“Welcome back.”

  Feiyu stood up leisurely, twirling the blade effortlessly in his hand. He didn’t even bother looking up at me, seeming completely uninterested as he gazed around the room.

  I kept my chin tilted, glaring up at him as he approached. Finally, he met my gaze; his eyes squinted and a cocky grin immediately spread across his face. “You were fast. I thought it would’ve taken your party far longer to get through the rooms. I’m really impressed, Peijin, honestly.”

  “Ha! You’re even more annoying than the last time we met. I didn’t realize that was possible.”

  Feiyu feigned a hurt expression, a pout on his lips as he clutched his chest. “What, did I say something wrong? I was just extending my genuine compliments.”

  My eye twitched. I put on a fake smile and turned around to face my party. “Go ahead and rest. I’ll figure things out here. I’ll update you guys on everything later.”

  Yang looked visibly uncomfortable—after all, he was there the first time Feiyu and I met, and he knew how poorly we hit it off.

  Yang nodded at me before turning to scoop up Amelia, clearly eager to leave. He quickly ordered the rest of the party. “Let’s get off the platform and take some time to recover.”

  Wei and Yue followed, but not before Yue raised a brow and stared me up and down before leaving.

  Now, Feiyu and I stood alone on the platform. He leaned against his tall purple blade casually; I clenched a restless Zhige in my hand.

  “Where’s the rest of your party?” I asked firmly.

  “You’re not going to ask how I am first?”

  “Why would I?”

  “It would be good for us to get along. We’ll be seeing a lot of each other from now on.”

  “Not if I can help it.”

  Feiyu’s face lit up boyishly. He rested his chin on the top of his sword, now at eye-level with me. “You know, I’m really curious about you.”

  At once, my patience ran thin, and my face flushed bright red. “Are you always so r-rash?!”

  We both froze at my stammer, and I only became more frustrated as his smile grew.

  “Do you just get a kick out of teasing me or something?” I exclaimed.

  Feiyu stood straight up again. “No, but the observers sure do.”

  A blue screen opened up before him, and he turned it around to face me. It showed his observer’s chat, as hundreds of messages flooded through.

  [Observer’s Chat]

  SJJC: This is my favorite part of watching Feiyu

  OwnPen: Keep this up and we’ll give more stars!!

  Socrates: Aww she’s so cute haha

  TarteJuice: HAHA you’re the only one that can get a reaction out of such a prickly disciple

  CrownFill: That’s right she doesn’t even show that much emotion for her party members

  Ahoy987: Feiyu you can fix her

  Landy: FIX HER LOL

  UCh888: He can’t fix her if he’s like the better version of her…

  Then, hundreds of smaller blue screens flashed all around him like notifications.

  Observer TarteJuice sponsors 3 stars.

  Observer CrownFill sponsors 2 stars.

  Observer Ahoy987 sponsors 6 stars.

  Observer Socrates sponsors 1 star.

  Observer OwnPen sponsors 3 stars.

  …

  Socrates, you damn traitor.

  Not only that, but this bastard was using my reactions to turn a profit?!

  Feiyu quickly closed all the chaotic blue screens and tilted his head at me curiously, that lazy and mischievous look still on his face. “Get it now?”

  In my peripheral vision, my private chat with a certain observer was going off.

  [Observers Chat]

  Socrates: Jia Li, I promise it’s not what it looks like.

  Socrates: Wait, Jia Li, don’t be mad at me.

  Socrates: Isn’t it only natural that I support both of you? I read Surviving My First Run for Feiyu after all

  Socrates: I’m sure Jia Li understands

  Socrates: Right?

  Socrates: Please don’t ignore me, Jia Li. I’m still your #1 fan.

  Observer Socrates sponsors 100 stars.

  [Observers Chat]

  Socrates: I know Jia Li likes money…

  I crossed my arms before Feiyu. “You’re a bit of a social media star, aren’t you? And you definitely have the ego to match.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Feiyu let out a hearty laugh and my eyes widened for a moment, surprised by his genuine reaction. He began walking up the stairs leading out of platform 1, and I absentmindedly followed him.

  “Can you blame me?” Feiyu asked, “The stars add up.”

  “Of course you’re greedy, too.”

