"Back to business, what are the rules of that damn Grim Reaper? Tell me." Qi Zhimu moved his hands away from Herta's small face.
Herta rubbed her cheeks and began to narrate slowly.
"First of all, I don't think I've seen this work. It was all told to me by a voice that suddenly appeared in my head. It's very strange."
"Overall, it's a bit like those battle royale games."
"Within a specific time frame, I cannot leave Fog City, nor am I allowed to commit suicide. There's a mission to complete that can reduce the difficulty of escaping later."
"The mission content is simple. Starting tomorrow at 12:00 PM, the Grim Reaper will take the lives of specific humans in order."
"As long as the predetermined fate of those on the Death List is changed, even if their death is delayed by just one second, it counts."
Qi Zhimu was taken aback. "That sounds familiar. Isn't that final destination?"
"It's a bit different."
Herta shook her head and continued:
"Changing the fate of specific people is just the mission. I said it was like a battle royale game because once their time of death has passed, it will be my time to die."
"There are eight people on the list who will die. Once their exclusive death windows have passed, the Grim Reaper will begin hunting me down—"
Qi Zhimu roughly understood the meaning. "Can it be understood that the higher the mission completion rate, the lower the intensity of the pursuit?"
"Pretty much."
Herta replied, then spread her palm, and a mobile phone suddenly materialized.
"This is the mission item provided, used for... communicating with teammates."
"How come I didn't receive one?"
Qi Zhimu was puzzled.
"Could it be that I have to buy it myself? I don't have any Fog City currency, though a 'zero-dollar purchase' isn't out of the question."
"No need..." Herta explained, "Haven't you noticed? From beginning to end, I've been talking about myself, not including you."
"It's actually only targeting you? Is it because I'm a Virtual Substance Lifeform...?"
Qi Zhimu fell into deep thought.
"There's no reason... The previous two worlds didn't give me any preferential treatment. Weren't they all treated equally...?"
Herta handed over the phone. "Look here."
On the screen, seven characters were clearly displayed: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven.
"There are others like me. I should be number eight."
Herta lightly tapped the phone screen; she could only dial the different numbers or modify the notes, and currently, the calls wouldn't go through.
"It's currently unknown whether the others are Virtual Substance Lifeforms, Original Humans, or some other race. It seems we'll have to wait until the mission starts at noon tomorrow."
"I feel like it's another crappy movie." Qi Zhimu curled his lip.
"A novel or a seasonal drama is more likely. It's hard for a movie to have such a comprehensive world-building within its runtime."
"It doesn't matter. As long as outside help isn't forbidden, just don't stay more than two meters away from me when the time comes. I'd like to see which Virtual Substance Lifeform is worthy of the title of a god."
Qi Zhimu didn't take the so-called Grim Reaper seriously at all.
"They are all lifeforms born from settings, only unkillable because they rely on world rules. Once their world is destroyed, that so-called immortality becomes empty talk."
Hearing this, Herta suddenly asked, "Mr. Creditor, if the world that birthed you were destroyed and the rules dissipated, what would be the consequences?"
"Based on the current situation, there would be no difference. I don't have an immortality attribute. Choosing to leave means that world has already been destroyed."
Qi Zhimu spread his hands, looking completely indifferent.
"I had no rivals in the world that birthed me. No matter where they are, as long as someone who has made a pact with me calls my name, I can appear before them."
"If they are willing to pay the corresponding price, I will fulfill one of their requests."
"Sending you back to Azure Star requires traveling through many worlds deep within the Labyrinth Zone. It's a huge hassle. The price you're paying is just being eaten by me; if anything, I'm the one losing out."
"But what I lose is my life."
"And? Do you really think your most important thing is your life?"
As soon as those words were spoken, Herta's eyes froze, and it took a while before she closed them.
"It truly isn't. Mr. Creditor, I have a request..."
"Hmm?"
"If I die halfway, please eat me while I'm still warm, and then send this back to the Azure Star United Government."
Herta took out a Data Chip and pressed it into Qi Zhimu's hand.
Unexpectedly, the latter furrowed his brows, snatched the chip, and then forcefully gripped her chin.
"Open your eyes and listen, brat—"
Qi Zhimu looked directly into her eyes, his tone unusually serious.
"I don't know how much of an unbearable burden of life you carry, but if you can't even face your own value and have no clear self-awareness, then..."
"...you will forever only live in other people's worlds, crawling forward in the shadows of the past, muddled and aimless."
"..."
Herta was dazed, strange ripples rising in the depths of her consciousness.
Qi Zhimu's words were so familiar...
It seemed someone had once said something similar to her.
But she couldn't remember.
Who was it... Who on earth was it...
"I don't care about all that nonsense from your past, as long as you remember one ironclad fact!"
"Okay... tell me."
"Put your own life in the most important position for me. I've done so much only for the sake of your life."
"To me, your life is one of the... most important things!"
Seeing something quietly appear in Herta's eyes, Qi Zhimu turned his head aside, facing her with a raised jaw, and gave a cold snort.
"You know I'm a picky eater. Since you haven't fulfilled your wish and become happy, your flavor would be hard to swallow."
"Food that always lives in other people's worlds and has lost its self-awareness can never be linked to being delicious."
"You view the data for saving Azure Star as more important than your life, but if I may be blunt, are you willing to give everything because you want to save this world?"
"No, you're only doing it for others."
Qi Zhimu hadn't forgotten what Herta had muttered in her sleep.
...She had taken up the heavy burden for her family.
She said it took her three years to collect the correct data, which means she set out with the Fleet at the age of twelve.
She's just a little brat...
No matter how much of a genius or how precocious she is, isn't she still just a little brat?
What a shitty world.
"I am very selfish, nowhere near as noble as you. Remember this: I will definitely send you back to Azure Star!"
"And then, you will save that planet yourself, instead of easily handing over what you obtained by facing life and death to others!"
"You must adopt the attitude that 'without me, you bunch of incompetents can only wait for death,' and even more so, you must have that self-awareness."
"It was never you who owed anyone; it was everyone who owed you, except for me!"
"Whatever attitude you have toward me now is the attitude the people of the Azure Star United Government must have toward you."
"Do you know what would happen if you died halfway and let me send the data back? No one would remember your sacrifice. Your life would be worthless, nothing more than a pathetic act of self-consolation."
"So... don't live for others."
Herta was silent for a long time, then reached out and held Qi Zhimu's hand that was gripping her chin. "I understand."
"That's right. This is the food I've set my sights on, the peerless delicacy worthy of being eaten by me." Qi Zhimu nodded with satisfaction.
...