The voice still rang directly in their minds.
But the bug must have persisted, because even Jian Yi and Xu Ru heard it.
Both of them jolted in shock.
Thanks to the prior shared consciousness, though, they had some mental preparation.
However, 996’s shrill screech jolted Shen Ju awake.
He’d still been feverish and muddled, but now he was scared wide awake—his eyes even flew open.
Shen Ju was still a bit dazed. Before his eyes fully opened, he grumbled to 996: [Brother 996, what’s wrong with you…]
I am? 996 thought.
I’m done for!!!
After Shen Ju spoke, his eyes opened fully.
The moment they did, he spotted Qin Soxi right across from him.
He blinked, convinced it was an illusion.
So he shifted his gaze to the side…
Jian Yi.
Then further…
Pei Yan.
Then…
Guan Mulin, Guan Muya, Guan Lifeng…
And Xu Ru at the very back.
Shen Ju stared with wide eyes for a long moment, then slowly closed them again.
Hallucination. It has to be.
[Brother 996, I think I just saw Mom and Dad, Big Bro and Second Bro, and Pei Ge.]
996: […]
Why don’t you open your eyes and look again?
Anyway, it didn’t dare say a word.
It was terrified, boo hoo.
Humans are scarier than ghosts, boo hoo hoo.
Could it make it to the supernatural world in time now…
Jian Yi couldn’t hold back anymore. “Shen Chirp, you’re saying you asked this thing called 996 to help restore my left hand?!”
996 grumbled softly: [I’m not a ‘thing.’]
Eh, wait.
No, actually…
Wait, is it or isn’t it?!
996’s code glitched into chaos.
Shen Ju was confused too.
He opened his eyes again, now fully scared sober.
The fright worked better than any medicine.
This whole room full of people wasn’t a hallucination.
Shen Ju slowly sat up, still dazed, perched on the top bunk.
He shifted his feet, wondering if he should climb down.
Pei Yan reached out to block him, while Jian Yi spoke up directly: “Don’t come down. Let’s get this all straightened out first.”
Shen Ju was surrounded.
Pei Yan tapped the bed rail. “Chirp, can your System come out and talk?”
Guan Muya glanced at Pei Yan.
He tsked inwardly.
He’d barely ever called him ‘Chirp’ himself.
Shen Ju was still out of it, mouth opening and closing.
Pei Yan sighed. “Actually, we’ve been able to hear your conversations with the System since the banquet where your identity was first officially revealed—at He Yuan, after we all fell into the pond together.”
“I’m sorry it took this long to tell you.”
Why aren’t you apologizing to us? Guan Muya thought.
Shen Ju’s mind was still sluggish.
It took him a moment to process Pei Yan’s words.
Once he did, his eyes slowly widened.
“!!!!!!!”
996: See? Now you get how I feel!!!
Shen Ju slowly turned his head, looking at Qin Soxi, who was closest to him.
Qin Soxi nodded with red-rimmed eyes. “Yes, baby. Mom and Dad, and your brothers—we’ve known about your tasks all along, the persona you’ve been playing, and even just recently, when the task ended and you were supposed to be ‘kicked out’ of the Guan Family. We know everything. Don’t worry—Mom and Dad and your brothers will figure something out. How could we ever let you actually leave us?”
When Pei Yan heard Qin Soxi mention that Shen Ju’s final task ending meant being “kicked out” of the Guan Family, a flicker passed through his eyes.
So that’s the thing I didn’t know about?
No wonder.
Pei Yan looked back at Shen Ju, only to see him go blank again after Qin Soxi’s words, huddled in his blanket on the bed like he’d short-circuited.
Shen Ju tried to piece together the situation.
So…
Ever since he’d arrived at the Guan Family—not long after—from the first time at He Yuan, from that banquet, from after he and Pei Yan fell into the pond together—whether it was Pei Yan or his family, they’d all been able to hear every conversation between him and 996?!
So they’d known about his tasks from the start, known about the persona he was playing, and probably now knew why he had to do it all…
Shen Ju thought back.
He recalled everything he’d said to 996 each time.
Once he did…
[Aaaahhhhhh!!!]
996: Right? I get it.
I totally get it.
Shen Ju wanted to pull the blanket over his head.
His mind was clear now, his body no longer heavy—he really wanted to slip out of bed and sneak away.
But Jian Yi had grabbed the blanket with his right hand.
Jian Yi was sharp. From Qin Soxi’s words alone, he’d pieced together a lot.
Everything came with conditions and costs—especially restoring his disabled left hand, something like creating from nothing. That wasn’t possible under normal circumstances.
So what persona was Shen Ju playing?
