Meanwhile, Fuyeli, who had just tidied her attire, happened to bump into Linglan as she returned to the inner room.
Seeing the somewhat distraught girl, her face showed no expression.
As a being trapped in this game, Fuyeli knew very well that anyone who came to this world had some psychological issues.
The girl before her was no exception.
Although she didn’t know what Duya had said to her outside, from the look of utter collapse on her face, it might be related to something in Linglan’s real life.
With that thought, Fuyeli flew to Linglan’s side, her expression shifting to one of warmth and kindness.
“What happened?”
Linglan was crouched in the corner, holding her head, and did not respond to Fuyeli’s words.
Like a broken recorder, she kept repeating the same phrase without pause.
“I don’t want to go back… I don’t want to go back…”
“Alright, take your time to calm down here.”
Seeing this, Fuyeli flew up again and headed outside.
Upon opening the door, Fuyeli immediately saw Duya standing thoughtfully at the counter.
The man was trying to contact someone with his phone, but there seemed to be no answer on the other end.
No matter how many times Duya tried to call, all he got was intermittent beeping sounds.
Fuyeli spoke softly.
“Who are you looking for?”
Hearing Fuyeli’s words, Duya put down the phone and said with some helplessness.
“I’m trying to contact my teammates back in reality.”
“Linglan should be a player too, but her mental state is a bit off, so I was planning to ask what she experienced in reality.”
“Well…”
Fuyeli fluttered her wings and sat on the counter.
“I might know a thing or two.”
“Oh? How do you know?”
Duya stared at the little fairy in front of him, but Fuyeli said calmly.
“I am a system fairy after all, basically a former game customer service. I do know some information about the players.”
“Linglan’s real name is Lin Xiaoxia, sixteen years old, a student at No. 3 Middle School.”
Fuyeli’s voice was very soft, as if afraid the girl in the inner room might hear.
“She was originally just a nobody in her class, very unremarkable.”
“But at some point, she got targeted by a few girls in her class.”
Duya seemed to understand after hearing this.
“School bullying?”
“Yes,” Fuyeli nodded, recalling as she spoke to Duya.
“At first, it was just hiding her notebook, putting trash in her desk.”
“Then it escalated. They deliberately hit her with balls during PE class and dirtied her uniform during cleaning time. But Lin Xiaoxia endured all of it—until…”
At this point, Fuyeli’s expression turned serious, and she clenched her fists involuntarily.
“Until one day when she was walking home from school, she ran into some thugs.”
“Hmm?” Duya frowned.
“Don’t tell me…”
“No, it wasn’t what you’re worried about. The thugs just stole her money. But the problem was that those girls saw it happen.”
“So then, a rumor about her started spreading on campus. Everyone believed she had been ‘done’ by those thugs. No matter how much she tried to explain and clarify, it was useless.”
“And the school didn’t step in to clear her name. The rumor has persisted until now.”
“And you, now, probably know who started the rumor, right?”
Duya’s face darkened as he gave a slight nod.
Anyone with common sense could see who the real culprit was.
Duya was no fool.
“What happened next?”
“After the rumor spread, she went from being isolated by a few girls to being isolated by the entire class. Her desk was covered in all sorts of obscene graffiti. Someone even stuffed used sanitary pads into her backpack. When the boys in class passed by her, they would intentionally pinch their noses…”
Fuyeli stopped there and just shrugged.
“Given that situation, do you think she would want to go back to reality?”
Just as Fuyeli said, facing something like this, an ordinary middle school student like Lin Xiaoxia couldn’t change anything.
From her files, it was also known that both her parents were dead, and her only grandmother had passed away on the third day of the Lunar New Year this year.
With no one to rely on, her only choice was to come to this game world to escape reality.
But then another question arose.
Duya looked at the little fairy and asked, “How do you know all this so clearly?”
“I told you, I’m a system fairy, an AI. Finding out the real situations of players from the information you provide when logging in isn’t very hard for me.”
“So, you’re saying you dox people?”
“Teehee~” Fuyeli tapped her head, pretending to be innocent.
“How can you call it doxing? Besides, you wanted to know her real situation, didn’t you? I’m just acting according to your request, dear player.”
“Fine.”
Duya didn’t press further.
To be honest, in this data-explosion information age, it was really easy for an AI to obtain someone’s privacy.
“So…” Fuyeli continued.
“What do you plan to do now?”
The fairy’s expression carried a hint of barely perceptible mischief.
“Will you go to her like a brave savior and help her out of this predicament?”
“Or will you ignore all this and continue chasing that monster called Bubble Shadow?”
Fuyeli offered two options.
“Though I recommend the first one. After all… she’s a character that can be romanced.”
But Duya hadn’t forgotten his real purpose for coming to the guild.
Meals are eaten one bite at a time, steps are taken one at a time.
First, solve the problem with Bulanni, then figure out the situation here.
“Can I go inside?”
Duya planned to first stabilize Linglan’s mental state, and after dealing with Bulanni’s matter, help this poor girl solve her life’s difficulties.
Although he himself was trapped in the game world, he still had many teammates in reality.
If he told them about this, they might be able to help somehow.
“Of course.”
After getting permission, Duya pushed open the door to the inner room.
He clearly saw Linglan curled up in the shadow of a filing cabinet corner, hugging her knees, her face buried deep.
Duya couldn’t see her expression, but he could clearly feel that her spirit was on the verge of collapse.
“I don’t want to go back…”
“I don’t want to go back…”
The girl, like a broken tape recorder, kept repeating the same phrase nonstop.