been nothing but ruthless deception and exploitation from the very beginning? All you had to do was ask. I would have given you anything. You didn't have to do this...

"You're lying... Aren't you...?" Shen Ye's voice trembled ever so slightly. His gaze was hollow, as though he still refused to believe what was happening.

With a contemptuous look, Ye Ming pulled the trigger without hesitation. A muffled shot rang out, and Shen Ye crumpled to the floor. Blood spread across his chest, soaking his clothes... like a flower blooming out of hell.

With difficulty, he turned his head and stared at Ye Ming. In those pitch-black pupils, darkness slowly began to grow...

With that gunshot, he could no longer deceive himself.

As though he had done nothing of any consequence, Ye Ming unhurriedly wiped the gun with a handkerchief, tossed it into the trash, and turned to leave. Near the door, he seemed to remember something. He looked back at Shen Ye and smiled—a smile utterly devoid of warmth. His lips parted, and he spoke.

That smile, those words... Shen Ye would never forget them for as long as he lived. Even if he were one day to sink into an endless abyss, they would remain etched into his soul, following him through reincarnation for all eternity.

Ye Ming said, "That's my parting gift to you. Do you like it?"

...

There were few people on the streets at midnight. Ye Ming left the hotel and casually turned onto a deserted side street.

He unlocked his phone and quickly dialed 110. Pitching his voice higher, he exclaimed, "Hello! Police? I'm just a passerby out for a late-night snack. As I walked past the Dijing Grand Hotel at the corner of XX Street, I heard a gunshot from a third-floor suite! Someone might've been murdered! Someone's hurt—hurry over and take a look! Oh, and every second counts, so remember to bring an ambulance!"

He promptly hung up and slipped the phone into his pocket.

Ye Ming stood there for a moment. Hmm... Accidentally mentioning a late-night snack had made him feel hungry. Since he was about to exit this world anyway, he might as well eat his fill before leaving.

Having made up his mind, he turned and strolled off. His car was parked in an underground garage some distance away.

A streetlight near the parking garage was broken, making the road seem especially desolate in the dark... There was no one else around. As Ye Ming walked, he suddenly found he could barely keep going. Surely skipping dinner hadn't left him so hungry he couldn't even walk?

His legs began to disobey him, and his vision gradually blurred. Instinctively, he touched his stomach, only to feel something wet and sticky. He lifted his hand. His palm was covered in blood...

[Ye Ming: ...]

[888: What is it?]

[Ye Ming: I've been shot! Aaaah! Why didn't you tell me?!]

[888: I turned on pain suppression for you.]

[Ye Ming: That's exactly why you should have told me! I don't even know when I got shot! As my system, isn't it a little irresponsible of you not to tell me something this important?]

[888, coldly: You're about to exit the world anyway. What does it matter when or how you die? If I'd told you, could you have managed a classier death instead of dropping dead on your way to get a late-night snack?]

[Ye Ming: ...I keep getting the feeling you've had a problem with me lately.]

[888 fell silent for a moment, then sighed: It's called instant karma.]

[Ye Ming: ...]

[Ye Ming: You may have misunderstood me. Let me explain. I actually did this out of kindness! I only resorted to it so Shen Ye wouldn't be heartbroken after I left. Deep down, I'm terribly reluctant, terribly guilty, and terribly distressed! Believe me!]

[888: Ha. Ha.]

[Ye Ming: ...]

Ye Ming felt that communicating with 888 had become increasingly difficult lately. When they first bonded, 888 had been like a responsible older brother. A little aloof, perhaps, but utterly impeccable at his job: an excellent, rigorous advanced system. Yet as one world followed another...

Ahem... Best not to dwell on the past.

Ye Ming took two more steps, blacked out, and fell to the ground. In his last hazy glimpse, he saw someone approaching from a distance. Then he lost consciousness.

The familiar sensation of his soul being pulled free came again. Before long, Ye Ming appeared in a white room of about a hundred square feet. This was his system space, where he stopped briefly after completing a mission and exiting one world, before entering the next.

This time, however, Ye Ming was in no hurry to accept another mission. Instead, he happily did some mental arithmetic, clapped his hands, and laughed. "I think I've finally saved up enough experience points!"

An item in the all-powerful system shop had been what persuaded him to bond with a system and take on missions in the first place. To earn enough points to redeem it, he had already traveled through several worlds. The thought that he could finally get it and return to the real world filled him with excitement.

