Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Then Let’s Rush Through It Once

June 18th, Sheng Year 741, Borough City, 3:50 AM.

In a small room on the second floor of a row house at No. 44, South-North Stone Street in Clock Tower Lane District, Xia’er slowly woke up from her sleep.

Nearly nine hours of deep slumber had fully restored Xia’er’s spirit. Lying there softly in bed, she seemed reluctant to get up immediately.

However, soon enough, she managed to sit up and took a sip of water from the cup beside her.

It was perhaps due to sheer exhaustion that this sleep felt exceptionally restful.

While kneeling on the bed, Xia’er silently called out for the System within her mind.

A bright silver screen appeared before her eyes, providing her with a sense of reassurance.

At least, everything wasn’t just a dream upon waking up.

She opened the Simulation Interface and glanced at the simulated time displayed there.

“Future Day: 1 Day (Sheng Year 741, June 19th, 6:25 AM) (Consumption: 10 Mortality Points)”

“Past Day: 3 Days (Sheng Year 741, June 15th, 7:30 AM) (Consumption: 10 Mortality Points)”

“Older Day: *** , *** Day (???) (Consumption: 10,000 Mortality Points)”

June 19th, 6:25 AM… If she did nothing, her death would come exactly six minutes after entering the simulation.

It seemed that as long as she hadn’t truly lived through June 19th, the simulation would remain stuck here.

Xia’er thought she could simulate events further ahead, but seeing this situation made her feel somewhat regretful.

The first two simulations were also at this exact moment; both times, she only gathered minimal information before dying instantly under someone else’s gunfire.

Ten hours ago, reaching this point would have undoubtedly been a dead end for Xia’er.

But now, having gone through four simulations, this “dead end” no longer brought her any tension.

Xia’er lit the candle by her bedside, grabbed a pencil, opened her notebook, tore off the first few pages, burned the writing completely on the candle flame, crumpled them, and threw them into the trash bin.

Then, she quickly began writing on a new page:

[1. I need to familiarize myself with my abilities from the save file.]

[2. Have my sister take a leave like last time and wait for her at the coffee shop downtown.]

[3. Formulate a plan to eliminate Thomas and Solari while clearing all suspicions off myself.]

This was the objective she set for her future self. Of course, the first one was her primary goal, while the final third one was intended to let her future self think about some strategies during this period.

Doing so would save her considerable time spent pondering.

“Come on, future me,” Xia’er smiled faintly, drawing a simple smiley face at the end before closing her notebook.

With the notebook in hand, she lay down on the bed in a starfish position.

Xia’er was preparing to enter the simulation, but before doing so, she wanted to check if there were any useful items newly available in the Shop.

Judging from her attire in the previous save file, the clothes she wore had already been changed by Yulis, likely into Yulis’ own garments.

Perhaps she might find something useful in the Shop.

After opening the Shop interface, a series of items appeared before her eyes.

“[Yulis’ Underwear]”

Mortality Points: 1

“[Yulis’ Corset]”

Mortality Points: 1

“[High Priestess Robe ‘Silver Grace’ of the Salvation Goddess Religion]”

Mortality Points: 5

“[Servant Crest of Salvation]”

Mortality Points: 1

“[Bloodstained Bandage]”

Mortality Points: 1

…

Besides some intimate clothing, it was mostly herbs and bandages.

It seemed Yulis had indeed changed her clothes, taking away anything valuable and leaving behind miscellaneous items.

There were no items worth exchanging that she could use right away.

Xia’er closed the mall interface and opened the simulation.

“Another day,” Xia’er muttered to herself.

This time, Xia’er did not directly enter the simulation.

A new interface appeared before Xia’er.

“Please select a character”

“No.x: Xia’er (Pure Mode)”

“No.1: Untitled”

“No.2: None”

“No.3: None”

Can I name them?

With a flicker of thought, Xia’er saw the “Untitled” option begin to gradually change.

“No.1: Xia’er · Avenger”

Between all the fire and shadows, Xia’er even considered naming it ‘Naruto,’ but for better distinction between different save files and her abilities, she decided on a more normal name.

Selecting No.1 save file, a beam of white light engulfed her.

…

“Another day”

“Sheng Year 741, June 19, 6:25 AM”

“Countdown -23:59:59”

“Rustling…”

Opening her eyes, Xia’er found herself in a familiar room with familiar rain sounds outside the window.

However, what was unfamiliar was the fiery pain coursing through her body and the growing irritation and anger in her heart due to this pain.

Thanks to [Calm Thinking Lv.1], Xia’er remained clear-headed. She raised her hand, and as the sleeve slipped down, she revealed the bandage underneath.

The burn had not yet healed… But there was a cool sensation within the bandages, indicating that the medicine used by Yulis was gradually taking effect.

There was one more difference from her real self: a segment of chaotic, indescribable knowledge added to her mind.

Sitting at the edge of the bed, Xia’er looked ahead.

Her shadow wavered with the candlelight, then a black phantom emerged from the darkness like crawling out of a swamp.

It was completely black—another Xia’er—but its eyeballs lacked pupils, only emitting a faint white glow, with wisps of white mist escaping from its eye sockets.

Moreover, its edges burned with a lighter shade of gray, causing its figure to flicker, resembling a terrifying ghost from a horror movie.

Such a shadow appearing suddenly would likely scare anyone half to death.

This was Xia’er’s first experience using Extraordinary abilities. Under her control, the shadow-like replica obeyed her commands effortlessly. Simultaneously, she sensed that her abilities extended beyond this…

Before anything else, she needed to check if there were any messages left in the notebook.

She opened the notebook beside her bed and indeed found sporadic records, though minimal. Most were investigations into events she hadn’t experienced yet.

For example, where Thomas went after not being killed at the tavern that night, where Solari went, and the movements of the rogue Yian.

She learned Thomas and Solari’s addresses. As for Yian, he had been completely brainwashed by Thomas and followed his orders blindly.

As for planning?

She had left this message:

[Let me kill once and see the aftermath before I plan. Trying to think too hard gets me nowhere ^_^]

The same smiley face appeared here, leading Xia’er to argue with herself.

Seeing this, Xia’er laughed in sudden relief.

It was indeed her style.

Putting away the notebook, Xia’er glanced at the current time.

6:28 AM. Three minutes until her original “death.”

Kill once and see the aftermath?

Xia’er stood up and reached for the mask on her face but put it back on halfway through.

If this was the doing of an Extraordinary Person, no one would associate it with an ordinary person, right?

Wearing the robes of the Salvation Goddess Religion, who would link all this to Xia’er—she wasn’t even a believer now.

“Sorry, Goddess.”

Xia’er adjusted the mask properly.

“I’ll return those two pennies in reality.”