Translator: StormFrost

Editor: Misogi

Illusory Reality [1]

"Chen Liguo, Chen Liguo!" Someone was calling his name.

"Chen Liguo, if you still don’t get up I’ll beat you ah." The voice continued to sound by Chen Liguo’s ear.

"Chen Liguo, you’re still pretending to sleep. You opened your eyes just now yet dare to go as far as to close them again!" The person calling him seemed to be a little annoyed. Chen Liguo felt his entire body become cold. The assaulting cold air forced him to open his eyes. When he opened them, he saw the face of an unfamiliar woman.

"Still trying to sleep, look at what time it is. If you continue to sleep you’ll be late again today!" The woman appeared to be in her thirties and had delicate light makeup on. She frowned as she looked down at Chen Liguo.

Chen Liguo was confused. However, he reflexively got dressed and ate breakfast under the woman’s directions.

While eating breakfast there was even a man reading the newspaper at the table. This person looked seven parts similar to Chen Liguo. Upon seeing Chen Liguo come over he said, "Guoguo, still sleeping. You got scolded by your mother again didn’t you?"

Chen Liguo’s brain was still a mess and he vaguely sounded a response.

It wasn’t until he finished eating breakfast and got into the car that Chen Liguo’s brain began to work and he immediately asked the system what was going on.

"This is how it is." The system said. "I’ll give you the data and you’ll know."

Chen Liguo looked outside the window and said an okay.

Then just like in the previous worlds, the system sent the information to Chen Liguo.

When Chen Liguo received it his entire person was stupefied.

The Chen Liguo in this world was him but not him. They lived in the same world and met the same people but their fates were completely different.

Unlike Chen Liguo from the original world, this Chen Liguo was not an orphan.

Not only was he not alone, he had parents who loved him. His family was well off financially and he didn’t need to worry about the cost of living and tuition. The words ’a smooth path’ to describe his life.

He looked good, had good grades, and was financially stable. Furthermore, this kind of him liked a man.

That man——When he saw that man’s face, it was as if Chen Liguo’s heart was being beaten by a sledgehammer and he couldn’t orient himself for a long time.

Chen Liguo asked, "Why is it him? Why is there such a world like this?!"

The system, however, was calm. It said, "Chen Liguo, this is the last world. The destiny you need to change isn’t that of others, but your own destiny."

Chen Liguo lost his tongue.

This world’s Chen Liguo couldn’t be with the person he liked. Just when he got out of college and was going to confess, he was killed in a car accident.

According to some clues given by the system this car crash wasn’t an accident but a man-made disaster.

Chen Liguo said, "I really never thought ah... that you’re actually this kind of system and can play like this." He was truly shocked by the information the system sent.

System: "What do you want to say?"

Chen Liguo said, "It seems that no matter in which world I am, my aesthetic is always consistent."

The system said, "That’s right, the way of death is quite similar as well."

Chen Liguo: "......"

While the two were bantering, Chen Liguo’s father in this world said, "Guoguo, we’ve arrived, time to get off."

Chen Liguo carried his backpack and got off.

His father asked him from within the car, "Do you want me to pick you up after school?"

Chen Liguo said, "No need. I promised to go play ball with them today."

His dad said, "Okay, then be careful when you head home."

This world’s Chen Liguo was a member of the school’s basketball team and usually needed to train two or three times a week.

Chen Liguo headed into the school while he asked the system, "It had also been on the basketball court when I met him in my world."

The system asked, "Met him while playing basketball?"

Chen Liguo said, "That’s right. He sat on the sidelines drinking water and resting, his face covered in his sweat. I went over to chat......"

The system asked, "You can hit on people?"

Chen Liguo said, "Not at all. After going over what I said to him was, ’Classmate, can I have this plastic bottle after you finish drinking?’"

System: "......" This manner of speech really suited Chen Liguo.

The two spoke as Chen Liguo entered the classroom.

