Cherish the present moment and give it your best

“Ow!”

Livia felt a gentle tap on her head.

A familiar voice echoed in her ears.

“I thought you’d surely know some supreme secret techniques…”

Alice stared at her expressionlessly, “So you’re all talk.”

“Supreme secret techniques… all talk… Alice!?”

Livia blinked, then showed an expression of disbelief, staring intently at the Big Thunder blonde girl in front of her.

Her gaze was beast-like, as if she wanted to devour the girl alive.

She suddenly leaned in, tightly gripping Alice’s hands, hot tears uncontrollably flowing from her red eyes.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, where is this? Is it heaven…? I’m sorry, sob, I was wrong, I implicated you. You transmigrated into a wealthy young lady with a bright future, I shouldn’t have brought you along…”

“Huh!?”

Listening to the little white ball’s incessant chatter, Alice also widened her eyes.

She looked around in a bit of panic, her gaze finally settling on the trembling white-haired loli.

“No, sister, what’s wrong with you? Did I say something wrong…? I shouldn’t have called you all talk.”

Alice bit her lower lip and spoke, awkwardly turning her head, “If, if I, I apologize, will you, feel, a little better…?”

“Apologize for what? I’m the one who should apologize!”

“W-why!”

“Because I killed you!”

“Huh? We agreed to go KTV together, it wasn’t like someone dragged the other by force. Besides, we both got ‘creatively destroyed’ and transmigrated. What nonsense are you talking about? Even if I tease you, I wouldn’t joke about something like that.”

“Wait…”

Suddenly, Livia’s breathing hitched.

She suddenly looked up, her eyes revealing a scarlet glint in the dim light.

“Didn’t we, didn’t we agree to hunt goblins?”

“What goblins? We just met, how could you~”

Alice flashed a ‘I know what you mean’ smile and nudged Livia’s side with her elbow, “You want to go kill goblins? Alright, alright~ Let’s go together. As the saying goes, brothers united can break gold!”

“‘Just met…”

Livia mumbled repeatedly, then she abruptly lifted her skirt.

Smooth… flawless, with a slightly bulging, fair white abdomen.

The experience of being pierced felt like a dream.

“Eek!”

Alice immediately covered her eyes. The Big Thunder girl swayed with her movement, “Big sister, don’t, don’t try to seduce me! Al, although I admit you’re cute and beautiful now, although I admit I like girls, but, but it’s impossible between us… Don’t, don’t tempt me to commit a crime…”

“Let me see yours!”

Livia completely ignored the golden girl’s words, grabbing her wrist, wanting to see if she was unharmed after being pierced by the bone spear.

“Wow!?”

This time, the golden girl completely lost it.

She jumped up abruptly, then yelped “Ouch,” pathetically covering her head that had hit the top of the tree hollow with one hand, while the other arm was held across her chest, shouting angrily.

“What are you doing! Are you a pervert!? Shrimp head!”

“I’m not, I just wanted to see if you had any, injuries…”

As she spoke, Livia’s voice trailed off.

Due to her struggles, an unavoidable button on Alice’s surging chest had come undone.

It allowed her to see her tender, smooth shoulder and a segment of her forearm.

No injuries.

Milky white.

—That’s great!!!

She turned and abruptly bolted out of the tree hollow.

Swish.

Blinding sunlight pierced through the leaves, dappling her somewhat pale face.

The time was noon.

She had returned to the point in time after accepting the commission and meeting Alice, but before hunting goblins.

Alice was oblivious to everything, and her body was in the state corresponding to this point in the world’s timeline.

Rewind!?

Or was some deity showing mercy and giving her a second chance?

Or did that Shaman possess some strange power to reverse time?

A fog of confusion washed over her.

But Livia suppressed it all.

At least one thing was certain.

She, and her best friend, were unharmed and not dead!

Really, really great!

The emotion of surviving a disaster surged like a tide, and Livia, the little white ball, quickly burrowed back, burying her face in Alice’s chest and crying.

“Wuwuwu, that’s great, you’re not dead, and I’m not dead either! We both survived, we both have a chance to start over, that’s so great, wuwuwuwu, I’ll never be reckless again, I won’t let my best friend fall into danger anymore!”

“Damn… why are you being so cheesy…”

Alice awkwardly brushed a strand of golden hair from her ear, “This isn’t like you, you’re not someone who cries easily, are you? A real man, hahaha, I haven’t even cried, and I’m going to start laughing at you!”

“Laugh, laugh all you want… it doesn’t matter, as long as you’re happy, whatever it takes…”

Livia sniffled. The fear and despair that had penetrated her bones and soul still lingered within her.

It was like a rope tightening around her neck.

It was precisely because she had seen hellish scenes and experienced brutal processes, and deeply realized her own weakness—that Livia held such intense longing for the current happiness.

She wanted to cherish every moment.

She absolutely could not let tragedy repeat itself.

“Livia.”

Suddenly.

Alice’s voice became unusually serious.

That round, chubby little face tightened, and her gentle, clear eyes were filled with earnestness.

Since childhood, she had played with her best friend. She knew Livia better than anyone. Livia’s current state definitely indicated something was amiss, a secret she didn’t know.

“Tell me, what exactly happened.”

“N-nothing, I’m just sighing that it’s so good to be alive right now…”

After recovering from her emotions, Livia wiped the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, sniffled again, and then revealed a smile of profound, yet fragile, happiness.

“It’s so good, the air in this world is so fresh, the sky is so blue, and the sun is so warm.”

“That’s not it.”

Alice lowered her eyes and looked deeply at her best friend.

It was as if she were looking through the skin to the soul.

Vaguely, she seemed to sense something.

After a long while, she finally relaxed her tense shoulders, letting the peaches fall and sway gently.

“I understand. This is your secret, isn’t it? Or perhaps, you yourself don’t understand it, just like I don’t understand how I came to be here from the Duke’s mansion miles away.”

She said, taking steps towards the outside, “But one thing is certain, since we’ve come to another world and have been given a second, brand new life…”

She and Livia crawled out of the tree hollow, bathed in the soft sunlight, tilting their heads towards the sky, and said in unison.

“Then we must give it our all and strive to live seriously here!”

“Viya, what are your thoughts or plans next?”

Alice murmured to herself.

“The journey to the big city is long, and we have no money. What should we do…”

“Yes, sister, I have a plan.”

The little white ball looked towards the south.

“To get rich, first chop trees.”

“Let’s go to the mountain to gather herbs. I’ll teach you how to identify them.”