Dan Heng used his spear to flick away a Void Ranger that had rushed in front of him, dodging the slash of another by turning his body, “March, cover her!”
March 7th frantically erected an ice shield, protecting Stelle behind her: “I know, I know!
Just look after yourself!”
The battle exploded in an instant.
And Sparkle—
Sparkle huddled in a recess at the corner of the corridor, poking half her head out to look.
Her eyes were wide open, her red irises reflecting the flickering lights in the distance and the twisted figures of the Void Rangers.
Her heart was thumping rapidly, as if it wanted to leap out of her throat.
This is real.
This isn’t special effects, not AI, not a film studio.
These are real Void Rangers, the real Antimatter Legion, the kind that will actually kill people.
Sparkle swallowed hard.
The live stream’s chat was already exploding—
“Holy crap, this fight!”
“This action choreography is so smooth!”
“Wait, is this actually live-action???”
“Which production crew can pull off this level of fight scene?”
Sparkle had no mind to look at the chat.
She huddled there, her legs feeling a bit weak.
All the excitement she felt before, that inflated sense of “I’ve finally transmigrated, I’m going to stir up trouble,” was shattered at this moment by the reality before her eyes.
After all, this was a real battle with real weapons, the kind of thing where those black monsters could tear her to shreds if they just rushed over.
But—
Something was stirring in her chest.
It was itchy, hot, like a ball of fire burning.
Sparkle’s breathing became ragged; she couldn’t help but reach out and loosen her collar.
A wave of heat surged from within her body, making her cheeks burn, and even her earlobes were dyed a faint pink.
She wanted to rush out.
She wanted to cause a scene.
She wanted—
No, no, no!
Sparkle rubbed her face vigorously, rubbing her hands back and forth on her cheeks, turning her fair, delicate face rosy, like a freshly made sticky rice ball dusted with a thin layer of peach-blossom color.
Her red irises became watery from the rubbing, and there was even a bit of moisture hanging on her eyelashes, making her look just like a panicked small animal.
The chat went completely off the rails—
“Streamer, are you okay???”
“Look at her face, she’s terrified!
Her face is completely flushed!”
“She’s breathing so heavily, the atmosphere is too intense!”
“No, this expression, this acting is incredible, I’m getting goosebumps…”
“I recorded the screen, guys.
“I comment on everything related to this genre, otherwise the system will think I’m not interested and stop recommending it to me in the future!”
“This panic look…
even I’m getting nervous for her now.”
“The immersion is real!”
“Everyone, calm down!
Don’t let the intensity distract you, look at the background combat!”
“The graphics are amazing, but right now, I’m just worried the streamer might get hit.”
Sparkle didn’t notice what the chat was saying at all.
She only felt like a kettle about to boil over, with steam practically rising from her head.
The impulse to rush out and her reason were fighting desperately, making her feel dizzy.
The battle was still continuing.
Dan Heng’s spear technique was as sharp as a beam of light, March 7th’s arrows traced icy blue trajectories in the air, and Stelle finally reacted, picking up a baseball bat someone had dropped on the ground and starting to swing it clumsily.
The number of Void Rangers seemed to be decreasing, but new ones were still pouring out from the depths of the corridor.
Sparkle was watching intently, her head poking out further and further, and further and further—
A black arrow struck from the side.
The speed was too fast, too fast for her to react at all.
“Whoosh—”
The arrow flew past the top of her head, the wind it brought stirring her white hair, a few silver strands drifting in the air.
Sparkle froze.
She slowly raised her hand and touched the top of her head.
Those few severed hair strands fell into her palm, white, shimmering with a soft light under the lamps.
She slowly turned her head to look in the direction the arrow had come from.
On the side of the corridor, a lone Void Ranger was withdrawing its hand, its hollow eye sockets seemingly still staring at her.
Sparkle lowered her head to look at the broken hairs in her palm.
Then she looked up again at that Void Ranger.
The chat froze for a second.
Then—
“Holy sh*t!!!”
“Was that a real arrow just now???”
“Almost a headshot!!!”
“These special effects are way too realistic.”
“Streamer, run!!!”
“Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap.”
Sparkle’s legs went weak.
They were truly weak, like two noodles that had suddenly lost their bones.
The heat that had been stirring in her chest just a moment ago was instantly extinguished, and she felt cold from head to toe.
She opened her mouth, wanting to shout something, but her throat felt as if it were blocked by something, and she couldn’t utter a single word.
Then she crouched down.
Her hands were pressed against the floor, her white hair hanging down to cover her face, her shoulders trembling slightly.
She turned around, on all fours, and crawled into the room behind her.
Yes, on all fours.
The ends of her white hair dragged on the ground, picking up a layer of dust.
Her red eyes stared at the door in front, her gaze dull yet focused, her hands and feet coordinating to move forward, like a frightened little animal looking for a burrow to hide in.
The Void Ranger behind her shot another arrow, hitting the door frame and sending sparks flying.
Sparkle crawled even faster.
“Snap.”
The door behind her opened automatically.
Sparkle crawled inside.
“Snap.”
The door closed automatically.
It blocked out all the sounds from outside—the roars of the Void Rangers, the clashing of weapons, everything was blocked out.
The room was so quiet that only her own heartbeat and breathing remained.
Sparkle vanished from the corridor, leaving the others behind.
Inside the room, Sparkle maintained her all-fours position, lying on the ground, and took three seconds to recover.
Then she slowly stood up.
She tidied up her clothes that had been ruffled by crawling, patted the dust off her knees, tucked her scattered white hair behind her ears, put on a bright smile, and said to the phone floating in mid-air:
“Please follow Sparkle-chan~ Live streaming every day at 4 PM, games, chatting, going crazy, we have it all~ Following isn’t a loss, following is a huge gain~”
The chat—
“???????”
“Didn’t you almost die just now?”
“This plot twist, my brain couldn’t keep up.”
“Streamer, do you think we have amnesia?”
“I recorded that crawling from just now.”
“Crawling into the door on all fours, I’m dying of laughter.”
“Follow, follow, just for this shameless spirit, I’ll follow.”
“This acting, this mental fortitude, it’s amazing.”
“How did she manage to change her face in a second?”
“Oh my god, this mental state, I love it.”
Sparkle glanced at the chat, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly.
She knew they wouldn’t let this meme go.
But that’s okay; as long as she isn’t embarrassed, the ones who are embarrassed are others.
She cleared her throat and started to change the subject: “Come on, guys, look at this room~ This is where we just hid; it looks like a storage room or something—”
The phone camera swept across the room following her gaze.
This room was not big, surrounded by metal storage lockers, with various labels stuck on the cabinet doors, written with incomprehensible text and numbers.
In the corner, there were a few boxes stacked, with the Herta Space Station logo printed on them, some of which were half-open, revealing unknown instrument parts inside.
The fluorescent lights on the ceiling emitted a soft white light, the floor was made of silver-gray metal plates, and stepping on them made a slight “clack-clack” sound.
“Look at this storage locker,” Sparkle walked over and knocked on it, “How much like a storage locker.”