The Holy Land of Youth Campus!

[It was an immense white cathedral—vast, cold. Beneath the lofty dome stood a grand statue, with a few figures in close-fitting white robes scattered around.]

[You walk toward it.]

[You receive a notification: As a member of the church, you are to offer prayers for an imperial traitor who committed suicide out of guilt.]

[You meet her in a cramped, suffocating room—the once spirited heir of the Empire lies on the bed, pale and lifeless. Her golden hair, like withered wheat, dull and brittle—perhaps you could use the candle in your hand to ignite it, to restore its shine.]

—Failure. Failure. Continuous failure.

—BE. BE. Still a BE.

[Ending achieved—The Silent Lamb]

[Please restart the game.]

Wang Ning jolted awake from her dream, a sharp sense of panic gripping her chest. Sweat clung to her skin like glue.

Recalling the dream, she instinctively tried to sit up and curse the entire family tree of the game devs—only to feel a restraining force.

She turned her head—

Glassanne, when did you sneak up here?!

The moonlight flowed in like gossamer, casting everything in soft silver. It illuminated the girl beside her clearly—her pale face still, breathing shallow. Misty blue hair shimmered like spun silver, and her arms were wrapped around Wang Ning like she was a plush doll.

Wang Ning struggled to break free—failed.

Finally, she gave up and let her mind go blank, recalling the dream just now—it was from her in-game perspective.

Unlike traditional games, the text-based game “Alice Girl’s Academy” had an extremely high degree of freedom. The protagonists were not always on the same “route.”

Wang Ning had restarted 12 times, and each run generated a new storyline with different leads depending on her choices.

The player had no set identity; everything had to be discovered through exploration. If your luck was bad, you could be reborn as a blacksmith or Neighbor Wang. Then you’d never even meet a main character before dying of old age.

On the Academy route, there were only three leads—her sister Wang Yi, the golden-haired student council president, and one more she still hadn’t met after transmigrating here.

You could only witness their stories. And the Alice Academy route was notoriously hard to unlock. Wang Ning had gotten it only once thanks to ungodly luck during her first run.

Then got brutally destroyed.

Since then, she’d developed a deep obsession. But she never managed to trigger that route again.

Still, it was fine. The world operated on a unified worldview. All routes overlapped and influenced one another. Even on other routes, she could affect the story through her presence and hopefully prevent the heroine’s death—though she’d never succeeded.

In the timeline where she chose to “Join the Blade of God,” she had once come across a cutscene—

It described Karleen’s death from the Academy route.

The very dream she’d just had.

Wang Ning felt like her chest was stuffed with cotton. The mismatch between the game and reality only intensified her desire to investigate further.

Glassanne was so powerful… Which route did she belong to in the game? Was she another protagonist—or, like Xiao, a hidden character?

The next morning, Wang Ning had dark circles under her eyes, yawning as she forced herself to do morning training—because of course, under Xiao’s demonic supervision.

The inter-world phone showed a call in progress. Xiao’s voice was like the devil whispering in her ear: “Three more laps. After that, a hundred sit-ups.”

Wang Ning: …

Why did she do this to herself and go ask Xiao for guidance?!

As she gasped for air and jogged along the track, she tried to sound casual.

“Xiao, do you know any rumors about the Imperial Royal Family?”

Xiao’s breathing was steady and rhythmic—she was clearly training too. Her voice had a gravelly coolness, like crushed ice. “Hm? Why do you ask?”

“It’s nothing… I was just thinking. Karleen-senpai is so warm and kind. I bet the Emperor and Empress must be nice people too.”

Her tone was hesitant, unsure if Xiao would answer.

Xiao replied calmly, “Most royal information is highly classified. Most so-called rumors are pure speculation and unreliable.”

“But… there is one.”

She paused.

“During a mission years ago, I overheard something.”

The phone buzzed faintly—static, clothing rustling, and what sounded like muffled water-drinking.

After a moment, Xiao spoke again: “There may have been taint in the royal bloodline. Someone might not be the Emperor’s biological child.”

Wang Ning’s eyes widened.

That was a massive bombshell. The game had never mentioned anything like this!

“Given the royal family’s… messy history, this came up in the media two years ago. But the news was swiftly buried.”

A small newspaper agency had reported something they shouldn’t have.

Naturally, they vanished without a trace.

Xiao looked out into the slowly brightening sky. Crimson faded into gold, then softened into blue.

She stared into the distance, recalling those sky-blue eyes.

“Power struggles are often painted over. Redirecting public attention is the oldest trick in the book.”

“What you believe to be truth… might only be what they want you to see.”

Wang Ning knew that.

In the game’s academy route, she started off as an ordinary student, just hearing stories about the protagonists.

It wasn’t until a fateful encounter that she truly got to know one of them.

“And that Karleen—the crown princess you mentioned…” Xiao’s tone grew serious.

“She’s not as simple as she seems.”

Wang Ning was stunned. She hadn’t expected Xiao to think of Karleen that way.

She couldn’t help but ask, “Did you interact with her before?”

Xiao suddenly went quiet.

Wang Ning waited.

“Xiao? What’s wrong?”

“…It’s nothing.”

She heard Xiao’s voice again, the background now filled with footsteps and murmured conversations. She barely caught the word “mission.”

“Sorry, I won’t be able to continue the call.”

Realizing Xiao was about to begin an operation, Wang Ning thoughtfully wished her safety and hung up.

She glanced at the timer—still one more lap, then a hundred sit-ups.

Just thinking about it made her limbs ache.

Wait—Xiao just ended the call, right?

That means… she could slack off now!

She hadn’t even smiled yet when a voice called out to her.

“Cutie!”

Her instincts screamed.

Sure enough, when she turned her head, she saw Karleen waving at her with a big smile.

Karleen was dressed in red sportswear—a sleeveless top and tiny shorts. Her golden ponytail bounced behind her. Compared to Wang Ning’s exhausted pace, Karleen practically danced as she jogged.

And then, Wang Ning remembered exactly why she started training in the mornings—

The school track was the highest-probability zone for running into a Youthful School-Life Heroine.