The video hit the internet at exactly 8:17 a.m.
By 8:19… it had already passed fifty thousand views.
By 8:25… it was trending.
By 9:00… Jiang Yue's phone was vibrating like it had developed a personal vendetta.
She groaned, dragging a pillow over her head. "If this is another fan crying in my DMs, I swear"
Her phone buzzed again.
And again.
And again.
"…Okay, something is wrong."
[System Alert: Host is trending globally.]
[System Title Unlocked: "The Unluckiest Genius Alive."]
She froze.
"…Excuse me?"
The Video
Tessa burst into her apartment without knocking, phone already in hand.
"YOU'RE VIRAL!" she yelled.
"I JUST WOKE UP!" Jiang Yue yelled back.
"NOT MY PROBLEM, LOOK!"
She shoved the phone into Jiang Yue's face.
It was a clip from the book signing.
The moment replayed in crisp, horrifying clarity:
Jiang Yue signing a book.
A fan handing her a pen.
A tiny spark,
Then BOOM.
The pen literally exploded in her hand with a dramatic pop of ink and smoke.
The slow-motion replay made it worse.
Her expression: confusion to realization to immediate dodge.
She ducked just in time, the pen bursting like a tiny firecracker above her head. Ink splattered dramatically behind her like a cinematic effect.
The crowd gasped.
She blinked once… then calmly said:
"…Figures."
The video cut there.
Jiang Yue stared at the screen.
"…I look cool."
Tessa slapped her arm. "YOU NEARLY LOST AN EYE!"
"But I didn't," Jiang Yue said defensively. "And the lighting is great."
Tessa groaned. "You're impossible."
The comments were unhinged.
@DramaQueen88: She dodged that like she's done this before.
@PoetryHealsMe: She really said "not today, death."
@CEO_Wife_Fanclub: The way she stayed calm??? Main character energy.
@ChaosLover: THE UNLUCKIEST GENIUS ALIVE
Jiang Yue covered her face. "I'm a meme."
[System Alert: Correction, you are an ICON.]
[System Bonus: Book sales increased by 63% in the last hour.]
Her head snapped up. "Wait WHAT !!!?"
Tessa was already scrolling. "They're restocking your book everywhere. Pre-orders just spiked again."
Jiang Yue blinked. "…So my near-death experience is good for business?"
[System: Capitalism thrives on chaos.]
"…I hate that you're right."
At the Office
Across the city, Li Zhenkai sat in his office, tablet in hand.
The video played again.
And again.
And again.
Each time, his gaze sharpened at the moment the pen exploded.
His jaw tightened.
Then
She ducked. Calm. Precise. Alive.
His lips curved.
A smirk.
Xu Jianyu leaned against the desk, arms crossed. "You've watched that twelve times."
Zhenkai didn't look up. "Seventeen."
"Concerned or impressed?" Jianyu asked dryly.
"…Both."
Fang Zixuan flopped onto the couch dramatically. "I'm just saying, if she ever joins an action movie, I'm investing."
Qin Yuze, seated quietly with his laptop, spoke without looking up. "The pen wasn't random."
The room stilled.
Zhenkai's smirk faded instantly.
"What do you mean?"
Yuze tapped a few keys, pulling up a zoomed-in frame. "The ignition point. The timing. That wasn't a faulty pen. That was modified."
Silence dropped like a blade.
Zhenkai's voice turned cold. "Find out who."
Yuze nodded once. "Already on it."
Zixuan sat up, expression serious now. "So the stalker… escalated?"
Zhenkai's gaze darkened.
"No," he said quietly. "They're testing boundaries."
Back at the Apartment
Jiang Yue was still scrolling through comments when her phone rang.
She glanced at the screen.
Zhenkai.
Her heart skipped.
She answered immediately. "Hey "
"Are you hurt?"
No greeting. No hesitation. Just that.
Her chest softened. "I'm fine. It was just a pen."
"A pen that exploded," he said flatly.
"…Details."
Silence.
Then his voice, lower now. "Stay where you are. I'm coming over."
"Zhenkai "
The call ended.
She stared at her phone.
[System Alert: ML anxiety level = HIGH.]
[System Suggestion: Prepare comforting behavior.]
[System Mission: Let him hold your hand for 20 seconds.]
She groaned. "You're unbelievable."
[System: I'm invested.]
Ten minutes later, her door opened.
Zhenkai stepped in, still in his work clothes, his presence filling the room instantly. His gaze scanned her from head to toe, sharp and searching.
"I'm fine," she said quickly. "See? No missing limbs."
He didn't respond immediately. Instead, he stepped closer.
Too close.
His hand lifted, hesitated and then brushed against her cheek, as if confirming she was real.
"…You're reckless," he said quietly.
Her breath caught. "It's not like I planned for the pen to explode."
His jaw tightened. "That's not the point."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then she reached out hesitant and slipped her hand into his.
He froze.
Her heart raced.
[System Alert: Mission in progress. Timer: 20…19…18…]
She swallowed. "You're worried."
"Yes," he said immediately.
No denial. No deflection.
Just truth.
Her grip tightened slightly. "…I'm still here."
His fingers closed around hers, firm and grounding.
"I know," he said. "And you will stay that way."
[System Alert: Mission complete. Reward: Emotional bond +25%.]
Her cheeks warmed.
The Moment That Lingers
Later, as they sat together, closer than usual, quieter than before, Jiang Yue found herself glancing at him.
"You watched the video?" she asked.
"Yes."
"…More than once?"
A pause.
"…Seventeen times."
She burst out laughing. "You're obsessed."
His lips twitched. "I'm thorough."
"Sure," she teased. "Thoroughly obsessed."
For once, he didn't deny it.
Instead, he leaned back slightly, watching her with that steady, unreadable gaze.
"You handled it well," he said.
She shrugged. "What can I say? I have experience dodging death."
His expression darkened again, but this time there was something softer beneath it.
"…You won't have to forever."
Her laughter faded.
"…You really believe that?"
"I don't believe," he said quietly. "I decide."
Her heart skipped.
That night, as Jiang Yue lay in bed scrolling through endless comments, one message caught her eye:
"She turns disaster into art. That's why we love her."
Her chest tightened.
Maybe her life was chaos.
Maybe her fate was cursed.
But somehow…
She was turning it into something beautiful.
[System Alert: Host progress update]
Survival Rate: 61%
Emotional Bond with ML: Increasing rapidly
Threat Level: Still active
She exhaled slowly.
"…Guess I'm not dying today."
[System: Not on my watch.]
Her lips curved faintly.
But somewhere in the city,
Someone was watching too.