Chapter 111

Chapter 111

Bai Fuling flapped his big white wings, with an angel halo floating above his head, and wore a blue Lolita poofy dress with a bow—despite the pixel art style, the entire model on screen looked dreamlike and enchanting.

Even though it had that cheap 999-yuan store-bought wing look, you gotta admit, having a pair of big wings behind him was still incredibly beautiful. Bai Fuling happily admired his character on screen.

This is why wings are timeless in dress-up games! Classics are always classics!

Luo Qingyue was being carried bridal-style by the player. His injuries hadn't healed yet, so he was kind of out of it. But he knew—he had been saved by this person once again.

The other person was like an angel… no, he was an angel, with wings on his back that no human could have!

After a brief moment of shock, his eyes wide, Luo Qingyue, trembling, grabbed Bai Fuling's collar and said urgently: “…Go… go back…!”

After getting his fill of admiring, Bai Fuling flapped his big wings and landed on the windowsill. Carrying Luo Qingyue, he went back in through the window into the previous hospital room.

The moment he landed, the white wings behind him flickered twice and then suddenly dissipated. With a "poof" sound like magic, a few pure white feathers drifted through the air.

Bai Fuling carefully set Luo Qingyue down on the bed. Before he could finish or even ask, Luo Qingyue spoke first.

“…Did anyone see? Were there people on the ground when you flew up?” Luo Qingyue's voice was unusually serious and tense, as he struggled to focus and press for an answer.

Cabbage Friend had actually exposed his identity without a second thought just to save him! This wasn't like the rooftop back then, where it was just the two of them and the secret could stay buried. This was a hospital—a place with too many eyes!

Luo Qingyue couldn't stand to think what would happen if someone had actually seen those unique wings and targeted Bai Fuling—or if word got back to that organization.

He knew all too well humanity's ugly instincts and morbid curiosity, as well as the power and madness of that organization… The worst-case scenario was death and experimentation. Even the best-case scenario probably meant a gray, confined life.

Who wouldn't want to keep an angel locked up? This was a one-of-a-kind creature in the world!

He couldn't—couldn't imagine the person in front of him getting hurt. The wounds on Luo Qingyue's body, which had been healing, felt like they were burning again. He bit his lip, his face twisting in pain.

It was all his fault, his fault again… He had never wanted to hurt anyone, least of all the person in front of him, even by accident.

So why had he just done that? Luo Qingyue had long since stopped wanting to die, because he knew this life wasn't just his anymore.

“Why did you jump?” This question came from Bai Fuling. The player set Luo Qingyue down and immediately typed out the question that was on the tip of his tongue.

That sudden scene earlier was way too close for comfort. Even though the player knew the game would have unexpected events, he hadn't expected something so urgent—without even an emergency quest prompt on the screen!

He'd nearly turned this pixel exploration game into a heart-pounding thriller. Looking up to see the NPC he'd just barely saved about to jump again almost gave him a heart attack.

Thank god, thank god the player was an angel who could catch people!

Bai Fuling was a little pissed. He said via voice input: “I saved you. We made a promise, an agreement. I barely brought you back—how can you just go and try to die again? You—”

“—I know. My life is yours.” Luo Qingyue's voice came in softly. Though quiet, his tone was anything but light. His pale, sick fingers gripped Bai Fuling's, and his eyes, beneath soft bangs, stared straight at him. “I get it. I'm yours. I'm sorry about what just happened.”

Bai Fuling paused: …That's not really what I meant.

That wording felt a bit off. Well, as long as the NPC realized life was precious, that was fine. Bai Fuling's anger quietly fizzled out.

Mainly, if NPCs kept casually kicking the bucket, it would be a headache for the player. After all, the player's angelic abilities weren't stable yet, and he hadn't fully figured out the specific rules.

Luckily, this game didn't seem to have any pay-to-win or ad-watch options yet, or Bai Fuling would suspect it was all a scheme by the devs—having NPCs die periodically so the player could pay to revive them.

If that were the case, instead of being an angel, the player might as well go for a necromancer path and just summon all the dead back! Was there even a divergent path like that?

His thoughts took a detour, and Bai Fuling recalled the content that had popped up in Cotton Spirit's dialogue box when they first entered the room. So he belatedly answered the NPC before him: “When I flew up, there weren't many people around.”

The player had circled around to the back of the hospital to take off, and there really weren't many people there. But honestly, he wasn't entirely sure if anyone had seen him.

Hearing this, Luo Qingyue's tense heart relaxed a little. He steadied his breath and said, “…Be careful. You have to hide it. Don't reveal your—your true identity.”

