What's going on? It's been days, and Linbao still hasn't replied to me. Is she... tired of me?

On the cold projection screen, in the separately opened friends list, Lu Lin's avatar had turned greyed out.

I walked to the room's expansive floor-to-ceiling window. From this height, the nightscape outside glimmered with flowing colors. Bustling streets, yet none held the warmth that belonged to me.

I pushed open the window, and the September heatwave rushed in, because the 26-degree chill of the air conditioning inside was about to suffocate me to death.

My father's assistant dialed my phone again and again, but I didn't dare hang up, so I just left it unanswered.

The window reflected my ears, furry, fluffy. I liked them very much, and he liked them very much too.

Ever since cat ears sprouted atop my head, my father finally smiled at me. A smile that had been eighteen years overdue.

But in that smile was nothing but devouring greed, not a trace of belated fatherly love.

"Join the Hunter's Guild, my child. Your rating within the guild is S-Class. You can become a star of the Euro Federation, you can contribute your strength to our family. Child, you should be proud."

Only then did I see that besides greed, that smile also held a thirst for power.

So I absolutely refuse.

‘Linbao, you might not know why I am so fixated on you. Ever since the company began testing the game, female players have always been in the minority. And a contradictory girl like you, both powerful and fragile, is someone I've only ever met once in my life. I seem to see myself in you. I look forward to partying with you. I want to experience the joy of helping others through you, to make up for my own regrets—even if it's just my wishful thinking. After learning you wouldn't enter dungeons anymore, I was disappointed for a long time. But the days spent chatting with you have made me unable to let you go. You would pick up the camera for my expectations. And I gradually began to share my past with you.’

The reflection of myself in the window glass—tears squeezed from the corners of my eyes. But I wasn't crying. I was just a little sad. I promised myself I wouldn't cry so easily anymore.

‘Linbao, my father cut off my contact with the company, and he won't even let me enter the game world through the Adventurer's Association. I can't come find you. Linbao, I believe in your strength. You must have gone invisible, not dead, right. You're such a fool. You clearly could have left with the company. Why, why did you venture deeper into the dungeon? And why did you have to say things like calling yourself a cheater? The Euro Federation's news blames you for the deaths of Dorina and all the other students, trying to paint you as a sinner and a product of the company's arrogance. But I trust the version of the notice the company released more. What exactly are you hiding?’

Knock knock knock.

The knocking on the door scattered my thoughts. I wiped the corners of my eyes with my hand.

Through the peephole, it was my father's assistant.

"Miss Kailin." The assistant's voice was cold. "I know you're in the room. Listen carefully. The Chairman has agreed to your requests. He agrees that you won't join the Hunter's Guild, and he also agrees to let you go to the company's branch."

What? That father actually relented?

"However." The assistant's tone shifted. "The Chairman has one condition."

Phew~ Hearing this, I actually let out a long breath of relief. Right. A condition. Our family always values fair exchange. Of course, the right to define "fair" lies entirely with Father.

"Let's hear it." I answered coldly.

"Penetrate deep into the Tomb Headquarters and resolve the Euro Federation's 'Zombie Crisis'."

Zombie. If there were a word to describe the enemies before them, this word would be perfect.

* * *

Within the castle of frost, there hung an Ice Core high from the dome. Already corroded by Black Mist, it radiated an unending stream of frost power and Black Mist power.

This caused the Black Mist Possessed enemies to rise again after death, endlessly crawling in from outside the castle windows.

Monsters fell and rose again. Had Lu Lin not been able to devour magical beasts, within this vast castle, the four of them wouldn't have even been able to find a place to stand.

"Does it ever end?!" The priest was at his wit's end, leaning against Ye Shenghua as he chugged blue potions. Yet the potions in his bag were about to run dry.

"I'm reaching my limit." The wizard was also at his limit. Facing the mountain of monsters, he wanted to unleash a wide-range lightning strike, but his chants kept being interrupted.

"Old Ye, how are you holding up?" Lu Lin asked aloud.

