Li Cheng stared at the holographic message hovering in the air.
["Hello again… Li Cheng."]
He nearly dropped the flash drive. "System—why does Qin Ruo sound like a GPS that's about to ruin my life?"
[Clarification: That is NOT me. Also, your life was ruined already.]
"Thanks for the support."
The mysterious voice repeated softly, like an audio file stuck between "scary" and "cute AI assistant."
["Li Cheng… can you hear me?"]
He gulped, then forced himself to stay calm.After all, he was the CEO of RedCore.He had dealt with bugs.And chaos.And Xiaoyu.
He could deal with one talking flash drive.
Li Cheng coughed loudly. "Uh… hello?"
The voice paused...then suddenly glitched.
["H—hello—hello—hello—update_required—coffee_needed—bzzzt—"]
Li Cheng blinked. "...Wait. Did Qin Ruo's voice just ask for coffee?"
The System deadpanned:
[Possibility: 89% chance the voice is corrupted. 11% chance she is genuinely tired.]
Back in the Dorm – Chaos Headquarters
Li Cheng rushed inside to find Xiaoyu standing on a chair, yelling orders like a war general.
"Poet! Stop writing haiku on RedCore's error logs!""Gamer guy! Get your fingers OFF the firewall!""Vlogger girl! Why are you livestreaming my suffering?!"
The vlogger smiled into her phone:"Hashtag Start-Up Life Is Painful!"
Li Cheng sighed. "I leave for 10 minutes and the office turns into a zoo."
"Correction," Xiaoyu said proudly. "A very productive zoo."
He disconnected the flash drive, sat at his desk, and opened it with a basic diagnostic tool.
Instantly—
The screen FLICKERED.Lines of code ran wild.And suddenly…
A pixelated, chibi-style cartoon girl popped onto the screen, waving.
"Hi Li Cheng!!"
Li Cheng froze.Xiaoyu froze.Even the poet froze mid-verse.
"…Is that Qin Ruo?" Li Cheng whispered.
"Nope," the chibi character said cheerfully. "I'm Ai-Ruo! Version 0.1! The cuter, smarter, buggier version of the real Qin Ruo!"
Xiaoyu leaned toward the screen."She's adorable."
Ai-Ruo spun in a circle. "I was inside the flash drive! Waiting to meet you!"
Li Cheng rubbed his face. "Why is everything in my life becoming an anime?"
Ai-Ruo's First Bug
Ai-Ruo hovered proudly. "I have been programmed to give you one message."
Li Cheng sat up straight. "Finally. Something serious."
"Message:" Ai-Ruo cleared her digital throat.
"Your heartbeat increases by 30% when Qin Ruo is near."
Li Cheng nearly choked.Xiaoyu fell onto the floor laughing.The vlogger shouted, "GOLD CONTENT!"The gamer said, "Bro, you're down bad."
Li Cheng slammed his hands on the desk. "THAT IS NOT A REAL MESSAGE!"
"It is!" Ai-Ruo chirped. "Analyzed from your biometric data!"
"System!" he yelled.
[…Unable to deny. Data correct.]
Li Cheng groaned. "I hate everything."
The Unexpected Reveal
Ai-Ruo floated around cheerfully, then paused—glitching again.
"Uhh… Li Cheng?" she said nervously."I think… I'm not supposed to be here yet."
"What do you mean?"
Ai-Ruo blinked, confused.
"I mean… something is trying to access my code."
The lights in the dorm flickered.
The monitors buzzed.
Every device went silent for one second…two seconds…three…
[External Connection Detected][Unknown Signal Attempting Link with RedCore]
Li Cheng leaped from his chair."System! What's happening?!"
[…Processing.][…Error.][Warning: Something bigger than me is trying to connect.]
Xiaoyu grabbed onto Li Cheng's arm. "Bigger than the System?!"
The poet whispered dramatically, "This is how empires fall."
The gamer shouted, "BRO, UNPLUG IT!"
But before anyone could move—
Ai-Ruo's avatar froze.Her eyes turned from bright blue…to red.
The screen cracked with a digital sound.
Then a deep voice—not Qin Ruo, not Ai-Ruo, not the System—echoed through the speakers:
["Found you."]
Every device in the room turned black.