“Are you okay?”

  “No! I hate this so much!” Poppy was almost in tears. “The last scenario was Beauty and the Beast. At least the guy playing the Beast was hot when he changed back into a human, but he was really cold and rude either way. I thought I was going to die.”

  “You were Beauty then, huh?” I sighed. “At least you’re here now. And it looks like Jesse and Wai Meng are here this time as well.”

  “Wai Meng? Why does everything he touch turn into a clusterfuck? I’m going to punch him! Which one is he?”

  “’Your Father’, of course.”

  Poppy sighed and collapsed on my bed, which immediately sank.

  “Have you seen Tommy?”

  “No…” She nibbled at her nail, realised what she was doing, and dropped her hand. “There was only me and the guy who were players in the last scenario. He’s here again too. Han Sung-hyuk I think his username is.”

  “Oh. That guy.”

  “Have you met him?”

  “Yeah, in the tutorial. You’re right, he’s handsome but a jerk.”

  Poppy huffed and tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Hmph, I’m tempted to take him down a notch or two.”

  “Liu Bou Bei,” I groaned, pinching my nose, “we don’t have time for mind games with other players. We have to survive.”

  “Okay, okay. Geez, why do you always pull out people’s full names when you’re being serious? It’s like you’re our mother or somethi… Sorry.”

  “It’s fine,” I said, wincing. “We should find Wai Meng, and maybe Jesse and… that bastard. Wait, have you met the stepmother yet?”

  The words were barely out of my mouth when a new commotion arose in the corridor outside.

  “Madam, is there something the matter?”

  “Out of my way! Where is my daughter?”

  “She’s… She went to see…”

  “Where? Who?”

  “The First Miss.”

  The sound of pounding footsteps sped up, and in a moment, a woman stood in the doorway of my tiny room.

  She was tall, with a kind of sharp beauty that was undercut by her furious and haughty expression. Something about her looked familiar, but when I checked her name, it simply said:

  As I read this, a hand suddenly broke through the textbox and slapped me across the face. Taken by surprise, I fell against the wall, hand going automatically to my cheek. Poppy as frozen on the bed, hands over her mouth.

  “Come, Jun-li. If you spend too long in here with this thing, you’ll begin to smell just like it.” The woman had turned to Poppy and caressed her face. “Good girl, we need to get you ready for the feast tonight.”

  Poppy’s eyes were wide; I could see the whites all the way around her irises. And then it clicked.

  This familiar scene, this familiar woman… She looked like Poppy’s mother.

  Evidently, Poppy felt the same. She stiffly stood as if she had no control over her body, and obediently shuffled for the door.

  Madam Jin frowned. “What’s wrong, darling? Are you okay? Did that thing say something to you?” She whirled on me and suddenly began raining blows on my head. “What did you do?”

  I covered my head with my arms, mind racing.

  What if I fought back? And then what? Say I managed to overpower Madam Jin, then surely the other servants would come to her aid, since she was the mistress of the house. Maybe there were armed guards too. Could I fight them all?

  No.

  I focused on protecting my head.

  “Mother!” Poppy blurted out. She bit her lip. “I… I came in here to look for something, but I couldn’t find it, so I was… disappointed.”

  “What is it, treasure? What were you looking for?” Madam Jin lowered her hand and turned to Poppy. I uncurled, holding my aching head.

  “Uh…” I could practically hear the thoughts churning in her head. “I was looking for a keepsake of Ye Xian’s mother. I thought I could wear it to the feast tonight… But it seems that there truly is nothing left of her jewels.”

  Ye Xian… Ah, of course. The story of Ye Xian, or Yeh-Shen, as she was known in Cantonese, was the story of a girl badly treated by her stepfamily, and a prince fell in love with her, saving her from the abuse. It was centuries older than Cinderella, but had the same basic plot.

  “You thought this little rat might have been hiding something?” Madam Jin turned scathing eyes on me. “I wouldn’t put it past her. But I already made sure to take everything. She has nothing left.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “Then… We shouldn’t delay getting ready, Mother.”

  “Yes, darling. Let’s go.” Madam Jin put her hand on Poppy’s shoulder and steered her to the door. I staggered upright, using the wall to help me.

  A hand shot out and slapped my face again. I felt the back of my head bounce against the wall, and something warm trickled over my upper lip.

  Madam Jin swept out, taking Poppy with her.

  I wiped my lip. Blood.

  “Thanks, I didn’t notice,” I growled, looking around for a cloth to stem the blood, my hands covered in it. There was nothing but the clothing I wore in bed, so I reluctantly folded the robe and held it to my nose until the bleeding stopped.

  Madam Jin truly was like Poppy’s mother. The similarity had to be a coincidence, but I thought of the fear on Poppy’s face. She was going to struggle with this scenario.

  I retrieved the two flasks of water from my Inventory, drinking most of them, and using the rest to wash my face, returning my HP to its previous level. The pain dissipated rapidly. If only the same could happen in real life.

  Now what? According to the story, Yeh-Shun had a pet fish that lived in a pond in the grounds of the family mansion. She went to the fish with her troubles and it revealed itself to be a divine fish, with the ability to grant wishes.

  I moved for the door, but halted.

  Yeh-Shun was used as littler better than a slave in this household. If I stepped outside, it was likely that I would be roped into work. I grabbed the bloody cloth and stumbled outside, cloth pressed to my face.

