Chapter 43: Meow

“Okay~ I’m drenched in sweat.”

When Nuo Ai’er said that with a smile, she felt like she was walking a tightrope on a cliff.

Meimei blinked her light red eyes, then the corners of her mouth curled up, her eyes full of excitement.

“Then I’ll start eating~”

“Mmm…”

Nuo Ai’er closed her eyes in fear.

However, after closing her eyes, the sharp pain of having her neck bitten off never came.

Instead, Meimei happily threw herself into Nuo Ai’er’s arms and started playing with her. “Sis~”

Meimei didn’t bite Nuo Ai’er’s neck; instead, she gently nibbled on Nuo Ai’er’s arm.

“Ah… that tickles.”

Nuo Ai’er couldn’t help shrinking her neck and said with a laugh.

Of course… though she was smiling on the surface, inside she was already…

‘Ugh, I finally survived.’

That’s right—just now, she roughly understood why Meimei kept biting her to death each time.

It was strongly related to a certain rule!

Rule 6— [Meimei is a good girl. Please believe in Meimei.]

In this bizarre Dungeon, anything could happen without surprise.

So Nuo Ai’er’s nerves were constantly on edge.

In the previous attempts, they were having fun, and then suddenly Meimei would make a request to eat her.

In that situation, Nuo Ai’er naturally thought something terrifying was about to happen, subconsciously assuming Meimei was really going to kill her.

But precisely that thought broke the condition of “trust,” causing Meimei to actually transform into a monster and devour her.

And in the last game cycle, Meimei suddenly turned into a Vampire Princess… that was also because Nuo Ai’er violated Rule 6.

At the time, after being bitten to death twice, her mind was frazzled, and she was lost in thought, imagining Meimei being a Vampire Princess.

That violated the rule of [Meimei is a good girl].

Okay, to put it plainly, Nuo Ai’er had to believe in Meimei, believe that she was a good girl.

If Nuo Ai’er didn’t believe herself, then reality would twist into the worst outcome…

So this time, Nuo Ai’er chose to believe completely.

Since she believed, she agreed along with Meimei’s words.

Ahem, but it turned out this was just a playful “eating.” Meimei only wanted to play a game.

Nuo Ai’er succeeded.

This had now verified that Rule 6 was a true rule.

However, that also meant the remaining rule—

Rule 3— [Meimei really likes you. When you get home, you have to play with her properly. Never make her unhappy, okay?]

‘This rule is definitely false.’

But where was it false?

It didn’t say everything was false, or maybe one or two of the three sentences were false.

‘Never make her unhappy…’

Nuo Ai’er calculated in her heart.

Did that mean Nuo Ai’er could deliberately make Meimei unhappy?

Or maybe she didn’t actually have to play with her?

…However, while Nuo Ai’er was deep in thought, she didn’t notice one thing.

“Heehee~ ue”

Meimei suddenly grinned mischievously and leaned close to Nuo Ai’er.

Nuo Ai’er was startled first…

She let out a squeal and pushed Meimei away.

“Ehehe~” Meimei touched her head, stuck out her tongue, and showed a cute, playful smile.

‘Oh well…’

In the end, just to be safe, she’d have to verify this last rule later.

22:00

“It’s getting late, Sis~”

Meimei said this to Nuo Ai’er.

It seemed the day was coming to an end…

Nuo Ai’er breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.

The bathroom and toilet in this house were separate, so Nuo Ai’er had specifically checked that the bathroom only had a bathtub, absolutely no trash bags that would violate the rules.

“Whew… so hot, so hot…”

The two entered the bathroom. Nuo Ai’er first wrapped her hair in a towel, then carefully stepped into the bathtub filled with hot water.

“Mmm, so comfy~”

The warm water wrapped around her body, and Nuo Ai’er felt like she was melting.

***

Immediately after, Meimei jumped into the bathtub as well.

“Ah, it’s so hot…” Meimei’s eyes turned into X’s; she wasn’t as heat-tolerant as Nuo Ai’er.

Watching Meimei’s obedient look, Nuo Ai’er decided to test the limits of that false rule again.

She chose her words carefully and asked softly, “Meimei… are you happy today?”

Meimei stopped humming, turned her head, and her light red eyes were full of joy:

“Mm-hmm, I’m really happy today. With Sis by my side, everything I do is fun~”

Hearing that answer, combined with Meimei’s cute face, Nuo Ai’er felt much more at ease.

Wow, she really is adorable…

Come to think of it, Nuo Ai’er hadn’t looked closely at her face for a while.

It seemed that as long as Nuo Ai’er believed, Meimei would always be a good child.

23:00

After the bath, the two changed into soft pajamas and returned to the Living Room.

The night outside the window had deepened, and the clock on the wall pointed to eleven o’clock.

“Whew…” Nuo Ai’er let out a breath.

The crisis of the first day was barely over, but clearly, this house held more secrets waiting for Nuo Ai’er to uncover.

For instance, the Second Floor that Meimei wouldn’t let her go to, and the combination lock safe inside the refrigerator.

“I’ll have to find a chance to investigate…” Nuo Ai’er murmured.

But just then…

“Sis~”

Meimei suddenly tugged at Nuo Ai’er’s hand, looked up at her with big, watery eyes, and asked:

“Sis, are you sleeping in my room tonight?”

“Ah?”

“Or… does Sis want to sleep alone?”

The moment Meimei asked the question, an option appeared.

[Choice Moment!]

[A. Sleep with Meimei]

[B. Sleep alone]

Nuo Ai’er was stunned.

‘An option actually appeared…’

That meant this question was important?

Nuo Ai’er thought about it—that rule about making Meimei happy… she could verify it now.

“Sure, I’ll sleep with you.” Nuo Ai’er smiled and patted Meimei’s head.

“Yay! ≧∇≦”

Meimei was overjoyed.

In Meimei’s bedroom.

Two little girls lay on the bed.

Before long, Meimei’s breathing became even and long; she was obviously asleep.

Nuo Ai’er turned her head to look at Meimei’s sleeping face and twitched her lips.

This kid’s sleeping face was really silly.

But Nuo Ai’er didn’t let her guard down.

Listening to Meimei’s steady breathing, her heartbeat began to race.

Because after Meimei fell asleep, a new option appeared.

[Choice Moment!]

[A. Sleep together with Meimei (Proceed to Day 2)]

[B. While Meimei is asleep, explore the Second Floor (If discovered by Meimei in the middle…)]

Nuo Ai’er chooses…