【Host remaining activity time: 56:34:12】
The string of numbers gave a staticky crackle, warping and distorting like a broken display.
【Deducting 24 hours for body repair energy.】
【Host remaining activity time: 32:29:10】
Golden threads lifted in the darkness, arcing through the wind like billowing robes, crisscrossing and weaving into a net.
Fear erupted in an instant — thick, viscous terror saturating the alley.
One thread, two, three. You Ling lowered her gaze, the golden lines in her emerald pupils contracting into beast-like slits before sinking into the body of the man beneath her hand.
"My, how rude. Didn't you see I was on the phone?" she murmured.
Sharp fingertips traced across the neck of the man beneath her, leaving a vivid trail of blood. But the ability user in her embrace could only gape, producing incoherent noises.
All three conditions required for her ability had been fulfilled. She tightened her arms, embracing her brand-new puppet toy, coiling around it like a python constricting its prey.
Indeed, You Ling was just an ordinary person. She couldn't generate fear — no one would be afraid of her. But they feared Bi Xi.
When the killer let his guard down, she gave him a surprise.
There was a one-minute window to interrupt the process, but could someone already paralyzed by shock muster the presence of mind to figure out an escape?
For this, she could temporarily abandon her own body. It was a corpse to begin with. As long as her popularity endured, so did she.
Fear was her finest nourishment. Once the threads connected, from that point on it was her time to hunt.
Predator and prey — time to switch places.
The ability linked the puppet's five senses with You Ling's. The puppet's terrified eyes rolled upward — he seemed to be trying to look at her.
You Ling raised her hand and covered his eyes.
The connection deepened. She could see the cerebral cortex beneath the puppet's skin and flesh.
She'd already been thinking about this since last time — since she could stimulate the puppet's cells, perhaps she could also try probing the puppet's brain.
In the next instant, the puppet's hippocampus was stimulated, and the gateway of memories linked to the cerebral cortex opened before You Ling.
Scenes, light, sound, scent — flashback memory fragments materialized before her eyes. Amid the vast panorama, she saw a distorted human figure.
"...Kill your target. If You Shuo makes any unexpected moves, I'll notify you to pull out immediately."
【Jiao Tu】?
You Ling intensified the stimulation. The skin beneath her hand grew hot — the puppet's condition was deteriorating, but she needed to see this person clearly.
The distorted figure drew closer and closer. The blurry shadow looked pixelated, as if covered in mosaic. The only thing clear was—
A Nightwatch fang mask on their face.
"I'll keep watching You Shuo."
The memory suddenly collapsed. You Ling blinked in surprise — every fragment of the puppet's memories had scattered and dissolved. The puppet's brain was overheating. He seemed to have lost consciousness entirely, the whites of his eyes showing, his tongue hanging loose from his mouth.
Her ability told her this puppet was ruined.
When she wasn't controlling him, the puppet needed its brain to automatically regulate its own behavior — to act as though it were still alive. More accurately, it was a shell driven by the conditioned reflexes left behind in the original owner's brain — controlled, yet believing itself alive and autonomous.
But after she'd overstimulated the puppet's brain, it had been completely destroyed. Without the brain's governance, this puppet was nothing more than an empty shell. It couldn't use abilities, couldn't read, write, listen, or speak normally. It would need her constant direct control just to barely pass as a living person.
A Puppeteer had no use for defective goods.
She'd have to evaluate a puppet's capabilities before deciding whether to over-mine its brain in the future. You Ling narrowed her eyes, thinking. Otherwise her puppet attrition rate would be far too high — she'd had to die once more just to produce this one.
Still, she'd managed to extract crucial information. Not a total loss.
【Jiao Tu】 wore a Nightwatch mask.
【Jiao Tu】 was a Nightwatch member.
【Jiao Tu】 was at You Shuo's side, and knew him well.
Those puzzling questions finally had their answers — why 【Jiao Tu】 had already known You Shuo's real identity before the manga went online, and why he knew exactly where You Ling was.
You Shuo might have told 【Jiao Tu】 all of this himself.
