At the same time, in the same place, War Freya spotted Reno wandering dazedly near her home.
However, unlike in the simulation, she didn’t shout his name directly.
Instead, she adopted a more cautious approach.
Meanwhile, Freya’s main body had already gone to her landlord’s house nearby, using the excuse of paying rent to strike up a conversation.
As for War Freya, she had put on a hat and pulled the brim down low.
At most, others could only see her chin; her full face was completely obscured.
Then, she deliberately walked toward Reno.
When she was just three steps away, she called out in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, “Reno?”
As he turned to look, War Freya tilted her head up slightly.
With her right hand, she lifted the brim of her hat just enough for him to see her full face before quickly pulling it back down and turning to walk away.
Reno froze for a moment, but instinct took over, and he began to follow War Freya.
The two of them wound their way through the streets until they reached the deserted alley.
The difference, however, was that last time, Freya had walked deep into the alley before stopping.
This time, she stood right at the corner, her body pressed against the wall, a dagger clutched tightly in her hand.
The instant Reno staggered around the corner, the dagger shot out like lightning, plunging directly into his neck.
For Freya, this was far from her first encounter with Reno.
She was intimately familiar with the enemy who had tried to “devour” her multiple times.
Reno, on the other hand, was in reality.
His impression of Freya was still that of a cute, ordinary girl—a delectable little cake his instincts drove him to consume.
Nothing more.
So, Reno never imagined that this “little cake” he saw as prey would suddenly launch a counterattack without a word, and with such ruthless ferocity!
In the previous simulation, Freya had first tried to talk to Reno, and he had only attacked after his sanity completely snapped.
This time, she struck first.
After plunging the dagger into his neck, Freya twisted it forcefully, rotating the blade a full half-circle inside his throat.
Pfft—
Instantly, blood gushed out.
After finishing the twist, she quickly released her grip and retreated.
The very next second, a cold-hued tail sliced through the air with a sharp whoosh, but it struck only empty space.
Reno’s combat style had always been instinct-driven.
He prioritized attacking whatever posed the greatest threat, with vital points as his secondary target.
When Freya wielded a gun, he attacked her gun hand.
Last time, when she was unarmed, his tail had aimed for her head.
So this time, his tail would surely strike her right hand—the one holding the dagger.
The outcome was exactly as she had predicted.
Freya dodged the attack with uncanny foresight, then dropped low and swept Reno’s legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground.
As he lost his balance, still suspended in mid-air, Freya reached out, gripped the dagger again, and yanked it free.
As Reno’s body fell, she plunged the blade down with him, this time aiming for his eye socket!
Thud—
By the time Reno hit the ground, he was already a corpse.
The entire fight, from start to finish, had lasted less than five seconds!
Clean and decisive
Freya pulled out the blood-soaked dagger, wiped it on Reno’s clothes, and then slowly stood up.
For someone who had tried to kill her—no, who had already killed her once—the thought of “sparing him” couldn’t even cross her mind.
Just then, the System Page popped up unbidden, appearing before Freya’s original body back in her landlord’s house:
[First Death Crisis successfully overcome.
System upgrading…]
Less than five seconds later, the message [Upgrade Complete] appeared.
Freya blinked in surprise.
“That was fast.”
She carefully examined the upgraded System, noticing a new save slot, “02,” had been added.
But aside from that, nothing else seemed to have changed.
“Uh…
that’s it?
I thought there’d be new modules for storage, quests, or a shop…”
The area that previously displayed the countdown to the Death Crisis now showed a jumble of garbled numbers, flickering rapidly as if detecting or loading something.
Finally, the scrolling numbers stabilized, and the prompt changed to:
[Time until next Death Crisis: 30 days remaining]
Freya: “?”
Are you kidding me?
she thought.
Is this city really that disaster-prone?
I just survived a three-day ordeal, and now you’re telling me I’m going to die again in thirty days?
As Freya scowled in frustration, she noticed a small icon—a video player symbol she recognized from her past life—had appeared next to the prompt.
When she focused her attention on it, a scene unfolded before her eyes, like a movie playing in her mind.
It was a street engulfed in roaring flames, the fire reaching toward the sky.
With just a glance, Freya could see the ground littered with countless bodies, the entire street stained crimson with blood.
Thud…
thud…
After a slight tremor, the “camera” began to move forward rapidly.
Freya immediately realized she was watching a first-person perspective.
As for whose perspective it was, she didn’t even need to guess—it was almost certainly her own, thirty days from now.
As the “camera” moved, accompanied by ragged breaths, she ran out of the street.
But what greeted her next was an even larger sea of fire, as if the entire world were ablaze.
Just then, several figures appeared in the frame.
They were men and women dressed in thin, light-green clothes, their bare feet touching the ground.
Their expressions were grim and anxious, but when they saw Freya, their faces lit up with surprise and relief.
“There’s another survivor here!”
“Child, come over to us, quickly!”
But the moment their words faded, Freya seemed to hear something.
The “camera” whipped around to look back.
The street she had just fled was now swarming with dense, black figures, filling it completely.
These figures were entirely black, without clothes or facial features, creating an utterly bizarre sight.
The next second, they surged toward Freya like a stampede of wild horses, moving at an absurdly fast speed.
