Chapter 36 - Role Playing the Dark Horse Character

Chapter 36: Were You Waiting for Me? The tumble down the stairs was merely an accident, but fortunately, no one was injured. After the incident, the roommates watched Li Li, who had briskly and efficiently rescued someone, then turned to look at the senior who was so frightened he had retreated several meters. Finally, they said to Li Li, "Lily, you rock!" Li Li patted the back of the startled NPC and walked away with a smile. She was still a bit concerned about whether she had just been seeing things. The NPC, grateful to Li Li for saving him, clung tearfully to her hand with the face of a fully-made-up "ghost." "Thank you so much, miss, thank you..." Her roommate laughed on the side, "Yes, yes, Lily is my handsome hubby!" Li Li couldn't help but chuckle, "Get out of here." Afterward, Li Li suggested checking the surveillance footage, but it showed nothing abnormal. It truly seemed like just an illusion. Conversely, some staff who watched the surveillance asked Li Li if she had trained, wondering if she studied martial arts or Taekwondo. Li Li laughed it off, after all, she was wild-born and self-taught. This matter dragged on till midnight. When it was nearly midnight, she and her roommate finally started their way back to the dormitory. By the time the system indicated midnight had arrived, they were still outside in the cold wind, her stomach growling from the missed dinner. As she walked and chatted, she mused, "The 24-hour convenience store should still be open." Just as she finished saying this, the scene in front of her changed. [Preparing for crossover.] [The passage is open. Wish you to become a popular character and bring new vitality to the comic.] [System update detected, please select your landing site.] Time froze, the system awaited Li Li’s response. "Convenience store, no wait," Li Li exhaled, though she encountered a crisis in the real world for the first time, the comic world was evidently far more dangerous. Thinking it over, she remembered she stood outside the Ability Guild before this crossover. "Time to muster courage and deal with some things," she murmured. She chose a different landing site, "Raven Alley." The alley next to the Ability Guild, the very location she'd selected for her last landing. As the scene before her abruptly altered, the camouflaged reality engaged. An illusory figure emerged. A bounty hunter, clad in a black hooded coat, walked down the steps in front of the Ability Guild with a cold expression, proceeding without pause. No one noticed anything unusual, as if this person had merely stepped out and begun descending the stairs. Reality and illusion seamlessly transitioned at midnight. In the dim night, the spectral figure within the alley finally transformed into a black raven, flying to a tree canopy, its blood-red eyes fixed intently on the bounty hunter passing below. She could hardly wait now. ... This day seemed like any other. Bounty hunter Li Baige truly earned his "Madman" moniker, frequently coming and going from the Ability Guild. Le Caile occasionally greeted him, "Mr. Madman, any work recently?" Unperturbed by cold indifference, he instead turned to a potential client nearby, "Don't be fooled by his appearance; he's genuinely strong..." Praising him highly, he then revealed his true aim, indicating a number, "His intelligence costs this much." The new client feigned a scolding tone, "Who doesn't know of him? Can I afford to mess with him? You're trying to fleece me, you chubby!" The aloof bounty hunter circled the bounty hall. Meanwhile, the ever-energetic An Huyu emerged. "Morning, Baige!" He’d already forgotten about the previous night's disappointment, fully committing himself to proving his worth, "I have a new idea." Chatter incessantly beside him, with the cautious bodyguards maintaining a respectful yet ready distance. The harried young man maintained an expressionless demeanor, his lifeless visage unchanging. Outside the Ability Guild, though the seasonal tree branches should be freshly budding, here in the conquered comic world they thrived luxuriantly to beautify the city. A black raven nestled among them, tilting its head. Simultaneously within the Guild, the bounty hunter turned to head towards the mission acceptance window. "Hey wait for me!" An Huyu followed him. This day seemed no different than usual. The next day, the raven continued observing from its perch. Young Master shared secretive insights with the silent bounty hunter, further plotting his utterly impractical "Catching Hei Ge" plan. On the third day, events took a turn. "My brother's busy daily; I don't know with what. Today he also blocked me from home," An Huyu remarked, seemingly in a huff, "Today I asked what he's busy with, and he said he's entertaining a guest. As if I don’t know—it’s just him courting some noble lady!" The bounty hunter, delicately glancing at the sulking young master, returned to his normal facade. Come nightfall, An Huyu was half-dragged by bodyguards to another residence. Meanwhile, the bounty hunter rounded a corner towards the alley. Crossing his arms, he leaned against the wall, eyes set on the Ability Guild's direction. The person he met that day stepped out from the Guild again. Black hair, black eyes, expressionless, a choker on his neck matching his hair's hue. From the trees, the raven watched quietly as the man passed; below, the bounty hunter suddenly smirked. "Snap." The snap was barely audible, yet suddenly, a different person stood below the tree. The right side of his face hidden behind a silver mask, a black coat draped over him, he leaned against the wall, almost smiling. The hour was now eleven in the evening. ... Walking down the road in another's guise, he bore a title created by those lofty nobles, akin to referring to a useful tool. "White Face," a mimic capable of altering his appearance at will, his actual face forgotten even by himself. Ostensibly a bounty hunter, secretly a tool for noble whims, handling all manner of dirty work, his crowning achievement being a royal decoy during public outings. Even his highest