TOCTWG | Chapter 4

There wasn’t a single unattractive guest among them.

And yet, when Zhu Shuang appeared on camera, the barrage of comments froze for a moment.

The beautiful man sat there like a living work of art. Every inch of him was exquisitely refined, as though the broadcast had abruptly switched from a variety show to an art appreciation program.

If the production crew hadn’t disabled the tactile channel, there would probably have been countless hands reaching through the screen by now, all wanting to find out whether he was actually real.

Zhu Shuang smiled at the camera, dazzling enough to make people’s eyes ache.

Song Song nestled comfortably in his arms. Zhu Shuang caught one of the child’s little hands and waved it toward the camera twice, just like a lucky cat.

The brilliant smile on the child’s face was enough to make viewers feel warm all over.

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꒰ Three seconds. I want all their information! ꒱

꒰ Is this a real person?? Could it be a projected avatar? I refuse to believe someone can actually look like this! ꒱

꒰ Someone this beautiful must hit really hard, right? Whip me, beautiful! ꒱

꒰ Drag the person above out of here. How does the moderator let just anyone into the livestream? They’re sullying that gorgeous face. ꒱

꒰ Wait a second, aren’t S and Beta the only ones who haven’t appeared yet...? ꒱

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The moment that comment appeared, the audience suddenly realized—

This was the Omega.

And instantly, the way they looked at Zhu Shuang changed.

Under the worried gazes of the S System’s ministers, the pessimistic comments really did flood over the earlier praise like falling snow.

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꒰ Ah... He really is gorgeous, but isn’t he a little too out of place here...? ꒱

꒰ Emmmm, surrounded by this many Alphas? Hard to say. ꒱

꒰ Let me be bold here. Could it be that the S System is trying to curry favor with the other star systems and... ꒱

꒰ You think everyone has it as bad as we do, where seeing an Omega in person is practically impossible? Those people there can have anything they want. He’s just a little prettier than average. If that really were the S System’s intention, it wouldn’t work anyway. ꒱

꒰ You just reminded me—I’d better stare for a few more minutes. This might be the only time in my entire life I ever get to see an Omega. ꒱

꒰ Let me be even bolder! Considering he’ll probably have trouble finding a match after showing up here, why not marry me instead! ꒱

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The comments descended into chaos.

In fact, they were even more outrageous than before Zhu Shuang had appeared.

Although people were praising his looks, the contempt in their words was impossible to hide. The malicious speculation and filthy comments were genuinely nauseating.

Zhu Shuang didn’t care.

Besides, he couldn’t see the comments right now anyway.

He simply smiled faintly at the camera, introduced himself and Song Song, and then fell silent.

He lowered his head shyly, perfectly embodying the stereotypical image of a reserved, bashful Omega—In reality, Zhu Shuang was simply too lazy to talk.

And even lazier to keep smiling at the camera.

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꒰ His name is Zhu Shuang? Such a beautiful name! And Song Song is so cute AAAAAAA. Baby, you’re a little cake... ꒱

꒰ His voice is so nice too, sob sob. So this is what an Omega sounds like? ꒱

꒰ I want to marry him so badly... If I could marry Shuangshuang, I’d even be willing to bring Song Song home and raise him too! ꒱

꒰ I can’t even imagine how happy I’d be if I could marry a beauty like this. I’d be the happiest girl alive. ꒱

꒰ Why is my wife in such a dangerous place?! Hurry up and come home with me! ꒱

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An Omega was supposed to be protected safely inside a greenhouse— Especially an Omega this beautiful.

Faced with Zhu Shuang’s devastatingly good looks, the comments finally became considerably cleaner.

But the voices calling for him to be “returned to the greenhouse” only grew louder.

Then Ao Yue appeared, and the audience’s attention shifted once again.

Ao Yue was practically a legend in the Beta System.

Almost everyone knew his name.

He had made his reputation on the battlefield as a teenager, winning hundreds of battles both large and small.

The universe had never been peaceful. Insectoid invasions came one after another, and conflicts between different races had never ceased.

But ever since Ao Yue had emerged, the number of Beta System civilians lost to war had fallen by half.

He was the Beta System’s undisputed God of War.

The comments erupted in cheers.

Perhaps he was simply nervous in front of the camera, but Ao Yue was nothing like the man who had practically volunteered his entire family history in front of Zhu Shuang earlier.

In front of the livestream, he was stiff and awkward.

He said his name, pressed his lips together, and promptly fell silent.

Pangpang, on the other hand, was extremely lively and enthusiastically played along, to the point that the host nearly cried tears of gratitude.

At last, the atmosphere in the room relaxed a little.

The tension earlier had practically been suffocating!

Only then did Zhu Shuang learn Pangpang’s real name.

Bai Zhen.

He was the only son of the Beta System’s Emperor.

He was also extremely active on StarNet and had a prestigious identity, so his personal account had accumulated an enormous following.

No wonder he was so comfortable in front of the camera.

Everyone here was a major figure, each representing their respective star system.

They had barely finished introducing themselves, yet several rounds of online warfare had already erupted. Somehow, the bloodshed between the star systems on the internet seemed to have seeped into the room as well.

