CHAPTER 64 – The Hacker Returns
That night, back at the secluded safehouse, the fragile domesticity of their new life was violently interrupted.
Xiao Xi stepped out of the shower and into the bedroom.
Gu sat on the edge of the bed, a towel in his hands, ready to dry her hair gently.
"You were gone for too long on set today," he murmured, pulling her close.
"You scared me, Xiao Xi."
Her chest tightened with immediate love and guilt.
"You worry too much, Yanzhou."
He cupped her face, his gaze searching hers.
"You're my entire world.
I'm allowed to worry."
Her heart melted—
until the wall-mounted television, which was supposed to be completely offline and encrypted, flickered on by itself.
Static.
White noise.
A violent, shrieking sound.
And then—a horrifyingly distorted face appeared on the screen, fragmented by digital corruption.
The Hacker.
The voice was glitchy, warped, and almost inhuman, echoing from the speakers.
"Well, well… Look who's rewriting my core code.
You really thought a kiss could save you, little anomaly?"
Xiao Xi froze, the damp towel slipping from her grasp.
Gu instantly stood up, towering over her, protecting her with his body.
The hacker laughed, the sound cold and inhuman.
"Your world is unstable because I've infected the system again.
And this time, Gu Yanzhou…"
The screen distorted with violent digital pulses, filling the room with blinding static.
"I'm not just targeting the story. I'm targeting the source code."
Gu grabbed the remote, slamming buttons—but the hacker's voice echoed from inside the room itself, radiating from the walls, the ceiling, the speakers, the phone on the nightstand.
"I'm targeting you, Xiao Xi.
Your existence is my flaw."
Her system screamed in her mind, a final, terminal alert:
[Danger level: EXTREME. Core life support compromised.]
[Unauthorized override detected. Direct Host attack initiated.]
Xiao Xi gasped, clutching her chest as a sharp, systemic pain shot through her heart—a digital coronary.
Gu caught her instantly, his face contorted with panic.
"What did you do to her!?" he roared at the flickering screen.
The hacker chuckled darkly, victoriously.
"Just a little rewrite.
After all… you two shouldn't exist in any form."
Xiao Xi's vision blurred into an agonizing haze of static and pain.
Gu yelled her name, his voice frantic—
but everything went black, the physical world replaced by the silent, digital void.