[ Hello, lovely readers of SMLUPF! Yesterday was our final voting day for our D-Class Worlds! Regardless of the results, everyone will have to wait!
Alright, here are our results!
In first place with a landslide victory is...
Zhang Liling!
"Thank you for voting for me, everyone! I hope my story is entertaining enough!" 😇
In second place, in a much closer competition, is...
Euphemia Von Gaelin!
"I'm a bit disappointed, but at least I'll get a chance to be part of the story! Until my turn, I'll just focus on swordmanship." 😄
And last but not least...
Himura Kaori!
"My, my. It seems I'll be going last this time. That's alright. It'll be better to have something sweet before having something bitter." 😉
That is our voting for the D-Class Worlds coming to a close! Stay tuned for the stories of the Rose Princess and the Seamstress Killer which will be coming after Liling!
And a question before we go, would you like it if the chapters were numbered? ]
Turns out that Brooke was quite upset. Then again, being ejected from a world all of a sudden mid task is annoying. It's like having the saving of an important file delayed by buffering.
"Jules, what the hell was that for?" Brooke sat up from the bed with a fury and glared at the familiar pastel room. The vanity from Annabell's world was still present, but nothing from Turaya's world seemed to be here. Which would make sense since she hadn't finished it.
[ I'm sorry, Host! We had to emergency eject from the world due to safety concerns. ]
"Safety concerns?"
[ Yes, safety concerns. The Wild System had been located and was unusual. Berry requested for us to eject. ]
Brooke made a sour face and sighed. "This sucks balls. Is there gonna be a penalty for this?"
[ Nope! Due to the Wild System Clause, we won't be given a penalty for ejecting! In fact, we'll be promoted to D-Class! ]
"Already?" Brooke couldn't help but feel this was a bit suspicious. Why would they be promoted for ejecting? Was there something particularly wrong with the Wild System? And the reason for Wild Systems...
This was too much thinking for an angry Brooke.
[ Yup! Since you did so well in the first world, it was probably a planned promotion for after you did well in the next world! ]
"Sure. Whatever. Jules, can we start our next world now?"
[ You wouldn't like to rest, Host? ]
"Was I even gone for long enough to rest?"
[ Touche. I'm sending in the tasks now! ]
Per usual, the list of tasks appeared before Brooke and she read through it.
[ 1.) Find the reason behind Liling's illness.
2.) Reveal the true face of the Su mother and daughter.
3.) Become a paragon of virtue. ]
Brooke couldn't help but feel that things would be a bit more complicated than before when things, as they often did, went black.
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[ Host, in upper class worlds there's usually an opening cutscene before the beginning of a mission! Please enjoy! ]
"A cutscene? So kind of like in a movie or game."
Curious, Brooke felt like she was sitting in a movie theater. Well, more like floating although she definitely had a front row seat for whatever show was going to be happening.
The cutscene jumped right into the action.
"Su Daiyu! Su Jinjing! What do you think you're doing?!" A young girl, maybe having just turned 20, was being restrained to the ground of an elegant villa by two muscular men, struggling for her life. She was quite pretty with long dark brown hair, turquoise blue eyes, and pale skin. Although her pretty face was distorted due to rage.
"Mother, the mutt has become so ferocious. I'm scared." The sweet voice of another girl of similar age to the one kneeling swept through the hall, a pitiful look on her face. Although she was also pretty, with black hair, doe eyes, and a button nose, she fell short of the restrained girl.
"Jingjing, don't worry. This dog is all bark and no bite. How could it dare hurt you?" An older woman chimed in, looking at least 9/10 similar to the girl referred to as Jingjing.
Brooke couldn't help but be reminded of the second task on the list. So this was the pair of mother and daughter. The Su.
Was she in a typical chinese revenge story? The ones with rebirth and stuff? Probably.
"Let me go this instant! What would my father be saying about-" The restrained girl was cut off by a brutal kick to the stomach, curtosy of Su Jinjing.
"Your father? Zhang Lihua, you have to remember that you have been disowned. Zhang Guo is my father, I am a Zhang."
Zhang Lihua, as she had now been identified, let out a harsh snort. She seemed to recover quickly. "You are a Zhang? Su JinJing, must I remind you who you are? A child born not only out of wedlock, but by a mistress turned wife!"
"You, you!" Both Su Daiyu and Su Jinjing looked indignant, which Lihua took great pleasure in.
"I've told you this many times and until I die I'll keep telling you! The only Young Miss in the Zhang family are Liling and I! The only Lady of the Zhang family is my mother, Qin Yuhuan! Then again," Zhang Lihua chuckled. "chickens will always dream of being phoenixes!"
Lihua would've continued talking for sure if it hadn't been for the gun now pointed directly at her face.
"Oh, shit just got real." Brooke was now fully engrossed with the story going on here. She was a sucker for drama.
"You're just like your mother and sister! If you could've all just shut your mouths you would've just been humiliated instead of dead!" Jinjing was shaking with rage, her mother scowling.
Lihua only glared at the muzzle of the gun.
Su Daiyu took a deep breath to calm herself before smirking. "It's really a pity. You'd have died much quicker if it weren't for that sister of yours."
"Are you going to talk shit or are you going to shoot me?"
Both Su women were surprised by Lihua's lack of emotion. Lihua simply waited for them to shoot. The quicker that bullet pierced her brain, the faster she could be reunited with them.
"How stubborn. At least your sister had some fight in her. A little too much fight if you ask me. Should've died in the womb with her mother." Daiyu couldn't help but sigh out.
Lihua's body stiffened.
"Right? She even needed a push along to die on her sickbed!" Jinjing chimed in, noticing Lihua's shift in attitude.
"You! What did you bitches do to Liling?! What did you do?!" Lihua practically snarled. If she wasn't restrained she probably would've tackled one of the two women to the ground.
Jinjing gave a cold smile, obviously pleased with Lihua's reaction. "Zhang Lihua. Since you're going to die here anyway, I'll tell you a secret. That little sister of yours, Zhang Liling, died not only of her sickness! Your mother didn't die of a broken heart either! Every single misfortune you've met with this lifetime has been our work!"
"You bitch! I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!" Lihua looked feral.
Su Daiyu rolled her eyes. "Jingjing, let's hurry this up. We have to get to your engagement party."
Seeming to remember this fact, Su Jinjing got a dazzling smile on her face instead as she undid the safety on the gun. "That's right! Zhang Lihua, it's pity that you can't come to my party or my wedding. Remember though,"
Lihua continued to struggle against the hold of the two men as the gun was properly aimed at the center of her head.
"Your death day will always be my happiest day. Right next to the day your sister finally choked on her own blood!"
"Su! Jin! Jing! Even if I have to come back as a ghost, I'll kill you! I'll make sure you never live peacefully! I swear it! You-"
And the cutscene ended with a single gunshot preventing any more noise.