That Elusive and Mysterious Male Lead (10)

The system deeply agreed with Si Jiu’s sigh. Normally, no creature could survive such wounds. The injuries on the black dragon were not only severe but also impossible to heal. Yet it had endured for thousands of years, the pain it must have suffered unimaginable.

“It’s truly pitiful, but…”

“Let’s go find Charles.”

The system was silent. Sorry, I misjudged you.

This host was not the type to faint at the sight of small animals bleeding; rather, she was the devil who would say, “Rabbits are so cute, they should be eaten spicy.”

“Right now it should be unconscious. If I don’t make a run for it now, when will I?”

Si Jiu turned to leave without a second thought, but then… she was promptly bundled up by tentacles conjured from the mist and sent straight back.

“Damn it!”

“For centuries, no offering sent in has ever returned. Do you know why?”

Si Jiu was exhausted.

She sat cross-legged before the black dragon’s head. “So when it wakes up, will it eat me?”

“It doesn’t eat people. Not even enough to fill its teeth.”

“Then how did those offerings die?”

“Some got lost in the mist, some died of fright. But most, well…”

A sense of foreboding rose in Si Jiu’s chest as the system sheepishly replied, “They starved to death.”

“Damn it.”

She stood up abruptly, approached the dragon, and patted its head. “Hey.”

The system was silent.

“Wake up. Let me out.”

The black dragon didn’t move an inch.

Si Jiu stroked her chin, then suddenly hugged one of the dragon’s whiskers and swung it forcefully. “Wake up, it’s morning!” She practically shouted.

The black dragon remained unmoved, like a mountain.

“It’s not dead, is it?”

The system replied, “Why don’t you try kissing it?”

Si Jiu’s gaze sharpened instantly, nearly crashing the system.

“So, the way to unlock the male lead in this world is indeed a kiss?”

Her tone was questioning, but her voice held certainty.

Si Jiu sneered. Clearly, the system was hiding something from her.

“I don’t know, honestly.”

“You’re terrible at lying, you know that?”

The system was silent for a long time.

“Remember, you’re my bound system. In every sense, we’re one and the same. If I succeed, you benefit. If I fail, you lose.

I’m giving you one last chance…”

The system couldn’t hold back any longer. “Please don’t push me. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, I simply can’t… zzz… zzzt…”

“System?”

No response.

“Sys?”

“System?”

Si Jiu’s heart sank bit by bit.

After a long while, the system’s voice returned, weak and faint. “Host…”

“Forget it. I know. I won’t push you.”

A soft whimper.

Si Jiu said nothing.

“Host, believe me, I won’t harm you. Your performance is tied directly to my own interests, so why would I hurt myself?

I’ll help you as much as my permissions allow.

You must trust me, host.”

Si Jiu narrowed her eyes. “Call me daddy.”

The system fell silent.

Its behavior was truly odd. But as it said, every system and its host share a symbiotic relationship; their interests are intertwined.

No matter how absent-minded this system was, it was still advanced intelligence and wouldn’t fail to understand this.

Si Jiu decided to let it go for now.

As for whether someone was targeting her, she would eventually find out.

“You want me to kiss this dragon because you suspect it’s the male lead?”

The system responded hastily, “I don’t know the male lead’s identity before you unlock it, but there’s a special resonance between me and the male lead. This resonance guides me to search for and select the host body closest—or soonest to be most closely connected—to the male lead.

At first, I thought Charles was the male lead. But as you interacted with him, I felt nothing special.

And if you ask which host body is about to have the closest connection, isn’t it the Dragon God?

Moreover, the moment you approached it, my resonance grew intense.”

“So in the second world, when I was just transferred over and happened to be near Qi Yan, you sensed he might be the male lead and had me intercept him?”

“Yes. And once the conditions are sufficient, I can learn how to unlock the male lead’s identity.

This time, it’s a kiss. I’m certain.”

“Well analyzed.” Si Jiu nodded, thinking silently. It seemed the system had many restrictions.

But whether these were department regulations or just applied to her own system, she didn’t yet know.

“So before, when the trigger hint reacted to Charles, what was that about?”

The system hesitated. “I really don’t know.”