Volume 1: Breaking the Cage
Escape 09
Legal Hunting
Xin Lan sprinted forward, holding Shen Shuiyan’s ice-cold hand.
Ling Jiu: “Host, the spatial dimension has been extended, but it’s not a ghost hitting wall (meaning going in circles). Keep running forward, and you’ll reach the finish line.”
Xin Lan didn’t panic. Hearing this, she became even more composed and continued running, pulling Shen Shuiyan along.
Shen Shuiyan, unaware of what ghostly thing was behind them, didn’t look back. She pushed her legs hard, but unlike Xin Lan, who could jump from the fourth floor unscathed, Shen Shuiyan’s physical condition was different. She quickly began panting heavily, relying on Xin Lan’s pulling force to move forward.
The song suddenly drifted away, seemingly creating a long distance between them.
Xin Lan looked back, only to see empty eye sockets and a malicious smile.
Xin Lan shoved Shen Shuiyan forward, then turned and kicked the eyeless ghost, sending it flying a meter away.
Shen Shuiyan stumbled, then started taking off her thick outer coat.
As she removed it, the biting cold wind made her shiver. She had no time to feel cold, though. She swung the coat at the earless ghost, covering its face, and gave it a kick too.
The two didn’t linger, immediately continuing their sprint forward.
There was only one path; pressing forward was their sole option.
Without her bulky cotton coat hindering her, Shen Shuiyan ran faster.
The song fluctuated between near and far. What should have been a cute children’s song now felt like a life-hastening talisman (meaning a death warrant).
Xin Lan spotted the stairs of the teaching building and, with Shen Shuiyan in tow, bounded inside in just a few strides.
The moment they stepped onto the stairs, all sounds vanished, leaving only Shen Shuiyan’s heavy breathing.
“Are we safe?”
Shen Shuiyan wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked back outside.
All she could see was darkness. Xin Lan told her to wait and took a step out. Seeing a pale face, she nonchalantly retracted her foot.
“They’re still out there.”
“I thought this was a survival game. I didn’t expect it to have supernatural elements too.”
Shen Shuiyan wiped her sweat, her expression calm and composed.
“This situation was caused by me.”
“I chose to follow you of my own free will.”
The wind howled as it blew past, making Shen Shuiyan shiver.
She tossed the tissue into a nearby trash can and smiled at Xin Lan, complimenting her on her stamina.
“It’s too cold. Let’s go upstairs.”
Xin Lan, noticing Shen Shuiyan’s smile despite her lips blue-white, gestured towards the third floor.
They arrived at Class 1. Although the classroom wasn’t particularly warm, it was better than being exposed to the wind outside.
“This might be the punishment I triggered.”
The rules would punish those who made mistakes. Xin Lan thought that because she had attempted to enter a forbidden area, she was driven out and now couldn’t leave the teaching building.
But this confinement must be temporary.
“Will the punishment disappear after the hunt ends?”
“It might, but it definitely will before classes start tomorrow.”
“The rules are too treacherous.”
The activity area had been reduced to just the dormitory and teaching building, forcing people to turn on each other.
Xin Lan frowned, watching Shen Shuiyan standing there, involuntarily shivering.
The night temperature was very low. Shen Shuiyan had taken off her cotton coat and was only wearing a thin long-sleeved shirt underneath. If she stayed here all night, she would certainly fall ill.
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Xin Lan unzipped her down jacket and beckoned to Shen Shuiyan.
Shen Shuiyan pointed at herself, somewhat surprised.
But she didn’t resist and walked over.
Xin Lan sat cross-legged on the floor, using a book as a cushion. Shen Shuiyan nestled into her embrace. Xin Lan wrapped the coat around them both, her arms encircling Shen Shuiyan’s waist, transferring her own warmth.
The beauty in her arms had a slender waist, and Xin Lan couldn’t help but tighten her grip slightly.
Xin Lan actually had a hidden waist control (meaning a fetish for waists) trait, so deep that even she hadn’t realized it herself.