Because his body hadn't fully recovered, Luo Qingyue's voice was faint, but his tone was heavy. “Don't spread those wings in front of others casually.”

“What's the big deal?” Bai Fuling tilted his head and replied, “It's fine, isn't it?”

Was there some kind of consumption cost? That couldn't be—the player hadn't seen any durability on the wings. Logically, this thing was somewhere between a costume and a stat item, with no durability.

The player had finally grinded out the “Angel” divergence value and got the shop's 999-yuan big wings as a pretty decoration. Of course, he wanted to show them off or at least wear them for himself every day. Hiding them away would be no fun at all!

“No, no way.” Luo Qingyue gripped Bai Fuling's hand, his usually gentle brows furrowing. “I know you're kind, Cabbage Friend. But you… you need to understand human nature.”

“Don't expose what makes you different… No matter what, don't spread them again.” Luo Qingyue's voice grew ethereal. “Your kindness might lead to a 'farmer and the snake' ending.”

Hmph, just a farmer and the snake—the player was already used to that! Bai Fuling didn't care at all.

Olbert and Wei Lin were both characters the player had saved but who had turned hostile toward him.

Sure, Olbert had reformed and was cooperating now, but he was still a snake at heart. The fact that he wouldn't unlock his panel for the player showed how shady this NPC was!

The player was still bitter about Olbert's panel being locked.

Anyway, the player had already dealt with two snakes—what was one more? Add another, and he could have a three-snake dance, setting up a stall on the street corner and playing a flute. Bai Fuling mused casually.

Well, really, the player didn't care about the NPCs' thought processes. All he wanted was the story behind them.

Whether it was revenge or gratitude, it was all set up by the devs. If he wanted to complain, he'd blame the devs.

Any NPC that gave him quests and story was a good NPC. Whether they hated or loved the player deep down, the player couldn't care less.

Luo Qingyue's gaze still rested on Bai Fuling. In his sickly state, talking too much made him cough uncontrollably. After catching his breath, he continued softly:

“No matter what happens, for anyone's sake, don't expose yourself again, angel. You have to… protect yourself first.”

“No.” Bai Fuling flatly rejected the suggestion. “No way.”

The logic of protecting yourself first didn't work in this game at all! After all, most NPCs in this game were fragile—stabbed a few times and they'd die, with no respawn.

Why do people die when they're killed?

Unlike some games where you could run over an NPC with a car today and they'd be back smiling tomorrow, in this game, death was permanent, and revival was a gamble.

The player at least had a last-stand protection mechanic. So when danger struck, following game logic, he had to prioritize protecting important NPCs. Plus—

“Precisely because I'm an angel,” Bai Fuling said, “if I witness a disaster and do nothing, wouldn't that betray these wings? Would that still make me an angel?”

These were wings the player had worked hard to earn by grinding angel divergence value. In a way, he needed to maintain some impression points.

If he hid them away from now on, maybe one day his divergence value would drop, and his 999-yuan shop wings would be taken away. No way!

This was probably a system test for divergence value, right? Anyway, the player answered along the lines of boosting his angel divergence.

Think you can test me? Bring it on!

Bai Fuling adjusted his character's expression, staring intently at Luo Qingyue. When he spoke those words, his expression was as firm as if he were pledging allegiance to the party.

The player would resolutely defend his super awesome big wings!

-- Unless he can trigger the demon line later and get a brand new demon wings (usually the easiest to trigger in the game is the succubus line).

"..." Luo Qingyue looked back at Bai Fuling, a complicated string of ellipses hanging over his head.

He heard Bai Fuling's unwavering reply, looking into those clear, flawless eyes, and couldn't bring himself to say anything more to stop him. Finally, Luo Qingyue let out a soft sigh. "If this is your duty..."

"Alright," he said. "I will go with you."

He would walk alongside the angel Little Bai. If something went wrong... Luo Qingyue looked up at the ceiling, his expression blank.

He'd seen death's shadow long ago and wasn't afraid of that destined end.

It was Cabbage Friend who had pulled him back from the other shore, giving him a second, untethered life. If gods and demons truly existed, then he'd gladly pay any price to chase him back to that shore.

"*Prompt: Character Attribute Change*"

A line of text popped up on the screen. Bai Fuling was startled for a split second, then quickly opened Luo Qingyue's character profile.

Previously, Luo Qingyue's profile had two identical heart symbols stacked. Bai Fuling knew the second heart represented how Luo Qingyue in his beast form felt about the player.

Later in the story, Luo Qingyue was injected with an overdose of Kate's drug by that white-haired youth on the rooftop, his body went completely berserk, his organs nearly shut down, and he almost died from it. The player used their angel powers to save him.

