Please Bully Me, Miss Villainess!

Chapter 104 : The Misplaced One 5

As they ventured deeper, the green mist grew increasingly dense.

The two seemed to have reached the center from which the miasma was emanating.

Damn it... so foggy... can't see clearly at all...

Yvonne's eyesight wasn't good, let alone in such a mist-filled place. She was practically blind, making her feel increasingly uneasy.

Being nearsighted in her past life and this one too was too realistic...

Is it too late to start proper eye care? Maybe next time she should wear the glasses Elsa gave her...

As she thought about these things in a jumble while trying hard to observe her surroundings, she heard the person beside her draw in a sharp breath.

"Evie—quick, look over there!!"

"...What!!"

Looking in the direction Elsa pointed, there was a figure lying on the ground.

However, because it was too far away and wearing a black robe, it was impossible to tell if it was male or female. Their fate was uncertain.

But... this wasn't the main point of Yvonne's concern.

Lying on the ground alongside that person was a huge viper with an enormous body covered in eerie dark green patterns.

More exaggerated and shocking than 3D special effects in horror movies!

With this size, it could absolutely swallow a person whole—

We need to get her out of here—

Realizing the danger, Yvonne reflexively wanted to pull Sphinx's reins and flee, but after calming down, she realized that this huge magical beast seemed to have already lost its vitality.

The winged serpent's wings had been torn apart by some unknown massive force, falling to the ground in pieces. There was a large hole in its head, its pupil as big as a fist dilated to the maximum, its mouth unable to close, its forked tongue hanging down crookedly—all signs of vanished life signs. Its body was riddled with holes, continuously oozing green liquid that emitted a foul odor, turning the grass within a hundred-meter radius yellow and withered.

The viper's blood was venom, undoubtedly the culprit behind this miasma.

Moreover... the appearance of this magical beast...

Confirming the unpleasant guess in her mind, Yvonne felt cold sweat seeping from her back.

The monster before her eyes looked exactly like the level boss she had fought many times in the game.

Because of the previous rewind, Yvonne's perceived time had passed for nearly half a year, but in reality, the time point she was at was still during the summer vacation of the first semester's latter half. This almost made her forget,

—In the game's plot, there was an 'encounter battle' during this time period.

Although most encounter monster events in otome games followed the cliché pattern of the heroine encountering danger → the male lead rushing to rescue → completing the heroic save, this game was different in this aspect.

Because the female protagonist possessed considerable strength herself, most of the time the player was in an active position, leading their harem team (fighters) to resolve troubles and dangers. This setting was also quite well-received.

If she remembered correctly... at this time point near the end of the first semester's summer vacation, the protagonist team accepted a commission from villagers to collect materials for their summer homework, venturing into an event to subjugate forest monsters.

There, they unexpectedly encountered the first beast classified as 'Calamity-level'—the Four-winged Viper.

Because it carried dragon blood, had flying attributes, and could use a poison mist effect that caused damage over turns, many attribute magics couldn't cause ideal damage to it. Only using different elemental magics at different stages could achieve the effect of one against a hundred, such as 'fire' for the first stage of poison mist, then 'water' for the second stage of flying—this placed high demands on the player's card pool depth.

This level was also a relatively late stage in the game. Players who could reach here would at least have a highly trained team to attempt it. Because of the sudden increase in difficulty, it was nicknamed the 'Newbie Wall' by some veteran players who had cleared the wilderness on the forum. To put it somewhat exaggeratedly, only after overcoming this level did one truly enter the game.

However... how could such a terrifying calamity beast appear in a place like this now?!

Although the timing matched, the location of the event occurrence was completely inconsistent...

Realizing this point made Yvonne feel a chill down her spine.

She had thought that as long as she stayed away from where the plot events occurred, she could avoid the plot.

Until now, seeing this familiar magical beast, Yvonne realized she had been too naive.

This world had already become different from the otome game she originally played. After all, even the conquest target could possibly become female... Things she thought absolutely impossible had happened more than once so far.

Could it be... the 'system' is behind this again?!

Thinking of that trouble-making system, Yvonne felt uneasy.

She vaguely felt that this 'system' was trying something within a certain permission range, like a force of compulsory correction, striving to put this game back on its proper track.

However, fortunately, the other party also seemed to be bound by some specific rules. Otherwise, with such omnipotent authority, wanting to finish off herself and Elsa would be a matter of minutes.

As for the system's true purpose and hidden rules, what she knew at this stage was still just the tip of the iceberg.

There was still too little information available.

If she couldn't truly deal with this ticking time bomb that could trigger a crisis at any time, she would never be able to set her mind at ease.

—!!

Realizing what the person behind her was about to do, Yvonne hurriedly grabbed her.

"...What are you doing?! It's very dangerous!!"

"But... we need to go save that person—"

"Don't risk your life for a dead person!! Your own life is the most important!!"

Yvonne was somewhat anxious. Although she didn't know how that person had entered the forest, with poison gas permeating the surroundings, just looking at how they were lying on the ground, they might already be dead.

This might sound a bit inhumane, but Yvonne sincerely felt they had no need to risk their lives for a dead person.

However, Elsa's thoughts seemed to differ from hers.

"No, I think that person probably isn't dead..."

She looked at Yvonne anxiously, seemingly hoping she would agree to save them.

"There are traces of magical combat around. This magical beast was probably defeated by them!!"

"...!"

With her saying this, Yvonne finally noticed the depression in the ground under the viper, and the many fallen tree trunks around that had collapsed after some huge impact.

Rather than fainting after being attacked by a terrifying monster, that person's clothes were intact, looking more like they had collapsed from exhaustion after using up their magical power.

So... the strange sound earlier was actually the sound of battle?

However, to be able to single-handedly defeat a Calamity-level monster... who exactly was this person?

Seeing Elsa's worried expression, Yvonne softened her heart again.

"...You stay here and don't move around carelessly."

She'd better handle such dangerous things herself.

"Evie—"

Although she knew the viper should be dead, Yvonne still didn't dare to be careless moving around such an enormous creature.

She carefully stepped over to the black figure rolled up on the ground like a dirty rag.

"Um... are you alright?"

Naturally, there was no response.

Yvonne tried reaching inside the black robe, touching their neck, and found a warm pulsing.

...Could they really still be alive?

A certain great detective once said, there might be a thousand reasons to kill, but saving a life needs no reason.

Since it was a human life, it was worth saving.

Agreeing with this principle, Yvonne tried to lift their body.

The body was unexpectedly light, which surprised her a bit.

"Ugh..."

After being picked up, they seemed to finally regain some consciousness, emitting a painful groan from under the black cloth.

...So it was a woman?

"Hello, can you hear me?"

But they still seemed to be in an unconscious state, unable to answer her.

After being picked up, the hood of the robe fell off due to inertia, revealing tea-colored hair underneath, and a face that seemed familiar to Yvonne.

Past memories flashed in her mind.

Knowing she should hurry and move, her body was too shocked to move.

The word 'surprised' was far from enough to describe her current feelings.

"—Witch Lady??"