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In an instant, a translucent erald-green barrier enveloped the entire city, sealing it off completely. A chill ran down Yaeger’s spine as she sensed the overwhelming aura radiating from the barrier.
Breaking through sothing this powerful was beyond her current abilities.
"You’ve got to be kidding ," she muttered, frustration flickering across her face.
The citizens, who had just resud their daily routines, froze for a brief mont in shock before quickly dismissing the sight. Having witnessed a similar event just days ago, they had grown accustod to such occurrences.
Yaeger exhaled slowly, her initial panic fading as she scrutinized the sky-wide barrier. Judging by its sheer scale, she estimated that the barrier wouldn’t last long—at most, a few hours.
Maintaining sothing of this magnitude would drain an astronomical amount of mana.
"This isn’t even warti, yet he activated the city’s defensive barrier? How reckless." Yaeger scoffed, despising Richard’s heavy-handed tactics. "Heh, you really think sealing off the city is enough to capture ? How naive."
With a smirk, she reached out and tapped the empty air. A familiar ga interface materialized before her.
"The natives are stuck, but I’m a player. I can log out whenever I want, wait a few hours, and return once this ss blows over. Heh, Richard, you never saw this coming, did you?" To her, Richard’s elaborate efforts were nothing more than a pointless display.
Just picturing the frustration on his face when he realized she had slipped through his fingers made her grin even wider. However, her amusent faded the instant her eyes landed on the logout button.
"It… it’s grayed out?!"1
Her pulse quickened as she realized the once-bright red button had dulled to an unclickable gray. ‘What the hell is going on?!’ Then, a mory surfaced—her ti in the underground maze.
Back then, every player inside had experienced the exact sa problem. None of them had been able to log out!
"Dammit, now’s not the ti for a special event!"
As soone who had returned from the future, Yaeger was all too familiar with situations where players were forcibly locked into the ga. Battles, dungeon crawls, encounters with special bosses, and event triggers—those were all valid reasons for a forced lock-in.
And now, she was stuck in exactly that kind of scenario.
"This damn barrier is more of a problem than I thought."
Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to focus on finding a solution.
anwhile, the city had erupted into action—guards, foot soldiers, elite black-armored warriors, and even the jailers from the Grand Prison were all mobilizing. Their orders were clear, and their movents were swift.
Their sole mission: capture the scourge of the Empire, Black-hearted Princess—alive!
Before long, an extensive manhunt—far larger in scale than any before—was officially set into motion. Standing atop the rooftop, Yaeger furrowed her brows, an uneasy feeling settling deep within her chest. ɽãƝő₿Ě𝙎
A powerful sense of foreboding gripped her, sending chills through her body. ‘Sothing’s off. I can feel it—sothing is definitely wrong!’ Yet, no matter how much she wracked her brain, she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.
"Tsk, this is getting troubleso!" Her gaze landed on a group of magicians floating in the distance. There was no ti to ponder—she had to move. Without hesitation, she vanished from the rooftop.
In a swift motion, she slipped into a narrow alleyway, her figure vanishing into the shadows.
anwhile, inside the Adventurers’ Guild… A flood of soldiers had turned the usually rowdy guild into a tense and chaotic scene.
"Search the premises!" A black-armored officer barked the command, and the soldiers imdiately sprang into action.
S.K.Y., Taurus, and Vanessa exchanged puzzled glances. This place had already been searched multiple tis today. Were these soldiers just looking for sothing to do?
"Excuse , but is there a reason for this sudden search?" S.K.Y. stepped forward and questioned the black-armored officer.
The officer turned with a scowl, ready to scold him—until his eyes landed on the Direct Army uniform S.K.Y. was wearing. His expression stiffened, and he swallowed his words.
As a Direct Army soldier, he was well aware that two outsiders had gained the commander’s favor and were granted special privileges.
‘Damn, he’s one of the commander’s people. I nearly screwed up!’ The officer felt a bead of sweat form on his forehead. Forcing himself to remain composed, he t S.K.Y.’s gaze and said, "It’s an order from His Majesty himself…"
As soon as he heard the explanation, S.K.Y.’s eyes lit up with excitent. Rushing back to Taurus, he grinned wildly. "Young Master Zhang! They’re hunting down Black-hearted Princess! And get this—His Majesty himself gave the order!"
He stressed the last part, his excitent barely contained.
"Ha! That’s fantastic!" Taurus bead, his mood instantly improving. Once that wretched Black-hearted Princess was in the Empire’s custody, they wouldn’t have to worry about her slipping away.
"Young Master Zhang, I think we should lend a hand," S.K.Y. suggested.
"Why bother?" Taurus frowned, unsure of his reasoning.
"Think about it—when Black-hearted Princess gets cornered, do you really think she’ll go down quietly?" S.K.Y. smirked.
"Of course not!" Taurus caught on imdiately, his grin widening.
Knowing her, she wouldn’t just fight back—she’d obliterate anything in her way. When that happened, they could seize the mont—and claim the final blow for themselves! Just imagining all the loot they could snatch from her corpse made Taurus chuckle darkly.
