Volume 1, Chapter 80 – Rise of the Undead

“I’m a normal person, okay! How could I possibly not be normal!”

Tianyin argued back loudly.

“Xiaobingxue, what are you even thinking? Of course I’m normal!”

“Suu…”

But to Bingxue, the way Tianyin was desperately denying it made it look like she was hiding some dark secret.

Still, though she thought that, Bingxue didn’t really have any strange thoughts about Tianyin.

“So Xiaoyin is a normal person?”

Those words appeared neatly written on the paper.

“Of course I am, obviously! Seriously, Xiaobingxue, what are you even thinking…”

“Then Xiaoyin isn’t afraid of me?”

The girl’s blue eyes carried a testing look, as if she would cry if Tianyin said something like ‘Of course I am.’

“Pfft…”

Tianyin couldn’t help but laugh at that.

After all that reassurance earlier, saying she wasn’t afraid of Bingxue or disgusted by her, why did this undead girl still think that just because she was “normal,” she’d suddenly start fearing or rejecting her?

Honestly, this undead girl was just too pure, so simple that she could overthink herself into a corner over the smallest things…

“Good grief, Xiaobingxue, how do I even explain this so you’ll get it?”

How could she make Bingxue understand that she didn’t hate her, but actually liked her a lot?

Tianyin already knew the answer in her heart.

“Well, the reason’s simple, Xiaobingxue…”

As she spoke, her gaze softened.

“Even though we’ve only known each other for a little over a week, during that time, I’ve already come to see you as an important friend~”

“An important… friend?”

The undead girl’s eyes blinked in confusion, and she wrote her question down on the paper.

“That’s right, an important friend. You see, Xiaobingxue, you’re very important to me.”

Read оո ΚαtRеаdіոɡCαfе

“Important?”

“Yeah, very important~ And not just you, Xiaobingxue. There’s also Xiaomengyao, Fisiel, Yivrea, Sister Xiaomu… Even though I haven’t known them long, they’re all important people to me~”

Bingxue didn’t really know who those people were that Tianyin mentioned later, but she could clearly feel the sincerity in Tianyin’s words.

Yes. To Tianyin, she was already someone important.

“Suu…”

Feeling touched, Bingxue began writing again.

“Then Xiaoyin is also important to me.”

She wrote each stroke carefully, her expression more serious than ever.

“That’s good, Xiaobingxue. So now you understand why I’d never hate or fear you, right?”

“Suu.”

Bingxue nodded.

At the same time, she felt as if something inside her chest, the heart that had long stopped beating and was cold as ice, had suddenly warmed up.

That warmth.

It was indescribable.

But not unpleasant.

On the contrary, Bingxue found herself loving that warmth more than anything. It was a feeling she had never experienced before.

“Master, Master, I’m back! Good news, Master! There really is a shop selling special items in Snow White City~ Tadaa! I bought it!”

At that moment, the voice of the loli disciple, Mengyao, came from afar. Soon, her small figure appeared before them.

When she arrived, Mengyao handed over the item she had bought to Tianyin.

════════♡════════ ❀ Equipment: Concealment Ring ❀ ────────♡──────── ✿ Effect: ❀ Hides the wearer’s faction and race information automatically. ════════♡════════

It was a simple effect, but for Bingxue, it was an incredibly important one.

Once she equipped it, her undead identity would be hidden. Since she already looked just like a normal human girl, no one would be able to tell what she really was unless they got extremely close.

“That’s great! With this, we don’t have to worry about Bingxue’s situation anymore~”

Rеаⅾ οn KatRеаԁіոɡСafе

Tianyin knew perfectly well how useful this item was. Being able to conceal an undead’s faction and race information would allow Bingxue to blend into the human world much more easily.

“Xiaobingxue, put it on~ Once you do, we can go into the city together~”

“Suu.”

Bingxue nodded and quietly slipped the ring onto her finger.

As expected, the moment she did, both Tianyin and Mengyao could no longer sense her undead faction aura.

Of course, this kind of thing was abstract, but in the game world, players could normally sense when someone was of a different faction.

Now that Bingxue’s undead presence was perfectly hidden, they could finally take her into the human city.

But once they entered, Tianyin immediately felt uncomfortable.

Because this city had… even more players than before.

