A/N: Alright, I'm using some Chinese names in this arc for some of the characters. I researched them and hopefully, they’re ok… 🙈

Also, I posted some things in the glossary (for SH readers), including a chapter/arc guide and some character name info.

HTSCF has a Spotify playlist that contains songs mentioned throughout.

There are two songs that I can’t find on Spotify…
By This River (Yoshida Brothers cover)
Wake Up in Neverland by Clara C

Special thanks to:
Jeannette for beta reading/editing all of Arc 4
Nix for beta reading all of Arc 4 (Hadrian Alectrona Aine on Wattpad)
Jayduph for beta reading the smut chapters of Arc 4 (Check them out on SH & AO3 for quality smut!)

And now, onto Arc 4! :)

—

“What did you say?”

“Um… Uh…”

System 00 panicked and tried to float away but Jun caught him in a death grip. “Why didn’t you tell me this before!”

Still trying to escape by flapping his wings, the system replied, “Well, Host, if you think about it, your body still has to be alive for you to return to your original world.”

That was true, but hadn’t the system told him he died? So untrustworthy. Jun had assumed he would take over someone else’s body or maybe time would turn back or something.

“You did almost die…”

“That’s very different from ‘died.’”

If the system had hands, he’d hide his face behind them in shame, except he didn’t have a face either.

“What is the real purpose of these missions?” Jun demanded. “First it was memory fragments, but then I only received two. Now you’ve told me that I will regain parts of my memories as I experience these worlds, but I still don’t seem to recall anything?”

“But you did, Host. Don’t you realize it?”

“I… But then what is the purpose of these missions? These worlds?”

“Your body is alive, but it is damaged. Gradually remembering who you are will repair your body.”

“And why didn’t you tell me my body is alive before?”

“I couldn’t before my upgrade.”

“Then what about after?”

“… I forgot until just now.”

Jun almost wanted to choke the system, but where would he find the neck of something so round and fluffy?

“What’s in it for you?”

“To upgrade. But Host, I keep telling you that I only want to help you. I was created for… Cough. That information is restricted.”

Jun snorted. Don’t think he didn’t realize the system was about to reveal something essential.

“You have to trust me, dearest Host. I only want to help you.”

Trust the system? Debatable. But for now, he needed it so he would just tolerate the system. “What about Azazel and Elior? What happened to them?”

“They… Disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

“Yup. Don’t worry, Host. You’re not deaf, just half dead.”

“…”

“That's why this space is called Limbo, you know?”

“…”

“Since you completed the Main Mission, you can now choose to learn a skill from this list—” A digital screen flashed before Jun’s eyes, almost blinding him. “—before moving to the next world. Of course, you can also choose to not learn a skill. But if you miss this chance, you won’t be able to learn two skills later on, even if you complete the mission for the next world.”

“You could have just said I have to choose a skill to learn. Or else.”

“Teehee.”

“Don’t you ‘teehee’ me!”

“Have you chosen, dearest Host?”

Jun checked the list of skills available and landed on one that caught his eye. Missing out on hundreds of years with Azazel and Elior and dealing with the system had him stressed and frustrated. This skill would be the perfect outlet!

“Yeah, I choose martial arts.”

“And here is a list of all the martial arts available. You can only choose one, so choose carefully, Host.”

One? The system was so stingy. Jun scrolled through the list on the screen floating in front of him. Who knew there were so many? But eventually, he found what he was looking for. “This one.”

The system checked what he was pointing to and nodded in approval. “Great! Now, this system will be sending you to a separate space to learn this skill. You won’t be able to come out until you’ve become a master.”

“Ok.”

In an instant, Jun found himself in a stark white space, very different from Limbo. A man in an aikidogi materialized. Around his waist was a black belt with a red stripe, indicating that he was a black belt third dan, representing the highest master. He was Jun’s objective in this training space.

(A/N: Aikido is a type of modern Japanese martial arts that focuses more on self-defense and various ways of locking, holding, or throwing your opponent. There are many styles and different schools. Aikidogi means aikido wear. The uniform is very similar to a judo one, but some schools will choose a hakama for the “pants.” The belt system also varies from school to school lol.)

For 15 years Jun trained in various styles of Aikido before mastering them all and reaching a black belt with a red stripe. When he returned to Limbo, he was attacked in the face by a furball.

“Host! Welcome back! You look so much more fierce! Awesome!”

Though he felt physically stronger and more confident, he hadn’t gained that much muscle.

“… It’s nice to see you’re still the same.”

“Teehee. Then would you like to proceed to the next world? Or take a 30 minute break?”

What was the point of a 30 minute break again? Jun forgot. It was like when you worked a full 8 hour shift and all you got was a measly 30 minute break to scarf down as much food as possible, leaving you with indigestion…

“Let’s just go to the next world.”