Since it was a resurrection, it naturally cleared out all the extra buffs and debuffs that had been attached to his body, aside from his normal state. The beast transformation attribute was wiped clean by the resurrection's new life.

Not long ago, when the player visited Luo Qingyue, they specifically opened his character profile to check. Back then, the second line of Luo Qingyue's personal attribute icon was blank.

Now, that second line had gone from blank to showing a new symbol.

—It was a pixelated rope hanging down, tied into a loop at the end.

At first glance, it looked like a hangman's noose, or a swinging ring to grab.

The description text underneath was very simple:

"Everything is tied to you."

Bai Fuling paused for a moment. Then he kept looking down.

It wasn't just the personal attribute that changed; further down, the original mysterious purple triangle had changed too. It was replaced by a new pattern.

It turned into a weird ouroboros—or more like a tentacle ouroboros, or an ouroboros made of tentacles.

In any case, the icon's overall outline was roughly a deep purple... or maybe you could call it black.

The digital progress bar and the original blocked-out asterisks were all gone. After the ouroboros icon, the description text said:

"*Eternal Companionship*"

This wasn't the game's usual font; it was written all crooked, with weird ink trails dripping down the text, like it was seeping out of the screen.

"..." Bai Fuling felt a weird sensation on his hand where it rested on the screen, like touching a cold, sticky semi-solid. But when he lifted his hand, there was nothing.

He was seeing things from playing too much—but he had to admit, this game was well-made. The subtle, creeping horror in some details was spot on! Bai Fuling quickly snapped out of it, shaking off the atmosphere, and praised it as a game.

Still, looking at that twisted ouroboros on the character profile gave him a faint sense of unease.

So he quickly shut the panel and refocused on the main story he needed to continue.

"You haven't answered me—why did you jump just now?"

Bai Fuling moved his character, still holding Cotton Spirit's hand.

Luo Qingyue's body hadn't fully recovered yet. The player, with their angel healing abilities, was willing to help a bit more. When he held the other's hand, a green "HP+1" would pop up over Luo Qingyue.

Luo Qingyue snapped back to reality, lowering his gaze. He didn't mind Bai Fuling's Lolita-style poofy dress.

After all, angels didn't have a gender, so they could wear whatever.

Talking about what just happened, Luo Qingyue frowned, trying to remember, his expression uncertain: "Just now... I wasn't thinking clearly. I saw... it felt like an illusion. I saw—"

He vaguely remembered. He saw the black-haired youth standing in a blur of light and shadow, smiling and waving at him, his skin pale and almost glowing, his eyes shining like stars. He seemed to be saying something.

The background was the high rooftop of the psychiatric hospital at the time. The other person stood too close to the edge, and as the wind blew, his slender figure seemed about to fall.

Luo Qingyue's hazy mind couldn't think clearly. He wanted to step forward and pull the other back.

When he grabbed the black-haired youth, countless colorful paper pieces fluttered out from behind him, making his vision blur. He subconsciously seemed to take two more steps forward, trying to hold on tightly. Now that he remembered, those fluttering colorful paper pieces seemed to be—

"...Butterflies," Luo Qingyue murmured.

Butterflies!? Bai Fuling, catching the keyword again, perked up. The player had indeed come to the right place; the hospital was the next clue point!

But why was the clue on Luo Qingyue?

"Butterflies?" Bai Fuling repeated his words. "What did you see?"

Luo Qingyue paused, then recounted the scene from his illusion. He omitted the excessive adjectives, simply saying he saw Fresh Cabbage standing by the rooftop edge. He wanted to pull him back, and then countless butterflies flew out from behind.

This matched the clue from Olbert earlier—it was indeed some kind of illusion. Bai Fuling rested his chin on his hand, thinking. But why did this illusion happen to Luo Qingyue? How did it take effect?

Even hypnosis requires a medium; an illusion naturally can't appear out of nowhere. And it also needs a trigger.

"Has anyone visited you recently, or has anything unusual happened?" Bai Fuling asked.

"...No. When I'm awake, I've only seen you all," Luo Qingyue shook his head. "I don't remember anyone else coming." He thought for a moment. "It seems nothing special happened."

"No special music, objects, or words from others?"

"No," Luo Qingyue replied. "This is a single-room ward in the hospital; it's usually quiet."

"Then, any unusual smells, food, or water? Medicine?"

"The smell has always been the same," Luo Qingyue said. "Food, water, and medicine are all delivered uniformly."

This was a bit troublesome. Bai Fuling felt a slight headache. It sounded like everything was perfectly ordinary, with no clear point of suspicion to dig deeper into.

