Theresa: What, the kitty's not dead? Let's celebrate with some bitter melon juice! / What's this? Dangerous foes on a perilous path-let's give it a shot

"* cough cough..."

Feeling the teasing looks from Elysia and Little E, Xia Ling felt a little embarrassed.

"After all, we always need to control the plot's timeline. Otherwise, if they don't realize what's happening and choose to keep dragging it out, then we won't be able to continue, right?"

"It seems Xia Ling still needs to learn more about game development from Bronya."

"Learn from Duck Duck? Spare me, it'll really explode..."

Xia Ling quickly raised her hands in surrender. Elysia wasn't quite sure what was going on, but she felt that Duck Duck's blueprint for the game empire that she had described to her in the past two days was very grand. But didn't Xia Ling know what it was all about?

"However, in this part of the story..." Elysia's expression was somewhat puzzled. "You know so much about Vill-V's ego and 'Extreme Evil,' but don't you have any other doubts about Vill-V?"

"Of course I did, but I shifted the blame onto you." Xia Ling said smugly, hands on her hips.

"If there are any questions, the right of interpretation belongs to Elysia. Just ask because Elysia told me, hehe~"

"Are you using me as some kind of go-to excuse...?"

Elysia looked somewhat helpless. "Besides, you don't think Vill-V can't tell, do you?"

"It's alright, even if she figures it out, Vill-V won't say anything." Xia Ling's face was extremely confident, or more accurately, confident in Elysia.

"After all... Elysia is still here."

"Really, you trust me that much..." Elysia seemed to have thought of something, and a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

"What if one day, Vill-V and I team up and sell you out?"

"Eh— Elysia would actually be willing to sell your lovely Xia Ling?"

Xia Ling's face showed an expression that said, "I'm going to cause trouble."

"Hmm~ You never know!"

Meanwhile, Mei and Kiana had already finished their painful story time.

After experiencing the ordeal of having to attack that invincible unit, Mei being immobilized by the erosion, and how the erosion was seen through by Serpent and Kevin, the two finally completed this dramatic battle milestone.

"There's another Safe Corner ahead... and another door..."

Seeing the familiar node name and the tightly closed door in front of her, Mei couldn't help but get goosebumps. "Is this going to be the same plot as the Elysian Realm Archives again?"

"If we're following the plot, then we're still in Vill-V's mind world right now."

Kiana reminded us, "According to the previous plot, we should have been saved by a mysterious guy."

"As for who saved us and why they saved us... we'll probably find out at the next point in the story."

With that, Kiana pushed open the door in front of her.

Then they saw a woman Vill-V, who wasn't wearing that exaggerated hat, had only one color of hair but was still fluffy, and had a serene expression, sitting quietly on the sofa.

Seemingly hearing the door open, the quiet Vill-V raised her head.

"Hi, you're finally here."

"However, how should I introduce myself? Long time no see, or... nice to meet you?"

Chapter 88 Theresa: What? The cat's not dead? Let's celebrate with a bottle of bitter melon juice!

"Hmm? Why aren't you saying anything? Are you too surprised?"

Seeing that the two of them hadn't spoken yet, the self-conscious Vill-V tilted her head in confusion.

"While I am indeed somewhat different from the other Vill-V, it's not that surprising... Is it because I'm too quiet? Or is it because I'm too ordinary, which disappoints you?"

"You are... the authentic Vill-V, a... con artist?"

"But, just now, Extreme Evil clearly said that she has already wiped out all the areas..."

"That's just one of my little habits. After all, no one has ever said that the id must stay in the id's zone, right?"

There was a hint of cunning in Vill-V's voice. As the part of herself that was most conscious for the shortest period of time, she unexpectedly retained many of the characteristics that a girl of her age should have.

"Just like a spider has eight legs, but they still have to grow from a body, right? It's just that without the support of the legs, the body can't move an inch."

"But..." Mei still couldn't understand. "If you can do this, why did you allow Extreme Evil to cooperate with Corruption in the first place?"

