During the time she was being dragged along by Yang Mo, Qianling could feel her willpower slipping away with every passing second.
By now, her resolve had become so thin it was about to float up to the sky, like a kite trailing behind Yang Mo.
All it would take was passing by a group of people, and she’d be blown away by the wind stirred up by their gazes.
Gazes.
Gazes.
Still more gazes…
Isn’t this… pretty much the same as usual?
Suddenly, Qianling realized that even when she was wearing a maid outfit, people would always look at her the same way—just like they did on the bus earlier.
Right, didn’t I already understand this back then?
Actually, I’ve long since gotten used to being watched. The most important thing is not to go against myself.
With that thought, Qianling managed to regain some composure, and her feet landed firmly back on the ground.
Noticing her change, Yang Mo turned around and asked, “Eh? Did the special training work?”
“Of course not,” Qianling answered immediately.
“I just figured it out myself. Also, there’s no need for you to keep holding my hand now, right?”
“Even if I hold it a bit longer, it’s not like you’ll lose a piece of flesh. Why are you in such a hurry?”
Although she said that, Yang Mo still let go of Qianling’s hand, albeit a little reluctantly, and added, “From now on, without your big sister to lead the way, little Qianling who’s not even a year old shouldn’t get lost, okay~”
“Huh?”
Even though the sister and little sister part could be refuted at any time, the “not even a year old” bit left Qianling speechless.
After all, she really had just been created by the Puppet Witch not long ago, and she had the “no memories” setting too.
If only I hadn’t blurted out everything so honestly!
Qianling regretted it deeply, and could only give a dry reply to Yang Mo:
“How could I possibly get lost!”
Yang Mo, meanwhile, lifted her sleeve to her lips and chuckled mischievously.
After leaving the clothing store, they had pretty much finished their business. The rest was leisure time for Qianling and Yang Mo.
Their next destination was the arcade in the mall.
Next to the dance machine, a few stylish girls and equally trendy guys were gathered—not looking all that different from themselves.
Qianling suddenly felt that her earlier anxieties were utterly pointless.
The first game she and Yang Mo tried was the claw machine.
Qianling had wanted to show off in front of Yang Mo, but ended up losing almost forty coins in the blink of an eye.
She was so anxious she almost wanted to use Iron Thorns to hook the plushies out herself, but Yang Mo stopped her just in time.
At that moment, Yang Mo grew interested and said, “Let me give it a try.”
So Qianling stepped aside, leaving some space for her.
“With this weak claw strength, there’s no way you’ll get anything.”
Before she finished speaking, Yang Mo exclaimed excitedly from the side, “Yay! I got it!”
She pulled out a whale-shaped plushie from the bottom of the machine, then asked Qianling, “Qianling, which one do you want?”
“That wide-faced white rabbit.”
Although Qianling replied, she didn’t really believe Yang Mo would get the next one.
I know how these machines work—if you play enough times, you’ll get a turn with extra-strong claws. Yang Mo must have benefited from my efforts just now.
As she was thinking this—“Ah, got another one.”
Yang Mo skillfully picked up the very plushie Qianling wanted. Her voice was much more casual this time as she announced her victory.
“?”
Qianling pressed both hands against the glass of the claw machine, wishing she could stick her face to it as she watched, helpless, while the rabbit plushie was tossed into the prize slot.
Yang Mo, holding a plushie in each hand, waved her spoils in front of Qianling.
“Big win.”
With that, she stuffed the rabbit into Qianling’s hands.
Yang Mo didn’t notice a thing, just kept grinning innocently.
But in Qianling’s heart, a strange competitive spirit began to burn.
I lost this time, but the experience will definitely help me next round!
Next, they played a shooting game.
The gameplay involved using a realistically-sized toy shotgun to keep defeating lizardmen on the screen.
At the stage selection screen, Qianling unhesitatingly aimed at the highest difficulty and pulled the trigger.
“Eh? Are you sure about this?” Yang Mo sounded a bit uneasy.
But Qianling didn’t answer, only raised the shotgun and got ready to aim.
The game began.
From the player’s perspective, you started advancing through a forest, defeating lizardmen leaping from every corner, then entering a stone cave.
Though the cave entrance was small, below was a vast underground city.
That’s where the final boss fight took place.
The player faced a massive mech piloted by the Lizard Doctor. The mech’s fists pounded at the player, who had to break its weak points within the time limit to stop its attacks.
Besides that, the mech would launch a barrage of missiles, all of which had to be destroyed to avoid damage.
From midway, Yang Mo started getting flustered.
“Ugh… aiming is so hard!”
Her targeting cursor on the screen kept wobbling everywhere.
Qianling, relying on the superior performance of her puppet body, cleared the tough spots again and again.
This game’s only purpose is to eat coins.
Right before depleting the boss’s health bar, she arrived at this conclusion.
In fact, even though her efficiency was more than double that of an ordinary person, after clearing the game with just one coin, her remaining health was barely enough.
After destroying the mech, a cutscene played on the screen.
The Lizard Doctor crawled out of the wrecked mech and announced to the players, “You invaders! Don’t you understand? We are the real humans!”
A prompt popped up, apparently asking players to decide the doctor’s fate. At the same moment, Yang Mo’s cursor sank to the bottom of the screen.
Qianling thought she was going to spare the Lizard Doctor, but when she glanced over, she saw Yang Mo was just too exhausted to even lift her shotgun.
Qianling thought: If you’re tired, you could’ve just taken a break in the middle. It’s only a game—no need to get so serious.
So she asked, “Are you okay? Are those well-trained muscles giving out already?”
“Not so good… But at least it’s finally over, right?”
Yang Mo wiped the sweat from her forehead, leaning her elbow on the game counter.
Qianling said, “Not yet. But…”
Before she finished speaking, she decisively shot the Lizard Doctor.
“Now it’s really over.”
The ending animation started to play. The main characters, knowing nothing about the truth, just went on living their ordinary lives.
Though it was a bit unfortunate for the Lizard Doctor, Qianling and Yang Mo had skipped all the earlier stages to get to this one.
So no matter what he said about “We are the real humans,” it was completely baffling.
Anyway, the game was over.
Judging by their performance, Qianling was the winner of this round.
She silently awarded herself a point and headed to the next game with Yang Mo.
She’d completely forgotten that she’d just been thinking—“It’s only a game, no need to get so serious.”