Back to Nuo Ai’er.
The black puppet’s first strike had missed, but it didn’t stop attacking—it immediately began swinging continuously.
But now, all its movements seemed absurdly slow to Nuo Ai’er. Or rather, incredibly familiar.
She knew exactly when it would swing, when it would thrust, and even the split-second stiff pause after each failed attack. She could time it down to the millisecond.
Just as the short blade was about to slash through them, Nuo Ai’er’s small arms tightly hugged the still-terrified Tina. With a nimble twist of her body, she used the slight unevenness of the floor to precisely sidestep and dodge.
After the attack missed again, the black puppet turned its head stiffly, its hollow gaze locking onto the evading pair. It raised its blade once more and swept horizontally.
But the next second, Nuo Ai’er crouched slightly while holding Tina, her petite form skimming the ground by half an inch—just enough to avoid the horizontal slash.
The second strike also cut through empty air.
The puppet’s pursuit program was simple and rigid. It mindlessly locked onto its target and kept slashing.
So it wasn’t hard to memorize.
Its consecutive swings filled the cramped cell with a dense web of blade lights, sealing off almost every route.
The scene looked incredibly dangerous, yet something strange happened.
No matter how fast the puppet struck, it was always just a hair’s breadth away from hitting. Each time, Nuo Ai’er dodged in the most extreme way possible.
And in these extreme conditions, she didn’t waste a single movement or make a single mistake. Even while holding a blue-haired loli in her arms, she turned the puppet’s fierce assault into a series of pointless swings.
Tina, held tightly in her arms, was completely frozen.
She didn’t even have time to be afraid—her mind went blank.
After more than a dozen consecutive misses, the puppet’s rigid pursuit rhythm showed a noticeable, stiff pause.
“This is it!”
Nuo Ai’er had already calculated the best escape window in her mind.
Seizing the brief moment when the puppet raised its blade to charge up and its body stiffened, she lightly kicked off the ground and, still holding Tina, nimbly ducked between the black puppet’s legs.
Whoosh. The two smoothly slipped out of attack range and landed steadily in the living room outside the cell door.
“Step one success: escape the cell.”
Behind them, the black puppet finally recovered from its program stall. It turned stiffly, took measured steps, and followed them out of the cell, resuming its relentless chase.
Its pursuit logic was simple: lock onto a living target and never stop until death.
But the moment it stepped across the cell threshold—
BOOM!
The solid wooden wardrobe that Nuo Ai’er had loosened earlier and quietly balanced atop the door frame came crashing down!
This was a trap she had set after figuring out the wardrobe’s position through trial and error.
Through previous cycles, she had already memorized every piece of furniture in the cabin and even calculated the puppet’s exit timing.
The heavy wooden wardrobe smashed down perfectly, landing squarely on the puppet’s torso.
The massive impact instantly pinned the puppet to the ground, halting its pursuit steps and temporarily trapping it at the doorway, unable to move.
In the shadow of the corridor corner, Nuo Ai’er had already pulled Tina into a crouch, waiting in ambush.
She poked her head out, saw the puppet pinned by the wardrobe, and quietly let out a sigh of relief. A hint of smug satisfaction flickered in her bright eyes.
‘Success…’
But Nuo Ai’er knew this was only a temporary restraint.
‘We have to go. It won’t hold for long—it’ll break free and chase us soon.’
Nuo Ai’er immediately grabbed Tina, who was still panting heavily and completely dazed, and turned to sprint toward the stairs leading to the second floor.
In just a few seconds, the two little girls dashed up to the second floor, temporarily cutting off the threat from below.
Nuo Ai’er finally let go and gently set down the gasping Tina.
“Whew… whew…”
Tina leaned against the wall, her chest heaving violently.
From start to finish, she had been utterly bewildered.
From Nuo Ai’er risking herself to save her, to the unbelievable perfect predictions and dodges, to the terrifyingly precise wardrobe trap!
“What was that… Were those two minutes extremely long or what?”
After taking a long while to catch her breath, Tina steadied herself and looked tremblingly toward the stairway. With a faint, barely noticeable quiver in her voice, she whispered, “That black thing… what kind of monster is it?”
Nuo Ai’er shook her head with a deliberately puzzled expression, her tone calm and natural, showing no cracks. “I don’t know where it came from. Anyway, no one in our guild uses something like that.”
