Middle-aged Love Patch

"34, 35..."

Xu Youyuan counted under her breath, swatting away the floating heart-shaped obstructions in front of her. Just before the earthquake hit, she finally unearthed a first-aid kit and a toolbox from the bottom drawer. These definitely weren’t items that would appear in a movie scene—they must have been added by the game developers.

"Come here!" Xu Youyuan shouted at Shi Yue. With the massive quake imminent, she stuffed a water bottle, the first-aid kit, and the toolbox into a shoulder bag, tossing in the box cutter and rope Shi Yue had found as well.

The shoulder bag wasn’t practical for carrying, so Xu Youyuan zipped it up and slung it diagonally across her back like a quiver. She gave Shi Yue a push and barked, "Go!"

The two struggled across the undulating floor, barely making it out of the office before it split apart. The hallway was in shambles.

Potted plants and picture frames rained down chaotically. Every step Xu Youyuan and Shi Yue took sent them lurching upward, only to stumble forward into empty air. They were flung against one wall, barely steadying themselves before the ground tilted violently in the opposite direction.

Section Chief Morita’s office was just ahead, a mere twenty meters away, yet it took them an eternity to cover the distance.

The space was too cramped, littered with debris. Xu Youyuan stumbled every few steps, so Shi Yue unfurled her wings and lifted her into the air.

They flew barely five meters before Shi Yue’s wings were struck. She gritted her teeth against the pain, refusing to make a sound, and managed to carry Xu Youyuan to Morita’s office door before landing.

"What’s wrong?" Xu Youyuan asked, noticing Shi Yue’s pallor. "Are you hurt?"

"My wings won’t open," Shi Yue said, shrugging as she tried to lift them. The black wings trembled weakly but failed to spread.

Xu Youyuan cursed under her breath. "Looks like the difficulty’s been cranked up. Your wings are the primary target now. Worse, we’re probably in the surface wave phase—no way we’re getting downstairs the normal way!"

Shi Yue frowned. "Surface wave?"

"Learned it from playing Skyscraper. It’s a type of seismic wave—just know it’s the most destructive!" Xu Youyuan snapped, her head spinning from the impacts. "Is Morita an idiot?! How is he still in his office with a quake this strong?!"

Shi Yue grabbed the door handle. "Movie logic—he’s drunk off his ass after his divorce! Still passed out!"

"Divorce means drowning in booze? Did the writer have any clue how busy middle-aged people are?!"

The office door was warped from the quake’s pressure. Shi Yue yanked twice, but it wouldn’t budge.

"Damn it!"

She tightened her grip, demon horns sprouting from her forehead as she channeled her strength. With one fierce pull, she ripped the door clean off—along with half the wall.

"Nice," Xu Youyuan remarked, her own phoenix wings granting enhanced strength as she wrenched the water dispenser’s tank free with one hand.

Inside Morita’s office, the room was barely recognizable. Morita lay sprawled on the couch like an overturned turtle, unshaven and red-faced, snoring loud enough to rival the quake.

Xu Youyuan had expected this. Without bothering to wake him gently, she upended the water tank over his head. Morita bolted upright, coughing and spluttering.

"What the hell?!"

For a second, Xu Youyuan worried about language barriers with an "international colleague," but Morita’s outburst reminded her—the game’s built-in translator was surprisingly smooth.

"Earthquake! Move your ass!"

Morita blinked—just as a ceiling light tore loose and smashed into his forehead, knocking him out cold.

Xu Youyuan: "??"

No amount of slapping or shouting revived him. Blood pooled beneath his head.

The floor-to-ceiling window shattered explosively, glass spraying inward. Shi Yue shielded Xu Youyuan just in time.

"What now?" Xu Youyuan knelt beside Morita, struggling to stay upright as the tremors intensified. "He’s the protagonist! If he dies here, the plot’s toast!"

Shi Yue grimaced. "The game might’ve upped the difficulty by killing him off. No Morita, no guide."

Xu Youyuan clenched her jaw. The office swayed like a leaf in a storm. Every second counted in an earthquake—linger too long, and this round was over.

Well, fine. They could always restart.

...No. She slapped herself mentally. That kind of thinking guaranteed failure.

