Targeted by Death?
Pei Guang stared at the system prompt, then began carefully examining the two items Stelle had brought back.
As he read through their detailed descriptions, his thoughts grew heavy.
[Memory Zone Meme: Eyeball of "Something Unto Death"]
[Those watched by the eyeball will gain the "Facing Death" buff. Anyone with this buff will be hunted by Something Unto Death. The buff is removed upon either killing or being killed. At most, two people can have this buff simultaneously.]
[Memory Zone Meme: Claw of "Something Unto Death"]
Two drops: one with a special effect, the other seemingly just a normal material. And these were things Stelle got just by casually smashing the thing apart…
Pei Guang fell deep into thought. What concerned him wasn't just the buff, but also the monster's name.
Before, he had simply sensed a deathly aura from it, something unpleasant and cold. But now, reading its actual name, his thoughts ran wild.
What is death?
He wasn't one for philosophy, but where he came from, "death" just meant "gone."
Life itself was a miracle: an infinitesimal chance to exist, every cell working in perfect coordination to live and grow.
Aside from natural birth, aging, sickness, and death… what else would make a living being choose death?
The loss of hope. The loss of miracles.
When Pei Guang had first sensed that aura from the monster, he'd thought it was a test for the "player": a challenge he'd have to overcome to move to the next area.
But now… he wasn't so sure.
Monsters in games didn't get names by accident. Its name: Something Unto Death.
The buff it granted: Facing Death.
That could only mean one thing: among him and Firefly… someone wanted to die.
Could it be him? Did he subconsciously want death, even if not consciously?
Pei Guang shook his head.
He knew he wasn't a smart man—but exactly because of that, he didn't overthink. He might feel unhappy about not being able to go back, but he definitely didn't want to die.
He had finally built a reliable team, found trustworthy companions.
Why would he throw that away? Even if he could revive once, he wouldn't gamble with that one chance.
As he always said: games are for fun, and risk is fine, but in a world with no save files and no respawns, not even a player behind a screen wants to see their character die.
All the more so when you're the one living it.
If it wasn't him… then there was only one possibility left. He remembered what Firefly had once said about herself.
Something Unto Death: only those who receive the buff "Facing Death" draw its attention.
According to the system's message, that meant… Firefly wanted to face death. Or maybe… she no longer wanted to live.
Thinking of her incurable disease, and then of all the bright smiles she'd shown along the way, Pei Guang's heart sank.
He'd seen this before—the writers' favorite cruel twist: "I could have endured the darkness, if I had not seen the light."
Just when a player grows attached to a character, when they treat her with warmth and joy… then comes the knife.
And Firefly fit that pattern perfectly.
A terminally ill girl, lying in a medical pod in reality, slowly fading away, only to find in this dream a taste of something close to real happiness. When she returns… how could she ever accept that?
Of course, from a narrative point of view, there are always two sides: what one player dreads, another hopes for. And since this story was "fully stitched," that meant the version he wanted to see would require real effort.
Impossible for most people, even the so-called Aeons might not manage it. But Pei Guang knew one thing: he wasn't people.
He was a player.
A player might still be human, but in the world of the game, what players can do, what they achieve, always surpasses ordinary limits.
Pei Guang turned his gaze toward Firefly. When she noticed his look and tilted her head in confusion, he reached out and took her hand.
"!!"
Firefly's eyes went wide.
If no one else had been here, she might've been delighted. But right now there were people watching!
Pei Guang said, "Let's go. After that last fight, I'm sure, clearing this instance will definitely lead to something that can help with your illness. That's just how story progression works—it's common sense."
"Ah?" Firefly blinked, not quite understanding.
But as she stared at his hand gripping hers, she suddenly felt her pulse quicken.
Let go? No—she wouldn't.
She wasn't like normal people, who had time to hesitate or wait. For someone like her, whose death was always one step ahead, her decisions had to come faster too.
Whatever Pei Guang was thinking, she made her own choice in that moment, tightening her grip on his hand. She wanted to take it slow, to savor the feeling, but this time, Pei Guang didn't slow down.
Because he couldn't be sure if Firefly's story had a time limit.
If it didn't, he could afford to take his time: buy her cakes every day, take her to watch fireworks and movies, gently push the story forward, enjoying every moment.
But based on her earlier descriptions, and the way that monster had attacked, Pei Guang was almost certain time was running out. The monster's first target had been Firefly, after all.
Even if two people shared the buff, splitting the danger, he wouldn't take that risk.
Not when gambling always led to loss.
Off to the side, Stelle watched with a frown: she knew Pei Guang too well.
Sure, she couldn't resist a pretty girl either, but seeing him act this serious and this forward? Something was definitely up.
And when she recalled his words, "your illness", Stelle's expression softened into realization.
After all, she'd been raised by Pei Guang himself.
At that moment, she quietly shifted her gaze to Firefly. She didn't know exactly what Pei Guang and Firefly had gone through, but whatever it was, she was going to back them up.
Then she noticed something strange.
Firefly's face was red, her whole expression flustered and glowing.
"Wait… huh? Already? How long has it even been??"
Stelle did a quick mental count: not even a full day had passed since they'd met Firefly.
At that realization, Stelle couldn't help but give Pei Guang a silent round of applause in her mind. As expected of Pei Guang: somehow, he'd managed to pull this off in less than twenty-four hours.
At the same time, another mischievous thought bloomed in her head: what kind of face would March make if she saw Firefly now?
And maybe someday… could she gather all the girls whose favorability Pei Guang had raised along the way? Would that turn into an all-out brawl?
"Eh, whatever happens, I'll just sit back with a handful of melon seeds and watch the chaos with Ah Guang."
She'd already decided what she'd do when that day came. As Pei Guang's family, her job was to protect him—and enjoy the drama.
That said, she quickly got serious again and asked, "So what do we do next? Are we going to set up an ambush for that monster and take it out?"
Pei Guang shook his head. "We could, but not now. Right now, all three of us are being hunted. So our priority is to run, find a safe house or get our hands on some special-attack items. Like the saying goes, only a storm can bring down a great tree. That monster doesn't look like something we can handle by brute force."
Stelle nodded. "Yeah, I only managed to grab these two things because it couldn't move. When it can move, it's terrifying…"
That suffocating, instinctive sense of death still made her shudder just thinking about it.
Unwinnable. That was her gut feeling.
Pei Guang crossed his arms and thought aloud. "Exactly. And it's a death-type Memory Zone Meme. I doubt normal methods can kill it."
Stelle asked, "What about your Savory Truefire?"
Pei Guang sighed. "Can't burn it. Either that thing's made to be special, or the devs just wanted to mess with me. It's one of those enemies you can't even ignite, much less burn. But it's fine—I'm used to it by now.
As long as our basic weapons still work, that's enough. And besides, even if the high-level skills and items don't work here, we still have some effective tools left over from the last instance."
He was already used to this nonsense: god-tier skills being useless against certain new enemies, probably just because of lazy balancing. He didn't even bother complaining anymore.
As long as something worked, that was good enough.
Still, inside, he was cursing the developers' ancestors up and down while he pulled out a vial of something dark and murky.