The Maid

Lu Li looked at the small, dark green cube in the Witch's hand. Its color was different, but it felt just like a module. Hu Wenxu and Gao Xiaowen were also drawn to it. A way to extract modules artificially—if they could figure it out, it would greatly improve their strength.

For now, players could only make do with whatever modules they got. At most, they could trade with others or buy a few in the store, then use their imagination to piece together some skills. Those skills often had serious structural flaws. Not everyone had gained as much as Lu Li had in his first instance. Most players only got the guaranteed 200 Game Points from their first instance, along with a possible completion draw. That meant at most three or four modules from one instance, making it extremely difficult to put together a skill.

Trading on the forum was difficult, too. Most new players just combined whatever they had to make their first skill, forcing the modules together into some kind of unrecognizable mess. Things only improved after a few instances, once they had collected more modules. But even Hu Wenxu and the others were desperately short of them.

The Witch put away the green module. Seeing their curious looks, she came right out and explained the secret. "I used that thing to absorb certain factors, then extracted specific ones and combined them into a fixed form. It takes a high level of knowledge in pharmacology, the occult, and sorcery. If you want to learn, you'll need the right aptitude and at least ten years of study before you have any chance."

The others immediately lost interest. Players needed time, and even an instance lasted only ten days to half a month at most. Who had time to study for ten years? They were better off figuring out how to complete their missions and clear their instances.

"Come on. Let's pick up a few things first, then go see the little mermaid who's been bewitched by a human..." The Witch sighed. Somehow, Lu Li heard a hint of dejection and resignation in the sound.

The Witch led the way, and Xu Haoran immediately followed. He had less and less of himself left; by now, he had practically become the Witch's possession. As soon as they left the area around the Witch's cabin, darkness fell completely. Stars glittered overhead, as if foreshadowing something.

They headed toward the shore. The traces left by the black-furred monster that day were still there, along with some fresh tracks not far away. They were probably from Hu Wenxu's mission to lure a monster toward the sea. Lu Li understood: they must have been left when Hu Wenxu completed it. Judging by the tracks, that monster had been huge, too.

Before long, they reached the shore. The Witch walked alone onto the rocks and began chanting an ancient spell in a hoarse voice. The tides surged, and broken bones were carried onto the beach. It was as if some terrible disaster were brewing beneath the waves. Clouds blotted out the stars, and the wind carried the briny stench of the sea. A monster from beneath the surface slowly emerged.

Its body was glossy black, with a tar-like, gelatinous sheen. It had no fixed shape, like an amoeba, and writhed incessantly. Yellow-green eyes, like pustules, opened at random across its surface and glimmered faintly, only to dissolve moments later as new ones formed elsewhere. As the monster rose from the sea, it brought with it a nauseating stench. Its immense body crushed the bones and rocks on the beach as it stood before the Witch. Somewhere inside it, an unknown vocal organ let out a series of terrifying, mocking cries: "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"

Just looking at this monster could drive someone mad. An ordinary person who saw it would be scared out of their wits, their SAN plummeting. It was arguably the most disgusting monster of all. Its mere existence was evil.

The Witch stood before the monster, never stopping the mysterious, ancient chant. A mysterious force confined its formless body, twisting, distorting, and shrinking it until it finally landed before the Witch and transformed into a green-haired girl in a maid outfit. The maid stood before the Witch, her face blank.

The clouds slowly dispersed, revealing the stars. But everyone present was focused on the maid that the monster had become. Hu Wenxu was drenched in cold sweat, yet his expression betrayed an intense desire to study her. Gao Xiaowen looked as if she had simply given up, though sweat had also beaded on her forehead.

By then, Xu Haoran had already broken down. He had always had a weakness in his heart, and the visual pollution from that monster had turned his mind into a sieve. So he could only look up at the calm-faced Witch and lose himself in fervent love for her, hoping that would keep him from immediately destroying himself.

"Come on... Let's complete... the last part I'm missing..." The Witch's voice was like a sigh. He looked at his increasingly perfect body, then at the people around him. He knew he could not escape his fate. The conditions had come together one by one; there was no avoiding it now.

At the Witch's command, the maid jumped into the sea. A boat appeared beneath her feet. She watched them all with an impassive expression, and they climbed aboard one by one. Xu Haoran looked unwilling, but still followed the Witch onto the boat. As Lu Li stepped onto its fleshy hull, he glanced at the still-unfazed maid and wondered how he would escape if the boat capsized after Hu Wenxu, who looked ready to dissect her, angered her.

Once everyone was aboard, the boat set off on its own. Beneath the surface, countless tentacles seemed to sway, keeping the boat moving at a good speed. Fortunately, none of them was ordinary—or, rather, no normal person would have boarded. Anyone who could ride this boat was already close to being locked up in a psychiatric hospital.

In the darkness, the small flesh boat carried them onward. Lu Li and the others had already handed the map to the maid. The Witch stood at the bow, gazing at the still sea, lost in thought. Looking at the perfect, unfamiliar face reflected in the water, he smiled coldly. Ever since inheriting the Witch's power, he had been unwilling every step of the way, but as one turning point after another arrived, he had finally set foot on this path.

And now, all the conditions had come together. He touched the green module of near-Integration inside his wizard's robe, slowly merging with his body, and felt his heart changing. Little by little, he was becoming not himself, not human. Then, as a thought struck him, the Witch turned and looked at Lu Li, who was gazing curiously into the water. For some reason, he said, "No coincidence is truly a coincidence; every accident is inevitable. There's something about you..."

The Witch abruptly stopped speaking and turned away, his face dark with gloom...