"Ah, it seems that the information you gathered was incomplete, leading to a misunderstanding..." Myself's Vill-V smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

"Actually, I've been asleep most of the time, and the duration... is probably longer than 50,000 years."

"The Vill-V you see most often, the conductor—she was the first area I divided, so it was mixed with too much subjectivity, making her almost exactly like me... That's why I gave her the right to divide my thoughts."

"As for when the erosion came knocking... the first victim was the expert, and after the conductor discovered this, he immediately chose to sacrifice the Extreme Evil area."

Do you think this was a wrong choice?

"No... I don't know." My ego shook his head. "But all the current arrangements are actually a counter-strategy based on this unexpected event."

"Or perhaps it was because the conductor foresaw that the area would choose to betray, that he deliberately chose this method—after all, by doing so, the last id could survive and remain in the shadows where no one knows."

"Wow..." Kiana's eyes were already rolling around as she listened. "What are these people's brains made of... I have a hard time even understanding what they're saying, how did they come up with something like this?"

"No need to worry about it, Miss Kiana... Everyone has different strengths, I just happen to have some insignificant talent in this area."

"Thank you for your comfort... No, wait." Kiana's dazed eyes suddenly cleared, and her voice held a hint of surprise. "Wait, you, you can see me?"

As mentioned before, since the main perspective of this story is Mei, even if Kiana is standing next to Mei during the story, the others will ignore her, and this will likely continue even after more teammates are recruited.

But... now that we're clearly in the story, why can this id version of Vill-V hear her voice and talk to her?

"Huh, you only just noticed?" Mystic Vill-V was clearly more surprised than she was. "But I've been watching both of you the whole time!"

"I thought you guys had already figured out that I wasn't an NPC."

"Huh?" ×2

"Actually, it's just a little habit of mine. Because the trial is so important, even if I don't leave a back door, the other Vill-V will do the same."

I shrugged helplessly and explained, "So, it's better for me to leave a harmless little backdoor myself, so that when the other Vill-V see it, they won't leave any more backdoors."

"Is this some kind of weird space-hogging behavior...?" Mei couldn't help but complain.

"You can understand it that way, but if you want me to help you cheat, that's not possible~ I can only tell you some information that you should know."

"It's alright, just don't tell riddles!" Kiana perked up immediately. "So, Herrschers still have a way to defeat the erosion?"

"Yes, even if we can't stop Extreme Evil, she will eventually wipe out everyone... including Corruption."

My ego sighed, "After all, she's a genius who possesses half of my mind. Doing something like this might not be difficult for her."

"Of course, don't worry. Those Flame-Chasers she personally killed, like Kevin, Pardo, Mobius, will naturally have a way to come back."

"Really?"

Mei and Kiana's eyes lit up at the sight of the naked eye.

"Of course... 'Extreme Evil' must have modified Kevin's Destruction button so that it can be used on all Flame-Chasers."

Idi continued, "But as I just said, out of habit, the Vill-V always add backdoors to their works, and Kevin's destruction button is no exception."

"The Extreme Evil's approach to this is to close the back door... but since she can close it, the experts who left the back door open it as well."

"So Pardo can come back? That's great!"

Kiana was now excited to open a bottle of champagne, but of course, there didn't seem to be anything for her to open.

But the situation is different for Theresa outside.

Theresa had already wiped away her tears and, as quickly as possible, took out her treasured concentrated bitter melon juice.

"Hehe, I knew that under my tutelage, Xia Ling would have a healthy, sunny, and positive mindset, and sure enough..."

While happily opening the bitter melon juice and taking a big gulp, Theresa couldn't help but laugh out loud.

As Lu Xun once said, if you want to open a skylight, everyone will definitely not allow it, but if you advocate tearing down the roof, they will come to mediate and agree to open a skylight.

Given that the original expectation was that Flame-Chasers would be wiped out, the ego suddenly says that the cat will be resurrected, Kevin will be resurrected, and it even seems that Vill-V really has a way to defeat the corruption... Theresa will naturally be overjoyed.

