On the way to Starry Palace, Wei Yang once again marveled at the absolute power of the Tamamo Bell.
Throughout the journey, they walked through a world that looked like the black-and-white negative of an old camera. Only the two of them retained any color. Every person and object was completely frozen by the bell. Thanks to this, she finally didn’t have to move through the palace in a state of constant anxiety, dodging guards at every turn.
However, there were still some things she didn’t quite understand.
‘At the end of the day, didn’t I transmigrate as the victim of this game? Why is everyone so much more interested in me?’
It was undeniable that her current character model was practically peerless, though her stature was a bit small. She was likely the type of girl a certain infamous pilot like Char Aznable would appreciate. Beyond that, her body proportions were undoubtedly comparable to Jennifer Lawrence. In short, she was a busty loli.
Just before they reached Starry Palace, Ah Li suddenly asked the ruminating Wei Yang a question that caught her off guard.
“Little one, what is your Curse Technique? I haven’t seen you use it yet. You didn’t even try to resist when you faced Chao Yan.”
“…Is there a possibility that I don’t have a Curse Technique? If I could have resisted Chao Yan, I certainly would have.”
Ah Li patted her head, clearly not believing a word Wei Yang said.
“Fine, fine, I understand. After all, information about one’s Curse Technique shouldn’t be easily leaked to others. But to think you’d even hide it from me—how heart-wrenching~”
Wei Yang frowned. She knew absolutely nothing about Curse Techniques. It made sense; theoretically, as a Divine Lady—or at least someone who was a Divine Lady before being turned into a Snow Fox—it wouldn’t make sense if she didn’t have some powerful skills.
But that was the problem. She truly didn’t feel any magic power within herself.
The combat system in this game was divided into two types: one was the “God-Artifact” game item, and the other was the character-specific “Curse Technique.” Both were driven by mana.
‘But why can’t I feel even a single drop of mana in my body? Is this normal…?’
Forget it. She would ask Yu Tu later. That girl knew far more about this game than she did.
Upon arriving at Starry Palace, Wei Yang immediately began a carpet search. However, there was no sign of her girlfriend anywhere. She couldn’t even find a single personal item, as if her girlfriend had never even set foot in this place.
“Something isn’t right… Ah Li, do you have any ideas?”
After a long moment, there was no response.
“Ah Li?”
She didn’t know when it had happened, but the person who had been by her side was gone. Standing under the thousand-year-old ancient tree in the center of Starry Palace, Wei Yang suddenly felt a wave of loneliness.
This was the first time since coming to this world that she was truly, in every sense of the word, alone.
The world in her vision remained black and white. Since the bell’s effect was still active, Ah Li shouldn’t be too far away. As long as she was still inside Starry Palace, they were bound to run into each other eventually. Wei Yang blamed herself for running too fast in her desperation to save her girlfriend. She decided to stay put and wait for Ah Li.
Leaning against the ancient tree, Wei Yang slowly sat down and let out a soft breath. Running for so long had nearly exhausted her.
The Tamamo Bell by her ear emitted a crisp *ting-ling, ting-ling* sound. But there was no need to worry; Ah Li could establish a conscious link with her to control the bell. The space-freezing effect wouldn’t end just because the bell swayed.
…?
A sense of dissonance washed over her.
‘If Ah Li can communicate with me in my mind through a conscious link, why isn’t she doing that now?’
Even if they were separated, given how much Ah Li valued her, she shouldn’t be this silent.
“Did something happen to Ah Li!?”
Wei Yang stood up in a panic. She couldn’t stay here anymore. She had to find her!
However, just as she rose to head back, the sound of footsteps echoed from behind her.
The moment she heard the footsteps, Wei Yang breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed she had been overthinking things. Perhaps Ah Li was just a little slow.
“Ah Li, you really scared me.”
As she turned her head, she felt a flicker of confusion. She thought she heard the sound of something like a cloth sack being dragged across the ground.
Or was it—
Looking back, Wei Yang’s pupils reflected the figure of the newcomer. The other person smiled and waved at her, casually tossing the object in her hand onto the ground with a dull *thud*.
“Long time no see, though it hasn’t really been that long.”
Wei Yang took several steps back in disbelief. The yellow-haired girl standing before her eyes was undoubtedly Chao Yan.
‘Impossible. She was clearly frozen by the Tamamo Bell. Why is she here?’
