“Hmm?”
Hearing her say that, Bai Yu instinctively looked at her left shoulder.
Only then did she notice that the fabric of her T-shirt had been torn, revealing the slightly reddened skin beneath.
Bai Yu thought back.
When the Hunter had launched its first pounce at her, it had nearly grazed her body.
At the time, she thought she had completely dodged it, but it turned out her clothes had been sliced open.
Fortunately, her left shoulder was only slightly scraped.
There wasn’t even any blood, so it couldn’t really be called an injury.
“It’s nothing, really. I just accidentally snagged my clothes on some junk when I was coming downstairs earlier. It’s just a small tear. I’ll be fine once I change my clothes.”
Bai Yu made up a simple excuse.
She didn’t want Loweia to come into contact with anything related to Abnormal Entities for the time being.
Loweia had just woken up and her mental state might not be stable; she didn’t want to trigger her consciousness.
She would let her come into contact with those things later, once the timing was right.
Ideally, she wanted Loweia to subconsciously equate Abnormal Entities with enemies.
Having a villain boss who had lost her memories turn against her former faction might delay the recovery of those memories.
Hearing her words, Loweia’s trembling body gradually calmed down.
After explaining her own situation, Bai Yu turned to look at Loweia, a look of worry suddenly appearing on her pretty face.
“I’m fine over here. But what about you, Wei Ya? Did you just have a nightmare?”
Loweia didn’t speak. She just nodded gently, but then quickly shook her head as if to deny it.
‘Eh? What does that mean?’
Just as Bai Yu was about to ask more questions, Loweia leaned closer to her.
The young girl bit her lower lip softly, her crimson eyes flickering with an uneasy light.
Then, a pair of pale, delicate little hands gently grabbed the hem of Bai Yu’s shirt.
“Wei Ya?”
She could feel the silver-haired girl’s trembling subside significantly.
Even though Bai Yu hadn’t done anything—merely sitting there while the girl held onto her clothes—Loweia’s shaking body slowly steadied.
“Um, Wei Ya, would you like some water? I can go pour another glass for you.”
Bai Yu tried to stand up, but the moment the words left her mouth, she felt Loweia’s grip on her clothes tighten.
Although the girl didn’t speak, the sudden increase in pressure made it clear: Loweia didn’t want her to leave.
‘What’s going on all of a sudden?’
‘My lady, please don’t just stay silent. If you don’t explain, how am I supposed to know what’s wrong?’
‘Am I supposed to just guess?’
She had no choice but to stay and keep Loweia company.
Her condition seemed off, and if Bai Yu stayed, she could help stabilize her state.
If she left now, it might make things worse.
She would observe a little longer; perhaps the answer would reveal itself.
For now, although her body had calmed and stopped trembling, those crimson eyes were still filled with unease.
Looking at the girl’s hands tightly clutching her shirt, Bai Yu might have doubted she had picked up the right person if she didn’t already know Loweia was the famous mad dog boss, the Pale Witch.
At this moment, Loweia looked incredibly anxious, like a pathetic little animal afraid of being abandoned.
Wait… Suddenly, Bai Yu seemed to understand.
She remembered the situation when she first entered Loweia’s room.
The lights weren’t on, and it was dark outside, so the entire room was pitch black.
The wiring in this old house was a bit problematic; there was only one light switch in Loweia’s room, located on the wall to the left of the entrance.
Therefore, if Loweia wanted to turn on the light, she had to get out of bed.
But she had been curled up on the bed, clutching the quilt for protection.
It wasn’t until Bai Yu pushed open the door and turned on the light that Loweia’s state finally calmed down.
‘Could it be… that Loweia is actually afraid of the dark?’
‘Huh? You’ve got to be kidding me. She’s the Pale Witch, the famous mad dog boss of Star Song. In her second phase, she even drags players into a pitch-black space.’
And now she was finding out that this same Pale Witch was afraid of the dark.
For a moment, Bai Yu’s expression nearly slipped.
However, she managed to keep her facial muscles under control, showing no flaws in front of Loweia. Regardless, this discovery was shocking.
‘Who would have thought the Pale Witch had such a “moe” trait? This definitely wasn’t in my information network.’
But on second thought, Loweia was currently amnesiac.
Her mind was like a blank sheet of paper.
Perhaps this fear of the dark was actually etched into her subconscious?
Bai Yu wasn’t sure.
But she could think about it more carefully; maybe there was more than one reason.
‘Oh right, when did Loweia wake up?’
Bai Yu wasn’t certain, but one thing was for sure: when she pushed the door open, Loweia was already huddling in the corner.
She might have been awake for a while. After waking up in the dark, she probably tried to call out for Bai Yu.
At that time, Bai Yu might have been resting in the hallway or cleaning the Baseball Bat in the bathroom.
Combined with Loweia’s likely quiet voice, if Bai Yu hadn’t happened to pass by the room and hear the noise inside, she might have noticed Loweia’s abnormal state much later.
So, what would Loweia think after waiting so long in the pitch-black room without a response?
‘Maybe she subconsciously thought I had abandoned her?’
That would explain why her state improved after seeing Bai Yu appear.
‘Well… it’s a possibility. Let’s do a little test.’
“Um, Wei Ya, the chicken soup should be done stewing now. I’ll go get it.”
As she made a move to get up and leave, those pale, delicate hands tightened their grip on the hem of her shirt once again.
Although the girl still said nothing, this action expressed everything she wanted to say.
*Don’t go… Just stay here…*
It seemed Bai Yu’s guess was correct; she was afraid of being left behind.
This reason was far more logical than a simple fear of the dark.
Unfortunately, before transmigrating, Bai Yu had only casually looked over the plot.
She knew the general direction of the main story, the details of several heroines, and some famous mad dog bosses.
As for the Pale Witch’s backstory, she hadn’t looked into it.
She didn’t know what might have happened to Loweia in the past.
‘This is bad. The worst-case scenario might be that being left in the dark without a response just now touched some kind of trauma deep within her.’
‘My lady, please don’t do this. Seriously.’
This was just the beginning; she couldn’t hit a taboo and trigger a bad ending already.
The moment she realized this possibility, Bai Yu’s scalp tingled with anxiety.
There was no other way; she had to take a gamble and act as if it were the worst-case scenario.
Bai Yu reached out and gently covered Loweia’s hand, which was still clutching her clothes.
“Fine then, let the chicken soup stew a while longer. I’ll stay here and keep you company, Wei Ya. I’m not going anywhere.”
She looked into Wei Ya’s uneasy red eyes, a brilliant smile blossoming on her face.
She even reached out with her other hand and patted her own somewhat modest chest.
“Also, you don’t need to be afraid, Wei Ya. It’s very safe here, and…”
Bai Yu paused, a look of seriousness appearing in her eyes.
“I will protect you.”