All that searching, and here she was delivered right to her feet. The irony was almost laughable. Ye Shu had hunted for Lin Shuya in this warped underworld for days, never catching so much as a hint of her shadow, only for the woman to appear before her now.
Ye Shu cast a cold, venomous glance at the woman writhing beneath her boot, the corners of her lips curling into a chilling smile.
Lin Shuya, stunned by the sudden pain, had yet to realize her predicament. She screeched, demanding whoever was pinning her down to get off, moaning, 'Ugh, ow! Watch where you're going! What if something happens to me—'
On and on she complained, but no one answered. Flustered and furious, Lin Shuya snapped, 'So rude! You run into someone and don't have the decency to apologize? Even if this is a game, today you owe me an apology—on your knees!'
'Is that so?' came the reply, cold and clear.
'Well then, I'm truly sorry.'
Ye Shu deliberately lowered her voice, gripping the wooden sword tight in her hand. They had dared to plot against her, to drug her with an inducer. Did Lin Shuya fail to recognize her, so certain she’d been torn to pieces by the cave-ghosts?
In the murk of the caverns, Lin Shuya couldn't discern her assailant’s face—only that she was a thin, shadowy woman standing above her. Alarm bells screamed in her mind. She resembled someone she’d hoped never to see again... that wretched brat?
Even her voice felt unnervingly familiar.
No, impossible! Lin Shuya told herself sternly. She had drugged the girl, set the monsters on her trail. There was no way Ye Shu could still be alive.
Wanwan had assured her: the amount of drug used would draw in every cave-ghost for miles. Ye Shu should’ve been reduced to bloody tatters long ago—there was no reason she should've survived.
'Well, well—looks like Ms. Lin doesn't recognize me?'
Ye Shu drew a compact handgun from her inventory, letting its cold muzzle linger over Lin Shuya, almost as if she were selecting where best to leave a hole.
The ghosts’ pursuit in these caves had nearly killed Ye Shu several times already, even forcing her to use a save-point revival. If she didn’t deal with Lin Shuya now, she’d be condemning herself to future trouble.
'You... y-you’re Ye Shu?'
Panic seized Lin Shuya; a suffocating pressure pressed down, making escape feel impossible. She stumbled backward, palms scraping jagged gravel until they wept blood.
That wretched girl—she lived! Dared appear right in front of her!
How could this be? Were the cave-ghosts merely decorations now? And yet Ye Shu had clawed her way back to confront her.
'How are you still alive? The drug—the drug failed?'
Lin Shuya, in her terror, spilled every suspicion from her mind. By the time she realized what she’d admitted, it was far too late to clamp a hand over her mouth.
Ye Shu stooped down, fixing Lin Shuya with a pleasant, almost warm smile. 'So, Ms. Lin, you finally remember me.'
'The inducer didn’t fail.'
'The ghosts here are too weak to harm me. But don’t worry—if anyone dies today, it’ll be you.'
Lin Shuya’s eyes grew wide with horror, as if staring at a monster. She couldn’t even stand—she scrambled backward on all fours, terror making her limbs useless.
Was this the same timid foster daughter? She seemed inhuman, a demon immune to the terrors that haunted all the players in this place.
Looking back, perhaps she should’ve shown Ye Shu a shred more kindness years ago.
Ye Shu sounded terrifyingly strong, not at all the frail, hunted thing Lin Shuya expected.
Of course, in the gloom of the underground, you couldn’t see anyone clearly—if Lin Shuya had a lantern, she might have noticed that Ye Shu’s actual condition was dire: her face ghostly pale, her body tottering on the edge of collapse.
'Lin Shuya, I’ll give you a chance,' Ye Shu said. 'Tell me Ye Wanwan’s coordinates, and I’ll let you live. What do you say?'
Lin Shuya hesitated, her voice shrill in its protest: 'Why are you looking for Wanwan? What do you intend to do?'
