Chapter 3: The System Came, and the System Went

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“Did he really leave?”

“I saw it with my own eyes. A human girl put her arm around him and led him out.”

Inside the ancient castle, the candle flames on the walls flickered erratically. Two rabbits, each half a meter tall, huddled together and spoke in human voices.

One rabbit wore overalls, while the other was dressed in a tutu. Their blood-red eyes were eerie and terrifying.

“That dreadful monster is best at beguiling people. Looks like another fool has fallen for it.”

Rabbit A’s three-lobed mouth worked rapidly. It pulled a finger from the pocket of its overalls, stuffed it into its mouth, and chewed.

“Wasn’t it said that only the key could unlock the chains? Could that girl be the key?” Rabbit B stared intently at the distant room.

The key was merely a legend, and only the key could successfully release that monster.

So many players had died before, yet not one of them had been the great demon’s key.

Everyone who touched those chains had been burned to ash without exception.

The demon imprisoned in the deepest part of the ancient castle was practically Satan incarnate, the nightmare of the entire world.

Hypocrisy, greed, and deception were the source of all evil.

The two talking rabbits exchanged a glance and shook their heads regretfully.

How pitiful. Dying at the hands of that monster would be worse than being eaten by them.

**

Lu Xi raised her head and glanced ahead. The original host’s eyesight seemed to be rather poor.

She suffered from night blindness.

Lu Xi stopped walking. She could barely see, and the path beneath her feet was far from even. If she walked too quickly, she could easily trip and fall.

Besides, she was half supporting a massive man. His breathing was extremely faint, and Lu Xi had to turn around every so often to check on him, afraid he might simply collapse onto her shoulder and die.

“Sorry. I’ve become a burden to you,” he suddenly said.

“No, no, not at all.” Lu Xi hurriedly denied it. “Don’t misunderstand. My eyesight is just poor. I can’t see clearly in dim surroundings.”

Afraid that he might feel guilty because of the misunderstanding, she immediately launched into a lengthy explanation.

“Look, the passage here is narrow, and there’s only one candle on the wall after every long stretch. The floor tiles are uneven too, full of bumps and hollows. I’m afraid that if I take you along too quickly, I’ll trip. I don’t think you’re a burden. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself.”

Besides, if they were talking about burdens, wasn’t she a burden to the others herself?

From the perspective of the original host’s teammates, she was nothing more than a useless weakling who would hold everyone back.

So whenever someone had to be sacrificed, she was naturally the first person they thought of.

Unfortunately, she was not the original host. She was merely someone from another world who happened to share the same name.

She had no such magnanimity or selfless spirit that would allow her to willingly die for everyone else’s interests.

To Lu Xi, this world was ultimately only a fictional world from a novel. It was difficult for her to feel any real sense of belonging here.

After listening to her, he remained stunned for several seconds before asking, “What’s your name?”

“Lu Xi.”

“Lu, as in a fawn startled into a wild dash, and Xi, as in a mountain stream.”

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Ji Chenling lifted an innocent, harmless smile.

“That’s a lovely name. My name is Ji Chenling.”

In survival games, there was an unspoken rule: it was best not to reveal one’s real name to strangers.

Exchanging names was considered a form of trust and an implicit agreement to join forces.

“Sister, will you abandon me?”

Ji Chenling’s voice was soft, as though it might scatter with the breeze, yet it carried an inexplicable hint of seduction.

Lu Xi faintly felt that the way he addressed her was somewhat strange. But seeing his frail, rabbit-like appearance, she said nothing.

If she herself had been bound and imprisoned by an NPC for who knew how long, she estimated that she would have gone insane long ago, perhaps even developed a split personality.

Ji Chenling had been trapped for so long and had only just been rescued by her. It was perfectly normal for him to have grown somewhat dependent on her.

“I won’t.” After finishing her train of thought, the young woman answered firmly.

Ji Chenling leaned closer to her, his breath brushing against the girl’s slender, pale neck and making it itch.

They were so close, and she was utterly defenseless.

If he wished, he could snap her neck at any moment.

“Don’t you feel like this place is a little sinister? The hair on my body has inexplicably risen on end.”

Lu Xi stared nervously ahead, completely unaware of the change in the person beside her.

The young man curled his lips and looked away.

In an instant, that bone-chilling aura vanished without a trace.

Lu Xi found it incredibly strange.

Was the survival game really this unpredictable?

The ancient castle was crisscrossed with passages, filled everywhere with staircases and corridors that stretched beyond the limits of sight.

Lu Xi had originally thought they would encounter some supernatural phenomenon along the way, or perhaps be pursued by NPCs demanding their lives.

But nothing happened.

They walked for what felt like an eternity, yet there were only the two of them.

“Are you all right? Should we rest for a while?” Lu Xi turned to ask him.

Ji Chenling pressed his lips together in a smile, clear and pure as the thawing of the first snow.

“I’ll do whatever you say, Sister.”

[Ding!]

“Hm?” Lu Xi pricked up her ears.

What was that sound just now?

[Greetings, Host.]

Lu Xi instantly came alive. In the brief span of a few seconds, countless thoughts flashed through her mind.

“You’re the system, aren’t you? You’re my special advantage, right?” Lu Xi asked herself and answered herself, growing more and more excited. “Of course! I crossed into another world, after all. In novels, transmigrated heroines always get special advantages. Great System, are you going to lead me as I sweep through the game world and rise to the pinnacle of life?!”

[Greetings, Host. Since you have already died in the real world, you have been selected to become a member of the Transmigration Organization. You must now complete your mission successfully. Once the mission is complete, you will be entitled to make one wish, which the system will fulfill unconditionally.]

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[Issuing mission... Host, please make use of your expendable-character status and survive in this world until the end of the original story.]

Lu Xi blinked several times.

“What about you? Do I get a beginner’s gift pack? Or some kind of special advantage? The original host has no abilities. Aren’t you going to give me a few skills?”

[Sorry, Host. Everything depends on your own efforts. I will now withdraw from the binding process. As the system, I will appear again after you complete your mission.]

[The original host’s memories will finish transmitting within forty-eight hours. Keep going, Host. Goodbye, Host.]

[Ding.]

Lu Xi was dumbfounded.

What was this supposed to be?

Why was it completely different from the plot of the novel?

What happened to transmigrated heroines getting special advantages?

Lu Xi sighed, raised her head, and met Ji Chenling’s gaze head-on.

“Sister, what are you thinking about?” Ji Chenling asked. He had keenly sensed that something was wrong and had been watching her the entire time.

Ji Chenling could not hear the conversation between Lu Xi and the system.

Considering that, in a certain sense, he was also an NPC from this world, Lu Xi chose to keep it hidden.

She smiled at him and said, “I was wondering what we should do if we can’t get out.”

Ji Chenling: “...”

A lie.

**

Elsewhere, the atmosphere was tense and heated.

“What should we do? Lu Xi is dead, but the matter of the human sacrifice still hasn’t been resolved.”

“Then choose someone else.”

“Easy for you to say. Who are we supposed to choose? Who would willingly become the human sacrifice and go to their death?”

Everyone had initially agreed to make Lu Xi the sacrifice because she had no skills, was not physically strong, and was not particularly intelligent either.

The only notable thing about her was her pretty face.

Unfortunately, beauty was utterly useless in a survival game.

Now that Lu Xi was dead, they could only choose someone else to serve as the sacrifice.

Not far away, the ghostly crone continued to watch them with predatory intent.

They did not have much time left. Once the clock struck midnight, the crone would enter slaughter mode.

Not one of them would escape.

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