My Avatar is Becoming the Ultimate BOSS

Yanmo Lin was silent for a moment. She lifted her eyes from the blade to look at him and then averted her gaze once more, "Is that so..."

She sheathed the Demon Blade, sliding it into the dark red scabbard at her waist, then began to speak:

"But there are too many anomalies about you as a 'normal person.' First, the hacker couldn't uncover your background, then you advanced to Tier Three in such a short time, and finally, the doctor's ability is to control emotions. He told me that you have no emotions, as if... like a puppet, which is why you can hear the Demon Blade's voice."

"So that's why you call me 'traitor' every day?" Xia Pingzhou asked, "It's the first time I feel so wronged."

Yanmo Lin was noncommittal, "Let's go, no more talking here. If the lady wakes up from the noise, she'll drag you back."

"I'm not her paper doll."

"So you say you have guts now, a month ago would you dare speak like this?" Yanmo Lin sneered.

"It seems you have some misunderstanding about me," Xia Pingzhou replied, "I've always been like this."

As Xia Pingzhou chatted with her, he quietly closed the box door, then sat down on a chair at the bar. Yanmo Lin climbed directly onto the bar; her school skirt spread out like a gray flower, layers upon layers.

There was a small orange light on the bar, illuminating the faces of the two in the dimness.

"What are your thoughts about her?" Yanmo Lin asked, using the sword scabbard to slide a glass of water towards Xia Pingzhou.

"What did you say?" Xia Pingzhou accepted the glass.

"Don't play dumb."

"I'm not playing dumb," Xia Pingzhou said, taking a sip of orange juice from the cup.

Yanmo Lin slowly turned her gaze, staring into his eyes.

She said, "All I see is a phony, performing your utmost in front of her, like a clown in a circus."

"So, is that why you always kick my chair?" Xia Pingzhou teased, "It seems your ailment runs deep; I suggest seeing a doctor to remove your prefrontal cortex, that might reduce your troubles." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"The emotions you display are fake, your words and actions are fake... Watching you always circling around her, I can't help but wonder, what exactly is your goal?"

Yanmo Lin said, raising her eyes to meet Xia Pingzhou's.

Xia Pingzhou put down his glass, looked up at her eyes, and asked slowly:

"And you, do you really care about her? Or do you feel, as a friend, you should do this, so you stand here interrogating me hypocritically."

"At least I don't disguise myself. I'm only asking out of curiosity, seeing you put on an act for so long, it's getting tiresome..." At this point, Yanmo Lin lowered her voice, "If not afraid she'd be heartbroken, I'd have chopped you to pieces by now."

"You indeed don't disguise yourself; if you want to kill someone, you kill them outright, no internal conflict," Xia Pingzhou said, "To you, others might as well be NPCs in a game, their deaths numb and meaningless. So I'm curious too, when you're slicing others apart, have you ever thought you or someone you value might one day meet the same fate?"

"From the moment I killed the first person, I was prepared for this," Yanmo Lin said nonchalantly, "I'm stronger than them, so I can take their lives for amusement; likewise, if someone's stronger than me, they could also kill me and take pleasure in it."

"That's fair, but aren't you afraid of death?"

"Since I was 12, I've seen countless people die before me," Yanmo Lin said, "Death... is that something strange?"

"Your own death is different from others'. When death comes to you, you'll realize your mistake."

"What's the difference? Isn't it just like falling asleep?" Yanmo Lin said contemptuously, "It'd actually be peaceful."

"If you weren't afraid of dying, you wouldn't approach me in the middle of the night to chat about this and that or tell me you only have a year left... You wouldn't tell me only I can hear the voice of your blade, nor talk about 'we're the same'."

Saying this, Xia Pingzhou suddenly turned his head to meet her eyes, "You fear death, you also fear hearing those voices, hoping for someone to understand you."

He paused, "But unfortunately, that person isn't me."

Yanmo Lin suddenly fell silent.

Surprisingly, she didn't directly refute his words, but lowered her eyes before lifting them again, quietly staring at him.

"What makes you any different from Ryukawa Chiba? Just more skillful at talking nonsense. No wonder you've captured the lady's heart."

Yanmo Lin tilted her head slightly and said expressionlessly. She opened the bar's fridge with the sword scabbard, picked out a bottle of beer, and passed it into her hand.

"The difference is I'm not as adept at deceit as him," Xia Pingzhou said, "Next time, if you want to drink with me, can you be more polite? Knocking on the door in the middle of the night, pressing a sword to my neck, speaking in riddles—no one wants to deal with that."

"You don't like it?" Yanmo Lin sneered.

"You should put it differently. Do I dare not to like it?"

"Isn't that just fine?"

With that, Yanmo Lin pressed the sword scabbard against the bar, casually opened a bottle of cheap beer, and the girl slightly tilted her head, bringing the bottle to her lips and taking a shallow sip. Her long, black hair fell like a cascade.

"If only I could kill you, that would be nice."

After a moment, she suddenly spoke in a low voice, her words seductive and melancholy, like a flower silently blooming in the darkness, the spreading thorns wrapping around the listener's neck.

Xia Pingzhou's breath hitched slightly, and he looked into her eyes.