The atmosphere between the guests from the different systems could hardly be called friendly.

Maintaining even a superficial harmony was difficult.

Their eyes were practically flashing with knives.

Zhu Shuang couldn’t care less.

Whether the gazes directed at him were hostile or merely scrutinizing, he treated them all as though they didn’t exist.

Instead, he enthusiastically gathered their things and prepared to leave, even wrapping another layer of clothing around Song Song.

The little cub obediently let Uncle fuss over him.

Once he was dressed in a fluffy little monster onesie, he became even more adorable. His pale, soft cheeks puffed out around the hood, while his big, watery eyes blinked innocently.

Song Song usually dressed like a tiny grown-up in formal clothes.

This was the first time he’d ever worn this kind of ridiculously cute baby outfit—a style that had remained popular for millions of years.

He turned around and stared at the tail dragging behind him.

He couldn’t see it.

So he chased it around in circles.

Round and round he went until he nearly became dizzy enough to topple over.

Zhu Shuang laughed and placed a hand on top of Song Song’s head, steadying the dizzy little ball before he could fall.

Then he glanced up at the floating camera.

I’ll ask the production crew for a copy of the footage after the show.

Quite a few viewers noticed the little patch of green fluff in the corner as well.

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꒰ ! SO CUTE AAAAAAAA ꒱

꒰ Does anyone else see it? He looks like a matcha milk dessert! ꒱

꒰ He’s chasing his own tail... What kind of adorable little puppy is this?! ꒱

꒰ He’s really cute, but... isn’t this a little too casual? Look at everyone else and then look at him. The Omega really wasn’t raised as an heir, was he? ꒱

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Song Song really did look completely out of place beside the other children, who were dressed like miniature adults.

And it wasn’t just his clothes.

The fluffy little kid holding Zhu Shuang’s hand, with his halting but energetic baby voice, stood out especially against the other silent guests.

“Zhu-zhu, dis... icy!” the little cub announced, sticking out one chubby finger to poke at the snow.

“Wowww—so many, so many white!” Song Song exclaimed after they left the port and saw the vast expanse of snow stretching before them.

And then—

“Zhu-zhu, Zhu-zhu, can I... can I eat it? Will it be sweet?”

The chubby little cub was staring greedily at the snow.

Even through his snow goggles, everyone could see his huge eyes fixed on the ground.

His mouth kept opening as he tried to catch the snowflakes drifting down from the sky.

One particularly beautiful snowflake landed on the tip of his tongue as he secretly stuck it out.

He curled his tongue around it and swallowed it like a little kitten.

The child shivered when the icy snowflake hit his tongue.

Then he burst into delighted giggles.

His childish laughter drifted across the wilderness, making even the biting wind seem a little less harsh.

The little green dinosaur ran wild through the snow.

Zhu Shuang let him.

The dinosaur onesie was merely decorative. Underneath, Song Song was wearing a close-fitting temperature-regulating thermal layer, so there was no danger of him getting cold.

Zhu Shuang only intervened when the silly little kid managed to bury himself so thoroughly in the snow that he couldn’t get back out.

He would pull Song Song free, pat the snow off his springy little belly and bottom, then set him back down and let him run wild again.

The adults remained wary and hostile toward one another.

But no matter what, children were still children.

Song Song’s sheer delight kept drawing the attention of the other children.

They had all received rigorous etiquette training.

Even the angle at which they placed their feet while walking had been strictly regulated, all to ensure that they presented an elegant and dignified image before the entire interstellar community.

But—

Watching someone bury their entire body in the snow looked so much fun!

And that little one—

Every time he ran, the flesh on his cheeks bounced!

He was...

kind of cute.

As they walked, muscle memory continued moving their limbs according to all those years of training.

But their minds had already drifted toward Song Song.

What ultimately restrained them was the pride and dignity expected of heirs.

They absolutely would not run around like idiots in the snow!

It was just snow, that was all!

While the children silently grumbled to themselves, one little black dot gradually slowed down.

Slower...

And slower...

Until finally, he was walking alongside Song Song, who had fallen to the very back of the group.

It was the doll-like imperial princess of the X System.

Ji Lan.

“Is it fun?”

The merfolk’s voices truly deserved their reputation as heavenly music, the kind sung about in ancient Earth legends.

The girl’s voice made Song Song stare blankly for several seconds.

Then his little face, which had been happily grinning moments before, suddenly went poof—

Bright red.

“It—it’s fun!”

Song Song shyly covered his face.

His previously excited, high-pitched baby voice immediately dropped several octaves.

He hesitated.

Then, gathering all his courage, he continued.

“Big sister, do you... do you wanna play? It’s fun!”

He said it!

He’d actually managed to invite the cute big sister to play with him!

The little kid slowly lowered his paws from his face, revealing a pair of sparkling eyes.

He stared expectantly at Ji Lan’s expressionless face.

Several seconds passed.

Song Song hadn’t even had time to feel disappointed by her cold response when—

Thump!

The elegant, exquisite young lady suddenly disappeared from his field of vision.