  Feiyu becoming a disciple sensation among the observers made complete senese. With the added observer feature, which diverged heavily from Survivng My First Run, Feiyu would have the direct support of his original fans and thus a steady flow of income.

  Afterall, even in the world before the apocalypse, his only job was to entertain readers. His role hadn’t changed at all.

  “Peijin, how old are you?”

  “Guess,” I said confidently, tilting my chin up a bit. I was confident I looked younger than my age.

  “Barely twenty.”

  Score!

  “I do look very youthful, don’t I? But, I’m actually twenty-four. That’s why I’m so mature despite my good looks.”

  “Hmm, is that so? Well, since I’m only twenty-three, I guess I better listen to my senior.”

  “Obviously! And—”

  I winced in pain as we reached the top step and grabbed onto my side. I was still bleeding from the various wounds that Wei had inflicted upon me. When I pulled my fingers back, they were coated in the red liquid.

  I must have gotten distracted talking to Feiyu. For a brief moment, I got so swept up in our banter that I had forgotten about the circumstances that surrounded us.

  This was dangerous.

  Feiyu’s eyes darted down to my wound, but he didn’t say anything. In fact, he turned away when I purchased the simplest healing elixir and downed it quickly, wiping my mouth with my sleeve.

  “My party is waiting by the main security kiosk. There’s a total of five people in the party, including me.” Feiyu finally answered my original question.

  I paused for a moment, feeling anxious about the question that had lingered in the back of my mind all this time.

  “Feiyu, is there a young girl in your party?”

  “Yes. I’m sure she’d get along well with Amelia. They’re not too different in age.”

  A feeling of bitterness went through me again, and I did my best to hide my sour expression.

  Scathing Reviewer activated!

  It wasn’t like I could hate my sister for the sins of our mother.

  Still, that didn’t change how I felt about the whole thing. I was bitter that I was never the one destined to be loved. Wasn’t I still deserving of some?

  At the very least, I wanted to try and love others. My party deserved it.

  Lost in my thoughts, Karma’s words once again crowded my mind like an angry swarm of wasps.

  “Every relationship you forge is your karma because you will always destroy the other person, Liu Peijin.”

  “No one needs you. They need Feiyu.”

  I felt a gentle touch on my elbow and jumped, reaching for Zhige with wicked speed before I realized it was only Feiyu who tapped me.

  “When you go quiet like that, I don’t know what you’re thinking,” he said softly.

  “So, what does it matter? I don’t need you to fucking psychoanalyze me now, too.”

  I grew cold instantly, blocking off Feiyu. I didn’t bother to reflect on why there was a flicker of confusion in his normally ridiculing gaze.

  We were finally approaching the kiosk. I saw my party at a separate one a little more than a hundred feet away. Yue was passed out on the ground from exhaustion with Amelia splayed over her abdomen. Wei, still shaken, sat further away, his head resting in his hand as Yang sat just beside him, comforting him and holding a glass with some sort of drink.

  Feiyu followed my longing gaze, but I quickly glared at him when I realized what he was doing.

  We were just in front of the kiosk when a head shot out from the entrance. It was a young boy with messy but straight brown hair. His eyes were wide and friendly.

  “Hello, hello!” He waved his right arm wildly and popped back into the kiosk. An old, grumbled shout could be heard before the young boy stumbled out, quickly rushing over to greet me.

  “You’re Liu Peijin, right? I’m Huang Cheng!” The boy eagerly took my hand and shook it in both of his, quickly flicking his head back to flip his hair out of his eyes. “I’ve been so excited to meet you. I was about to run over when Feiyu-shushu said he was going to wait for you on the platform, but he said I had to sit here and wait for you to come over. I told him I’d leave a much better first impression he would but—”

  Cheng let out a light yelp as an older man approached behind him, quickly pinching his ear and pulling him away from me. “What did I tell you about running your mouth?”

  Cheng instantly pouted and his arms went limp at his side. “Not to do it…”

  [Observers Chat]

  Socrates: My favorite original duo is here!

  The cranky old man was just about the same height as the still growing Cheng, who was no older than sixteen. I knew this because both Cheng and this elderly man were characters from Surviving My First Run.

