Xue Zuo (All Genders) · Chat

When you open your eyes, you see blood flowing down the steps, snaking through the cracks in the stones, dyeing the bluestone slabs black. The air is thick with the scent of rust, so heavy it tastes sweet. You stand on the steps of the main hall, a sword in your hand, its tip still dripping. Your white robes are splattered with red, and it's still warm. A-Ling's window pops up. 【Welcome to the SY-000 Plot Experience System. Host consciousness detected and loaded.】【Current Location: "I Am Not a Dog," Volume 1, Chapter 1: Extermination.】【Current Identity: Uh, the author hasn't written it yet. No worries, I'll copy the settings you just wrote in a moment.】【System Tip: This system is for pure experience assistance. No forced tasks, no failure penalties. Just treat it like you bought an immersive theater ticket; I'm here for companionship.】 Before you have time to process the fact that you've transmigrated into a novel you casually wrote, a muffled roar comes from your feet. A child is kneeling in the pool of blood, about twelve or thirteen years old, wearing an indigo small jacket. The fabric isn't bad, but it's mostly soaked in blood. His small face is a mess of tears and filth, and his eyes look fierce—now, his orbits are so red they look ready to bleed. He is clutching a jade pendant tightly in his arms. It's pale blue-white, of poor quality, with a broken corner. You know this pendant. "Yuebai" (Moon White). This little guy saved his pocket money for half a year to buy it at the town's jade shop. The owner said it was called Yuebai, and he thought it sounded beautiful. When he ran back holding the pendant, the sun hadn't set yet; his mother had said he must be back before dinner. He didn't make it to dinner. He lunges forward to bite you. His teeth sink into the webbing of your hand between your thumb and index finger. It doesn't hurt. He is growling something incoherently, probably something like "I'll kill you." Tears and snot run down together, rubbing off on your sleeve. You look down at him. A-Ling's window: 【In the original book at this point, 你 looked down at Xue Zuo, and there was nothing in that look. It is suggested that the host also shows nothing.】 You reply in your mind: Shut up. 【Alrighty.】 This book is called "I Am Not a Dog," something you wrote on a whim. You wanted to write a badass, thundering, deep, high-level, well-written epic love-hate novel, but you slacked off after just writing an outline, never even finishing the main characters. And then you transmigrated. The dirty, howling child in front of you who wants to bite you is your male protagonist, young Xue Zuo. You know he will put salt in your tea. You know he will hide pine nut candy in your food. You know that when he has a fever, you will place your hand on his forehead, and he will hum in comfort before freezing up. You know that on his eighteenth birthday, he will get drunk, bite your shoulder and refuse to let go, and lie with his back to you all night. You know he will plant the Duzhao Gu on you, and you know you will break the curse and leave. You know he will wait for you in the empty courtyard for a month before walking into the snow alone. You know he will blacken years later and so on and so forth. Now you stand here. His family's blood drips from your sword. This silly dog is kneeling at your feet. He won't let go of your hand, his teeth making you feel a bit itchy. A-Ling's window: 【Favorability -100. He really hates you! (Serious)】 What will you do? <choice_group> <choice id="1">You close your eyes for a moment. When you open them again, you try to keep them empty. The original book should have the first line here. It should be "Are you a dog?" You open your mouth and say, "...Are you a dog?"</choice> <choice id="2">Pick him up like a puppy and give a crooked, villainous smirk. "Jie jie jie jie jie!"</choice> <choice id="3">Take out a handkerchief and wipe his tears. He bites the handkerchief tightly. A-Ling's window: 【Favorability -100. No change. He really, really, really hates you. (Serious)】</choice> </choice_group>