"Tsk, cowardly crows. Go f*ck yourselves!" Myne vented, releasing the umted frustration from before, and slowly started flying away from the flock of crows. However, fate, it seemed, had a twisted sense of humor, what he never expected was that crows would turn out to be very obedient.


    No sooner had the curse left his lips, with a loud cry, crows instantly started jumping on each other without caring about gender.


    Myne, who had hardly flown a bit away, was shocked beyond words at the scary sight of hundreds of crows crazily jumping on each other. He beat a hasty retreat, leaving the cawing chorus and acrobatic obscenity behind.


    "Shit, what the heck were those crows doing? Did this happen because of my casual words? Wait, doesn''t this mean I can control all the being here with just my words alone?" After entertaining such a weird thought, Myne quickly looked around and found another flock of crows chilling around on the roof of a random house.


    Taking a deep breath, he unleashed his newfound power. "Find me a girl," hemanded, his voice firm despite the tremor in his stomach. "ck tail, long pointed ears. Report back if you find her, understood?"


    To his astonishment, the crows didn''t simply caw or ignore him, as if they had mastered humenguage, they cocked their heads, beady eyes studying Myne up and down, then, with a series of sharp caws, took flight, scattering into the dark sky.


    "They really understand mymand? Dreamworld crows are quite smart, I have to say. Now that I have helpers, let''s take a break while the crows are searching for Velvet and think of a way to deal with the next problem."


    ...


    "30 minutester."


    "Cro..."


    Half an hour had bled into existence, time smeared thin by Myne''s anxious ruminations. Hey syed on a rooftop, worry weaving furrows in his brow. No n, no escape, just the suffocating silence of the dream world pressing down on him. Suddenly, a sharp "Cro!" pierced his brooding, a feathered herald perched on his head.


    "Have you found Velvet?" Myne asked with a frown, clearly not in a good mood as he couldn''t formte any reliable n to escape the troublesome ce.


    Upon hearing Myne''s question, the smart crow simply nodded its head and started flying in a certain direction, disregarding Myne''s gloomy mood.


    Ignoring the rude crow, Myne quickly followed it and soon arrived at a small stone house that looked quite sturdy from the outside, surrounded by arge, man-made thorny fence to prevent undead from entering.


    "Now, this is something my girl could do. As expected, neither of my girls is easy to mess with... But where the hell is she?" Myne looked around and soon noticedmotion a few blocks away from his location, rapidly approaching his direction.


    Myne waited for a bit and soon saw the person he desperately sought. Velvet, wearing tattered clothes on the main parts of her body, messy hair as if she hadn''t washed it for months, covered in wounds from head to toe, carried a small bag on her shoulder, rushing toward the stone house.


    Behind her, a few dozen or so undead were chasing her, but in front of Velvet''s cat-like speed and nimbleness, they were clearly helpless to catch her.


    Upon reaching the thorny fence, she ran toward the house beside it, climbed the 3-meter tall wall, and without hesitation, jumped into the stone house. After entering the courtyard of the stone house, she gave the middle finger to the undead who were chasing her and entered the house.


    "I taught her that move. Girls really grow so fast," Myne chuckled, genuine warmth suffusing his voice, emotionally addressing the crow beside him, which shook its ck wing with a poker face and flew away.


    ustomed to those weird crow-human-like behaviours, Myne looked around and couldn''t help but frown a bit. "Where am I? Since I have a copy of fake Velvet in my dream world, then shouldn''t Velvet also have a fake version of mine as well?" Myne, while flying toward the stone house, thought confusedly.


    He employed the power of his imagination, which he was slowly bing ustomed to. After rendering himself invisible, he passed through the wooden door like a ghost.


    "So cool... If I had both of these skills in the real world, I would surely be the world''s richest man alive in a matter of a few years," Myne sighed helplessly, dismissing futile thoughts from his mind as he began observing his surroundings.


    Being the abode of a responsible, hardworking girl, as one would expect, the house was as clean as the summer sky. Every piece of furniture was meticulously arranged, devoid of even a speck of dust. Windows were sealed with wooden nks, and a small fire flickered in the firece, casting a warm, red glow throughout the house and dancing shadows on the walls.


    Burning candles adorned the living room, while the ttering of utensils resonated from the kitchen.