'Do you even have to ask? The inducer was her idea, wasn’t it?'
Ye Shu’s finger stroked the pistol, barrel aimed straight at Lin Shuya’s heart.
'What inducer? I don’t know what you’re talking about! Wanwan’s a good girl—don’t malign her!'
Still Lin Shuya clung to her denials, refusing to betray Wanwan’s location.
'Then I suppose I have no choice.'
Ye Shu stepped forward, pressing the gun sharply to Lin Shuya’s temple.
Lin Shuya felt the cold steel and shrieked, her expression twisting with dread. 'What are you doing? The Ye family was good to you! Ye Shu, this is how you repay us—for shame! I’m your mother—you can’t kill me!'
Whatever patience Ye Shu had vanished. Her voice was hard as starched linen: 'Either you die, or Ye Wanwan dies. Choose. And since you choose Wanwan—then you’ll be going first.’
'I’ll tell you.' Lin Shuya faltered. 'Don’t kill me—I... I don’t know her exact location, but we spoke a couple days ago. I... I can take you to her.'
Lin Shuya shouted loud enough to draw in any nearby players—yet to her bitter disappointment, not a soul dared come to her aid.
She seemed to forget that this wasn’t reality, but a game of survival. In this lawless world, everyone fought to make it out alive—who would invite danger for a stranger’s sake?
Seeing this truth, Lin Shuya finally weighed the pros and cons, and grudgingly revealed the area where Ye Wanwan lingered.
'There! I told you, now you can’t kill me!'
Ye Shu offered a gentle, almost magnanimous smile, echoing her promise.
From her shoulder, Da Piaoliang—a monstrous creature in disguise—leaped to the ground, transformed, and tore through Lin Shuya’s legs with a single bite.
'Awooo... blech, disgusting!' the monster spat, green eyes gleaming hideously in the dark. 'Old hag! Tough, stinky, and revolting! I’ve never tasted such nasty meat in my entire life!'
It spat out bloody shreds in disgust, its eyes flashing ghoulishly in the cavern gloom.
Lin Shuya howled in agony, teetering on the edge of unconsciousness, yet found the strength to curse. ‘Ye Shu, you promised—how dare you? May you die a miserable death, you filth! I should’ve smothered you when I had the chance!’
'I kept my word,' Ye Shu replied coolly. 'As you can see, I never laid a hand on you.'
She watched Lin Shuya’s writhing, shrieking form with clinical detachment. Just a corpse, nothing more. Why bother with sentiment?
From the beginning, Ye Shu had never planned to let her live—were it not for her own save-point ability, she’d have died long ago.
'Vile brat!' Lin Shuya spat, 'Don’t think your powers make you special. Wanwan will avenge me! Wicked creature like you, you’re doomed to die alone—no one will ever love you. Even if you’re Ye family by blood, I would never acknowledge you.'
Even in her dying breaths, Lin Shuya filled the air with venom.
Da Piaoliang finished the job without hesitation, snapping Lin Shuya’s throat and swallowing it whole.
'Awoo... Master, are you alright?' The monster’s senses seemed keen to Ye Shu’s faint tremor.
'It’s nothing. Just a trifle,' Ye Shu murmured.
She had inherited all the original Ye Shu’s memories and aching desires. As a child, all the girl had ever wanted was the love of her parents.
Ye Shu pressed a hand to her pounding chest, a wave of sorrow threatening to drown her.
Lin Shuya’s account was now settled. Next... would be Ye Wanwan.
Cave World. Sector B567.
When Ye Wanwan noticed Lin Shuya’s distress signal, anxiety clawed at her chest—as if something precious was slipping from her grasp.
Minutes later, Lin Shuya’s game account vanished.
Ye Wanwan’s heart seized in terror.
A deleted survival account meant one thing: the player’s irrevocable death.
And the one who slew Lin Shuya was none other than the Ye family's adopted daughter—Ye Shu.