“…An Yu… Am I cool…?”
Midnight, on Ning Dongli’s bed.
The petite girl was sleeping soundly, a faint, unconscious smile on her face that made her look a little dazed.
“Mm…”
In her dream, she had wiped out team after team right in front of An Yu, protecting her perfectly—not letting a single bullet touch her.
So, quite naturally, she asked for praise.
Perhaps because it was a dream, she was much bolder than usual.
Unfortunately, she’d already slept long enough.
“Mm…”
The dream began to fade, and the girl slowly opened her hazy eyes.
“Hm…?”
Ning Dongli instinctively rubbed her eyes.
“Where’s An Yu…?”
The moment she woke up, she started looking for An Yu—because in the dream, it had reached the crucial moment where An Yu was about to praise her.
Ning Dongli hadn’t fully snapped out of it yet.
“Why… is it so dark?”
She blinked her slightly aching eyes and fumbled around until her hand touched the phone beside her.
Picking it up, she lightly tapped the screen. In the darkness, the phone began to glow.
Ning Dongli squinted, forcing herself to look despite the discomfort.
“It’s… midnight?”
Midnight marked the end of one day and the start of the next.
That wouldn’t have been a big deal—if today hadn’t been the day she was supposed to play games with An Yu.
“Ah?!”
Ning Dongli jolted awake. She raised her hand and pinched her pretty cheek.
“Hiss… It hurts. This isn’t a dream!”
She shot up in bed, staring at the time on her phone in disbelief.
“No way? I slept until now??!”
Ning Dongli flailed in panic, nearly flinging her phone across the room in the chaos.
Luckily, she managed to regain control of her limbs.
“No way, no way, no way… Right, An Yu! Is An Yu still here?”
Ning Dongli instinctively touched the earphones still in her ears.
There was no sound coming through—just silence.
Even the breathing she’d heard earlier in the afternoon was gone.
Ning Dongli quickly got up, eyes wide as she checked her computer screen.
The character on it was alone now. An Yu’s figure had vanished.
Ning Dongli felt like she’d been struck by lightning. She froze completely.
She was supposed to play with An Yu all day. She was supposed to listen to An Yu’s voice all day.
But now, it had turned into this—she’d slept straight through to midnight, and An Yu had left who-knows-when.
She’d been too excited to fall asleep properly, only for her insomnia to lead to this mess.
“What do I do, what do I do? How am I so stupid!” Ning Dongli panicked.
“R-Right!”
She grabbed her phone and quickly pulled up her chat with An Yu.
【Sleep well tonight】: Good night, rest well.
Thankfully, An Yu had messaged her.
She wasn’t mad about being ditched while asleep.
After confirming An Yu wasn’t upset, Ning Dongli let out a sigh of relief.
But now… what was she supposed to do?
Ning Dongli stared blankly. She’d slept from the afternoon straight through and wasn’t tired at all anymore.
Sleeping now was impossible, but if she didn’t sleep, this kind of thing would happen again.
An Yu’s sleep schedule was really healthy.
Back in the afternoon, Ning Dongli had been smug about how fast things were progressing with An Yu.
Now, she had to face this.
Did that mean, because of their schedules, she couldn’t spend weekends playing happily with An Yu?
“No way!!!”
Early morning, as the sun began to rise.
Today was An Yu’s birthday.
An Yu had slept well last night, though she hadn’t managed to game all day with Ning Dongli—since Ning Dongli had been asleep the whole time afterward.
Seeing how soundly she was sleeping, An Yu hadn’t woken her.
Instead, she’d quietly left the game and found something else to do.
Though… it was just visiting a mini-game site and playing little games by herself all day.
In her previous life, she’d heard classmates talk about people blindly downloading games and accidentally installing a whole bundle of junk that nearly wrecked their family computer.
The computer Ning Dongli had given her was expensive. She had to be careful with it.
But the mini-games were fun too, and An Yu had enjoyed herself alone.
She just hoped Ning Dongli would wake up earlier next time.
“System, good morning.”
【Good morning, Host. Happy birthday.】
Today, the system’s voice lacked its usual groggy tone. It sounded fully awake.
“Mm, thanks.”
An Yu nodded expressionlessly, then quickly got out of bed and carefully tidied up.
Today, she planned to sneak out.
…
While no one was paying attention, slip away from the An Family Villa.
An Yu kept a cold face as she stealthily left her room. Though she acted sneaky, she didn’t seem particularly nervous.
Of course—she did this all the time anyway.
Usually, it was to go to school. Today, it wasn’t.
Fortunately, today felt no different from any other day.
Even though it was her birthday, no one cared.
Everyone’s attention was elsewhere—not on An Yu.
Someone else might feel a little sad about that, but An Yu didn’t. If anything, she was glad.
Though you couldn’t tell at all from her expression.
“Young Miss?”
Just as she was sneaking out, she got caught before she could even put on her shoes.
An Yu calmly turned around and immediately spotted Wang Man frowning at her.
“Oh… Aunt Wang, good morning.”
“Mm, good morning, Young Miss…”
Wang Man smiled, though it was strained with a hint of bitterness.
“Happy birthday, Young Miss.”
An Yu nodded expressionlessly. “Mm, thanks.”
Seeing it was Wang Man, An Yu relaxed. As long as it wasn’t An Qing, it was fine.
“Young Miss… are you leaving?”
Wang Man looked at her worriedly, unsure what to do.
Today was An Yu’s birthday, yet no one seemed to care—including the An family parents.
They’d apparently decided to invest everything in An Qing, showing their favoritism openly…
But no one could say anything. One wasn’t their real daughter; the other was.
“Mm.”
An Yu nodded calmly, showing no emotion.
A flicker of hesitation passed through Wang Man’s eyes, but she still spoke softly.
“Then… let me see you off.”
“Okay.”
An Yu replied quietly.
Though it was “seeing her off,” they were already at the door—she could only go this far.
An Yu lifted her white-socked foot and slowly slipped it into her shoe.
“Goodbye, Aunt Wang.”
With that, she left the An family home without a hint of reluctance.
“Sigh, wait, Young Miss—you haven’t taken…”
Wang Man wanted to remind her about the breakfast she’d prepared.
She started to chase after her, but stopped in surprise.
Outside the window, the petite girl joyfully threw herself into the arms of a golden-haired girl, who indulgently patted An Yu’s head.
Beside them stood two more girls, both smiling warmly.