Chapter 41 - Role Playing the Dark Horse Character

Chapter 41: Your Photo Album Packs Quite a Punch Time ticked away, and the number of blue-robed figures lying on the floor of the room increased. Yi Ming panted heavily, his sweat dripping onto the mechanical floor, leaving specks of water stains. He had no idea how much time had passed. His hands trembled, the veins on his overused, ability-strained arms darkening, with his fingertips turning a decaying black. Bent over, he looked toward the glass panel. Behind the glass, an indifferent researcher in a white coat leisurely propped his legs up on a coffee table, flipping through some documents. His green eyes, behind those gold-rimmed glasses, didn’t spare Yi Ming a single glance. So cold. Upon hearing the thud of a body hitting the ground, the researcher tapped the paper with his gloved finger, casually picking two sheets from a stack. "Number 23178, Number 142771." The researcher's voice came through the glass, uninterested, yet two blue-robed figures among the onlookers stepped forward. Yi Ming gritted his teeth, forcing himself to focus. These were two D-ranks; he couldn't take them lightly. In truth, the documents Li Li was examining weren't about these 'failed products.' She was actually reviewing Mo Mo's experimental plan. Having one 'pure white moonlight' like Li was enough; more would devalue it, so she had to prevent any plot developments that were disadvantageous for her. Of course, her dislike for it was also a reason. As she read, Li Li's eyes paused momentarily. Within her ability's range, she could project phantoms at any designated coordinate. Though she couldn't project an inner vision, she could see whatever the phantom could see. She was currently seated there for Yi Ming’s training, yet, in truth, she had three or four phantoms dressed in blue robes wandering inside the 'Cube.' And Tang was within the phantoms' sight. As a precious healing ability user, Tang wasn’t considered a disposable item by Le Shan, and thus was not placed with Yi Ming and Mo Mo. She probably took advantage of the chaos, combined with Li Li's deliberate oversight, to sneak out by subduing the blue-robed guard on duty. The black-haired, green-eyed little girl moved stealthily, like a nimble black cat, advancing slowly among ornaments and shadows. When a blue robe neared, she hid beneath a cabinet used for placing bone ash sculptures, remaining perfectly still. Li Li let the phantom walk by as if it saw nothing, maneuvering it to pass right over Tang. Two more rooms to go. Li Li thought, adjusting the phantoms’ actions to seem more natural, without revealing any guiding or driving intentions. Simultaneously, she considered the useful information she recently acquired from An Heyu, one piece of which intrigued her greatly. Tang's father, Tang Zeng, and Le Shan knew each other, which implied Tang Zeng knew what kind of person Le Shan was. These two former members of the Ability Guild, with Tang Zeng as a traitor and Le Shan expelled, yet they later became neighbors. How could Tang Zeng feel at ease letting his child live with a research fanatic like Le Shan? What was he thinking? Li Li instinctively felt this was information intended to be revealed in this chapter, but with Le Shan no longer present, the person to divulge it could only be her, posing as Le Shan. So, she adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses and gazed at Yi Ming, who was still able to continue fighting behind the glass. After he overcame two same-ranked ability users, she casually instructed, "Continue, Number 14273, Number 12872, Number 18231." Yi Ming wouldn’t kill; he always held back, so she had to push him to exert his full strength. After all, with her there, nothing truly perilous would happen to Yi Ming. She had climbed her way up similarly; the method was undoubtedly effective. Li Li was confident in the training approach she devised. At the very least, she needed Yi Ming to reach a C-rank here; he wouldn’t leave otherwise. Li Li had already arranged for the manga to go on hiatus; this would be Yi Ming's three-year cliff and five-year training period. "Defend against them with all you've got. Don’t worry about dying in vain; there are healing ability users in the laboratory. You won’t die before the experiments conclude," she asserted, hinting at Tang's presence, "Fight as if you're on the brink of death." Predictably, Yi Ming grasped the key point accurately, turning his head almost instantly, dodging the blue-robed men's attack while questioning, "Where is she?! Where is the healing ability user?!" Li Li rested her chin on her hand with the documents on her lap, assuming a conversational posture. "Are you two close?" she asked, "With the traitor's daughter." In the manga, Tang Zeng was only mentioned in his letter and Tang’s memories at the time; it wasn’t detailed that Tang Zeng and Le Shan were acquainted. Tang Zeng seemed to love Tang deeply, so Li Li couldn’t fathom why he’d allow interaction with Le Shan. She acknowledged she wasn’t a good person in the broad sense, but Le Shan wasn’t even human. Yi Ming was oblivious to the former Ability Guild matters, so the traitor was merely a mention on paper to him. "You’re linked with Tidal?" The only connection Yi Ming could think of was Tang Zeng's repentance to the organization 'Tidal' in his letter, "No, you can’t be with Tidal; you’re their adversary!" Clearly, he doubted that someone like Le Shan could be part of the organization Tang Zeng sought help from. Li Li didn’t answer this, steering the conversation back to why she brought it up. "Really impressive, knowing her daughter made new friends, Tang Zeng must be thrilled in heaven." She mused as if she was genuinely a neighborhood uncle, shifting her gaze once the relationship between 'Le Shan' and Tang Zeng was revealed, adjusting her glasses, "Number 29173, do your best." How long the manga hiatus lasted depended on when the little Corgi advanced a rank. Later, despite Yi Ming trying to broach this topic multiple times, Li Li paid him no mind. The young brown-haired boy fended off the ability users’ attacks while glancing upward at her, jumping frantically, resembling an anxious little Corgi. Meanwhile, the phantom once again caught sight of Tang. Li Li, appearing deep in thought