Chapter 117: You Are Mine

It is her!

The man opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but his throat was so hoarse that no sound could escape. He reached out a hand, attempting to touch the girl, but she suddenly lifted the hem of her pristine white dress and ran away, her laughter ringing out as clear as silver bells.

"Don't go! Don't go!"

Feeling his fingertips brush only against the fabric of her dress, Ji Linmo panicked and scrambled to chase after her. But the scene before him shifted abruptly; his vision grew increasingly dark, and the ground beneath his feet felt like slick ice, making it impossible to catch up.

"Sir? Sir?"

How much time had passed? The girl’s voice drifted gently from the darkness.

The youth, dressed in a Yuren High School uniform, slowly opened his eyes again.

*Huh? Where am I?*

He sat up, leaning against a corner wall, but a strange sensation in his abdomen compelled him to look down.

Blood!

A sickening amount of blood gushed out, causing the youth to cry out in terror. A small knife was plunged into his stomach, with only the handle visible. He remembered now—it had been exactly thirteen days since he was suddenly pulled from his physics class into this terrifying world. He had tried so hard, so very hard, to survive, but in this third instance, a fellow player had stolen his key items and stabbed him.

"I don't want to die... I don't want to die..."

The youth clutched his bloody wound, covered his face with his hands, and began to sob quietly.

"Sir, excuse me, sir, would you like to buy a coffin?"

The gentle voice returned. The youth pulled his hands away and saw a pair of pale, delicate feet appearing beneath a white skirt.

"Sir, you look like you're dying. Would you like to buy a coffin?"

"You look quite young; I can offer you a special 'early demise' discount~"

He looked up. The girl in the white dress, her long hair cascading down, smiled brightly at him. In that moment, the youth’s composure completely shattered.

"I don't want a coffin... and don't call me 'sir,' I'm not that old..."

The girl did not give up. She squatted down, looking at him earnestly.

"But if you die like this, your corpse will start to stink."

"With just any one instance item, I can help you bury your body. It’s a very good deal~"

The youth’s eyes were half-closed. He felt as though his wound no longer hurt; black spots danced before his vision, and the sounds around him grew faint. Giving the girl one last look, he struggled to hand over the two instance items he had obtained from his inventory.

"Take them. You don't have to bury me, just go. This instance... there’s a very bad player here. He’s a murderer from prison. You should run away, he’ll kill you too..."

Having said this, the youth no longer had the strength to keep his eyes open. Just as he drifted into darkness, he saw the girl crouch down and smile at him.

"You really are a kind person. May I ask your name?"

The girl’s lovely peach-blossom eyes crinkled into crescents, her smile as beautiful as a flower.

"Oh, it seems you can't speak anymore... but your name is written on your uniform. Is it... Ji Linmo?"

"Then, please sleep well, Mr. Ji. Everything will be alright."

As the girl offered her gentle comfort, the youth felt his fear begin to fade, and he drifted into a deep, heavy slumber.

However, this peace did not last long; he was jolted awake by raw pain. The girl was pressing her hand against his abdomen, trying to pull at his pants, peering closely at something.

"You! What are you doing!?"

Before he could even be surprised that he was still alive, the youth hurriedly grabbed his school trousers. "Have some self-respect! A girl... you shouldn't do things like this!"

The "girl" tilted her head curiously and pointed to herself. "A girl?"

"Yes! Exactly! You can't just go around pulling at people's pants!"

The girl nodded as if she half-understood, then smiled happily. "A girl? That’s a lovely name. I am a girl."

The youth ignored her, distracted by the strange sensation in his own body. The knife and the bloody wound in his abdomen had vanished; in their place was a massive, scarred line running from his lower stomach down to his waistband.

"You... you saved me? How did you do that?"

"With an item. You cost me my best instance item."

Finished, the girl in the white dress reached out and squinted at him. "Ji Linmo, from today on, I am your master~"

"Since I saved you, you belong to me now~ From now on, you must listen to everything I say, and all your instance items must be given to me obediently~"

The youth was stunned by these sudden words, and then he laughed. It was impossible not to laugh at this girl, who stood barely as tall as his chest, so petite and fragile, like a reed, making such a claim.

"Alright then, I’m yours. What do you want me to do?"

"Hmm~ I haven't decided yet. But first, you must swear! Swear that you will always be my little puppy and always follow me!"

The third instance was long and desperate.

Unpredictable malicious spirits, warring players, and an almost endless duration of gameplay. The youth and the girl stayed in the instance for a full month without finding a way to escape. Amidst the ruins, the two huddled in a corner, cupping their palms to catch rainwater to drink and stave off hunger. Even so, the two half-grown children chatted with great enthusiasm.

"You know, in our county, they built a massive amusement park..."

Although the girl always seemed confused by what the youth said—as if she had never even heard of such things—the youth never tired of describing them to her.

"Our pirate ship is so fun when it swings, and there’s that roller coaster—it rotates three hundred and sixty degrees, it’s so scary!"

As he spoke, the youth tried his best to describe it for her. But the girl still looked puzzled, as if she had never seen such things before.

The rain gradually stopped, leaving the gray, ashen sky hanging like a shroud of death. The youth jumped out of the ruined shelter, squatted down, and gestured for the girl to hop on.

"Quick, get on! I'll let you experience what a roller coaster is!"

The girl climbed onto the youth’s shoulders in confusion, and the youth stood up, beginning to run wildly through the ruins. He ran with all his might, like a dog off its leash, occasionally braking sharply and turning, drawing silver-bell-like laughter from the girl on his back.

"That's the feeling of a roller coaster."

Exhausted, the youth slowly let the girl down. His mood, however, dropped in an instant.

"I'm sorry... I lied to you."

"I... I’ve never actually been to an amusement park."

"My parents left a long time ago. My uncle is a garbage collector, and we lived next to the dump... he didn't have the money to take me."