Attempting to Provoke Me

"Name?"
"Moonshadow Lingfeng."
"Try again?"
"Chen Shang."
"Age?"
"Sixteen."
"Occupation?"
"High school student. I’ll be starting at Upper City High in Longmen District this fall."

In the dim interrogation room, the middle-aged police inspector in his blue uniform knocked on the table with authority, glaring fiercely at Chen Shang, who sat across from him. After a few brief questions, the inspector opened a file pulled from the database and, confirming that Chen Shang’s answers were accurate, set the file aside. After all, the protagonist's background in this game had been written by Chen Shang himself; he could recite it backwards if need be.

The only slip was that the name of the protagonist was user-chosen, and Chen Shang had carelessly blurted out his old gamer tag.

“How did you get brought in?” the inspector continued.
“I got nabbed by those patrol bots of yours—you know, the ones on unicycles with red and blue lights on their heads,” Chen Shang joked, surrendering to his fate.
“Show some respect for our robotic officers!” The inspector slammed the table, his face darkening. “Robots have lives too! If you discriminate against them, I’ll have to add ‘intelligent machinery discrimination’ to your charges!”
“All right, all right, my mistake…” Chen Shang replied helplessly.

—Why did I ever add such a ridiculous setting to this game?

After a long back-and-forth, Chen Shang finally convinced the inspector that he’d just been engaging in a bit of performance art. The inspector, seeing that Chen Shang had only just turned sixteen, let him off with a stern warning not to repeat his actions.

Stepping out of the police station, Chen Shang took a deep breath, gazing up at the sky veiled by dust.
“Another sandstorm day…” he muttered, sitting on the curb outside the station.

This romance game wasn't set in the gentle daily life of neon-lit Tokyo, but in Night Axis City—a utopian oasis in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Nearly a century ago, the world had suffered a terrible nuclear war. In that disaster, Night Axis City had been a fortunate exception. Perhaps due to its remote location and independence from any national government, it was less affected and rebuilt more smoothly than most cities.

Now, almost everywhere else in the world was either a ruin or a no-man’s-land rife with radiation and mutant monsters. Only this city still blazed with light.

But things here were far from peaceful. During the cataclysm, Night Axis City had accepted droves of refugees, resulting in a population that included war veterans, wanted criminals, professional assassins, cyborgs, radiation mutants, cyber-psychopaths, strung-out rock hippies, and pleasure-addicted folk singers…

Crime rates soared, the gap between rich and poor was immense, resources were often scarce, and police and citizens were at odds. The city, though seemingly harmonious on the surface, teetered on the edge of chaos, held together only by a wild, booming entertainment industry.

Even in the relatively calm middle districts where the protagonist lived, ordinary citizens didn’t dare step out after nine at night.

Because of this, many schools in Night Axis City offered combat courses—to give the younger generation basic self-defense skills and to train talent for the "Pioneering Organization."

As for the game's main character, he would one day become one of these pioneers.

The game itself was a blend of romance, combat, and exploration, originally designed so the protagonist could lead a cast of heroines out into the forbidden wastelands to fight monsters, raise affection levels, trigger story events, and collect special costume and weapon materials along the way.

But what was meant to be a romantic adventure devolved into the main character raising women for the benefit of the second male lead.

Whenever Chen Shang thought of how those adorable heroines would end up fawning over the second lead and betraying the protagonist, he felt a chill run through his body.

After wandering the streets with a sullen face for some time, Chen Shang headed home.

As expected, this world was the very game he’d helped design—only, it was more complete and realistic than the original game itself, as if a new universe had been created from its blueprint.

But Chen Shang couldn’t be bothered to ponder who had brought him here or why. These days, transmigrators were everywhere; if everyone got hung up on the details, the main plot would never advance.

Taking the hover tram, he returned to Longmen District—the area the protagonist called home.

The "middle districts" of Night Axis City were divided into several regions, with Longmen being under the management of old-era Huaxia descendants.

Weaving through a maze of apartment blocks, Chen Shang stopped at a door and rang the bell several times.

Soon, he heard the quick patter of feet. The door swung open and a petite, charming girl appeared.

She wore a T-shirt with a cat paw print and cropped pants; her short, dark-brown hair grazed her shoulders, and a playful ponytail adorned the side of her head.

A few lines of information promptly flashed before Chen Shang’s eyes:

[Character: Nayuta]
[Affection: 20/100]

Her name was Nayuta, a refugee orphan who had fled from outside the city. Years ago, she’d been adopted off the streets by the protagonist’s parents, becoming his stepsister in all but blood.

In other words, she was the classic "little sister" archetype found in multi-heroine romance games.

Her doll-like face still held a trace of baby fat, her large, glistening eyes blinked up at him, and her delicate features were tinged with youthful innocence.

She was designed to evoke a protective, doting instinct in anyone who saw her. Even those who weren’t fans of little sisters or the “moe” genre would find it impossible to ignore such a lovable sibling.

“Welcome home, big brother!” Nayuta’s voice was sweet and cheerful, clearly showing their good relationship.

Though he’d mentally prepared himself, Chen Shang was momentarily stunned to see a character he’d personally helped design standing before him.

But he quickly regained his composure. After all, this lovely girl was as close to his own creation as a daughter—he could recall exactly how many gigabytes her model file took up. How could he possibly feel anything inappropriate toward her?

Instead, an inexplicable irritation welled up inside him.

“Yeah,” he grunted, frowning, and headed straight to his bedroom after kicking off his shoes.

Sensing her brother’s coldness, Nayuta puffed out her cheeks, looking puzzled. “Big bro… are you upset today?”

In his room, Chen Shang tossed his backpack aside and sank into thought.

Though he’d transmigrated into his own game, he felt no joy at all.

Under the whims of a spoiled rich kid, the game had long since ceased to be a normal romance. Nearly every heroine fawned over the second male lead, while the protagonist became their tool and doormat.

Worse, almost none of the endings were happy. In most outcomes, even after fully winning over a heroine, the protagonist would be betrayed and killed in the finale, forced to watch as the girls ran to the second lead.

There were only two neutral endings.

One path was the “bystander” route: the protagonist romanced no one. The final CG showed him at the second lead’s wedding, watching as the girls, radiant in their bridal gowns, ignored him completely while clinging to the groom. It was a bitter ending, but at least the protagonist survived.

The other route was Nayuta’s “little sister” line. In the final crisis, the protagonist, the second lead, and Nayuta were trapped in a scenario where one had to die. Unable to let go, Nayuta chose to sacrifice herself, letting the other two live. In the end, the protagonist was forced to forgive the second lead and shake his hand.

Thinking back, it seemed the rich kid simply didn’t like sister-type characters, so he’d written her out in that route.

“So—there’s really not a single good ending, is there!” After sorting through the game’s routes, Chen Shang was despondent. If he’d had a cigarette, he would’ve lit five at once and smoked them all in one go.

He’d transmigrated into a romance game, only to draw the short straw.

What was the point in playing, then?

“This garbage game…” Chen Shang felt as though he’d just been put under full anesthesia, numb from head to toe.

But just as he was about to sink into gloom, a skull-marked inverted cross icon lit up before his eyes, and twisted, ominous black text slowly appeared beneath it:

[Detected host’s hatred. Activating Collapse Core…]
[Collapse Core loaded… Unleash the malice in your heart—let this world fall to ruin!]

“…?” Chen Shang glanced at the window, staring at his own bewildered reflection.

Soon, his scowl twisted into a smile, and curiosity crept into his voice.

“Interesting. Tell me more.”