[Restarting Luo Binghe, version 1.0, code name 'Bingge'....]

...Why am I here? Where...?

[User responsive. Function 100%]

Ah, I was dead. Am I in hell?

Bingge waited for the scorching flames and searing pain that the depths of hell that awaits him in the nothingness, but all he can see was pitch black. There was nothing but the same feminine, unfeeling voice that greeted him when he moved to the world of the kind Shen Qingqiu.

[Using new voice for user satisfaction....]

[Welcome back, Luo Binghe.]

Great god sir? 

[Yes, it is I. I'm giving you a chance to live again.]

Why?

[What else but Shen Qingqiu? The wish hasn't been fulfilled yet.]

No. This is enough. I can't face him again, I'm already satisfied with giving him my life and telling him the truth.

[He needs you.]

He needs the Binghe he knows. If you can resurrect lives, why not the Luo Binghe of his world who commited suicide? Why don't you bring him back?

[My gifts are not for free. I only do exchanges, and I offer you a deal to exchange for your life. Would you accept it?]

No.

[Shen Qingqiu asked for it? He wanted you to come back.]

Bingge was shocked, and couldn't contain the excitement in his inner voice.

He did?

[Yes.]

But...

He probably only pity me, or feel guilty for me losing my life.

[... That I cannot answer. ]

Bingge knew it. Shen Qingqiu doesn't need him, he just feels sorry for him. 

[But... whatever he feels about you, he still needs you.]

No, I don't need you to fool me into thinking that to die happily. I'm already glad that I've given him my life, the life of a worthless scum like me who killed millions including the him in my world---

[I meant he literally needs your help. The staff had to be activated by abundant spiritual energy and he currently don't have any, even though his injuries are healed. So he's still trapped inside the Land of the Tender.]

WHAT!? THEN I LOST MY LIFE FOR NOTHING!???

[....More or less. The only people who survived the Land of the Tender was a Daoist demonic cultivator who used the corpses of past victims to take the damage for them and his partner who's skilled in playing the guqin to heal themselves. Your Shizun does not specialize in both of those skills so of course he wouldn't survive alone.]

Bingge gritted his teeth.

Why is this god so unfair?!

[Would you accept my deal?]

Fine! What is it?

[Your pearls would go back to 0 and to compensate for that, there also be a punishment for disobeying the rules.]

Punishment? What kind of punishment?

[You'll face your greatest fear. Do we have a deal?]

Bingge agreed and waited with closed eyes for his punishment as the surroundings change. What could be his greatest fear? Him who was the sole ruler, above anyone else in the world? Him who suffered virtually any pain a man could imagine.

What could he...

He heard familiar wails and screams of pain.

"Shizun!?" He opened his eyes. There was blood everywhere. On the floor, on his clothes, on his hands... and...

"Shizun, are you alright!?" He went towards the limbless man, who turned into a stick. He had experience this before, but it felt so long ago, and his feelings for the man in pain was immensely different.

Before, he was an enemy he defeated. But now, he was his beloved, who he hurt with his own hands. 

"LUO BINGHE! I CURSE YOU, LUO BINGHE! CURSE YOU AND ALL OF YOUR GENERATIONS!" The man shouted. "I ABHOR YOU! I DESPISE YOU! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A RABID DOG!!! HAHAHAHA!!"

"Shizun, it's going to be alright! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He held Shen Qingqiu in his arms but the man wriggled despite not having any arms or legs.

"GET AWAY! GET AWAY! WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING, ACTING ALL NICE?!" The man look scared beyond belief, shrieking at the top of his lungs. "JUST KILL ME ALREADY! JUST KILL ME! HAVE MERCY AND DON'T TORTURE ME ANYMORE, JUST KILL ME!"

"I won't! Shizun, don't hate me!" He hugged him. "I don't hate you anymore! Don't hate me!"

"DON'T HATE YOU?! I SPENT ALL MY YEARS SPITTING ON YOU AND BEATING YOU TO THE DEATH! EVER SINCE I'VE LAID EYES ON YOU, I HATED YOU! I WON'T EVER ASK YOU TO SPARE ME, IF THAT'S WHAT YOUR PLANNING WITH THIS ACT! HAHAHA! LUO BINGHE, YOU'RE NOTHING BUT DIRT IN MY EYES! EVEN IF I DIE, I REGRET NOTHING OF WHAT I'VE DONE TO YOU! GO AHEAD AND KILL ME!"

"That's not true! Don't say that, don't..." His heart was aching from every word coming out from this man. 

"DAMN YOU! IF YOU WON'T FINISH ME OFF, I'LL DO SO MYSELF!" The limbless man wriggled out and hit his head hard on the floor, repeating the action again and again to crush his own skull.

"STOP IT! Shizun, I like you! Ever since you took me as a disciple, I had respected and admired you, despite your cruel intentions! Even back then, I ---" Bingge tried to stop him but another pair of hands hold him, meticulous with sharp fingernails.

"Look at the bastard finishing himself off! My Lord is so powerful that he can even make his enemies do this to themselves!" Sha Hualing cackled.

