Yu Zhizhi felt as if she were in a vast fog. She couldn’t see into the distance, her ears filled with the sound of wind whipping through a valley and the ringing clash of weapons.

Somewhere very close to her...

The fighting seemed to have never stopped.

The tall, slender figure was like a spirit, without a physical form. He stopped in front of Yu Zhizhi.

"...Louis?" When Yu Zhizhi first saw his long hair, she thought it was the Paradise Spider. She only recognized him when he drew closer. "How did you end up like this?"

Louis stood before the girl, a smile playing on his lips. "This is a Spiritual Mark I left behind. What you’re seeing now is my afterimage."

He asked softly, "How did it go? Did you find that contestant?"

Yu Zhizhi stared at him in a daze.

Gradually, a smile graced her face. She reached out to touch Louis, only to find her fingers passing right through the corner of his clothes.

Louis’s figure was so, so faint, as if a single ray of sunlight breaking through the mist and landing on him would melt him away.

Yu Zhizhi slowly pulled back her hand. "That person... he’s..."

Louis gave a slight nod. "I’ve looked into it a few times. Piecing together the fragmented information about the missing contestant revealed that he was a youngling of the Spider Clan. His mother was a contestant who had been banished to Paradise. She took her own life after secretly giving birth to him."

"So it was you, Louis, who sent me there? What was that place? Everything felt so real."

One thing was certain: Yu Zhizhi hadn’t traveled back in time.

For instance, the first time she rescued the Little Spider, she was only with him for a moment before the scene instantly shifted.

"His inner world."

Louis’s expression softened. "The day Spider and Lou clashed, an opening was left behind, giving me the opportunity I needed."

"But my power is currently being suppressed by Spider, so I can’t send you directly out of Paradise."

"Do you remember what I gave you the day I said goodbye, back in the mansion in the Divine City?"

Yu Zhizhi nodded again and again.

The day Louis left, he had given her a small wooden token.

He had said it would protect her in her most dangerous moments.

Yu Zhizhi had placed that small wooden token into her physical inventory, which she had unlocked after reaching the Third Level. She could retrieve it whenever she needed to.

"If you feel your life is threatened, use it. I will appear."

"You’ll appear by force?"

"Yes."

Yu Zhizhi said, "I saw it. You and Lou... you protected the Little Spider."

Louis smiled faintly. "In the beginning, we coexisted peacefully. Spider took the beatings, I did the killing, and Lou handled the bodies. We took care of anyone who came looking for trouble, scraping by together in the lighthouse. We spent a long, dark, and boring time like that."

"Later, a major conflict erupted between us. We each believed we were the dominant personality and had the right to completely control this body. We argued over it endlessly."

"We almost died once during a mental collapse. After that, we made an agreement."

"The three personalities would take turns appearing at scheduled times, and no one was allowed to break the agreement."

"We each had our own goals."

"Lou wanted to be a contestant in the hunting season. He wanted to clear the game."

"Spider wanted to be the Lord of Paradise."

"As for me—"

Louis recalled his younger self, a nostalgic smile in his eyes. "I wanted to join the Guard Team and patrol the Lost Forest, collecting my pay each month. After work, I’d go to the small tavern for a couple of drinks. When I was old enough to marry, I wanted to find a lovely wife, just like you, and have a bunch of kids."

He longed for an ordinary life, the kind that most people had.

A bitter look crossed Louis’s face.

"Later, they both achieved their dreams. Spider became the one everyone calls the Lord of Paradise, and Lou became the popular contestant, Number 91."

Only Louis, day after day, year after year, remained trapped here.

"The time was divided as follows: during the hunting season, the body is controlled by Spider, though Lou will also appear on specific occasions."

"The three hunting seasons each year add up to about four months in total."

"For the remaining eight months, the body is controlled by Lou and me."

Yu Zhizhi was beginning to understand their situation. She asked, "So, did you ever join the Guard Team? I remember when you were applying for the job, Captain Luther said you had retired from the Lost Forest Guard Team."

Louis replied, "In my mind, I did. But that was only in my own perception. Those records... Spider forged them."

The sounds of the fight outside grew more intense, and Yu Zhizhi’s heart clenched inexplicably—

"What’s the situation now?"

"The two Town Star Physiques have split the battlefield with their fierce clash. Tang Luo Ke is tied up with the Demon Soldiers." Louis’s figure grew even fainter. "Spider is extremely dangerous when he fights. Try... to stay far away from him. He despises Lou and me, and that hatred extends to you. His killing intent toward you is very strong."

Yu Zhizhi was about to say—

’That’s not true!’

’The Little Spider doesn’t despise you and Lou at all!’

’In his inner world, Lou and Louis are incredibly important to him!’

Before Yu Zhizhi could say a word, Louis’s afterimage vanished.

The vast fog was swept away by the wind.

The sounds of the real-world battle grew clearer. Yu Zhizhi’s vision finally widened, and she looked out upon a Domain where almost nothing was left intact. Dense spider silks rained down from the oppressive black clouds, striking a distant wolf-like shadow like bolts of nether lightning.

The moment her face appeared on the livestream, the audience quickly reacted—

[The Rabbit Clan Lady made it!]

[She’s the second one out of the mist!]

[Sob, why didn’t they show her in the mist world? I really wanted to see how she cleared it...]

[Things are looking bad for the Bear Team. The boss he’s up against is too OP; there’s no way for him to win.]

Yu Zhizhi couldn’t be sure of Tang Luo Ke and Spider’s current condition.

She saw a mountain of puppet corpses piled up in the distance, and the entire Domain was thick with the stench of blood. She had just taken two steps back when she heard the White-eyed Young Boy’s voice.

"Ms. Zhi Zhi, over here!"

The White-eyed Young Boy waved her over. He was hiding behind a rock, his body so wrapped in bandages that he looked like a little mummy at first glance.

Yu Zhizhi hurried over.

The White-eyed Young Boy pursed his lips. "If we can clear this instance solo, the points we’ll get will be enough to leave. For now, we just need to protect ourselves and not get caught in the crossfire."

The young Mantis Clan boy peeked out cautiously. He glanced at the distant battlefield and analyzed the situation. "I got out twenty minutes before you. Right now, neither of the two lords is backing down. Lord Locke has already killed tens of thousands of Demon Soldiers. He’s entered a crazed, Berserk state—"

"Meanwhile, the Lord Leader’s spiritual power is extremely unstable. It could collapse at any moment."

The words had barely left the young boy’s mouth when a strand of white spider silk snaked around the girl’s body.

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