Maybe he should go find Lin Shanze again—the one who suddenly went mad at the auction and stabbed Wei Lin.

The player hadn't interacted with this NPC yet; the only interaction was probably the kiss from the drawing board. He wondered if that guy, upon waking up, would still remember the player hitting him.

But the player hit him to save him! Saving Wei Lin was also saving him. So Lin Shanze should be grateful to Farmer Great Detective and quickly hand over clues.

Bai Fuling thought this, looked up at Luo Qingyue, and said, "I understand. You rest well; I'll go find someone to ask—"

Before he could finish his voice input, a particularly dull "bang" sound came from outside the window in the background!

Then, a few seconds later, a piercing scream suddenly erupted outside.

This sound drew the attention of both Bai Fuling and Luo Qingyue.

Bai Fuling was quick, shoving the window open first and shifting his gaze downward.

—Down on the ground, a body lay there, still.

Blood was slowly seeping out from under it. The figure was still wrapped in bedsheets, kinda looked like a flattened parachute at first glance.

The first thing that popped into the player's head was: Well, there's another default positive review for that parachute shop.

No wonder it's a hundred percent positive! Is the game really running with this dark joke?

Then Bai Fuling snapped out of it and said, "This ain't right."

"What doesn't?" Luo Qingyue's bed was by the window, so sitting up gave him a clear view. He struggled to sit up, peering through the window at the corpse below.

A chill ran through him. If Cabbage Friend hadn't shown up in time, he might've ended up the same way. Luo Qingyue wasn't scared of dying, but he didn't want to freak anyone out, and he sure as hell didn't want to waste the life the Black-haired Youth gave him.

"What doesn't?" Luo Qingyue echoed, staring at the body below, trying to see what was off.

"The sound's wrong." Bai Fuling tilted his head, thinking. "The guy who fell from that high building onto Zhong Xiaye's car hood back then, and this one hitting the ground now—how could they make the same sound?"

So he figured: the devs were cutting corners! Using the same sound file. The player smugly noted a new thing to report.

Luo Qingyue: …?

A question mark popped up over his head. After a pause, he said, "You specifically remembered the sound?"

"Not specifically. Well, maybe." Bai Fuling said offhandedly. "I just thought I'd see if I could find anything." Since the NPC didn't give him any feedback, there was probably nothing to dig into.

He glanced over and noticed the curtains flapping like crazy from the next window. "Looks like the jumper was your neighbor? You know who lives next door?"

"…" Luo Qingyue thought briefly. "Last time the nurse came to change my meds, I caught a glimpse of the next name on the chart. It was something like… Lin something Ze? Lin Shanze?"

Lin Shanze? Bai Fuling froze, then it hit him: Wait, wasn't this the guy the player came to find!

How could he jump before they even got a chance to talk to him!

—Well, Zhong Xiaye could really inherit the Death Note now. The joke came true: whoever got written in the classmate list dies.

A dark joke popped into the player's head.

He grabbed the windowsill, flipped over, and jumped down nimbly.

Seeing this, Luo Qingyue jolted, lunging forward and nearly jumping after him. Then he watched Bai Fuling, as nimble as a monkey, grab the drainpipe and slide down.

Below, people quickly gathered around the body. After the screams, hospital staff rushed over and lifted it onto a stretcher. But anyone with eyes could see there was no saving it.

Bai Fuling landed smoothly via the drainpipe and even snuck in for a quick touch, confirming the body was in a state to be stored in his inventory. Regretfully, he had to bow out.

The clue had become a corpse and been carried away. What now? Was the player supposed to stage a *Morgue Adventure* next to keep hunting for clues? Thinking about it, it wasn't impossible… just a bit thrilling.

Honestly, Bai Fuling was seriously considering whether to try unlocking the Necromancer or Demon class. Sometimes, he really needed to talk to corpses. Because there were way too many bodies in this game!

Resurrection was definitely an angel's ultimate move, with harsh and troublesome conditions, so the player couldn't just revive a clue every time one died.

But talking to corpses should be a Necromancer or Demon's daily routine, which would be much more convenient.

Bai Fuling's mind wandered wildly.

Speaking of which, how did one switch from the Angel system to the Demon system? Through corruption? How did corruption work? Was the Succubus stat the easiest to grind? Could someone help the player boost their Succubus value??

Why did NPCs have to die when killed? The player was seriously considering a class change now!

Author's note:

Bai Fuling: The clue's dead. What now? If I could talk to corpses, I wouldn't need to solve the case. My angel's about to fall from grace (not really)!