Chapter 28: The Game of Deception

Su Qianyu felt a distinct sense of being swindled.

‘I entered that duel with a determination to die, yet winning only grants me an hour of freedom!?’

‘This is unfair, utterly unfair!’

‘I, Su Qianyu, demand to report this under my real name!’

Clenching her teeth, the Little Fox Girl’s face was etched with defiance.

Even without reading minds, Illo could discern the simmering indignation written across her opponent’s features.

Alas, the final right of interpretation rested solely with Illo.

Oh, and the right to arbitrate as well.

Her defiance was utterly useless.

“Don’t make that face.”

“Just look at those strange captives outside; none of them are living as comfortably as you are.”

Illo uttered these two sentences softly, her eyes brimming with undisguised disdain for Su Qianyu.

‘An hour is already generous; you insatiable wolf!’

Had it not been for her desire to prank Su Qianyu, Illo would never have bothered playing along, much less painting such a grand picture for her.

She could have simply subdued her until she was dazed, and that would have been the end of it.

However, Illo had always adhered to a philosophy of sustainable development.

It wasn’t that she wouldn’t play, but rather that she played with a plan, systematically.

Such a treasure, after all, was best savored slowly.

First, she would disguise herself as the never-before-seen Sub-Moderator.

Then, she would offer ‘help’ that was, in reality, a trap, and watch with her own eyes as Su Qianyu stepped, inch by agonizing inch, into the abyss.

No matter how she considered it, this scenario promised far greater entertainment.

****

Before coming ashore, perhaps due to the cumulative effect of her torments, Su Qianyu felt shivers run down her spine.

Despite having secured her hour of freedom, a sense of unease persisted in her heart.

It was as if this entire situation had been a trap custom-made for her.

From time to time, she sensed gazes settling upon her.

These weren’t lecherous or crude stares, but rather gazes filled with a peculiar disappointment.

‘Who’s watching me creepily?!’

Yet, when she glanced around, there wasn’t a single person looking in her direction.

With her head bowed, Su Qianyu darted into the changing room as soon as she was out of Illo’s direct line of sight.

Thankfully, Illo did not follow her in to disturb her this time.

Letting out a long breath, Su Qianyu dried the water from her body.

After changing into her clothes, it was time to contact the other party.

Noticing Illo still soaking in the water, Su Qianyu promptly opened her mysterious little app.

– 111, are you there! –

Tapping on her phone, Su Qianyu’s eyes gleamed with anticipation, eagerly awaiting a reply.

Now that she finally had her freedom, it was naturally time to proceed to the next step!

However, after a while, her phone still displayed the words ‘Unread’.

‘Strange, are they not online at this hour?’

Pondering this, a peculiar expression settled on Su Qianyu’s face.

Yet, remembering the urgency of the situation, Su Qianyu immediately sent several more messages in quick succession.

Alas, these messages, like the ones before them, vanished as if stones dropped into a vast ocean, failing to even cause a ripple.

Just as Su Qianyu frowned, wondering why the other party had suddenly disappeared,

her sensitive fox ears suddenly twitched, clearly catching a strange sound in the air.

“What was that sound?”

Clutching her phone, Su Qianyu heard what sounded like a peculiar phone ringtone emanating from the locker behind her, where she kept her clothes.

But just as she moved closer, the sound vanished once more.

‘A trick of the ears?’

Seeing the string of unread messages on her phone, Su Qianyu grew anxious and could only send a few more lines.

Yet, it seemed better not to send anything at all, for the moment she did, the sound eerily resurfaced.

Following the sound, Su Qianyu was now absolutely certain it was coming from Illo’s locker.

Just as she reached out to open the locker, Illo’s voice suddenly rang out.

“What are you doing?”

“N-nothing at all!”

Startled by Illo’s sudden appearance, Su Qianyu hastily concealed her phone.

With but a single glance, Illo instantly understood what the other party was up to.

It was fortunate she had acted quickly; Su Qianyu had almost discovered that she was the Sub-Moderator.

The two women exchanged glances, and after a moment, Illo was the first to speak.

“I’m about to change. Why are you still standing there?”

“Or perhaps, you’d like to play another game with me?”

Upon hearing this, Su Qianyu promptly scurried all the way to the door.

‘I wouldn’t play a game with this dreadful person for anything!’

Glancing back and seeing that Illo hadn’t followed, Su Qianyu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

‘She calls it a game, but in reality, she just wants to mess with me, doesn’t she!’

‘Only a fool would play along with her.’

Turning her attention to the chat interface, Su Qianyu’s brows furrowed once more as she watched the ‘Unread’ status change to ‘Read’.

‘Something feels… off.’

‘How is it that the Sub-Moderator read the messages the moment Illo emerged from the water?’

Narrowing her eyes, Su Qianyu felt as though she had caught a subtle hint of something amiss.

Soon enough, just as she suspected, the other party promptly sent numerous messages in reply.

Naturally, these included an explanation for why they hadn’t replied earlier.

However, reading the explanation did not dispel Su Qianyu’s doubts; instead, it fueled her suspicions even further.

Had the other party’s IP address not indicated a different city from her own, Su Qianyu would have undoubtedly scrutinized whether they were, in fact, Illo.

After all, she was well aware that Illo used her real name online.

It wasn’t impossible that Illo might use the same trick to torment her again.

Shaking her head, Su Qianyu resolved to be even more cautious.

After confiding her situation to the other party, they immediately responded to her message this time.

– Only an hour for the meeting? –

– That’s… a bit tight, isn’t it? –

– Couldn’t we have a little more time? –

Observing the barrage of three questions, Su Qianyu couldn’t help but sigh.

‘Did I not want to? I longed for more time!’

Alas, Illo was rotten to the core.

Securing even one hour had been an arduous feat for her.

‘Sometimes, one couldn’t always blame oneself.’

Fortunately, after a brief silence, the other party did not give up.

Watching as they shifted to inquire about a meeting location, the colossal stone weighing on Su Qianyu’s heart immediately plummeted.

‘The Goddess of Victory still stood by her side!’

After a moment of quick deliberation, Su Qianyu swiftly typed out a string of place names.

– So, let’s meet at this coffee shop then? –

Recalling the familiar streets and alleys in her memory, Su Qianyu tapped the ‘Send’ button.

The location was just right, neither too far nor too close to her home.

Even if Illo were to suddenly cause trouble and demand her return, she would still have ample time to complete the exchange.

Staring at the conversation on her phone, in a corner unseen by Su Qianyu, Illo also let out a breath of relief.

This relief wasn’t for anyone else, but rather for the Little Fox Girl outside, who was currently replying to messages.

Feeling the hot water cascade over her back, Illo’s heart was similarly fraught with a tension mirroring Su Qianyu’s.

She had actually thought that, given Su Qianyu’s intelligence, she would be able to uncover Illo’s disguise.

In her previous life, she had suffered no small number of setbacks due to overlooking various details.

This, naturally, included the realm of information gathering.

She certainly didn’t want Su Qianyu to discover her identity and thus outmaneuver her.

However, judging by the current outcome, it seemed she had overestimated Su Qianyu’s cleverness.

‘It appears that with her intervention, even Su Qianyu’s intelligence has been affected?’

‘For some reason, Su Qianyu doesn’t seem as sharp as she was in her previous life.’