A villainous girl created by paranoia

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Planning Outline

About half an hour after Chun left, I finally crushed the happiness in my heart.

That emotion was affecting my thinking too much; I need to sort out my thoughts now.

Okay, I'm coming clean, I'm not acting anymore.

A smile involuntarily crept onto my lips, because I had indeed confirmed Zhan Xiaoxiao's identity as a player.

While confirming Zhan Xiaoxiao's identity, I also confirmed the identity of another player, Bai Zongsi. The one I saw at the amusement park that day was indeed her.

However, I don't plan to target General Bai; my only target is Zhan Xiaoxiao.

Why did I choose Zhan Xiaoxiao as my target? Because Zhan Xiaoxiao is very conspicuous, isn't she? And Zhan Xiaoxiao has a very obvious weakness.

She is a Flame Elf.

Of course, ordinary Magma Spirits are nothing special, but Zhan Xiaoxiao is no ordinary Magma Spirit.

Let's talk about the so-called Flame Elves first. Flame Elves are a brand new race born from the hybridization of elves and other races.

The Magma Elves are not actually a race, as they cannot reproduce. They are all female and, although they have reproductive organs, they do not have the ability to give birth.

Even if a woman manages to conceive, the fetus inside her will burn itself to death, along with the mother.

Before reaching adulthood, Magma Spirit will accept a duel from another version of itself, also known as Magma Body. The duel from Magma Body is one that cannot be refused.

The Flame Bodies possess all the memories and power of the Flame Spirits, but they are also a collection of negative emotions. No one knows where the Flame Bodies come from; they simply appear suddenly in front of the Flame Spirits to duel them.

The Flame Spirits will sense when the Flame Body appears and will arrange the location for the duel in advance.

Why did they duel? The reason is unknown. What is certain is that the Flame Entity was acting with the absolute goal of killing the Flame Elf, and the Flame Elf had to kill the Flame Entity in self-defense.

Once the duel is confirmed, either the Magma Sprite or the Magma Body must perish within three days; otherwise, both the Magma Sprite and the Magma Body will spontaneously combust and die.

The Flame Sprite is born with a strong talent for controlling fire. If the Flame Sprite kills the Flame Body in a duel, the Flame Sprite's fire control ability will disappear. Instead, one of its four main attributes will increase, and it will randomly gain a special ability.

If the Flame Entity kills the Flame Spirit, the Flame Entity will not survive; it will also die. In short, whether the Flame Entity wins or loses, or the duel ends inconclusively, the Flame Entity must die.

The Demon Flame Body was destined to be killed by the Demon Flame Spirit from the moment it was born.

The duel between the Flame Spirit and the Flame Body is not to be interfered with by outsiders. If anyone participates in this duel, the power of the Flame Body will increase dramatically.

Regardless of whose side the participants are on, the power of the Demon Flame Body will surge, and only the power of the Demon Flame Body will surge. To what extent will the power of the Demon Flame Body increase?

The Fifth Calamity – Flame Demon – Yatogami Chikage is a being of demonic flame form.

What exactly happened to her? How could a demonic flame being survive? What happened to the demonic flame spirit in her half-body? These are questions that have remained unanswered for thousands of years.

Someone asked her how she survived, but the next day that person and his city were burned to ashes.

The person who asked Yatogami Chikage how she survived didn't seem to remember that Yatogami Chikage was a natural disaster.

Yatogami Chikage's half-body demonic flame spirit wasn't a powerful figure; she was just an ordinary adventurer who could control fire. As a demonic flame body, Yatogami Chikage should have possessed similar strength.

No one knows what happened during Yatogami Chikage's duel, but as a demonic flame being, Yatogami Chikage survived and became powerful enough to become a calamity.

According to a self-proclaimed first calamity expert who wished to remain anonymous, Yatogami Chikage seems to be getting stronger every second.

This is clearly related to her Demon Flame Body; after all, there's no other possibility to draw upon, is there?

