Two people sat beside me, playing "Princess Maker" together.
Combining all of Millis’s experiences in the “real world” and this world, her current situation was an unprecedented one for her.
Today, Millis, Shalnark, and Feitan were playing a simulation and nurturing game called "Princess Maker." Players adopted a 10-year-old girl and, by arranging her studies, jobs, and various activities, could change her ability scores, raising her until she turned 18. The game would then determine the girl’s ending based on the events that occurred and her different ability scores.
Wait a minute.
Can "Princess Maker" be played by three people?
Would there be no disagreements in their educational philosophies?
However, Shalnark and Feitan didn’t seem to mind. After all, it was just a game, and this "Princess Maker" was quite different from the "Princess Maker" in Millis’s “real world.”
This "Princess Maker" had an astonishingly rich array of options and events. Discussing how to steer the ending in a “more interesting” direction offered just as much fun as playing alone.
In other words, this was a strategy game where players engaged in a psychological battle with the developers.
Both Shalnark and Feitan were the type who disliked reading game guides and preferred to explore on their own. As for Millis…
Millis used to be a player like that too. When did she start feeling that playing games was tiring, that she didn’t have much time to play for long, and so she gave up thinking and kept the game guide at hand, following it like a blueprint?
…She couldn’t recall.
But looking at Shalnark and Feitan, she vaguely remembered the feeling of freely exploring in games.
The feeling of not finding game clues after taking a ten-minute detour, the feeling of hitting walls repeatedly without knowing the trick, the feeling of constantly dying due to unskillful controls, the feeling of copying difficult puzzles onto paper and studying them repeatedly, the feeling of getting lost in a complex maze… all the frustrations, restlessness, and annoyances would transform into equal amounts of joy upon clearing the game.
When did I start feeling that playing games was tiring?
Millis gradually drifted into thought, until someone called her, “…Millis.”
In fact, Shalnark had called her several times before she could distinguish outside sounds. She had entered a state of “suspended animation,” her breathing and heart rate lowered, her cheeks, ears, hands, feet, and abdomen felt cold.
This state wasn’t particularly unusual. It was a basic assassination skill taught by the Zoldycks since childhood. When ambushing from the shadows, one could hide their presence to the greatest extent, like an inanimate object naturally blending into its surroundings.
From Shalnark’s perspective, she was more like a life-sized realistic doll.
Humans were warm-blooded animals. Normal body temperature was between 36.5 and 37.5 degrees Celsius. If it was outside this range, it meant illness, and in severe cases, it could lead to death.
“Shalnark, I didn’t expect you to like playing with dolls so much.” Although Feitan was watching the game screen and not Shalnark’s actions, he could roughly guess what Shalnark was doing based on his voice and his knowledge of Shalnark.
“Afei, aren’t you the same? At least I don’t like playing with rag dolls.” Shalnark, like the other Spiders, wasn’t particularly interested in Feitan’s blood-splattered game scenes. “Oh?”
Shalnark took a breath.
Hearing Shalnark’s breathing become slightly excited, Feitan turned his head.
Millis’s gaze was unfocused, as if she were lost in thought or contemplating something. Her eyes didn’t blink, and her body was completely still, as if even the extent of her breathing was imperceptible.
“I’m really curious what our Millis is thinking about, to be so engrossed…” Shalnark said.
“Probably about the past. This is a special breathing technique, a very powerful skill,” Feitan replied. “Aren’t you also very curious about who… gave her her initial education (teachings)?”
“Haha, compared to that… I’m more curious now about how to wake her up. You can’t just startle someone who’s sleepwalking.”
Sleepwalking?
It wasn't wrong to think so.
Because Shalnark and Feitan had privately reached a new understanding and were finding ways to prevent Millis from sleeping for several consecutive days.
“…”
And Millis didn’t resist at all.
Always lacking adequate sleep, she was often half-asleep.
Perhaps due to accumulated fatigue, she unconsciously entered a state of “low energy consumption,” also known as “suspended animation”?
However, she was woken up by them again, just as she had been countless times before, woken up while drowsily falling asleep.
She woke up even later this time than before.
“…”
Millis’s eyelashes trembled, and she blinked. This blink was not physiological; it was because she had finally come back to her senses.
Why didn’t she refuse them?
Because Millis couldn't help but think that it would be fine to just die like this.
Reputation after death… it didn’t matter.
After all, Millis Zoldyck was a complete villain from the start.
“Don’t be in such a hurry to sleep, Mill. The game has just begun.”
[Sleep Deprivation]
This was a torture method with a long history, capable of putting a person in a state of extreme fatigue, both physically and mentally. The longer sleep was deprived, the worse the situation became.
It could lead to unconscious sleep, hallucinations, visual distortions, loss of emotional regulation, a loss of control over reality, and even personality disintegration, culminating in mental breakdown.
“…”
But this was merely one of the basic courses in the Zoldyck private academy. Millis, who had received professional training, could still endure it, enduring the “sugar-coated bullets” prepared by Shalnark and Feitan.