honor was simply borrowing an unfamiliar face. This time, tasked with impersonating a stranger at the Yue clan's request, he often engaged in such roles. The noble-provided portrait clear enough to emulate the original nearly perfectly. Acknowledged and praised by the An family's nobility. During his days in Four-Way City, he followed the noble's schedule closely. Appearing when the domain-type noble had free time, disappearing to other tasks when not. He didn't doubt who he impersonated, needing not to know. He understood he was within powerful abilities' domains, assured that once the target surfaced, his patron would swiftly capture or kill that individual. Ultimately unrelated to him, as he always acted thus. Pretend to be someone, lure another out, or stand in for someone else. He felt numb, yet had no right to declare fatigue. Playing this new role felt oddly light-hearted, no expressions required, merely trudging along a prescribed noble path. A shadow loomed above, even the ominous clouds seeming asleep. The quiet night allowed him to walk without feigning smiles. He assumed this would mirror his past jobs, baiting out someone and watching as they succumbed into noble machinations, becoming their plaything. Then, he would move on to his subsequent mission. Until a shadow crossed his path. A short distance away, the raven, resting on a streetlamp, tilted its head, dark red eyes gleaming like the coldest gems. Below that streetlamp, a suddenly appeared young man lifted his chin, his eyes beneath the mask seeming to pierce through the counterfeit visage, perceiving the barren soul within. He looked down and chuckled, a voice gritty and magnetic. "Truly interesting," he remarked. Thoughts coalescing, ‘White Face’ thought, the fish took the bait. An orange glow spread from afar, enveloping their locale and beyond. This domain instantly shrouded all of Four-Way City. "What's so interesting?" ‘White Face’ began his performance, mulling over clues the nobles provided, striving to reconstruct the character he portrayed, "Is my rebirth intriguing?" He needed to bide time until the nobles confirmed the person before him was the real deal; only then could he evade. Upon hearing this, the man in front of him chuckled. "Indeed, your resurrection is intriguing," he remarked in an admiring tone, which drowned out the sound of the raven's distant wings flapping away. "And yet, I will still 'kill' you." He emphasized the word "kill," his exposed right eye narrowing slightly, devoid of any anxiety or negativity, as if he were not the hunted cicada, but rather the vigilant sparrow behind it. Meanwhile... "There are two life signatures nearby; they're real." The floor-to-ceiling window stood open, the chandelier casting a warm golden glow, making the room appear resplendent. A red-haired youth sat with one leg crossed on a chair, not leaning back against the backrest. Beside him was a round coffee table with an active landline phone. Behind the table was a vacant stool, as if awaiting someone to sit. He had his eyes closed, surrounded by golden auras that seemed like sprites dancing around him. An Heyu, an S-rank domain-type ability user, wielded his ability, Requiem of the Undead. Within his domain, he could command the undead, and from the presence of life energy, discern if they had caught an illusion or reality. From the phone on the coffee table at An Heyu's side echoed Yue Qing's voice: "Since you can sense the life energy, it must be the real one. Hei Ge, aren't you surprised to see someone you killed alive again? Daring to appear directly on noble grounds." Then Yue Qing's personal sentiments emerged: "Interesting? Let him stay interesting till his death!" "Over," An Heyu said coldly, ending the call. Only after did he release a breath, slowly leaning back against the chair. The mansion's lights were on, yet there were no servants, just An Heyu alone. He tiredly pinched his brow, sighing gently. What he hadn't disclosed was that he had already pinpointed a suspected target linked to Hei Ge. After the Yue family transaction, indeed he went to Desolate Dragon, yet soul energy dissipates quickly, and the elapsed time yielded little. Yue Qing forbade him from directly probing Yue Lan's soul memory since that would cause it to shatter. Thus, he had examined someone else's memory nearby. Fragments surfaced, allowing him only fleeting glimpses. Encountering a black-haired youth, getting killed by him, the soul faintly recalled this person's name was Li. Then there were the recollections captured post-mortem. A man calling himself Hei Ge claimed he had killed Li. An Heyu didn’t believe that Li, who could have killed Qing Yuchen, was weak, and the stranger arriving afterward appeared abruptly. Especially since, by those memories, the person's ability was illusionary. Even with hypotheses formed, An Heyu remained cautious, refraining from fully revealing his insights, instead launching his investigation diligently. He had met the suspected individual, for the name was indeed too blatant. An A-rank, not someone An Heyu should fear. He'd encountered many A and elevated ranks in the Empire’s floating city. The sole intrigue lay in this ability user’s presence in the prophecy made by the Seer. Therefore, An Heyu allowed his brother to approach him while cautiously floating out test information. But... "It seems I guessed wrong; I must exercise even greater caution in the future," he reviewed his actions. "At least the connection between Hei Ge and Li being accidentally guessed correctly wasn’t bad, as it’s merely Hei Ge killing Li, not them being...” He suddenly silenced himself, turning to look out the window. Frost radiated from the city center, cold winds made the trees shiver and rustle. Amidst this cold expanse, there seemed to be nothing amiss. But then... "Good evening, were you waiting for me?" At the instant the voice rang out, he perceived the life energy. The black-haired man sitting in the vacant spot was unmistakably identical to the other person miles away. Smiling, he looked at him with a gaze full of interest. "I prefer milk tea; could you pour me a cup?"