On the road, it hadn’t been obvious, but now that they were inside, almost everyone walking around was a player.

“Look over there! Three lolis! Am I seeing things? Each one’s cuter than the last!”

“Seriously? Where? Let me see… Pfft! T-Three of them! S-So cute! Aawww…”

“It’s already this late, and these three lolis are still playing all night? Don’t their parents care?”

“Tch, that’s where you’re wrong. This game’s too popular now. Maybe they’re legal lolis…”

“…”

In short, all sorts of ridiculous voices reached Tianyin’s ears.

Normally, this kind of meaningless chatter should have been filtered out by the system, but somehow, Tianyin heard every single word loud and clear.

Bingxue, on the other hand, didn’t seem to notice. Her face remained perfectly blank.

And to Tianyin’s surprise, her disciple Mengyao looked equally unfazed.

Then again, that was probably because she was used to it by now. Mengyao’s cuteness was rare even among players, so she’d long grown accustomed to being stared at.

“…Master, where are we going tonight?”

“W-well, where else? Of course we’re going to rest… First, let’s find something to eat, then find a place to stay.”

“Mm-hmm, got it.”

Reаd oո ΚatRеadіոɡCafе

In crowded places like this, Mengyao was always an obedient disciple, behaving herself and giving Tianyin plenty of face as her Master.

That alone lifted Tianyin’s mood a little. Yes, just a little.

She had even thought about puffing out her flat chest proudly, but then she noticed the curious looks from surrounding players.

And being stared at like that, she quickly gave up the idea of showing off.

“Suu.”

At that moment, Bingxue tugged at Tianyin’s sleeve.

“What’s wrong, Xiaobingxue?”

“Why are so many people looking at us?”

“Eh…?”

Well, that was one of those things better left unspoken. Being stared at wasn’t something they could fix anyway.

Even if she explained it, nothing would change.

“Wuu… actually, they’re not looking at us. They’re looking at you, Xiaobingxue.”

Tianyin decided to tease her a little.

So she gave that very unreliable answer.

“Looking at me? Why?”

It was obvious the pure-hearted Xiaobingxue didn’t understand how cute she was.

Even if she was undead, outwardly she looked like a delicate little girl.

Especially with her unusual features, those bright blue eyes and long, icy-blue hair that made her stand out.

“Because Xiaobingxue, you’re… really cute~”

“Cute? What does cute mean?”

That was when Tianyin realized that when the undead girl acted clueless, she genuinely didn’t even know what “cute” meant.

“Pfft, it means exactly how you look right now, Xiaobingxue, you’re super cute~”

“Really?”

Reаԁ оn КаtRеαԁiոɡСаfe

She asked uncertainly.

Though Bingxue didn’t quite understand what “cute” meant, she wasn’t so easily convinced either.

After all, while she was pure and simple, she was also sensitive enough to read people’s emotions from their tone.

“Of course! You’re very cute, Xiaobingxue. That’s why everyone’s looking at you. But don’t worry about it, being looked at doesn’t cost anything, so just ignore them.”

“Mm.”

Though she still didn’t fully understand what Tianyin meant by “cute,” she obediently accepted her words.

After that, they looked for somewhere to eat. But since Mengyao was a player and Bingxue was undead, only Tianyin was actually eating.

And embarrassingly enough, most of the food Tianyin ordered were sweets.

Watching that, Mengyao couldn’t help but comment, “Just how much do you like sweets, Master…”

But Tianyin simply replied that in a game world, there was no such thing as tooth decay from eating too many sweets.

…

Meanwhile, in another world.

On the official forum of the real-world game “Subworld,” a post suddenly appeared titled:

【Shocking! The Mysterious #1 Player on the Level Leaderboard is Suspected To Be a Boosted Account ¹ A gaming account that has been artificially increased in rank, often through illicit means. !】

At first glance, players thought it was just clickbait.

But despite that, they couldn’t resist clicking in, and to their surprise, the contents were actually quite detailed.

The post described in detail the leveling method of the player ranked first on the Heaven Rankings.

And that method left many players completely dumbfounded.

According to the post, that top player had been farming monsters using undead identity and skills.

Wait… Undead race from the Graveyard faction?

At that moment, the Undead faction and race began to catch the attention of players across the entire game world.