Some people greeted Chen Liguo on the way there, showing that he was very popular in this world. action

However, in fact, if not for the system helping Chen Liguo refresh his memory he would not be able to remember what his high school classmates looked like.

Chen Liguo sat down in his seat and felt as though this were a lifetime ago, as if he had once again returned to his green youthful years——This beautiful feeling ended when the class representative came to collect homework from him.

"Chen Liguo, you didn’t not do it again did you?" The class representative was a lovely little girl. She had short hair, was wearing the school uniform, and had glasses but one could already see the makings of a beauty in her. She said, "I can’t help you this time."

Chen Liguo: "......"

She asked, "How come you’re not saying anything?"

Chen Liguo said, "I don’t know what to say."

She said, "Look at your silly appearance! Just see what’ll happen when the teacher asks you."

Chen Liguo immediately put on a pitiful expression and said, "Beibei, help me out kay?"

Tan Beibei harrumphed. She said, "All you know to do is make this expression. Do you think I’m going to help you if you act spoiled?"

Chen Liguo blinked even more pitifully.

Then, with an expression of being unable to bear it, Tan Beibei said, "This is the last time ah——Promise me that this is the last time that you don’t do your homework."

Chen Liguo promised, "The last time, the last time!"

Only then did Tan Beibei leave. It was unknown how she handled the teacher.

This really was a completely different life. Chen Liguo had already noticed the difference between himself and this world’s Chen Liguo when he had received the memories from the system. If the him from the former world was a little mushroom struggling to live in a dark corner then this world’s Chen Liguo was a beautiful sunflower.

He was sunny, positive, cheerful, and popular. He was the one who brought joy to the class and almost everything about him was perfect.

Chen Liguo had been a bit jealous of him at first but that jealousy quickly dissipated. He and this Chen Liguo were too different, so different that he didn’t feel they had anything in common other than their name and face.

This world’s Chen Liguo’s academic performance wasn’t good. In fact, he suddenly came to his senses only in his second semester of his last year of high school but it was already too late by that time and he had to stay back a year.

The bell rang and the teacher came in.

Everything was familiar yet unfamiliar. The sunlight shone through the window, making people feel warm. Chen Liguo listened to the lesson for a while then a drowsy feeling crept over him——This person played video games too late into the night yesterday and only fell asleep in a whirl at 3 in the morning. Then Chen Liguo took over his body.

"Chen Liguo!" Chen Liguo suddenly stood up when he was pushed awake by his deskmate, his face wrapped in bewilderment. He heard the laughter of his classmates around him.

"A, pick A." His deskmate whispered.

Chen Liguo wiped away his drool with his hand. He said, "I’ve done this question before, I choose A!"

The whole class roared with laughter. The English teacher said with an unhappy face, "I told you to read the text, what choose A!"

Chen Liguo: "......"

English teacher: "Take class standing."

Chen Liguo profoundly felt the malice of human nature. Feeling wronged, he said to the system, "My classmates didn’t treat me like this before."

The system asked, "You slept in class before too?"

Chen Liguo was stunned for two moments then he seemed to think of something.

The system prompted, "En?"

Chen Liguo said, "Didn’t sleep, didn’t dare sleep."

At that time he still had to work at night but didn’t dare sleep during the day, so he would poke his thigh with a pen and forced himself to stay awake and listen to the teacher. As an orphan, studying was the only opportunity to move forward. Only by continuing to work hard, just a little harder, would he be able to catch up to that person.

After standing for a class Chen Liguo’s entire person fell limp on his seat once the bell rang.

His deskmate was still laughing, saying, "Hahahahaha who told you to sleep in class."

Chen Liguo glared at him, "Do you still want your game disc?"

His deskmate said, "Don’t don’t don’t, Guo-er, I was wrong!"

Chen Liguo stood up and headed out. His deskmate asked him where he was going and he said he was going to the washroom.

