Jasmine Manor, conference hall.
Besides the five sisters and Li Andy, there were also several guests from the stationed navy or research institute.
They gathered here to discuss the sea monster incident.
And also, to determine responsibility for this disaster.
Listening to them pass the buck and argue, Li Andy couldn’t help but sigh.
This fictional mental world seemed far more “real” than it appeared on the surface.
Compared to Youxi’s small world, each character had more logical personalities and motivations, and their vividness was clearly more than a little bit higher.
The changes in their eyes, the details hidden in their micro-expressions, made him feel like he was facing real people.
He tried to find loopholes in the cognitive limitations of NPCs (or pseudo-humans) through their actions and dialogues, but he couldn't find a single one.
He had Youxi use a ghost to observe outside, from officials having affairs to beggars begging, it was all the same.
If he were to use the gaming terminology from his previous life, it meant that these NPCs truly had their own lives.
Could Forgetful Bookstore truly achieve this level?
This was many times more powerful than the game’s setting descriptions.
Converted to computer processing power, what astronomical numbers would it reach?
For a moment, Li Andy couldn't help but wonder.
Is this world… truly fake?
Li Andy pondered for a long time, and those guests finally negotiated a nonsensical result with the Jasmine sisters:
“Strengthen coastal patrols and dispatch personnel to investigate the monster’s situation at sea.”
But who would fund it and who would provide the manpower, that was another round of tug-of-war.
Li Andy sighed lightly, feeling there was no need to listen further.
He said these NPCs were real, but why were they as boring and inefficient as those amateur troupes?
So, he pulled Youxi and left the conference room.
.....
On the other side.
Inside the guest room, Sophia sat nervously on the only bed.
At this moment, she was wearing a thin nightgown, with white-and-pink sheer socks on her feet, like soft, creamy ice cream.
“Why?”
The simple Sophia truly didn’t understand.
Why did Mr. Andy and Miss Youxi suddenly lock her alone in the room without a word after telling her to come over?
“Did I really do something wrong?”
As time passed, she grew increasingly uneasy.
She got up and tried to unlock the door, but the doorknob seemed welded shut.
“Grrr…”
Her stomach sent out signals of hunger, and Sophia squatted on the ground, feeling so wronged she wanted to cry.
“Why are you doing this to me…”
“What did I do wrong?”
She ran her fingers through her hair, her emotions starting to spiral out of control.
The shadow beneath her writhed uneasily, as if something was about to break free!
Just then—
The door creaked open, and two familiar shadows appeared in Sophia’s line of sight.
She hastily looked up, then instinctively lowered her head, stood up, and apologized flusteredly:
“I… I’m sorry!”
“No need to apologize, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
Accompanying Li Andy’s reply was the sensation of his head being stroked.
Sophia looked up:
“Then why…?”
Before she could finish her sentence, Youxi, standing beside her, suddenly rubbed her stomach and asked with a smile:
“Are you hungry?”
“Ah? No…”
Sophia was about to deny it, but her stomach “grumbled” again.
She immediately blushed, shrank her neck, and changed her answer:
“A little…”
Youxi smiled, signaled Li Andy to close and lock the door, then pulled her to sit on the bed.
Sophia was utterly bewildered, then watched in astonishment as Youxi bit her own finger, and then suddenly put it into her mouth.
“Ugh—!”
The sudden metallic taste of blood instantly filled her mouth.
But the next second, she froze.
For some reason, she didn’t feel disgusted.
Instead, she found it somewhat abnormally delicious??
“Do you feel like remembering anything?” Youxi asked with a smile.
‘Remember anything?’
Sophia’s eyes were dazed; she couldn’t remember anything, but she just felt… this taste, it seemed familiar?
“Ugh?!”
Suddenly, Youxi sharply pulled out her finger, and the shallow cut on it was widened by her small, sharp tooth.
Fresh red blood, mixed with a trace of her saliva, visibly overflowed.
‘!’
Sophia’s breath hitched, her eyes fixed on the blood, her body unconsciously leaning forward, her purple eyes glowing with a strange red light.
Very good, the characteristics of a vampire were being induced.
Youxi revealed a somewhat infatuated smile, slowly swaying the blood on her fingertip in front of Sophia.
“Do you want it?”
Her slow words were like the whispers of a demon.
“I…”
Sophia’s breathing gradually quickened, feeling as if something was crawling all over her body, her gaze locked onto the blood, her eyes gradually filled with desire.
“No.”
Youxi suddenly withdrew her finger, smiled and put it into her mouth, then, with a challenging look in her eyes, she absentmindedly sucked the blood clean.
“!!”
Sophia’s eyes immediately turned red, the small fangs in her mouth suddenly grew half a centimeter longer, and a pair of beast ears popped out from the top of her head.
“You… you!”
Her breathing grew heavier, her gaze becoming dangerous.
“Oh? Do you really want it?”
Youxi smiled and spat out her finger, blood once again oozing from the wound.
“Give… give it to me!”
At this moment, Sophia’s whites of her eyes had completely turned black, her body instinctively wanting to hunt.
“Brother!”
At the same instant Youxi spoke, Li Andy snapped his fingers.
The previously still bedsheet suddenly split, transforming into tough ropes that instantly bound the out-of-control Sophia.
“What… what’s wrong with me?”
Sophia regained a trace of clarity, stiffly turning her head to look at the mirror beside her, but she was so frightened by her own monstrous appearance that she forgot to breathe.
“Mr. Andy… Miss Youxi… Have I also become one of those monsters?!”
Sophia’s eyes were filled with immense fear, and the mutated crew members from earlier in the day flashed through her mind.
The more she feared, the more arrogant and unstable the shadow beneath her became.
Li Andy frowned, looking at his sister, who resembled a major villain, and asked:
“Are you sure this method will restore her, and not make her lose control?”
“Don’t worry, Brother.”
Youxi smiled, put down her finger, kicked off her shoes, climbed onto the bed, and moved behind Sophia.
Then, in front of Li Andy, she lightly bit Sophia’s ear, and slipped her hands under her thighs, supporting those ice-cream-like legs from behind.
“???”
Li Andy and Sophia froze simultaneously.
Youxi winked mischievously at him and said:
“Brother, it’s your turn, Sophia needs your help~”
Gazing at the unique scene before him, Li Andy felt his sanity being greatly challenged.
He took a deep breath, slowly stepped forward, allowing his shadow, which Youxi claimed could absorb madness, to overlap with their figures.
“What… what are you going to do?” Sophia began to panic.
“Don’t be afraid, Sophia~”
Youxi whispered in her ear, gently coaxing,
“Your body… needs to relax…”
“This way, everything can return to normal….”
“This is our unique… stabilization ritual….”