It was even possible that 【Quick Blade】's escape that night had been an inside job. Otherwise, how could the Nightwatch's dimensional prison have been breached so easily? How would a non-member know the way out?
Not some S-rank information-type ability user — just someone at You Shuo's side.
You Shuo never kept his guard up around the people close to him.
He wouldn't fully expose You Ling's situation, but stray words and passing mentions would be more than enough for someone at his side to pinpoint her existence.
Dear brother. You Ling shook her head.
If she hadn't refused to stay dead, wouldn't You Shuo have completely fallen apart? Just imagine — his own sister killed, the order given by someone he trusted, her location exposed by his own loose lips.
How tragic. Even You Ling couldn't help feeling sorry for You Shuo. This was probably the bleak life a "beautiful, powerful, and tragic" manga protagonist had to face.
Who the hell was Fat Fish, really? How could anyone torment their own protagonist this viciously? Did more suffering equal more popularity? Was she supposed to try competing with You Shuo over who was more miserable? Outdoing You Shuo in misery just to crush him in the popularity polls and go viral?
Wasn't her character concept supposed to be "the strongest"? Did even the strongest have to be tragic?
At this rate, her own future looked pretty bleak too. Outdoing You Shuo in suffering would be a serious challenge — it wasn't like she'd just blindly trust someone and then get viciously stabbed in the back.
You Ling's thoughts were a tangled mess, but her hands never hesitated. She released her grip, and the puppet — sure enough unable to control its limbs — crumpled to the ground with a thud.
As it fell, its phone clattered out. You Ling bent down and glanced at the screen — still on a call.
"My, who's been eavesdropping?" She pinched the phone between two fingers and picked it up.
She knew exactly who it was. But she asked anyway.
【Jiao Tu】 on the other end had been listening for who knew how long. Static hissed alongside heavy, ragged breathing. 【Jiao Tu】's voice was a genderless electronic synthesis, but in this moment, the fear in it was unmistakable.
"...Impossible. That was supposed to be nothing more than a legend."
So Jiao Tu knows quite a lot. You Ling thought.
She didn't know what "legend" 【Jiao Tu】 was referring to, but 【Jiao Tu】 had to die.
Silencing a witness. Revenge. Whatever reason would suffice.
You Ling could not allow the person who'd tried to kill her to roam free, nor could she let someone capable of connecting Bi Xi's identity to You Ling's remain at You Shuo's side.
【Jiao Tu】 had to die.
And when that time came, she would burn through 【Jiao Tu】's brain herself, taking her time to see exactly what she wanted.
She'd be more careful this time — try not to let his brain fry too quickly.
For now, she didn't mind letting Jiao Tu grow even more terrified.
"Shh," she lowered her voice and said into the phone. "This is a secret."
Be afraid. Be terrified. Until she came for him.
She hoped he could read between the lines—
Don't breathe a single word to You Shuo.
CRACKLE.
The streetlights outside buzzed and hummed, finally regaining power.
In a world invisible to the ordinary human eye, the puppet was engulfed in an instant by golden threads. The next second, those golden threads thickened to the width of a finger, carrying the nutrients they'd just absorbed as they sank into You Ling's fingertips.
Where the puppet had lain, the ground was now empty — as if nothing had ever been there at all.
A useless puppet might as well be broken down.
She wasn't sure if it was a case of "you are what you eat," but after decomposing the puppet, she felt a surge of brimming energy wrap around her body — a warm, pleasant sensation like basking in the afternoon sun.
She thought about it for a moment, then licked her fingertips.
"My my, people of this era sure are generous." She narrowed her eyes — suspecting this only made her look more like a man-eating devil. "Thanks for the meal."
An excellent character concept. From now on, she was the super ultra devil.
That left 【Jiao Tu】. She didn't believe 【Jiao Tu】 could uncover her true identity, but if he did, so be it.
No one feared You Ling. The protagonist's sister was nothing more than a synonym for the protected and the ignorant. What they feared was Bi Xi — a being of unknown origin, made formidable by the manga's narrative.
