Chapter 9: Victim Witch.

Ruan Yuan led the still-frozen Bai Linlin up the castle’s spiral staircase.

The second floor was a corridor with several doors on either side.

Ruan Yuan pushed open one of them.

Inside was a bedroom.

It was… much more normal than Bai Linlin had expected.

A spacious double bed covered in soft-looking dark bedding, a wardrobe, a vanity table, and even a small sofa.

“This will be your room from now on.”

Ruan Yuan said, then naturally pulled her over to the edge of the bed.

Bai Linlin still hadn’t fully recovered from the earlier “finger-licking” shock; she let herself be gently pressed down to sit on the mattress in a bit of a daze.

Ruan Yuan walked around to the other side, took off her outer coat (revealing simple black fitted clothing underneath), lay down on the bed very naturally, then turned onto her side. With one smooth motion of her arm, she scooped up the sitting Bai Linlin and pulled her straight into her embrace.

Bai Linlin: “!!!”

Again?

Her small body was completely encircled by Ruan Yuan. Her back pressed tightly against the other’s chest, where she could clearly feel the warmth and the soft curves.

Ruan Yuan rested her chin on top of Bai Linlin’s white head, arms wrapped around her waist, one leg bent and lightly pinning Bai Linlin’s legs down—creating a position that enveloped her entirely, leaving no room to move.

“R-Ruan Yuan-jie…”

Bai Linlin’s voice trembled as she tried to wriggle a little.

“I… I can sleep by myself…”

Ruan Yuan’s arms tightened slightly. Her voice came from above, calm and不容置疑.

“Before, Linlin liked being held to sleep the most. You said it gave you the greatest sense of security and let you sleep the deepest.”

Bai Linlin’s body went rigid.

If she had still been half-doubting the “feeding habit” earlier, this “being held to sleep” preference sent her suspicion skyrocketing to the maximum.

Really? I don’t believe it.

She strongly suspected that all of this—

The feeding, the holding to sleep, and any other “habits” she hadn’t “remembered” yet—

Were all lies fabricated by this woman named Ruan Yuan.

Invented for some purpose, forcibly assigned as her “past” while she was in this “amnesiac” state.

If the original host had truly liked her that much, depended on her to that degree—needing to be fed for everything, held to sleep, the two of them practically conjoined—then why… why would the name “Ruan Yuan” be glaringly at the very top of the blacklist?

The logic didn’t add up at all.

Unless… the original host had blocked her precisely because she could no longer stand this suffocating, overwhelming level of “goodness”?

All sorts of guesses flashed through Bai Linlin’s mind, but her body was held so tightly that struggling was pointless.

She tilted her head up and could only see the graceful line of Ruan Yuan’s jaw and neck.

Fine.

She suddenly deflated.

What was the point of thinking about all this now?

Question her? Argue back?

She had no proof, and she couldn’t beat her anyway.

Besides, to be fair—ever since she transmigrated to this cursed place, she had actually come out ahead.

She had eaten someone else’s high-end cake (even if it was fed to her), lived in someone else’s castle manor (even if it meant losing private space), and gained a ridiculously powerful “protector” (even if the methods were bizarre).

She, a war-five-trash—no, now upgraded to war-six-trash—who had nothing going for her except being cute…

At the moment, she really had latched onto an absurdly thick golden thigh.

As for being held while sleeping… Bai Linlin rolled her eyes inwardly.

Anyway, right now she was just a 137-centimeter little bean sprout, physiologically a tiny girl.

Being held to sleep by another girl might feel a bit awkward, but from a practical利益 perspective, she clearly wasn’t the one losing out.

Just treat it as premium sleep-accompanying service!

And the kind that comes with a castle and security!

Once that clicked, the tension slowly drained from her body.

After a full day of chaos—from the pure white space to the forest instance, then the fusion shock and manor impact—mental and physical exhaustion crashed over her like a tide.

Wrapped in a warm (albeit overly close) embrace, sleepiness overwhelmed her almost instantly.

Fine. Can’t escape it, so might as well enjoy it.

She nuzzled her head a little deeper into Ruan Yuan’s chest to find a slightly more comfortable spot, then let her heavy eyelids droop.

The faint, cool yet strangely reassuring scent on Ruan Yuan filled her nose.

Her consciousness quickly sank into darkness.

She slept extremely deeply, without even a single dream.

When she woke again, the bedroom was dim.

Only moonlight from outside and some distant unknown light filtered through the gaps in the curtains in faint slivers.

Bai Linlin blinked several times, taking a few seconds to remember where she was.

She was still being held by Ruan Yuan. The other’s breathing brushed evenly over the top of her head, arms still firmly locked around her.

She moved lightly; Ruan Yuan seemed to be sleeping soundly and didn’t react.

