To Leave the World or Not

The scent was achingly familiar. It was as if danger had seeped through every crack the moment she'd let her guard down.

Were these people insane? They'd actually released the Kapok Flower—did they have any idea how deadly that plant truly was?

Song Weishi pedaled as fast as she could, but it was useless. She'd caught a whiff of the Kapok Flower back on the bus, but that had been in a dreamlike state. She'd never truly experienced its power, never known what it was capable of.

The moment she'd caught the scent, she'd shouted for the other two to hold their breath.

Riding was faster than running, but she'd still inhaled a trace of it. Her head spun, weightless, as if she were floating on clouds. The other two weren't faring much better—Xie Huiqing had already blacked out.

Whether it was from blood loss or the Kapok Flower, she couldn't tell.

They needed to move faster. Behind them, sounds echoed—people were descending from above.

Song Weishi and Xie Huiying pulled the stretcher while Xie Yi ran ahead to open the door.

She couldn't hold her breath any longer. She inhaled, and the world tilted violently.

Could the people behind them really be immune to the Kapok Flower?

The three of them stumbled through the underground, disoriented, the concentration of the flower's fragrance overwhelming.

Song Weishi couldn't maintain her composure. She set down the stretcher and staggered toward the drainage pipe.

The footsteps behind them were chaotic. The pursuers were in terrible shape, too. More than chasing them, they were desperate to save themselves, running on pure instinct even as their minds failed.

Song Weishi finally reached the upward pipe and grabbed the other two's hands, pulling them forward.

The people above heard the commotion below and peered down as soon as Xie Yi opened the passage.

Song Weishi shouted, her voice slurred and desperate: "Don't—don't breathe!"

The two up top called out in confusion, then immediately understood what she meant.

After all, the scent was unmistakable even at first whiff.

Wind rushed in from outside, and Song Weishi gulped down a breath, her foggy mind clearing slightly. She pushed the bound Xie Huiqing up first.

The people behind them closed in, guns raised. One of them fired instinctively in her direction.

The bullet grazed past her cheek, jolting her wide awake.

She gasped reflexively—a natural bodily response. When startled, people try to calm themselves with deep breaths; it was quick and effective, but clearly useless here.

Xie Yi acted without hesitation. She clamped her hand over Song Weishi's mouth. Her hazy mind spun wildly, and she blacked out.

Song Weishi felt someone hoist her onto their shoulder. Both of the others had more resistance than she did, so they'd managed to stay conscious. Xie Yi carried her on her back. Bullets flew wildly from below, one grazing her shoulder. Blood poured from the wound instantly.

She let out a muffled grunt, but her gaze grew sharper, her grip tighter. Song Weishi's body was strong, but her magic resistance was pitiful. The effects had hit her far harder than the others.

She was already completely unconscious.

The two above pulled her up with a rope, then Xie Huiying climbed up with difficulty. Xie Yi brought up the rear, her calm eyes sweeping over the people behind her.

With Song Weishi safe, she finally had a free hand. She reloaded the magazine, released the safety, raised her gun, and fired. One fluid motion. A few loud cracks rang out, and several corpses crumpled to the ground.

She grabbed the stretcher frame and scrambled up in a few quick steps, the pain making her more alert with each passing second.

Turning back, she sealed the manhole cover completely. A vehicle pulled up, and the stretcher with the unconscious Song Weishi was loaded inside.

They had escaped, albeit by the skin of their teeth.

Once they were out of the Kapok Flower's reach, the group's groggy haze slowly dissipated. Song Weishi woke up in the car again, almost thinking she was back on the road to the city.

She sat up, head throbbing, ears ringing, though her vision was still clear enough. Xie Huiqing lay motionless on the stretcher, her complexion a shade better than before. There wasn't a doctor among them. No one knew how to properly treat Xie Huiqing's wounds, so all they could do was cluster around her and watch.

Song Weishi grabbed a bottle of water and downed it in one go. Sound gradually returned to her ears.

Jiang Qingrou turned back and asked, "Sister Song, are you okay?"

Song Weishi waved a hand. "I'm fine. Where's Xie Yi?"

She scanned the vehicle. It was a small space—no sign of Xie Yi.

Ke Shaoyi was driving up front. Guo Li and Sister Chen sat in the passenger seat, while the other three huddled around Xie Huiqing.

Xie Huiying pointed to the right. "She's in the decontamination room at the back, looking for the medical kit."

