Noel: (°口°๑)
The streets of the Inner World were far crazier than Noel had imagined.
This simply wasn’t a normal game lobby at all.
Countless completely different art styles were roughly yet harmoniously mashed together.
Holding Wei Ran’s hand, Noel walked along the bustling street, her eyes unable to take it all in.
On the left was a xianxia-style immortal cultivation pill shop, with purple smoke swirling from the alchemy furnace at its entrance.
Right next to it was a cyberpunk-style mechanical item shop, its neon sign flashing.
In the sky, a Taoist riding a flying sword passed a jetpack-wearing interstellar mercenary, followed by a robed wizard on a broomstick.
On the street, a few cat-headed and dog-headed demi-humans were haggling with a full-plated green-skinned orc.
“What the hell kind of place is this?” Noel couldn’t help complaining.
’These witches have way too wild imaginations. Western fantasy, magic, cultivation, sci-fi… how can so many random elements be stacked in the same world?’
“This is the charm of the Inner World~”
Wei Ran seemed to be in a good mood, walking with an elegant stride as she explained to Noel.
“This is a convergence of all fantasies. The currency is the points you earn from playing games. You can also use them for trading. As long as you have enough points, you can buy anything.”
“Are you trying to tempt me into spending money…” Noel swallowed.
“Don’t worry, our prices are very reasonable.” Wei Ran, as if seeing through her thoughts, explained casually. “One point has roughly the purchasing power of ten thousand yuan in your surface world.”
“Ten thousand (*ﾟﾛﾟ)!!” Noel gasped.
But she quickly held back.
Although the purchasing power of points was astonishing, the thought that she still owed Wei Ran 1000 points (that’s ten million, dammit) made the points feel scorching hot. She didn’t dare touch them.
The two walked for a while and passed a small restaurant wafting a strange, delicious smell.
“Hungry? Want to try their signature dish? It’s said to be made from slime gel—very chewy.”
Wei Ran pointed at the restaurant.
“Uh… no thanks, I’m not hungry.”
Noel sighed. After experiencing so much, she had no appetite at all.
Wei Ran shrugged, didn’t push it, and led her into a stylishly decorated tavern.
The tavern had dim lighting, playing soothing Western classical music.
Wei Ran ordered a deep purple cocktail for herself and a freshly squeezed orange juice for Noel.
“Drink juice. Little lolis can’t drink alcohol, you know.” Wei Ran teased.
“I’m an adult, okay (ﾉ｀⊿´)ﾉ” Noel protested.
“Alcohol here is 2 points per glass.”
“…Ahaha, juice is really good (ฅ’ω’ฅ)”
Noel yielded in the end (sad).
Holding her cold juice glass, Noel took a small sip.
It was actually pretty good… the sweet and sour taste calmed her tense mood a little.
She looked at Wei Ran, who was lazily swirling her glass on the opposite side, hesitated, then asked quietly, “You really won’t let me go back?”
Wei Ran paused, set down the glass, and stared at Noel with her violet eyes before sighing.
“Who told you to cause trouble in my livestream first? I was already in a bad mood that day because of the witches’ quarterly performance review. I was the only one who didn’t meet the target.”
Speaking of this, the witch actually showed a hint of grievance. “Don’t forget you still owe me 1000 points. I won’t let you leave until you pay them off.”
“How can this be? What if I apologize to you…”
“Big sis hates apologies after the fact the most 😡”
“How can this be 😭”
Noel was on the verge of tears. Pointing at her loli body, she said, “Then you didn’t have to turn me into this, did you? Now I can’t even walk fast!”
Wei Ran couldn’t help reaching out and pinching Noel’s soft cheek, laughing. “This really isn’t big sis’s fault. When I cast the transformation spell, I didn’t expect you to become such a tiny loli either… maybe it’s because you had a good foundation to begin with, and your subconscious thought this cute image suited you?”
“What the heck is that supposed to mean QAQ” Noel complained wildly.
As they chatted, Wei Ran suddenly shifted the topic to the game mechanics.
“Speaking of which, I’m really curious about little Noel’s talent.” Wei Ran rested her chin on her hand, looking at Noel.
“What?”
“According to the Inner World’s mechanics, the weaker the player’s base body, the stronger the awakened talent. It’s a law of balance. But your physical fitness is obviously so frail—a standard weakling—so why does the system show that you haven’t awakened any talent at all? That’s really abnormal.”
Noel’s heart skipped a beat.
’So talents are balanced based on physical fitness?’
She instinctively tightened her grip on the juice glass.
’No wonder she awakened such an overpowered ability like “Time Rewind”… because as a weak loli, she was too weak, so weak that the system had to give her a cheat that could overturn the rules.’
’But this thing still has limits—I can’t tell anyone, or I’ll be punished.’
“Maybe I’m just an exception.” Noel forced herself to stay calm and lowered her head, hiding the panic in her eyes.
Wei Ran didn’t seem to think much of it. She nodded thoughtfully. “True. The world is vast and full of wonders. Maybe your talent is cuteness~”
“There’s no such talent! (´-﹏-`；)”
Just then, as Noel had taken two sips of juice, her body suddenly glowed with white light.
“Huh?! Why am I glowing again?” Noel stood up in panic.
Wei Ran glanced at the time and calmly explained, “Oh, time’s up…”
“Time for what?”
“The second game.”
“So soon ∑(❍ฺд❍ฺlll)”
“Yep. Forgot to tell little Noel, but the default rest time for Inner World players is only two hours. Once the time is up, the system automatically teleports you to the next dungeon.”
“Two hours?! That’s too exploitative! You bunch of heartless witches! (๑˃ಐ˂৭)”
“Tired of it? Actually, you can exchange 1 point for a week’s rest time.” Wei Ran wickedly wiggled her finger.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier! I want to exchange—”
Just as Noel was about to shout, “I’ll exchange,” the white light around her grew stronger, and the teleport countdown gave her no chance to react.
“No QAQ”
With Noel’s reluctant girly cry, her body turned into specks of light and instantly vanished from the tavern seat.
Wei Ran helplessly shook her head, took a sip from her glass. “Sigh, I guess I’ll just have to treat you to something delicious when you come back… Well, as long as you have points, even if you lose, you’ll only lose some points. You won’t get kicked out of the Inner World, so don’t worry.”
She got up to pay at the counter, completely unaware that the tavern had a new guest.
…
That guest was a young girl, draped in a deep red hooded cloak. The brim was pulled low, covering most of her face, revealing only a fair chin and tightly pressed lips.
Her hand rested on a small knife at her waist, her gaze scanning every corner of the tavern warily.
She was looking for that familiar figure.
She thought she had heard it just now—a familiar soft, sweet voice in the tavern.
But the tavern was empty, with only a few drunk mercenaries, a bartender wiping glasses, and a witch paying the bill.
That familiar figure was not here.
The girl frowned slightly, then lowered her eyes in disappointment.
“Guess I misheard.” She muttered quietly to herself.
Then she turned, pushed open the door, and left.
“Noel… where are you…”
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