In mission worlds, Ye Ming had to communicate with the system inside his head, as he had earlier. Here in system space, however, 888 could speak aloud.

A stream of blue data flowed across the white wall, and a cold, metallic voice sounded. "Yes, you have enough. Are you sure you want to redeem it?"

"Do it, do it, do it!" Ye Ming said at once.

888 fell silent. Data raced across the wall. A long time passed before it stopped. For the first time, the usually calm, unflappable system's voice betrayed something akin to teeth-grinding fury. "You. Can't. Redeem. It."

Ye Ming paled. "Why?"

888 gave a cold laugh. "Because I just discovered that all your experience points are frozen. You can't use them."

To Ye Ming, those words were a bolt from the blue! It was as horrifying as being a millionaire happily sleeping on a mountain of money, then deciding one day to buy a luxury car—only to discover the bank had frozen every last asset, and he didn't have a single dime to his name!!!

Ye Ming flew into a rage. "Do you think traveling through worlds and working my ass off to earn those points was easy? You can't just freeze them whenever you feel like it! Is there no law around here? This is a rigged game! A shady backroom deal! You owe me an explanation today, or I'm filing a complaint!"

888 answered without hesitation. "You want an explanation? After winning over the romance target in every world, you insisted on giving him a 'breakup surprise,' causing every last one of them to turn dark after you left! Just now, their combined darkening scores passed the critical threshold. The course of events in all those worlds spiraled out of control at once, showing signs of extreme instability. The consequences are very serious, so the main system has ruled all your missions failures and frozen every one of your experience points."

888 paused, then added, "You should be grateful you haven't had points deducted on top of that."

Nothing was worse than a sudden, deathly silence.

But 888 wasn't finished. He gave another humorless laugh. "And as your system, not only do I have multiple consecutive mission failures on my record, but I've also adversely affected world stability. My system performance rating dropped straight to the lowest possible grade—E! Every commission and bonus was canceled. I haven't earned a single experience point, and they even docked my year-end performance bonus! This is the greatest humiliation of my entire career! Do you have any idea how much I've lost? Do you? I told you from the start to do your missions properly and stop stirring up trouble, but you wouldn't listen! Happy now?"

Ye Ming clutched his chest in agony. All that hard work, and in the end he had nothing to show for it. Though he was only a soul, he could practically feel the pain. Yet he couldn't even take his anger out on 888... because 888 was entirely collateral damage!

After a long silence, Ye Ming said guiltily, "Ahem... So... is there any way to fix this?"

"Wait. I'll check," 888 snapped.

888's greatest regret was taking on this garbage host for the sake of a bonus. What had he been thinking?! What a disastrous loss!

Several minutes passed before 888 spoke coldly. "There is. Go back to those worlds and eliminate the romance targets' darkening scores. Once those scores are gone and all the worlds are back on track, the missions will count as successfully completed, and your experience points will be reactivated."

Ye Ming: "..."

He actually had to return to those worlds. He had never seen this ending coming... Suddenly, he deeply regretted everything he had done. If he could do it all over again, he would turn over a new leaf and be a decent person.

888 said impatiently, "That's the only option. Are you going or not? If not, I'll send you back to the main world right now, and we'll never meet again."

He placed particular emphasis on those last words.

Ye Ming's expression froze for a moment. Then he suddenly thumped his chest, looking solemnly prepared to march to his death. "Of course I'm going! Why wouldn't I? I absolutely have to go! As an upstanding young man who observes the Five Courtesies and Four Beauties, I clean up my own messes instead of dumping them on other people. How could I possibly shirk my responsibilities and quit? I'm going back to those worlds to touch their hearts with my love and devote every ounce of my strength to preserving world peace!"

888: "Ha. Ha."

Ye Ming felt he had lost 888's trust. But for the sake of his experience points, he would never give up halfway! With an awkward laugh, he asked, "So which world are we going back to first? Do I get to choose, or do you arrange it?"

888 remained silent for a full minute before answering. "I just received a notification from the main system. Because all those worlds are unstable, you can't choose freely. The main system has to analyze them and select a suitable point for your return."

"Fine. Whatever you say!" Ye Ming agreed without hesitation.

Data appeared on the white walls again. After a dizzying flurry, 888's voice rang out. "Selection complete. Prepare for transport. But I have to remind you: this is your last chance. If you mess up again, you won't get another opportunity to return to those worlds and fix things."