The surroundings were still black and white, and the bell’s effect hadn’t been lifted. Yet, Chao Yan had achieved the theoretically impossible feat of breaking the restriction of a God-Artifact to stand before Wei Yang.
Wei Yang’s gaze slowly drifted downward. Lying on the ground was Ah Li, her state of life or death unknown.
“W-Why?”
“Huh? Why what?” Chao Yan tilted her head blankly, then seemed to understand what Wei Yang meant. “Oh, you’re asking how I managed to break free from that freezing effect, aren’t you?”
“Did you forget? My Curse Technique is ‘Adaptation.’ As long as I use mana to analyze the surrounding phenomena, I can adapt to all things. Whether it’s a Curse Technique or a God-Artifact, they’re all useless against me.”
Wei Yang never expected this situation. It would have been one thing if she were captured, but she had dragged Ah Li into this mess as well.
‘I can’t let this happen. I have to find a way to take Ah Li and get out of here. I can’t let her meet a bad end because of me.’
Looking at Wei Yang, whose forehead was beaded with sweat from tension, Chao Yan smiled effortlessly.
“Don’t be nervous. This little nine-tailed fox has just fainted. I don’t know what her Curse Technique is, and it would be bad if she had one of those Deathrattle curses that triggers an explosion upon death. I don’t really want to invite trouble right now, so I’ll let her off the hook.”
“…Why? Why did you hurt her? Your target is clearly me, isn’t it?”
Upon hearing those words, Chao Yan’s expression suddenly became somewhat strained.
For a long time, her gaze had never been able to leave Wei Yang. This was the person she had worked so hard to catch up to, the person she had worked so hard to be with.
And yet, on that day, Wei Yang told her she “had a lover.”
“The sin of the weak is being ignorant of their own insignificance while hallucinating that they can stand beside the strong. That is why no one has ever been able to understand you.” At this point, she kicked Ah Li aside. “The purpose of everything I’ve done is to stand on equal footing with you. Only by becoming you can I truly understand you and be with you. So, why exactly—”
“—Why won’t you just stay obediently in the Bronze Sparrow Terrace I prepared for you?”
“—Why must you go and flirt with other women?”
“—Why must you fall in love with someone else, when I am the one who has always been by your side!”
The absolute strong are born with loneliness, and the one who can teach you love is—
“Why won’t you just save me? Why won’t you… love me?”
“Why? Why? Why? Why?????????”
Wei Yang realized with profound clarity that the person in front of her was broken. With vacant eyes, Chao Yan repeated “why” over and over. Wei Yang wanted to know the answer to that herself.
“Who can even understand what you’re talking about! You’re so annoying! You’re just a direct, unreasonable, selfish person! I hate you the most!”
Wei Yang had simply been unable to contain her anger and wanted to curse her out to vent her frustration, but the effect of those few sentences startled her.
It was so unexpected. Could such a domineering person actually show such a fragile expression?
After being doused by that outburst, Chao Yan was pierced by the blades of those words like a little girl. Her legs gave out, and she knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face and dripping away.
She couldn’t accept it.
She couldn’t accept being called “annoying.”
She was lonely, she was solitary, and she wanted to be loved by the person she loved. She didn’t want to be hated.
She absolutely did not want that.
The tears flowed uncontrollably. Chao Yan had to cover her face; she didn’t want Wei Yang to see her in such a pathetic state.
The words she expected to hear from Wei Yang’s mouth were not these. Wei Yang must have just been speaking out of anger, right?
Right? It had to be.
But, if these truly were Wei Yang’s sincere thoughts…
If love can never be reciprocated after all—
Chao Yan began to tear out handfuls of her yellow hair. She lifted her head, her nosebleed and tears smearing together and melting into her makeup. She cried until her face was haggard and her eyes were red and swollen, looking utterly wretched.
As more and more yellow hair fell to the ground, Wei Yang watched in horror as new, cherry-pink strands of hair erupted from Chao Yan’s head like a spring. They continued to grow and extend, draping over her shoulders, her chest, and even into her mouth.
Chao Yan stared at Wei Yang with that new hair in her mouth, her expression filled with infatuation. Wei Yang noticed that the color of her pupils had also shifted to cherry pink.
“What’s going on…?”
Even without a word being spoken, Wei Yang could feel Chao Yan’s uncontrollable love and hatred toward her.
She definitely wanted to kill her!
Sure enough, like a girl in the middle of a passionate romance, Chao Yan gave Wei Yang a shy confession.
“I’m going to kill you~”