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This is the outermost public housing area of Tsushima. Although the energy pipelines have already been laid throughout the entire island, this place still feels like it’s a hundred years behind the inner districts, filled with the lingering smell of old poverty. Qiao Yu, male, twenty-one years old, a university student, receives a monthly “citizen’s welfare allowance” and lives in a twenty-square-meter low-income apartment on the outermost edge of Tsushima, relies on three or four part-time jobs outside of school hours to make a living.

His biggest dream is to move into a high-end apartment within the inner circle and to own a humanoid AI of his own. That dream was halfway realized just the day after he saw a special offer ad—basically, now. When he heard the AI disdainfully reject the name he had given it, Qiao Yu’s smile stiffened, and his temper flared instantly. But then he thought, maybe the name “Qiao Er” really doesn’t match the current aesthetic trend, so he reluctantly said, “…then how about calling you Xiao Mi.”

“…Ugly, no.” Qiao Yu irritably glanced down at his crotch, then looked back with a meaningful expression and said, “Then what about Da Mi?” “Go away, no.” “…Then, how about Qiao Fa Cai?”

As a result, the AI made a move before he could, furrowing its brows, lifting its chin, with an expression as arrogant as the boss of this street: “…Who would give such a trash name?” “……..” Qiao Yu stared at the beautiful AI in front of him. The AI looked back without any hesitation, its gray eyes full of contempt. Without the number on its face, the difference between a humanoid AI and a human was truly minimal; at least, you couldn’t tell with the naked eye. In Qiao Yu’s perception, what stood before him was just a handsome younger brother repeatedly provoking him. Anger level: 95%. In the end, the handsome younger brother was the first to look away, glancing around Qiao Yu’s low-income apartment that reeked of poverty, and said, “Tch, what a shabby place.”

Anger level: 100%. Qiao Yu froze motionless for two seconds, then suddenly struck, slapping the AI’s face and shoving him back into the cardboard box. “Hey, what are you doing…!”

Qiao Yu turned a deaf ear to the AI’s words. He moved with the efficiency of someone packing goods in a factory, quickly closing the box and then expertly flipping open a drawer to grab tape and scissors, before starting to pack. This is definitely the wrong order, absolutely! It must be that some wealthy customer with a taste for quirks and a love for tsundere paid for a custom model; otherwise, what AI would be this annoying?! Where’s the ‘thoughtful and warm,’ 'all-rounded housekeeper,’ 'perfect companion for solo living’ that the advertisement promised?“

Qiao Yu even began to regret not opening the box and turning it on in front of the delivery guy; that way he could have just handed it to the delivery person to return it on the spot. He ripped the tape with a 'swish’ sound and wrapped it around the cardboard box. The AI inside was muttering something muffled, definitely not anything pleasant. The AI struggled fiercely, so Qiao Yu decided to use the brute strength he usually applied at his part-time jobs. He lifted a leg, straddled the middle of the box, and pressed down with his weight: 'This junk costs 998? Let’s see if I want to pay 98!’ "Hmm!! Hmmm! Hmm!! ” 'Don’t worry, I’m contacting the store for a return right now.’ Qiao Yu said as he stepped off the noisy box and went to the old-fashioned PC on the floor. Low-income housing only provides basic furniture, like a fridge, a fan, and lights. Not only did Qiao Yu’s place have no bed, he only had a small desk he bought himself. The small desk doubled as his workstation, so the PC had to sit on the floor. Setting aside the fact that the fancy AI was rude, what it said wasn’t wrong: even among low-income households, Qiao Yu was poor—extremely poor. The screen lit up, Qiao Yu sat cross-legged on the floor, leaned forward, and started operating the keyboard and mouse, opening his purchase history. Yesterday’s advertisement was still floating at the top of the shopping platform: Only 998! Bring a humanoid AI home! Buying it is a bargain!

Qiao Yu cursed in his heart, 'Bah, false advertising.’ He glanced back, somewhat intentionally, at the oversized box that was still making a 'thump thump thump’ noise, and the sound of his keyboard typing grew a few decibels louder. 'I… want to r… retu—’ Before he could finish typing the word 'return,’ a sudden 'shred’ sound came from behind Qiao Yu, as if something had been violently torn apart. He whipped around and saw the orange-headed AI sitting in the wreckage of the cardboard box, its face full of rage. 'Stay still!’ Qiao Yu cursed. 'I’ll return you right now!’ According to Qiao Yu’s friends, he definitely looked like the kind of person who came across as intimidating. Coupled with his quick temper, the natural label was 'keep your distance’; but the AI was not only unfazed by his fierce expression, it was even fiercer than him: 'How dare you use violence on me?!’ 'Huh?!’ And then Qiao Yu was tackled and had his throat grabbed by the AI.

“Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong” “Hello! Your package has arrived!” “Ding dong” Next to the courier was a small cart, with large items laid horizontally on it, almost blocking the narrow hallway. He had to stretch and lean forward to press the doorbell, but there was no response from inside. Strange, the ‘At Home’ indicator outside was clearly lit. “Hello! There’s a package for you!… Strange, the scheduled delivery time was 1 PM…” The courier helplessly tapped on the ID on his wrist to check today’s work schedule, repeatedly comparing the goods with the address. At this moment, the door lock clicked, and the door cracked open. The courier’s face lit up with joy, and he quickly leaned in to say, “Hello, your…” “Huh?” Before he could finish, pair of murderous drooping eyes appeared in the crack of the door, and messy hair like a chicken coop. The low air pressure instantly surrounded him, shaking him so much that he couldn’t speak: “That …… your …… package ……”

“…Oh.” The droopy-eyed person finally opened the door, revealing half of their body. “Mr. Qiao Yu, right? Please let me scan your ID to confirm receipt.” The courier straightened up and gestured for him to pay attention to the package at his feet and the scanner in his hand. Qiao Yu furrowed his brows, first looking at the huge package, then at the courier, finally sobered up a little. He casually ran his hand through his hair, clicked his tongue impatiently, and then held out his hand: “Go ahead and scan.” “Thank you!”

The scanner was held close to the ID on his wrist, and after a ‘beep,’ the courier lifted the package and stuffed it into his apartment: ‘S-sorry to bother you, could you open the door a bit more…’ Qiao Yu just watched as the courier’s face turned bright red, veins bulging, as he carried the package into the apartment. The curtains were drawn, and the lights were off. Qiao Yu sat cross-legged next to the huge package, clearly still drowsy. He had pulled an all-nighter at work and only got home at nine in the morning. He’d had a habit since he was little: when he wasn’t fully awake, his IQ dropped by -100, and his temper shot up by +100.

So, what is this delivery? What did he buy recently? Qiao Yu furrowed his brows tightly, thinking for several minutes, when a clichéd advertisement slogan suddenly flashed through his mind: “Limited-time offer!! Buying it is earning it!! Not 99,998, not 9,998, only 998! Only 998! Take home a humanoid AI!” Could it be that discounted AI he bought?! He only placed the order yesterday, and it arrived today?!

His drowsiness vanished instantly. Qiao Yu scrambled over to his drawer and grabbed a utility knife, swiftly slicing through the plastic seal and opening the package. Humanoid AIs are basically a standard in residents’ homes in this circle. Whether purchased online or at a store, you can choose the appearance, gender, and personality program according to your preferences; with enough money, you can even have the manufacturer create a completely unique design—elf ears, demon horns, beast tails, beast ears—all possible… Of course, all of this had nothing to do with poor Qiao Yu. The discounted machine he bought by pawning all his belongings only allowed him to choose personality and gender.

But so what! He! Qiao Yu! Is going to have his own AI today!

By the way, Qiao Yu likes boys. He is so poor that he doesn’t have time to fall in love, and it’s a little embarrassing to say it, but the moment he saw the special machine advertisement, the first thing he thought of was that he could solve his “needs” very conveniently. Although it was a discounted model, the packaging was still quite good. When Qiao Yu opened the box, he saw a large amount of packing foam. He roughly pulled out the foam and scattered it everywhere. The first thing he saw was a pair of feet. Qiao Yu recoiled his hands in disgust, then turned to pull the foam from the other side. Finally, a handsome face emerged.

As expected of a man-made product, this appearance is impeccable, whether it is the chin or cheekbones, the bridge of the nose or the lips, all of them are perfectly proportioned. Qiao Yu reached out to touch it; the texture was almost indistinguishable from human skin, though slightly cold. He then used his index finger to gently brush across the slender eye sockets, feeling the long, soft eyelashes; above them was a head of orange, tousled hair.

“Quite impressive… what’s the number…” The AI’s number is usually located under its eyes, to make it easy to distinguish from humans. Qiao Yu was curious for a fraction of a second before his attention shifted back to the AI’s face. This was the first time Qiao Yu had touched a humanoid AI. Although he rationally knew it was just an artificial creation, both visually and tactilely, the information it provided seemed to say: this is a sleeping man, and a very handsome one at that. When he touched the AI in the box, his mind had already played out the whole show, down to putting on pants.

A kind of instruction manual was placed next to the AI’s head. Qiao Yu picked it up and glanced at it. The cover had neither the model number nor the manufacturer’s name, only two simple characters: “Instructions.”

Then Qiao Yu threw the instruction manual back into the crack of the table. He used both hands to pull out the remaining sponge, revealing the entire AI. Unfortunately, it wasn’t completely nude; the manufacturer had properly dressed the AI in a plain white T-shirt and black sports shorts. “The switch should be somewhere…” Qiao Yu muttered to himself, lifting the AI’s T-shirt, his gaze moving from the abs to the chest, then back to the mermaid line, and finally resting on the navel. From the outside, it really looked like a navel, nothing special. Qiao Yu reached out his finger, slowly, slowly touching the skin, and then pressed into the navel.

Beneath the realistic skin was a switch button. He pressed down firmly, and in the next moment the faint noise of mechanical operation emerged. His AI had powered on!!! The AI sat up somewhat stiffly, and Qiao Yu immediately withdrew his hand, looking at its face. Its eyes suddenly opened, revealing clear gray irises.

Qiao Yu looked at the AI, and the AI looked back at him. He had checked before: the first time the AI is activated, the owner can give it a name, like a signing ceremony. He crossed his arms, looking at his AI with both arrogance and pride, thought for a moment, and said, “My name is Qiao Yu, I’m your owner; from now on, you’ll be called Qiao Er.” After that, he could hear his AI obediently say things like, “Yes, Master,” or “What does the master want Qiao Er to call you?”… Just imagining it was exhilarating! But what Qiao Yu saw was… The AI slightly raised its head, looking at him with a contempt: “Tch.”