Why do I know this so clearly? Because there was also a Flame Sprite in my illusion, no, to be precise, a Flame Body.

Although we couldn't communicate, I could still get a lot of information from that Demon Flame Body, such as the fact that the First Calamity said the Demon Flame Body was getting stronger every second, which is true.

Because the original Demonic Flame Body was a very weak existence in my illusions, even the illusions themselves couldn't kill me, but now...

I ranked the Demon Flame Entity numbered 389 as sequence 98, and its rating reached S+.

I know even more secrets than that; I'm probably the only person in the world who knows where the Demon Flame Body comes from.

Having said all that, we should draw a conclusion: Zhan Xiaoxiao is a Demon Flame Body and is not dead.

It wasn't just because of yesterday's verification; I had my suspicions much earlier.

Those were two news items, two news items from six years ago, one published in the morning and the other in the evening.

I noticed these two news items at the time. To be precise, it should have been one news item, which had been given at least an S-level psychological suggestion.

First, the first news item of the morning:

Today, Zhan Xiaoxiao, daughter of Zhan Cangqiong, an S-level hero in our city, successfully defeated her own Demonic Flame Body, allowing us to...

The news report was accompanied by a picture of a disheveled pink-haired little girl, looking dejected and not at all like a victor.

Then came the second news item released that evening:

Today, a large-scale forest fire broke out in the Erin District of our city. S-class hero Zhan Cangqiong, the War Emperor, tragically perished while trying to save the elves living in Erin District. Let us mourn this great hero...

The accompanying picture shows a forest fire, with the entire sky turning crimson, making it appear as if the fire started at sunset.

However, the photographer actually took the photo from an east-facing position, and there is no trace of the sun in the photo. This means that the forest fire in Erinn did not start in the evening, but rather at an earlier time.

Now look at this picture more closely. There is a clear dark color on the horizon. Besides evening, when else is the horizon dark? The answer is morning.

My first reaction after seeing these two news items was to merge them together, but I didn't manage to do so because my thoughts got distracted when the idea of ​​merging them together came to mind.

I felt a little thirsty at that time, so I wanted to get some water.

I know I was influenced by the power of psychological suggestion, but at that time I had no way to break the suggestion. My thinking would be disturbed if I tried to combine the two news items, so I put them aside.

But now I can completely ignore the implications of those two news articles. What can I find by combining them?

The known information is as follows:

① Zhan Xiaoxiao completed her duel with the Demon Flame Body that morning.

② Zhan Xiaoxiao was the victor; she defeated her own Demon Flame Body, but she did not experience the joy of victory.

③ The forest fire in Erin District occurred in the morning.

④ Zhan Cangqiong died in a forest fire while rescuing the elves.

⑤ The location of the duel between Zhan Xiaoxiao and the Demon Flame Body is unknown.

⑥ Zhan Cangqiong's death and Zhan Xiaoxiao's victory over the Demon Flame Body occurred at the same time.

⑦ The local media specifically split the two events into morning and evening reports.

⑧ Someone used large-scale psychological suggestion on these two news articles.

After learning this information, a very interesting result was obtained.

This is just my own speculation and does not represent a recreation of the final scene.

When Zhan Xiaoxiao fought the Demon Flame Body, she brought Zhan Cangqiong with her. Naturally, Zhan Cangqiong could not participate in the battle; he could only watch.

Although it's called watching the battle, what father would truly stand idly by if he saw his daughter about to be killed?

So when Zhan Xiaoxiao was on the verge of death, Zhan Cangqiong intervened and saved her. Meanwhile, the Demon Flame Spirit received a boost, greatly enhancing its fire control abilities.

Then, let's confirm one more thing: the place where Zhan Xiaoxiao's duel took place was in the forest of the Eileen District, and the time was in the morning.

S-class hero Zhan Di Zhan Cangqiong was burned to death in a forest fire? As a normal person, who would believe such news?

Then there's only one possibility left.