while staring at the documents, was, in fact, sharing vision with the phantom. Compared to before, Tang had grown significantly; she had found her way to the area where Le Shan stored 'failed products.' Rather, she finally discovered this location. It was a room filled with numerous nutrient tanks, each green solution-filled tank constructed with a biological technology glass unique to the manga world—transparent, as thin as a cicada's wings, yet incredibly durable. And the beings within these tanks were mostly monstrous, not quite human nor ghost. These were all Le Shan’s deemed 'failed products,' despite once being human. Li Li’s phantom observed with half-closed eyes as Tang explored the area. Tang, after creeping quietly for a while, recognized a familiar figure. "You You?" She whispered to the nutrient tank, facing away from the phantom with questioning intonation. The tank contained the long-lost You You. But he was no longer quite You You, for his pupils had become two black holes. "Kill me," he said. At that moment, the system notification sounded prematurely. [Targets for the update have been detected as complete.] [Opening the channel for you…] [Welcome back to reality.] ... Speaking of manga hiatus, it ended up being resolved sooner than expected. Li Li lay on her bed, scrolling through her phone; two days remained before the update, yet the forums were still buzzing about the previous chapter's content. [Isn't Le Shan insane? Could he just die?!] [Li Tao, could Little Corgi defeat Le Shan by pulling out all his hair?] [Sunfish! You’re lost again!] [Analysis Thread: Plunder Setting in Manga] [Ap38 Live Illustration with Hei-Li Corruption Fanby] Li Li noticed that last post, uploaded by the Hei Ge's cosplayer she encountered at the convention. She’d finally edited the photos and shared them. Seeing this reminded her to log into her seldom-used chat account; she kept her real and fictional worlds separate, typically using her real-world account and rarely switching to her fictional one. She had added the cosplayer back at the convention, awaiting illustrations. Sure enough, the cosplayer sent her the finely edited images. [Han Zhi: The pictures are done! Check them out, they're amazing! [Image.jpg][Image.jpg][Image.jpg]] In post-editing, the brightness was reduced, transforming the convention's venue into an abyss without end. And before this abyss, a young man with black hair and eyes looked up, exposing his pale, vulnerable neck and the black choker, a trickle of blood trailing down his lips as he gazed coldly at the masked figure above him who seemed to want to control him. Li Li took a deep breath after viewing them. “So handsome,” she murmured. Who is this handsome guy in the photo? Oh, it’s me—never mind then. [Lili: It's marvelous!] Struck by the beauty's blow, she inadvertently used her in-character tone, and the moment after sending it, Li Li wanted to retract her words. The moment Li Li sent out the message, she was involuntarily reminded of that mad researcher Le Shan, with his incessant "sweetheart" and "darling." However, the recipient was online and promptly replied. [Han Zhi: You're so on point, girl! I'm just basking in your glory haha!] Following an exchange of compliments, Han Zhi, the cosplayer, extended an invitation. [Han Zhi: So, here's the thing, I have a dark-themed cosplay group in our city. We're planning to perform a Beyond Black and White stage play at ap39. I wanted to see if you’d be interested in joining us?] [Han Zhi: You're our ideal Li, but if you're not available, we totally understand!] Placing her phone aside, Li Li pondered for a moment. Midnight is the most impulsive time for online shopping—and, admittedly, for passionately agreeing to things. Truthfully, she had little time for fun, as she was a busy university student with coursework and extracurricular lessons. Yet, she couldn’t deny her immediate reaction was to go for it. In the manga world, she was a notorious SSS wanted criminal, but in reality, she was just a busy college student. Li Li wanted to create something lasting, in case one day she failed spectacularly, she’d have memories to share with her mom. So, after thinking it through for half a minute, she picked up her phone. [Lili: Sure, set a time.] [Han Zhi: Awesome! I'll add you to the group now!] Acting swiftly, Han Zhi sent an invitation and then added another comment. [Han Zhi: By the way, the stage play’s script is by an amazing fanfic author—there’s lots of good stuff in the album!] This piqued Li Li’s curiosity. After joining the group, she quickly greeted everyone and headed straight for the album. She noticed the album was labeled with several fan works. ... "Wow, you actually got that divine cosplayer to join!" Jiang Lan screamed into her pillow, "Ahhh I'm so excited, my goddess! How do I talk to her in a way that's poised and elegant? How can I be fresh and not come off as oily? Goddess! She is my goddess!" Her friend chuckled over the phone, "Give it some time; your goddess might chat with you first." Jiang Lan couldn’t decipher her friend’s cryptic hints at this late hour. After screaming into her pillow until her face flushed, she sat up to check her phone. Then she suddenly remembered, "Oh right, should I delete the stuff in the album?" Clutching her head, she panicked, "I forgot! Those scandalous words in the album aren’t for my pure and pristine goddess to see, ahhh!" Jiang Lan hastily opened the chat, intending to delete the content from the album. She noticed her goddess had greeted the group with routine pleasantries, though Jiang Lan saw them as divine benevolence. Just as Jiang Lan was about to leave the interface, her goddess sent another message. Amid the chorus of 'hello' and 'thank you for the welcome,' she saw her goddess's new message. [Lili: Your album, it's quite intense.] As a prominent fanfic writer, Jiang Lan felt her blood level deplete to zero, her fantasies exploding with intense realness. Author's Note: The next chapter focuses on the manga and forum—here we go, it's coming! Double updates are too tight to publish at once, so here's one chapter first, the next will drop sometime after midnight—stay tuned for my speed. Don't wait up, everyone, you'll see it first thing tomorrow morning! Much love to all our subscribers!