"No wonder you're Ye Xiaoshu, that's some ruthless handiwork. We spent a hundred days together, but you left not a shred of sentiment. Truly heartbreaking."
Lin Qingyue, so wilting and frail just a moment ago, suddenly sat up perfectly straight, his gaze fixed boldly on Ye Shu, unashamed and clear.
"Tsk—"
"The very first time I saw you."
Ye Shu shot him a sideways glare.
Fu Shiyi, for all his childishness, often echoed his brother Fu Jingchuan's sharp tongue. Throughout the game, this man never mentioned Fu Jingchuan, even showing open disgust whenever she brought up the name...
Then there was the players' survival counter on the game interface.
Only one person left alive.
Wasn't the answer obvious?
Did it even need to be guessed?
"The very first time we met—you went near the pit because of the black hole, right? Let me guess, what you tossed down wasn't any ordinary stone, was it?"
Otherwise, Ye Shu couldn't for her life imagine why Lin Qingyue would approach a place the game treated as a garbage dump.
"Yes, you're right. The instance glitched, and the artificial black hole needed to be restarted," Lin Qingyue answered matter-of-factly.
"Like I said, I can't die or be destroyed in this game. You're welcome to try killing me anytime you wish... cough, cough..."
With that, he let out a quiet, vacant laugh.
Ye Shu felt a chill creep over her scalp. ".........."
There's no using logic on this maniac.
Immortal and indestructible, so what?
And honestly, maybe she shouldn't have exposed Lin Qingyue's identity just now. Maybe it would've been wiser to play dumb.
Lin Qingyue, unable to hold himself up any longer, collapsed to the floor. A flash of madness crossed his bloodless face.
The air shivered and warped as a mechanical voice sounded.
"You're out of your mind—delusional!"
"Player 10096 is the greatest anomaly in this micro-world. By the rules, you ought to have erased her, yet you still hesitate... Don't think hiding me in system-space will save that lunatic woman."
"So noisy—"
Lin Qingyue impatiently prodded at his ear.
His matters were none of the AI's concern.
............
[Congratulations, Player 10096, on completing the survival mission.]
[Instance: Black Hole Devouring Game (SSS Level) — Completed: SSS Level]
[Number of surviving players: 1.]
[Successful player receives 1000 points.]
The instant Ye Shu was teleported back, she was engulfed in a warm embrace.
"Wuu wuu wuu... Shushu, you're finally back!! I was scared to death—thank goodness you're alive! If you'd been gone any longer, I... I'd have lost my mind."
Su Bai clung to her, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Go away, you're rubbing snot and tears all over me. Do you think my clothes are free?" Ye Shu griped, but nonetheless wiped away Su Bai's tears.
"Fu Jingchuan? You're here too!"
She met the concerned gaze and only then spoke up, "Is Xiao Shiyi still alive? How long has it been since we left the instance?"
"Uh, he's... fine."
"After we cleared the instance, only a few hours passed," Fu Jingchuan answered honestly, if with some confusion.
Ye Shu loosely summarized the events of the game, omitting the episode with Lin Qingyue.
When Su Bai heard that Ye Shu had been the only survivor in Zone D, she blinked in shock for a long moment before finally speaking. "What!! So... only you made it out alive?! Out of 100,000 players... all gone."
Ye Shu nodded calmly.
If the game hadn't been ending, she might not have made it back herself.
[Ding! Thirteenth round over. Fourteenth round will begin in two days; players, please prepare accordingly.]
Two days later, a new round of survival began.
Thankfully, the game system didn't malfunction again, and she cleared it with ease.
Round fifteen.
Round sixteen...
Ye Shu handled every challenge with practiced skill. The only blemish was that, in every single round, she inevitably ran into that madman Lin Qingyue.
She quietly admitted, she'd acted rashly that first time!
He was an anomaly—impossible to kill, impossible to avoid.
Over time, Ye Shu simply got used to him.
............
[Dingdong! Congratulations, Player 10096, you have survived.]
[Twenty-seventh round: Dark Fairy Tale — The Puppet Show. Completion Level: SS.]
[Player Ye Shu, you have been preselected as a reserve Executor.]
[Congratulations on promotion to Executor 02.]
Once Ye Shu was promoted, she roamed through various instances, tirelessly searching for a way out. Her progress was slow, but at least those dear to her—including Su Bai—had long collected enough withdrawal cards to leave the game for good.
Nearly a year passed in hardship before Ye Shu finally found a loophole: no matter how advanced, the survival game was still just data...
Meanwhile, her Resurgence skill matured until it could rewind time itself.
Using it, Ye Shu successfully broke free from the system's surveillance and nullified the game before its next invasion attempt. Thankfully, it worked, and everything reset.
Reality returned to normal.
As the anomaly who'd transmigrated into the novel, she was cast back to her original world.
Aquablue.
In her rented 10-square-meter room, Ye Shu had been binge-reading an eighteen-year saga about a domineering CEO and his docile lover when, right at a climactic scene, a deafening roar filled her ears, and then—nothing.
............
"Ye Shu, this is no place for you. You've stolen Wanwan's identity for so long, and we let it slide. Tonight's party is in Wanwan's honor. If you have even a shred of decency, leave the Ye family at once."
"I'm Qin Zaozao, and Wanwan will always be my only sister."
Before Ye Shu could react, a glass of red wine splattered across her face.
Things only got worse. Security soon had her thrown out of the Ye family home, penniless and adrift all the way to the subway station.
"Did I... just transmigrate into a book again?"
"Is this one of those fake-rich-daughter storylines?"
The endless blur of commuters made Ye Shu break out in a cold sweat.
Something about this place... felt eerily familiar.
As though something terrible was about to happen here...
She was thinking of leaving when the subway doors unexpectedly shut, leaving her no choice but to take a seat.
The overhead light flickered.
Then she heard a distant static—like an old tape unspooling.
[Welcome to the Survival Game!!]
[Game loading... Welcome, Player 10096 — Ye Shu!]
[Please note: Failure means death!]
[We wish you the best. In your first entry, new player protection is enabled. Gentle reminder:
1. Do not make eye contact with them. Do not let them know you can see.
2. They cannot be killed.
3. Stay away from all darkness.]
[Will you draw a card?]
Ye Shu drew an SSS-tier Rewind Card, a string of intermediate-grade cinnabar beads, and earned a +1 bonus to Strength.
In the battered, mottled subway platform, Ye Shu woke from the cold.
Like a startled bird, she bolted upright, carefully surveying her surroundings. Her eyes landed on a young man in black hoodie nearby. She was about to call out when a searing sensation flared on her hand...
In that instant, Ye Shu understood—the man wasn't human.
She wanted to run, but it was already too late.
"You can see me!!"
His pitch-black eyes found hers, and, in terror, Ye Shu's red cinnabar beads scattered across the ground...