“Almost time.”
A cold, clear voice echoed.
A beautiful woman with long, jet-black hair stood before the city gates.
Dressed in a black leather jacket and matching pants, she held a horizontal blade in hand, exuding a heroic and commanding presence.
Within her pitch-black eyes, two eerie blue halos slowly emerged.
She was none other than the current highest-level player—Mu Ling.
“Is another tragedy about to unfold?”
Clutching her blade, Silence, tightly, a trace of sorrow surfaced on her face.
But soon, it shifted into joy.
“But… being able to see her again… it’s just too wonderful~”
The reason Mu Ling hadn’t gone mad and slaughtered players in the Starting Zone wasn’t just due to the restraints of her humanity.
There was another, much more important reason.
She didn’t know whether the person she cherished most—her—was one of the 999 closed beta players, or someone beyond all imagination.
If it was the former, then killing players in the Starting Zone might mean killing her with her own hands.
Killing the one most important to her.
Even if there was only a 1% chance, Mu Ling couldn’t take that gamble.
“Very soon… very soon, I’ll be able to see you again~”
With those words, she stepped forward and dashed toward the city gates at high speed, treating the ash-gray mechanical puppets like they were nothing.
Unlike other players, she showed not the slightest hint of fear—as if she were simply returning home.
***
Just as Mu Ling entered the city, another figure appeared outside.
He wore tattered clothes, stood tall and broad-shouldered, and his face carried a roguish, sinister air.
His eyes glowed blood red, and from his slightly parted mouth, several ash-gray tentacles squirmed out playfully.
There was no doubt—this was the monster Bai Xue hated most: Zhao Gang.
And he had actually dared to come to Mo City.
“Is this… the place that’s been calling me?”
Zhao Gang stared at the massive city ahead, his voice filled with confusion.
At this moment, he could no longer sense the call he had felt earlier.
He wasn’t sure if he should go in.
If he had misjudged, things could get very troublesome.
***
After a moment of hesitation, Zhao Gang still stepped forward.
As soon as he stepped onto the stone bridge, the massive, dormant mechanical puppet’s eyes suddenly lit up with a flash of red.
Then, like a runaway mining truck at full speed, it charged straight toward him.
In an instant, the distance between them closed significantly.
Zhao Gang felt a chill run down his spine, his hair standing on end.
He could tell—this behemoth was terrifyingly strong.
He was no match at all!
In the blink of an eye, Zhao Gang was already within the puppet’s attack range.
A giant fist came crashing toward him!
Feeling the explosive force of the oncoming blow, Zhao Gang’s face twisted in panic as his mind raced like lightning.
And in that split second of desperation, he found a way to survive.
Jump into the river!
The next moment, he burst forth with the fastest speed of his life, and with a whoosh, leapt into the moat.
The puppet’s terrifying punch hit nothing but air, but the sheer force of it gouged out a layer of dirt from the stone bridge’s edge.
At the same time, a splash echoed through the air as Zhao Gang hit the water below, sending up waves.
The mechanical puppet looked down over the edge of the bridge.
Not seeing any trace of Zhao Gang, it returned to its post outside the city gate.
***
Underwater.
Zhao Gang floated, his face deathly pale, nearly the color of paper.
If he had been even a moment slower in jumping, he would’ve been smashed to death by that monster’s punch.
‘That was way too close. What the hell was that thing!?’
His heart still pounding, Zhao Gang shuddered as the fear lingered in his chest.
Just then, over a dozen dark shapes came speeding toward him through the water like torpedoes.
Zhao Gang instinctively prepared to fight back—until he heard a series of strange popping sounds: “Pop pop pop pop pop.”
Focusing his vision, he realized what those things were.
They were grayish-black, multi-eyed octopuses—dozens of them!
“Pop pop pop~” Zhao Gang opened his mouth and mimicked the same strange sound.
The octopuses circled around him, happily wriggling their bodies.
As if they were welcoming a new member into their group.
Even though Zhao Gang looked nothing like them.
His body squirmed, and he began swaying in sync with them, joyfully joining their dance.
The scene looked incredibly bizarre.
***
Inside the city.
Mu Ling looked up at the shop sign: [Silver Alchemy Workshop], her eyes filled with nostalgia.
It was as if she had returned to a moment from the past.
“Too bad… there’s no going back. Never again,” she murmured softly, biting her cherry-colored lips, her expression tinged with sorrow.
Her snow-white hand rested on the slightly ajar door.
She gave it a gentle push.
“Welcome,” a stranger’s voice suddenly echoed from within the familiar space.