However, as soon as he went out Chen Liguo went straight upstairs. He stared at the classroom numbers as he searched his way around according to his memory.

Second senior class 5. Chen Liguo stood at the door.

"Chen Liguo, what did you come here for? To find Zhou Yi?" A schoolgirl saw Chen Liguo and greeted him with enthusiasm. She said, "Zhou Yi went to the washroom."

"Oh, is that so?" Chen Liguo was a little dazed. In fact, it was like someone was stirring his brain with a stick when he heard this name. He said, "Then I’ll take my leave first."

As soon as he said he’d go he turned and saw a familiar figure.

"Chen Liguo." At this moment a teenager who was not yet a man smiled gently at Chen Liguo. He asked, "What can I do for you?"

Familiar voice, familiar face, familiar gaze.

The person before him was the person that Chen Liguo didn’t even dare dream of.

Chen Liguo wanted to greet him as if nothing happened but when the words reached his mouth he couldn’t say anything.

"What’s wrong?" Zhou Yi had a good appearance and was like the typical southerner. His tone was soft, his eyes and brows delicate. He was tall, but not bulky, yet made people feel at ease.

Even now he was already a lot taller than Chen Liguo. Seeing Chen Liguo stand at the door of the classroom he reached out and felt the temperature of his forehead. He asked, "Silly Guo, do you have a fever? Your face is so red."

In the end, Chen Liguo didn’t say a single word. He turned and ran.

Zhou Yi looked at Chen Liguo’s back, his eyes full of confusion.

Chen Liguo roared in his heart as he ran, "Ahhhhh Zhou Yi’s so handsome ahhhhhhh."

System: "......"

Chen Liguo said, "He looks just like he did when I met him that year!"

System: "...... So what are you running for?"

Chen Liguo said, "I’m nervous."

The system asked, "Nervous? This is the reason for getting hard?"

Chen Liguo: "What, are people not allowed to get hard from being nervous ah?"

Chen Liguo was hiding in a cubicle in the washroom, staring at his little guo as he spoke with the system.

The system questioned, "Do you all use your lower body to react to the upper body’s emotions?"

Chen Liguo said, "I’m happy, bite me."

System: "I don’t eat shit."

Chen Liguo: "......"

By the time he calmed down class had been going on for ten minutes already. Chen Liguo dragged his tired body back to the classroom.

Fortunately, it was math class, the only class whose teacher treated him as a treasure——Of course, in his original world Chen Liguo was the treasure of all the teachers.

The math teacher didn’t ask Chen Liguo what he did and told him to sit in his seat.

Chen Liguo obediently sat down. His deskmate was still winking and making signs to him. He asked him in a whisper if he had fallen into the latrine, being in the washroom for so long.

Chen Liguo glanced at him and thought that this deskmate really talked a lot.

There were only two words in Chen Liguo’s mind the entire school day: Zhou Yi Zhou Yi Zhou Yi Zhou Yi.

When school finished, the sweetheart in Chen Liguo’s heart, Zhou Yi, appeared at the door of his classroom.

"Chen Liguo." Zhou Yi called him. "Let’s go."

Chen Liguo knew they were going to play basketball, so he slung his backpack over his shoulders and rushed out.

A crowd of people headed to the court.

They were all sixteen and seventeen year old boys and full of youthful energy. September had just passed, so the summer heat was dropping and becoming slightly colder.

Someone hugged Chen Liguo’s neck, saying that they absolutely couldn’t lose today.

Chen Liguo said, "Right, if we lose then let’s make Zhou Yi wear stockings."

The crowd roared with laughter.

Someone said, "Chen Liguo, I don’t think Zhou Yi would wear them well, you might look better in them if you wore them."

Chen Liguo thought, ’It’s not like I haven’t worn them before. I can even paint my nails red, silk stockings count for nothing.’

Then everyone went onto the court. After splitting the teams they began to play.