And he had to get kicked out of the Guan Family…
After transferring to Qichen, he’d seen how Shen Ju interacted with Guan Mulin and the others.
Sometimes, Jian Yi had thought Shen Ju had just relaxed after arriving at the Guan Family, no longer holding back, so his speech and behavior had changed. But it turned out… it was all deliberate disguise?
Most importantly, Shen Ju was doing all this for him—and in the end, leaving the Guan Family?!
Jian Yi refused to accept it. He couldn’t accept it.
“Shen Chirp!”
Jian Yi’s voice trembled. “So you made a deal with this… thing, all for me?”
This time, 996 didn’t snap back.
Humans are so cunning. No safe way to respond to insults.
“What exactly is going on? Explain it clearly!”
Jian Yi’s emotions surged, his chest heaving.
“I… Bro, I…”
Shen Ju stammered, unsure how to respond.
He was still in shock, feeling stark naked in broad daylight—desperate to hide.
“Chirp, have your System explain.”
Pei Yan brought up 996 again, speaking measuredly: “If I haven’t misjudged, the reason we can hear you and the System is probably because your System had a bug from early on—one it never noticed. Even so, your family and I never pointed out that massive flaw. On the contrary, once we realized how badly you wanted to complete the tasks, we cooperated and assisted.”
Shen Ju and 996 both recalled how one task had stalled with zero progress at first, but then suddenly smoothed out later.
So it was because his family had been actively cooperating?!
But 996 wasn’t just realizing—it trembled anew at Pei Yan’s words.
Humans are terrifying!!
“So, since things have reached this point—and even the recent exposure wasn’t our doing, now with two more people in the know—why not use this chance to lay everything out? If we all know, maybe we can cooperate properly. But if Chirp’s System refuses to cooperate, and we already know…”
Pei Yan smiled. “That could end badly. After all, being forced to know about this makes us the aggrieved parties.”
996: […]
If it could, it would wail at the top of its lungs!
This is a threat, right?!
Right!!!
It might as well reset to factory settings!
Why was its first task this hard?! So hard!!
996’s core crumbled inwardly.
But thinking of its host, it sniffled and emerged from Shen Ju’s body.
A glowing blue orb.
Streams of code flickered across its surface, giving it a futuristic tech vibe.
Everyone held their breath at the sight of 996.
Knowing it existed was one thing—seeing it was another.
“Okay.”
996 perched on Shen Ju’s knee. “My host did indeed accept the tasks to restore Jian Yi’s left hand.”
“We needed the host to act as the control group for this world’s Protagonist Shou, while also advancing the emotional progress between the Protagonist Shou and Protagonist Gong, serving as a key linking point at critical moments.”
996 scratched its little tendril on its ‘head.’ “If the world line proceeds normally, it generates energy—and part of that can be the reward for the host…”
“What if the tasks aren’t completed?”
Jian Yi cut in. “And who are the Protagonist Shou and Protagonist Gong?”
Guan Mulin: “…”
Everyone except Pei Yan caught on.
Right—who?
But instinctively, they all turned toward Guan Mulin…
Shen Ju’s main task target had been Mulin.
So the System’s Protagonist Shou and Protagonist Gong…?!
Qin Soxi opened her mouth. “A-Lin, you never told us about this…”
Guan Mulin’s expression confirmed he knew.
He must have heard it while with Shen Ju—but they’d never caught these details.
Guan Mulin hadn’t expected to be socially mortified too.
He tugged his lips dryly. How was he supposed to bring this up?
“That’s not the issue now.”
Pei Yan spoke up, glancing at Jian Yi. “As for the tasks, Chirp’s family already tested cooperating to advance progress. But the problem is—even if completed, Shen Ju still has to leave his family because of the persona. I suspect the final ‘kicked out of the Guan Family’ point stems from the persona he’s playing.”
996 was numb: “…Yeah, that’s right…”
Jian Yi’s face darkened further. Now that he understood, he blurted without thinking: “Since Shen Chirp took this task for me, if I’m unwilling, can we—”
“Don’t do it.”
Someone beat him to it.
Jian Yi froze. So did Shen Ju.
Everyone turned to Xu Ru, standing at the back.
“Don’t do the task.”
Xu Ru repeated, her voice strained.
“Auntie…”
Shen Ju’s lips moved.
“I have to admit, I want my son whole more than anyone. But… I can’t…”
Xu Ru choked up, hands covering her eyes.
Anyone could see her torment.
But Xu Ru knew she couldn’t—had no right to—let Shen Ju pay this price.
She couldn’t just watch…
Xu Ru’s mind had never been clearer.
She knew she had to speak.
And even if she agreed, Jian Yi probably wouldn’t.
