A roaring blaze erupted through the village. Amid the flames, the fairy-tale village was transformed into an inferno.

Villagers who had escaped struggled to form water brigades; those still trapped inside their homes wailed in terror and screamed for help. The shrieks were unceasing. The village chief’s house was the first place the fire consumed.

The little girl stood on a hillside, watching the sea of fire below, lips turned up in a small smile, bouncing her rubber ball.

*”The wolfsbane has bloomed,*

*the moon has grown round,*

*tonight we will not die,*

*you ate of my flesh,*

*you drank of my blood,*

*tonight we will not die…”*

—

The beautiful village was reduced to ash.

Amid the ruins, the sun rose slowly. The werewolf, imprisoned for a hundred years, crawled up out of the earth and walked toward the light, climbing the hillside at a slow and heavy pace. In the wake of her footsteps, wolfsbane spread silently in every direction.

—

Bai Youwei and Shen Mo returned to the location of Zone A.

The supervisor who came to meet them was not the Clown — it was Tu Shenshi.

Bai Youwei looked behind him curiously and couldn’t help asking, “Why is it you?”

“A small incident came up,” the rabbit-headed supervisor said with a smile. “Congratulations to you both. I’ll be handling the game settlement on your behalf.”

“This battle had two zones, Zone A and Zone B, both of which have now concluded.

“Total player count: ten.

“Winning king: one. Winning subject: one. Eliminated king: one. Eliminated subjects: nine. Deducting the losing king’s puzzle pieces now…”

After the standard settlement narration concluded, Tu Shenshi turned to Bai Youwei:

“You have cleared Battle 20, Battle 10, and Battle 1. The system will automatically assign you to Battle 5 for your next round. Please rest well, and return in one month with the matching number of subjects to compete.”

Bai Youwei scoffed. “At this point I have so many puzzle pieces it doesn’t really matter whether I play. Even if I lose next round, I’d still qualify for the final battle — what matters is who has the most pieces in the end.”

Tu Shenshi smiled faintly. “In theory, yes. However, if a king is killed, their puzzle pieces are reclaimed by the system.”

“You people always reclaim things…” Bai Youwei couldn’t help frowning. “Then how would any player ever manage to collect a complete set? No matter what you do, people are always going to die in these games.”

“All puzzle pieces recovered by the system will be used in the final battle,” Tu Shenshi explained patiently. “Rest assured — the system does not set objectives that are impossible to achieve.”

Bai Youwei pressed her lips together and finally let the matter drop.

Tu Shenshi gave her a small nod. “Then — farewell.”

The supervisor’s figure vanished. The surrounding scenery faded to white. Ahead of them, a familiar square luminous form waited for them to step through.

Bai Youwei and Shen Mo walked into it and emerged in the familiar rest hall. Without any discussion, both of them let out a quiet breath of relief.

It was over.

The third battle was over.

Only one more battle to endure before reaching the final stage. After such a long and grueling journey, what had once seemed like a distant and impossible goal was finally coming into focus.

Shen Mo asked Bai Youwei: “How did you deal with Hans in the end? And why did the village catch fire?”

“I didn’t start that fire.” Bai Youwei was quick to distance herself from any blame. “It was the little girl. She had been bitten by the werewolf imprisoned in the village, which basically made her one of the werewolf clan — you know how it works in vampire movies, where you get bitten and join the bloodline and go around terrorizing humans together~”

Shen Mo: “I’ve never seen a vampire movie.”

Bai Youwei laughed and linked her arm through his. “Then we’ll find a vampire movie to watch when we get back. How does that sound?”

“Alright.” He nodded, then asked again, “How did you deal with Hans?”

“Oh my, why do you keep going on about that? I just helped the little girl steal the village chief’s key and freed the werewolf from the basement. And then the little girl, out of gratitude, transformed into a werewolf at night and bit Hans to death. The long and short of it is… I genuinely didn’t do anything. You know me — I’m completely helpless in a fight. Bloody, violent things? I simply cannot manage them…”

—