Vampire Princess Guide in Progress - Volume 1 Chapter 54

Chapter 54: The Girl Who Stands Alone

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Second floor of the apartment, room number 204.

After finishing the registration, it was already evening.

“I’m home…”

Jiang Yueli stood in front of her home door, took a deep breath, trying to relax her mood. Although she knew her brother was no longer at home, she still said this as usual when pushing the door open.

The house was quiet, with only the sound of Jiang Yueli opening the door and putting away her keys.

Standing at the entrance holding the door, she bent her legs, hooked her fingers around the heel of her shoes, and removed her white shoes onto the doormat.

“I’ll take a bath first, and just eat something simple tonight…”

With the weather approaching summer vacation, it had started to get quite hot. Feeling a bit sweaty and sticky, Jiang Yueli threw her bag on the living room sofa, went back to her bedroom to get clean underwear, and headed to the bathroom to take a bath.

The bathroom door closed gently, followed by a click as it locked.

Inside came a rustling sound, as the dress and intimate garments fell around the girl’s clean, delicate feet, forming a circle when folded.

She habitually stood on her tiptoes, wanting to reach for the shower head, but quickly realized that it wasn’t hung in a high position.

In the past, because the shower head was placed too high, making it difficult for her to reach, Jiang Yuxuan had obtained permission from their landlady and put a nail in the bathroom, buying another mounting bracket at a lower position, making it suitable for his sister’s height.

However, each time after he showered, he would still casually hang the shower head in the higher position.

But because of being caught in the game incident, with only Jiang Yueli left alone at home, the shower head had remained in the lower position.

“…” Jiang Yueli held the shower head in her hand, silently looking down at it for a moment.

After a simple shower, she squeezed some shower gel into her hand, applied it to her chest, cupping her full breasts with her arms, then gradually spreading it to other parts of her skin.

The girl’s flawless snow-white skin glowed brightly under the light.

While applying the foam, Jiang Yueli seemed to remember something.

Right, the water and electricity bills at home were almost overdue according to a recent text message. These were usually paid by her brother, and now she would need to ask Sister He Yan where to go to pay them.

And the apartment rent…

Sister He Yan had always taken care of me and my brother, and this time she said we don’t need to pay rent during this period, saying she would personally collect it when my brother returns.

But if possible, I should still transfer the money to Sister He Yan, since I still have some savings. Also, since her brother’s job was writing web novels, she might need to log into his account to explain the situation to his editor.

But what would be the right way to describe it, a leave of absence… or a hiatus?

If I decide on my own, would it cause trouble for my brother…

Jiang Yueli stood absent-mindedly under the shower, letting the warm water flow over her neck and thighs, which had already been rinsed clean of foam…

“Ah, really.” Until she suddenly came to her senses, hurriedly stopping herself from continuing to waste the already nearly overdue water and electricity, quickly turning off the shower switch. The bathroom immediately fell silent.

After changing into clean home clothes, Jiang Yueli took the laundry basket and temporarily placed her changed clothes and dress by the balcony.

Usually, after every bath, she would immediately wash her clothes and dress and hang them up to dry, but for some reason she felt a bit tired today and unusually allowed herself to be lazy.

Walking into the kitchen, she took out a pack of instant noodles as her dinner, picking her own bowl from among her brother’s and her instant noodle bowls.

While boiling water, she sat on a small stool in the kitchen waiting, slightly tilting her head back, gazing through the kitchen window at the gradually darkening sky, lost in thought, until the kettle made a clicking sound.

Just as she had poured hot water over the noodles and was about to pour the remaining hot water into the thermos, she accidentally bumped the noodle bowl.

Seeing the plastic instant noodle bowl fall from the counter, overturning and landing upside down on the floor, with noodles and seasonings scattered everywhere, Jiang Yueli put down the kettle heavily and sighed deeply with frustration.

“How clumsy…”

Jiang Yueli crouched on the floor, quietly cleaning up the messy floor.

— Night, in the quiet home.

In the dark living room, only a television set had its screen lit, sometimes bright and sometimes dim as the scenes changed, casting light around. A girl sat on the sofa with her legs together, arms hugging a pillow.

Her eyes reflected the images on the TV screen.

On the current TV channel, there was a discussion between a news anchor and an invited expert. The topic of “immersive online game causing players to collectively transmigrate” had become a hot topic covered by various media outlets in recent days.

What would my brother be doing in that game world right now?

Unknowingly, Jiang Yueli turned her gaze toward her brother’s room.

The pitch-black bedroom was usually lit up, with the sound of her brother typing on the keyboard as he created and wrote. Or scenes of him playing games wearing headphones, with various game battle scenes lighting up the computer screen, accompanied by the rapid clicking sound of the mouse.

Only when playing more adult-oriented games would he close his door, and Jiang Yueli would tacitly understand, always knocking before entering when she needed something.

It seemed that as long as her brother was there, home always felt reassuring and lively. No matter when she came home, she would see her brother’s back as he sat in front of the computer in his room, as if there was always someone at home welcoming and waiting for her return…

How quiet it is, this home without her brother.

Really so quiet…

Alone at home, Jiang Yueli suddenly didn’t know what she should do, falling into a bewildered sense of loss.

She had heard that if defeated in the game, one could never return to the real world…

Although in her heart she wanted to believe that her brother would definitely not lose, if something unexpected happened, it would mean that her brother could never return. Suddenly, thinking about this, her heart felt as if it was being tightly gripped.

She couldn’t imagine what life would be like with just herself alone, what the future would really be like…

Until now, she had never thought about such things, at least not in the short term, never considered what it would be like to lose her brother.

Her without her brother supporting her from behind.

Would she really still have the courage to continue moving forward?

“Brother…” Jiang Yueli involuntarily tightened her legs, hugging her knees as she sat on the sofa, burying her head between her legs. In the dark, quiet living room, the girl’s solitary figure appeared even lonelier.

After pretending to be strong all day, this girl finally couldn’t hold back anymore. Her eyes reddened, her delicate body trembling slightly as she let out a low sob.

On the television, a final Q&A segment was now being broadcast.

The host, holding a card in hand, asked the investigation expert sitting across the table:

“Thank you for your answers, which have addressed many of our questions. Now we have one more rather special question, not about the current situation, but considering future circumstances, raised by some players familiar with this game.”

“Currently, there exists a wild PVP mode in this game, meaning player versus player combat, and there’s also a setting for ‘red name’ players. In the current situation, once defeated in the game, one might not be able to return, or to put it more harshly, it results in ‘death’.”

“So if a player in the game, knowing this fact, intentionally kills others, what would that situation be like?”

…

— “It would be murder.”