Chapter 173: 173. Chapter 173: An Ex-Girlfriend's Blessing?

173. Chapter 173: An Ex-Girlfriend's Blessing?

Shen Huai swiped across the screen, his gaze sweeping over a virtual character in the game with a graceful figure.

With long, wine-red wavy hair, fiery red lips, and an indescribable charm in the corners of her eyes and brows, she was like a rose with thorns—dangerous and enchanting.

"Who designed this game character? This couldn't be..."

Xiao Zhang, a programmer from the testing department, poked his head over, but just as he was about to speak, he was scared back by a cold glare from Lin Yeman.

"Play your game! So many words!"

Shen Huai chuckled softly without saying a word, though his gaze lingered on Lin Yeman for a few meaningful seconds.

The one in the game.

Whether it was her appearance or her personality settings, she looked like she had been carved from the same mold as Lin Yeman.

Looking further down, the character design of another key female supporting role also intrigued him.

With a pure and sweet appearance and a delicate, lovable personality, she was as endearing as a little white rabbit, yet the gaze she revealed inadvertently carried a hint of worldly shrewdness—she was practically a carbon copy of Su Meng.

"Interesting..."

A smile played on the corners of Shen Huai's mouth as his gaze swept back and forth between the three women, as if he were admiring his own "masterpiece."

"General Manager Shen, are the personalities of these characters... a bit familiar?"

Xiao Li asked cautiously, a hint of probing in his tone.

Shen Huai did not answer, but instead asked with a smile, "What do you think?"

Xiao Li shrank his neck, not daring to speak again.

The atmosphere in the lounge was somewhat subtle; everyone felt Shen Huai's wicked sense of humor, yet no one dared to point it out.

Su Meng bit her lip and stole a glance at Shen Huai, feeling somewhat uneasy inside.

Anyone with eyes could see that the shadows of the characters in the game reflecting them were not a coincidence, but born of personal bias.

Luo Xiaoya remained as cold and indifferent as ever, as if all of this had nothing to do with her.

But only she knew that her heart was not as calm as she appeared on the surface.

Lin Yeman, on the other hand, wore a playful expression; she seemed to enjoy this subtle atmosphere and even intentionally cast a flirtatious wink at Shen Huai.

"General Manager Shen, the design concept for the early-game characters was thought up by Su Meng."

Lin Yeman covered her mouth and chuckled, her beautiful eyes darting as she glanced intentionally or otherwise at Su Meng, who was sitting in the corner.

Hearing Lin Yeman's words, Su Meng's body stiffened abruptly. She slowly raised her head and squeezed out an awkward smile: "General Manager Shen, don't listen to Sister Yeman's nonsense, I was just saying it casually..."

"Oh? Is that so?" Shen Huai looked at her with great interest, his eyes carrying a hint of playfulness.

Su Meng felt her skin crawl under his gaze; she dodged his eyes, not daring to meet his stare.

"Alright, stop messing around."

Luo Xiaoya suddenly spoke, her tone cold as she feigned composure, "Hurry up and test, it's getting late."

Shen Huai withdrew his gaze and continued browsing the game's plot.

"Fine, no more messing around, game testing continues."

Shen Huai said indifferently, breaking the silence.

Everyone continued playing the game, but their minds were no longer on it; instead, they were full of curiosity about Shen Huai's next choice.

Shen Huai felt the countless gazes on his back and raised his eyebrows slightly.

The female character card list showed a total of 165 characters, almost all of them modeled after real-life celebrities.

But to simulate a romance with a real celebrity, one had to complete corresponding tasks to unlock the character card.

Before that, the player had to first conquer the three characters provided by the system.

The first was the pure and sweet "little white rabbit," corresponding to Su Meng in reality.

The second was the cold and aloof "ice beauty," corresponding to Luo Xiaoya.

The third was the sexy and charming "rose with thorns," corresponding to Lin Yeman.

"Tsk tsk, this Shura field is explosive!" Xiao Zhang couldn't help but exclaim.

"Shut up!" Lin Yeman glared at him.

Shen Huai watched the game plot with great interest, his fingers sliding across the screen as if he were controlling the fate of these characters. In the game, the male lead met three female characters with distinct personalities one after another.

In the game's plot setting, the male lead had to make a choice among these three women, and in the end, only one could become his "True Destiny Woman."

"General Manager Shen, which character do you think is better?" Xiao Li asked, emboldened.

Shen Huai smiled without answering, instead casting his gaze toward Su Meng.

Su Meng felt uncomfortable under his gaze; she lowered her head and whispered, "I think... they're all quite good..."

"Is that so?" Shen Huai smiled meaningfully, "Then if you were the male lead, who would you choose?"

Su Meng's cheeks flushed slightly; she hadn't expected Shen Huai to ask her this question.

She hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she did not answer.

"What? Is it hard to choose?" Shen Huai pressed on.

Su Meng bit her lip, keeping her head down and remaining silent.

"That's true, all three are so excellent, it really is hard to choose," Shen Huai said with a smile, his tone carrying a hint of banter.

Luo Xiaoya snorted coldly and said, "Childish."

Lin Yeman just smiled charmingly and said nothing.

Shen Huai did not reply and continued playing the game.

The game plot progressed to the point where the male lead needed to complete a task to win the heart of one of the heroines.

"This task is a bit difficult..." Xiao Zhang scratched his head.

"Yeah, you need to collect three rare items to trigger the subsequent plot," another programmer said.

Shen Huai looked at the game interface, his brows slightly furrowed.

The setup of this quest reminded him of the entanglements he had with three women before.

Thinking back to the beginning, in order to gain Su Meng's favor, he gave her many gifts, but in the end, it still ended in a sorry state with her leaving without saying goodbye.

In order to win over Lin Yeman, he had even given his one hundred percent sincerity, yet he ended up being a secret lover for a year and a half.

In the end, he gained nothing.

Thinking of those past events, he looked at the three beauties right before his eyes.

Shen Huai was dazed for a moment, feeling that this scene was somewhat dreamlike.

"General Manager Shen, are you alright?" Xiao Li asked with concern.

"I'm fine." Shen Huai replied indifferently and continued playing the game.

He controlled the male lead in the game and began to collect the items needed for the quest.

The first item required completing a high-difficulty dungeon.

Shen Huai operated the character, challenging the dungeon again and again, but he was never able to clear it.

"This dungeon is too hard!" Xiao Zhang couldn't help but complain.

"Yeah, I've already died several times," another programmer chimed in.

As the progress advanced, Shen Huai, like them, felt the difficulty.

There was one level that, no matter how many times Shen Huai played it, he could never clear.

"Why did the difficulty of this level suddenly spike so much?" Shen Huai asked with a frown.

"... General Manager Shen, it's like this: this level plays a crucial role in unlocking the first real-life celebrity character card, so..."

Seeing that Shen Huai didn't speak, the product manager Dong Cheng coughed lightly and explained it in a different way, "Of course, we have also set up a shortcut here."

"A shortcut? What shortcut?"

Hearing this, the product manager tapped lightly on the flashing spot in the top right corner of Shen Huai's phone screen.

Immediately after, the game interface suddenly popped up a prompt: "Use the special item 'Ex-Girlfriend's Blessing'?"

Shen Huai was stunned for a moment.

"Ex-Girlfriend's Blessing"? What the hell is this? (End of chapter)