"..." Bai You opened her mouth, and the voice that came out was a clear young girl's voice, soft and slightly nasal, completely unlike the deep male voice she had before.
She stared blankly at her slender hands, her mind in chaos.
Fine, she'd transmigrated, but why had she turned into a girl too? And under these circumstances, no less.
She had just transmigrated and already done it with Varesa in the lake, only to discover that she was a cute young girl... a loli.
This is way too ridiculous. Have I become one of those so-called protagonists in novels too?!
"Are you all right?"
A gentle but irritated voice came from behind her.
Bai You froze and slowly turned around-Varesa had swum over at some point.
She was standing a short distance behind her, looking at her with her head tilted slightly.
There was a trace of puzzlement on her face, but more than that, she was angry at being disturbed.
Her lively eyes were opened a little wider now, their irises a pale sky blue, like the sky.
Bai You's heart skipped a beat.
Varesa. A living Varesa. She was standing right in front of her, and she had even spoken to her.
"I... I'm fine..." Bai You stammered, her voice barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.
She instinctively shrank back, wrapping her arms around her chest and curling into a ball.
Seeing her like that, Varesa's lips curved up slightly, as if her anger had eased a little, and she gave her a faint smile.
That smile was exactly the same as in the game, cute and gentle.
"That's good." She took two steps forward and said softly to Bai You, "I think you got my tail just now."
Bai You's face flushed bright red, all the way to the tips of her ears.
"S-sorry!" She abruptly lowered her head, her voice trembling.
"I didn't mean to! I woke up in the water, and then in my mouth... I-I really didn't mean to! Really!"
She gave a jumbled explanation, her head bowed low, not daring to look Varesa in the eye.
Oh my god, this is so embarrassing. I just transmigrated, and already... her tail...
Seeing the cute, bashful girl, Varesa seemed to lose the rest of her anger.
Varesa chuckled softly, her laughter as clear and pleasant as wind chimes.
"It's all right." Her voice was gentle enough to melt.
"But you suddenly popped out of the water and gave me a fright. Where did you come from? How did you suddenly appear in my shell?"
Bai You raised her head and looked at Varesa's face, so close to her own, and her brain crashed again.
For some reason, she instinctively asked, "Where is this?"
"I'm not answering you, because you haven't answered me yet. I just asked where you came from, and why you appeared in my shell."
"One question, one answer, and only then the next question. That's etiquette," Varesa said, seemingly serious.
How was she supposed to explain? Say she had transmigrated from another world, where she had just been eating fish with pickled cabbage in her rented room?
That she had transmigrated after one bite of fish? Tell her she was actually a game character, that Bai You had been about to save up a bride price for her in the game, and had even grinded Snezhnaya's map to full exploration?
If she said that, she'd probably be taken for a lunatic.
"I..." Bai You hemmed and hawed for a long while, but in the end, all she could manage was, "I don't know either... I woke up in the water."
Varesa looked at her, a hint of puzzlement flashing in her eyes.
She instinctively reached out and gently patted Bai You on the head, thinking to comfort the girl in front of her first.
Her palm was warm, and it felt unexpectedly comfortable on Bai You's head.
Suddenly, Varesa sensed that something was wrong. They seemed to be in the water right now. She was a water demon, so she was fine, but the little girl in front of her was probably a normal person.
Varesa instantly grew anxious. She quickly grabbed Bai You's hand and pulled her toward the surface.
Bai You stared at her in a daze, letting her hold her hand.
Varesa's hand was soft, with slender fingers and a warm palm.
The feeling of Varesa holding her hand made Bai You's heart race again.
After some effort, the two of them made it onto the shell.
That scared me to death. Someone almost drowned right next to me. Good thing I reacted quickly, Varesa hurriedly thought.
As soon as they reached the top of the shell, Varesa hurriedly took out a tablet and offered it to Bai You.
"You're soaking wet. You'll catch a cold. Taking this tablet will warm you up."
"Take this tablet first. I thought something was a little strange about you the moment I saw you. Take some time to recover."
Bai You looked down at the little pill in Varesa's hand and said softly, "Thank you. Sorry, I really do need a moment to recover."
Bai You trotted under the shell, out of Varesa's sight. After swallowing the pill, she looked down and took stock of her current state.
Wait.
What was she wearing now?
She looked down at her clothes-a white dress, simply styled and made of thin, light fabric, soaking wet and clinging to her body.
It obviously wasn't the T-shirt and shorts she had been wearing before.
Where had these clothes come from?
And who exactly was the girl she had turned into?
Her body was clearly wet.
Perhaps because of the pill, or because she was embarrassed, her body still felt warm.
Was this really not a dream?
She secretly pinched her arm-it hurt. The pain was very real.
It wasn't a dream.
And the cause of all this was actually a bowl of fish with pickled cabbage???