Chapter 22: I Can Still Fight!

I'm not…

Ying Su was just about to lie, but then her pupils dilated as she realized something.

No, no, no, no, no!

The other party had too many ways to confirm her identity. In fact, the moment they specifically named her and demanded she come, they had probably already determined she was a transmigrator.

Even if they couldn't be certain, given the cruelty of the containment facility Ying Su had witnessed, there was no doubt they wouldn't mind killing an innocent Class-C personnel by mistake.

The warden of the Third Containment Facility, Big Eye, was connected to the cameras spread throughout the entire base. Ying Su had been far too careless.

She had revealed too many flaws earlier. The other party's strength was far above Olivia's, and she had been too reckless when she first met Olivia.

Clearly, the other party wanting to confirm if she was a transmigrator wasn't about letting her go. All those treasure chests left by the seniors at the Resource Exchanger didn't come for free.

"Kill—!"

Me!

Before the words could even fully leave her mouth, Ying Su felt her entire body become incapable of any further movement.

"Let me first confirm what kind of system you have. Is it a powerful combat-type system, or a tricky mechanism-type one?" The Trickster clearly didn't immediately attack. She seemed to be wary of something, perhaps she had suffered a major loss before. Ying Su also didn't know who had done this to her. Maybe it was the Trickster in front of her, or perhaps it was that warden, Big Eye, watching her from behind the surveillance cameras?

Then she…

Just as Ying Su was thinking about how to respond, she saw, as if in a dream, all sorts of memories beginning to float before her eyes…

Damn it, she's reading my mind!

But very quickly, Ying Su felt her consciousness go dark.

Her brain had been destroyed, but not by the two monstrous wardens confronting her. It was Olivia inside her body.

Olivia had already understood Ying Su's intention, but she couldn't bring herself to do it earlier. However, she quickly realized she was absolutely no match for the two monsters in front of her.

Although Olivia could be overly sensitive at times, she could see the bigger picture clearly when it mattered.

The other party wanted Ying Su dead, and she herself would undoubtedly be hard-pressed to escape death.

After killing Ying Su, Olivia immediately self-destructed, dying with her.

[Olivia's Favorability +15]

[Olivia's Favorability has completed the second stage]

[Now releasing…]

"…"

The Trickster's smile vanished as she coldly stared at the corpse that had turned into a puddle of blood and gore from Olivia's self-destruction.

"A very clean suicide. Probably a system with resurrection or clone-type abilities," the Trickster said. "This makes things a bit tricky, Big Eye. Another tough one."

"Report it to the Council. The two of us alone probably can't handle her."

"And then, I'll investigate everyone who had contact with her."

"…"

…

[Current Save Point: 1]

[Remaining Load Count: 6]

"Huff… hah… hah…" Ying Su gasped violently, as if having narrowly escaped death, which made Dr. Anna in front of her pause.

"Um, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"It's nothing, Doctor. I just… umm…" Ying Su hesitated, realizing her tone had become a bit too familiar. She instinctively wanted to look at the camera in the room but managed to restrain herself. She couldn't look at the camera; that would expose her.

"My stomach seems to hurt a bit…"

Saying this, after getting permission from Anna, Ying Su went inside to squat down. But even here, that annoying camera was watching her.

And Ying Su's mind was racing.

This was absolutely not just some regulation or requirement.

This was Big Eye's method of controlling the base. It watched everything within the base.

Just like how the Trickster used her real name to control her Second Containment Facility.

If the other party could also read minds…

Ying Su guessed the reason the other party had let her run around for so long might simply be out of cautious consideration, worried that one person couldn't deal with her. They were waiting for reinforcements, waiting for a Trickster of their own level.

Damn it, what kind of super important figure was she, to warrant such attention from two warden-level individuals?!

She had been played from the very beginning. That Trickster had been planning how to deal with her the moment she arrived.

Ying Su had traded her life for a piece of information, but it only brought her greater despair.

How the hell was she supposed to escape?!

She knew nothing, was unarmed, and her greatest reliance was her utterly non-combat save/load system and Olivia.

It was completely over…

Even if she got Olivia back, there was no way to change the current situation and escape from here. Olivia couldn't defeat them.

At best, at most, she could only be imprisoned here for life as a containment object, or live as a low-level personnel.

Now she understood how all those transmigrator seniors had died.

Who the hell has a beginner's village with two super-cautious BOSSes directly blocking the entrance?!

And the beginner's village was run by them!

Ying Su was utterly despairing.

She might be able to live her whole life carefully without revealing any flaws, but if she did that, she would have to wave goodbye to freedom forever.

"…"

Then what was the point of everything she had done before?!

Instantly, extreme agony surged in her heart, but she couldn't show it on her face. She could only bend over as if suffering from painful constipation.

Nothing had any meaning anymore…

[System correcting… System preparation initiated.]

"Huh?!"

Hearing a strange sound, Ying Su immediately checked her systems. She found that one of her original two systems, the Favorability System, had disappeared. Only the Save/Load system remained…

"Wait, this is…"

[Ultimate Favorability Mission issued.]

[Catch Ai:

As the ultimate goal of favorability conquest, what else could it be besides this?

Don't worry, the target whose favorability has already reached a high level can now fully accept your unreasonable request. Go ahead and do it! Young man… oh no, young lady!

Mission Reward: One of the target's abilities.]

The system was gone… but the mission remained, right…?

But setting that aside for now, she'd also look at the reward for completing the second stage later.

None of these gave Ying Su the ability to break the deadlock. Even if she got them all, she still couldn't defeat a warden.

What she cared about and placed her hopes on were the three new cards that had appeared in her mind!

This time, Ying Su chose the card marked 'A'. As the card dissipated, a voice sounded in her mind.

Ding! System reboot complete. Slay the Spire 2 System loading finished.

"Huh… what the heck?!"

Ying Su was stunned for a moment. This was… that card game, right?

There was a system like this too?

She immediately opened the system and saw a row of her initial cards.

Five Strikes and five Defends, and that was it…

Even the numerical values for Strike and Defend were still just one.

Ying Su had a feeling that the card being labeled '1' was because that was its lower limit, not because Ying Su could actually deal one point of damage.

Even the system could bully her now!

"Forget it, forget it… let me see what else there is…"

Continuing to click in, a store appeared.

With a cheerful "Aha!" sound, a carpet was laid out with various items on it.