Bai Youwei walked forward in her high heels. Clack, clack, clack, clack…

What had originally felt like a cheerful, bouncy rhythm now only seemed loud, grating, and aggravating!

The sound felt like it was mocking her, laughing at her: her companion had met with misfortune, and here she was, only thinking about showing off her legs!

These legs she had longed for so desperately — at the end of the day, they were just a pair of legs.

Her happiness had come at a terribly inopportune moment.

Joy at the wrong time becomes its own kind of sin.

Bai Youwei suddenly felt utterly drained. She kicked off her shoes, tossed them carelessly into a trash bin, then boarded the elevator barefoot and left the headquarters tower.

She just kept walking, with no particular destination.

People she passed looked at her with puzzled stares — whether they recognized her, or simply noticed she had no shoes on.

She didn’t care at all.

She’d walked some distance barefoot when a faint ache rose from the soles of her feet, and cool drops of rain landed on her face. She came back to herself and realized she was standing in an unfamiliar street.

And the rain was growing heavier.

The front desk had specifically told her it would rain tonight.

She was starting to feel like an idiot.

If she’d wanted to clear her head, she could simply have gone into the dollhouse. What was the point of running outside to get rained on?

And after all that walking — hadn’t she been wasting these newly recovered legs?

Bai Youwei reached for the golden key hanging from her neck, preparing to open the dollhouse — when she noticed the light-sensing wristband on her wrist.

…Actually, she didn’t necessarily have to go to the dollhouse.

Bai Youwei pressed the rest hall icon on the wristband. The scene before her shifted, and almost in an instant, she was in the rest hall.

Although the first battle was still more than half a month away, the rest hall was fairly well populated with players. Some had just come out of the maze; others were subjects looking for an opportunity, hoping to be recruited by some King.

Bai Youwei had nothing in particular to do. She found a spot and sat down to rest, intending to observe what kinds of qualities the people emerging from the maze possessed.

That was the plan, anyway — but her thoughts kept slipping out of her control. From time to time, her mind drifted back to the matter of Teacher Cheng…

Why hadn’t Teacher Cheng recovered? Were the maze’s physical evolutions and upgrades simply ineffective against this type of toxin?

While she was mulling this over, a figure came to stand before her.

The first thing that caught her eye was a pair of black leather shoes. She looked upward from the shoes — straight-cut, clean trousers.

She didn’t need to look any further. She knew who this was.

In the game and the maze, everyone was running for their lives — no one dressed like this. So the only possibility was… the rabbit-headed Inspector.

“Miss, do you need assistance?” the rabbit-headed Inspector smiled pleasantly at her. “It seems you’ve lost your shoes.”

“No, thank you.” Bai Youwei replied coldly.

The rabbit-headed Inspector maintained its smile, a gentle gaze dropping to her knees as it asked, “You made it out of the maze successfully. Isn’t that worth celebrating? Why do you look as though you feel no joy at all?”

“What does my mood have to do with you?” Bai Youwei furrowed her brow, shooting it an impatient glance. “You Inspectors — aren’t you always hoping we’d all just die already?”

“Never.” The rabbit-headed figure replied politely. “I care about every one of you.”

Bai Youwei curved her lips in a faint smile — silent, cold mockery.

The rabbit-headed Inspector studied her for a long moment, then spoke suddenly: “Perhaps playing a game might cheer you up. Would you like to play one? My treat.”

That was a strange thing to hear.

Bai Youwei laughed: “Games can be treated?”

“Of course.” The rabbit-headed Inspector smiled. “Though it can only be for entertainment purposes — so there will be no rewards of any kind, nor any penalties or danger. What do you say? Would you like to try? Only if you’re willing.”

“I’m not willing —” Bai Youwei refused without a second thought. “A game with no rewards is just a waste of my time.”

The rabbit-headed Inspector seemed mildly resigned. “Very well… I can personally provide one reward, on my own behalf.”

—