The Fragile Creator

Ye Shengge noticed something was wrong the moment he pushed the door open.

He remembered clearly that when he left, the basement door had been wide open. Why was it closed again now that he had returned to move the other dolls?

Could it have been that perverted lecherous ghost?

At that thought, his heart sank.

[Are you still going in?] the system asked suddenly.

Ye Shengge’s eyelashes fluttered as he gripped the handle of the cart. He whispered: [Yes.]

He had to go in; otherwise, wouldn’t he just be letting that perverted ghost take advantage of him for nothing?

Besides, he had already successfully moved one doll out. If he couldn’t maintain balance and move the others, what would those dolls think? They would definitely hate him even more because of the disparity in treatment.

To ensure his previous efforts weren’t wasted, he had to make this trip to the basement.

After finishing his mental preparation, Ye Shengge pushed the basement door open gently, fearing he might disturb the perverted ghost inside.

However, after opening the door, what he saw was not the ghost, but a display case missing two feet and a large chunk of wood.

He instinctively frowned and muttered to himself: “That’s strange. Why is such a large piece of the display case broken?”

The upper half of the case looked brand new, but the bottom half was tattered, leaning crookedly against the floor and threatening to collapse at any moment.

Furthermore, the dolls inside didn’t look as bright and polished as before; they even looked a bit wilted. The case was messy, and the dolls’ sitting postures had shifted slightly.

No matter how he looked at it, something was off—as if they had just experienced a fierce struggle and then hurriedly returned to their original positions, forgetting to tidy up the case.

While the analogy wasn’t perfect, it was close enough.

However, Ye Shengge didn’t overthink it, assuming the ghost and the five dolls had some internal conflict. Feeling relieved, he set to work moving another doll with renewed energy.

This time, he didn’t pick one of the triplets. Instead, he chose the doll hidden in the deepest corner, whose full face he hadn’t yet seen.

Aside from the triplets, the one Ye Shengge was most curious about was the very first doll abandoned by the dollmaker—the one with the deepest resentment.

The first abandoned doll was placed in the corner of the display case. Its large frame was crammed into such a narrow space that it looked incredibly pitiable, its body curled tightly together.

Ye Shengge reached out to pull the doll’s arm, expecting such a large frame to be heavy. To his surprise, it felt as light as foam; it came out with a gentle tug, let alone the great strength he had actually applied.

If he hadn’t pulled back in time, he would have tumbled onto the cart along with the doll. He might even have had intimate contact with the most resentful doll.

At that point, the doll who already hated him would surely think he was unrepentant and intentionally taking liberties, making it hate him even more.

Ye Shengge felt lucky once again.

Fortunately, he had stopped himself in time and wasn’t misunderstood by the resentful doll.

However, the worried Ye Shengge didn’t know that after he pulled back, a flash of regret crossed the eyes of the resentful doll slumped in the corner.

Although it had initially reduced its own weight to make things easier for the beautiful dollmaker, it had been fully prepared for intimate contact when the dollmaker pulled so hard.

The first abandoned doll had even secretly thought that even if they didn’t touch during the fall, it could create an opportunity for contact itself.

Who would have thought the beautiful dollmaker would react so quickly? He let go just in time, making the entire plan fall through.

But it didn’t matter, because it guessed the dollmaker had come back to take it upstairs.

Just like that lucky triplet doll.

Even though it wasn’t the only one being moved, it was confident it would be more favored than the others.

Because only it knew the beautiful dollmaker’s deepest little secret.

It was just a bit of a pity that such a good opportunity to move was wasted.

But when the beautiful dollmaker reached out to hug it again, it couldn’t think of anything else. If dolls had hearts, its heart would likely have leapt out of its chest.

This time, Ye Shengge controlled his strength and smoothly pulled the corner doll out.

After placing the foam-light doll onto the cart, Ye Shengge was very happy.

Though he didn’t know why this resentful doll had been merciful enough to lose weight, he could declare that this was the easiest transport yet.

Because it was so easy, Ye Shengge settled it quickly and ran back to the basement without stopping to move the remaining four dolls.

By the time all four were moved, it was already night. After washing up on the first floor, Ye Shengge was so exhausted he collapsed onto the sofa.

He still found it hard to believe that he had moved them all by himself; he was truly impressive.

Indeed, a person’s potential is infinite when pushed.

Once he accumulated enough points to leave the Horror Live Game and return to the real world, his brother would surely be shocked to see how much he had grown.

Thinking of this, Ye Shengge felt both tired and happy.

