TBR CH173

6:30 AM. Roland spent a few seconds contemplating his whereabouts as he silenced his alarm.

It wasn’t that he yearned to open his eyes and see the star-studded dome of the Mage Tower. Rather, he had grown accustomed over the past few months to waking up to a close-up view of a pair of golden pupils.

The Demon King, when asleep, liked to enclose his prey snugly, much like a large black bird folding its wings.

…Well, welcome to a reality with no magic and no lover.

The Archmage walked into the bathroom with a gloomy expression. He was sleep-deprived but fully awake. His freshly dyed hair, harmless and soft, reflected in the mirror. After a quick wash, Roland changed into the black T-shirt the internet café owner had bought him. He slowly blinked at his still somewhat unfamiliar reflection, then sighed.

Then, he walked to the convenience store across the street and bought a jam sandwich.

Shan Sheng had already told Roland to buy something to eat, whether from a nearby restaurant or by ordering delivery. As a middle-aged man living alone in the shop, with his only son at boarding school, he worried he wouldn’t host his guest well.

Roland passed a row of colorful shops on the street, cautiously eyeing the unfamiliar foods written on their signs for a moment. After walking around, he still picked something he was more familiar with.

The jam sandwich was dry in reality, unlike the illustration, and actually contained very little jam.

Roland ate the sandwich while reading an elementary school math textbook, not paying attention to its taste for a moment. He could skim through pages quickly, reading ten lines at a glance. Although, given his current age, if an outsider saw him still catching up on fractions and linear equations, he would definitely be crowned a “fish that slipped through the net” of nine-year compulsory education—which, in fact, was exactly what he was.

In the morning, there were only a sparse few people at the internet café.

The same was true for “Abyss Continent” in the morning. Although some people in the world channel had started exchanging greetings, there weren’t many players who woke up early to log into the game.

Roland spent two hours studying modern knowledge from the textbook. After clearly thinking through all possible questions, he finally sat back down at the computer desk and restarted the game.

The login screen swiftly faded from the young man’s amber eyes. On the screen, the black cat, representing his character, still hung securely from the tree in the same position as when he left last night. Roland maneuvered it to land lightly on the ground without making a sound.

The black cat’s tail was still wrapped around “Nova,” the divine artifact of the Mirar Continent.

The Archmage himself knew the value of “Nova” best.

If he used it to grind experience, he would soon be able to enter the Demon King’s Castle dungeon.

The electronic black cat on the screen seemed to have just woken up as well. It lazily stretched its front paws on a soft layer of fallen leaves, yawning with its round amber eyes. Roland placed his slender fingers on the arrow keys, interrupting its action, and was about to head towards the dungeon entrance where monsters would respawn.

Suddenly, it stopped.

The black cat once again agilely darted into the shadows of the corner. Its jet-black fur blended seamlessly with the darkness.

Roland adjusted his headphones and heard a faint rustling sound from the other end, as someone crunched on dry fallen leaves. He cautiously made the black cat crouch low. Through the black cat’s perspective, he saw a group of people passing through the forest.

At the forefront was a golden-haired player of the Warrior class. Behind him followed two young girls, their gazes filled with deep infatuation.

One, clad in church knight armor, vigilantly looked around. The other was petite, with no magic markings on her body, following awkwardly and stumbling.

Roland zoomed in the game’s view until he could clearly see the dialogue bubbles above their heads.

Feline eyesight was usually very sharp, which was one of the few advantages of purebred animals in game mechanics.

This group of people was completely unaware of the black cat silently observing them from above the trees, still discussing various matters concerning the Mage Tower they were about to visit.

The female knight urged the warrior to approach the Mage Tower’s support with more caution, but he was completely dismissive, instead mentioning in a joking tone that the Mage Tower was only controlled by a witch now, so there was no need to worry.

The warrior sweet-talked and reassured: “I don’t like women who are too fierce. I heard that Hilda even keeps a huge python. If she insists on following me, I’ll just reluctantly accept her; she won’t threaten your position.”

The female knight still seemed very uneasy: “She’s not what you say she is, I’m just worried—”

She looked up at the golden-haired warrior in front of her, and suddenly seemed to lose herself. The sunlight filtered through the dappled tree shadows, and his smile was so dazzling that she couldn’t help but blush, her voice growing faint.

In a trance, she forgot her previous thoughts, accepted the gift he handed her, and uncontrollably began to agree with everything the warrior said.

“Then let’s do it,”

The warrior in the game said irrefutably, “Since none of you have any objections.”