Ye Ming said solemnly, "Don't worry. This time I'll do a proper job—!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the world spun around him and his soul began to plummet. Transport had already begun.

...

[Ding. Transport complete.]

Ye Ming opened his eyes to find himself in a cramped, shabby room. Rather than looking around, he rose and went straight to the mirror. A delicate-featured face looked back at him, and he immediately knew which world he had returned to.

This was the first world he had traveled to.

His identity here was Fang Xiao, an orphan who had worked hard, gained admission to a prestigious university, and graduated. At the time, he had been a fresh-faced college graduate just starting out. To make approaching his romance target easier, Ye Ming had joined Qin Group's headquarters as an intern.

His romance target was Qin Yi, heir to Qin Group, who was two years older than Fang Xiao. After returning from studying abroad, Qin Yi had concealed his identity and gone to work at his own company, spending his days mingling with ordinary employees like them. Though born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he had few of the bad habits associated with rich young men. He was friendly, cheerful, and charismatic. Everyone liked him.

Pretending not to know who Qin Yi was, Ye Ming soon became his friend. He also worked hard to cultivate the persona of an outstanding, diligent young man from a humble background. Sure enough, Qin Yi developed feelings for him. As they grew closer, their mutual attraction naturally blossomed into a relationship.

Even after they got together, Qin Yi never looked down on Ye Ming because of the difference in their backgrounds. In fact, worried that Ye Ming might not accept it, he held off on revealing his identity. He was gentle and considerate, and even cooked and cleaned at home. They lived like any ordinary young couple... But just as their relationship was deepening, Qin Yi's parents found out.

Qin Yi's father couldn't bear the thought of his only son being gay, especially with a boyfriend from such an unimpressive background, and intervened to break them up. When Qin Yi learned what he had done, he was willing to sever ties with his family for Ye Ming.

To raise his affection score, Ye Ming immediately declared, with great emotion, that he would stand by him through anything. So Qin Yi abandoned everything and took Ye Ming away from that city to start from scratch elsewhere. Life was difficult at first. Without his family's support, Qin Yi truly learned what hardship meant. But for Ye Ming, he persevered. He wanted to give them a stable, happy life—to prove that even without the Qin family, he could still protect and care for the man he loved.

It was hard, but Qin Yi was capable. Gradually, his business began to take off again. After enduring so many setbacks and obstacles, his feelings for Ye Ming, who had stayed faithfully by his side throughout, grew even deeper. He believed Ye Ming truly loved him for who he was, not for his status.

When the Qixi Festival came around another year, Qin Yi finally decided to propose. By then, his affection score had reached 100. The mission was complete, and the experience points were his. Ye Ming heard the system notification: he had to exit this world within three days.

At first, he had treated the mission like a game. But after several years, the man before him was undeniably a living, breathing person. This was Ye Ming's first mission, too... Simply disappearing without saying goodbye did seem rather cruel.

Then inspiration struck, and Ye Ming came up with an absolutely brilliant—read: absolutely terrible—idea!

He figured that if he could make Qin Yi stop loving him before he left, Qin Yi wouldn't be heartbroken afterward and could probably move on and start over quite quickly. So before leaving, Ye Ming emptied the company's working capital!

They had founded this small company together after leaving their old city. Qin Yi had poured countless hours of blood and sweat into it, and those funds were crucial. Taking the money was enough to deal the company a devastating blow, destroying everything Qin Yi had worked so hard to build!

With the money gone, Qin Yi would either have to start over from nothing or pack his bags and go back to the Qin family.

That alone might have been enough. But after thinking it over, Ye Ming felt that, given how deeply Qin Yi loved him, this might not quite kill his feelings. So he just had to go and leave Qin Yi a letter too.

This had all happened a very, very long time ago. Ye Ming had traveled through many more worlds since. Yet now, remembering that letter, his expression turned awkward.

If he had known he would be coming back...

[888: Remember everything now? Regretting it? Scared? What did I tell you back then? Don't write a letter. Don't take the money. Just leave quietly. But no, you couldn't keep your hands to yourself.]

[Ye Ming: ...]

[888: Would you like me to refresh your memory of the letter? You did write every single word of it by hand, after all.]

[Ye Ming: That won't be necessary...]