She didn’t want him resenting or hating her.
Though she desperately wanted her son whole.
If she could take Shen Ju’s place, pay any price—she would.
But she couldn’t…
Xu Ru closed her eyes, steadying herself.
She looked up at Jian Yi.
Her eyes conveyed the same as his.
Follow your heart.
Jian Yi looked away, to the squat orb on Shen Ju’s knee. “I don’t know what you are exactly, but I’m a party to this. I don’t want my left hand restored. I don’t want Shen Ju doing these tasks. I reject any reward from successful completion—and besides, the tasks are already like this, basically failed. Can you just take them back?”
“Bro—”
Shen Ju grew anxious.
“Shut up.”
Jian Yi glared, eyes red and raw.
Shen Ju pressed his lips together.
Honestly, with the task exposed like this—everyone involved knowing, and having known for ages—continuing…
“But tasks can’t just stop on a dime…”
996 flattened on Shen Ju’s knee. “Um… higher-ups don’t know about these bugs yet. If we can just push through smoothly…”
“No.” Jian Yi’s face twisted with fury.
996’s voice cracked with grievance: “But you all just said you could cooperate, boo hoo…”
Jian Yi: “…”
Whoever said that, go complain to them!
“Anyway, I don’t agree—”
“Why don’t you ask Shen Ju’s opinion?”
Pei Yan glanced at Shen Ju and sighed. “He’s already persisted this far.”
Jian Yi pressed his lips together and looked toward Shen Ju.
Shen Ju sniffled. “I want to do it.”
“Shen Chirp…”
“It’s not just for Bro!”
Shen Ju’s voice grew louder. “Bro, your hand… that’s been a thorn in my side too!”
“We’ve persisted this far. If I just give up now… if I abandon it just like that, I won’t be able to accept it.”
“I’ll feel even worse…”
As he spoke, Shen Ju’s eyes reddened.
He knew everyone was thinking of him.
Now that everything was out in the open, even Xu Ru was telling him not to do the tasks anymore. But how could Shen Ju say he was quitting and actually quit?
Pei Yan had hit the nail on the head—he really didn’t want to abandon the tasks after coming this far.
“We can make two-pronged preparations.”
Pei Yan spoke up again at that moment.
Taking advantage of his height, he reached out and patted Shen Ju’s fist clenched at his side. He lifted his gaze to meet Shen Ju’s, offering a reassuring smile that eased Shen Ju’s heart.
996 tightened its voice. It takes back what it said about Pei Yan being a good person!
Today, it had truly witnessed it—this guy was the most terrifying one here!
But…
If he could offer some constructive advice, 996 couldn’t help wanting to hear it.
Otherwise, with all these bugs one after another, seriously dropping the ball like this, getting reset to factory settings would be the best outcome. It dreaded any real punishment—that would be a fate worse than death, wuwu.
So…
“What kind of two-pronged preparations?” 996 muttered softly.
Pei Yan raised an eyebrow. “You can quietly look into whether there’s any way to end the tasks midway. Meanwhile, we keep doing the tasks on the other front.”
Jian Yi frowned, as if he had something to say.
“I know what everyone’s most worried about is Shen Ju getting ‘kicked out’ of the Guan Family at the end.”
Pei Yan looked around at them. “But since we can cooperate with the task progress, faking that part isn’t impossible. After all… getting ‘kicked out’ can have more than one interpretation.”
The others reacted differently.
Seizing the moment, Pei Yan continued, “Conveniently, doesn’t Shen Ju still have that task involving me to complete?”
He turned to 996.
996 let out an “Ah” and subconsciously replied, “Yeah, but…”
But now that everything’s exposed, doing it or not doesn’t make a difference, right?
Before it could finish, Pei Yan cut it off:
“In that case, if Shen Ju needs to complete that task in the end, he can get engaged to me.”
The Guan Family members: “…”
Jian Yi: “…”
What did he just say?
![I Stood Alone in My Own Beauty [Rebirth]](https://i1.wp.com/dobynovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/be.jpg?resize=151,215 "I Stood Alone in My Own Beauty [Rebirth]")
Pei Yan I have got to respect your confidence in basically proposing in front of all your future in laws. Also it just makes me feel like you have been playing the long game to reach this situation.
Thanks for the chapter ❤️
I knew it!!!! First when they mentioned that Shen ju has to get kicked out/leave, the first thought that came to mind was him marrying Pei ge and “leaving the house”😼 Bwahahaha, I’m a genius 😎
Well done bro~! But I admit with @ShapesofSpace. This guy got guts to say that in front of the entire in-law gang(minus MC’s gramps)🤣
Tsk tsk, this opportunist