For You Ling, this was a decision that required no deliberation. So if that day truly came, she would discard the identity of You Ling.
From the moment she died, she had to be prepared to die again. Winning first place in the Popularity Vote would be difficult. In a manga where the protagonist hogged the spotlight, it was nearly impossible for a supporting character to outshine the lead. You Ling was confident enough to take the gamble, but she also had to admit that failure was the more likely outcome.
You Shuo couldn't accept it right now, but sooner or later, he'd have to build a new life.
So You Ling was stalling. If she ultimately couldn't win first place in the Popularity Vote, then at the very least, she'd delay the arrival of that final day for as long as possible.
But right now, she needed to seize her new identity. She needed Bi Xi, needed fear, and needed to survive.
Given the choice, nobody wanted to die.
"What should I do next?" She gazed up at the sky, murmuring. The red sunglasses turned the entire sky blood-red — the clouds were red, and so was the moon.
She punched one fist into her other palm. "Let's go play with You Shuo."
It was nighttime now, and Bi Xi needed to show his face on You Shuo's end. Dying once had sent her survival time plummeting, and once again she had to clock in for her under-the-table gig to chase popularity.
Why did dying once cost twenty-four hours?! She stared at the heavens.
Was body repair really that expensive? She didn't mind having a hole in her chest — it wasn't like you could tell with clothes on...
...
That night, the doors of Jinse Bar — the Nightwatch's Jinli City base of operations — stood open. You Shuo hadn't been at the base, but he'd received a message from Mr. Lan, the bartender.
"The green-eyed one from last time is here."
Green eyes. Memorable enough for Mr. Lan to take note — that could only mean Bi Xi.
You Shuo knew he would come. After all, Bi Xi had said last night that he was only giving him one evening to adjust his emotions, and yet today he hadn't shown up during the day either.
Bi Xi didn't seem like the type to be considerate of others. As a devil, he was supremely capricious.
Worried something might happen, You Shuo rushed back to Jinse Bar the moment he received the message.
Before going in, he checked the time and sent You Ling a text.
[It's getting late. Get some rest early.]
When he pushed the door open, the wind chime gave a crisp ring. The long-haired devil seated at the bar didn't turn around this time. You Shuo looked more closely — tonight, the drink in front of Bi Xi was sweet milk.
Not drinking alcohol anymore? He was somewhat puzzled, but it wasn't particularly important. At most, he could infer that Bi Xi might have a preference for sweeter flavors.
You Shuo took a deep breath and walked over.
After a full day of emotional adjustment, combined with clues discovered on 【Quick Blade】's body, he could face Bi Xi with the same composure as the night before.
As far as he could tell, Bi Xi hadn't demonstrated any genuine malice — it was more like a kind of pure, unadulterated cruelty. You Shuo thought perhaps he could use that.
He didn't know why Bi Xi treated him differently, but for now, perhaps it was a good thing. It let him temporarily keep this devil in check.
He himself was already beyond saving. The least he could do was make sure the people around him didn't pay for his mistakes.
The bar counter glowed with golden strip lights. Mr. Lan elegantly mixed drinks. An old record player crooned its husky melody, as though time itself had grown thick and heavy.
It was Bi Xi who spoke first, his words carrying an odd quality — though its exact meaning was difficult to place: "Just you alone? Where are those teammates of yours? They abandoned you?"
The bar's golden light pooled in his eyes, making that emerald shimmer with rippling radiance.
You Shuo sat down beside him. He didn't lie: "I don't dare let them come into contact with you."
Bi Xi didn't actually get angry. At times, his temper was surprisingly good.
He simply held his glass of sweet milk, tilted his head, narrowed his eyes, and smiled. "The people you trust aren't necessarily as good to you as I am," he said. "Little turtle."
He's calling me a coward, isn't he. You Shuo guessed.
"If you said that to me while holding a glass of wine, I might actually get angry," You Shuo said. He carefully measured his own attitude, finally choosing the most natural approach, and gave a small laugh. "Instead of holding a glass of sweet milk."