At this moment, she quietly embraced tightly, then loosened her grip, only to tighten it again, unable to resist.
Shen Shuiyan didn’t notice anything unusual. She leaned on Xin Lan’s shoulder, inhaling the scent of shampoo.
Clean, warm, and soft.
As Shen Shuiyan pressed against Xin Lan, she felt the softness of their chests.
The mutual pressure brought about a strange, never-before-experienced sensation.
Her body is so warm… Shen Shuiyan thought, somewhat dazed.
“Did you stay in Zou Yunfei’s team because of his combat prowess?”
“Mm, I don’t interact with him much.”
In fact, Shen Shuiyan didn’t interact much with anyone. The two classmates she usually had more contact with weren’t selected for this game.
She still couldn’t figure out why these 400 people were chosen. Was it merely random selection and bad luck?
“Then I’ll go and snatch people from him tomorrow.”
Xin Lan smiled as if she’d thought of something interesting.
Ling Jiu shuddered at her expression and silently lit a candle for that ex-boyfriend.
“Hm?”
Shen Shuiyan was a bit confused. A guess surfaced in her mind, leaving her somewhat stunned, but then she thought it wasn’t impossible.
“If I’m better at fighting than him, will you stand on my side?”
“I don’t think I’m that important to you.”
Shen Shuiyan said, pressed against Xin Lan, feeling her heartbeat.
Although Xin Lan had been trying to recruit her from the start, Shen Shuiyan indeed hadn’t felt that Xin Lan valued her that much.
“I like dealing with smart people. If you want to survive, stick with me. I’ll definitely be the ultimate winner.”
Xin Lan’s words sounded arrogant, yet carried a sense of certainty.
Even if she had always been the villain, even if the final outcome had always been death, she was the ultimate boss who had outmaneuvered countless protagonists. Even if she chose to forget those memories, the repeated battles had forged an iron blood (meaning tough and determined) military willpower.
Shen Shuiyan leaned on her shoulder, the light in her eyes flickering.
“Why do I feel like you just want an excuse to beat up Zou Yunfei?”
Thinking of their past, Shen Shuiyan couldn’t help but chuckle as she said this.
In this laughter, she also revealed her answer.
“That’s part of the reason. I won’t let him get out.”
Xin Lan admitted frankly, speaking without a care.
“Do you hate him that much?”
“Not really. He’s not valuable enough for me to keep in my heart. It’s just that people should always pay the price for their actions.”
Xin Lan gazed at the dark night outside the window, recalling those empty eye sockets.
What would happen if she threw her ex-boyfriend to the ghosts outside?
Sounds interesting.
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Ling Jiu felt she could already erect a tombstone for the ex-boyfriend. Glancing at the two embracing in a girly and queer pose, she silently continued binge-watching her drama.
The air grew quiet, with the classroom’s wall clock making soft ticking sounds.
Feeling the warmth and inhaling Xin Lan’s rich fragrance, Shen Shuiyan began to feel drowsy.
Xin Lan, however, wasn’t sleepy. Her face in the darkness held a resolute coldness.
She stopped sitting and lay down instead. Shen Shuiyan lay facing her, one hand resting on Xin Lan’s body.
The long wait was incredibly boring, so Ling Jiu enthusiastically asked Xin Lan if she wanted to watch a TV drama together.
Ling Jiu: Host, I’ve been following 《Domineering System-President Falls in Love with Me》 recently. It’s quite good.
Xin Lan: System… President?
Ling Jiu: We’re systems, right? So the big boss in our system world is naturally the System-President.
Xin Lan: I’ll pass. It sounds like it would lower my IQ.
Ling Jiu: Let me tell you the plot! It’s about the System-President’s leveling-up story! The System-President starts as a newbie, then uses their wisdom to guide one excellent host after another, jumps through several departments, and finally reaches the peak of system life, becoming the System-President and marrying the goddess!