Outside the game, Bai Shi was already annoyed that he had spent so much time convincing his two “harem members.”

The female knight on the screen wasn’t beautiful enough for him, but her devotion and combat prowess, along with her ability to serve as a bridge between him and the church, made him patiently sweet-talk her.

As for the powerless girl behind her, Bai Shi had almost forgotten her. She was just a village girl he had casually conquered, utterly incapable of understanding grand endeavors, kept by his side merely as decoration.

Bai Shi didn’t usually play games in the morning, but the news that exploded the forums last night somewhat unbalanced him. Around midnight last night, the system showed that a player with the nickname “Hei*****7” had obtained an SSS-rank rare staff, undoubtedly the strongest divine weapon in the current version, by clearing the Mage Tower dungeon.

This incident sparked heated discussion among “Abyss” players.

Even Bai Shi’s roommates were excitedly shouting praises of the ‘big shot’ and other envious words in the middle of the night.

However, Bai Shi’s account clearly had super strong weapons with modified data, but the system had warned him not to show off, which made him extremely uncomfortable. He couldn’t help but think: I’m clearly the protagonist…

So, early in the morning, Bai Shi simply skipped his morning class, eager to conquer the Mage Tower’s boss witch Hilda and claim all of the Mage Tower’s resources for himself.

Bai Shi, of course, didn’t know that a black cat was quietly crouching on a tree in the game, observing everything happening in his party and clearly seeing his ID.

The golden-haired warrior’s in-game ID was “Bai Mingchen,” with a rather domineering, cool, and arrogant vibe, a username Bai Shi had carefully chosen for his path to supremacy.

And the black cat above his head happened to bear an ID that caused a huge uproar last night. However, for certain conveniences, the latter part of this ID was a string of randomly generated numbers by the system, already showing the prospect of muddying the waters:

“Black Cat 538647”

The black book flickered in the inventory.

Roland watched the group depart, then clicked on the black book. Several words immediately popped up on the black book:

“Now is not the time to rush to level up, Roland. You need to return to the Mage Tower, because…”

“I know,” Roland said. “Because…”

His voice coincided with the words “The Child of Fortune has appeared, you need to follow him” appearing on the black book. The black cat on the screen leaped down from the layered tree shadows, its paw pads perfectly cushioning its landing, not even crushing a single dead leaf when it touched the ground.

Roland precisely manipulated the black cat. A mage’s hands were delicate and perfect, capable of casting incredibly complex spells.

In short, the black cat picked up something hidden beneath the dead leaves, something difficult to detect.

Beneath Roland’s calm voice, some intense, deeply hidden emotions seemed to be revealed:

“See? He was here.”

—It was a dark and sharp feather.

In the Mage Tower

The purple-haired witch Hilda felt her life hanging by a thread.

She pretended to be calm while clumsily using magic to boil water, only then remembering she had forgotten to ask what kind of tea the other person preferred. It wasn’t her fault; who could have imagined that while she was still struggling to accept the fact that “the Demon King was her master’s partner,” the Demon King Kriesmeier had swept to the Mage Tower’s door like a terrifying black hurricane?

Normally, she should have reinforced the Mage Tower’s defenses, activated defensive magic, and faced him like a formidable enemy, staff aimed at him.

Instead, she squeezed out a trembling smile and asked the Demon King if he wanted to come in for a cup of tea.

When she asked this question, Hilda felt she was half mad, but when Kriesmeier silently looked at the Mage Tower and finally nodded, the remaining half of her sanity also collapsed.

This was why she was serving the Mirar Continent’s most terrifying Demon King a cup of fruit tea mixed with honey.

“Uh,” Hilda awkwardly tried to recover, “I’m sorry, I forgot to ask if you drink apple tea. But Master often drank this tea when he was still in the tower. I was thinking—”

She strangely noticed that the Demon King’s expression darkened even further when she mentioned her master. He looked murderous, completely like a fiend, and shouldn’t have been sitting by Hilda’s meticulously arranged, lace-fringed tea party table.

But even so, Kriesmeier finally reached for the teacup after hearing her explanation.

The Demon King’s long, pale fingers hooked the teacup. He slowly stared at the bright liquid in the cup for a long time before bringing it to his lips and taking a sip.

The sweet apple scent, mixed with the slight bitterness of tea leaves, was something the Abyss Demon race had never tasted.

Hilda couldn’t discern his attitude towards this new flavor from Kriesmeier’s face for a moment.