“Right away, sir! Transferring to the world ‘The Male God’s Online Wife’ in 30, 29, 28…”

…

For some reason, Jun did not like the name of this world, especially when he woke up to find himself lying face down in the dirt ground, incapable of moving. This situation was a little familiar. Though he couldn’t see it, there was a will o’ wisp floating above his body.

|System? Why can’t I move?|

|Because you’re dead, Host. But don’t worry, you’re currently in the virtual MMORPG game “Atlan: Demons and Saints,” also known as ADAS, so it’s just your in-game avatar that’s dead.|

|…|

To think that he would be in such a situation where he was “dead on arrival.” Only the luck of a cannon fodder could do this. Should he be happy it wasn’t a real body?

|What’s the plot?|

|Initializing plot! Wee-ooo! Pshhhhh!|

|What are you doing?|

|Giving you some dramatic background music, dearest Host!|

|Please don’t.|

The system stopped his nonsense and Jun read the plot. This world took place in modern times where virtual reality (VR) has become an everyday aspect of daily life. People spent more of their life in VR than in real life, and in-person interactions were becoming less common.

But this is the perfect setting for a “true love” kind of story, and it was a rare case of a very standard online dating story told from the perspective of the gong. As a male god in real life and VR, the gong was also a god-tier gamer in the game Jun was currently dead in—Atlan: Demons and Saints. Disillusioned and distrusting of all those who worship him, he falls madly in love with the shou, a new player, who didn’t even know who he was.

This was yet another R-18 BL novel with the gong over pampering the shou, protecting him from jealous fans, and fighting off the love rival. Eventually, they meet in real life and after overcoming some hardships from online and real life, they marry at the end. To be honest, this was exactly the type of BL Jun would read, and he found himself reading the plot in detail rather than skimming like he usually did.

|Uh… Dearest Host?|

|Don’t bother me, I’m reading.|

|Ok, but you’re about to die again.|

|What!? Don’t you usually freeze time while I’m looking over the plot?|

|But this is VR…|

|…|

In the game world, Jun’s avatar revived and was instantly slashed to death again. He did not expect the pain to be so realistic. Dead again, he went back to going over the plot. This time he made sure to skim, but he planned to read the plot again when in a more peaceful environment.

The gong had to protect the shou from fans, and you could say that Jun’s current identity, real name Fei Lan, with the in-game name of <Kneel, peasant!> was a rabid fan of the gong, whose in-game name was his name in real life <Feng Bingwen>. In the game, the shou, real name Li Jie, played using a female avatar with the name <Reason To Be>. When the original Fei Lan found out that his male god’s “wife” was a man, he raged and started to target the shou out of jealousy.

The man who he thought was out of reach was actually gay and already taken. The original was devastated and couldn’t control himself, but of course, the gong wouldn’t tolerate such behavior toward his wife, so he issued a kill order on the original.

In his mind, Jun facepalmed. His current identity was a closeted homosexual with an unrequited crush on the protagonist gong!? Not to mention, he wasn’t even villain A, B, or C but villain F, a super minor villain. What a Fail! His ending in the story began at this point when the kill order had already been issued and he kept dying until he quit the game and returned to the real world.

Even in the real world, he had to suffer. A CP fan of the gong and shou discovered his real-life identity and disclosed it on multiple forums. People who couldn’t stand someone so homophobic started to ostracize him at his school to the point he withdrew from school and became a permanent shut-in.

|… Luckily I am an open homosexual.|

|Good luck, Host! The mission this time is just like the previous world. And yes, because of the current plot point, you are not under the protection period even though you’re still 17.|

|I fucking knew it.|

|Ahahaha… But as long as you survive 5 years of Misfortune and Disaster you should be fine~ How about looking for your men? They’re usually good shields.|

|… I guess.|

First, he had to change his image. Jun had no plans on quitting the game as he could finally play an MMORPG for the first time.

… How did he know that?

Mentally shaking his head, Jun checked his current status. The revival countdown still had 60 seconds on it. He may have not played games, but he’d read such stories before, and it was easy for him to figure out the game controls. This MMORPG was pretty standard with its skills, leveling up, and such. There were many races in the game, but players could only choose to be humans. Even so, there were many classes to choose from.

What set the game apart from others was the choice to pick a development route, the Demons’ or the Saints’. This made it easy for a lot of Romeo and Juliet-esque romance to bud, and that was very popular with the inhabitants of this world who were struggling to find “true love.” That, and of course, the great background story of Atlan, the amazing graphics, music, and realism of human senses that could be felt through the VR helmet.

It wasn’t because gamers could experience sex without having sex. Nope, that wasn’t the reason at all.

—

A/N: Nope, totally not the reason at all lol