Standing in the line, SV had time to gather his thoughts.
She seemed to have forgotten him. Not only that, she had probably forgotten everything about this instance.
He pondered silently.
They came two days ahead of him; it couldn't be that the BOSS wasn't aware of their arrival, right? Impossible.
But for some reason, he had left them unchecked.
Looking at her reading palms and faces, he seemed to remember something she had said to him.
'No matter what happens, I hold no ill will against you.'
Ah. She seemed to have anticipated this. No wonder.
But then again, did she anticipate that she'd do something to him, or was it just a reminder of sorts since she had no way to know what she'd do now that she had forgotten him?
No matter. It'd be clear soon enough.
—
SV didn't know how long he'd waited, only that the clock tower in the town rang twice before it was his turn.
He casually sat down and smiled. "Shall we start?"
Yun Jierou remained silent and simply studied his face. As she did, a frown slowly crept on to her brow.
"Please extend your palms," she said.
SV readily complied, extending his palm for her to look.
She looked at his palms and started pinching her fingers, her frown deepening as a result.
"Who—no, what are you?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper.
SV cocked his head, "what do you mean? What did you see?"
Yun Jierou shook her head gently, "it is precisely because This Yun could not read you that she is confused."
"Impossible, my stats are so much lower than yours. You can't possibly not read me."
Yun Jierou regarded him thoughtfully and shook her head, "it is not your profile details that This Yun is referring to, but your future. This Yun simply cannot tell what you plan to do next or what your actions will bring. If This Yun had not seen you with her own eyes, she would not have believed that you exist. You are a complete anomaly, operating outside of fate."
SV frowned, filing away the fact that she could see his profile, "are you sure? You did a divination on me before, though?"
"Again, This Yun has only met you just now; she has never done a divination on you before," she said firmly.
SV felt that he was tricked; either the one before him was tricking him or the one from before did. But if her divination before didn't work, then why put up all that act? Why put trust in him at all?
SV remained silent for a moment before looking around him, "I have so much to tell you, but this place is really not suitable. Shall we take it to another place?"
Yun Jierou remained silent, but his next words seemed to strike a chord in her, "I know the source of the curse and the mastermind behind it."
Yun Jierou remained silent for a moment longer before gathering her mat and standing up.
"This Yun will do no more readings today. She apologizes for wasting your time," she said to the line, cupping her hands.
A few people voiced complaints, but Yun Jierou firmly shook her head.
The line behind SV shot him a few unpleasant glances as they dispersed.
"Where to?" SV said as he stood up too.
She pointed to a direction and made a please gesture. SV raised a nonexistent eyebrow, "won't you lead the way?"
She shook her head, "a lady does not walk in front of a man."
SV's nonexistent eyebrow was raised even higher. "Ah, etiquette," he said, to which she nodded.
She was more conservative than he thought.
"But don't you have two men following you?" He probed, curious.
"They stand at the wings," she said.
SV thought for a moment, and it did seem to be true. So complicated.
No matter.
He headed ahead of her, and she followed him a step behind. The walk was awkward and was made more awkward by the glances of the townspeople at the two.
"You seem very famous."
"A minor inconvenience."
"What's a major inconvenience?"
"Rumours."
"You're really thrifty with words, aren't you?"
"This Yun is giving you face by replying. Please stop turning your head and focus on the road."
SV speechlessly looked ahead, lamenting how cold she'd become. No wait, this was normal. He'd gotten so used to her treating him preferentially that he took it for granted.
Well, at least he should have bridged the gap a tiny bit, right? Maybe not.
No matter. At least he didn't feel awkward walking. That was a win for him.
They finally reached an inn, and they entered. The proprietor was surprised to see Yun Jierou with a strange man.
"Where now?" He turned to her.
She ignored him and approached the proprietor. "Would it be possible to book a private booth right now?"
The proprietor smiled. "Of course, Miss. Shall I take you there right now?"
She shook her head, "please send him there first. This Yun will be there shortly."
The proprietor didn't ask any questions and gestured for SV to follow him.
SV shot her a questioning glance, but she remained noncommittal. Ergo, he could only dip his head and follow the proprietor in silence.
"She's a bit cold, but she's actually very polite. Don't be discouraged, chap; I've never seen her bring a stranger here before." The proprietor said by way of suggestion.
SV chuckled, "you've misunderstood. I'm not wooing her."
"Of course you're not, chap. I'm just saying," the proprietor said airily.
SV shook his head and remained noncommittal. But he was very speechless inside. She'd been here for only two days, and he made it sound like she had stayed here since childhood or something.
Excuse me, were you familiar with her much?
The proprietor ushered him to a simple booth separated from the rest of the canteen by a wooden frame, making it semi-enclosed.
"This is your booth." He said and then called upon a waitress.