Something worse happened. The Demon King coldly shifted his gaze to her, his dark golden eyes still carrying a cruel and violent expression. That gaze was barely the result of restrained arrogance, and he asked:

“Why?”

As he asked the question, his most well-known weapon, “Demon Eye,” leaned against the wall beside him. The sharp scythe was like a new moon, but the kind that could easily reap lives. Based on this, Hilda felt she must answer the Demon King’s question prudently, and definitely not retort with a stupid question like “What ‘why’?”

“It was Master’s instruction,”

Hilda quickly said, feeling the shadow of the scythe flash across her neck. “Master, um, for some reason, left a message in advance, but we only discovered it recently.”

This sentence clearly attracted most of Demon King Kriesmeier’s attention.

The Demon King’s silver hair took on a matte luster in the daylight, and his aura became even more oppressive. Being in the same room with him now was unbearable. Hilda wondered if she should have mentioned her master.

Kriesmeier clearly saw her unease.

He stripped away the facade of harmony and said succinctly:

“Tell me where he is. Otherwise, I will blow up this Mage Tower, and even more places. Until I find him.”

Hilda slowly gasped.

The giant python on her shoulder was also stiffly pressed against her skin; to be precise, it had been that way since Kriesmeier first entered.

The Abyss Demon race’s way of life was vastly different from humans, closer to beasts. Those cold golden eyes caused the giant python to humbly lower its head, instantly coiling itself into a scarf around the witch.

The purple-haired witch stuttered, trying desperately to salvage the situation:

“The Archmage would probably wish for you and us to get along harmoniously.”

The Demon King tilted his head, his expression holding the cruel instinct of a beast, seemingly completely unable to comprehend the witch’s words.

In his species, so-called harmonious coexistence was an absurd joke. No one would obey someone’s command unconditionally. The strong ruled, and as the master of the Abyss, he naturally had the power to disregard any plea in those words.

“Why should I listen to him?”

Kriesmeier asked.

Oh no. Hilda thought. She felt like she had literally invited a wolf into the house, and the small tea party table was now more terrifying than a battlefield. The Demon King had already put down his teacup—she couldn’t possibly expect apple tea to soften his attitude. The purple-haired witch listened in despair to her increasingly rapid heartbeat. The atmosphere in the air grew tenser. She had to think of something.

This mission her master had assigned her was exceptionally difficult.

She had to think of something—

Suddenly, a look of heroic sacrifice appeared on the witch’s face. She squeezed her eyes shut:

“Because… because Master loves you, and I think you must love him too.”

Kriesmeier seemed to pause.

But good things don’t last. Then he gave a chilling laugh. This time, his hand firmly grasped his scythe:

“That conclusion is perhaps a bit premature. What does your master consider me? An insignificant plaything, or merely some special experimental subject of research value. In any case…”

Great, Hilda told herself, Master is clearly the kind of person who handles his romantic life like a complete mess.

But there was still a chance to salvage the situation.

“Neither,”

The purple-haired witch trembled, interrupting the Demon King, but stated as objectively as possible:

“Master told us: you are the only companion he has ever recognized in this life.”

The Demon King’s movement stopped.

Kriesmeier’s fingers had only lightly touched the cold scythe, then slowly retracted as if burned by a block of ice. The speaker seemed to have touched an unspeakable bottom line. An instinctively cold expression flashed across the Demon King’s eyes, yet he actually reined in his killing intent and did not get angry.

Hilda breathed a sigh of relief.

“So…” the witch said, “Um, please have some tea.”

They managed to get through the next few minutes. Kriesmeier didn’t bring up the previous topic again, as if the mage’s proposal-like confession was simply too much for him. The Demon King even drank a few sips of apple tea to cover his embarrassment.

There were actually many pastries on the table.

Although Hilda was very unsure whether she should have prepared them. Because they all seemed overly cute in this setting, dripping with sweet syrup or adorned with white frosting. Through a layer of frosting, the witch cautiously observed the Demon King calmly sipping tea, as if he were a giant dragon.

It all felt like a dream.

Breaking this trance-like scene was the vibration of the witch’s bracelet, indicating new visitors to the Mage Tower. An alarm once again sounded in Hilda’s mind. Why now of all times…?

“No, really,”

Hilda explained weakly to her close friend, “I can’t really receive guests right now.”

She stood at the Mage Tower’s entrance. The python on her shoulder had been playing dead for half a day, but finally slowly coiled up again, its cloudy vertical pupils also glaring at the newcomers. It recognized its owner’s friend.

