“I—won’t—sign!”
The moment she said that, everyone’s attitude changed dramatically.
The ever-present fake smile on the Minister’s face couldn’t help but fade slightly as he glanced nervously at the King of Lin Qi behind him.
[King of Lin Qi’s Favorability -1]
Although the King of Lin Qi’s expression showed no obvious change, the favorability system had already revealed his inner displeasure.
Seeing this, the Minister, ever skilled at reading the room, quickly tried to make amends:
“May I ask, Hero… do you have any concerns about this contract? We can discuss it again—”
Yao Xing gave a stiff smile, put her hands on her hips, and stomped one foot onto the contract.
“You summon me here against my will, and now you’re trying to trick me into signing this slave contract?”
The Minister opened his mouth to say something else…
cough!
At the King of Lin Qi’s cough, silence fell over the entire hall.
“The Hero is probably tired. Guards, take her to wash up and change clothes!”
Before Yao Xing could say another word, a group of soldiers stepped forward in a show of force, and two attendants immediately stood beside her.
‘…’
And so, Yao Xing was once again taken to a room.
But this time it was different—the room was a beautifully decorated guest chamber, not the chaotic, dark prison from before.
Yao Xing sat silently on the soft edge of the bed, head bowed in thought.
‘Let me get things straight first…’
‘First, I was summoned.’
‘Second, I was stabbed by that princess earlier, but now it’s like a reset—everything is starting over from the beginning.’
Thinking this, she quickly glanced around the room out of the corner of her eye.
Then she walked over to an ancient mirror and studied her reflection.
The old mirror suddenly shimmered, and a human figure appeared—it seemed to be Yao Xing’s own likeness.
Though the presentation was strange, after all the bizarre things she had witnessed in such a short time, as long as the figure didn’t climb out of the mirror, it wasn’t a big deal.
“My appearance has changed a lot.”
Yao Xing examined herself closely…
Before she was transported, though her figure was petite and slim like a clothes hanger, her face had never been as beautiful as it was now.
After confirming that, aside from her face, there was basically no other difference, she slowly sat back down on the bed.
‘To think I ended up in this other world and already suffered a Bad End for no good reason…’
Yao Xing opened the system interface and looked at the history log.
[Bad End ×1]
“Is this the number of resets?”
‘I can confirm that I possess special abilities. Besides the [Favorability System], there’s also the [Bad End Reset] ability.’
‘I can’t imagine how these two abilities ended up inside me at the same time.’
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
Before Yao Xing could snap out of her thoughts, loud knocking came from the door.
Cautious, Yao Xing moved slowly, creeping up to the door and trying to peek through the peephole to see who was there.
“Hero, I’m here to bring your evening meal.”
Looking through, there was indeed a harmless-looking maid outside.
‘Probably no threat.’
With that, Yao Xing opened the door.
“I’m sorry, Hero…”
‘!!!’
As soon as the door opened, from the blind spot outside, a skirt slowly appeared—along with a familiar iron fan!
Yao Xing’s alertness shot to maximum.
She tried to slam the door shut, but the meal cart was already blocking it firmly.
‘Not good!’
Step… step…
With no other choice, Yao Xing could only retreat to the corner of the room.
Step… step…
The nearly deranged princess made her “first” appearance, her expression tinged with suspicion as she stood before the bed, staring intently at Yao Xing cowering at the foot of it.
As the maid left, the princess kept tapping the iron fan against her palm, again and again.
“Why are you afraid of me? This is clearly our first meeting, isn’t it?”
At those words, Yao Xing realized she had blown her cover.
‘Normally, last time I died because of this crazy princess. Now that I’ve reset, I shouldn’t know anything about her… That means…’
‘I shouldn’t have been scared!’
Cold sweat dripped down her face.
Her pupils shook violently.
Yao Xing stepped back, then back again, her gaze locked on the sharp iron fan, her eyes filled with terror.
Seeing this, the princess raised the iron fan, tapped it, and looked at Yao Xing: “That’s strange… Are you really the Hero? How do you know about me…”
“Are you really the Hero?”
Step… step…
“Are you the Hero?”
Step… step…
“Are you?”
As the princess approached, the iron fan slashed down.
Yao Xing rolled out of the way in panic, barely dodging the strike.
She looked back at an innocent picture frame—it had been cleanly cut in half by the mad princess.
‘This girl—’
Step… tap…
“You’re not, are you? You’re not the Hero!”
“You’re even weaker than me—even weaker—even!”
The crazy princess’s expression grew more unhinged.
The iron fan in her hand, through some unknown mechanism, reassembled into a long blade.
Scrape… scrape…
The blade dragged across the floor as the distance between her and Yao Xing shrank.
‘I have to run!’
Yao Xing seized the chance to squeeze past the blocking meal cart and escape the room.
Smack!
Before she could get far, distracted, she collided with a young woman.
“Sorry, sorry! I need to go—”
The young woman paused in surprise, then turned her head and looked at the frenzied princess: “Stop! Yue, you’ve offended the Hero!”
Hearing this, the mad princess seemed thunderstruck.
The long blade in her hand clattered to the ground.
“Sister, it’s not what you think! I suspected she wasn’t the Hero, so I—”
The young woman shook her head.
“No matter what, you have to apologize.”
…
‘Huh?’
Watching all this unfold, Yao Xing, already confused, was now completely dumbfounded, unable to figure out how the story was developing.
The young woman quickly pulled the crazy princess named Yue over, and together they bowed in apology: “I’m sorry! My sister caused trouble!”
Yao Xing scratched her head and pretended to be calm: “It’s fine…”
The young woman looked up, and Yue took the chance to run off.
“Hero, that was truly rude of us. My sister… ever since she was little, she’s been infused with dragon blood, which is why her temper is hard to control.”
‘Dragon blood…’
“I apologize. Please allow me to introduce myself.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Hero.”
“My name is Xing Cai Huan. I am the Great Princess of Lin Qi.”
‘Great Princess…’
“And my younger sister is named Xing Cai Yue, the Second Princess of the Kingdom of Lin Qi.”
“Aside from us, our father has no other heirs. Accordingly, I am the de facto candidate for the throne of Lin Qi.”
Yao Xing wanted to remark on how talkative Princess Huan was, but the unpleasantness of the past moments stuck in her throat like a thorn, making it hard to speak.
Seeing Yao Xing’s expression, Huan felt uncomfortable too.
“I understand how you feel… uh, no… I don’t think I deserve to say that…”
“My father forcefully summoned you from your home to this world… and then you received such treatment…”
“If it were me, I’d be angry too…”
As Huan spoke, the atmosphere only grew more awkward.
“Would you be willing to accept my compensation?”
Hearing this, Yao Xing perked up: “Can you take me out of Lin Qi?”
“Yes, but I’ll need some time to prepare.”
“Until then, could you come to the courtyard tomorrow morning? I’d like to take you for a walk around the streets.”
“And of course, I’ll answer any questions you want to ask to the best of my ability.”
‘Pretty face, sweet talk, and she wants to help me escape? If this wretched other world isn’t a trap, I’ll eat that ancient mirror! But for now, besides trusting her, I don’t seem to have any other choice.’