Another pair of hands massaged his shoulders. "Congratulations. Our almighty Luo Binghe got everything he wanted. Shall I whip his useless corpse too?"

"No..." Bingge panted, struggling from his wives' grasps. More and more female voices came, praising him, lovingly burying him in suffocating admiration. 

"Sleep with me tonight, Bing-Er!"

"Ah-Luo, likes me the most, doesn't he?"

"Shen Qingqiu got what he deserves! Thank you!"

"Our Luo Binghe is really the best!"

"Shut up! All of you, go away!" Bingge covered his ears and stood up to run but hundreds and hundreds of maiden hands covered him from head to toe, laughter and giggles bursting his eardrums.

As he was enveloped by these hands, he still tried to reach out to Shen Qingqiu...

*****

"SHIZUN!"

"BINGHE!"

Two people sat on a throne room, waking up with a shock. 

Only then did they realize where they are and that they have each other now. Shen Qingqiu had been praying and praying for Bingge to come back and fell asleep on the former dead one's shoulder, while the other looked like he had just break through the surface of an ocean that was drowning him.

"Shizun?!" This time, the disciple's eyes were disbelieving what he was seeing, but was majorly relieved.

"Binghe!" They hugged out of joy after calling out each other again, laughing and crying tears of joy.

Until it became awkward.

"Uh......"

Neither of them knew what to say.

Shen Qingqiu: "......"

Bingge: "......"

The protagonist went first. 

"Let's get out of here..." He walked towards the staff and used his newly restored energy on it. Shen Qingqiu joined him and they were able to escape the Land of the Tender, without saying a word.

They were back in Luo River again.

"Binghe, I---"

"Shizun, I---"

They both pressed their lips together at the same time.

"Ahem, you go first, Shizun."

They both fidgeted with the side of their clothing.

"You're back. Your not my Binghe..."

"Yes..."

"Your from the original Proud Immortal Demon Way."

"I... I think so." Bingge scratched his head. " I don't really know what Proud Immortal Demon Way is. See, there was a god voice in my head..."

Bingge started to explain everything and Shen Qingqiu nodded.

"I see. This may be difficult to accept, but this is the truth."

Shen Qingqiu started to explain to Bingge that he was the main character of a story, that the original plot is what happened to him while in this world, he had changed that plot and made 'Luo Binghe' fall in love with him. He recounted everything, told him a bit about the real world for context, explained that the god voice was actually a system that controls those who transmigrated in this world.

It was very long and by the time he was finished, his lips were dry and the sun was about to set.

Shen Qingqiu catch his breath. "So, that's basically about all of it. Please don't have existential crisis or something like that, you're still real even if you came from a book. And I'm sorry for all the misunderstandings and complications, it's quite difficult to understand---"

"I get it, Shizun." Bingge smiled reassuringly. "Most of it, at least. I'm quite intelligent since I'm a 'golden-fingered' protagonist, remember?"

He then made a smug pose that made Shen Qingqiu chuckle.

"Alright, All hail the Almighty Bingge, the immortal gege who's perfect in every way." Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes. 

They both went silent, watching the sunset and the cold river water crashing through rocks. The nocturnal flowers around them started falling.

It's beautiful, but also marks an end. A bittersweet scene. Bingge stared at it all, along with the most beautiful man in his eyes, the man that can never be his.

Shen Qingqiu became flustered from that intense gaze. "Um, so...."

Bingge nodded. "Mn. That's one thing that's taken care of, but that doesn't change the fact that I don't belong here. I'll never be able to live like the Luo Binghe here, even if some author, god, or system dictates what I do."

Shen Qingqiu sighed. "I'm not going to force you to act like my Binghe either."

They gave each other a respectful bow. 

"Do you miss him?" Bingge asked.

"Yes, now that I know you're not him."

Bingge nodded respectfully again. "Maybe we can find a way to bring him back. Have you tried talking to your system about it?"

Shen Qingqiu's eyes brightened. "Well, is it possible, System?"

[Action would require 100,000 cool points.]

"Ah, how do I earn that much!?" 

"What did it say?" Bingge peered on Shen Qingqiu's shoulder. "Hold on, let me ask mine."

[You need 25,000 pearls for that.]

"What do I have to do for that then? The faster, the better." He looked cautiously at Shen Qingqiu.

[Well, does the two of you want to try two-player mode?]

"Two player mode?" Both asked in surprise.

[Your systems will join together so that everything you earn will be shared and reach the target goal faster.]

They both looked at each other and shrug their shoulders.

Shen Qingqiu: "Sure."

Bingge: "Alright."

They pressed the 'ok' button at the same time.

[New System Made. Two-Player Mode On. Mission: Gain 25,000 cool points to resurrect Luo Binghe 2.0, code name 'Bingmei'.]

"What's cool points?" Bingge asked.

"Oh, it just a currency of how cool the readers think of the story." Shen Qingqiu explained. "Since the target audience is now changed to fans of boy love, love between men, cool points are usually earned by..."

They then both realized it at the same time.

"Acting like a couple!?"