The female knight had originally wanted to reach out and pet it, but seeing the warrior beside her subtly resist, she hesitated and retracted her hand.

“Hilda, your python will scare my friend. Why don’t you… put it away?”

The purple-haired witch was vexed. She hadn’t even finished hosting the huge Demon King inside the Mage Tower, who was like a ticking time bomb. This was why she finally looked up at the person behind her friend.

The other person also looked at her gracefully.

He was a handsome warrior, his bright eyes smiling as he looked over, immediately leaving a good impression on her—or rather, for some reason, the picky witch inexplicably blushed oddly under his gaze.

Hilda shook her head, thoroughly pushing out all inappropriate thoughts. This was actually easy; after all, the Demon King’s presence was far more potent than a handsome stranger’s.

“Madam,”

The warrior spoke, “My name is Bai Mingchen. I am the hero prophesied to descend upon this continent, and I need your help. You are far more beautiful than I imagined. Now, open the Mage Tower’s doors and let us in.”

That name sounded a bit strange…

This thought briefly crossed Hilda’s mind, then faded as if suppressed. She looked at the warrior in front of her, somewhat at a loss, and again repeated in a low voice:

“I already have guests. Perhaps you could visit another day.”

The warrior frowned.

He looked at the female knight beside him, who immediately stepped forward, as if conveying his will, and continued to pester the purple-haired witch. Nine out of ten sentences praised the young man beside her for his uniqueness, courage, and wisdom.

Hilda felt her head buzzing for some reason and subconsciously accepted the rose the warrior handed her.

Wait, why did he suddenly give me a rose…?

“Is there anyone more worthy of being a guest than him?”

The female knight smiled sweetly, an expression that seemed particularly out of place on her friend’s face. “Or perhaps let him join you? I’m sure your guest would also be very willing to meet him.”

“No, really,”

Hilda’s thoughts were a jumbled mess, and she subconsciously shooed away the python beside her. She looked at her longtime friend in front of her, and the youth behind her who made her heart pound. For some reason, she felt that he, whom she had just met, was even more trustworthy. She shook her head, pleadingly whispering to them:

“I really hope to entertain you. But, but the Demon King Kriesmeier is in the Mage Tower!”

This terrible truth should not have been told to anyone. Hilda regretted it the moment it blurted out. The female knight in front of her, as she expected, showed an incredulous expression. She was a devotee of the Saintess and hated evil to the core.

The female knight impulsively drew her sword, its blade gleaming.

Just then, the warrior beside her laid a hand on her shoulder and said:

“Don’t get agitated. I know you have some prejudice against the Demon King, but I haven’t met him yet. I mean, perhaps the Demon King isn’t at all like you imagine. Perhaps it’s just his race’s nature, and he actually yearns for light. As the one chosen by prophecy, I have a duty to meet him at this time.”

I stopped believing such nonsense when I was seven, Hilda thought in despair.

But the female knight paused, then slowly lowered her sword, looking doubtfully at the warrior beside her.

After a moment, she quietly said:

“If it’s you, perhaps that argument makes sense.”

Outside the screen, every movement of the two ladies was reflected in Bai Shi’s shining pupils.

Bai Shi moved his mouse, opening the favorability interface again. The female knight’s favorability had long since been maxed out to 100%, meaning that whatever he said, the female knight would regard as truth, even capable of distorting her original beliefs in justice.

The newly encountered witch, however, was slightly less impressive.

The Charmer System allowed all new conquest targets to have an initial favorability of 80% towards him. This value was already incredibly high.

Generally, favorability towards strangers fluctuates around 30%, while friends maintain 50% to 80%. Anything higher indicates romantic favorability.

At this moment, the witch’s favorability was stuck at 82%. Giving her a rose only added two points, which left Bai Shi a bit displeased.

However, practice had shown that repeatedly sending gifts in a short period was also ineffective.

Bai Shi reluctantly gave up.

He originally didn’t want to conquer the so-called biggest villain of the game world, Demon King Kriesmeier. After all, he was only interested in pretty girls and didn’t plan on having a rigid man in his harem.

However, as Hilda’s persuasion continued, the system’s notification sound also sharply rang in his mind, urging him to seize this opportunity to meet the Demon King and collect more luck points.

Forget it, Bai Shi thought, initial favorability is 80, it’ll be maxed out with just a little effort.