Ye Shenghua didn't speak. He only silently held up his shield, yet the health bar above his head, about to empty completely, showed he was tanking everything.

"Turn off Knight's Oath. If you keep sharing the damage, you won't be able to take it." Lu Lin advised.

Lu Lin wasn't without thought of using Holy Light Magic's healing ability. She had actually tried it on herself before, but discovered that the so-called healing of Holy Light Magic didn't seem to be healing in the literal sense.

It seemed to 'heal' something else. At the very least, it couldn't restore HP.

The battle priest in the party had only put a single point into [Rejuvenation]. The other support skills he had learned could only increase offensive attributes.

Although he had temporarily raised 「Rejuvenation」 to level 5 mid-battle, this low-tier continuous recovery skill could still only provide the meager effect of restoring 200 HP over half an hour.

The situation seemed to have fallen into a dead end.

The threat of death loomed close. Lu Lin sighed. "Stop, you three. Your efforts are more than enough."

"Haha." The priest let out an embarrassed laugh upon hearing this. "It's my fault, my fault. I clearly chose priest but didn't invest in recovery abilities. I'll definitely remember in my next life."

The wizard's face was corpse-like pale. "Tch. If only this dungeon were in a wuxia style. I could kneel and beg for mercy, claiming I have elders above and children below. Maybe I could've clung to a sliver of life. Too bad this dungeon is purely Western fantasy, with something as incomprehensible as Black Mist."

Yet Ye Shenghua faintly sensed something was off. "Little girl, what do you mean by 'you three'? Shouldn't you be saying 'we'?"

The three had no memory from the Black Mist Possession state, and after being purified by Lu Lin, they hadn't seen her Demonic Transformation state either.

Lu Lin's original plan had been to persuade the three to retreat and conquer Frost Castle alone. At the castle gate, she had wanted to tease Ye Shenghua to make the three not enter. She hadn't expected Ye Shenghua to retort with a speech that had the opposite effect.

Given the atmosphere at the time, Lu Lin couldn't bring herself to dampen the three's spirits no matter what.

Only now, facing a life-or-death crisis, did she feel the time had come. "To be honest, you three have grinded enough EXP. Old Ye is already level fifteen. Since you three are at your limits, leave the rest to me."

"You want to solo this? Ridiculous."

Amidst the chaotic battle, Lu Lin had blocked many skills for the three, which Ye Shenghua had seen. Though Lu Lin's strength made her stats unreadable to him, he analyzed in his mind that this little girl probably couldn't hold on much longer either.

The damage his Knight's Oath shared was damage before mitigation. He had no idea that Lu Lin had barely lost any HP at all.

Had Ye Shenghua been able to see, he would have discovered that Lu Lin's HP had only dropped by a mere hundred points or so.

"No. Sharing life and death is the glory of a warrior."

Ye Shenghua seemed to have guessed something and refused. "Little girl, don't push yourself. If you really have some powerful move that would harm your teammates, just use it. The more who survive, the better. Don't drag yourself down too."

"Yeah..." The other two chimed in. "Right. Without you, we'd have died long ago anyway."

"You misunderstand."

A terrifying demonic shadow appeared behind Lu Lin. Two demonic claws grabbed two of them, and Lu Lin herself hoisted the remaining one.

"Magic Flash Step."

Bypassing hundreds of Black Mist monsters, Lu Lin arrived directly before the castle gates. With three hands, she hurled the utterly shocked trio out.

‘With their current levels, the three of them cooperating to survive won't be a problem. Besides, the monsters will all come for me.’

Phew~ Tossing the three away, her whole body felt light. The magic that had been suppressed for so long could finally flow freely.

"Hahahahaha." Lu Lin suddenly threw her head back and laughed maniacally, as if she had changed faces entirely. It was hard to tell whether she had taken off a mask or put one on.

‘This damn Witch body... almost couldn't keep it together.’

Her body, at some unknown point, had flooded beyond control, about to overflow.

Magic... needed to be released.

"Come on, you ugly bastards!"