Xin Lan: Alright, let’s watch it together then.
With nothing else to do, Xin Lan watched the TV drama and found that those system actors were quite good at acting.
However… Are systems really this free to have time to make TV dramas?
To her question, Ling Jiu gave a detailed answer.
Ling Jiu: When we systems accumulate enough tasks and reach a certain qualification rate, we can choose to retire. Some make movies, while others dive into various missions as NPCs for fun.
Xin Lan: Do NPCs retain their memories of being systems?
Ling Jiu: Of course not! Otherwise, it would easily interfere with the world.
Satisfied with the answer, Xin Lan continued watching the drama with Ling Jiu.
At twelve o’clock, the bell rang, announcing the end of hunting time.
Shen Shuiyan opened her eyes and moved away from Xin Lan.
The sudden loss of warmth made Xin Lan’s brows furrow involuntarily. She adjusted her clothes and, seeing Shen Shuiyan’s state, stepped forward to hold her hand.
The warmth of the palm made Shen Shuiyan glance at Xin Lan.
The moonlight outside allowed her to see Xin Lan’s beautiful face clearly. Her expression was calm as she led Shen Shuiyan outside.
A strange feeling stirred in her heart, very subtle. Shen Shuiyan thought it must be because it was too cold outside and Xin Lan’s hand was too warm.
Xin Lan walked outside and, as expected, couldn’t see those two ghosts anymore.
She took a few steps forward and saw Shen Shuiyan’s cotton-padded jacket on the ground, picking it up.
Shen Shuiyan held it in her arms without putting it on.
She remembered that this jacket had just covered the head of the earless ghost, so she had no desire to wear it.
Fortunately, the dormitory wasn’t far from the teaching building. Shen Shuiyan and Xin Lan jogged back, arriving quickly.
The two went up the stairs on the same side, which was closer to Shen Shuiyan’s dorm.
“See you tomorrow,” Shen Shuiyan waved to Xin Lan, who nodded in response.
The sound of knocking echoed in the night as Shen Shuiyan knocked several times, but no one opened the door for her.
Shen Shuiyan knocked a few more times, but the person inside seemed determined to play dead, refusing to open the door.
A cold smile appeared on Shen Shuiyan’s face as she patiently knocked twice more.
“Why don’t you sleep in my dorm?”
Xin Lan, who hadn’t left since Shen Shuiyan started knocking, suggested when she saw that Shen Shuiyan’s dorm wouldn’t open.
“Thanks, then.”
“No big deal.”
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Xin Lan knocked, and someone came to open the door shortly after. They cautiously opened a crack at first, then fully opened it upon seeing Xin Lan.
Xiao Chun curiously glanced at Shen Shuiyan behind Xin Lan before returning to her own bed.
Tao Ling had also returned, sitting on her bed with her right hand in a splint and her left hand wrapped in bandages.
Xin Lan climbed into bed and took off her clothes. Shen Shuiyan placed the cotton-padded jacket on a chair, also undressed, and got into Xin Lan’s bed. The two lay under the same quilt.
“Before we sleep, I have something very important to tell you.”
Xin Lan moved further in, looking at Shen Shuiyan seriously.
“What is it?”
“Don’t wake me up carelessly. I don’t want to wake up tomorrow morning to find you missing arms or legs.”
Shen Shuiyan: ……
This is intimidation, right? Definitely intimidation.
The author has something to say:
So this is a love story between a human and a system~~
If you like Sister Lan, give her a “pick” (internet slang expressing support)! Boo-hoo-hoo, I’m going to hire some water army (paid internet commenters) for Sister Lan. The content will be as follows: Sister Lan is the coolest, Xiaowu is the most “Gong” (“dominant”, a term from danmei (boy’s love) culture)! (This comment costs five mao (reference to the “Fifty Cent Party”, a group of commentators allegedly paid to post pro-government comments online.)) Hahaha hiccup
LP: Re-translated on November 05, 2024