the whole 'empress being a guy is broad daylight and no one notices' shtick was funny as hell. when the empress looks like a man, feels like a man, smells like a man (maybe), acts like a man (sometimes) why is no one asking questions?? and why is emperor jingren the only person noticing it??

i guessed that this was a transmigration novel but took a while to realize emperor jingren was actually an npc!! its a neat spin on the transmigration trope when the main character is kept in the dark and has to make sense of things with very limited info. emperor jingrens narration and inner monologue was really good because its both hilatious at times and surprisingly introspective other times. the system muddying his memories was a nice touch and really drives the uncanny valley feeling across.

the way shen zhiwei couldnt stop referring himself with the imperial pronoun in the real world is sooo cute and even more so when yun ruifeng endulges him by calling him 'your majesty' and himself 'your subject wife' in private. shen zhiwei had spent some of the most formative years of his life as the emperor and so its understandable that hes still immersed in that role. and its nice that he was able to return to that world and see old friends and the impact of his legacy. it really drives the point that the simulation may all be computer data but the human essence is still there.

I like how the dramatic reveal that ML is a guy wasn't drawn out. MC calms down unexpectedly quickly. I almost thought he would make a bigger commotion out of it but he didn't.

this is a game world, it is all not real reveal. But MC kind of accepted it very bravely because despite coming to find out that he's living in a fictional world, the emotions and lives there are real to him. It gets quite emotional.

it transitioned to them being in the real world. At least in a way more believable than some other novels that I've read.

Su Huailing, the golden child and Commander Jing (so stoic). They made an almost comedic duo. And I loved how realistic MC was to put SHL's "good fortune" to use by putting her with the embroidered guards.

Why did the ML and the developers search for the missing human doctor by making a fake seduction game with real human playtesters and then also send in the ML to seduce the emperor? That's way too drastic a way to escape "corporate espionage"! And this also ruins the detail about the ML being the Empress because he was the only one humble enough to begin without advantages, thus getting the highest title as his innate advantage--but since he's working with the developers, he can just get whatever position is the most convenient for him.

Why is there an in-game item that uploads AI to the internet in a VR dating sim game? It would be one thing the doctor was just a maniac, but this seems to have gone completely unquestioned by everyone in the know.

And worst of all... why, after hundreds of words contemplating the worth of NPCs, after explicitly failing a "are you the doctor" test, is it revealed that the NPC MC was actually the doctor and thus a real boy all along!? Just because the author wants a Happy Ending, doesn't mean she has to ruin the theme about the importance of the NPCs by turning the only """NPC""" who matters into a PC.

Even when his insights and investigation eventually led him to discover the truth, he never gave up on himself and his people. So what if the world around them may not be real? He still hurt, he still felt, and so did the others. Even when given the option to leave and see the ML earlier, he put aside his personal wants to ensure the people of this world would live in peace after he was gone.

when he was heartbroken when he realized that the world he lives in isn’t true

even though he loves ML so so much, he puts being an emperor and having an heir as his responsibility. I love how it wasn’t instantly that —— he gave up his responsibility of producing an heir over his love for ML (it was only when he realized that he can really lose ML because of the war)

The excuse used to explain why the necklace didn't react to the MC felt cheap. Wasn't the point of the item to give the doctor his memories back? But it didn't work because the doctor thought he was the NPC...? of course he'd think he's someone else since his brain would be confused after the accident, so what's the point of this necklace?? I'm sorry but that makes no sense. Plus it's not like the doctor could be anyone else other than the MC, or else there would be no happy ending.

The part where the emperor realizes he's living in a false world is one of the most touching sections. The ML falls in love with the MC even though he thinks the MC is an NPC. It's because the MC is so real to him and lovely that he later has sympathy for other NPCs in the world. That's whole theme of their love story! Also, the MC fails the "are you the doctor in the real world" test, and it doesn't make sense to have him later become the doctor.

By chapter 3, I suspected that all the people that the MC remembered differently are transmigrators, including the ML, and they are using their real appearances (hence the Empress being male and the Imperial Physician looking young instead of elderly like the MC remembers). Well, my guess is almost correct. It turns out they're all game players, and the MC himself is an NPC.

The players' goal is to seduce the MC, using a special incense that would give the MC erot*c dreams about the person who used it. The ML, despite being a player, is probably the only person who doesn't actually want to 'win', instead putting all his effort into protecting the MC from the other players' manipulations.

However, the players probably didn't expect their NPC target to be really smart and have self-awareness. From the MC's POV, it's really horrifying to realize that your reality isn't real, that you're just a set of data, and that the people around him only see him as an object to win over...

- I wasn't sure if I liked that the MC turned out to be the doctor because it just seemed like the laziest, most obvious outcome. But he's actually really cute as the doc.

- MC lost his v*rginity 3 times. How is that even possible??

- The FL ending up with best supporting character in the novel... ya'll I fear she also won in the end.

- I thought the last two chapters was just some kinky roleplaying honeymoon trip for the leads but it occurred to me at the very end of the novel that they probably chose to spend another lifetime together in-game, and it would only take about 1 month+ in real time? Talk about getting a life hack.