Chapter 277: [Unswerving Devotion] Non-Realistic Instance
Bai Cha stayed at Shen Qingchen’s home for three days.
Timing it right around when she was due to enter the game, she chose to log in early instead.
Entering the game early allowed her body’s surgical wounds to heal a bit first.
Although they would inevitably split open again once she returned to reality.
Given that she was about to enter an instance anyway, it was best not to go in bearing severe pain.
Taking medication for three days hadn’t eased her breathing as quickly as entering the game; the trapped air pressing against her shoulders and ribs finally dissipated.
She had to admit that if she hadn’t held out back then and had chosen to enter the game to escape the temporary agony, she might have been even less capable of bearing it.
Over these three days, Shen Qingchen had hired someone to pack up her belongings. Bai Cha had initially wanted to decline, but ended up swallowing her words.
Because she had recalled that she still had those flowers at her rented place—other things could wait, but the flowers needed care.
Furthermore, her rent happened to be due as well.
She terminated her lease. The landlord was quite reasonable, and upon hearing that she was recovering from appendicitis surgery and returning home, they refunded her deposit anyway.
In the end, her luggage was mailed straight to her hometown.
Bai Cha placed a call to her aunt as well, informing her that she planned to move back home, and that her belongings were being shipped back first, though her own return would take a few extra days due to her appendicitis procedure.
There was no way around it; hiding it from her aunt was bound to be impossible, as her limping walk alone would betray that something was wrong.
Her aunt was indeed quite worried, but Bai Cha’s voice sounded normal enough, and knowing she was staying at a friend’s place, her aunt instructed her to wait until her stitches were removed before returning.
As for the game, she had originally scheduled a meeting with Chen Mi, but owing to the surgery, she had Shen Qingchen send someone to inform him to head back for now.
The meeting time, naturally, would be announced separately later.
Whether Chen Mi felt pleased or disgruntled was none of her concern; since he could inquire about Yu Zhenzhen, this clue was bound to be laid out before her sooner or later.
Come to think of it, Shen Qingchen seemed to have entered a game as well.
Her current instances could remain undisclosed to the public, as she was reportedly the sole challenger in her run.
Bai Cha cast a glance at her own instance prompt.
Deathless Devotion.
It sounded like a love story.
Oh, or perhaps literally deathless devotion.
The game commenced.
Her surroundings transformed, and she discovered herself seated inside a room.
This indeed appeared to be an ancient era.
She had already noticed during her previous dream that this instance was non-modern.
She had never cleared a non-modern instance before.
At this moment, the entire instance remained frozen in place.
Roughly three seconds after logging in, notification chimes began sounding by her ears.
[System Notice: Welcome to the A1-tier instance “Deathless Devotion”.]
A-tier at long last.
Her previous instances had remained stuck at B9 all along.
[System Notice: Number of participants in this instance: 7.]
[System Notice: Instance clearance mode: Immersive Roleplay + Teaming Mode.]
[System Notice: Each of you has been issued a character card tailored specifically to you. Please be absolutely certain to play your assigned role well—do not allow any plotlines that contradict your character or conflict with the historical era!]
[System Notice: Since the total number of players in this instance is 7, the teaming mode consists of pairs. The two players in a pair will become lovers, and your love story will be written by you. Love is deathless and devoted—if your lover dies, you will perish as well!]
[System Notice: To the player left unpaired: congratulations, you hold the opportunity to romance an NPC! Select an NPC, present them with a token of affection, and you will be bound together—they will die for you!]
[System Notice: However, if you fail to choose anyone, existing as a single individual is strictly forbidden under this historical era’s background~]
[System Notice: There is no time limit for this instance. Every pair of lovers needs only to pick a Fruit of Love to clear the game~]
[System Notice: This is a public-funded romance game! Work hard, everyone~ Secret APP wishes you a pleasant life!]
[System Notice: Next, you will have three minutes to review your character details first.]
The notification chime ceased, and a character card materialized in Bai Cha’s hand.
[Name: Xu Taotao.]
[Gender: Female.]
[Age: 18.]
[Description: You are already a maiden past typical marriageable age. Delayed by the mourning period for your parents, your marriage was postponed. You are an introverted, sensitive young girl who yearns for love, currently desperately craving to find a ideal husband.]
[Within Love City, a rumor has persisted all along: if two people who love each other truly obtain the Fruit of Love, they can grow old together in harmony. Indeed, within this walled city, every single married couple is deeply affectionate and devoted to one another.]
[However, you are far too quiet and reserved, feeling too shy to express your emotions. With no remaining elders in your household to manage your marriage, you decide to step outside on the evening of the Lantern Festival to see if you can run into your ideal husband…]
Bai Cha looked thoughtful.
This felt somewhat akin to a murder mystery script game, although she had never played one before.
The three minutes elapsed, and bullet chat comments set about surfacing one after another.
Bai Cha hadn’t adjusted her face this time.
Finally caught the streamer! Speaking of which, did the streamer hide her identity to clear runs before this?
Huh? This instance… couldn’t it be one of the instances from the legendary Romance Trilogy?
What on earth is that?
It’s just that among A-tier instances, there are three notoriously famous romance strategy instances that are absurdly outrageous…
Streamer, you need to be careful! It’s best to team up with a player first—whatever you do, don’t end up unpaired! Single dogs cannot survive here!
Bai Cha nodded subtly, then closed the bullet chat.
A knock sounded on the door.
“Miss, it is time for dinner.”
Oh, judging by the room’s decor, while it couldn’t be considered a prominent noble family, it indeed belonged to a wealthy household.
Thus, having servants was exceedingly normal.
Yet this implied that the risk of exposure was immense as well.
An introverted, quiet, sensitive young girl was quite easy to keep under control, but what proved difficult to manage were primarily the differences between eras.
“Come in,” Bai Cha said thoughtfully.
The door was pushed open, and a maid stepped inside carrying food in her hands.
Excellent—it was fortunate she hadn’t stepped up to open the door directly. Meals were taken inside her own room, so stepping out to open the door would appear exceedingly bizarre. Although she didn’t particularly understand ancient etiquette or social hierarchy, this didn’t appear to be a specific, well-known historical era either.
If forced to describe it, it resembled a period drama far more.
At the very least, the clothing on her frame was hard to attribute to any specific dynasty.
Furthermore, the character card explicitly bore the words “Love City”—much like a background constructed for a script kill game.
Bai Cha sat before the table in silence.
The meal was exceedingly simple: merely two plates of stir-fried dishes alongside a bowl of diluted porridge.
This appeared somewhat overly shabby, and the stir-fried dishes looked very much like leftover food to boot.
She picked up a vegetable piece with her chopsticks to taste it; excellent, it was indeed leftover food.
She turned her gaze onto the maid.
“What is it, Miss?” Gloating gloated openly in the other party’s eyes.
Understanding the situation, Bai Cha refined her character card mentally.
Following the death of her parents, a delicate, frail, sensitive young girl held zero means to support an entire household on her own.
And within this household, once the master turned weak, the phenomenon of servants dominating their master would inevitably surface.
“Take it away. I’m not hungry.”
Yet on the surface, she still appeared thoroughly easy to bully—knowing full well these dishes were wrong, yet uttering nothing further.
The maid looked at her with even deeper contempt in her eyes.
