Chapter 33: You Can’t Pull This Tail!

“One shot! One shot! He’s got no armor!”

“Bullsh*t! That’s purple armor!”

—Team Wiped—

“Dammit, I swear it was one shot!”

“No way, he had purple armor when I hit him!”

“Maybe we hit a shock.”

Ling Yuan slumped back in his chair.

“At this rate, I’m gonna lose Predator rank.”

“Rank doesn’t matter now.”

Lan Feng’s voice came through the headset.

“I’m done. Gotta call my girlfriend. Let’s play tomorrow night.”

With that, he left the voice chat.

“That jerk, ditching friends for a girl!”

Ling Yuan slapped his forehead.

No wonder we kept losing—he was probably chatting with his girlfriend the whole time! How can you play ranked and not focus?

He wanted to smack Lan Feng twice.

The sound of the front door opening came from the living room.

“Wow! Big Brother’s back so early!”

Yan Xi’s face lit up seeing him.

“I knew you wouldn’t let Yixin Xue steal you!”

[Almost got stolen, actually.]

He covered his face, bitter words stuck in his throat.

“This is for you.”

She placed a sizable box on his desk.

“Um… a gift from Dad.”

“Hm?”

He eyed the square box suspiciously.

“Why would he think of this?”

“Come on, open it! You’ll love it.”

“Fine.”

Reluctant but seeing her excitement, he started unwrapping.

“A gaming phone?”

The outer packaging revealed a bold eye logo—probably the latest model released this summer.

“Yup! Dad said you love gaming, so he got this to cheer you up!”

Ling Yuan took a deep breath, glancing at Yan Xi’s innocent smile, then let out a long sigh.

“What’s wrong?”

She tilted her head, confused.

“Why doesn’t Big Brother seem happy?”

***

“All you do is play games! Can’t you make me worry less?”

Ling Yuan’s father roared from the doorway.

Ling Yuan yanked off his headset, annoyed.

“What’s it to you?”

“You’re a student! Study properly! Why’re you so disobedient?”

His father stormed over, slamming the table.

Ling Yuan rolled his eyes, ignoring him.

“I’m talking to you! If your mom saw you like this…”

“You dare mention Mom?”

He shot up, furious.

“If it weren’t for you, she wouldn’t have left with regrets!”

“I told you, I was busy then.”

“Busy, busy, busy. Now you care about me? Where were you for us back then? All for some deputy director post. Hilarious. You got it now, happy? Satisfied? Power-hungry b*stard!”

Slap!

A slap landed on his face, silencing the room.

His father’s veins bulged, chest heaving with rage.

***

“It’s fine.”

Ling Yuan forced a smile.

“Pretty happy.”

Yan Xi raised an eyebrow. That didn’t look happy—more like faking it.

“Where’s my package?”

“In your room.”

“You didn’t open it, right?”

She asked cautiously.

He shook his head.

“Wait for me! I’ve got a surprise~”

She grinned mysteriously, slipping into her room and shutting the door secretively.

“What’s with the sneaky act?”

He muttered.

It was the top-tier gaming phone, though. He couldn’t help but glance at it.

His father’s move was ruthless, trying to bribe him with a phone to forgive him? Did he think Ling Yuan would cave so easily? Even Yixin Xue’s seduction didn’t work.

“Master~”

“?”

He turned to the voice.

The outfit was all pink—lace teasingly visible on both sides of her chest, her curves nearly bursting the fabric.
The skirt barely reached mid-thigh, edged with white fur trim.

“This…”

“Cute?”

Yan Xi spun, showing off her cat ears and the tail peeking from under her skirt.

“This…”

His brain lost all function.
He sat frozen, staring dumbly at her in the doorway.

“Hm?”

She smiled happily.

“Why’s Big Brother stunned?”

Anyone would be stunned, right? Could you imagine Yan Xi as an heiress?

“Uh…”

The topic switched too fast; his brain couldn’t keep up.

In a daze, she was already beside him, sitting on his lap.

“Why so quiet, Master~? Not cute enough~?”

This wasn’t just cute—it was insanely sexy…

White fishnet stockings perfectly outlined her figure—a dreamlike, graceful body.

“It’s… pretty cute…”

He stammered, at a loss for words.

“Meow~”

She purred seductively, leaning into his chest.

“Is this the kind of catgirl you like?”

“Uh… I guess…”

He thought of a risqué PC game with a protagonist and tons of catgirls…

“Praise me!”

“Huh?”

“Wearing this took a lot of courage for me! Master~ Praise me!”

“Uh… okay… You’re really cute…”

His brain short-circuited, managing only a half-hearted compliment.

“Hehe~”

She pulled out her phone, setting it to selfie mode, and wrapped an arm around his neck.

“Don’t move, Big Brother~ Let’s take a pic~”

“A photo?”

He blinked, stunned. This image was too embarrassing for her, wasn’t it?

Before he could react, she snapped the picture, nodding at it with satisfaction.

“This is one of my trump cards against Yixin Xue.”

“Huh?”

He was speechless, gently pushing her.

“Get up, change back. You’ll catch a cold.”

“No rush~ Let Master enjoy the view~”

His hand brushed the fluffy tail.

“Let me keep the tail to touch. It’s pretty soft.”

Assuming it was part of the outfit, he tugged it lightly.

“Brother!”

Her reaction was huge, snatching the tail back.

“You can’t pull this tail!”

“?”