727: Unless...

Unless...

Dr. Feng's daily routine did not change much aside from the addition of Luan in between his busy schedule.  1

But instead of complaining, he was very interested in tackling the problem in front of him. Luan's presence was akin to a breath of fresh air in his monotone life, sparking a fighting spirit within him which he thought had long been doused by years of constant work around the clock.

Luan kept to his words. He mainly stayed in the corner of the room, gazing out at the distance with a wistful look on his face. Sometimes, when Dr. Feng was too immersed in his work, he would sneak a few glances without letting the other party know. 

Within a short few days, he merged perfectly into the environment of Dr. Feng's office and was taken as a new ornament by the other researchers.

Everyone thought that the Head Administrator was working on a new system update, and when they saw Luan's sophisticated virtual body in his office, they all praised him to the Ninth Heaven, "Head Administrator's skill has gone up a notch again! Look at this appearance, it's so vivid and life-like! So beautiful! Perfect!"

Each time, Dr. Feng could only reply with a dry 'haha', but his desire to know where Luan came from blazed even stronger.

After a few days, he managed to set a few hours aside in his tight schedule to finally tinker with the new ornament in his office. He did not even waste a single second and gestured for Luan to come close. "Come, we have a deal to fulfill."

Amused at the man's excited appearance, Luan hid a smile and obediently complied, standing where the man ordered him to. When Dr. Feng came close, he lowered his lashes and gazed quietly at his face, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

Utterly oblivious, Dr. Feng was absorbed in connecting his processor to Luan's body, itching to dissect him bit by bit. However, he had to do it very, very carefully as he had promised Luan not to mess with his basic configuration. For such a sophisticated virtual character like Luan, his main source code ought to be complex with layers of stringent security. Dr. Feng had foreseen long hours of working on it, but he did not mind at all. As long as he could satisfy this surging curiosity, he was willing to put in time and effort – even if it would take him months to solve it. 

However, never had he expected that… he, of all people, could not crack Luan's codes!

[You do not have the authority to view the files.]

Disbelief was etched on Dr. Feng's face when he heard this. He was literally the person with the highest clearance security in the entire research institute. And because he was the creator of the system itself, automatically he would be given special privilege to mess however he wanted! It was his entire right to do so! Alas, to think that one day, he would hear 'you do not have the authority' coming from the system itself…

Could it be—

A bizarre possibility suddenly popped up in his mind. Dr. Feng snapped his head up and found that Luan had been watching him since God-knows-when. For a split second, he forgot what he was going to say when he looked into Luan's dark and compelling eyes. 

He had known how beautiful these eyes were early on, but in such close proximity, the charm seemed to have been magnified a few folds. Being stared at so fixedly like this gave him the impression of being buoyed amidst a boundless stretch of ocean by a set of gentle, undulating waves. Warm and all-encompassing.

No, snap out of it, Feng!

He shook his head and mentally reminded himself to check whether Luan had been equipped with some kind of hypnotic ability. Otherwise, why would he always fall into a daze whenever he looked into Luan's eyes?!

"What's wrong?" Luan took the initiative to ask after seeing Dr. Feng in deep thoughts.

"Nothing," he shook his head. "Something is weird. I can't seem to view your codes. There is no way something like this could happen unless…"

"Unless?" There seemed to be a hint of anticipation in Luan's voice, as if he was just waiting for Dr. Feng to guess the answer himself.

Dr. Feng scrutinized the virtual character in front of him closely. All the scattered pieces of clues in his mind slowly gathered to form a theory which he had eliminated firsthand simply because the possibility of it happening was close to nil. However, like the famous saying goes, when you have eliminated the impossible, then whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. 

"Luan, you…" Dr. Feng swallowed hard. His heart started to beat faster for reasons he could not comprehend. "I have always taken you as a virtual character born by the system. However, I have the highest authority over the system, and thus there is no way it can block me out. Unless… you are… the system itself?" 

Dr. Feng held his breath sharply as he waited for Luan's answer.

In that matter of seconds, his mind had never stopped working. The more he thought about it, the more feasible it was. In the first place, the fact that Luan had always appeared by Cyrus' side already warranted enough suspicion. His quiet existence, how he could always come and go without leaving a trace, how he could stay by Cyrus' side without alerting anyone, and how… he could prevent Dr. Feng from reading his codes. 

If… If Luan was the manifestation of the system itself, then everything made sense!

The hint of smile in Luan's eyes deepened until it finally overflowed into chuckles that fell smoothly off his lips. "I have been waiting so long for you to notice it…" he leaned forward slightly until they were on the same eye level, and even though Dr. Feng knew that this virtual body would not be able to touch him, he still subconsciously took a step back. 

Luan did not take his cautious behavior to heart. He mirthfully finished his sentence, "...Daddy."

Dr. Feng recalled countless instances when he had addressed himself as 'Daddy' when he was alone in his office before, and he fell into a momentary lapse of silence.

For the first time ever, the renowned and prodigy Head Administrator, who feared neither Gods or demons, learned how it felt to be so mortified he wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

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Mini theater

Admin God's dilemma:

#1 The system I created has suddenly taken a human form and showed up in front of me. What to do?

#2 My son has grown up to be so big and handsome. Daddy is feeling conflicted.

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