Nuo Ai’er painfully clutched her stomach, tears welling up in her eyes.
She struggled to lift her head, looking at the strange woman stepping on her, and asked with a trembling voice:
“You… why do you want to kill me? I don’t even know you…”
“Huh? Who’s obligated to answer your question.” The female customer laughed coldly, increasing the pressure under her foot.
She ground so hard that Nuo Ai’er’s organs trembled.
But looking at the small, pitiful figure beneath her foot, she seemed to be in a good mood and said, “Alright, since you’re about to become a corpse, I’ll let you die with clarity.”
The female customer: “My employer gave a death order: absolutely no new player who stays by Witch Weiran’s side is allowed to survive.”
“Wei… Ran?” Nuo Ai’er’s eyes widened, full of disbelief.
“That’s right.” The female customer straightened up.
“But now that I think about it, it’s been a long time since I took a commission like this.”
“Ever since my employer apparently used some means to manipulate backend data, every new player Weiran finds has their first instance difficulty forcibly jacked up to ridiculous levels… So for all these years, she’s basically been unable to recruit any newcomers.”
She paused, sizing up Nuo Ai’er with some surprise.
“Until you showed up as an exception. I never thought a newbie could actually clear such a hard instance… But the fact that you saw through my intentions means you’ve got something. So I should thank you—I’ll be getting another sizable reward.”
Nuo Ai’er’s heart clenched violently.
‘So that’s the truth!’
No wonder Weiran could never recruit anyone new.
No wonder her beginner instance [Little Red Riding Hood and the Dangerous Forest] had been absurdly difficult.
There was a mastermind working behind the scenes!
Thinking about it, so many first encounter kills, traps, ambushes, affection requirements, word games…
If it weren’t for her innate talent [Time Rewind], she would definitely have had her memory wiped from the start.
All of this was because someone was targeting Weiran.
“But no matter how you did it, you’re dead today.” The female customer lost interest in continuing the chat.
She grabbed Nuo Ai’er and lifted her off the ground. “Hehe, you’re going to die anyway. To reward you for chatting with me so long, I’ll let you die ‘pleasurably.'”
“Pleasurably? Huh? Ah…”
Before Nuo Ai’er could react, she was turned around, back facing the female customer, and forcefully pinned to the cold tabletop.
Then, a tough, thin thread looped around her slender neck and tightened abruptly.
“Urgh…”
The intense suffocation made her lungs burn like fire, and darkness crept in at the edges of her vision.
“Ooh—”
Nuo Ai’er’s small pink tongue involuntarily protruded, her eyes rolled back, and her entire face flushed red.
Her consciousness gradually faded, and the last struggles of her body slowly ceased.
【Player Death.】
【Innate Talent “Time Rewind” Activated.】
【Rewinding…】
“I’ll finish this quickly and be right back to keep you company, Nuo Ai’er.”
The familiar white light. The familiar gentle words.
Nuo Ai’er snapped her eyes open, once again back in that familiar time period…
She subconsciously touched her neck, where the searing pain of being strangled by the thin thread still seemed to linger.
Before her, Leinata was smiling, ready to say goodbye and enter the game.
Nuo Ai’er’s mind was in chaos. She clutched her head, which felt like it was about to explode, and an unprecedented wave of despair surged within her.
‘What do I do?’
‘What the hell do I do’
If she left the Milk Tea Shop like the first time, she’d get gut-punched by the black-clothed person on the street and die.
If she stayed in the Milk Tea Shop like the second time to wait for Leinata, she’d still be killed by that black-clothed person.
If she begged Leinata for help now and told her the truth… that female customer could instantly take down everyone in the shop and strangle Nuo Ai’er with a thin rope, suffocating her.
That black-clothed person and this female customer were probably in cahoots…
If she showed any abnormality, the female customer—who was monitoring her—would take matters into her own hands when necessary.
If everything seemed normal, then the black-clothed person would make the move.
No matter what Nuo Ai’er did now, she would be eliminated…
And Leinata was about to enter the game, completely unable to protect her.
‘Why is the save point stuck right before Leinata goes into the game…’
Nuo Ai’er regretted it. She should have listened to Leinata earlier and let her kill this female customer (sob).
Now Nuo Ai’er was essentially trapped at her spawn point.
Going home meant death, staying here meant death, and asking for help meant death.
‘This is so unfair!’
And at this very moment, Weiran wasn’t around. Nuo Ai’er had just arrived in the Inner World, didn’t know anyone else, and had no combat power. Who could she turn to for help?
Everything seemed to have fallen into an unsolvable dead save.
Nuo Ai’er looked at the disappearing Leinata before her and the oblivious customers around her, tears silently streaming down her face.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
‘What do I do… Someone, please save me…’
Nuo Ai’er was in despair.