Chapter 33 – When the Body Gives Out
The relentless cycle of emotional trauma, digital warfare, and near-starvation finally took its devastating toll.
The separation from Gu Yanzhou, the very man the System had deemed her "Primary Variable" for survival, had fatally compromised her stability.
During a physically demanding team challenge on the set—a scene involving a strenuous relay race—Xiao Xi's body simply gave out.
Her legs, driven only by willpower for weeks, buckled without warning.
Her vision blurred into a terrifying kaleidoscope of white light and darkness.
The world spun, the ground rushing up to meet her.
"Xiao Xi!" several horrified cast members shouted.
She collapsed, the desperate effort to stay conscious failing at the last moment.
Someone caught her just before her head hit the hard, uneven ground.
A strong, familiar arm wrapped instantly around her waist, pulling her flush against a solid, warm chest.
A familiar scent of expensive cologne and fear.
Gu Yanzhou.
He wasn't supposed to be there.
He wasn't filming.
He wasn't scheduled for anything even remotely close to the studio lot.
But he appeared the moment she fell, as if his soul knew before his eyes did, defying his mother, defying the distance, defying common sense.
"Ambulance! Now!" he barked, his voice raw, overriding the shocked silence of the film crew.
Her lashes fluttered weakly.
She recognized the crushing urgency in his grip.
"You're… here…" she mumbled, the words slurring together.
"I'll always be here," he whispered, bending low over her, unable to hide the profound, shattering fear reflected in his shaking hands.
The system, jolted by the physical trauma and the overwhelming presence of the Primary Variable, flickered back to a momentary urgency:
[Host physical damage detected. Severe malnutrition. Luck circulation unstable.]
[Warning: Host life at risk. Primary Variable proximity stabilizing physical state.]
Xiao Xi tried to sit up, a final, desperate attempt to reclaim her independence, but Gu Yanzhou pressed her gently back down into his arms.
"Stop pretending you're strong, Xiao Xi," he commanded, his voice laced with protective pain.
"Stop fighting.
For once… just let someone catch you."
She wanted to answer.
Wanted to whisper his name.
Wanted to tell him that she hated the lies and loved him.
Wanted to hold onto him and never let go.
But consciousness slipped away, the final image in her mind the tormented, terrified face of the man who wasn't supposed to be alive.