What?! The Gamemaster And The Top Player Are Dating?!

"Vampires were murdered like usual. One by one, they were all hunted down." 

Li Ling seemed to be interested to listen to the girl as she continued speaking. 

"The Council became a joke. It was no longer about the vampires anymore, it was about keeping their dignity. " The girl added a voice modulation as she spoke and Li Ling felt like if this girl wasn't a bunch of computer codes, she would have surely been a great storyteller, "Think about it! They gave out an order and nobody was listening to them. Wasn't it like an indirect insult to their authority?" 

Li Ling nodded as a response. 

"They had to do something or they'll end up becoming a joke. Carmen, who was the first person to propose the idea of saving the vampires decided to take it upon his own hands and be the shield that protects the last vampire alive." 

"The last vampire left? Do you know anything about him?" 

"Him?" Elsie broke out laughing as she replied, "Nobody knows anything about her." 

Li Ling almost choked on air as he heard this, but no matter how shocked he was, he still maintained a calm outer appearance as he questioned, "It's a woman?" 

Elsie nodded her head confidently as she replied, "It's definitely a girl." 

Li Ling, who was clearly a man, playing the character of this last vampire alive, nodded his head as if agreeing with the girl. 

If she wanted to make him a girl, let her make him a girl. Wasn't it better this way? At least, she won't suspect him. 

"There's a reason why everyone thinks the last vampire is a girl." 

"Hmm?" 

Elsie smiled creepily as she asked, "Do you want to know?" 

"..." 

"Let me tell you," The girl spoke enthusiastically, "Carmen decided to become the personal bodyguard of this last vampire. Not many people liked this fact since they could no longer do anything to attack the vampire, but of course, they would not just sit idle. Carmen knew the people would try to do something so he hid the vampire away from their sight and reach. You would think everything was peaceful like that but no." The girl shook her head as she continued, "It was even more chaos. The people started pressuring the council and made up all kinds of rumors." 

"Rumors?" 

The girl nodded, "That the vampire was secretly going out at night and attacking people. There were a lot of people coming forward as victims. Some even claimed to be witnesses. It was so serious that the council decided to investigate the case. It was a lie. It was clear that the people were lying so the result of the investigation should have also been clear. The vampire should have been innocent but..." 

.

.

.

"Big brother! Big brother! Where are you going?" Zhihao heard a voice and turned around to look at the little boy who was running after them with something in hand. 

Zhihao had never seen this boy before so he naturally had no idea what was happening and his first instinct in such a situation was to turn his head and look at Alvi for answers. 

[Don't look at me] 

[I don't know him.] 

"Big brother! I was searching all over for you!" The little boy beamed. 

Zhihao pointed at himself and asked in confusion, "Me?" 

The boy bobbed his head up and down, "I have made the preparations!" 

"???" 

The boy stretched his hand forward and gave Zhihao the thing he was carrying around, "One thousand of these. Just like you asked!" 

It took Zhihao a whole minute to realize what the boy was giving him. 

It was a paper lantern that hadn't been lit yet. 

Zhihao glanced at the face of the boy and then back at the lantern before turning his head to face Alvi. 

"All the best, big brother!" The boy beamed and it confused Zhihao even more. 

It seemed that the original Carmen had given this boy the task of preparing a thousand paper lanterns... but why? 

Zhihao thought about it for more than a minute before he could finally get the answer. 

It was like connecting dots. 

The ring. 

The paper lantern. 

If he was guessing right, Carmen was planning on proposing to the vampire. 

Zhihao didn't know if he should laugh or cry as he thought about the current situation. 

These paper lanterns were clearly no longer needed. 

But somewhere deep in his mind, he still wanted to clutch onto them just in case. 

He hadn't ever seen a perfectly happy ending in any of the levels till now but maybe... Just maybe... There was a chance that this level could have a happy ending. 

He sighed as he thought about the possibility. A happy ending was certainly possible in this level, but for that to happen, he'll have to make up with Li Ling who was nowhere in sight. 

There was a hint of sadness in Zhihao's eyes as his grip on the paper lantern grew stronger. 

There was a possibility of a happy ending at this level but the possibility was murdered by Zhihao who couldn't handle the fact that Li Ling liked his crush more than Zhihao. 

It was pathetic. 

He was pathetic. 

Why was jealousy such an annoying feeling? 

Zhihao handed the paper lantern over to Alvi before crouching down to the little boy's level and smiling as he patted his head, "Good job." 

The boy smiled even more brightly as he responded, "Don't worry, big brother. She'll probably say yes." 

Zhihao was a bit surprised as he heard the child calling Lord Versailles a girl. Since when was Li Ling a girl?

"Well, why are you here then? When doing important things, one should not waste their time." 

Zhihao smiled slightly as he heard this, "Is that so?" 

The boy nodded his head as a response. 

Zhihao, "But... Sometimes waiting is good." 

"Why would you want to wait? Are you sure you aren't just running away from responsibility by lying to yourself?" 

This boy seemed to be a lot smarter than he looked. Although he looked to be around the age of six or seven, he already had his mind processing in such a manner. It was impressive.

"The fruit of patience is sweet." 

"But waiting is bitter." 

"..." 

"How do you know you won't get the same fruit if you weren't waiting?" 

"Hmm?" 

"Waiting is good but you shouldn't make it a habit. If waiting is all you're gonna do, then you'll wait and watch your life go by without you." 

It wasn't even an original line but it still somehow affected Zhihao who was both inspired and felt a bit pathetic after having heard this. 

Waiting was something he was good at.

He was planning on waiting. 

Waiting till Li Ling looks at him. 

If he wasn't gonna wait? What was he supposed to do? 

The answer to that scared him more than he expected. Honestly speaking, he wasn't ready. He didn't want to deal with his feelings this soon. He wanted to wait for the time he could take responsibility for his own feelings and act in a more mature manner but it seemed that if he were to do that, he won't really be doing anything. 

Maybe this was why Li Ling never took him seriously. He was always acting like an unreliable kid so why would Li Ling look back at him? 

Suddenly, Zhihao's eyes seemed to look determined as he stood up straight and made up his mind. 

If he was insecure, Li Ling would certainly notice it and think he was joking so what was he to do? The answer was simple. He just had to change. He had to be more assertive about his feelings and throw this weak self-pity away.

This is Mastermo we are talking about!

Why would he have to be so insecure about not being liked? 

Li Ling never said 'no' directly. He never rejected anything. Didn't that mean he was also a bit interested? 

If that was the case, Zhihao still had a chance. 

If Li Ling was going to take his feelings as a joke, he'll just have to show the man that he wasn't playing around. 

He was dead serious about it and he was going to make sure that Li Ling knew this!

So what if Li Ling had a crush on someone else? Zhihao could always crush that crush and throw it away by making a huge room for himself in Li Ling's heart.

"Did my words inspire you, big brother?" The little boy asked and Zhihao smiled brightly as a response. 

Zhihao ruffled the boy's head, "Thank you."

"Eh? Big brother has learned how to say thank you?" The boy chuckled, "That girl has changed you so much. She must be really special."

Zhihao broke out laughing as he heard this. He leaned down to the boy's ear and said, "Let me tell you a secret." 

"A secret?" 

"It's not a girl." 

"?!?!" The little boy's smile faltered for a minute as he comprehended what the man had told him. 

This secret was certainly a bit shocking. 

Zhihao snatched back the paper lantern from Alvi and asked the girl, "Where is he?" 

[...] 

[What am I? Your GPS?!]

"..." 

[If you want to find him, go look for him yourself!]