The three women left the game and vanished from the Inspector’s sight one after another.

What they didn’t know was that the moment they exited the game, a system notification rang in the Inspector’s ears—

*”Error! Game settlement error! Data anomaly detected. The presiding Inspector is requested to perform an immediate manual correction…”*

The Inspector’s brow furrowed.

The players’ refusal of the rewards had thrown the entire game’s data equilibrium out of balance. Because the exchange of effort and reward had not held to its proper proportion, if the problem couldn’t be resolved, the game would have to temporarily go offline.

The solution was in fact simple enough: just set up an alternative reward mechanism—when a player refused the initial reward, substitute a backup option in its place.

But though it was simple to say, it was genuinely troublesome in practice.

Because balance was an extraordinarily delicate thing.

The balance that worked in one game might easily become a bug in the next—

Take the dollhouse, for instance: an absurdly overpowered item. To avoid disrupting the equilibrium, the ball had deliberately attached the restriction “cannot be entered during the game.”

But it hadn’t anticipated Bai Youwei’s rabbit.

And the rabbit—that too was an absurdly overpowered item. To avoid disrupting the equilibrium, the rabbit-head figure had deliberately attached the restriction “must be recharged before use.” After all, in a world with widespread power outages, finding a place to charge was next to impossible.

But it hadn’t anticipated Bai Youwei’s dollhouse.

So—never underestimate the reward items from each game. They were the product of each Inspector’s careful, painstaking calculation and deliberation.

The animated, beautiful Inspector stepped out of the torture chamber, surveying each room one by one as it walked, turning things over in its mind.

A backup reward needed to guarantee the game’s balance while also befitting the spirit and character of the game’s theme…

Suddenly, it stopped.

It looked toward one of the rooms with an expression of barely contained disbelief.

It pushed open the door.

The room was completely empty! Every last one of the gorgeous court gowns had vanished!!!

How could this be?!

The Inspector strode out quickly, its long legs carrying it two meters with every step, and arrived at the next room’s doorway in no time at all. It reached out and pushed the door open.

Empty again!

This room should have been displaying all manner of medieval weapons. They were gone—all of them!

When had this happened?! Why?!

It couldn’t believe it. Following the trail of anomalous data, it checked room after room. Beautiful gowns—gone! Gold and silver jewels—gone! Swords and armor—gone! Even the exquisitely crafted, lavishly upholstered rugs and floor coverings—gone!

Of its meticulously decorated manor, at least a third had been hollowed out!

Though those things were nothing more than inconsequential decorations… yet—and yet—!!!

“Bai… You… Wei…”

It ground its teeth together.

“BAI! YOU! WEI!!!”

…

Bai Youwei found herself back in the underground parking lot.

Leaving behind the manor’s opulent grandeur and stepping into the dim, bare underground lot, there was, unexpectedly, a warmth to it—like coming home. The tension in her entire body released completely.

She spotted Shen Mo and Tan Xiao sitting not far ahead.

In the blackness of the underground, a single battery-powered emergency light was the only illumination. Shen Mo was smoking. The strong light turned the drifting smoke hazy and languid, blurring his face. His handsome features were half-hidden, half-revealed—his presence exuding a cold, soul-stirring beauty all the more striking for being seen this way.

Bai Youwei couldn’t quite explain the feeling that came over her.

Perhaps it was because she had been staring at the Duke for far too many days in that game, until her eyes had been ruined by ugliness—and now even a casual pose of his looked good to her.

Their footsteps alerted Shen Mo and Tan Xiao. Both men looked over at once. Seeing three women walking out of the darkness, they went still in the same moment.

Tan Xiao was first to recover. With a sudden sharp shout of “Holy sh*t!” he leapt to his feet and sprinted toward the parking lot exit, simultaneously bellowing at the top of his lungs:

“THEY’RE OUT! THEY CLEARED THE GAME AND THEY’RE OUT!!!”