Zhan Cangqiong was killed by the Demon Flame Body, whose strength had surged dramatically. To be even bolder, the Demon Flame Body also killed Zhan Xiaoxiao.

And someone who knew that the Demon Flame Body killed Zhan Xiaoxiao, not only did not kill the Demon Flame Body, but also helped it. The psychological suggestion of the two news articles can be considered as proof.

And what's causing the Demon Flame Body's low mood? The Demon Flame Body is Zhan Xiaoxiao, and she shares the same memories as Zhan Xiaoxiao. Zhan Cangqiong is also her father. Killing her beloved father... is that something to be happy about?

Well, this is just my personal guess. After all, I didn't pay much attention to that matter six years ago. It's all just my guess. Maybe the reality is even more comical?

Although the process was my guess, it is now a given fact that Zhan Xiaoxiao has the Demon Flame Body. Wasn't that clearly verified yesterday?

Let's get back to the topic. Why did I set my sights on Zhan Xiaoxiao? Because I wanted her player status and wanted her to use the inheritance feature to transfer her player status to me.

This leads to another question: how did I know that Zhan Xiaoxiao was a player?

For the same reason, Valkyrie is too conspicuous. Her nickname "Mad Dog" makes her a highly controversial hero, which makes her actions stand out.

After I learned about the game from Honda She'e, I started paying attention to some strange people, and Zhan Xiaoxiao was undoubtedly one of them.

Why would a Hero Association No. 18 suddenly switch to working at the police station? It's too sudden, too deliberate. Considering the illogicalities that usually occur in games, I guess I understand now.

After labeling Zhan Xiaoxiao as a suspected player, I began investigating her past, and sure enough, I discovered many interesting things.

Zhan Xiaoxiao had a history of being hospitalized for serious injuries multiple times, but she would be discharged the day after she was admitted, which could be attributed to the doctor's excellent medical skills.

But why is there a layer of cognitive confusion in this recorded intelligence?

While reading Zhan Xiaoxiao's serious injury record, I clearly felt that my understanding was confused. I believed from the bottom of my heart that a person should be discharged from the hospital on the second day.

But I know that this is just my perception being distorted.

Therefore, it is quite absurd that Zhan Xiaoxiao was discharged from the hospital the day after her serious injury, but it is also true that Zhan Xiaoxiao was lively and energetic after being discharged from the hospital, even though she did not regain her superpowers.

Does this seem familiar? Ichiro and his group were also deemed to have no special abilities, but I was still kidnapped to the port by them using their special abilities.

Can I interpret Zhan Xiaoxiao's rapid recovery ability as something produced in the game?

It is known that this game has a shop feature, from which you can buy Inheritance/Escape Tickets.

Since you can buy Inheritance Vouchers, can't you buy other vouchers too? Like... Body Repair Vouchers, etc...?

Xiao Xiao demonstrated the body repair process to me yesterday.

It turns out that Zhan Xiaoxiao is indeed a player, so everything I did before was correct.

As for what I did? I did a lot, didn't I?

I killed Yi Liu and her daughter, and I forced Yun Yao to her death.

I softened my heart. I was so damn soft-hearted. I had a hundred ways to torment Mei-hui, but I still softened my heart. After all, Mei-hui used to be my best friend.

I let her die without much pain; the cause of her death was poisoning. In the end, I couldn't bear to see her suffer.

However, Ichiyanagi Isako was not treated so well. After receiving the 'gift' in the morning, she was filled with anxiety. When she returned home and saw her daughter's corpse, she almost collapsed.

Originally, I also planned to drive this woman insane and watch her die in agony, but after thinking about it, I decided against it. I had already spared Mie, so what difference would it make if Mie's mother died? So I simply killed Ichiyanagi Isako as well.

As for Yun Yao, that old woman was more likely to commit suicide than to be driven to her death by me. She seemed to have anticipated that someone would come to take revenge on her, and she slit her throat early on. I was only responsible for burning her house down.