Ye Shu's body plummeted at breakneck speed, curled up tight as the wind screamed past her ears.
"Aaaaah!"
Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream pierced the air beside her.
She cracked open her eyes just in time to see Ye Wanwan torn to shreds by some invisible force, only a heartbeat before dropping into the black hole.
By the time Ye Shu registered what happened, the person had vanished into midair.
She looked down and unexpectedly collided with dozens of blood-red eyes staring at her from below.
A chill raced down her spine, goosebumps prickling every inch of her skin.
Ye Shu: “...!!”
This black hole... was far more terrifying than she'd imagined.
But why, she wondered, was she coming away unscathed?
She didn’t have time to process—the next second, a tremendous force seized her body.
Her arms and limbs were yanked brutally, pain shooting up her nerves.
She had to get out—now!
The system only forbade wish-granting items, not everything else.
Ye Shu fished a teleportation talisman from her inventory, but no sooner had her fingers brushed the yellowed paper than it combusted into ash, dissolving between her hands.
She stood frozen in disbelief.
Her precious, high-grade teleportation talisman—just gone? Like that?
It seemed her survival under the black hole’s crushing gravity was only thanks to her in-game attributes.
With this sobering realization, Ye Shu dared not let her guard down—she gripped another teleportation talisman in her palm, but before it could activate, Fu Shiyi tumbled down from above and landed squarely atop her.
Her very last Bai Li teleportation talisman disintegrated instantly.
Ye Shu’s eyes went wide, her whole body shaking with angry disbelief.
Of all the places he could have landed, why right on top of her? She half suspected the brat had done it on purpose.
No time for curses.
With a dull thud, the two of them plunged together into the black hole.
Ye Shu—dead.
...
Unbearable pain.
But…this feeling… she’d respawned!
Ye Shu took a deep, grateful breath, marveling at the simple joy of being alive.
Her final memory was the agony of her body being torn apart.
She raised her gaze to meet Fu Shiyi’s guileless, cherubic smile—somehow both infuriating and absurdly comical.
Yet the boy, oblivious to it all, grinned at her with extra sweetness. "Big Sis Ye, why are you looking at me like that? Please don't smile at me that way… It feels scary, like you want to kill me."
“Little Shiyi, you must be mistaken.”
“How could I ever bear to kill you?”
Ye Shu forced a smile, lips curling but never touching her eyes.
The plane hadn’t been drawn into the black hole yet—there was still hope. But there was something else she needed to do first.
She’d never once let a grudge go unpunished…
If Ye Wanwan dared plot against her, she would pay a fitting price.
Ye Shu stepped into Cabin One, meeting Ye Wanwan’s wide, innocent eyes just as she crossed the threshold.
Her own face a mask of ice, Ye Shu promptly conjured a gentle, sunny smile as she approached, step by measured step.
All this time, Ye Wanwan had kept to herself in Cabin One, silently avoiding Ye Shu—knowing as she did that the woman wasn’t one for unnecessary trouble. So, what brought her here now...?
Every instinct screamed that Ye Shu had come looking for trouble.
Ye Wanwan’s gaze faltered, and she instinctively edged behind Wen Qi for protection.
A loud metallic screech drew everyone’s attention. Ye Shu froze in place.
Was the plane falling apart again?!
Another screech split the air—the plane’s ceiling began to cave in, a hole appearing above their heads.
Ye Shu stared up in disbelief.
In seconds, the palm-sized hole widened.
No way—
Last time, it hadn’t happened this quickly… what had gone wrong?
Ye Shu didn’t dwell on it. She strode straight for Ye Wanwan and, without hesitation, kicked her off the plane.
Wen Qi’s face whitened with shock as he stammered, “Ye Xiaoshu! What was that for—are you insane? Wanwan did nothing to you, why kill her?”
Never glancing back, Ye Shu left without a word.
This plane was a deathtrap; the sooner she got out, the better. But there was still the matter of the black hole—its reach was so vast that even with a teleportation talisman, she couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t just teleport into the abyss itself.
Outside the plane, Ye Wanwan’s face was a mask of disbelief.
She’d never thought Ye Shu would actually lay a hand on her.
But she had. Ye Shu really had tried to kill her.
It couldn’t be…
Only when pain wracked her body did Ye Wanwan finally accept reality.
Even as life slipped away, she couldn’t understand why Ye Shu had killed her.
...
Back on the plane, Ye Shu grabbed Fu Shiyi and, with two teleportation talismans, managed to escape the pull of the black hole.
As luck would have it, the black hole's trajectory took it in the opposite direction—no danger here, for now.
Day fifty of the game.
Half the planet’s territory had been swallowed by the black hole.
Day sixty.
Humankind's living space dwindled by the day.
Day seventy.
Ye Shu and Fu Shiyi narrowly escaped the black hole’s clutches once again.
Day one hundred.
The planet was all but devoured.
The ground beneath their feet trembled subtly, and every device flickered and died. Methodical as ever, Ye Shu salvaged and stored whatever resources she could.
Yet still, the game refused to let her go...
Of all the players in the D-Zone, fewer than ten remained besides her. A death rate of 99.9%—the highest difficulty, and the longest playthrough yet.
Now, even she was on the brink...
Just as despair set in, an icy, mechanical voice chimed in her ear—a sound Ye Shu had once found grating, but now seemed oddly welcome.
[Ding! The D-Zone Black Hole Devouring Game has ended. Players will be released from the game in three minutes!]
“Big Sis Ye, that’s amazing!”
“We’re finally getting out of this hellish instance!”
“Yes. Finally, freedom.” Ye Shu echoed quietly, counting down each second in her heart.
Fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven...
It was nearly over.
This damned game of death—
Everyone else gone, she was the last one standing.
“Um, Big Sis Ye? What are you—”
A fresh wound opened in Fu Shiyi’s chest, blooming crimson across his white shirt. The boy’s face was pale with shock, staring incredulously at Ye Shu as he wavered, already falling apart.
“Tsk, nice act!”
“Didn’t I say—every time I see you, I’ll kill you? You haven’t forgotten, have you, Lin Qingyue? Or should I say, Lin Qing?”