That remark struck the core of Tina’s confusion.
This dungeon was supposed to be a pure player vs. player match between the Glazed Guild and the Eagle’s Nest Guild. All participants should be only members of the two guilds. Tina frowned deeply, filled with doubt and confusion.
She knew the talents of every member in her own Eagle’s Nest Guild perfectly. Stella with her whip, plus the ninja and the warhammer user, and herself as the healer.
There was absolutely no such eerie puppet monster, nor anyone with a talent for controlling puppets.
If it wasn’t from the Glazed Guild either, then who was it?
“Could it be… a neutral hunting monster native to the dungeon?” Tina muttered to herself, confused.
Only this explanation sort of made sense.
A third-party random monster, not bound by the guild battle rules, hunting all landed players indiscriminately and disrupting the match.
Nuo Ai’er neither denied nor confirmed. “It doesn’t matter what it is now. Let’s survive first… Anyway, its goal is to kill both of us. We need to actively find a way to deal with it. Let’s cooperate for now.”
“Okay.” Tina nodded. She had no reason to refuse, especially since Nuo Ai’er had just saved her.
With that, Nuo Ai’er turned to look at Tina beside her, her eyes serious. “By the way, do you have any attack magic?”
This was the only key to breaking the deadlock that Nuo Ai’er had discovered through her cycles.
Nuo Ai’er had no attack means—only two little girl fists that could punch, but that kind of attack just made the opponent more excited and was completely useless.
The only person in the entire wooden cabin with magical talent was Tina.
That was also the core reason Nuo Ai’er insisted on saving Tina after failing so many times.
Tina was taken aback, then bit her lip slightly, answering helplessly, “My talent is water magic, specializing in healing… I’ve hardly practiced offensive water magic. My proficiency is very low.”
“That’s okay. As long as you have something.”
“I only know Water Blade. Its power can be great, but it takes a long time to charge, and its accuracy is terrible. I can’t hit fast-moving targets at all. I have to release it at close range for a chance to hit.”
To put it plainly, Tina could deal damage, but the conditions were extremely harsh.
She needed a completely safe environment to charge, plus close-range output, with very little room for error.
In normal battles, such an attack was practically useless.
Hearing about Tina’s shortcomings, Nuo Ai’er not only wasn’t disappointed but her eyes lit up. A complete battle plan formed in her mind.
“No problem!” Nuo Ai’er nodded.
She lifted her little face, her expression confident and determined.
Seeing Nuo Ai’er’s serious look, Tina couldn’t help but feel puzzled. She blurted out, “You?”
In her eyes, Nuo Ai’er was just a pure, fragile little girl with no combat ability. Even protecting herself against a monster like that puppet was difficult, let alone pinning it down.
Nuo Ai’er didn’t explain further. She grabbed the still-confused Tina and quickly ran toward the deepest room on the second floor. Then she smiled. “I have no fighting power, but this cabin does. There are weapons everywhere here.”
“Huh?”
“That’s way too harsh.” Nuo Ai’er pouted.
The room door closed softly, and the two quietly hid inside, waiting for the puppet to take the bait.
Meanwhile, a noise came from downstairs.
CRASH—!
The heavy sound of splintering wood echoed from the first floor. The solid wooden wardrobe was cut to pieces.
The black puppet, freed from its restraint, didn’t pause at all. It took its stiff steps and charged up the stairs to the second floor.
The second-floor hallway was spacious and quiet, rows of doors lined up neatly.
The puppet’s hollow gaze swept the area. It locked onto the living person’s presence, strode forward, and kicked open the doors in its path.
Several rooms in a row turned out empty. The puppet’s pursuit program showed a slight logical glitch, but it still didn’t give up. It continued following the presence forward.
Finally, it stopped in front of the deepest room—the library.
The wooden door was violently kicked open, sending wood chips flying.
A spacious library came into view. Tall, heavy bookshelves lined the walls, packed with old books. They pressed against the walls, stacked layer upon layer, creating a cramped, enclosed space.
And right in the center of the library, the blue-haired girl Tina stood with her hands slightly raised, a faint light blue aura of water magic swirling around her.
Threads of water elements gathered slowly, condensing into a sharp Water Blade’s rough shape.
She was fully charging!