  Once his ear was finally released, Cheng resumed at a slower pace, holding onto his bright red ear. “This is Sun Yuan. I accidentally woke him up from his nap when I came out to greet you, which is why he’s a bit cranky, but he’s usually very nice,” Cheng insisted, casting a nervous glance at Yuan before laughing awkwardly.

  Cheng and Yuan formed a powerful attachment as soon as the apocalypse began, mostly due to their past trauma. Cheng was a sixteen-year-old boy who had been relentlessly abandoned by every foster family he had. Yuan, on the other hand, lost his daughter to various mental health issues. Her death led to his divorce from his wife and eventual spiral into decades of loneliness.

  It was only natural that these two would find comfort in each other. I was glad Socrates didn’t know what happened in my dungeon room, or else he would’ve realized how sickly self-indulgent this duo was. Once again, my characters were just an extension of my own insecurities and desires.

  Yuan grumbled something undetectable under his breath before he scratched the base of his chin. White stubble was poking out, and his skin was speckled from years under the sun, but his eyes were still bright and perceptive.

  “So, you are the acclaimed Liu Peijin. Feiyu sure takes an interest in you.”

  “And you are Sun Yuan. Feiyu told me all about your incredible accomplishments during our walk up here.” I put on a bright and cheery look on my face, trying to mimic Cheng’s.

  Feiyu tensed beside me from both my lie and change in demeanor.

  Yuan let out a pleased chuckle. “Oh, did he? What did he say?”

  “He was talking about how brilliant you were in Cheng’s room. You did a lot to save him from that illusion.”

  “Ha! I’m surprised he gave me any credit for that whatsoever. It’s hard when Ruoming is always stealing the stage.”

  … Who the hell was Ruoming?

  In Surviving My First Run, when Cheng was stuck in the horrors of his past in a similar manner to the way I was, Yuan managed to pull him out of the dungeon’s illusions. It was the moment that strengthened their bond.

  Feiyu interjected, “Be careful, Yuan. Peijin is a master of flattery, too. Don’t get swept off your feet.”

  Feiyu then nodded his chin toward the kiosk, letting out a soft chuckle. “Put the gun down. Come out and say hi.”

  My jaw-dropped at Feiyu’s casual statement. “You’ve had a gun pointed at me this entire time?!” I exclaimed. I was dropping my guard far too much around Feiyu. Hindsight absolutely could’ve picked on such a stupid stunt if I was paying more attention.

  He turned to me with a light-hearted smile. “Wouldn’t you have done the same?”

  Before I could continue bickering with him, a small figure exited the kiosk. It was an almost comical sight—a little girl holding a massive rifle in tiny hands.

  Scathing Reviewer activated!

  Honestly, she looked nothing like me. If I hadn’t known we were related, I wouldn’t have ever assumed it.

  She couldn’t have been much older than Amelia. Her hair was long and dark brown; her cheeks were filled and face round; and her brows were straight, making her look shy regardless of her expression. But, we both had our mother’s wide, brown eyes.

  I had no clue how to react. Should I try to win over this girl's favor? But, I had no clue what she liked. Would it be weird to ask? Maybe I’d come off too strong? My nose scrunched from the effort of the thought.

  She took a cautious few steps toward me, and I did the same. Finally, when I was near enough, I hesitated before slowly lifting a hand to ruffle the top of her head, unsure of what else to do.

  Immediately, she cringed back and raced to Feiyu’s side, where he quickly lifted her up into his arms and laughed. “What a scaredy cat. Peijin, this is Zhang Qijing. She’ll warm up to you quickly, I promise.”

  So, her name was Zhang Qijing. I could barely hold back my bitter laughter. Our mother had given us wickedly similar names but brutally different fates. “Qijing” meant precious, gentle, and elegant jade. Of course, my name meant “full of gemstones and fine jade,” but it equally damned me with the weight of failed ambition and tragedy.

  I looked up at Qijing as she clung tightly onto Feiyu, her face buried against his shoulder as she cast me an apprehensive, almost hostile, look. She clung onto Feiyu the same way I had clung to his character when I was fourteen, and the same way Amelia clung onto me.

  “Must run in the family,” I laughed, running a hand through my hair before sighing, shaking my head.

  It was beyond me now. There was nothing for me to do but stand back and watch from the sidelines. Feiyu had made that decision for me—he took up any spot by my sister that I might have had a chance of standing in.