Chapter 96 - Ninety-Five:

Chapter 96: Chapter Ninety-Five: "I Just Like You"I’ve always remembered because I realized there was a girl who was always paying attention to me," Su Ming’an whispered to her. "Actually, you’re not alone, you know? When I was livestreaming, I felt very depressed... I couldn’t find my own value and didn’t have many friends. But fortunately, there was a viewer who was always there, constantly commenting, encouraging me with every single video, and her positivity infected me. Including in reality, I noticed your gaze... so, in a way, we were relying on each other. You don’t need to feel that you have to be very sad; you’ve always existed in my eyes."

...Actually, she hadn’t.

He would upload his videos and then turn them off, never caring what people in the comment section said, and all that talk about feeling bad was just nonsense.

But if he could align his situation with what she described, it would help to lower her guard.

Even though he thought the person in front of him was sick, he now had to make her realize that he didn’t blame her for anything, to prevent her from feeling so low about herself that she would do something drastic.

It seemed Shen Xue believed him.

Even a large number of viewers believed him:

"I find it a bit strange," Su Ming’an said. "The instances in our Dragon Country are split into fifty thousand identical ones, to accommodate so many players entering; the instance I’m in is just one of those fifty thousand... You came for me, so in the other forty-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine instances, that you... is it still you?"

...He always felt that this level was targeting him, and later found out that the boss at the end was coming straight for him.

"It’s me," Shen Xue said with a smile, looking at him. "They... are all Shen Xue, all me. I sent the most like me, the most heartfelt version of me to the instance you’re in—this me right in front of you. Ming’an. You still remember my birthday; you said you’ve been paying attention to me."

Shen Xue stared into his eyes, corners of her lips upturned with a smile.

Her gaze was naively youthful, yet when she looked at him, it carried an intense fire-like meaning, as if she wanted to anchor him firmly by her side, sensing the slightest moment away from him could mean loss.

...In fact, she had lost him for twelve long years.

Even though she had never really had him.

"Ming’an... then you, then you also like me, want to be with me... right?"

Her eyes curved slightly, and the emotions within them surged together as if crushed.

In those dark, glossy, glass-like pupils, stars of light shimmered.

"Yes," Su Ming’an had to reassure her first. "I want to be with you."

Following that, he saw her smile brighten even more.

He felt a pain in his chest.

The dagger in Shen Xue’s hand traced across the front of his left chest, sliding down his shirt, carving a bloody line.

The wound wasn’t deep, but blood quickly seeped out, staining the front of his shirt a deep red.

"Su Ming’an..." Su Ming’an immediately recoiled backward.

The iron hoop in his hand made a crisp clang, and Shen Xue, emptying one hand, circled it around him, whispering softly into his ear:

"...then become the same existence as me, stay with me— together, become the of this world."

...She intended to do the same thing as the class teacher, to transform him into the same type of being as those students.

"Such love lacks a soul," Su Ming’an said with a wary look in his eyes.

"...No," Shen Xue sighed. "We shall be eternal."

The dagger in her hand plunged deeper.

"Su Ming’an." Tears shimmered in her eyes: "...I just like you."

The next moment, Su Ming’an sighed.

"Bang!"

Shen Xue’s smile froze on her face as a pair of hands suddenly appeared from behind and flipped her over.

"Clang—!"

The blood-stained dagger fell to the ground, ringing clearly.

Ming Ying underwent another transformation, the fragile three hundred health points bar reappeared in the upper left corner of his vision, and Su Ming’an returned to "Shadow" status.

Cloning flipped Shen Xue over, releasing Su Ming’an from the iron hoop.

After landing and loosening his tired wrists, Su Ming’an downed a Blood Bottle, recovering the wound on his chest. He saw Shen Xue in a blue dress swiftly climbing up from the ground. Taking advantage of Cloning not having caught up, she pulled a nearby mechanism and fell into the Secret Door, disappearing from sight.

"Her is a bit too twisted," Cloning commented while leaning against the sword, waving a hand casually: "Long time no see?"

"Go scout ahead," Su Ming’an pointed toward the open doorway behind, which was dark and seemingly free of danger.

After Cloning set off, he opened the system panel, thinking of sending a private message to Lv Shu and the others, but found the private message function was disabled.

He glanced at the basement, which was emptily silent; nothing was inside. After receiving a safety signal from Cloning, he stepped through the doorway until he saw another slightly heavy door.

As he opened the door, a dim and eerie red light spilled in.

His view dramatically widened.

He saw a school auditorium.

The bright red curtains had already been drawn, and he saw that there were already a few people standing inside... A few people who were dressed differently from before, Xiao Xiao with cat ears and holding a wand, Wang Zhenzhen with bunny ear caps and fluffy pajamas, a man in armor wielding a spear, Wang Xingkong with a paint bucket wearing a short coat, and a figure wearing a bright red dress trailing on the floor, back turned to the others.

They were dressed as characters from Alice in Wonderland, and Su Ming’an recognized the man in armor as Yang Changxu, the soldier he first encountered in the initial world—so it seemed the music teacher who sang military songs was him, within the same instance as himself.

His guard rose when he caught sight of the figure in the bright red dress, not sure whether it was Shen Xue or Shen Yue, but his caution solidified when he suddenly saw the Mantis perching on that person’s shoulder, causing him to halt in his steps and then take a half-step back.

"So why am I the Queen of Hearts?" Lv Shu turned around with an impassive face, red butterflies fluttering around him as his bright red dress dragged on the ground.