The puppet instantly locked onto the sole target. Without hesitation, it strode toward Tina, raising its short blade to finish its prey.
“Now!”
High above, the massive crystal chandelier that Nuo Ai’er had secretly sawed through most of earlier—leaving only a small connection holding it up—was already at the critical point of falling.
The moment the puppet stepped into the room and the chandelier was right above it—
Nuo Ai’er, hidden in the shadow behind a bookshelf, gently tugged the thin wire she had prepared in advance.
CRASH!
The enormous crystal chandelier lost its support instantly. With its heavy weight, it plummeted from above!
BAM!
The heavy fixture slammed into the black puppet’s torso. The violent impact staggered it, halting its steps.
“Tina, dodge!”
Nuo Ai’er shouted low, then moved swiftly. With a small push, she toppled the tallest and heaviest solid wood bookshelf beside her.
The heavy shelf tipped over with a bang, crashing into the neighboring shelf.
BOOM!
The next second, a chain reaction triggered!
Row after row of tall, solid bookshelves fell like dominoes, one after another, crashing down toward the puppet’s position!
BAM BAM BAM—!
A series of impacts shook the entire library. Books flew, boards trembled, dust billowed.
The layers of bookshelves completely buried the caught-off-guard black puppet at the bottom. The thick wooden structure piled up, forming an airtight physical blockade that trapped it.
Even if the puppet was strong enough to eventually break free, it would absolutely need enough time to do so.
“Let’s go!”
Without lingering to savor the success, Nuo Ai’er immediately grabbed Tina, who was maintaining her Water Blade’s charge to stabilize the magic.
Taking advantage of the puppet being pinned down, they quickly rushed out of the library, hurried down to the second floor, and swiftly returned to the first floor via the stairs.
The two landed steadily in the first-floor hall, quickly regaining their footing.
Behind them, from the library came the constant creaking and cracking sounds of bookshelves being crushed. Planks continued to splinter.
No need to guess—the puppet was frantically breaking free. The blockade wouldn’t hold long.
Sure enough, after just over ten seconds—
BOOM!
With one slash, the piled-up bookshelves were hacked to pieces.
Shaking off wood shavings and dust, the black puppet emerged stiffly again, locked onto the presence, and steadily pursued down to the first floor.
The puppet rushed out of the second-floor staircase, one foot stepping out, ready to land and continue the chase.
But the next second… CRACK—
The originally flat and intact first-floor floor suddenly collapsed.
This was another trap Nuo Ai’er had set up. While the puppet was pinned, Nuo Ai’er had pried off the reinforced planks above the cellar, then covered the hole with a rug of the same color to disguise it.
It looked flawless, with no signs of danger. The moment someone stepped on it, they would fall instantly.
Completely unprepared, the black puppet’s foot met empty air.
Its entire pitch-black body plummeted straight down, dropping heavily into the deep, dark cellar below.
THUD!
A muffled landing sound echoed from below.
In the first-floor hall, Nuo Ai’er watched the trap work perfectly and finally let out a long sigh of relief. A light, healing, sweet smile spread across her little face.
“Plan successful—”
Beside her, Tina had been watching the entire textbook-perfect trap layout. She stood frozen in place, mouth agape, unable to snap out of it.
This was way too insane…
Every detail and every setup was so precise that it didn’t seem like improvisation.
Was this really a plan thought up on the spot?
“Nuo Ai’er… why are you so thoroughly familiar with this cabin?”
Faced with Tina’s confused gaze, Nuo Ai’er’s smile faltered slightly. She fell into a brief silence.
‘Forget it. That’s a whole twenty times I had to trial and error!’
Yes, behind this seemingly smooth, perfect victory lay a cycle of twenty life-and-death repetitions that Nuo Ai’er had endured alone.
She had died countless times under the puppet’s blade during those cycles. Just to figure out the cabin’s layout, she had repeatedly fled to the second floor and tested each room one by one.
Because she couldn’t outrun the puppet. Even using Tina as bait to escape the cabin only resulted in both of them being caught and killed.
So Nuo Ai’er decided she absolutely had to kill that damn puppet.
For that, she needed Tina’s power.
“Can you tell me why?” Tina stared at Nuo Ai’er, asking.
‘I can’t say,’ Nuo Ai’er thought. ‘If I do, I’ll get punished by the tentacles again!’