Song Weishi steadied herself against the wall and headed back, stumbling slightly. She'd really taken a beating this time. She couldn't believe those people were so ruthless they'd even turn on their own.

She remembered that at the critical moment, Xie Yi had covered her nose and saved her.

So it wasn't all bad luck around the female lead. Getting on her good side might just save your life when it counted.

Song Weishi opened the door. "Found the medical—"

She stopped mid-sentence. There was Xie Yi, arm raised, body twisted, bandaging herself with her bare hands. Her shoulder looked injured, and her lips—clamping down on the bandage—trembled slightly. It seemed she'd been startled by Song Weishi's sudden appearance. Her hands tightened, yanking the knot hard enough to bite straight into the wound.

She drew a sharp breath, her lashes glistening with moisture. That normally cold face held a trace of helplessness. Song Weishi quickly closed the door behind her, not knowing where to put her hands.

She couldn't tear her eyes away from the wound. "What happened? You're hurt? Why didn't you say anything?"

Xie Yi pressed her lips together and said nothing, but blood seeped through her shoulder again. She pressed her hand over it, as if hiding it would make Song Weishi stop looking.

"It's nothing. Just a scratch."

Song Weishi glanced at her shoulder, then at her furrowed brow.

"That's no 'nothing.' Didn't we bring back some growth factor before? Where is it?"

Without waiting for Xie Yi to answer, Song Weishi scanned the room. She spotted several vials of medicine next to the open medical kit.

She uncapped the top. Xie Yi's shoulder was still bleeding steadily. There was no way that was just a scratch. "Drink one. Stop the bleeding first."

The two sisters from the Xie family were in bad shape. Only Xie Huiying was still holding up. What a family of workhorses.

Song Weishi held the medicine out to her, her arm suspended in midair. Xie Yi kept her eyes lowered, and Song Weishi couldn't tell if she was looking at the medicine or at her.

It only occurred to her then—Xie Yi had one injured arm, and the other hand was pressed against the wound. She couldn't possibly drink it on her own.

With a sigh, she lifted the vial to Xie Yi's lips. Xie Yi obediently tilted her head back and drank from Song Weishi's hand, her pale, slender neck exposed without a trace of wariness.

Song Weishi watched intently, not noticing Xie Yi's gaze on her at all. She casually wiped the spill from the corner of Xie Yi's mouth and gestured for her to sit.

She untied the gauze Xie Yi had haphazardly wrapped and redressed the wound. Her movements weren't exactly skilled, but they were far better than Xie Yi's own attempt. She carefully bound her shoulder.

"We still need to find a real doctor. That wound's not small—there's a risk of infection. Take some anti-inflammatories for now, and we'll have it properly treated once we get back."

Song Weishi closed the medical kit, and Xie Yi shrugged back into her clothes. Her eyes remained fixed on Song Weishi, watching her bustle about, refusing to let her out of sight.

When she moved to help, Song Weishi pressed her down. "Don't you dare move. I've got this. Come on, let's get inside."

A small smile tugged at Xie Yi's lips. Somehow, it felt nice to be taken care of—just like back in the snow.

Song Weishi walked ahead of her, carrying the medical kit. "Let's do a preliminary treatment for her. Have you looked at her wound?"

The Kapok Flower's scent was like an anesthetic. If used well, it could have all sorts of applications—but those people had to weaponize it.

Xie Huiying lifted the clothes away from Xie Huiqing's wound. The right side was a bloody mess. No gaping holes—the earlier medicine must have been working.

Song Weishi glanced back to see Xie Yi sitting obediently in her seat, then turned her attention forward again.

Xie Huiying's eyes brimmed with tears. She turned her face away and wiped them fiercely.

She couldn't bring herself to clean the wound. Her heart ached too much.

Song Weishi patted Xie Huiying's shoulder. "It's okay. I've got this."

The other two held up lights around her. Song Weishi carefully dabbed a cotton swab soaked in iodine and gently wiped at Xie Huiqing's wound.

Soon, the entire gash around her waist was clean.

Xie Huiqing couldn't be moved easily, so they covered the wound with gauze and ointment, sealing the whole area shut.

It was a miracle Xie Huiqing was still alive. The wound hadn't hit any organs and caused internal bleeding. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made it in time.

With both injuries tended to, the group finally let out a collective sigh of relief and settled back into their seats.

