The Heartthrob NPC in the VR Game

Xie Shuangxue is aware that he’s an NPC in a game. He exists in Shenmo, the world’s most popular VR game, which has been live for three years now. For the third-anniversary celebration, the game developer, Boundless Sea, announced a major update, introducing a new map, “Floating Dream Clouds.” Along with the update, they released a new world storyline quest—The Book of Floating Dreams. This quest unveils an ancient tale of entangled love and betrayal between a Princess of the Feather Clan and the former Demon Emperor. And Xie Shuangxue makes his entrance in this new storyline. He isn’t the main character; at best, he’s the fourth male lead—a mere plot device with a shallow, basic background. As an orphan adopted by the Feather Clan, he harbors an unrequited love for the princess, which eventually turns into bitterness and revenge. Betraying everyone, he ultimately meets a fitting end when the princess personally executes him, much to the players’ satisfaction. Xie Shuangxue: … I don’t think so. Even NPCs have their own ideas. So, the players who are grinding away at their quests encounter, for the first time, an NPC with an unexpected level of interactivity. When he first appeared, the players thought Xie Shuangxue was just another pretty face, gloomy, shallow, with nothing special to offer. However, as the plot unfolded, they came to understand his endless suffering, his deep and hidden love, the hardships he endured, and all the sacrifices he made in silence. This intricate character, Xie Shuangxue, ultimately reaches a moment of enlightenment in the final segment of the world quest. Smiling, he raises a sword and takes his own life. Under the snowy night sky, his black hair dances in the wind, blood as red as cinnabar flowing like ink—the very key to unlocking the new map. On that day, the official Shenmo account crashed under the weight of furious players. “Damn this hellish plot! Give me back my Ah Xue!” “WTF, you dirty devs—how dare you kill off Shuangxue!” “I swear, if Xie Shuangxue dies, Boundless Sea, neither will you live. smile” The game department, drenched in curses and complaints: …For heaven’s sake, this was not the original plot! Shenmo’s development team held an emergency meeting overnight and urgently contacted the CEO of Boundless Sea. Rumor has it that even the normally calm and collected boss, who also has an account in the game, sounded noticeably different over the phone, a mix of gritted teeth and indescribable emotions. “He’s not dead.” “He deceived all of them.”