Morita’s status bar showed a sliver of health remaining. If his death was purely for difficulty, why leave him with any HP? That light should’ve killed him outright.

He wasn’t dead. He was still the protagonist.

They had to revive him.

Xu Youyuan dug out the first-aid kit, finding a single blood pack inside.

Using it here meant no backups later.

She hesitated, weighing the risks, then pressed the pack into Morita’s chest.

He gasped awake.

"I... what...?" Morita began his scripted dialogue, but Shi Yue hauled him to his feet.

"Move!"

Morita jolted into action, bolting for the door with Xu Youyuan and Shi Yue close behind.

As they reached the hallway, the right-side offices collapsed in a deafening roar. Dozens of employees, desks, and equipment plummeted into the abyss, their horrified faces vanishing into the blue sky.

The once-wide corridor was now a precarious ledge barely wider than a foot. Pressed flat against the wall, one misstep meant a sixty-story drop.

No retreat—only forward.

Morita stood at the front, his hair whipping in the wind, his back drenched in sweat.

Ahead, the shattered hallway led to the open-plan office area. Though one wall was gone, it was their only path to the emergency exit.

The tremors had paused, but the next wave could hit any second.

Xu Youyuan and Shi Yue waited behind Morita, unable to advance until he did.

"What’s the hold-up?!" Xu Youyuan wanted to strangle the sluggish protagonist. "Go!"

Morita trembled. "I—I’m scared of heights."

Xu Youyuan gaped. "You’re the main character?!"

Shi Yue sighed. "That’s his whole deal. The movie’s about a coward surviving an earthquake."

Xu Youyuan scoffed. "This film must’ve bombed at the box office."

Shi Yue shrugged. "It did, but the special effects were killer. Hence the high difficulty."

With no room to maneuver and Shi Yue’s vampire wings damaged, staying put meant certain death when the next tremor hit.

"Move!" ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌‍Xu Youyuan yelled. "Now! You wanna die here?!"

Morita wanted to—but his legs refused, shaking too violently to take a step.

The escape route was completely blocked by him.

Xu Youyuan was nearly driven to despair.

"Can't move, huh?" Shi Yue asked Morita.

Morita's sweat had soaked through his shirtfront. His face was as pale as a statue, and he didn't even have the courage to look back at Shi Yue—his silence answered for him.

"Alright," Shi Yue said. "Close your eyes."

Morita: "W-what for?"

Shi Yue: "You're afraid of heights, right? Don’t want you to be scared when you fall."

Morita: "??"

Another violent tremor struck. Without hesitation, Shi Yue planted a firm kick against Morita’s back.

Morita’s legs seemed to spring to life as he stumbled forward, letting out a cry before tumbling out of the hallway and landing squarely in the office area.

Shi Yue, equipped with cat ears, bounded over to Morita in two quick steps, then turned to reach for Xu Youyuan.

Xu Youyuan landed safely as well, and Shi Yue helped Morita up, pushing him forward through the debris:

"You know where the aircraft is! Take us there!"

Morita wanted to ask, "How do you know?"—but the situation was far too urgent for questions. With Shi Yue and Xu Youyuan urging him on, he rushed out of the company.

The building had collapsed so severely that its original shape was barely recognizable. Gaps yawned everywhere, and a single misstep could send them plunging into the abyss.

Morita, true to his protagonist status, moved with uncanny stability, each step guided by plot armor. Xu Youyuan and Shi Yue didn’t dare stray from his path, following closely in his footsteps.

Instead of descending, they climbed upward—toward the rooftop helipad on the 70th floor.

As an earthquake-prone island nation, Japan’s people were far more adept at handling seismic disasters than most. But a quake this violent was nearly impossible to evade, even with minutes of warning.

Tokyo hadn’t originally been dense with skyscrapers. However, after a series of policies in 2008, 2021, and 2025 aimed at boosting birth rates, Japan finally saw a resurgence in population growth by 2030. In a city where land was at a premium, Tokyo had no choice but to build higher, like every other megacity.

The film Tokyo Megaquake had been a warning about the dangers of high-rises in modern Japan.

As they fled, Xu Youyuan couldn’t help but ask Shi Yue, "How do you escape from a skyscraper in a situation like this? It’s impossible, right? What’s this useless Morita going to do next in the movie?"