[888 had already begun reading with feeling: Dear Qin Yi, by the time you read this letter, I'll be gone. Don't worry, though. I can take care of myself. Thank you for loving me so much. Unfortunately, I've had enough of living in poverty. I originally got together with you because I thought I could have a better life. You are the Qin family's young master, after all. Who knew things would turn out like this? You really shouldn't have left your family. Why be so stubborn? The truth is, I've been hoping you would take me back there with you... If you're not the Qin family's young master, I have no interest in you, and I don't want to keep doing this. I've taken the money. Consider it compensation for the youth I wasted on you. Once you go home, you won't care about such a small sum anyway. I know you've always been generous. May we never meet again. Fang Xiao.]

[Ye Ming: Did I really write that???] He remembered it being less awful...

[888: Are you questioning the unlimited memory storage of an advanced system?]

[Ye Ming: ...]

[888, in deep anguish: Sadly, back then I failed to realize this was the beginning of your life of crime. From that point on, you strayed farther and farther down the road of evil, never to return.]

[Ye Ming: Have you been watching some weird legal affairs show lately?]

Having finished revisiting the past, Ye Ming began considering his current situation. What surprised him most was that his body was still perfectly intact! He merely looked a little more haggard than when he had left, and he was somewhere entirely unfamiliar. His last memory of this world was of leaving the country; he knew nothing of what had happened afterward.

[Ye Ming: Come to think of it, this body didn't die when I left, did it? So what's going on now? Doesn't the body die as soon as I exit the world?]

[888: If you die before leaving, as you did in Han Xu's world, then the body in that world really is dead. Even if you return later, you can't use it again. But if you're alive when you leave, the main system temporarily maintains your body according to the persona you established, without coming into contact with the romance target.]

[Ye Ming: Whoa! That's pretty advanced. So as long as my body hasn't died, even after I leave, the system runs it on autopilot?]

[888: More or less.]

[Ye Ming: So what's the situation now?]

[888: The current point in time is three years after your departure. Receive the memories of those three years.]

As soon as 888 finished speaking, memories flooded Ye Ming's mind. He quickly understood his circumstances.

After leaving Qin Yi, he had gone abroad to keep Qin Yi from finding him and create the impression that he had absconded with the money. But he had exited the world while still on the plane. Afterward, the system had taken over his body and lived quietly overseas, following the persona he had established and his final intentions. Since it was running on autopilot, expecting the body to accomplish anything earth-shattering was out of the question. Life had been simple and uneventful—and not particularly comfortable. He had barely scraped by.

[Ye Ming: Tsk, tsk. You systems really put in the bare minimum when you take over a body. Isn't that slacking off?]

[888: A system is a system. We can't make decisions on behalf of you hosts, contact the targets, or influence the course of events in a world. We only keep your body functioning at the minimum level required for daily life. You're already getting a good deal because we didn't let you die outright. Technically, this is a paid service.]

[Ye Ming: ...So what has Qin Yi been doing these past three years?]

888 immediately sent the information to Ye Ming. Compared with Fang Xiao's unremarkable existence, Qin Yi's last three years had been eventful indeed.

After failing to find Ye Ming and suffering the devastating loss of both his career and his love, he had finally returned to the Qin family. Channeling his grief and anger into ambition, he had flourished in the business world. In just three years, Qin Yi had become Qin Group's actual leader, even his father having stepped back behind the scenes. He was no longer the optimistic young man who had cherished romantic dreams, but a formidable, domineering CEO renowned for his ruthless methods.

After reviewing everything, Ye Ming fell silent for a moment.

[Ye Ming: Why do I get the impression he reached the pinnacle of success after I left?]

[888: It isn't an impression. Generally speaking, once protagonists kick obstacles like you out of their way, they achieve success, marry a beautiful rich woman, and reach the pinnacle of life.]

[Ye Ming: But he seems to be unmarried? He hasn't dated anyone since, either?]

[888: Don't worry. I'm sure it isn't because he still loves you. As far as I know, his darkening score is anything but low. Ha. Ha...]

[Ye Ming: ...] What was he supposed to do when he couldn't even have a proper conversation with his own system anymore?

[888: Have you decided what to do? Unless you eliminate his darkening score, you won't get your experience points back.]

Ye Ming stroked his chin and smiled. "The first step, of course, is to return to my home country."

Author's Note:

Another over-the-top, deliciously angsty, easy-read romance. Hope you all enjoy it~~