Chapter 33 - Role Playing the Dark Horse Character

**Chapter 33: Defeating Magic with Magic** In an instant, or perhaps what felt like an eternity, the noise seemed to drift away, and the colorful lights and crowd blurred into obscurity. The brown-haired youth appeared dazed, lifting his head, lips trembling, but unable to utter a single word. The ice-blue earrings swayed as the black-haired young man remained oblivious, his expression cool and unchanged. As time seemed to pause only to begin flowing again, Li Li brushed past him, a gentle breeze trailing in her wake. The noise of the crowd surged back to his ears, and the silence of that moment seemed like an illusion. It felt like falling, returning from a feather-light dreamscape to reality. Just two strangers, locking eyes by chance. Yi Ming blinked, looking ahead, as if his gaze was still captured by that fleeting moment. Then he turned back, calling out to the receding figure: "Wait—" "Wait for me, Baige!" An unfamiliar red-haired youth caught up to the black-haired young man, turning his head with eyes sparkling childishly, full of anticipation. In the crowd, people stepped back, retreating into Yi Ming's line of sight, blocking his view. They were laughing joyously. And when Yi Ming moved forward to bypass the obstructing people, the figure had vanished amid the vast crowd. "Yi Ming? What are you looking at?" Yu Xiao's voice came from beside him, breathless as if he'd struggled to push through the masses. Yi Ming stared blankly at the crowd ahead, unable to reply immediately. It was only when Yu Xiao made a questioning noise that he slapped his cheeks, forcing a smile and regaining his usual spirited self. "Nothing, just mistook someone for somebody else." He turned around, throwing his arm around Yu Xiao's shoulder, and led him in the opposite direction. "Let's continue looking for Mo Mo; if she's not here, she should be on the street we went to yesterday..." ... Having left the street behind, the diamond-shaped street lamps illuminated the road, casting long shadows. Under the cool moonlight, Li Li gazed down the road ahead. Beside her, the young master rambled on. "Baige, I saw them roasting a really tiny pig's head turkey earlier. When my parents were around, they roasted one too, but it was much bigger. It was just right for my brother and me to eat. They roasted such a small one with so many people around; it won't be enough, right?" An Guyu said, stepping along the lamplight's shadow. She, of course, paid no attention, yet An Guyu's enthusiasm in talking was undeterred. Li Li looked up at the moon in the sky, wondering if it was the unexpected encounter with Yi Ming that caused her to suddenly recall the past during these intensely busy days. When she initially arrived in this comic world, many of her actions aimed at earning popularity points, like approaching the boss out of the blue or posing as a product to linger around Yi Ming. Back then, her primary objective was survival, and thus, her target was solely popularity points. Later, facing Yue Lan and confronting Qing Yuchen head-on, she had no choice but to gamble everything. Because if she didn't acquire her abilities when she could still use the Mall, it would become increasingly difficult to obtain them later on. Without abilities, surviving in this ability-driven society would prove challenging. It seemed her goal remained survival. Afterward, creating a new identity for herself, shedding her former self as a 'White Moonlight,' ostensibly because she faced dire situations, like high-level conceptual hunters or the backlash of having killed a noble. Yet, primarily, it was still about popularity points—the sooner the 'White Moonlight' perished, the higher the popularity soared, providing an opportune moment for her. At the time, all she focused on was earning those popularity points to survive in Desolate Dragon City. In hindsight, she left quite a few flaws. Now, without utilizing the Mall, her popularity points translated into enough life to last over two hundred days, more than sufficient. Thus, under the premise of ensuring her survival, she had but one goal: To shape the 'Hei Ge' character. Donning a facade, she would lead this character belonging to her. Now it was time for her to weave lies for her readers. Yet, wasn't Yi Ming's hair thinner than before? Casually, she reminisced about the recent encounter. She would meet Yi Ming once more, but not now. The 'White Moonlight' character would be used to its utmost potential. ... "...It'd be better if my brother wasn’t so fierce," An Guyu suddenly said. The young master turned around, ensuring the bodyguards followed from a distance and didn’t come too close, then continued, "When our parents were around, he wasn't fierce and would even play treasure hunting games with me." Whether stirred by the scenes witnessed tonight, An Guyu suddenly started talking about his family to Li Li. Li Li wasn't too surprised; she'd previously deduced issues within An Guyu's family, though she hadn’t expected him to voice it outright. "I'm an outsider," Li Li said symbolically. But once An Guyu's desire to confide arose, he didn’t mind, instead leaning heavily on Li Li, and didn’t