Young bodies really were full of energy. Running and jumping was effortless. Zhou Yi was one of the best in the team. If it weren’t for him having a good academic record perhaps he would have gone and played professional basketball long ago.

Chen Liguo was at a slight disadvantage with his build but fortunately he was flexible enough to not drag everyone down.

Everyone was sweaty after exercising.

Chen Liguo secretly observed Zhou Yi and found that this man was good looking no matter the time.

Zhou Yi drank water and wiped his head with a towel. He smiled as he spoke with someone, revealing a small dimple on the right side of his face——there was only one dimple. It gave Chen Liguo the urge to poke at it with his finger.

As a result, he stared and stared and simply couldn’t hold back. He reached out and poked a bit.

Zhou Yi was stunned by Chen Liguo’s poke.

Chen Liguo immediately let out a roguelike smile, laughing ’heiheihei’. He said, "Flower girl’s skin is really soft ah."

Zhou Yi said with a pissed off smile, "Three days without a beating and you’re willing to scale the roof to tip the tiles I see."

Chen Liguo laughed, "Lueluelue."

Everyone joked and laughed and then disbanded at the school entrance.

Chen Liguo got onto the bus alone.

The window of the bus was opened and a cool wind blew against him. Chen Liguo’s brain that turned hot and useless from seeing Zhou Yi finally cooled down. He said, "System, I didn’t go out of character?" Now that he thought about it, some things he did weren’t things that the Chen Liguo of this world would do.

"You are Chen Liguo, how can you go out of character?" The system said. "Whatever decision you make is correct."

Chen Liguo mumbled, "How could you be so good to me?"

The system said, "Who told you to be my beloved foolish son ne?"

Chen Liguo: "......" He somehow felt that he was being taken advantage of by the system.

He spoke and spoke then became so muddled headed that he fell asleep. When he woke up again the bus had already passed his stop......

Chen Liguo was called awake by the bus driver, his entire person confused. He questioned, "System, why didn’t you call me ah?"

The system said, "I called you."

Chen Liguo asked, "Why didn’t you call a little louder ah?"

System: "Talk nonsense again and I’ll beat you."

Chen Liguo: "......" Dad, didn’t we agree that I’m your beloved son?

Getting off the bus Chen Liguo saw a street with lanterns a’red and wine green and he realized that this was the bar street.

Chen Liguo felt his pockets and said, "De, didn’t bring any money on me either, let’s take the bus again."

So he squatted at the side of the road and continued to wait for the bus.

It was now past eight and the nightlife was just beginning. Chen Liguo watched as one car after another drove through the street. No bus appeared even after a long time.

A teenager wearing basketball clothes carrying a school bag standing here was exceptionally conspicuous.

Bored, Chen Liguo looked down at his phone. Phones didn’t have a lot of functions at the moment and the internet was only 2G. The slow speed was appalling. At most they could play around in a QQ room and open some simple web pages.

"Waiting for the bus?" A gentle male voice sounded. Chen Liguo turned his head to see a man in his thirties.

The man wore a black over shirt and khaki pants. He smiled as he asked Chen Liguo this question.

Chen Liguo said, "Yeah, waiting for the bus."

"Where are you going? I can take you." The man’s tone revealed nothing but the expression in his eyes told Chen Liguo that this person definitely wasn’t a character to be messed with.

"No need." Chen Liguo didn’t want to invite trouble. He said, "I’ll take the bus."

The man said, "Waiting for the bus here is difficult. It’ll take an hour generally."

Chen Liguo furrowed his brows. He really had been waiting a long time.

The man said, "We’re all men, it can’t that you’re afraid I’ll do something to you?"

Chen Liguo thought that this man was sinister, digging such a pit for him. If he agreed or refused based on his remark then wasn’t he exposing his sexual orientation? Homosexuality was something absolutely intolerable at this time. Chen Liguo knew a pair of homosexuals who were directly sent to the psychiatric hospital after being discovered by their parents.