"Section Chief Morita isn’t completely useless. Sure, he’s divorced and a mess, but he’s a big deal in certain fields."

"...That description sounds way too familiar."

Shi Yue paused, then laughed. "No, no, total coincidence—just overlapping character traits. Morita’s a coward, but he’s also the father of the next-gen capsule aircraft."

Xu Youyuan, the mother of next-gen holographic gaming, stared at her silently, waiting for her to continue.

Wiping sweat from her brow, Shi Yue explained, "The capsule aircraft is still in its trial phase—not on the market yet. The only place in the world with a functioning capsule aircraft port is this building. The movie claimed the company partnered with the building’s owners to create a testing space, but after release, people thought the whole thing was just a glorified ad for the tech. Because, well… it actually exists now."

After a grueling climb to the rooftop, Xu Youyuan saw a small square landing pad marked with fluorescent indicators.

Above the landing spot was a transparent amber isolation wall, inside of which rested a sleek black sphere—the capsule aircraft.

About the size of a two-seater Smart car, its surface was impossibly smooth. No matter how violently the building shook, the sphere remained firmly anchored to the pad.

Morita rushed to the aircraft, unlocking the isolation wall with an iris scan before sliding into the pilot’s seat. Shi Yue followed immediately.

Xu Youyuan had a bad feeling. The capsule aircraft was, well, capsule-sized. Could it really fit three people?

When she reached the entrance, her fears were confirmed—it absolutely could not.

The thing looked like it seated two, and that’s exactly what it did.

The seats were arranged front and back—Morita had already taken the pilot’s position.

Shi Yue, sitting in the rear, waved at her. "Come on!"

Wait, you’ve already taken up all the space! Where am I supposed to go?

Xu Youyuan sized up her options. Sitting side by side was impossible. Was she supposed to sit on Shi Yue’s lap?

She cursed herself for not boarding faster—at least then she could’ve been the one holding Shi Yue instead of the other way around.

Was this position cursed for her or something?

Shi Yue, watching her hesitate with one foot braced against the doorway, had had enough. She grabbed Xu Youyuan’s arm and yanked her inside, pulling her into her lap.

"Seriously? Now’s the time to be picky? We’re trying not to die here!"

Once they were both in, Morita hit the ignition. Xu Youyuan, perched on Shi Yue’s thighs, nearly bumped her head against the ceiling as the aircraft shuddered to life. Bracing for turbulence, she instinctively clutched Shi Yue’s arm.

"Don’t worry," Shi Yue said, arms securely around her waist. "I’ve got you."

Somehow, those simple words soothed Xu Youyuan’s nerves. She truly believed Shi Yue meant it.

The capsule aircraft detached from the landing pad. Xu Youyuan had expected a rapid ascent, but instead, it rose in a series of jerky, trembling movements.

The entire capsule shook violently as it climbed. Shi Yue, worried Xu Youyuan might hit her head, tightened her grip around her waist—while Xu Youyuan’s rear end bounced uncontrollably against Shi Yue’s thighs.

Slap, slap, slap…

Enough.

This was more than enough.

She’d only indulged once—why was the universe punishing her like this? The nightmare from before had returned, now a full-blown curse.

She could practically feel Shi Yue’s damn vampire tail twitching in anticipation!

This couldn’t go on. She had to take control of her own fate!

As the capsule continued its shaky ascent, finally building enough momentum, Shi Yue noticed Xu Youyuan bracing herself against the walls, her trembling rear hovering just a centimeter above Shi Yue’s legs.

Shi Yue smirked. "Your ears are red. Can’t tell if it’s from embarrassment or exhaustion."

Xu Youyuan: "Shut. Up."

Morita called out, "Hold on—we’re getting out of here!"

With that, the capsule shot forward like a flicked marble, sending Xu Youyuan’s carefully maintained squat collapsing instantly. She tumbled right back into Shi Yue’s arms.

Shi Yue caught her effortlessly. "For your safety, please fasten your seatbelt," she said, happily securing her arms around Xu Youyuan’s waist once more.

Xu Youyuan covered her face.

Fine. Was there even any point resisting anymore?