Final Preparations

Xia Lun's voice echoed through the courtyard. For a moment, even the howling wind seemed to fall silent.

"Age reset to zero?" White Line froze.

After a long pause, she grabbed the Swordsmanship Helmet and pulled it off her head like a turnip.

"What happens when my age hits zero?" she asked, tilting her head.

"I don't know," Xia Lun said, shaking his head. "But it can't be good. The Evil Spirit released an attack, not a blessing. Maybe you'll disappear from the world entirely."

Worry crept into White Line's vacant eyes.

Xia Lun decided to try a terrible joke to comfort her. "If being too old means dying of old age, maybe being too young means dying of young age. Look on the bright side, White Line. People die of old age all the time, but dying of young age? That's rare."

"..." White Line frowned and fell silent. Then her brow cleared, and she laughed with surprising ease. "Not bad, Xia Lun. Anyway, let's not worry about that now. Let's practice swordsmanship. As long as I have the Snail Statue, I'm sure I can find a solution in the game."

She put the helmet back on, her voice growing brighter. "Once my Intelligence gets back to ten and I become normal again, I'll recover a lot of my fighting strength. With my mental resistance so high now, I might even be stronger than before."

Xia Lun fell silent. After watching her for a moment, he realized with surprise that White Line was genuinely happy. The bad news seemed to have left her untouched.

Looking into the clear eyes behind the carbon-black visor, Xia Lun suddenly saw another benefit of the Foolishness Specialty: fools had no worries!

If anything, White Line seemed eager for their next swordfight.

Xia Lun