Delve - Chapter 48: Crucible

As a high-risk individual, Ye Sangsang received an invitation to the beta test of the holographic game “Criminal Files.”As a game known for its high degree of freedom, high adaptability, and extremely realistic simulations based on real criminal cases, its beta release garnered significant attention.As a condition of the beta test, she was required to livestream her gameplay.Delicate, beautiful, and silent—these were the words often associated with Ye Sangsang.As a game that had captured the nation’s high expectations, many were baffled when they saw Ye Sangsang.This was quickly followed by ridicule.“Someone like her playing from the criminal’s perspective? The victim would probably turn the tables on her.”“Is she going in as an investigator? A beautiful but useless burden?”“The victim escaping alive? Don’t make me laugh.”But as the cases progressed, Ye Sangsang gradually left the audience in awe.“The criminal!!! Oh no, lock her up, I’m terrified of how she kills!”“Investigation? Come on, can you guys keep up with Sangsang’s pace?”“The victim! Ahhh, what a bloody battlefield!”The livestream chat, once filled with skepticism, eventually overflowed with admiration.Some even began to suspect that she might actually be a high-intelligence criminal herself.It wasn’t until later that Ye Sangsang’s holographic crime scene simulations helped solve one real-life case after another.Audience: ???!!!Ye Sangsang, facing the camera: Please note, I only perform once.[Reading Tips:]1. This story is set in a futuristic, fictional world with holographic crime simulation games. Everything is virtual, so please do not draw parallels to reality.2. Some parts of the story may reference real-life cases.

A tale about the former leader of a special organization that served under royalty, now leaving his past life behind and unintentionally getting involved with the martial world.

Leguna. An orphan. His life changed dramatically the day the thieves’ guild happened to select him for training and development. He would go on to become lifelong friends with a loyal mercenary, the partner of a beautiful magus who was cold as ice, the savior of a mysterious disfigured dark-elf girl with a talent for the Breath, and the unlikely caregiver for a feisty young maiden. And yet, who would be with him to the very end?

“I am Bianca Valestra, Witch of the Frozen Night, an enemy of Humanity. By choosing to follow me, you will be fighting not just humans—but the entire world. I no longer wish to lie to you, Elian. If you wish to walk away or choose another path, I will let you.”Yet the boy shook his head and laid his hand gently over hers.“I am no longer human. I just committed what I think to be genocide. I am not afraid. For you—the one who saved me, gave me purpose, and my only desire—I will fight. I do not care how many come. I will kill them all.”___In the year 2030, everything changed.Portals to other dimensions appeared without warning.We called them dungeons.And from them came monsters that knew only destruction.But in humanity’s darkest hour, a sliver of hope emerged.People began awakening strange abilities—Talents—to fight back.Years passed. A fragile normal returned.Our story begins with Elian Reeds, a teenage student born in this new world—without a Talent.A Defect, they called him. Useless. Broken.That is, until he meets her.A fallen villainess whose name still strikes fear and reverence alike:Bianca Valestra—divine in beauty, and colder than death.This is the tale of their meeting.The chronicle of their journey.And the legacy of their triumph.