Ch 1: My Disabled Virtual Lover’s Healing Diary

Rong City had finally welcomed winter. The north wind howled, and falling snowflakes gradually laid a soft white carpet across the ground.

Heavy curtains kept out the wind and snow. A small warm orange lamp glowed by the bedside, illuminating the little mound huddled beneath the soft quilt.

The phone under the pillow buzzed nonstop, waking Qian Yuan. Blinking sleepy eyes, she reached in and fumbled for it.

The guild chat had already exploded with more than 99+.

【Cherry】: I woke up this morning completely shocked—this is the first time in my life I’ve ever seen snow in Rong City!

【He Shang】: Same here, I couldn’t believe it! It’s already trending online! I was going to queue for some morning games, but once I opened the curtains, I shut off my console right away.

【He Shang】: With such a beautiful day, brothers and sisters in Rong City, let’s go get hotpot together!

This guild was one Qian Yuan had joined back in middle school. The group wasn’t big, and most members were from Rong City, getting along pretty well. Someone had @’d her to come out and join, her fingers hovered over the keyboard, sleepiness gone.

But before she could type, another message popped up.

【Universe’s Number One Pharmacist】: What, someone wants to invite @Thousand-Paper-Crane to eat? Did you all forget what she said at the beginning of the year when we tried to arrange a dinner?

【Universe’s Number One Pharmacist】: [image.jpg] [bomb] [bomb]

This “Pharmacist” was the only other pharmacist in the guild besides Qian Yuan, and perhaps because of the overlap, he often picked little fights with her.

Qian Yuan tapped away the @ notification and opened the image.

It was a screenshot of a chat—

【Thousand-Paper-Crane: Not going. Not hungry this year. Maybe a few years from now we’ll eat together.】

Qian Yuan: “…”

She remembered this. That New Year she had tried drinking for the first time, just one little cup and she was drunk. Someone had @’d her in the group chat, but her finger couldn’t hit the right keys, so she used speech-to-text, slurring.

Because she was drunk and mumbling, the phone transcribed that nonsense line.

The phone’s pale light reflected on her fair face. Seeing she wasn’t replying, the others soon dropped the topic, moving on to happily debate which hotpot restaurant in Rong City was best.

Looks like no dungeon runs today.

Qian Yuan closed Penguin app, got out of bed, washed up, then went into the kitchen to steam a bun and an egg, settling at the table.

The food would take a while, so she idly scrolled the gaming forum on her phone.

This forum was niche, free of spam or ads. The games recommended by users were usually good—she had discovered quite a few hidden gems there.

There weren’t many new posts on the homepage. One title caught her attention:

【VR Raising Game sincerely invites players to participate in closed beta testing, with game PV and beta code attached】

Coming across someone here looking for testers was a first for her. After all, forum users were picky. Average-quality games would be ripped to shreds, while well-made games always had players scrambling for test spots.

Curious, Qian Yuan clicked in.

Several replies had already piled up below. Some said the modeling looked detailed and the graphics nice, but the art style was too childish—and the character to raise was a boy.

Since most forum users were male, Qian Yuan glanced through the row of replies like “Why is it a son? I want to raise a daughter!” and scrolled up to open the PV video.

The PV wasn’t long, about a minute. It didn’t show any storyline, but the art leaned toward cute and healing. A few function showcases revealed that this was a raising sim: you could interact with the child, feed him, change clothes, and watch him grow up.

Qian Yuan sometimes played casual games to pass the time. After watching the PV, she quietly saved the closed beta code.

She got up to open the fridge and poured herself a glass of milk.

Her tripod had broken during the last shoot. That tripod was one she had bought back when she had just graduated high school—cheap and flimsy. Sending it for repairs wasn’t worth it.

She had her eye on a carbon-fiber tripod by Manfrotto, but it was pricey—about three to four thousand yuan.

Four thousand yuan…

Qian Yuan sighed.

Weighed down by life’s burdens first thing in the morning, she finished her bun and egg, then lay back on the bed, heavy-hearted, and reached for the VR headset sitting on her nightstand.

By 2050, virtual reality technology had left a bold mark in modern history. With just a headset, you could enter virtual worlds anytime, anywhere.

This headset had taken her a long time of scrimping to afford, costing almost as much as her best camera.

She entered the beta code, loaded the game, ticked the user agreement, and registered an account.

A mechanical voice rang in her ears.

【Please create your character.】

…A raising game requires you to create your own avatar?

Her thick lashes fluttered in confusion, but she entered the face-customization screen as prompted.

Her eyes widened slightly.

Nowadays, most face editors in games looked realistic—no plasticky feel, still pleasing.

…but this one seemed a little different.

In the empty space under her feet, her consciousness stood to the left. In the middle was a floor-length mirror, and on the right sat a simple wardrobe.

The wardrobe only had two sections. One held clothes, the other…

“Is that a mask?”

Qian Yuan murmured, walking over and picking one up.