It was like a fully formed tsunami or avalanche—nowhere to hide, nowhere to run!
Because Freya already had an avatar from the War Pathway, she could clearly compare their speed.
Each of these black figures ran at a pace no slower than her “War Freya” avatar.
The “camera” quickly turned back, and she continued running.
But within three seconds, she was overwhelmed by the black figures.
In the final moment of the vision, Freya saw the people in light-green clothes running toward her, their hands glowing with green light.
Click.
The death premonition ended.
The entire sequence had lasted only about ten seconds, but the amount of information it contained was staggering.
Back in her landlord’s home, Freya rested her cheek on her hand, her mind racing.
She recognized the burning street from the beginning—it was near her school, a route she took every day.
But the Khovd National Academy was located in the heart of the city!
This meant the impending death crisis, this disaster, wasn’t targeting Freya alone.
It was highly likely to engulf the entire city, and she was just one of countless victims.
Not long ago, Freya had considered ignoring the Obsidian Boss altogether.
After all, its schemes didn’t seem to affect her, right?
But now, it was clear they did affect her.
It didn’t take a genius to guess that this city-wide crisis was almost certainly the work of the Obsidian Boss.
Only a Rank 5 Beyonder could unleash a disaster of this magnitude.
However, knowing when it would happen made avoiding the death crisis seem simple enough.
Couldn’t she just leave the city before the disaster struck?
But…
was that really the right thing to do?
Stand by and watch an entire city’s population perish?
Honestly, Freya didn’t consider herself a good person, but…
“Screw it.
Might as well die trying.”
There were still thirty days until the disaster.
Even if she maxed out every simulation, running them for the full thirty days each time, she’d still have over twenty chances for trial and error.
What if she actually found a way to resolve the crisis?
And if she couldn’t—if she truly failed—she could always just leave the city the day before the disaster struck.
With her mind made up, Freya first recalled her avatar from the distant alley.
While she could only create an avatar near herself, recalling it had no distance limit.
In the alley, War Freya’s figure gradually faded, vanishing into thin air without a trace, as if she had never been there at all.
Afterward, Freya chatted with her landlord for a while and, thanks to their warm hospitality, scored a free dinner before finally returning home.
The moment she got back, she didn’t hesitate for a second and immediately started the simulation.
“Select Save Slot: [War Freya].”
But how to solve the problem remained the question.
After a moment of thought, Freya decided to try reporting it to the police again.
This time, she wrote a much more detailed letter, not only revealing the Obsidian’s base but also stating that the enemy was at least a Rank 5 powerhouse attempting to unleash a city-wide catastrophe in one month.
Then, without delay, she set out and, using the same rock-wrapped-in-paper method, hurled the message through a police station window.
Even though it was already 8 PM, Freya knew Captain Nolan would still be on duty and would definitely see it.
After completing her task, Freya found a small corner to hide in.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Nolan emerged from the police station, looking around with a puzzled expression, apparently searching for the person who had delivered the message.
But the sky was too dark, and Freya had wrapped herself tightly in her black coat, so Captain Nolan naturally didn’t spot her.
To Freya’s surprise, after scanning the area and finding no one, Nolan left the police station and headed south alone.
“Huh?
Didn’t I say the enemy is likely a Rank 5 powerhouse?
How could he go alone?
He should at least call the other Special Operations Division captains, or report it and request support from the [Mobile Squad]!” After a brief moment of confusion, Freya suddenly realized: Nolan clearly didn’t believe the information on the note—or rather, he didn’t fully believe it!
In the previous simulation, Freya’s note had only mentioned the Obsidian’s base.
Whether he believed it or not, Nolan would have investigated.
The situation was the same now.
Freya’s note contained more information, but for something from an unknown source, Nolan couldn’t possibly trust it completely from the start.
It was only natural for him to investigate personally.
As for whether the enemy was Rank 5, that didn’t matter.
Regardless of the enemy’s strength, Nolan was a police officer.
He had to investigate.
He couldn’t just be scared into inaction by a few words on a strange note, could he?
Watching Nolan walk further away, Freya hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow and see what would happen.
In the last simulation, she’d died before even getting a clear look at the Obsidian Boss.
If Nolan was going to fight him again this time, she had to get there earlier.
She needed to try and see the enemy’s face, gather more clues—she couldn’t let this simulation be a complete waste.
Freya deliberately waited a while before setting off, tiptoeing toward the southern part of the city.
However…
on the pitch-black, deserted street, just as she passed a corner, a hand suddenly shot out, grabbing the back of her collar.
She was lifted off the ground like a helpless chick.
Freya: “Eh!?”
Nolan stepped out from the shadows, a slightly surprised expression on his face as he felt the unusually light weight in his hand.
“A child?”
“Uhh…” Freya wore an awkward expression, silently cursing him.
What’s with this old geezer?!
She’d waited specifically to avoid being ambushed, but he’d still caught her.
As Nolan pondered, he spoke.
“You’re the one who threw that note, aren’t you?
I had a feeling you hadn’t gone far and would likely follow me, so I deliberately hid for a while.
It seems my patience paid off.”
“So, tell me,” he continued, “what’s your purpose in luring me to Dreigasse Street?”