But soon, he lowered his head dejectedly, feeling a bit of bitterness in his heart.

He missed his brother.

Although his brother wasn’t related to him by blood, and many people told him his brother was only being nice to “kill him with kindness”—turning him into a spoiled, useless second-generation heir to take over the Ye Corporation—Ye Shengge never took those words to heart.

Because those people never knew how good his brother actually was to him.

When Ye Shengge was thirteen, his parents died in a car accident orchestrated by desperate enemies. Members of the extended family circled the Ye family like hawks, fighting to be his guardian just to get their hands on the corporation.

Ye Shengge, who had been well-protected by his parents since childhood, watched in a daze as those elders—who had always been kind to him—argued hideously over his guardianship. He didn’t understand why they had all changed overnight.

He was terrified and didn’t dare say a word, trying to shrink into the corner to lower his presence.

But those people weren’t going to give up such a good opportunity.

He didn’t know who started it, but someone grabbed him and pulled him in front of the crowd, their face twisted as they demanded to know if he wanted them as his guardian.

More and more people did the same, surrounding him and twisting his arms or other parts of his body to force a choice out of him.

The blow of his parents’ death was already too much; combined with the interrogation, Ye Shengge’s emotions collapsed, and large tears fell from his eyes.

Even then, the relatives blinded by greed wouldn’t let him go. They called him stupid while impatiently forcing him for an answer.

They were truly a nest of snakes and rats.

Ye Shengge resisted them all and didn’t want to choose any of them.

He would rather live with the butler.

But he didn’t even dare say that, fearing they would target the butler.

That was when his brother appeared.

Unlike Ye Shengge, his brother came from an orphanage. He had been sponsored by the Ye family due to his great talent and had skipped several grades with excellent grades. He had started his own business while completing his studies. He was far more stable than his peers.

With a forceful attitude that left no room for resistance, he cleared out the extended family, became Ye Shengge’s legal guardian, and took temporary control of the Ye Corporation.

To Ye Shengge, the brother who did all this was as powerful as a god.

From then on, Ye Shengge respected this non-blood brother immensely. He wouldn’t let anyone say a bad word about him and was fiercely protective.

At first, no one had high hopes for this temporary leader who had just turned eighteen. No matter how successful a college startup was, it couldn’t compare to the scale of the Ye family. They expected the giant to fall.

Yet, to everyone’s surprise, the young temporary leader not only managed the company well but took it to a higher level, making it an unshakeable existence.

Unable to touch the corporation, ill-intentioned people turned their gaze to the young master of the Ye family, intentionally saying ambiguous things to create conflict between the brothers.

However, this pampered heir—who supposedly knew nothing but how to spend money—was too “stupid.” Not only did he disbelieve them, but he also angrily warned them never to say such things again, continuing to be a devoted younger brother.

Ye Shengge didn’t do this because he was brainless as others thought, but because he knew his brother didn’t covet the Ye Corporation at all. His brother could build an equivalent empire on his own; it would just take more time.

Furthermore, even if his brother wanted the corporation, he wouldn’t fight for it. He knew his own strength was insufficient to keep it running; the entire company would go down with him, and many employees would lose their jobs.

Ye Shengge didn’t want to hurt anyone. He didn’t have much ambition or drive, and his desire to spend money wasn’t strong. Living off the dividends and interest from his shares would last him several lifetimes.

It would have been a good life, but just as he received his university admission notice and planned to live as a “salted fish” (lazy person), a bug in the system pulled him into the Horror Live Game.

Although it had been less than a week since he left the real world, Ye Shengge had never been away from his brother for so long. He missed him terribly.

If only he could see his brother…

As he thought, sleepiness washed over him.

Ye Shengge rubbed his eyes and let out a tired yawn. He was too exhausted to climb the stairs to the bedroom. Clutching a throw pillow, he curled up on the sofa and fell asleep.

In his sleep, the youth seemed to dream of something happy. His moist, alluring lips curled up slightly, making him look soft and adorable.

He slept quietly curled on the sofa; anyone who saw him would feel their heart soften.

This scene was witnessed by the resentful doll who had broken through its seal and stepped out of its room to collect some “benefits” from Ye Shengge.

The ambiguous thoughts in its mind vanished instantly.

The resentful doll turned back to the guest room and brought out a blanket. It gently covered the beautiful dollmaker, then knelt on the floor, resting its chin on its hand to watch him sleep. Its eyes held a tenderness that even it didn’t realize.

The harsh crystal lamp in the living room suddenly went out.

A gentle voice rang out.

“Sleep.”