SV took his seat as a waitress hurried to the booth as she wiped her hands on her apron and asked, "Did you need anything, sir?"
SV didn't know how long Yun Jierou would take, and he was feeling a bit famished, having not eaten anything since waking up, not to mention that walking in the sun had left him quite thirsty.
So he asked, "what do you have?"
"We have barley stew, leftover bread from yesterday, and a bit of smoked mutton. Water is free, though most opt for the ale."
"The stew then, and bring some bread as well. Oh and water too," he said casually.
"Aye," she said and was about to turn when a thought occurred to SV. "Wait, where do you get the water from?"
The waitress cocked her head slightly, "from the well at the back. Is there something, sir?"
SV shook his head, "I'm from out of town and was just curious about your water source. Is it rainwater?"
The waitress seemed to understand where his questions were coming from and smiled, "it's not rainwater, sir. All the water in the town comes from an underground reservoir."
"The same one as the fountain?" SV asked.
"Yes, sir."
"I see, please go ahead with your work."
The waitress dipped her head and left.
SV had only one thought right now. Would he die from thirst before the event even began?
No matter, he'd ask Yun Jierou for a solution.
A few minutes later, the waitress came back with a tray, placing it in front of him.
"Did you need anything else, sir?"
"That will be all, thank you."
The waitress nodded and took her leave as she said, "The name's Maria, sir. If you need anything, just call me."
"Will do."
Once again alone, SV stared at the stew as the mellow smell hit his nose, causing his stomach to grumble and his mouth to water.
Ah, he should've cancelled the order. No matter, he'd make do with the bread, he supposed.
However, as he was about to take a bite, he stopped, thinking to himself whether water was used in the process of making bread.
He stared at the hard brown bread and entered a fierce ideological struggle, having never considered how bread was made.
Now that he thought about it, how could wheat take this form? Don't they crush it to powder?
Putting it in the oven somehow made it all puffy?
SV ignorantly stared at the bread in wonder before placing it aside.
No matter, his seven points of INT weren't enough for this shit.
He put his head on the table and drifted off to sleep.
—
"Sir."
He seemed to hear someone calling him.
"Sir."
He woke up groggily and squinted his eyes, a bit of impatience on his features. Oh, it was the waitress.
The waitress flinched and forced a smile, "is everything alright, sir? Your food has gotten cold."
"I like it cold," he put his head on the table and drifted off to sleep again.
The waitress hesitated slightly before ultimately heading out.
—
"Bandit."
SV frowned.
"Bandit Emperor."
SV got up and squinted his eyes again. Oh, it was Yun Jierou. But there seemed to be others around? He looked at them for a moment. Oh, it was her group. She sat opposite him, the two women behind her and the two men flanking the table.
SV shook his head to get the sleep out and smiled, "good morning."
Yun Jierou remained quiet.
It was the man on the left who answered, "It's late afternoon, boy."
SV chuckled, "of course it is. Never mind that; we have the whole group here. Shall we have a proper conversation now?"
"What do you want to talk about?" It was one of the women behind Yun Jierou who spoke this time.
SV chuckled as he looked at them and then at the silent Yun Jierou. What bullshit power play was this? "It doesn't seem like you guys want to have a conversation."
He tried to stand up, but the two men held his shoulders, fixing him in place.
SV raised a nonexistent eyebrow. Did they just flip the table directly?
"What are you planning?" He asked curiously.
"Don't worry sweetie. It'll all feel like a dream," the other woman who hadn't spoken said as she made her way towards SV.
"Oh," they were planning on controlling him. Was this their plan from the beginning or was it because he didn't buy into their power play?
No matter.
He smiled ferociously. "Yun Jierou, I'll give you one last chance. Tell them to back away, and we can sit and talk. If you could go through this thing alone, you wouldn't have needed to come and beg me before."
Yun Jierou frowned, and the woman who had spoken first sneered, "My Young Lady begged you? Who do you think you are?"
"You are an uncontrollable variable," Yun Jierou said softly.
SV looked at the group and the woman that was approaching him and sneered, "what a waste of a wish."
He pressed his ring and middle fingers against his palm, hoping for the best. But since Yun Jierou could see through his profile, it suggested that his system still existed. Anyway, it wasn't like he'd lose anything even if he failed.
Immediately, to the astonishment of the group, he turned to dust, approaching one of the two men holding his shoulder.
The man snorted, and the dust dispersed.
Seeing no one in sight, the group's expression immediately turned ugly.
—
In the death screen, SV looked at his corpse, the BOSS's corpse, and Yun Jierou and her group's corpses.
He cocked his head slightly. The anger he felt replaced with confusion. If their bodies were here, then where were they before?
Illusion?
Maybe.
No matter. His biggest problem right now was getting back to that space.
He opened his logs to see if he'd find anything.