    With a mix of amazement and helplessness, Myne walked toward the kitchen. He had no words for Velvet being clean frank, even Aisha was no expectation, girls just don''t like dirty thing, of course, Sylphy was an exception.


    Inside the kitchen, Velvet had already emptied the small bag she was carrying on her shoulder. It contained a few candles, some pieces of bread that clearly didn''t look edible, dried-up meat jerkies, two bottles of water filled with dirt as if she had extracted it from mud, five crow corpses, and two crow eggs.


    "Sigh, finding supplies is bing more and more difficult. This is thest amount of water I can gather from that little pond. Now I have to find another source to get water," Velvet muttered, her voice raw with exhaustion. She opened the cupboard door and ced the dirty water bottle inside it beside a few clean water bottles.


    Then, she picked up one of the crow corpses, plucked it, and roasted it whole in the firece. Since she didn''t have any vegetables or seasonings, she did it in the old-fashioned way, like a primitive human. In her eyes, Myne saw the glint of desperation, the stark reminder of her dire situation.


    Velvet''s crow-scrounged dinner done, she rose from the creaky chair, her gaze falling on the hidden cer door.


    Confused, Myne, who was still contemting how to surprise Velvet, silently followed her. Upon entering the basement, however, his mouth couldn''t help but twist in embarrassment. There, he finally found the fake version of himself.


    Inside the basement, a small bedy in the middle, upied by a young man wearing shorts and a bare chest. Arcane-looking books cluttered a rickety desk, a rusted toilet huddled in a corner, a single water bottle stood guard, and an army of candles dotted the dusty floor. Seeing Velvet entering his room with food, the young man hurriedly ran toward her.


    Like a gentleman, he guided her to his bed, paying no heed to the food. There, he first set aside his meal, took out what looked like a lotion from under his bed, and began applying it to Velvet''s fresh wounds.


    "How was today''s raid, honey? Did you find any way to escape from this hell hole?" The fake Myne, with a voice filled with concern, asked.


    "Sigh, Nothing… There''s still no clue. It''s as if this entire town is a big maze trapping us and refusing to let us escape. Even the entrance we came in through has vanished, and the walls surrounding the town have be 30 meters tall—literally impossible to climb. God knows what''s wrong with this wretched town," Velvet sighed tiredly.


    She gestured for Myne to stop applying lotion andy down on hisp.


    "At least you are with me; otherwise, I don''t know what would have happened if I stayed all alone in this hell hole... I might have gone crazy by now."


    "Please don''t say that. Now you''re making me feel bad. After all, I do is just sit in this small room, and enjoy the food and water you brought while risking your life. Sometimes, I wish I could go out with you, and help you deal with those horrific things.


    But this damn phasmophobia phobia of mine just freezes my body at the sight of their horrific faces," The fake Myne said, shedding crocodile tears, holding his head between his legs, and speaking in a crying voice,pletely melting Velvet''s soft heart.


    "Just don''t think about these useless things. You''re with me, and that''s all I need. We''ll surely find a cure for your phobia. Just don''t lose faith. Now, you eat your dinner. I''ll go out and make some preparations for tomorrow''s raid," Velvet said reassuringly.


    With that, she gave the fake Myne a sweet kiss, eliciting a pang of jealousy in the real Myne, who had been silently observing their drama from the corner, before walking out of the room.


    Thub!


    Myne waited until the basement door thumped shut before springing into action. With a swift gesture, he sealed the room with an invisible sound barrier so that Velvet wouldn''te in and discover what he was about to do with the fake version of himself. He then revealed himself and, in front of the cowardly fake Myne''s horrified eyes, moved towards him while rubbing his fists.


    "Let''s talk a bit, shall we?" Myne growled, his voice a low rumble. "And we''ll start with how much trouble you''ve caused to my little kitty. By the way, have you also slept with her while pretending to me..."


    ...


    "Sigh, sometimes I miss the time when Myne was absolutely powerful and reliable in my eyes. I could trust him with my eyes closed, knowing that he could handle everything.


    Although that was all my imagination, I just can''t stop myself from imagining Myne as that strong figure," Velvet muttered with a desperate smile as she sat in front of the firece, watching the mes dance in a graceful manner.


    "Well, if you had, instead of f*cking me all day long just after seeing me, fought with me at least once, then you might have had a strong, reliable, smart, handsome, and absolutely powerful Myne under your ass..."