“You have the Siren’s Amulet, Mu Shicheng.”
Bai Liu turned to look at him, expression unreadable.
“Did you bind the item?”
Mu Shicheng stiffened slightly.
“...I bound it the moment I got it.”
He pulled out the Siren’s Amulet.
The tiny white mermaid no longer had its original blank, generic face. Its features had transformed into Mu Shicheng’s own.
At the same time, Mu Shicheng immediately understood what Bai Liu intended to do.
Bai Liu wanted to use the Siren’s Amulet.
The item allowed its user to shatter a mirror and instantly escape using the amulet afterward. But now that it was already bound to Mu Shicheng, there was only one possible outcome.
“I’ll break the mirror.”
Mu Shicheng inhaled slowly, gripping the sculpture tightly.
But the truth was, this method wasn’t safe at all.
No one knew how quickly a God-level NPC could kill, what kind of attack skills it possessed, or whether there would even be enough time to activate the item before dying.
“Bai Liu...” Mu Shicheng’s expression turned strange, conflicted. “Did you have me steal the Siren’s Amulet from the very beginning for this exact moment?”
“When did you realize the world inside the train was fake?”
Bai ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Liu answered honestly.
“Probably from the moment I saw the escalators in the station moving in reverse. And the circular subway tracks.”
He paused slightly.
“If it were me designing a game, making the tracks circular would obviously be for the sake of creating a loop.”
Mu Shicheng nearly broke on the spot.
That was practically the beginning of the game.
They hadn’t even boarded the train yet.
And Bai Liu had already realized it?
Mu Shicheng felt his sanity cracking apart.
Bai Liu wasn’t even human anymore. He was basically a walking game bug disguised as a player.
Mu Shicheng shut his eyes briefly.
In reality, he had no choice.
No matter how dangerous the plan was, he still had to be the one to break the mirror and use the Siren’s Amulet to escape.
After all, there was no way he could let Bai Liu—who only had 1 HP left—do it himself.
Right?
Bai Liu clapped his hands lightly and stood up.
“In a moment, I’ll use the whip to break the mirror,” he said casually. “If the God-level NPC comes out and starts attacking indiscriminately, remember to crush the amulet and escape in time.”
Mu Shicheng went completely silent.
Several seconds later, he grabbed Bai Liu by the shoulders and shook him violently.
“Who the hell did you just say was breaking the mirror?!”
“Me.”
Bai Liu looked at him strangely.
“I still haven’t completed the last page of the Monster Book. I’m only missing the Ghost Mirror’s attack method. I’m waiting for it to attack me.”
Mu Shicheng froze.
“...”
“?????????”
“?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!”
“Fuck!!”
Mu Shicheng’s mind went blank.
He suddenly realized ordinary logic simply did not work on a psychopath like Bai Liu.
Staring at Bai Liu, who had already pulled out his whip, Mu Shicheng asked in complete disbelief:
“You’re not seriously planning to break the mirror yourself, are you?!”
Bai Liu glanced at him sideways.
“Would you rather do it instead?”
“Of course I don’t want to do it!!” Mu Shicheng exploded. “But at least I have the Siren’s Amulet! What the hell do you have that makes you think you can afford to be this reckless?!”
“Are you insane?! You only have 1 HP left!”
As he spoke, Mu Shicheng pulled out the little white mermaid sculpture and moved to stand in front of Bai Liu.
He took a deep breath, extending his monkey claws toward the mirror.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
His voice turned cold.
“The second the mirror breaks and the game clears, log out immediately. Get the hell away from here, hide somewhere safe, and don’t die at the very last second.”
“Mu Shicheng,” Bai Liu said calmly from behind him, “having you break the mirror is actually extremely inefficient.”
Mu Shicheng’s eyelid twitched.
“It’s obvious the God-level NPC emerging from the mirror will trigger an area attack. If I break it, you can still use the amulet to escape.”
“But if you break it, the attack will almost certainly hit me too.”
Bai Liu tilted his head slightly.
“And I’ll probably GG instantly.”
He concluded with complete composure:
“It’s not worth it.”
Mu Shicheng almost choked from rage.
“At a time like this, you’re still talking about what’s worth it?!”
“And besides—”
Bai Liu’s voice remained cool and clear.
“Mu Shicheng, I already said you’re currently my most valuable card. It would be a waste for you to die here. The cost-performance ratio is too low.”
Mu Shicheng suddenly went still.
Because Bai Liu was completely serious.
He genuinely believed it would be a waste.
Mu Shicheng slowly turned to stare at Bai Liu in utter disbelief.
Bai Liu met his gaze calmly, without the slightest hesitation.
After several seconds of dead silence, Mu Shicheng finally spoke.
“...No way, Bai Liu.”
His voice was full of disbelief.
“You really intend to break the mirror yourself and make me stand there watching you die?”
“Are you actually a fucking psychopath?”
Bai Liu’s face was pale with weakness, but he still smiled faintly.
“Mu Shicheng, weren’t you the one who hated being controlled by me?”
