Powerful Brain Domain Computation and Spirit Power gave Yun Ruoxi a sixth sense far sharper than that of other star energy users at her level.
The instant Lin Zhen uttered the words “lightning strike,” a deathly premonition, so intense it nearly became tangible, coiled around her heart like a cold snake.
She even glimpsed flickering images of her death, like frames in a slideshow.
The star energy metal cone from behind would slice her in half at the waist, turning everything from her chest to her calves into gray-black scraps. Lin Zhen below her wouldn’t escape either. He’d be blasted into a heap of bloody chunks.
‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die. I have to get out of the way!’
Clatter!
The Iron Chain suddenly snapped taut, yanking Yun Ruoxi back just as she bent forward to move.
“Don’t think you can get away!”
The ice covering Lin Zhen’s face shattered, revealing a vicious, mocking smile.
Yun Ruoxi stared at the young man within arm’s reach.
She drove her right hand down, slamming him into the surface.
The ice spreading from her palm engulfed him in an instant, freezing him into a crystal-clear statue. Even so, he didn’t release the Iron Chain binding her.
The sixth sense’s alarm blared madly in her mind, shrill and unrelenting like a siren.
It made her temples throb.
Lin Zhen really was planning to die with her!
What should she do?
In the dense forest, her emotions overwhelmed her in an instant. The gray-haired girl stopped abruptly, her original body’s surging, violent emotions making her eyes bulge and her teeth grind as she glared toward the battlefield and roared inside.
‘Lin Zhen, are you fucking crazy?!’
She couldn’t understand. She absolutely couldn’t understand.
‘Didn’t you say you were going to save me?’
‘Didn’t you swear to destroy the Saints’ hand society?’
‘Why are you fighting me to the death like this?’
‘You’re on your own! Your life isn’t some worthless thing, and it doesn’t belong to my script!’
‘This isn’t how it’s supposed to go!’
‘If you do this, you’ll destroy everything I have!’
A Rough Outline was called a rough outline because it only recorded the broad strokes of the plot.
Character dialogue was cut wherever possible, and fights had no play-by-play, only their final outcomes.
So when Yun Ruoxi first faced Lin Zhen, she’d known what ending she had to give this battle to keep the plot from straying too far.
But how to steer the fight toward that outcome was something she had to handle on the fly, adapting to every move.
At first, everything had gone according to plan.
She’d gradually led Lin Zhen to discover the first weakness of [Dark Dust].
As long as he attacked and defended according to that weakness, she’d reveal the second and third weaknesses in turn.
That would let him turn the tables from the brink of defeat.
But now, the plan had gone wrong.
Lin Zhen had chosen another path, one that meant facing death head-on, one that had slipped beyond her control.
Had she put too much pressure on him?
Why?!
Yun Ruoxi felt panic at the loss of control.
She realized that five years had passed, and without the Audience’s perspective, she could no longer understand what this man was thinking at all…
His performance and knowledge of psychology weren’t part of the second season’s setting, and his willingness to risk his life defied all reason.
Lin Zhen was slowly breaking free of his original anime character setting, sliding toward a chaotic abyss she couldn’t predict.
Of course, Yun Ruoxi knew better than anyone that she was the one who’d caused all of this.
Her greed for Popularity Points was a bottomless black hole. She’d devoured the emotions of alternate-dimension Audiences without restraint, stealing the other characters’ moments in the spotlight.
And so, the pull of that black hole had twisted the predetermined paths of everyone around her.
Under the shadow of death, Yun Ruoxi’s brain activity surged to unprecedented levels, and her Brain Domain Computation went all out.
Time seemed to stretch endlessly, giving her enough room to let her thoughts churn.
But no matter how much she thought or complained, she still had to face the life-or-death problem before her.
“Calm down!”
Yun Ruoxi withdrew her consciousness from her doppelganger and forced herself into a state of absolute calm.
The life-or-death problem before her wasn’t actually difficult.
But that was true for her, not for Dark Dust.
She was Dark Dust now, so she had to handle this crisis according to Dark Dust’s character setting.
That wouldn’t work.
She couldn’t suddenly “break out” on the grounds of survival instinct.
If so, she absolutely couldn’t go OOC, or all her efforts would go to waste.
Dark Dust had lost her instinct to survive, so she didn’t fear death.
That meant a sudden “outburst” driven by survival instinct wouldn’t make sense.
Then she needed a different, reasonable motive to achieve the same goal.
Her mission was to capture Lin Zhen alive.
So protecting him when his life was in danger was perfectly logical.
Right?
A glint flashed in Yun Ruoxi’s eyes, and she poured all her star energy into her battle armor without hesitation.
A dazzling crimson glow lit up the armor’s surface, and the system’s prompt sounded urgently:
[Armor Recharge: 300%, Ability: Ice]
[Emotional Element: Anger, Remaining: 10%]
[Warning: Star Energy Limit Exceeded! Star Energy Limit Exceeded!]
The shrill alarm roared in her ears.
The battle armor had absorbed as much star energy as it could. As a result, she had no choice but to regain some of her Telekinesis.
It wasn’t much, but it was enough.
A milky-white psychic energy halo enveloped the battle armor and Lin Zhen. Just before the star energy metal cone struck, it surged several meters sideways, narrowly dodging the direct hit.
But the violent shock wave that followed still sent them both flying into the air.
Yun Ruoxi used Telekinesis to steady herself in midair.
Suddenly, she heard a sharp crack beside her.
She turned and saw countless tiny black saw blades sprouting across Lin Zhen’s frozen body.
The black blades, made of star energy metal, spun at high speed. In an instant, they cut through the thick ice before slamming into her palm, throwing off a string of blinding sparks.
Screee!
The Pavlov armor was Dr. Forefinger’s life’s work, made from extremely advanced Biometal. Its strength, hardness, and fatigue resistance were all among the best.
But after just one clash with the saw blades, the armor was cut open.
To be precise, it wasn’t the armor that had been cut. The saw blades had cut through the star energy on the armor.
After the star energy covering the armor’s surface, which protected it from Lin Zhen’s supernatural power, was sliced to pieces, Lin Zhen seized the chance to forcibly twist the armor’s right hand with his power and tear open a crack barely as wide as a finger.
The saw blades pierced through the gap and sliced into the soft, pale flesh of Yun Ruoxi’s palm.
“It hurts!”
A sharp pain shot straight into her mind, and warm blood gushed from her palm.
Yun Ruoxi almost instinctively flung Lin Zhen off her right hand.
“Lightning strike!”
A streak of azure lightning crashed down from the sky, aimed straight at Yun Ruoxi!
As Lin Zhen flew through the air, he murmured, and another streak of azure lightning…
This chapter translation is really bad. Please redo this one.
It’s fixed now!