"That wraps it up, woof!"
With a forced cheer, Lin Yiyi finished filling in the rest of the details for the video upload and clicked the button to schedule the post.
"Full process, all collectibles, all bosses, 'Solitary Dog: Die Twice' story walkthrough compilation, part 15! I've finally completed the last ending... time to add a 'completed' tag."
Lin Yiyi sighed, her body slumping in her chair as though all her bones had been removed: "What should I start next... The snowfield? That one's not out yet, plus it's not really my style. It'd be fine to stream for fun. Maybe I should fill the gap with 'Ghost Cry 5'?"
She was a full-time UP (uploading professional) in the single-player gaming section, with a modest following.
Though a female gamer, her skills were sharp and her playstyle aggressive, known for being rash, proactive, and quick to react.
Because of her skill—the main factor—and her unpretentious personality, often releasing monster-like high-pitched screams and wild laughter like clashing plates in games; when she calmed down, her voice was soft and gentle.
This split-personality-like trait attracted a bunch of quirky fans to Lin Yiyi.
Looking at the "Current Speed 3.7M/S, Remaining time 47:12" message, she relaxed.
Not too bad, won't have to wait too long.
The review channel should be pretty smooth at this time... I'll wait until it passes before I go to sleep.
Thinking this, Lin Yiyi looked up at the clock on the wall and found the hour and minute hands just met.
Meaning, by the time the review was finished, it wouldn't even be one o'clock.
She felt extremely exhausted and wanted to sleep while she was editing the video; but now that she had finished the work, she suddenly felt energized again.
Going to sleep now would be admitting defeat!
Admitting defeat to her youthful and robust body!
Lin Yiyi calmly picked up her phone: "Why not check out the latest updates on the novels I follow...
She uttered a soft gasp, noticing an APP that had appeared on her phone desktop at some unknown time.
It was named "Mist Continent," and the cover featured an avatar of a cute boy with black hair and blue eyes, his expression cold.
"Hiss... Which unscrupulous skin-stealing mobile game stole this character design?"
Lin Yiyi couldn't help but complain: "This straightforward marketing aimed at targeting preferences, I just can't...
She opened the APP without hesitation.
Unexpectedly, the optimization of the game was quite good. At the very least, the response was fast; the moment she tapped it, a luxuriously realistic video started playing.
Lin Yiyi almost wondered if this was a cool movie-based game she hadn't heard of—
A noble boy with a chilly face, who looked to be only about twelve or thirteen, issued an authoritative voice at a critical moment. Though she couldn't understand the language, luckily there were subtitles below.
"Leon, my lord. Leon Coleman... We come from Roth Fort."
The sleazy-looking bandit, slightly bowing, let out a shrill voice. Triumph gleamed in his eyes.
"Catch them, leave no one behind—"
In the face of unjust plunder, the young lord drew a fine shortsword, his expression resolute, and held it high with no fear.
In the end, the frame froze on his icy blue eyes filled with murderous intent... and the morning light reflecting off the raised blade.
His voice was youthful yet authoritative, with enough confidence and power to inspire:
"—Regardless of life or death!"
The next moment, the video abruptly ended.
The hopeful morning light that was like a beacon suddenly spread across the entire screen.
Then Lin Yiyi suddenly felt as if the hand she had placed on the screen... had passed through it.
The next moment, her consciousness plunged into a world of pure white. Like hurtling down at incredible speed, she felt a terrifying sensation as though she was falling off a cliff in a dream.
And then, she suddenly awoke.
To find herself in a paused world.
She was clad in simple, sturdy leather armor, carrying a sharp and somewhat heavy iron sword in her hands.
Startled, she used the reflection of her blade to get a glimpse of her face with the flickering firelight.
It was indeed her face... an exact replica.
But as a self-proclaimed thin otaku, Lin Yiyi was keenly aware of her own physical strength. She could confirm the weight of the sword, which further told her she definitely could not wield it so effortlessly.
Then, the space before her rippled like water, revealing a floor-length mirror.
But the mirror was shrouded in darkness, with only one line of text:
[Please name your game character]
[Warning: Once confirmed, this name cannot be changed!]
"What the hell kind of black tech is this?"
Lin Yiyi couldn't help but blurt out a swear: "An alien-made game?"
The most critical thing is, without giving me a keyboard, how am I supposed to type anythingggg!?
She hesitated for a moment, then tentatively replied,"Yiyi?"
This was her usual nickname and the name of her UP account.
