My Avatar is Becoming the Ultimate BOSS

In the dim light, the neon sign inside the tavern flickered on and off, casting Xia Pingzhou's face in an ever-changing light. In contrast, Yanmo Lin's expression remained indifferent from start to finish.

On the blade of the tachi, as clear as crystal, reflected her pale face and pitch-black eyes.

Xia Pingzhou looked at the demon blade pressing against his neck and could feel a chill emanating from the blade.

As the blade approached, it seemed as if wailing, howling, and weeping spirits echoed in his ears. This was a kind of spiritual erosion. Once one approached the tachi, they would be disturbed by the ghost soul residing in the blade. The closer one got, the deeper the erosion.

He found it hard to imagine that an exorcist's celestial driver would appear in such a form and pondered the mental torment Yanmo Lin must endure daily with the demon blade.

But everyone's celestial driver is associated with the deepest part of their soul. She was merely reaping what she sowed. In the process of violence, while experiencing pleasure, pain often accompanies it.

Xia Pingzhou looked up and quietly stared into Yanmo Lin's eyes.

"What do you want to do?" he asked, "Do you have to put a knife to someone's neck every time you speak to feel safe... How amusing, like a little girl."

"That's quite bold of you, to dare speak to me that way," Yanmo Lin said, indifferent yet not angry.

"If you want a spar, I can oblige," Xia Pingzhou said, "But let's not play seriously. Fighting among team members is forbidden. If we start fighting now, it would quickly turn into everyone ganging up on you. Think carefully."

Yanmo Lin lowered her eyes, casually flipped the blade, and turned the back of the knife toward Xia Pingzhou's neck.

"Just wanted to chat with you," she said, "If I wanted to cut you, I wouldn't have woken you up."

Xia Pingzhou asked, "Putting a knife to someone's neck at the slightest provocation, who's ever heard of chatting that way... Can you ever find someone you can get along with?"

Yanmo Lin tilted her head, her dark and hollow eyes looking at him.

"First, I'm not interested, nor do I need such a thing; secondly, I have at most another year to live. The concept of 'a lifetime' doesn't mean much to me. You might as well use another term."

Xia Pingzhou was slightly taken aback, then asked, "How do you know how long you have left to live?"

"The celestial driver told me," Yanmo Lin said slowly, "My celestial driver is rare, able to advance by killing others, but the cost is that it will deplete my life span. Now I only have a year left."

She paused and looked up at Xia Pingzhou, "Every power comes with a price... So I'm curious, what price did you pay?"

Xia Pingzhou was silent for a moment, "After all that, you're still hung up on how quickly I ascended to Tier Three. Can't I just be a once-in-eight-hundred-years genius who doesn't need to pay a price to match your speed?"

"Who would believe such a thing?" Yanmo Lin said coldly, "The leader hasn't openly questioned you, only because he's interested in you. Even if you harbor ill intentions, he wants to keep you around for observation... That's just the kind of person he is."

"Speaking of which, can you put your knife down first?" Xia Pingzhou asked, "Holding the same position is making my neck sore."

"Can you hear its voice?" Yanmo Lin paused for a moment, then suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?" Xia Pingzhou raised an eyebrow, "Whose voice are you referring to?"

"I'm talking about this sword, my celestial driver," Yanmo Lin paused, "From your reaction, I can tell you can hear its voice."

"Isn't it a given that everyone should be able to hear it?"

Xia Pingzhou looked down at the demon blade, puzzled.

He could indeed hear the hoarse wails and laments coming from the blade, but he never really considered whether others could also hear such sounds from Yanmo Lin's demon blade, merely assuming everyone could.

"Ryukawa Chiba, he studied my celestial driver... Normal people can't hear the blade's voice, but you can," Yanmo Lin said, "He said only 'hollow' people can hear the voices within the demon blade."

"If you're going to listen to a doctor's nonsense, that's the end of you. Psychologists are best at fooling people. He used to lead people astray and then trick them into getting a frontal lobotomy. In terms of having the worst reputation in the group, he's no worse than you."

"I think he makes sense."

"What makes sense?" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"You and I are the same. We are kindred spirits," Yanmo Lin said, "I've said this before because I can see it... We both just treat this world as a game, so we're hollow."

Xia Pingzhou was silent for a moment, thinking to himself, have I been discovered as a game character?

The bar lights were dim, and Yanmo Lin's face remained expressionless as she leaned against the wall, arms crossed, silently watching the tachi and listening to its wails.

After a moment, Xia Pingzhou spoke, breaking the brief silence between them.

"I don't quite understand what you're talking about," Xia Pingzhou said, expressionless, "I also don't grasp what 'hollow' means, but I hope you don't find some bizarre sense of identity or belonging from me."

He paused, "I am nothing like you... I'm just an ordinary person, nothing more."

He understood inwardly because Xia Pingzhou himself was merely a puppet; hence Yanmo Lin and the doctor misunderstood, thinking there was something in common between them.