As the wheel of time turned,
Chronicles of the Peculiar Black Cat
became a new urban legend. The biggest winner the mastermind of all these incidents — Zhao Youyue.
Rumors said that it had been banned from the internet due to overwhelming horror in the film. Still, it had generated more than enough energy. Zhao Youyue completely recharged both her
Altair
card and
Two Dimensional Gate.
As the rumors get out of hand, they might just become actual fact. However, as long as the content remained available for download on the internet, it would serve as a passive energy generator.
How did this happen?
The film was simply too mysterious. The director, actors, visual effect engineers had all remained in the dark
Nobody had the guts to infer that it was real. Most people conjectured that it happened in another world, or a film that originated from another world. Such speculations were absurd. Nobody believed them, neither did anybody plan to prove them.
Most were convinced that it was a viral film, produced by an experienced crew. Every angle and scene had been captured perfectly. It had not been shot like a typical documentary. The team had shown no qualms about constantly switching between cameras from different angles, it had even featured aerial footage. How could any of this be real? It had even ended in a cliffhanger
Nobody could solve the puzzle. This mysterious film raised more questions, and trying to solve those questions only raised more questions.
Eventually the talk died down. After all, horror films were niche. They often had small but loyal fanbases. Far fewer netizens looked anything of the horror variety on their own accord.
Zhao Youyue had control over most of the scenes in the spiritual world, but her ability had its limits. It was time to visit another novel. The creation of yet another iconic character had been long overdue.
She was eager to know if any of her new abilities would be carried over to the the spiritual world.
In that spiritual world, all of her abilities were contained within a single. Such power was intoxicating. Other than morphing into a cat, she did not possess any actual abilities that would give her real power. What if she encountered a stronger spirit?
Chu Renmei was only an ordinary ghost. She was a small fry compared to others that lay out there.
Lady Zhao favored defense over offense. She would build up her defense, fending attacks off until her enemies wore themselves out, striking only when the opportunity presented itself.
She despised novels that featured protagonists who ‘grinded’ levels conventionally. It was an overused, overrated trope. She had just about enough of protagonists who relished in the fact that they punched above their levels, killing monsters that outleveled them while gaining unrealistic rise in levels. They were no heroes; their fights were not epic in the slightest
Zhao Youyue did not want to be a protagonist. She would rather be a nameless character who gained her strength in the cover of darkness. As protagonists went over their heads and boasted about, she would jump into the scene and slap them to death.
The energy level of the spiritual world put Zhao Youyue at a little more risk than she preferred. She needed to grow stronger in novels, before anything else.
Two Dimensional Gate
was ready, but she had no intention of sacrificing her
Hua Xiaomao
card. It was time to roll her dice again, and place her fate in the hands of lady luck.
In fact, Zhao Youyue found it interesting to have the
Two Dimensional Gate
acting randomly. She looked forward to seeing where she would end up next. Perhaps lady luck knew what she wanted?
Although she was still a stranger to the euphoria of having a dream coming true, she had never once stepped into a new world without her optimism at its peak.
Zhao Youyue had even devised a ritual that involved her taking a lengthy dip in the bathtub, before dolling herself up. It might just guarantee an epic roll!
It was the middle of March, heralding the beginning of Spring. Zhao Youyue’s days as a high school student would end in about three months.
The countdown to the final exam had been written on the corner of classroom blackboard. Students utilized every second they had for the sake of revision, including recess. They were in the best art class for a reason.
Then there was Zhao Youyue. The Lady would be playing with a stack of cards during her recess. Nothing else satisfied her.
Zhao Youyue set the bar for most students. Nonetheless, she had not decided on which university she wanted to join. She strove for academic excellence only to gain the presence and privileges that came with it; it had never been about her future.
After she lost her interest in stepping on the pedestal to the state of prominence, she spent most of her time exploring other functions of the
Two Dimensional Gate.
At that point, she had almost ended up as a vagabond by the roadside. Fortunately, her identity as a daughter of a wealthy family was revealed in the nick of time. How could such a princess be treated like a passerby?
Zhao Youyue never showed any lapses in her academics, and her mastery of music was commendable. Sometimes people wondered how she managed to disguise herself as a passerby by only cutting her hair short. She somehow slipped past everyone’s gaze with ease
Nobody had an answer to that question. Bai Yunshan, the best friend of Zhao Youyue, had much to complain about it. Ever since Zhao Youyue went into the shadow, she had been shoved into the limelight, and kissed her peaceful life goodbye. She had had to report the circulation of confession letters to teachers repeatedly. She did not want to receive such disgusting gifts from anyone.
Nevertheless, Bai Yunshan successfully kept everyone’s attention off Zhao Youyue. Lady Zhao could finally enjoy the last few moments of her high school life.
Zhao Youyue headed straight home and activated a portal into a new world of fiction. This time, the
Two Dimensional Gate
let her down, sending her to an abysmal story that was in a state similar to
War Heroes.
It was a webcomic that featured horrible artwork. Artwork was too lenient a term. They should be called doodles. The protagonist was a ruthless serial killer that exercised extreme violence. Its name was
Slaughter ’em All
…
To be honest, if you sold violence, you needed to portray gore and blood accurately. The author was incapable of drawing such scenes; even his storyline was monotonous and clich.
Without sparing a thought, Zhao Youyue transformed into
Chu Renmei,
quickly putting an end to the unremarkable serial killer protagonist. She closed the veil and quickly took her leave.
She was not aware that her actions had actually saved the author who was very much prepared to kill a person in the real world. After the novel
struck
him with that wave of
inspiration,
he quickly gave up on the thought and flushed it down the toilet. Retribution was a very real, and very deadly phenomenon.
Apparently, Zhao Youyue had been let down by the
Two Dimensional Gate
once again. Still, it was fun to murder the protagonist as a ghost.
Zhao Youyue prayed that the
Two Dimensional Gate
would treat her nicely the next time she put it to use. It was alright to send her into an unpopular novel, as long as it had its individual, unique taste. At least, send her into something salvageable?
She did not mind another
Pure Romance.
At least it had been beautifully and vividly illustrated. If something could be salvaged from it, there was always the chance
