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More than ten minutes had passed. Inside a hotel suite in the real world, a rhythmic clapping filled the air.

“Hunger, thirty percent!” announced the silver-haired girl, Vera 17, suddenly halting her hands on the keyboard. She reached for a red bean filled bread on the table, tearing open the packaging and eagerly devouring it. Eating this way seemed to satisfy her hunger more, but it also carried a risk of choking.

Vera 17 had once seen a sensational news headline: “Shocking! A young man who lived alone was killed by a red bean bread!?” The story was more complicated than it seemed. The young man had apparently choked to death or possibly even fallen. Despite investigating out of curiosity, Vera couldn’t ascertain the exact cause of his demise.

“Uhm! So good!” she exclaimed, finishing the bread in mere moments and returning to her work at the keyboard.

Five minutes later, she declared, “The target has a seventy percent chance to be here!” Her tiny finger slammed the return key, causing the screen to flood with information. Three seconds passed, and a map of Roc City appeared, the area around Jade Flower Garden highlighted in red.

Though Yaeger was careful, she had left clues. Utilizing these, along with related information, Vera 17 narrowed down Yaeger’s location to a small area.

“If I have more information, I’ll be completely certain. However, time is short,” Vera mused, a hint of disappointment in her voice. “But still, seventy percent is enough.” Considering the small margin of error, she was unconcerned. “Next, it’s up to the three of them. I’ll just watch the show.”

Imagining three AA-ranked powerhouses beating up [Princess], a radiant smile spread across Vera 17’s tired face, marked with dark circles. She was elated!

Meanwhile, in a particular residential area of Roc City, Little Fairy slowly opened her eyes, whispering, “I feel a little thirsty…” She hadn’t hydrated herself for hours, and if not for a strange state of hibernation in the game, her thirst might have been worse.

Flipping on her table lamp, she illuminated her small, cluttered room. To the left was her single-sized bed and laundry basket, miscellaneous items to the right, and a narrow path down the middle just wide enough for a wheelchair. The space was utilized to its fullest, serving as her home office, bedroom, and library. She wasn’t bothered by its compactness; having a room of her own was already a blessing.

Glug glug. She sipped from her thermos, then leaned back on her bed, staring at the yellowish wall in contemplation.

“Should I agree to…” she began, talking to herself. When Yaeger had asked her to join, she hadn’t accepted immediately. She needed time to think.

“Are people like me actually qualified to enter?” The hesitation stemmed from two reasons: her uncertainty about why she was chosen, as she viewed herself as plain and uninteresting, and her feelings of inadequacy when comparing herself to the stunning members of the [Princess Alliance].

“Me, a cripple,” Little Fairy murmured, gazing down at her immobile legs. Once they had been beautiful – fair, slender, and lovely. Now, they felt like mere decoration.

“Would be great if I had money,” Little Fairy sighed, the longing apparent in her voice.

If she had money, dependency on others would be unnecessary. Money could possibly even heal her legs. While money wasn’t the solution to every problem, lacking it seemed to be the greatest problem of all.

Glancing at her BigMi smartphone, she checked her wallet on WeChat, only to find 89 yuan remaining. It was a stark reminder of her financial situation. She had once loaned everything she had to Yaeger, enduring several days of hardship until her salary arrived – a total of 3,000 yuan.

On payday, she impulsively spent 2,888 yuan on the terminal to [Saint Demon World]. “I am poor,” she reflected, amused by her prior unwillingness to spend 150 yuan on a dress, yet easily purchasing the expensive terminal. No regrets were found in her heart, though. Compared to her mundane and hopeless life, the game offered excitement, vitality, and a chance to feel able-bodied once more.

Yet, there was another reason why Little Fairy hesitated in joining [Princess Alliance]. It was her deep-seated inferiority complex, coupled with incredibly low self-esteem. “Now, some of the players know I worked with [Princess]. Perhaps some of them will cause me trouble someday. Besides, my current Level is much higher compared to the average player. A lot of Guilds will definitely want to capitalize on me. There will be a lot of problems,” she reasoned.

“Joining [Princess Alliance] can definitely help me avoid some of them. But it’s not really all that good. Although [Princess] isn’t public enemy number one, she does have a lot of enemies. Joining [Princess Alliance] means that I’ll become enemies with all these people.”

Her thoughts were tangled, but the memory of [Princess]’s pure eyes and kind treatment nudged her towards trust. “Someone with such pure eyes couldn’t be a bad person. I think I misunderstood her in the past. Black-hearted Princess isn’t evil at all… I… hope so.”

Contrasting Yaeger’s actions with those who used her cruelly in the game, she realized, “What a difference. No, if I compare them to her, I’m just insulting her.” Unconsciously, she had stopped referring to Yaeger as Black-hearted Princess, yet her uncertainty lingered. “Ah, should I accept that offer though?”

Meanwhile, in the [City of Chaos], Yunuen’s puzzlement grew. She couldn’t fathom why Little Fairy didn’t seize the offer from [Princess] immediately, and actually requested time to think it over. Though Yaeger was understanding of the need for caution, she made it clear that if Little Fairy refused to join, their relationship would end after repaying the money and curing her legs.

This would be a good thing for both sides. Yet, Yunuen’s attention soon shifted, and her thoughts were replaced by Yaeger’s command to Little Blue: “Stop pretending to be dead. Get up and guard the house.”

Little Blue’s scream and sorrowful stare were met with indifference as Yunuen and Yaeger logged off.

Back in Jade Flower Garden, Yaeger’s eyes snapped open, her instincts alerting her to a chilling reality: “I’ve been targeted by a strange aura!”