His eyes curved slightly.
“Then why are you suddenly willing to die for me?”
He paused.
“Between the two of us, who exactly is the psychopath here?”
Mu Shicheng fell into stunned silence.
...Fuck.
He was right.
Wasn’t Mu Shicheng supposed to be the one being manipulated?
How the hell had things developed into this?!
Then realization hit him—
It was because Bai Liu was completely insane.
Who the hell had ever heard of the controller dying in place of the person being controlled?!
Mu Shicheng stood there in a daze for a while before finally forcing out:
“Bai Liu... why are you going this far?”
“For money.”
A coin appeared between Bai Liu’s fingers with a casual flick.
Then he laughed softly.
“For your remaining value to me, Mu Shicheng.”
“Since you’re willing to step forward and break the mirror for me, that’s basically the same thing as being willing to die for me. But dying here would be far too wasteful.”
Bai Liu lifted his eyes.
“So instead, why not sell your soul to me?”
“At the very least, I won’t let you throw your life away so casually like you usually do.”
His tone remained calm.
“Mu Shicheng.”
Mu Shicheng was speechless for a long moment.
He genuinely didn’t know how to respond to that.
His expression shifted repeatedly, complicated and unreadable.
“I still need you to steal more things for me,” Bai Liu continued lightly. “Work with me more times. Earn me more points and more money.”
He looked directly at Mu Shicheng and held the coin up between them.
“So I won’t die.”
“And I absolutely won’t waste your life.”
“Do you want to make this deal?”
The strange expression on Mu Shicheng’s face slowly disappeared, settling into cold calmness.
“I hate being controlled,” he said flatly.
Bai Liu nodded.
He didn’t withdraw the coin.
Still smiling calmly, he replied:
“I won’t control you.”
“We’re simply cooperating.”
Then he added:
“Or rather, I won’t let you feel like you’re being controlled.”
“Cooperating?”
Mu Shicheng scoffed.
Without expression, he snatched the coin from Bai Liu’s hand.
Then he suddenly laughed coldly.
“...That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“One point is way too cheap. Minimum ten thousand points.”
Bai Liu frowned immediately.
“Your asking price is very high.”
“Ten thousand points is expensive...”
He actually seemed to hesitate.
Mu Shicheng stared at him for several seconds before exploding in disbelief.
“Wait—what the fuck?!”
“You’re seriously hesitating over ten thousand points to buy me?!”
“I’m fourth on the Rising Star Rankings, Bai Liu!!”
“But ten thousand points is expensive,” Bai Liu replied honestly. “Everyone else only cost me one point.”
“Only Zhang Kui cost twelve thousand. But I thought that was too expensive, so he died.”
Bai Liu looked at him thoughtfully.
“Do you want to die too?”
Mu Shicheng: “...”
This fucking lunatic was actually threatening him.
Mu Shicheng said expressionlessly:
“Give me a proper price.”
“A hundred points at most.”
Bai Liu looked at him sincerely.
“Look, this is your first time selling your soul. How about giving me a ninety-percent discount?”
Mu Shicheng: “...”
[System message: Player Bai Liu has purchased player Mu Shicheng’s soul for 100 points.]
[System message: Player Bai Liu has obtained player Mu Shicheng’s soul coin and now shares soul ownership rights over player Mu Shicheng with the system.]
“...Hey.”
Mu Shicheng irritably raked a hand through his hair.
“You’re really going to break the mirror yourself?”
He clicked his tongue.
“Tsk. If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have bound the amulet the moment I got it. Breaking the mirror barehanded like this is practically asking to die.”
He glanced at the Siren’s Amulet.
“Can this thing be unbound? If it can, I’ll give it to you.”
“No need.”
Bai Liu shook his head.
“Your safety is important too. I need you to keep the Siren’s Amulet so your survival value stays guaranteed.”
After a pause, he added matter-of-factly:
“You’re my property now. Naturally, I have to ensure the safety of my property.”
“This is also the first time I’ve spent this many points buying someone’s soul.”
Bai Liu sighed softly.
“One point equals one thousand yuan...”
“You’re worth a hundred thousand.”
He sounded genuinely pained.
“A hundred thousand...”
“Maybe I should reconsider.”
Mu Shicheng: “...”
What the hell was with that tone?!
Why did he sound like someone regretting an impulsive luxury purchase?!
Was Mu Shicheng not even worth a hundred thousand to him?!
“Bai Liu.”
Mu Shicheng looked at him expressionlessly.
“If you keep talking bullshit, I’ll smash the mirror myself right now and make sure your hundred thousand goes straight down the drain.”
Bai Liu instantly shut up.
—
Author’s Note:
Aside from Mu Ke, Mu Shicheng really was the most expensive soul Bai Liu had ever bought at the time.
One hundred thousand yuan!!!
Back then, Bai Liu was still inexperienced and didn’t have many options, so he reluctantly bought him anyway.
...Though he always felt it wasn’t entirely worth it.
Mu Shicheng: Fuck you!!!