The car kept moving. The city had descended into chaos. Before dawn, Jiang Qingrou made a quick trip back to the apartment. The group grabbed everything they needed and loaded it all into a second vehicle.

In less than half an hour, the city had fallen into utter pandemonium. Until they caught Xie Huiqing, those people would never let this go.

They couldn't stay here any longer. They had to keep Xie Huiqing out of the pharmaceutical company's reach.

The city was a tangled mess now. There was no more staying. The clamor from outside filtered into the car like feverish whispers, buzzing in Song Weishi's ears.

Two injured people and Song Weishi rode in one car, with just enough room to squeeze in some rest. Xie Huiying drove. The others piled into the second car. No one knew where to go yet; they just drove toward the suburbs as fast as they could.

Song Weishi sat back with her eyes closed, utterly exhausted from the night. The bruises from the blows still ached faintly.

She needed rest. The moment her eyes shut, the System's voice chimed: "Congratulations, Host. You've unlocked the original plot. Please check."

Song Weishi froze but kept her eyes closed. It had been ages since she'd unlocked new plot. The last time was outside the city, when Sister Chen gave her the gold bars.

Almost a month had passed since then. She'd only been in this world for two months, but time dragged on like molasses. Every day felt like a trial.

Was staying in this world really that difficult?

Song Weishi opened the original plot. The key events took place recently.

The biotech company had sent in a disruptor. The drug-testing scandal wasn't supposed to break until much later, but by then it would already be too late. Most security personnel had already accumulated enough of the mutation-inducing agent in their bodies.

At a certain point, it would all erupt at once. Many of them would turn into monsters. Of course, some would awaken strange abilities instead.

It wasn't exactly like Song Weishi's situation. The book explained that human mutation was highly random and unpredictable. It was bound to happen eventually—just a matter of probability. Some people would live their whole lives as ordinary humans, while others would awaken as ability users. Those who failed to awaken would become monsters.

Zhou Liyan had simply solidified that possibility, artificially stimulating the security personnel to accelerate their divergence.

By the time Xie Huiqing discovered the truth, it was already too late. The biotech company had wormed its way deep into the heart of Huihai City.

They hoarded wealth and power, casting the entire city under Hengyuan's shadow.

Xie Huiqing was killed and stripped of her authority. The female lead lost her last pillar of support, and only then did she begin to rise—that was where the real plot kicked off.

What the hell was all this?

Song Weishi opened her eyes and looked at Xie Huiqing lying on the ground. A person like her—she just died like that? She'd kept the entire city running, and this was how she went out?

Add Xie Huiying, who should have died on the road, and Xie Yi would truly be left all alone.

Why would anyone do this to the female lead?

Xie Yi sat quietly on the floor, knees drawn to her chest, watching Xie Huiqing on the stretcher.

Song Weishi could tell—she genuinely cared about both of these women.

What was the author thinking, killing off her family one by one before writing her rise to power?

But Xie Yi had never been weak. She didn't need a shattered family to become strong. Her spirit and her body had always been formidable.

Wasn't this kind of growth just redundant?

Song Weishi mulled it over, reading the plot again and again. It was absurd. If she hadn't shown up and held on, would all these innocent people have died?

At first, she'd treated this as just a world from a book. But after everything she'd been through, these people had long since become her friends. Everything here felt real to her. This was a fully real world.

She didn't want her friends to die. She didn't want to follow the book's ending. These people deserved to live—to live well.

Even Ke Shaoyi had died protecting Xie Huiqing. She remembered the hope in that girl's eyes back in the quarantine zone. She shouldn't have died—not at the hands of rotten, heartless bastards like them.

She turned to look out the window. Ke Shaoyi happened to glance over as she drove, and their eyes met. She smiled and waved.

In the passenger seat, Jiang Qingrou was still holding Ke Shaoyi's cat, waving along with her.

Song Weishi continued reading. The next part of the plot wouldn't unlock until the next chapter.

But at the bottom of this chapter, two options appeared: "Host, we can now leave this world. However, all your previous points, items, and identity will be reset to zero. The next world is ready to open. Do you wish to leave? You only get one chance. If you stay in this world, I cannot guarantee your continued survival. Even if you die, you will no longer be able to leave."

Song Weishi chose without a moment's hesitation. "System, I'm staying. The next world might not be any better than this one—but here, I already have my companions."