find it inappropriate to tell her. "It’s fine; any noble would know this," he remarked. An Guyu glanced up at Li Li, asking, "Baige, what do you think is most important to nobles?" "Power, status, wealth, or abilities?" he continued, soon answering himself, "It's abilities, of course." "Losing an ability lineage, a noble's wealth gets quickly swallowed by others. That's what happened to my family," An Guyu spread his arms wide, as if to embrace the moonlit sky. "We used to live in the floating city, closest to the imperial family. I've even met the empire's princess; when our parents took me and my brother to meet the royals, I often played with her." Li Li cast a sidelong glance at the young master. She thought this probably explained why An Guyu, despite being a noble, didn't possess hereditary abilities. So far, she'd encountered two noble families: the Yue family, who betrayed the Ability Guild and sided with the empire to become nobility, and the An family, seemingly left in a leadership vacuum, their ability inheritance broken, moving from the central floating city to Sitong City. The more self-styled the 'elite' nobles were, the less inclined they were to sully themselves with 'defective goods,' opting instead for base means of acquisition. It's entirely foreseeable for the An family from the floating city to think this way. Lacking ancestral ability inheritance, and without self-awakening, of course, An Guyu would remain an ordinary person without abilities. "Now that I’m ability-less, she'd probably join others in making fun of me." Tears glistened in An Guyu’s eyes, his voice filled with choking sadness. "Which is why my brother is always mad at me, barring me from going places." "I feel suffocated. Our family wasn’t like this before." The crowd’s noise seemed distant, the sound of footsteps mingling with the young master’s sniffles echoing in the night air. "Baige, without abilities, can I really do nothing?" This question lingered, with recent days as a bounty hunter failing to disperse An Guyu's doubts. "Can I really not catch Hei Ge?" Li Li, the unwilling receptacle for his confessions, stayed silent. She could let An Guyu indulge in a fantasy, but why would she do so? The Ability Guild's building loomed closer, scattered broadcasting voices audible from the reward hall inside. An Guyu wiped his eyes: "In any case, my brother and the others haven't made progress, so there's still hope for us." "Oh, my brother seemed to have a new idea!" Remembering this, An Guyu tapped his forehead. "They’re thinking of baiting Hei Ge out." The Sitong City Ability Guild Branch had already screened its members within the past two days. Based on available intel, they scrutinized every bounty hunter with conceptual abilities or any tie to illusions, regardless of being newcomers or veterans. No one knew where Hei Ge emerged from or where he lived prior. Their sweeping operation instigated a chain reaction, leading to Yi Ming and his companions encountering bounty hunters upon entering Sitong City. In the previous chapter of the comic, Mo Mo, the younger of the twins, possessed unique abilities, making her a target for bounty hunters seeking favor with the nobles. However, they temporarily overlooked that the B-rank spell-type they sought was right before them. Li Li, on hearing this, grew curious about how they planned to ensnare Hei Ge. She’d just seen Yi Ming, and the brown-haired youth didn’t seem pursued by the Ability Guild, suggesting no exposed link between Hei Ge and Yi Ming. So, what was their plan to lure Hei Ge out? Li Li was rather interested, forming many hypothetical scenarios, including Huaruiza being exposed as a former Ability Guild member and used as bait by the nobles. But she soon found out. Upon reaching the Ability Guild entrance, Li Li spotted a familiar figure stepping out. The white lights from the Ability Guild hall shone into the night sky, casting a glow on the opulent building that remained grand even at night. The 'familiar' figure walked past her, heading in the opposite direction from which Li Li had come. Without turning her head, Li Li brushed past as if they were complete strangers. "I think that was the person!" An Guyu whispered to Li Li once the person had moved away. But even without him saying so, Li Li already knew. Because that person had black hair and black eyes, clad in a familiar black trench coat, with a choker around his neck. Although the frame was slightly broader, it was unmistakable—it was the persona Hei Ge had once assumed, 'Li.' The nobles were employing the strategy of defeating magic with magic, trying to lure out Hei Ge using Hei Ge himself. In that moment, Li Li almost wanted to admire the genius of such a plan. Was this really only capable of attracting a corgi? However, for Li Li, this setup was most advantageous. In the shadows, where An Guyu couldn't see her, she allowed a small smile to form before resuming her aloof demeanor. She entered the Ability Guild, acting as if that figure held no special significance. Just like before, it was merely a coincidental passing by. ... Two days later. [A channel is opening for you... Welcome back to reality.] At midnight, the comic had updated.