The light screen in front of her immediately updated with the text:
"Yiyi, do you confirm?"
"...to be able to recognize homophonic characters too."
Lin Yiyi muttered to herself and reached out to press the "confirm" button.
The mirror rippled again, and then displayed her character panel:
Human, Female, Level 5
Attributes: Strength 6, Agility 6, Constitution 6, Perception 5, Will 5
Free Attribute Points: 2
Swordsman LV5: [Basic Swordsmanship LV1], [Parry LV1], [Charge LV1], [Full Force Strike LV1], Free Skill Point 1
[Please confirm your initial panel]
"...the degree of freedom isn't very high."
Before her, although she had two free attribute points, only "Strength," "Agility," and "Constitution" had the glowing plus sign next to them.
She hesitated a moment, but decided to allocate one point each to Strength and Agility.
Although she knew that when in doubt, adding to HP was always the safest choice... she didn't like being so passive. And judging from the initial attribute table, attribute points seemed to be very precious, not to be wasted lightly.
If it weren't for her worry that her 6 points of Strength might be overpowered by others, she even wanted to add all the points to Agility.
"Skills... what to choose."
Lin Yiyi hesitated somewhat.
Perhaps influenced by the game "Solitary Dog: Die Twice" she had just finished playing, she unpredictably clicked on "Parry."
Then the ripples before her eyes vanished once again.
What reappeared was herself—in her bare-faced state.
[Please make some minor adjustments]
[Warning: Only beautification is allowed, the maximum beautification range must not exceed 50%]
How do you judge what counts as beautification?
Although Lin Yiyi had the strong desire to wildly manipulate the face of an ancient god, when she looked at her own face in the mirror, she ultimately chickened out.
...Forget it, what if it can't be undone?
After pondering for a long time, she slightly whitened her skin and then increased her bust size by two sizes. She then made some minor tweaks to mimic the look of her usual makeup and unexpectedly found that the beautification bar had barely risen by 25%.
"That should do, that should do."
She ended the face customizing somewhat reluctantly.
Of course, the bigger reason was her eagerness to find out what the game was like...
After clicking confirm again, the mirror displayed a piece of text.
This must be an important introduction to the plot.
Lin Yiyi immediately concentrated and read carefully.
[Even Earl Geraint couldn't protect the life of his youngest son—Tan Juan Geraint. Perhaps sending Tan Juan to the most remote Beihai was the last retreat he planned for his son.]
Beneath this text was a rough sketch of Annan's face.
[But Tan Juan Geraint didn't accept his fate and decided to carve out his own career in this cold frontier.]
The scene shifted to the last second of the CG on the mobile phone—the young lord drawing his sword.
[You are his trusted, pride-worthy loyal guards. After disembarking, you received an order from Tan Juan to go to the nearby town to collect information. Unfortunately, you didn't find any clues.]
The scene turned into a sketch of a ring.
[Now, you plan to return to Frostwater Harbor and report back to young master Tan Juan. But less than three kilometers from the town, you find a group of men lying in ambush—quickly recognizing them as Roth Fort Viscount's private soldiers, carrying the dangerous 'Black Fire', planning to murder your lord and slaughter the people here.]
There were no illustrations beneath this paragraph.
But as Lin Yiyi finished reading this text, the mirror began to fade.
The world around her gradually became more real, and time, which was frozen, began to flow slowly—
Lin Yiyi quickly noticed several shifty-looking people holding weapons, ambushing in the dim areas.
And it seemed they hadn't seen her.
The last thing that appeared before her eyes was a line of blood-red text.
"Kill them all, spare none."
[You have obtained the main quest: Ordeal of the Black Fire]
[Quest Requirements: Kill all Roth Fort private soldiers within thirty minutes (0/114), destroy or control all Black Fire (0/50)]
[Special Requirement 1 (+20 Rating): Complete the quest in one try without dying (deaths exceeding three will lower the rating) (0/1)]
[Special Requirement 2 (+40 Rating): No injuries sustained throughout (0/1)]
[Special Requirement 3 (+40 Rating): At least kill three enemies alone (0/3)]
After Lin Yiyi made out the quest requirements, these captions all vanished.
She suddenly began to hear sounds, felt the flow of the wind on her skin, and even smelled the pungent odor.
What the hell kind of game is this—
She repeated this question in her mind countless times.
But she didn't voice her complaints.
Instead, before the two men in front of her noticed her, she unsheathed her sword silently.
As if she had been immersed in swordsmanship for over a decade, deft and steady.