"Climb, or not?" The hooded figure hesitated.
She feared that if she climbed, the beast might notice her.
But if she didn’t... this chance might never co again.
"Climb. Why not climb?" she muttered, gritting her teeth.
She had never been afraid of death. And when an opportunity presented itself, she seized it.
She sprinted a few steps against the rock wall, leapt, and caught hold of the drifting strands of spider silk.
"Whew..."
After taking a few steadying breaths, she began to climb, pulling herself upward.
Before long, she had climbed to the height of the suspension bridge. From the back of the hill she couldn’t see it directly, so she could only listen to the thieves’ chatter drifting from above.
"I didn’t expect anyone to break in."
"Whoever it is, they’ve got guts."
"Could it be one of us?"
"Don’t talk nonsense. Watch your tongue."
Hearing that, the hooded figure suddenly understood. The man in fine clothes she had seen earlier really had infiltrated the thieves’ hideout—only to be discovered.
"That fool didn’t realize... I’d be using the spider silk of a beast to sneak into Bloodbeard’s treasure vault."
A smug smile tugged at her lips. He had refused to work with her, and now he was trapped inside.
"Almost there. Just a little more."
She urged herself on. Looking up, she could faintly see a glow of light above.
Ten minutes later, she finally reached the top—only to be t with a surprising sight.
A massive gap yawned before her, as though smashed open by soone.
And drifting from within... was the sll of roasted at.
The hooded girl wrinkled her nose, her throat tightening unconsciously. She had been lying in wait outside the thieves’ valley for over ten days, barely eating properly.
"Could it be Bloodknife, Bloodbeard’s son, inside?"
Her fingers twitched. From beneath her cloak, she pulled out a longbow and three arrows. With practiced hands, she nocked one, drew the bow, and pressed herself to the side of the gap.
Her plan was simple: shoot to kill, rush in, grab the target, and escape.
She ran the scenario through her mind, step by step.
But when she crept to the edge and peered inside... she froze.
There, leisurely roasting at, was the well-dressed man she had seen before.
Shock jolted through her, and before she could stop herself, words slipped out:
"H–how could it be him?"
"You’re here too?" Luciel greeted her casually, lifting the barbecue like a host offering food to a guest.
With his heightened ntal senses, he had noticed her the mont she climbed up. He had planned to wait before calling her out—but her slip had given her away.
"..."
The hooded girl’s lips twitched. Reluctantly, she lowered her bow and stepped through the gap.
Still not quite believing her eyes, she asked, "You... why are you here?"
"Why are you here?" Luciel countered coolly.
"You climbed up using the spider silk too." Her eyes widened as realization dawned. "No wonder you wouldn’t cooperate with . You already knew about the spider silk."
But then her expression shifted.
"No, wait... how did you know about it? That spider beast—?"
She turned sharply—only to see a massive, two-ter-tall ghost-faced spider crouching in the gap.
"As you can see," Luciel said calmly, "Xiaohong is my dosticated beast."
"...So I was overthinking." Her shoulders slumped in defeat. Bringing along a tad spider explained everything. No wonder he hadn’t needed her.
She glanced uneasily at the barricaded door, trembling under the thieves’ pounding fists and furious shouts.
anwhile, Luciel flipped his barbecue as though nothing was wrong.
"You’re too late," he said lightly. "I already took the crystal fish."
"Don’t worry. I didn’t co for the crystal fish," the hooded girl replied quickly.
Luciel raised an eyebrow. "No? Then what did you co here for?"
Of everything he’d seen so far, the crystal fish was easily the rarest treasure.
"Have you seen flowers... with wings?" she asked bluntly. "That’s what I ca for."
Luciel paused, frowning as he recalled. He thought of a nearly withered plant.
"Flowers with wings... Yes, there are so."
"Really? Where?!" She stepped forward, her voice urgent. "Please, show !"
"No." Luciel refused instantly.
"That flower is very important to . I can trade you sothing for it," she pressed.
"You’re not being sincere," Luciel said coldly, glancing at her hood. "Would you trade with soone who hasn’t even shown their face?"
"You’ll be scared..." she murmured bitterly. She was afraid her true appearance would ruin any chance of negotiation.
"I can only decide after seeing for myself," Luciel said firmly.
Her silver eyes trembled. Many before had recoiled in fear when they saw her. She bit her lip, struggling with herself.
Finally, she whispered, "If I let you see, will you show the flowers?"
"I didn’t want to force you," Luciel replied, calmly chewing his at. "But I’ll promise you this: show , and I’ll show you the flowers."
"Fine. I hope you keep your word."
With that, the girl lifted her hands to her hood and slowly pulled it back.
Long, snow-white hair spilled free, gleaming in the firelight.
"White hair, huh. Not bad," Luciel remarked, watching as she lowered her gaze.
Then she suddenly looked up, revealing a delicate face—skin pale and flawless as jade, silver-white eyes, and a graceful nose.
But marring that beauty was a patch of scarlet lines etched across her cheek, like the circuitry of so strange diagram, stretching down her neck and out of sight.
"..." Luciel was stunned. She was far more beautiful than he had expected.
"I told you," she said quietly, her face pale. "You’d be scared."
Everyone who had seen her before had been terrified—of what they called the curse of the Virtual Ghost.
She pressed her lips tight, resisting the urge to pull her hood back up.
Luciel finally blinked out of his daze and said, "Your complexion... only a little worse than my tricolor lizard’s. But still—pretty cool."
"...??"
The white-haired girl tilted her head, utterly baffled.
What was this man even talking about?
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