After holding his nose and conquering the Demon King, inheriting all his possessions, and then abandoning or killing him, it wouldn’t be too bad. Watching a strong male succumb to him was a different kind of pleasure.

He decided to follow the system’s suggestion and claim the Mage Tower as his own, no matter what.

Hilda, looking dazed, led the two through the Mage Tower’s narrow corridors until they reached the Demon King’s room.

Before that, the golden-haired warrior repeatedly assured them that their plan would definitely have no problems. The Demon King would be captivated by his personal charm, just like everyone else. They would spend the following time in harmony.

Hilda subconsciously felt the plan was terrible, but under his strong persuasion, she somehow gradually wavered.

The warrior also promised that as a player, even if he died, he would revive. A small challenge meant nothing to him.

She forcefully suppressed a strange feeling within her and opened the door.

At that very moment, she suddenly noticed something below their feet dart across the floor even faster than they did, rushing straight into the room. It was a black shadow, but with a soft, furry curve.

The shadow agilely leaped onto a stool, then onto the table. A black cat wagged its tail, defiantly occupying half the tabletop.

Wh-what?

The three humans present and Demon King Kriesmeier all turned their gaze to the cat on the tea party table.

And the black cat “meowed.”

Hilda, in agony, thought Master’s finally here, I don’t want to stay with these people for another minute, while schizophrenically putting on an elegant, calm smile and immediately fabricating a grand fake identity for her master:

“I apologize, this is our newly adopted black cat in the Mage Tower. It’s very human-like.”

To Bai Shi’s group, it was just an ordinary black cat, certainly less eye-catching than the Demon King before them. Their gazes quickly shifted to the Demon King, and for a moment, they all felt a bit strange.

The Demon King should not be in such a setting; he should undoubtedly appear accompanied by slaughter and blood.

His silver hair, long to his waist, gleamed like silver in the light. His golden eyes were like a beast’s, causing an unconscious sense of impending malicious tearing. The sharp point of his horn on one side of his head seemed to pierce one’s eyes just by looking at it, while the other half appeared to have been brutally snapped off, the broken surface showing dark brown marks.

Even through the screen, Bai Shi still felt a deep tremor uncontrollably emanating from his heart.

He quickly opened the cheat menu provided by the system to confirm, and seeing that Demon King Kriesmeier’s favorability towards him was indeed 80, he felt a little relieved.

Kriesmeier, however, never once looked in their direction. The Demon King stared intently at the black cat on the table, for some reason never averting his gaze.

The black cat’s round, amber eyes blinked at him.

Bai Shi controlled his game character to step forward.

The golden-haired warrior wore a smile that would win anyone over. He was like light itself, making everyone involuntarily obsessed with him, feeling ashamed in his presence.

He briskly walked up to the Demon King. Only then did the Demon King finally shift his gaze from the black cat to him. The warrior greeted him enthusiastically:

“Hello, are you Demon King Kriesmeier? Your gaze makes me feel you are very lonely. Perhaps you don’t necessarily have to fight me; we can…”

Bai Shi suddenly felt something was wrong.

The screen in front of him suddenly turned blood-red. A dangerous, scorching sensation ignited everything on the screen; the figures seemed slightly distorted. And his player interface’s health bar began to shake frantically.

Intense background music blared, instantly putting one in a life-threatening situation. This was the game’s warning when a player was close to death.

Kriesmeier slowly drew his scythe across.

“Wait!”

Bai Shi couldn’t care less about anything else. While controlling his character to dodge backward, he shouted in his mind to the system, “What’s going on? Didn’t you say the Demon King’s initial favorability towards me was already high? I…”

On the screen, the golden-haired warrior’s movements revealed a certain clumsiness. It had been a long time since he encountered a situation that truly required him to fight with a weapon. He frantically fumbled through the menu bar, summoned his divine weapon: a glittering golden Sword of Heroes, and began to slash wildly forward.

Hilda watched the movements, which were less effective than butchering a chicken, dumbfounded.

Is this the unique hero?

She suddenly felt she had been deceived; her filter shattered into pieces.

Bai Shi’s god-tier equipment clearly failed to stop the Demon King’s advance. Kriesmeier, holding his massive scythe, walked towards him like the Grim Reaper, his golden eyes fixed on his prey, burning with dark flames.

For a moment, Bai Shi felt a profound tremor through the screen, blurring the line between game and reality. He subconsciously felt his life was in danger.

He didn’t care about anything else and controlled his character to hide behind the female knight.