Bai Linlin carefully summoned her panel in the limited space.

A soft glow lit up in the darkness.

[Next forced game matchmaking: 1 hour 58 minutes 47 seconds]

[Room fusion status: Stable (Main manor: Ruan Yuan – Level 22)]

She had actually slept from afternoon straight through to nearly midnight!

The previous experiences really had taken a massive toll.

After being awake for a while, her earlier thoughts reconnected.

Staring at that glaring [1 hour 58 minutes] countdown, a question she had temporarily overlooked—but which was extremely important—suddenly slammed into her mind, jolting her fully awake in an instant.

The game difficulty!

She remembered Ruan Yuan saying that death game difficulty was matched based on the “personal room (manor) level”! High-level players get high-level instances!

So the problem was…

Although she herself was only a level-1 manor, her manor had already “fused” with Ruan Yuan’s level-22 manor! The system judged her as an “affiliated manor.”

So, for the next forced game matchmaking, would it go by her original level 1… or by the main manor’s level 22?!

If it was the latter…

Bai Linlin could practically see a horde of eight-zhang-tall monsters spewing flames, with combat power in at least triple digits, grinning ferociously as they charged toward her pathetic level-6 self.

She panicked.

Really panicked.

“R-Ruan Yuan-jie!”

Forgetting whether she would wake the other or not, she pushed hard at the arm wrapped around her waist, voice urgent.

“Wake up! Wake up quick!”

Ruan Yuan’s lashes fluttered, then slowly opened.

In the darkness, her eyes seemed especially deep.

She looked down at the squirming little figure in her arms. Instead of loosening her hold, she tightened it slightly, voice hoarse from just waking.

“Mm? What’s wrong, Linlin? Bad dream?”

“Not a bad dream! Something even scarier than a bad dream!”

Bai Linlin hurriedly spilled out her worry.

“The game difficulty! The matchmaking difficulty! Is it going by your level 22 or my level 1?”

“If it’s 22, won’t I just get instantly shredded the moment I go in?!”

After listening, Ruan Yuan seemed fully awake.

She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, in the dim light, she gazed at Bai Linlin’s small face filled with terror for several seconds before slowly speaking.

“Linlin is thinking correctly.”

Her voice was calm, even carrying a faint tone of “you finally realized this.”

“After manor fusion, the system’s comprehensive judgment of the ‘player’ will lean toward the main manor.”

“So the upcoming game difficulty will basically be matched according to my level—level 22 as the benchmark.”

Bai Linlin’s vision darkened; she felt her whole future turn bleak.

It’s over. Truly over.

She hadn’t even warmed the castle bed, and now she was about to become cannon fodder.

“But…”

Ruan Yuan’s tone shifted. Her fingers gently pinched Bai Linlin’s cheek, as if trying to squeeze away the panic.

“In that case, we will enter the same death game instance together. I’ll be right by your side.”

Her words were very certain, carrying powerful confidence.

“Don’t worry. I said I would protect you, and I will.”

“A level-22 instance is very dangerous for you, but for me,”

She paused, her voice showing no particular emotion.

“It’s just a bit troublesome, that’s all.”

Bai Linlin looked up at the blurred outline of her face in the darkness.

Ruan Yuan’s tone was so steady—so steady that the frantic pounding of Bai Linlin’s heart from the “level-22 difficulty” miraculously calmed a little.

Was it trust in her strength?

Or trust in her identity as “best friend”? Or simply… no other choice?

Perhaps a bit of all three.

“Really… no problem?”

Linlin asked softly, with one last trace of uncertainty.

“Mm.”

Ruan Yuan’s reply was short and firm. She released her arms, sat up, and incidentally pulled Bai Linlin up with her.

“Time is almost up. Get ready.”

Bai Linlin nodded, took a deep breath, and climbed off the bed as well.

Sleepiness was gone, replaced by tension at facing an unknown high-difficulty challenge… and a faint, weak curiosity sparked by Ruan Yuan’s confidence.

What would a level-22 death game look like?

The two quickly tidied up.

Bai Linlin was still in her white nightdress and red cloak (she had no other clothes anyway). Ruan Yuan changed into a set of black combat attire suited for movement; the long blade that gave off an ominous black gleam had somehow already appeared in her hand.

They stood in the center of the bedroom, waiting.

The countdown on the panel ticked down second by second.

[00:00:00]

[Matching game scene…]

[Match successful.]

[Entering death game — Victim Witch]

Their vision was swallowed by intense white light. The familiar sensation of being pulled away returned once more.

Before her consciousness was completely dragged into the unknown, Linlin only had time to tightly grab hold of a corner of Ruan Yuan’s clothing.

“Victim Witch”? That name… doesn’t sound good at all.