  It worked. The servants cast me looks of pity, disgust, scorn, but I made it out of the servants’ quarters without being stopped, and burst into the fresh air of a courtyard garden.

  There was no pond here, however. Staying close to the walls, head bowed, I surreptitiously explored the mansion, wondering if any of the other players were also around. Every servant I happened to catch sight of, however, were NPCs.

  I found the pond, at least.

  The pond was square, with waterlilies floating peacefully on its surface.

  There was also a man in the water.

  I stared, incredulous, at the young man with bright blue hair who was flicking at the water in a bored manner. He looked up with golden eyes and caught sight of me. “Mik Tsaam!”

  “What the fuck?”

  “I’ve been waiting for ages! What took you so long?”

  “Lee Wai Meng, are you the goddamned fish?”

  “Woah, woah, you’re a priest, Mik Tsaam. Can you say that? Wait, is that blood?”

  I impatiently threw the bloody robe to one side and crouched down. “I already healed it, I was just using it as a prop to avoid being made to work. What’s going on? Someone told me you’re an Administrator? What does that even mean?”

  Wai Meng scratched his cheek. In spite of being in a pond, he looked completely dry. The shirt he wore shimmered, as if made of fish scales. “I’m still learning about it. I can modify the scenarios to a certain extent, it seems. Other than that-”

  “Why are we here? We’re in the game, right?”

  “I guess?”

  I smacked him on the head.

  “Ow! What was that for?”

  “We’re all here because you made us play this damn game.”

  “It’s not my fault! I didn’t know this would happen.”

  I collapsed on the ground by the side of the pond. “I know. I feel better after hitting you though.”

  “You’re so mean.”

  “So what now?”

  “Well, I can see the flow of the story. Madam Jin is supposed to catch you here, and then… she cooks and eats the fish.”

  “… What?”

  “Yeah. Oh well, since I know how the story will go, I can just avoid getting caught!”

  “Have you seen her yet?” I rolled onto my stomach. “This Madam Jin is just like Poppy’s mother. And Poppy is the stepsister… She’s obviously terrified of Madam Jin. I don’t know how she’ll get through this.”

  “Maybe she’ll really become the evil stepsister and destroy you,” Wai Meng cackled, pantomiming claws.

  I flicked his nose.

  “Ow! Stop it!”

  “Come on, I need your help.”

  “Okay, okay. You need to… Oh no, she’s coming. You need to come back tonight when they leave for the festival!” He dived into the water, out of sight.

  “What are you doing?” Madam Jin snapped, hauling me upright.

  I bowed quickly to hide my face. “I apologise, Madam, I was simply checking my reflection in the water to ensure my face was clean.”

  “Is it clean?”

  “It is.”

  “Then get to work!”

  I hurried away. As I did, I heard Madam Jin calling to some servants, “Fetch me a net.”

  Shit shit shit. Lee Wai Meng, I hope you know what you’re doing!

  Wait, wasn’t the fish supposed to be some kind of Immortal or guardian spirit? Could I pray…?

  But it wasn’t a Christian deity…

  Argh! It’s better than nothing!

  I dived behind the nearest Azalea and knelt, clasping my hands. “Dear… fish Immortal. Dear God. Whoever is listening! Please, help Lee Wai Meng… Uh… Administrator ‘Your Father’ avoid being caught by Madam Jin.”

  “Yes! Do it!”

  I blew out a sigh. It wasn’t the full three points, but it was better than nothing. I hoped it would be enough to get Wai Meng out of trouble. I should have checked his stats.

  I made my way back into the house, and a hand immediately grabbed mine and pulled me to one side.

  “Poppy?”

  “Mik Tsaam, we have to get out of here quickly,” Poppy begged, clutching my robes. She was dressed in a simple robe now, but there was some kind of ointment applied to her face – skincare, I supposed. “She’s really just like my mother. I can’t stand it!”

  “The story-”

  “I don’t want to follow the story anymore!”

  “But we can’t pass the scenario if we don’t! My tasks are to attend the festival and then…” I sighed. “… get married to the prince. I can’t do those things if we run away now.”

  “It wouldn’t be so bad though, would it? You don’t even want to marry the prince! We could live somewhere away from here…”

  “This is a game, Poppy. Not real life! We have to get out of the game!” I grabbed her hands. “I’m sorry, I know it’s hard for you to be around her. It’s okay. We can beat this scenario and get out. You’ll be okay.”

  Poppy trembled and began to cry. “She’s like a snake, Mik Tsaam. A snake ready to strike at any moment. I’m scared of disappointing her. You know how it is.”

  “I know.”

  “Please… Let’s just go.”

  I cast around for some solution. “Can you stay out of her sight until the festival tonight?”

  “Maybe… If I just stay busy preparing…” I could hear her fighting to get control of her emotions.

  “Good. Listen… Lee Wai Meng is the fish. He’s literally sitting in the pond right now.”

  “She’ll eat him.” Poppy was shocked out of tears. “Mik Tsaam, she’ll-”

  “It’s okay. He said as an Administrator he can read the flow of the story to some extent. Plus I managed to give him two extra Luck points. He’ll be able to avoid her, I’m sure. You know him, he always bounces back so easily.”

  I pressed my forehead to Poppy’s. She closed her eyes.

  “I’ll get us all out of here, okay? We’ll be fine.”