Chapter 2: The Hypocritical Prisoner

The breeze brushed the willow leaves, and time itself seemed to be erased.

The world fell silent as monsters returned to their nests.

In a kingdom named Lin Qi, a girl opened her eyes on a magic circle.

She raised her hands, her mouth agape in shock.

She tried to speak but couldn’t; she could only struggle to push herself up.

Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings—the dim royal hall, the blue-glowing array beneath her, her somewhat blurry vision—everything felt like a miracle, giving the girl a glimmer of hope.

“Hiss… where… is this?”

The confused girl scratched her head and pulled up the yellow-black coat that had slipped off her shoulder.

At this moment, the sound of footsteps echoed.

Tap, tap, tap.

A smirking minister emerged from the shadows.

Holding a contract and a writing brush, he strode swiftly toward the girl.

The girl stumbled back in fear.

“Stay away! You’re the one who kidnapped me, right?”

The minister shook his head helplessly, but the smirk on his lips didn’t fade.

“You have been summoned as the Hero.”

The girl paused, standing still in confusion.

Her cautious hand slowly lowered.

“Is this a film set?”

The minister ignored her question and simply handed her the contract.

“Lady Hero, please sign this contract to register your identity in our kingdom and ensure your rights. Please write your name and signature here.”

The girl took the contract and the brush, then slowly wrote two characters—”Yao Xing.”

The minister chuckled cheerfully.

“So the Lady Hero’s name is Yao Xing. What a wonderful name… Now, please sign!”

‘That’s not right…’

Following her deepest instincts, Yao Xing carefully read the contract.

But upon close inspection, she found numerous suspicious clauses.

‘Lifelong binding to Lin Qi, must obey royal orders, no resistance…’

Yao Xing stared in shock at the contract on her lap, then fixed her eyes on the minister’s smirking face.

“Is this an indenture contract?!”

The minister simply smiled without answering.

A cold sweat dripped from Yao Xing’s forehead onto her knees.

‘Forget it, I’ll just sign!’

Closing her eyes, she signed.

[?? Affection +1]

The minister was overjoyed, took back the contract, and quickly clapped his hands to summon a maid.

“Someone, escort the Lady Hero to rest.”

With that, the minister left without looking back, leaving Yao Xing to be ruthlessly dragged away by the maid.

….

Inside a room that resembled a dungeon, Yao Xing knelt helplessly.

Looking at the watery meal near her feet and the surrounding cell—dark, damp, and even smelly—she clearly had no rights at all, living a life like a prisoner.

‘If I had known, I wouldn’t have signed that indenture contract…’

Yao Xing sighed helplessly.

But the meal looked inedible anyway, so she simply lay down to rest, staring blankly at the cobwebbed ceiling.

Recalling the exchange with the minister, the sudden

[?? Affection +1] —what did it mean?

Yao Xing knew well that this must be the cheat ability she had brought from her transmigration.

‘But… an affection system?’

She extended her hands toward the ceiling and tried to activate it on the building, but nothing worked.

Squeak, squeak, squeak.

She spotted a rat.

Out of curiosity, she aimed her hands at it, her eyes turning red from straining, but she saw no affection points at all.

‘Sigh…’

She gave up struggling.

Not knowing what to do, she lay on the cold, hard stone bed, shaking her legs and tapping them against the stone with a pat, pat, pat, trying to relieve her prisoner-like boredom through slight pain.

…..

Time passed quickly—a long while later.

Yao Xing woke up on the stone bed, sat up, and stretched her neck uncomfortably.

She painfully pounded her sore back, and her legs ached from lying down, making it hard to even stand.

Gurgle.

Her traitorous stomach growled; she was inevitably hungry.

She looked around.

In this dark, damp place where even birds didn’t come and no one passed by, she couldn’t tell day from night.

The passage of time seemed to no longer exist in this world.

‘Am I really a Hero…?’

Helpless, she stroked her starving belly and looked at the watery meal by her feet.

With no other choice, she held her nose and torturously swallowed the food.

But her taste buds were stimulated, almost making her vomit.

“Ugh!”

[King of Lin Qi Affection +1]

Yao Xing looked around in confusion.

She wasn’t being watched, so why did the King of Lin Qi’s affection increase?

….

Again, an unknown amount of time passed in torment.

Yao Xing lay on the stone bed.

Perhaps because of eating that watery meal, her stomach ached more and more, unbearably so.

But the cell didn’t even have a toilet.

So helpless Yao Xing endured the pain and searched the surrounding stones.

“Huh?”

After accidentally lifting a brick, she saw a pair of eyes.

Startled, she stumbled backward.

But after confirming the clear, harmless eyes, she threw the brick aside and curiously stared at the newcomer.

From the crack in the stone, a boy did something, and a hole formed in the wall, connecting to an unknown space—a tunnel that seemed like a dimensional door.

‘Amazing!’

[?? Affection -1]

At the notification, Yao Xing looked at the boy in confusion.

The boy indeed frowned.

“You’re the new Hero? The meal you ate was drugged. If you don’t take an antidote in time, your mana will leak and reveal your location.”

Yao Xing sat on the stone bed in displeasure.

‘So I’m really stuck here for life?’

As if reading her mind, the boy pinched his nose bridge and frowned.

“There is still a way to escape. If we crawl out of the palace through a tunnel before the drug takes full effect, we can make it.”

Yao Xing nodded.

“Okay.”

With that, the boy took out a shovel and started digging a tunnel on his own.

“Once I dig through the soldiers’ secret passage, it will lead to the main gate.”

Yao Xing scratched her head in confusion.

“Why don’t you just open a teleportation gate?”

[?? Affection -1]

Yao Xing reluctantly shut her mouth.

This guy kept deducting affection points. It wasn’t like she was that hideous.

The boy explained, “That teleportation gate is my magic. Magic is forbidden within the palace. I can only come in from outside; I can’t use magic inside.”

‘I see…’

Knock, knock, knock.

Knock, knock, knock!

The smirking minister’s voice came from behind the door.

“Lady Hero, how is your rest? Did you eat the meal we prepared for you?”

Hearing no response, the minister continued, “If you are rested, please inform me. We will take you to the battlefield to kill enemies and relieve your boredom.”

Yao Xing looked at the boy in confusion.

The boy shook his head repeatedly and whispered a warning, “I’m almost done digging.

Don’t agree!

Once you do, you’ll become bait to lure monsters!”

Upon hearing this, Yao Xing naturally obeyed in fear.

Knock, knock, knock.

Knock, knock, knock!

“Lady Hero? Lady Hero?”

“Are you awake?”