Under the guise of “game companionship,” they both attempted to fulfill their own hidden desires while Millis was in a state of mental confusion.
Each time they were alone together, Shalnark or Feitan would teach her the same thing.
Names.
“A-shalnark, call me A-shalnark.” Shalnark originally wanted Millis to say his full name, but "Shalnark" had three syllables in the common language, while "Afei" had only one. The difficulty difference was too great, so he needed to use a simpler appellation.
“Afei, call me Afei.” Feitan had no need for changes; he remained the same.
Afei. A-shalnark.
Like Meow. Like Woof.
What was all this?
Men remain boys until death. Following the "First Meteor City Medical Knowledge Competition" in Chapter 59, strange competitions had increased.
From the stage of "thinking the other person didn’t know what they were doing," to "thinking the other person didn’t know that they knew what the other person was doing," to "knowing that the other person knew that they knew what they were doing," by today, Shalnark and Feitan no longer concealed their private teachings of Millis.
…And they had come up with a new idea.
It was Shalnark who was inspired by "Princess Maker."
“The only ‘Mama’ Millis learned was the simplest pronunciation, and the second simplest pronunciation is ‘Papa.’” Shalnark stated with a serious, scientific approach. “We can teach Millis to call ‘Papa’ together.”
(Silva: …Who is this brat, trying to get himself killed?)
“Shalnark,” Feitan scoffed, “your taste is a tad perverted.”
“I don’t want to be falsely accused by a ‘tad perverted’ guy twice,” Shalnark raised an eyebrow.
Feitan, this guy, was clearly of the same ilk as him, or rather, kindred spirits.
“Papa, Millis, say Papa.” Shalnark’s teaching was full of confidence.
“…”
The strange teachings had increased.
Millis’s dazed expression, caused by lack of sleep, turned into one of pity for the intellectually disabled. Shalnark’s impromptu teaching was officially a failure.
No, Shalnark still stubbornly tried to teach her a few more times. Even Feitan was moved by his persistent spirit and stopped looking at him with the gaze of an observer, but rather… with a gaze of pity for the intellectually disabled.
“…” Millis fell asleep again.
As a result, when Millis was not clear-headed, her spirit was even more robust than when she was clear-headed; she was truly impervious to persuasion.
“What kind of training has this girl gone through?” Shalnark poked Millis’s face with his finger.
“All sorts of it,” concluded Feitan, the interrogation expert.
The sleep deprivation experiment thus concluded. Millis slept for a full three days and three nights before getting out of her bedroom bed.
She took a bath, then ate.
While eating, the sleepy Millis suddenly remembered that Shalnark and Feitan were not here at the moment.
“…” Millis suddenly lost her appetite.
She searched every room, but Shalnark and Feitan had vanished as if evaporated into thin air.
Could it be that they had abandoned her?
…No!
No one could abandon her!
No one could, for any reason!
Even if the reason was “death,” she would not forgive it! Or rather, “death” was the reason Millis found most unbearable.
…No!
Millis’s eyes turned blood-red, her Kurta bloodlust manifesting. A dark, oppressive anger overflowed from it. Also overflowing was her surging killing intent. Shalnark, who had just reached the vicinity of the hotel, could sense that extremely ominous aura.
Something was very wrong. He feared she was playing for real. Crucially, Shalnark didn’t know the source of Millis’s killing intent. So, Shalnark decisively called Feitan, who was wandering somewhere unknown, saying that Millis was going mad with anger, exceptionally mad, and that he, a non-combatant, dared not approach her.
Seven minutes later.
“If Phinks were here, he’d definitely say, ‘As expected of the fastest man in the Troupe,’” Shalnark joked to Feitan.
“…I think you’re completely fine, aren’t you?” Feitan glanced at Shalnark.
“No, the situation is very serious.” Shalnark’s tone was grave. “My most important possession was crushed.”
“Oh.” Feitan’s gaze shifted downwards.
“I mean my phone, my phone!” Shalnark sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Anyway, I’ve already explained to Millis. She woke up and didn’t see anyone, and thought we’d run off and left her alone.”
At this moment, Millis, whose figure was obscured by Shalnark, emerged from behind him.
After Shalnark’s efforts at explanation (?), Millis’s eyes had returned to their blue state, but her expression was still clearly unhappy.
She stood behind Shalnark to his left, clutching the hem of his clothes. Shalnark continued speaking to Feitan, “Then, she wants you to play a game with her.”
“Are you acting as a ‘mouthpiece’ now, Shalnark?” Feitan stared at the hand Millis was using to grip Shalnark’s clothes. “What game?”
“A… game she calls ‘spider-man.’ Hmm, spider, quite fitting for the Troupe’s theme, and it includes something else familiar to us.” Shalnark took a small, compact metal cylinder from Millis and tossed it to Feitan. “It’s suitable for agile people to play. I won’t participate. I have to get a new phone later.”
