On the north side of the stone forest, two girls sat facing each other in front of a campfire, not saying a word.
They had cried for a long time and had little tears left to shed.
The wind was strong at night, and they could no longer hear Ice Sister's voice from the south side.
In the depths of the night, endless loneliness and despair shrouded their hearts.
"Qian Qian, do you think Lu Zhe and Yao Yao...won't come back?"
Qian Qian nodded listlessly, "I...don't know."
"He promised me...It's all my fault, I shouldn't have said those things when he left..." She sniffed twice more.
Qian Qian shook her head, "Don't blame yourself Class Monitor, didn't you say to be brave earlier, Lu Zhe and Yao Yao will come back?"
Ning Shu sighed, it was easy to advise others but when it came to herself, who could let go in just a few words?
"I felt very hopeless before, but when I think calmly, maybe they really are still alive. Let's make lotus lanterns!"
"What is that?"
"Also called floating lanterns, lanterns that float away when placed in water."
"What's the point of making that thing? It's like making an offering to deceased relatives..." Ning Shu was about to refuse but then sat up straight as she had an idea.
"That's right, we can observe the direction of water flow with this lantern, and also expand the signal range for Ice Sister to see us too!"
Qian Qian nodded, "That's right!"
Ning Shu's eyes lit up, "Anyway we don't know what to do now, so let's make this. Maybe it can really help Lu Zhe find his way back! Do you know how?"
Lin Qian Qian thought for a moment, "We need something buoyant for the base, candles that can burn steadily for a while, and canopies to shield the flames from the wind."
Ning Shu pondered, "There are plenty of things that can provide buoyancy, like wood, bamboo, bottles and foam. For steady burning we have resin, bear fat candles. As for the canopies...where can we get those..."
Qian Qian took out two pairs of stockings from her bag, "Use Guo Er's stockings!"
"What a great idea...Wait, why do you have Guo Er's stockings?"
"Uh...she can't wear them anymore anyway and didn't want them. I felt it would be too wasteful to throw them away so I kept them."
Ning Shu nodded, "Then we really can make lotus lanterns!"
On the other side of the stone forest.
Tang Xiaoguo was tied to a tree, sadly humming My Sadness Flows Like a River.
Just then, a 50 cm long lizard crawled over and perched nearby on a rock, seeming to listen to her hum.
Normally she would have screamed in fright but today, she just looked at it lifelessly.
"Do you understand my sorrow? No, no one can understand the pain of losing your beloved! And you're not human, you're Godzilla..."
The lizard tilted its head, as if it really understood her words.
"My dear boy has left, I don't know if he's dead or alive. I want to follow him but the other woman who loves him tied me up. Little Godzilla, don't you think I'm the most pitiful woman in the world?"
The lizard actually nodded.
Tang Xiaoguo felt a little comforted, "I didn't expect there would be a lizard in this world that understands me. Alright, help me chew through these ropes so I can go find Lu Zhe."
The lizard didn't move.
Just then, another lizard appeared and climbed onto the first lizard's back. The two lizards started doing some unusual movements.
Tang Xiaoguo was fuming, "Ahhhhh, go show your love somewhere else, I don't want to live anymore!"
Just then, Shen Bing returned, swinging a trench shovel which smacked the top lizard unconscious. The bottom lizard saw trouble ahead and scurried away into a crevice.
Tang Xiaoguo stared wide-eyed and shouted, "Awesome job Ice Sis!"
Shen Bing threw down the shovel, and sliced off the lizard's head with a paratrooper knife, hanging its body on a small tree as protein reserve.
She was expressionless, her actions swift and efficient.
"I found a route but it's too long a detour. We'll rest here tonight and I'll take you to meet up with Little Ning and Qian Qian tomorrow. Take what supplies you can carry, leave what you can't. "
With that she started organizing their things.
"What about Lu Zhe?"
Shen Bing froze, her lips trembling slightly.
After a long pause, tears welled up in her eyes but she wiped them away before they could fall, seeming to want to say something but only managing to utter three words:
"Don't mention him."
After a while, she went over to Tang Xiaoguo, "I'll untie you now but you must promise not to jump into the sea, okay?"
Tang Xiaoguo sniffed twice, "Jumping into the sea is useless anyway, I just get washed back each time."
"Don't dash yourself on the rocks either."
"That's too painful. I think hanging is good, Ice Sis you like Lu Zhe too right? Let's hang ourselves together..."
Shen Bing sighed, "Guo Er, Lu Zhe loved you the most, he definitely wouldn't want to see anything happen to you! If he came back alive and found you gone, can you imagine how heartbroken he'd be?"
Tang Xiaoguo said, "Ice Sis, how likely do you think it is that Lu Zhe is alive?"
"I don't know." She replied, untying Tang Xiaoguo's ropes.
Tang Xiaoguo gazed towards the sea, her grief plain to see.
"Do you think my dear Lu Zhe and Yao Yao drifted to a nearby island, and lit a big fire that they're watching us from over the sea, like those eyes!"
Shen Bing shook her head, thinking Tang Xiaoguo was speaking nonsense.
She carried an armful of firewood from the woods and dumped it on the sand, taking out a Matchlock-style fire starter to drill for fire.
"Hey Ice Sis, how can there be eyes on the sea? Is it a monster?"
"Don't talk nonsense, how can there be eyes on the sea?"
"Right there!"
Shen Bing looked up dubiously and vaguely made out two bright spots on the sea's surface.
"There really are!"
Shen Bing immediately put down her things and rushed to the beach.
Sure enough, there was a pair of glowing eyes on the sea!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