Vanessa, watching from the sidelines, felt nothing but disgust as she observed his twisted excitent.
"It’s settled! Our [Death of Love] Guild will fully support the Empire in capturing Black-hearted Princess!" Taurus declared confidently.
Nodding in agreent, S.K.Y. swiftly accessed the guild panel, summoning every available mber in the city.
In just over ten minutes, the [Death of Love] Guild had officially aligned with the city’s forces in the hunt for Yaeger. As word spread, other guilds wasted no ti in joining the pursuit.
What followed was one of the largest manhunts in Jade City's history.
anwhile, Yaeger remained hidden within the shadows of the commoners' district. "Even the players are getting involved now? They're really trying to ruin ." Hiding in a deserted alley, Yaeger scrolled through the forum ssages, mumbling to herself.2
If it were just the NPCs, she could simply lay low for a few hours and let the storm pass. But now, with a massive number of players joining the search, that plan was no longer viable.
To make matters worse, players couldn’t hide their usernas unless they had special items. Which ant disguising herself was out of the question—she’d be recognized imdiately.
"You've backed into a corner… but you’ll regret it soon enough!"
Of course, surrendering or waiting to be caught was never an option. Just as Taurus and S.K.Y. had predicted—when pushed into a corner, Yaeger would drag everyone down with her.
"My blade is itching for blood. I suppose it’s ti I—" Before she could finish, a cold, chanical voice echoed in her mind.
Ding!
A system notification had appeared.
System Notification: You have triggered a Special Quest—Escape Jade City.
Escape Jade City – Special Quest Description Objective Ti Limit Rewards Failure Penalty Additional Note The Emperor, Richard, has enacted a full citywide lockdown to ensure your capture.You have two options:
1. Die—whether by suicide or execution.
2. Use any ans necessary to escape Jade City.
120 minutesDetermined by the remaining escape ti.Transformation Rate of [Dream Transformation] will increase by 25%.If you die during this quest, your Equipnt drop rate will be increased by 100%.
Yaeger stood frozen, completely dumbfounded by the notification.
‘What kind of ridiculous mission is this?!’ No matter how she looked at it, this was a rciless quest—one that left no room for failure. If she failed to escape within two hours, the price she’d pay would be unbearable. And if she was caught by Richard… the consequences would be unimaginable.
Yaeger had a strong feeling that her capture would directly impact Alicia’s rebellion. The way the quest was worded only confird her suspicions.
If Alicia’s rebellion failed, [Dream Transformation] rate will skyrocket by 60%.
Adding that to the 25% penalty from this mission, she’d be at 85%—nearly irreversible. And considering she had already accumulated 15% from previous uses, she was nearing the point of no return.
In short, failing this mission ant she’d never get her pe̲n̲i̲s̲ back!
The thought sent shivers down her spine. Instinctively, she hugged herself. "Sister System… you wouldn’t do this to … right?" She gazed at the sky in despair.
This wasn’t just cruel—it was downright sadistic.
A heavy silence filled the air the mont she stopped speaking. It was painfully obvious—the System had no intention of responding.
"Sob sob sob… I’ve bled and sweated for this Empire! How could you do this to ?" Yet, despite her dramatic pleas, the System remained as cold and unyielding as ever.
The sharp sound of boots against stone echoed from the distance. Yaeger snapped back to attention in an instant. She knew one thing for certain—getting caught was not an option.
With barely a whisper of movent, Yaeger vanished into the shadows like a streak of lightning. re seconds later, a squad of eager soldiers stord into the alleyway.
"Hey… do you guys sll that?" One of the soldiers suddenly asked, sniffing the air.
The rest of the soldiers halted, inhaling deeply—only to be t with the damp, musty scent of the alley.
"Nothing." One of them shook his head.
The suspicious soldier took another sniff but only caught the stale scent of wet stone. The faint fragrance he thought he’d slled was now completely gone—if it had ever been there to begin with.
"Quit wasting ti! Keep searching!" The captain barked, clearly exasperated.
At his command, the soldiers imdiately fanned out, aggressively searching every house in sight.
"Brother, what’s with all the noise outside?" Inside a shabby, run-down house in the commoners’ district, Aurora looked up, puzzled.
"I’ll go take a look." Fiat got up and stepped out of the room. A mont later, he returned with a frown. "It’s the guards. They’re searching the area again."
"Again? Didn’t they finish already?" Aurora grumbled in frustration.
The guards had already turned daily life into a nightmare for the commoners. This was beyond frustrating.
"No clue." Fiat sighed, shaking his head.
"They’re looking for ." A soft, lodious voice suddenly echoed through the room.
Fiat tensed imdiately, his instincts kicking in as he dropped into a defensive stance. But before he could react further, recognition flickered in his eyes. He turned around, and sure enough—there she was. The radiant, breathtaking beauty who had turned their world upside down.
"I needed a place to lay low." Yaeger offered a small smile. But her smile carried a hint of strain, a flicker of unease hidden beneath the surface.
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That's the main difference between Yaeger from this series and Zane from Twin Souls.Like Loading...
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