Just then, the system’s notification sound also rang out in time:

“No abnormalities detected in the game system… The target’s favorability towards the host is indeed 80, with no signs of external interference. Please respond immediately, Host! Warning, please respond immediately, Host!”

The female knight also seemed completely stunned. She was incredulously pushed forward by the warrior behind her, directly colliding with the Demon King.

By the time she wanted to draw her sword, it was already too late. The shadow of death seemed to heavily envelop her.

She couldn’t move at all.

The bright gleam of the scythe grew larger and larger in her pupils.

But at that very moment, a hand suddenly reached out from beside her, pulling her out of the Demon King’s attack range with surprising speed and precision. The female knight vaguely raised her eyes, meeting purple hair and the witch’s panicked eyes. The witch, pale-faced, shoved her behind her.

It was very dangerous to risk taking prey away from the Demon King’s sight.

She subconsciously said, “Hilda, I…”

“Shut up,”

Hilda snapped. “I knew something was off with you just now. You were actually going to sacrifice yourself for that player. If you die, you’re truly dead! If I hadn’t known you since we were kids, I wouldn’t have bothered with you.”

The Demon King’s expression didn’t change an iota. His dark golden eyes, ever since they reflected the warrior’s shining golden hair, had shown no intention of changing targets.

The scythe in his hand transformed into a crescent moon that reaped lives. The air around him subtly shifted, and his dark wings seemed on the verge of unfurling.

The witch trembled, thinking: She’d have to redecorate the room.

However, Kriesmeier’s fatal wings were ultimately not used. With just an ordinary swing of his blade, the golden-haired warrior was completely torn apart, transforming into countless shimmering fragments and disappearing on the spot.

This battle came too unexpectedly and ended too abruptly. The warrior had no power to resist, nor did he even scratch the Demon King.

“Vulnerable.”

The Demon King judged with a lack of interest.

Kriesmeier killed one of the guests Hilda brought, looking down as the opponent completely disappeared, leaving no trace, then turned to look at the witch and female knight who had stepped aside. Hilda forced a pale smile at the Demon King and shielded the female knight behind her:

“I apologize for offending you. I hope you’ll consider the Mage Tower’s standing—”

Her voice then oddly caught in her throat again.

Because the black cat on the table had, at some unknown moment, nimbly jumped down, a sugar-dusted donut in its mouth. It elegantly padded across the floor and positioned itself perfectly at Kriesmeier’s feet.

It chewed on the pastry, its amber eyes sparkling, and let out two faint “meows” at the Demon King, even its tail tip wagging happily from side to side.

The problem was that the Demon King didn’t know the cat was his master, and there were other uninformed people present. Hilda thought agonizingly that her master’s current appearance was simply too defenseless, completely oblivious that the Demon King in front of him had just killed a humanoid creature, and his scythe was still in his hand.

The Demon King’s gaze once again remained fixed on the black cat’s amber eyes.

Then, as if unsure himself, he made an unexpected move. He slowly bent down.

Kriesmeier slowly extended his hand, as if hesitating whether to touch the black cat in front of him, as if it were something more terrifying than himself—forgive the comparison, for there were truly too few things that could instill fear in the Abyss Demon King—in any case, the arrogant and disdainful Demon King tentatively extended his fingertips.

His silver hair hung down, obscuring the expression on his face.

The Demon King didn’t touch the black cat, because the black cat beat him to it, rubbing his fingers with its two fragile yet soft ears, like a wind that brought a slight itch.

Then, before the Demon King could react, the black cat pushed the donut it held in its mouth into his hand, and then licked the back of his hand, signaling him to accept it.

Kriesmeier, for some reason, had completely stiffened.

And it happily “meowed” again.

Bai Shi sat in front of the computer desk, his face pale. The next second, he saw his character appear at the resurrection point in the newbie village.

“The system must have made a mistake…”

Bai Shi muttered.

The oppressive feeling from the approaching silver line of the scythe had not yet dissipated. Watching his character’s death on the screen, Bai Shi even felt a subtle sense of relief. However, this feeling quickly turned into annoyance.

Bai Shi called the system over and over again in his mind, demanding an explanation.

However, the system this time was silent for longer than usual.

When it finally spoke again, its electronic voice sounded somewhat weak, simply stating woodenly:

“No signs of data intrusion have been detected. All values queried by the host are correct. This is due to the special emotional mechanism of this unique character. Additionally, Host, please note—”

“Demon King Kriesmeier’s favorability towards the host has decreased from 80% to 20%.”