Chen Liguo said, "Sorry uncle, my mother doesn’t let me ride in other people’s cars, saying that she’s afraid of traffickers." When he said this he purposefully put on a pure and innocent appearance. A pair of wide eyes twinkled and sparkled, making the man wonder if he had been trying to make things complicated for a child.

However, there were people who would be interested in difficult matters. Work was like this and so were people to be chased.

The man raised his hand and looked at his watch. He said, "Alright then, you continue."

After saying this he turned and left. Chen Liguo noticed that he was driving a Cayenne——Those who could drive a Cayenne in these times were definitely local tyrants.

Chen Liguo: "My beauty is indeed a sin. Just like this I’ve already attracted the bees and butterflies."

System: "Oh, indifferent."

Chen Liguo: "......"

After waiting another half hour the bus finally came. Chen Liguo hurried on the bus and swiped his card. His mother had already called him twice asking him where he was.

The bus tottered and swayed. By the time he arrived home, it was already 9.

When Chen Liguo got off the bus he suddenly cast a few looks behind him. The system asked him what was wrong.

Chen Liguo said, "How come I seemed to catch sight of that Cayenne from before?"

The system asked, "En?"

Chen Liguo scratched his head and said, "En, I must have seen wrong." That man couldn’t be so bored that he would follow his bus home could he?

After arriving home Chen Liguo was naturally scolded.

This world’s Chen Liguo had a typical strict mother and kind father. His mother said, "Has your skin become tighter so you want to loosen it now? Your teacher called me again today. If you don’t do well on your test don’t think about going out during break."

Then his dad said, "Okay okay, it’s nothing unusual for kids wanting to play a bit. Quickly come and eat."

Chen Liguo obediently went over and ate.

Orange lights were on, casting a warm glow over the whole room. A soap opera was playing on the TV and his father and mother chatted.

Chen Liguo stuffed the warm meal into his mouth and felt that he was having a far off dream. These people and things were just like his most beautiful fantasies.

"What are you thinking hm?" His mother came up and tapped Chen Liguo’s head. She said, "Go wash the bowls."

Chen Liguo said okay.

Mother questioned, "How come you’re so obedient today? Did you do something bad?"

Chen Liguo said, "I didn’t ah, I’m very obedient." He showed a miserable expression.

"Enough, don’t pretend to be pitiful." Mother was both angry yet humoured. "Can even miss your stop on the bus, what will you do in the future?"

Chen Liguo said, "Aiya, isn’t this from being too tired?"

Mother said, "Go on and wash the bowl. I’ll warm some milk for you. Drink it and read a bit before you sleep."

Chen Liguo nodded and said yes.

Chen Liguo’s bedroom kept up with the style of high school boys. The posters on the wall, CDs on the shelves, limited athletic shoes and basketballs with autographs on them all showed how happy this child was at home.

Chen Liguo exclaimed, "Holy, I had wanted this album in my dreams." He stroked the album cover and laughed, "I got it in my original world too." Only, it was after working a few years and spending his own money.

The one meter eighty centimeter bed was also very soft. Chen Liguo lay on it and could smell the sun on it. It was probably because his mother often basked it under the sun.

Chen Liguo looked at the snow-white ceiling above his head and said, "System, I’m so blessed."

The system said, "The blessed days are still long, sleep."

Chen Liguo said, "Okay, I’m going to sleep. Good night Daddy."

The system said, "Good night."

Chen Liguo smacked his lips and closed his eyes. And in this world that was just like a dream, he plunged into sweet darkness.

The Author has Something to Say:

This world will have a tiny bit of abuse and will finally explain what Chen Liguo’s original world was life. Of course it’s the last world hahahahaha. Roar, happy o~

Thank you darlings for the mines, grenades, and rockets. Special thanks to dear Xiaozhuzi for the deep-water torpedo. Thank you all, lueluelue.