If she was curious about whether Alberke’s identity was her dear friend Xiao Huayu, or some other transmigrator who knew the plot, the solution was simple: just call out Xiao Huayu’s name.
If she reacted, it was Xiao Huayu. If not, she could just laugh it off. Anyone who didn’t know Xiao Huayu would simply find it baffling.
As a result, Dolores easily tricked Xiao Huayu into revealing herself. But that was understandable—who would expect someone in another world to call out their name?
Or, more precisely, their online handle.
That was even more terrifying. In a world of magic involving souls and such, learning Xiao Huayu’s real name, Zi Liang, wouldn’t have made her jump in shock. But knowing her online handle… that couldn’t be explained by demons and true names or anything like that.
Alberke looked like her brain was about to short-circuit.
Not wanting to actually fry Alberke’s brain, Dolores quickly revealed her own identity.
“It’s me, Wang Ye… I transmigrated into Dolores, roughly around the time I first met Grin.”
Though her words were plain, Dolores believed they would help calm Alberke’s little head a bit.
“Wang Ye… you… I really thought you had fallen into the sea and died.”
The corner of Dolores’s mouth twitched.
Actually, she really had fallen into the sea and drowned. That kind of death was truly painful, something she never wanted to recall.
“After you died, no one held a funeral for you. No one even tried to look for you or salvage your body. I could only take some clothes from your home to make a cenotaph and burn the things you liked for you…”
The more Alberke spoke, the uglier Dolores’s expression became, because what she said was the truth.
In her past life, Dolores’s interpersonal relationships were abysmal. Her parents had passed early, and blood ties were severed.
The only one who could and was willing to hold a funeral for her was this little golden-haired girl before her.
What could she say? There wasn’t much to say. This was reality, and it did sting a bit.
As she spoke, Alberke spread her hands, curling her fingers in a beckoning gesture, which left Dolores looking confused.
“Long time no see, want a hug?” Alberke explained.
“Did you develop a hugging habit after turning into a loli?” Dolores frowned.
“No, I’ve never hugged anyone,” Alberke replied.
“Me neither.” Dolores slapped her hand, knocking down one of the tiny left hands.
“Right.”
Alberke lowered her hands. She had just had a sudden inspiration, thinking that in this kind of atmosphere, people usually cry and hug each other.
Now that they had both become this adorable, it would indeed look great on the surface.
But unfortunately, neither she nor Dolores had the habit of hugging.
The atmosphere when Alberke first met her had been somewhat heavy, but after this commotion, it was impossible to stay serious.
“Let’s talk somewhere else. You probably still have a lot of questions… and so do I,” Dolores suggested.
Their current location was still too conspicuous, so Dolores wanted to move to a corner to continue their conversation.
Alberke had no objections.
After changing locations and having Alberke cast a few spells to block sound and reduce their presence, Alberke hurriedly spoke up.
“Since Wang Ye, you transmigrated into Dolores, then doesn’t Grin’s System… for you…”
“Do you remember why I asked you to find something that could remove mental control?”
As soon as Dolores finished speaking, Alberke understood.
“Because Dolores is a strategy character with no means to counter the System? So you wanted to use the power of other strategy characters… You still remember the settings I discussed with you. That’s great.”
Alberke happily grabbed Dolores’s hand, and the latter didn’t swat it away this time.
“It concerns my own life. No matter how close I am to forgetting, I’ll eventually remember,” Dolores said casually.
Dolores’s initial goal had been achieved. Alberke had neither brought back an item to resist the System nor allowed her to meet Grin first.
The initial plan for reuniting with Xiao Huayu could have been more dramatic and atmospheric, but the timing of Alberke’s return was ultimately unpredictable.
Since she had seen her, she could only meet her first.
As for the confession—it was inevitable. She needed Alberke’s help, and the most sincere, wordless bond between them was this shared identity.
