Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Doll Is Too Delicate to Take Care of Herself (5)

For the first time in his life, Tu Jin had been threatened by himself. For a moment, he genuinely had no idea what he was supposed to say.

But setting everything else aside…

“You said you’re very valuable?”

The moment a key phrase caught his instinctive attention, Tu Jin immediately seized upon what mattered most to him. His gaze returned to Ye Jiujiu, examining her with renewed interest.

You?

He assessed her from head to toe, left to right…

Even if the little girl standing before him wasn’t lying and really was a doll, then…

To be fair, her beauty was indeed a scarce commodity. But…

This was the Death Game. A pretty vase with nothing but good looks, no matter how beautiful, had a very limited ceiling in terms of value. She was nowhere near deserving of the word precious. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

“Do you really think your value is comparable to the ownership of a room in Snow Village Hotel?”

Tu Jin delivered his conclusion with an almost cold indifference.

“No one would be foolish enough to make such a loss-making deal, not even in their dreams.”

“You’re lying! You’re deceiving me! You’re talking nonsense!”

The little girl immediately lost her temper.

“I’m worth far more than this lousy room!”

Her beautiful, wide eyes filled with tears as she grew angry.

“If my master hadn’t accidentally turned the room card into a puppet and inexplicably ended up receiving ownership of this room, then felt bad about taking advantage of the hotel owner and was too embarrassed to refuse, she would never have left me behind as compensation!” Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Is that so?

Tu Jin looked at her and gave a quiet scoff.

He hadn’t said anything outright, yet somehow his expression conveyed everything. The mockery in his gaze was no less cutting than a direct insult.

“Whatever you say.”

In any case…

A trace of violent killing intent rose in Tu Jin’s eyes once more.

Between Ye Jiujiu’s explanation and his own control over the instance dungeon, Tu Jin was clearly more inclined to trust his own authority.

He had never believed that the person before him was a doll. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Tu Jin was convinced that she was the very NPC who had taken advantage of him and was now trying to insult his intelligence.

Ye Jiujiu, sensing that killing intent: “…?”

Was this about to go horribly wrong?

At this critical moment, Ye Jiujiu calmly…

Turned her attention to her personal status panel.

Was it possible that this panel, as an item without a rank, could also be marked and converted into a puppet?

No sooner had the thought occurred to her than she acted.

Under the threat of death, Ye Jiujiu made her move without hesitation. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

The Death Game system, sensing something unusual: “…?”

But… the logic behind this did seem to hold up?

It wanted to speak, then stopped. It stopped, then wanted to speak again. In the end, all it could do was watch helplessly as Ye Jiujiu successfully took control of her own status panel.

The Death Game: “…”

It quietly opened its little book of grudges.

X year, X month, X day. NPC Ye Jiujiu has no sense of fair play. I must seize an opportunity to make things difficult for her and get my revenge.

…

Ye Jiujiu couldn’t spare any thought for whether the Death Game would get upset over what she’d just done. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

She looked at her status panel and rapidly rearranged its layout…

“I’m an A+-rank doll item, and I even come with a copy of my master’s Puppet skills! How am I not valuable?!”

She acted as though she hadn’t sensed Tu Jin’s killing intent at all. Her expression was flawless, and even every strand of her hair seemed to radiate indignation.

“Is that so?”

Tu Jin looked at Ye Jiujiu as though she were some kind of clown.

She was on the verge of death, yet she was still stubbornly refusing to back down…

Just as he slightly raised his hand, preparing to put an end to this tiresome farce—

A familiar status panel suddenly appeared before his eyes. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

That was—

Tu Jin’s pupils abruptly contracted, and his expression stiffened.

【Doll Name: ??? (Pending Editing)

Category: Special Item

Creator: Ye Jiujiu (Puppeteer)

Current Owner: None (Pending Marking)

Rank: A+

Weapon: ??? (Cannot Be Determined) Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Skills:

Puppet Mark (Lv. 1): Can transform a marked target into a puppet. All puppets retain their strength from before their transformation. If a puppet sustains damage, its owner can spend a corresponding amount of points to repair it. (Marking method: Physical contact.)

Puppet Control (Lv. 1): You can control your puppets.

Item Description:

Do you know what a Puppeteer is?

The ultimate dream of every Puppeteer is to create the perfect doll.

Without a doubt, the Puppeteer who created this doll has already achieved that dream.

What stands before you is the only one of its kind in the world—a doll that can be called absolutely perfect. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

As everyone knew, if someone were a game NPC, there was absolutely no way they could display their status panel before him. So…

The one standing before him really wasn’t Ye Jiujiu. She truly was a doll left behind as compensation for a debt?

Of course, that wasn’t the main point.

The main point was…

Tu Jin stared fixedly at the A+ rank displayed on the panel, as well as…

The shock was so overwhelming that he unconsciously rose from the sofa.

This doll even possessed two skills that were every bit as impressive as her rank?

And both skills were listed as Lv. 1? Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

In other words, they could still be upgraded?

If she was already this powerful before upgrading, then what would happen if those skills reached a higher level…?

This time, Tu Jin genuinely began to agree with what the doll had said.

Judging by her current attributes and abilities, this doll really was far more valuable than ownership of a hotel room.

But…

It was precisely because she was so much more valuable that another question arose in Tu Jin’s mind.

Would anyone really be that generous?

Or was there… Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Some kind of scheme?

He narrowed his eyes. Although suspicion still lingered in his gaze, the killing intent had completely disappeared.

Since that Puppeteer had given this doll to him as compensation, the doll now belonged to him.

Surely it was perfectly reasonable for him to want to understand his own property?

Tu Jin thought this was only natural. When he looked at Ye Jiujiu again…

His gaze lingered briefly on the little doll’s highly expressive face.

Hmm. Just looking at her, he could tell she was an adorable little thing who would be very easy to fool.

And if she was so easy to fool, then getting information out of her… Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

“Since you’re so precious, if I were your master, I certainly wouldn’t be willing to leave you behind as compensation, would I?”

Tu Jin deliberately looked at the little doll with a provocative expression.

“Could it be… that there’s some unavoidable flaw in you? Is that why your master seized the first opportunity to throw you away like a piece of garbage?”

Was that something an NPC was supposed to say?

The little doll was utterly stunned.

“I’m not garbage! My body is just too weak! Like my master, I can’t let anyone get close to me, so I’m not much help to my master!”

She pointed at Tu Jin. Her fingertip trembled for a long while as she tried to think of something to say to him. But her vocabulary failed her, and in the end, she became so furious that she burst into extremely loud sobs.

“You’re the garbage! You’re the one your master threw away! You’re a big piece of garbage!” Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Tu Jin had gotten the information he wanted, but this was also the first time anyone had ever pointed a finger at him and insulted him to his face.

“…”

How should he put it?

Looking at the precious little A+-rank doll before him, he couldn’t help thinking that even the way this little thing insulted people was adorable.