Feitan usually liked to carry hidden weapons and had some research into them. He quickly found the knack, flicking a raised pattern on the edge of the metal cylinder. With a whistling sound, a metal hook with a thin rope attached to its tail shot out of the cylinder, brushing past Feitan’s hairline and heading straight for Shalnark’s face.
“Aie!” Shalnark let out a feigned small cry of alarm. After dodging by tilting his head, he complained, “Afei, you’re intentionally targeting me, aren’t you!”
“I’ve said it before, I hate it when people lie to me.” Feitan tried flicking the same raised pattern in the opposite direction. The rope tightened to its limit, and then the metal hook was pulled back by the rope, retracting into the cylinder with a “whoosh.” “Oh, is it like ‘Nen Thread’?”
Machi’s “Nen Thread” could extend almost infinitely. Using this characteristic, it could stick to a target for tracking.
“Shalnark,” Feitan continued fiddling with the cylinder in his hand, looking for other mechanisms. “You told me Millis had gone mad. She seems quite normal now. Did you finish it in just a few minutes?”
If it could be finished in a few minutes, could it still be called “truly mad”?
“I’m not kidding, her Kurta eyes were showing just a few minutes ago,” Shalnark breathed out, as if still in shock. “I almost thought I was going to die. Please, Afei, play with her for a bit. Maybe you’ll understand her condition.”
From an angle Millis couldn’t see, Shalnark was frantically gesturing to Feitan, indicating that he was eager to leave.
Regardless of what Shalnark was concealing, at least Shalnark’s desire to leave at that moment was truthfully conveyed to Feitan.
Out of consideration for him as a comrade (Spider), Feitan agreed to the game, allowing Shalnark to be released. He then left with light steps (as he claimed) to get a new phone.
“How do you want to play?”
The moment Feitan finished speaking, he raised his hand and caught the weapon Millis tossed over. It was a broad-bladed knife. Unlike the sharp umbrella sword that Feitan habitually used, this knife had a thin, sharp blade, suitable for slashing rather than stabbing.
Despite it being an unfamiliar weapon, Feitan didn’t express any doubt. He wielded it a few times as soon as he got it to adapt to its feel.
The game was scheduled to start at eight o’clock tonight. Following the note Millis had written, Feitan arrived at the designated location – the rooftop of a certain building – on time.
“I hope the game you’ve prepared is interesting enough and won’t waste my waiting time.” Feitan, as usual, wore a cloak with a skull pattern, but his weapons had been replaced with the metal hook launcher cylinder and the broad-bladed knife given by Millis.
To fully experience the fun of the game, as a “game player,” he was willing to abide by the game’s rules.
Millis nodded at him, then made a gesture with the number “three.”
Then came “two.”
Finally, “one.”
Boom!
A massive explosion echoed in the distance. The city, which had been covered with countless points of light and dazzling neon lights like a galaxy moments ago, plunged into darkness with the loud roar.
The galaxy on the ground extinguished, and the galaxy in the sky revealed its faint glow.
[Night Vision: Excellent]
Congratulations. Thanks to Kuroro’s Nen ability that indiscriminately retrieved “missing things,” Millis understood that she had recovered four things so far: her severed brain, her congenitally lacking vocal cords, the hymen she lost acquired, and the reduced night vision after eye surgery.
Actually, the third item didn’t need to be recovered at all; it had caused a slight inconvenience for Millis at the time.
There was nothing that could be done, as the Nen ability in Kuroro’s hands could not target specific body parts.
One minute was enough for Feitan to fully adapt to the current lighting conditions.
With an explosion as the opening and the extinguishing of the entire city’s lights, Feitan was quite satisfied with Millis’s preparation of the stage.
Although Millis had only provided the game’s name and props, without mentioning the rules, Feitan had already realized from this opening that the entire city was their game venue.
“I’m ready,” Feitan raised his weapon and pointed it at Millis, who was waiting in her spot. “You can start the game.”
Millis nodded.
She turned left, walked to the edge of the rooftop, raised one hand, followed by a “swoosh” sound and then a dull thud of metal hitting a wall. She tugged at the rope in her hand and turned to move her lips a few times towards Feitan.
Feitan knew what she was saying.
[Spider-Man]
She repeated the game’s name.
The next moment, she was already on the wall of the opposite building, and with the rope connected to the metal hook embedded in the wall, she could stay on the vertical wall for a long time.
Though spiders have no wings, they can fly using their own silk.
After watching Millis’s demonstration, Feitan’s initial guess was perfected. Without further explanation, he understood the game content.
Ah, Feitan remembered the arena in Meteor City more than ten years ago.
The essence of this little madwoman hadn’t changed.
“Can you change her, Feitan?” Kuroro had once asked Feitan this question. (Chapter 201)
At the end of their conversation, Feitan had replied disdainfully:
“No need.”
What I want… is her original self.
The corner of his mouth turned up into a pleasant arc beneath his mask. Feitan suddenly disappeared from the rooftop.
The swift sound of the wind, the flashing of sword light, all the commotion, all fell into the darkness of the city.
Come.
Let’s fight to our heart’s content.