“So… regarding Grin, I hesitated before about whether to help you. Because in my eyes, I could use my knowledge of the plot to stay by Grin’s side and gain more benefits…”
“But that day, when I saw you asking me for help, I instinctively softened. Grin is like our child, and Dolores too… I really didn’t know what to do back then, but I still chose to try, even though I didn’t get what I wanted.”
Alberke’s words matched Dolores’s reasoning. After all, Alberke’s character was independent, not in immediate danger like Dolores was from the start.
So wanting to rely on the protagonist was normal. But did she know she was also among the strategy characters?
Most likely not. Otherwise, she’d probably be more worried about her own safety than Dolores’s right now.
“Should I call you Wang Ye or Dolores now?” Alberke asked.
“Dolores. I’m used to that name now. ‘Alberke’ is a name you chose yourself, right? You’re not using Xiao Huayu or Zi Liang as your name either, are you?”
Dolores said indifferently.
“Gotta adapt to local customs. When I first discovered I’d become a girl, besides being glad to be alive, it took me a long time to adjust.”
“How should I put it… The appearance I used to admire the most ended up being myself. For a while at the beginning, I was in a daze and melancholy, wondering why such a cute loli had to be me.”
“But I’m used to it now. Used to my current identity and this body.” Alberke spread her hands, showcasing her not-wealthy figure—just cute, purely cute.
This was exactly Xiao Huayu’s image. Dolores was used to it, but this kind of conversation was somewhat nostalgic.
“When did you transmigrate?” Dolores asked.
“Half a year ago.”
Alberke answered, and then Dolores thought of another question, asking somewhat grimly:
“How did you transmigrate? Did you also die in an accident?”
Alberke instantly recalled the dump truck on that rainy night, her face turning as bitter as a bitter gourd.
“I died, but the way I died… I don’t want to talk about it.”
To be precise, she found it somewhat embarrassing.
“Never thought we’d one day transmigrate into a game we created… But, I’m sorry, Wang Ye.”
Dolores was puzzled why she suddenly used her old name, having just discussed it.
“When I died, our game wasn’t finished. At first, I wanted to complete the remaining parts alone… but…”
“How should I put it… Accidents really are sudden. It took away my best friend, and just when I wanted to fulfill his wish, an accident took me away too.”
“That was a work we poured our hearts into, but I couldn’t see it to its release day…”
Alberke’s expression and demeanor grew despondent, her voice growing softer without her even noticing.
This was a knot in her heart that had never disappeared. No one in this world could understand these words of hers.
Only now, with Dolores appearing before her, did she have a chance to speak them.
Dolores reached out and ruffled Alberke’s little head.
For some reason, after discovering Alberke was Xiao Huayu, she kept having the urge to pat her head.
Was it because the golden hair looked too soft? Or because Alberke looked too cute?
The small, cute, golden-haired appearance made it hard for Dolores not to think of the orange cat they used to have in their office. She hoped Alberke wouldn’t catch on.
“Xiao Huayu, I’m the only one with the right to blame you for this, but…”
“I won’t blame you. Rather, if I hadn’t had that careless accident, the situation wouldn’t have fallen to you having to support it alone.”
“The game we created together was our shared effort, wasn’t it?”
Dolores said sincerely. She was actually a bit unclear why, after being affected by the System’s [Unswerving], she would still react strongly to Alberke’s actions.
“Mmm… Waaah, Wang Ye!”
“Wuwu, Dolores!”
Alberke suddenly threw herself into Dolores’s arms. The latter felt like she was about to be knocked bloody.
Damn it, didn’t she just say they had no hugging habit? It’s only been a few sentences…
Dolores, who was initially a little annoyed, looked down and saw the tears glistening in Alberke’s eyes. Instantly, all words of reprimand vanished.
She sighed and let Alberke cry in her arms.
For Dolores, for the current Dolores, this seemed meaningless.
She should only care about Grin.
But… Alberke, well, forget it. This little interlude wasn’t bad. Consider it a small preliminary task for gaining trust.
Patting Alberke’s head, a natural, inadvertent smile curled at the corner of Dolores’s lips.
Well that’s cute