Ji Lan had fallen straight backward into the snow.

Song Song stared in shock.

Even Zhu Shuang was momentarily stunned by her sudden action.

Zuo Ze, however, remained completely calm.

He was clearly accustomed to his imperial princess acting on sudden impulses.

He walked over, pulled her out of the snow, set her upright, and silently took one step backward.

Ji Lan, still expressionless, blinked.

Then she nodded at Song Song.

“Mhm. Fun.”

And with that, she once again stiffly toppled backward like a wooden puppet.

Thump.

Another small human-shaped imprint appeared in the snow.

The comments fell silent for a moment.

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꒰ Wait a second. Is this really how the X System’s imperial princess acts? ꒱

꒰ A dignified, noble imperial princess... Why does she seem kind of adorably clueless? ꒱

꒰ What’s wrong with that? Who says an imperial princess can’t like playing in the snow? Look at the elegance with which our princess throws snow! ꒱

꒰ Does anyone understand this contrast?! It’s so cute AAAAAA ꒱

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Although Zhu Shuang’s S System had a capital world called Mercury, Ji Lan was clearly the one who had grown up surrounded by water.

Her entire planet was an ocean.

The merfolk lived beneath the sea, where sunlight never reached.

Naturally, they had never seen a vast snowfield like this either.

After being fished out of the snow again, Ji Lan tilted her head at the still-dazed Song Song.

“You’re not playing anymore?”

“Oh! I’m playing!”

Song Song snapped back to reality and nodded instinctively.

But somehow, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the young lady in front of him was...

Not quite what he’d imagined.

Then again, a little kid’s heart simply couldn’t hold that many thoughts at once.

The moment he got to play in the snow with a beautiful, adorable big sister, that tiny sense of wrongness vanished from his mind.

He laughed happily and ran after Ji Lan.

The tables had completely turned.

Now Ji Lan was the one dragging Song Song along.

Every stretch they walked left two little human-shaped holes behind them.

Bai Zhen had been watching the pair for a long time.

At last, he couldn’t take it anymore.

As someone who had grown up playing in the snow in the Beta System, he absolutely could not allow these two idiots to do nothing but bury themselves in it!

That was practically sacrilege!

Bai Zhen was naturally outgoing, so he casually reached out and grabbed both children.

Then he immediately started talking their ears off, teaching them how to have snowball fights and build snowmen.

Song Song had just discovered an entirely new world.

His eyes practically sparkled.

Grinning with all his little white teeth, he happily called out “Pangpang Gege!” over and over.

Bai Zhen was initially struck speechless by the nickname.

But when he looked into the kid’s innocent, crystal-clear eyes, he swallowed the profanity that had almost escaped his mouth.

In the end, he simply accepted the nickname with a dark expression.

What could he do?

The child looked a little slow.

Maybe he wouldn’t even remember Bai Zhen’s real name anyway.

And so the atmosphere became even stranger.

On one side, the three children were laughing and playing.

Zhu Shuang and Zuo Ze both watched them with smiles, occasionally exchanging a few pointless remarks.

It was a scene of peaceful joy.

At least, on the surface, everyone looked warm and friendly.

On the other side, the atmosphere remained as cold as ever.

The production crew’s carefully planned icebreaker had been buried beneath a mountain of silence.

By the time they reached their destination, those people still hadn’t exchanged a single word.

They finally arrived at today’s destination.

The Great Rift Valley.

Song Song, already tired from all the running and now being carried in his uncle’s arms, opened his mouth wide in astonishment.

The other children were equally fascinated.

The comments, meanwhile, exploded across the screen.

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꒰ God... How deep is this rift? ꒱

꒰ Can a person really create a chasm this deep...? That’s terrifying. ꒱

꒰ The mechs the production crew prepared look like tiny little birds standing next to it. ꒱

꒰ Nope. I can’t handle the full-immersion mode. I got dizzy, my legs went weak, and my heart rate shot up until I was forcibly disconnected. I’ll just watch the projection like a sensible person. ꒱

꒰ The person above is exaggerating way too much. It’s just a rift. Watch me jump across it and—￥%#￥%#&... ꒱

꒰ ? Is the network administrator here? Can someone check whether that guy is still alive? ꒱

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The enormous rift stretched endlessly in both directions, splitting the earth apart as far as the eye could see.

Neither the opposite cliff nor the bottom of the abyss was visible.

It was as though the sky itself had been cleaved in two, the clouds breaking apart above the chasm.

Even the snowflakes seemed afraid of that gaping maw, refusing to cross its invisible boundary.

The contrast between black and white was startlingly clear.

Zhu Shuang crouched down and, with some interest, nudged the exposed black earth beneath his foot.

A few grains of sand and loose stones rolled into the abyss.

Within moments, they vanished without a trace.

What could possibly be down there?

Zhu Shuang’s fingers twitched with barely restrained curiosity.

Xiaoqing also poked his little head out of Zhu Shuang’s pocket, his golden eyes staring fixedly into the bottomless darkness.

“Welcome, everyone, to our first attraction—the Great Rift Valley.”