Steam billowed, leaving mottled traces on the Mirror.
After staring at her reflection for a moment, Withered Heart reached out and vigorously patted her cheeks, trying to make herself look a little better.
Unlike the others, she had become a Player because of an Anomaly Incident. During that incident, which had directly changed her entire life, a strange Puppet Doll had parasitized her body.
...Or perhaps it was symbiosis?
Although having an Anomaly inside her body felt terrible, she could not deny that the strange Puppet Doll had helped her countless times and saved her life more often than she knew.
Over time, she had grown accustomed to its presence.
After all, unless it was a Life and Death crisis, the Puppet Doll was quite well-behaved most of the time and had virtually no impact on her daily life.
...Except for Anna.
From the first time she met that Blonde Loli, the Puppet Doll inside her had been frantically warning her to stay away from Anna... That was the first time she had sensed fear and panic from the Puppet Doll.
Although the Puppet Doll had settled down considerably after the two guilds began interacting more frequently, it would still warn her whenever she came within three meters of Anna.
If she so much as tried to approach Anna, the Puppet Doll would even directly take control of her body...
Still, at least it had finally calmed down.
But she had never expected that after being sent away on assignment for only a month or two, when she saw Anna again, the Puppet Doll would be so terrified—so frightened that it was practically screaming in her ear.
...It was a fear that seemed engraved deep within its soul.
Even now that she was far away from Anna, the Puppet Doll