Vampire Princess Guide in Progress - Volume 1 Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Yueli and Her Brother

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“Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Jiang.”

“If there are any new developments regarding the in-game events, we will notify you immediately. During this period, please try not to be too anxious or worried. Trust our special investigation team, and also trust the players currently trapped in the game. The situation will definitely improve.”

“Um… is there anything else you need me to do?”

“No, you can go home now.”

Jiang Yueli crossed her hands over the front of her skirt and stood up from the chair. She politely nodded to the investigator named Li Shixi, checked the phone number she had provided, and then walked out of the interview room with its four enclosed white walls.

In the ground floor lobby where shadows of people moved about.

Lin Ruoxi was leaning against a pillar with her arms crossed, her fingers tapping lightly on her arm as she waited.

“Ah, Yueli.” Seeing Jiang Yueli emerge, she quickly straightened up and jogged over to meet her.

“That ended so quickly, I thought it would take at least an hour. Shall I take you straight home now?”

“Yes. Thank you for the trouble, Ruoxi.” The two girls walked out of the building and quickly returned to the car. Lin Ruoxi sat in the driver’s seat and pulled the door closed. She had accompanied Jiang Yueli today.

“Any clues about your brother’s situation?” she asked.

“No… they just recorded the situation. It seems there hasn’t been much progress yet. They said they would notify me if there’s any news.” Jiang Yueli shook her head, sat in the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt, letting out a gentle sigh.

It wasn’t just her alone, the families of all the missing players had registered with the special investigation team in recent days.

After the incident of the missing game players occurred, the established special investigation team immediately conducted various thorough investigations. Currently, the widely accepted theory was that of game traversal, all players were trapped in the game world.

Compared to complete silence without news, this was at least some consolation, as it meant there was a possibility of return.

But at the same time, there was a major clue that raised serious concern. In the backend database, the special investigation team discovered that before the game was isolated from the outside world, the code for player resurrection and automatic teleportation to towns had been deleted.

Logically, with missing base code, the game should report an error and be unable to proceed.

The next step after players were defeated in-game had been deleted, which meant there was a blank that needed to be filled. Common game death penalties like experience penalties or item drops were all absent, the code had no logic to continue running.

In other words, after players were defeated in-game, there was no follow-up situation.

This also sparked a widely discussed speculation: perhaps it wasn’t that the “defeat result” content was missing, but that defeat itself was the result, meaning death. Therefore, dying in the game might truly mean never being able to return to reality.

And the ultimate goal in 《Floating Island: Fragments of the Stars》 was to explore to the 100th floor, which might become the key to liberating all players.

Various theories emerged with many different opinions, but none had substantive evidence. Therefore, they could only be based on hypotheticals, though these hypothetical inferences were often likely to be the truth.

“Traffic light camera zone in 200 meters ahead,” the navigation voice occasionally announced.

In the car, Jiang Yueli gently rested her head on the seat’s headrest, turning her face to look out the window. Lin Ruoxi drove steadily on the road, preparing to take her home, and during the wait times at red lights, she would secretly glance at Jiang Yueli.

But from that calm expression, Lin Ruoxi couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

However, Jiang Yueli appeared to be relatively calm, which might be related to the strong personality she had always maintained.

Finally, the car gradually pulled up in the shade of trees below a small apartment building.

“Yueli, would you like to come stay at my place for a while?”

Sitting in the now-stopped car, Lin Ruoxi asked her.

After all, since her brother wasn’t home, Jiang Yueli was living alone. Lin Ruoxi worried she might feel lonely and desolate, especially during this time when there were no leads on the situation. She wanted to invite her to stay at her own home, so they could take care of each other.

They had been close friends for three years in high school, and their relationship was naturally close without needing explanation. Jiang Yueli had visited her home before.

“No, no, I can take care of myself. Ruoxi, don’t worry about me.”

“I’m not worried about your ability to take care of yourself. Well, it’s probably lonely staying at home alone. If you come to my place, we can chat together. But it’s up to you, Yueli. I’m always welcome to have you.”

Jiang Yueli curved her eyebrows, brushed a strand of hair from her cheek, and smiled very gently. “Thank you, Ruoxi.”

Hearing her thanks, and seeing the smile on that beautiful face, Lin Ruoxi’s pupils froze for a moment, and then her face turned slightly red with embarrassment as she turned her head and muttered softly: “It’s nothing…”

It seemed too formal for close friends to thank each other for such small matters.

“Anyway,” Lin Ruoxi turned her face back and looked into Jiang Yueli’s eyes, saying:

“Believe in your brother. Didn’t you tell me before that he’s been great at whatever games he played since he was little? Even if he’s trapped in that VR game, it’s exactly his area of expertise, right?”

“If the standard for victory is determined by the game, then he definitely won’t lose, right?”

Hearing this, Jiang Yueli slightly raised her eyes, those clear water-like eyes seemed to tremble a bit, and then she nodded.

“Thank you for driving me. I’ll head upstairs now.”

“Alright, good night in advance then. Don’t worry too much. Call me if you need anything.”

Lin Ruoxi placed her hand on the steering wheel, watching as Jiang Yueli unfastened her seatbelt. They smiled at each other instinctively, and then Jiang Yueli pushed open the door, stepped out with her leg, left the car carrying her bag, and gently closed the door with a soft thud.

Lin Ruoxi rolled down the window and waved to Jiang Yueli again, watching until she walked into the apartment stairwell.

Yueli and her brother.

They’ve always lived in this small apartment…

Lin Ruoxi looked up at the building in front of her. It wasn’t a particularly old place. The entire apartment building was about five stories high, with several aged trees providing shade, but the area of each unit was very small. Compared to her own large mansion, it was worlds apart.

How much better would it be for her to stay at my place during this time…

Other girls were competing to win her favor as the young lady of a wealthy family, eager to be invited to see her home.

“Sigh.” Lin Ruoxi sat alone in the car for a while longer before restarting the vehicle, turning the steering wheel to drive away.

She also knew that there were some things she couldn’t give to Jiang Yueli, no matter how much money she had.

Yueli’s brother…

Although I haven’t had much interaction with you and don’t know what kind of person you are, at least from Yueli’s words, you’re a brother she respects and relies on. Even though it’s hard for me to admit… you are indeed the man she can’t do without.

Didn’t they say this is your area of expertise?

If you have any manly spirit, then beat that weird game for me.

And come back safely.

Return to Yueli’s side.