"Big cheats or small, small doesn't count as cheating."
"Also, how can you play without cheats when the BOSS is so model-like?"
Chen Mo leaned back in his gaming chair, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at the screen.
He was playing a game called "Unmatched Immortal," a domestic single-player game that blends action, character development, simulation management, and strategic decryption...
It had only been released for less than a month, and he had already played almost 300 hours.
Honestly, the game itself is of high quality.
The plot is grand, with multiple complex main lines; although there are suspicions of patchwork in gameplay, it's still praiseworthy; the artistic design, especially for some female characters, is top-notch and deeply impactful.
But there's one fatal flaw: the numerical balance is terrible.
The antagonist characters are absurdly strong.
Especially the ultimate BOSS—
[Great Yuan Imperial Consort・Wanli Snowy Frost Clearing the Sky・Yu Youhan].
When you've struggled bitterly and finally reached the last level, facing her, there's a feeling of helpless trial: "You've mastered the basic controls, now try slaying gods."
The huge gap in stats can no longer be compensated by mere operations.
"Isn't this purely disgusting?"
Tormented, Chen Mo decided to fight magic with magic.
As a programmer with seven years of experience, optimized and recently staying at home by a major company, he wrote a cheat program in half a day, tweaking the game parameters slightly.
Including but not limited to: Exempt from damage judgment, Immune to abnormal states, Certain Strike, One-Hit Kill...
He began to reverse-torture Yu Youhan.
Slash after fiery slash, an instant kill whenever she showed her head, pressing her repeatedly to the ground...
Chen Mo, refreshed in mind and body.
At this moment, several lines popped up on the screen:
[Yu Youhan's "Loyalty Level" has reached the threshold.]
[Unlock hidden event: Jade Locks in Deep Palace・Spring Colors on Phoenix Couch.]
"There's a hidden event?"
"Was it buried that deeply?"
Suddenly, the screen changed, and he was in a lavish bedroom.
The perspective switched to first-person.
He walked into the bedroom, lifted the embroidered bed curtain, and a delicate figure lay on a phoenix-embroidered couch.
Her sheer garment barely concealed her body, her skin smooth and bones well-formed, their curves even more breathtaking due to the tight red silk binding her.
Her cheeks were flushed, she bit her lips, and her legs restlessly rubbed together.
Her damp eyes looked into the camera, showing a mix of humiliation and mild resentment.
"Damn, that's too risqué!"
"No wonder it was hidden so deep... but isn't this out of character?"
Originally in the plot, Yu Youhan was a bloodthirsty, cold-hearted witch!
With the Heavenly Constitution in her mouth, power in her hands, though in the inner palace, she commanded great influence!
Her cultivation was also at an unfathomable level!
How could such a strong woman be portrayed in this yielding, demanding manner?
"This kind of disregard for storyline and character setting, deliberately catering to male players, belongs to severe pandering tendencies; it would be a sure conviction on XHS and WB platforms..."
"What? I am a male player?"
Chen Mo stood up to adjust his trajectory.
He also grabbed a cola from the refrigerator, preparing to have a good critique later.
But just as he stepped forward, he accidentally tripped over the power strip cable, and his whole body lost balance, falling forward, his head hitting the edge of the table solidly.
Chen Mo's vision went dark, and he completely lost consciousness.
In Da Yuan Country, Tiandu City.
The lights in Frozen Sky Palace were bright.
A palace servant walked gingerly into the room, bowed her head and said: "Empress, the fragrant bath is ready, I am here to help you bathe and change."
For a long while, there was silence.
Normally at this hour, the Empress had already finished her cultivation and gone to Haitang Pond to wash her jade body.
Today seemed a bit different...
Palace Servant plucked up the courage to look up.
A woman in plain ordinary clothes sat cross-legged on the cushion.
That usually cold and indifferent beautiful face, at this moment, became extremely vivid:
Her thin lips slightly parted, her phoenix eyes unfocused, her expression blank yet filled with astonishment!
The palace servant shivered.
Though she did not know the reason, such an expression from the Empress must mean that something tremendously significant had happened!
"What on earth is going on?"
Yu Youhan furrowed her fine brows.
Just moments ago, she was meditating quietly, her consciousness suddenly blurred.
With her level of cultivation, sleep was unnecessary, yet she involuntarily fell into a "dream."
In the dream, a man whose face was unclear, single-handedly stormed into the Imperial Palace, and effortlessly defeated her.
—This was utterly an implausible fantasy.
With Yu Youhan's cultivation, considering the entirety of Great Yuan, only a handful of people could catch her eye as powerful adversaries.
However, in front of that mysterious man, she was like a child with her hands tied, incapable of any defense; all her divine skills failed to operate and couldn't cause any harm!
The opponent's ordinary slash could easily pierce through her Taoist Body!
It was even more terrifying than the serene thunder tribulation!
"This Palace's Dao Heart is clear, uninvaded by all evil; I cannot possibly be manipulated by an Illusion Technique."
"Could it be a mistake in my cultivation, hence giving rise to a Heart Demon?"
Other than this, Yu Youhan could think of no other explanation.
The victory and defeat had been determined.
Yet, that "Heart Demon" did not cease its actions thereafter.
It first restored her condition to normal using some method, and then slashed her down again before restoring her... repeating this cycle endlessly, taking pleasure in it.
It was clear it was toying with her!
Outrageous! When had she ever suffered such humiliation?
No matter how much she tried all the methods, even sealing her Divine Sense, she was unable to escape from the dream.
After being "ravaged" over and over, Yu Youhan's mindset went from anger to resentment and then to defeat... and finally, she became numb.
"Think of it as having a nightmare."
She was neither able to fight off, nor escape from it.
Yu Youhan simply gave up resisting and completely let herself go.
Not knowing how much time had passed, the nightmare finally ended, and her consciousness returned to clarity, feeling as if she had been reborn.
Before she could even heave a sigh of relief, she suddenly noticed something.
She looked down, and her pupils suddenly shrank!
She saw a red light appearing out of nowhere, rapidly spreading over her body surface, passing through her hands, chest, inner thighs... like a red silk, tightly binding her in a very shameful manner!
She reached out to touch it, but there was nothing.
Her Divine Sense scanned, but there were no abnormalities.
Yu Youhan turned her head to the palace servant standing by her side and asked, "Can you see anything on me?"
The palace servant was startled.
Hesitating for a moment, she tentatively said, "The Empress looks... rather pretty?"
"Apart from having a beauty that overshadows the moon and shames flowers, the Empress also possesses a heart as exquisite as the seven apertures of a luminous pearl, with beauty paired with wisdom, both talent and temperament, making you the most exceptional woman in Great Yuan..."
"That's enough, you may leave."
Yu Youhan rubbed her forehead.
"This servant shall take her leave."
The palace servant, as if granted amnesty, quickly exited.
During this brief moment, the "red silk" binding her had disappeared without a trace, leaving only a faint red mark on her left wrist.
Yu Youhan's eyes darkened.
Though invisible to others, she was certain this was no illusion!
And it was inextricably linked to that "Heart Demon!"
"Heart Demons are born from delusion, formless and unstable, adopting myriad forms."
"To the greedy, it is a shackles forged of gold; to the lustful, it is a net woven from beauty; to those obsessed with power, it is a blade formed from authority..."
"But why would my Heart Demon be a man?"
"And one so... disgraceful?"
Yu Youhan was utterly at a loss.