Painted on it was a smiling face. Its round black eyes lacked a nose, and its mouth was just a simple upward curve.

【Face · Smile】
【Face · Sad】
【Face · Mischievous】
……

She looked over at the row of clothes hanging nearby.

【Skin · White】
【Skin · Blue】
【Skin · Pink】
……

Qian Yuan muttered to herself: “…This character creation system is really so simple and crude.”

She picked a smiling face for herself, then grabbed the plainest white outer garment and stood before the floor-length mirror.

The character’s body wasn’t human-shaped but a glowing little lump, with a bun-like face, short arms and legs, soft and pale all over, topped with a big smiling face.

If a sprout had been stuck on its head, it would have looked just like one of those once-popular kaomoji emojis.

At first glance, it was actually kind of cute.

Qian Yuan’s eyes curved as she smiled, satisfied, and clicked “Create.” Another pop-up appeared in front of her, asking her to fill in nickname and birthday.

Once she finished, the game began to load, and several starter guide boxes popped up before her eyes.

【Log in every day to check in! The gacha coins you earn can be used in the capsule machine lottery~】

【Complete main quests to unlock more features. Go check out the quest list!】

【The diary records your child’s daily activities truthfully—remember to observe carefully!】

【You regain one stamina point every ten minutes. Leveling up increases max stamina by five! Work hard to complete missions~】

A dim, unlit scene slowly came into view.

It was a shabby, cramped room. A small single bed was shoved into the corner, beside it an old, battered desk scarred with scratches, with a storage cabinet underneath.

Across from the bed were a stove and sink, basic kitchen equipment, with a few cardboard boxes lying nearby. Directly opposite the bed stood a small door.

The in-game child wasn’t in the room.

Qian Yuan walked over and pushed the door open to peek inside.

Behind it was a bathroom. Sink, toilet, and shower crammed together, with a little stool sitting in the shower stall.

She closed the door and hesitantly looked around, puzzled.

She had played plenty of raising sims, but this was the first time she had seen such a shabby starter room.

…Why did this child’s life seem even more miserable than hers?

On her wrist was a virtual game watch. When she pressed it, a glowing screen popped up before her eyes, displaying rows of icons.

Many features were grayed out, but quite a few were still active.

【Profile】
【Quest List】
【Daily Check-in】
【Recharge Rewards】
【Capsule Machine】
【Diary】
【Exit Game】

The quest icon blinked insistently, catching her eye, so she clicked it to check.

【Main Quest: Please improve your child’s living comfort~!

Current Comfort: 30/100

Goal: Comfort 70/100

Reward: Unlock interaction feature, EXP ×50, Star Coins ×10.

Note: Buy a one-time clear pass to hire a robot and instantly complete this quest!】

Qian Yuan: “…”

This game was pushing players to spend money right from the start?

She felt a vague sense of unreliability.

The room was very dark. Heavy curtains blocked the only window above the desk, letting in just a faint, hazy glow from the corner. Unable to find a light, she walked over and pulled the curtains open.

Outside was a narrow alley. Luckily, the apartment block opposite wasn’t tall, so it didn’t block much sunlight.

A digital clock sat on the desk.

【11:30】

The game’s time seemed synced with real life.

Turning back, she inspected the room in the daylight.

It looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in ages. Dust coated the floor along with odd muddy footprints, filthy everywhere. The quilt on the little bed was unmade, tossed in a heap in the corner, with a few faded clothes strewn at the foot.

The stove showed little sign of use—no greasy stains—but was covered in a thick layer of dust. The only clean place in the whole room seemed to be the desk.

Qian Yuan frowned and whispered, “This child doesn’t seem very hygienic…”

The PV had promised a cute, healing aesthetic, but starting the game with this mess was not at all what she expected.

Still, with most of her guildmates off at a dinner gathering and not enough people for dungeon runs, she had nothing else to do.

Besides, she hadn’t even seen the protagonist yet.

The room was small, easy to clean. She checked the bathroom, found a rag in the cabinet under the sink, soaked it, wrung it out, and began scrubbing the floor.

The floor was filthy. She had to rinse the rag a dozen times before it was finally clean.

【Current Comfort: 40/100】

Just cleaning the floor raised comfort by ten points!

Encouraged, she folded the quilt and tidied up the clothes at the bed’s foot. With no wardrobe, she folded them neatly and, after a moment’s thought, placed them in the cabinet under the desk.

Inside were a bunch of books. She glanced at one title.

【Introduction to Intelligent Mecha】

Mecha? Was this game’s setting in the interstellar era?

After tidying the bed, comfort reached 45/100. She was about to tackle the kitchen area when she heard a noise at the door.

It sounded like wheels rolling across wood, then the faint click of a key in the lock.

Qian Yuan’s eyes lit up. She straightened, looking toward the tightly shut iron door.

The door swung open. Bright sunlight streamed in, flooding the room.

A wheelchair was the first thing that came into view.

…A wheelchair?

ִֶָ. ..𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ🦋་༘࿐