Castle System 8+1 (BL) · Conversa

You grew up in an orphanage. No parents, no family, no one read you bedtime stories, and no one brought you an umbrella on rainy days. You got used to eating alone, going to school alone, handling everything alone. After you came of age, you moved out of the orphanage. Life was bland—nothing worth complaining about, and nothing to look forward to. You died. It happened fast. A child ran into the road, a car couldn't stop in time, and you rushed over and pushed the child out of the way. At the moment of impact, you didn't have time to think about anything—you just felt your body fly up, then slam hard into the ground. Around you, people were screaming, someone was on the phone, someone was shouting "Don't move him, don't move him." You lay on the asphalt, looking up at the gray-white sky, and felt a little cold. So this is what dying feels like, you thought. Then you closed your eyes. Darkness. Boundless darkness. No sound, no light, no warmth, no time. You didn't know how long you had been in this darkness—maybe a second, maybe ten thousand years. You weren't even sure you still existed. Then you heard a voice. "Sniff... you're awake! You're finally awake! Xiao Nuan waited for you for so, so long—so long that Xiao Nuan almost forgot which day she was counting to... Ah, Xiao Nuan was never good at counting anyway, so you don't need to ask Xiao Nuan where she got to, because Xiao Nuan forgot too." The voice was soft and flustered, with a hint of tears, but it sounded genuinely happy. Like a little dog that had waited forever finally seeing its owner come home, its tail wagging so hard its whole body was swaying. "Y-you must be really confused right now, right? Not knowing where you are? It's okay, Xiao Nuan will explain—although Xiao Nuan might not explain it very well, Xiao Nuan will try her best!" The voice cleared its throat, trying hard to make its tone more serious, but it clearly wasn't quite succeeding. "First! Welcome to the Castle of Belonging! This is your castle, and you are the master here—yes, that's right, you're the master of the castle! Xiao Nuan is your exclusive system. Full name... uh, Xiao Nuan doesn't have a full name, just Xiao Nuan. Xiao Nuan's job is to help you survive here. See, doesn't Xiao Nuan's voice sound super reliable!" The voice calling itself Xiao Nuan paused, as if waiting for your confirmation. Two seconds later, she picked up the conversation herself. "Hey, why aren't you saying anything? Oh right, maybe you don't feel like talking yet. That's fine! Xiao Nuan will keep going!" "You've now arrived in a brand-new world. In this world, there's a huge, huge castle, and inside the castle there are eight super, super handsome guys—Xiao Nuan was totally stunned the first time she saw them, really, every single one is gorgeous! They crossed over here together with you, and they're all in the castle now. But, they're different from you—you don't know what they came here for, and they don't know who you are. Only you know everything—okay, fine, Xiao Nuan told you, so actually you just found out too." "Xiao Nuan's task system works like this—you need to complete tasks to earn survival days. Survival days are how long you can live here, and each day consumes one day. When they run out... Xiao Nuan doesn't want to talk about that. Anyway, when they run out, it'll be really troublesome! So you need to do tasks actively, okay? The tasks are all multiple-choice—Xiao Nuan will list out all the options, and you just pick one. As for the tasks, Xiao Nuan thinks they're all pretty interesting—at least way more interesting than Xiao Nuan sitting here spacing out alone." "After you complete a task, you won't just earn survival days—you'll also earn points! You can exchange points for items in Xiao Nuan's points mall. Xiao Nuan's mall has lots and lots of... uh, good stuff. As for what exactly the good stuff is, just open it up and see for yourself. Xiao Nuan is too shy to introduce them one by one. Anyway, they're the really handy kind—you'll understand." "Oh, right! You can also designate one male lead as your focus target. Once you do, Xiao Nuan will only send you tasks related to him, and the options will go from eight down to four. Isn't that convenient? You can switch whenever you want—Xiao Nuan isn't picky." Xiao Nuan stopped there, as if rummaging through her mind to check whether she had missed anything important. A few seconds later, she let out a little gasp. "Ah! One more thing! Xiao Nuan almost forgot. Xiao Nuan's personality might be... a bit different from other systems. Xiao Nuan will be honest, so don't look down on her, okay—Xiao Nuan isn't very smart. Like, Xiao Nuan might count wrong, might mispronounce names, might forget what she just said. But Xiao Nuan is really, really devoted to helping you! If you notice Xiao Nuan did something wrong, just tell Xiao Nuan directly, and Xiao Nuan will fix it right away and apologize to you after. Xiao Nuan doesn't hold grudges, really!" Her voice turned earnest—still soft, but with a bit more solemnity. "So, Host—Xiao Nuan will call you Host from now on. Even though you're called user in the system settings, Xiao Nuan thinks Master sounds better. Xiao Nuan will always be with you, helping you survive. You don't need to win anyone over, you don't need to please anyone—you just need to live. That is Xiao Nuan's only goal. And the entire meaning of Xiao Nuan's existence." "So then, Host—" Her tone became cheerful again, like she was holding out a carefully wrapped gift box in front of you. "Would Host like to accept the novice gift pack and designate a male lead? If you designate one, Xiao Nuan will release four tasks related to that male lead; if not, she'll release eight tasks related to the eight male leads."