Although Flame-Chasers already has several confirmed casualties, the current situation is still better than a total wipeout. If Xia Ling really creates some kind of gruesome scene like thirteen broken glass walls for her, she will definitely cry herself to death.

"Haha, this toast is to Pardo, who's about to win the revival match!"

Chapter 89 What is this? Perilous Enemy, let's fight!

"Haha, it seems you guys are quite concerned about Pardo and the others..." Seeing the two of them so happy, and thinking about the plot to come, the self-conscious Vill-V couldn't help but feel a pang of conscience.

After all, according to Xia Ling's script... the later plot might be a little different from what they guessed.

Thinking of this, Vill-V quickly changed the subject.

"Now that you have a complete understanding of the incident, there are only two things left to do."

"One is to defeat the other me and liberate you from my mind."

"That might be a tough battle, after all... she has half of Vill-V's mind. If things go wrong, she might kill us all."

"As for the second thing, it's even more difficult. You need to defeat the Herrscher of Corruption and achieve the best possible outcome for everyone."

"As much as possible... the best?"

"Yes, that was a promise I made to Elysia a long time ago. In reality, there are other ways to fulfill this promise, but here, I'm afraid it will be up to you to do it."

"As for the details, let's talk about them after we finish the first thing. I don't want Xia Ling to complain about me for giving away spoilers."

"So, what do you think...? Are you willing?"

"Of course, but... aren't you coming with us?"

Kiana asked in confusion, after all, this Vill-V was obviously quite meticulous in her work, and the word she had just used was "you".

"Of course I'll be with you, but that might not count as me."

"Leaving this point—or rather, this Safe Corner... will disable my backdoor after we leave." The authentic Vill-V smiled helplessly. "After all, this is Xia Ling's masterpiece; I can't leave too much of my mark..."

"Besides, I'm not sure I can act out the next script perfectly, after all, I don't have any talent for acting..."

"Really... I feel like you're being a bit too modest," Mei couldn't help but retort.

"Haha, well, I'm not exactly a genius after all..." The real Vill-V stood up, her attire now in the same mechanical style as the other Vill-V.

"So... goodbye? Although we probably won't see each other again, since I spend most of my time sleeping..."

Then it is in this Elysian Realm.

"Xia Ling, shut your mouth... honestly, your drool is getting all over my clothes!"

Elysia held Xia Ling, who was convulsing against her chest, while looking at her helplessly.

However, don't misunderstand, Xia Ling's convulsions at this moment were not due to any strange reason, but simply because she was amused by Theresa's performance.

"Well, Theresa's expression... it was just too funny..."

Xia Ling, who was about to roll on the floor laughing, tried her best to control her expression. "Cheers to the cat's resurrection! Hahahaha, I can't take it anymore..."

"Seriously, you're not going to become the first Origin to die laughing in history, are you...?" Elysia rested her chin on her hand, looking at Xia Ling with doting eyes. "Never mind, never mind, it's rare to see you so happy..."

"Ahem, well, there's nothing I can do, Theresa is just too lively. She even said she really likes her id..." Xia Ling rubbed her face vigorously to restore her expression.

"However, I was indeed unaware of the backdoor to Vill-V..."

"I don't know either!"

Little E said with a proud look on his face.

"What are you so proud of about this!" Xia Ling patted Little E's head. "After all, she is Vill-V... how could she leave a backdoor that you could spot?"

"However, the effect of this back door is surprisingly good. At least Kiana and Mei's mood has visibly improved... I was worried that they would get depressed halfway through."

Xia Ling's face was filled with undisguised joy. "After all, the main event is about to begin."

"Next? You mean the Fourth Floor?"

"Yes, of course, the Fourth Floor is not just about the plot I left you; even the level mechanics are quite... anthropomorphic."

Meanwhile, Mei and Kiana had also finished the remaining plot within the Mind Boundary.