Nearby, the processing worker responsible for weighing the roses stared blankly at the two Liu Jiayis before him.

Their movements were so eerily synchronized that they looked like twins.

“Then... which one of you do these dried roses belong to?” he asked helplessly, lifting the sack in his hands.

The two Liu Jiayis exchanged a glance.

As though they had rehearsed it beforehand, both pointed simultaneously toward the calm-faced Liu Jiayi on the right.

“Give them to her.”

“Give them to me.”

The processor turned toward the Liu Jiayi on the left.

“If the roses belong to her, then you’ll be demoted to flower picker.”

The Liu Jiayi on the right calmly accepted the arrangement, almost as though she had expected it from the start.

“Do I start picking flowers tonight?” she asked evenly. “The exchange rate is still forty kilograms of dried roses for one bottle of low-grade rose perfume, correct?”

The weighing processor looked even more confused now, but he merely followed procedure.

“Yes... wait here a moment and come with me to collect your flower picker uniform and tools.”

Then he handed the weighed sack to the Liu Jiayi on the right.

“As for you—360 kilograms total. Bring this to the factory for the next stage of processing.”

One Liu Jiayi followed the processor to receive flower picker equipment.

The other hoisted the sack of dried roses and headed toward the open-air processing area in an orderly manner.

Qi Yifang and the others stared back and forth between them in complete bewilderment.

The two Liu Jiayis were heading in entirely opposite directions.

One toward the factory.

The other toward the flower fields.

A King’s Guild member looked at Qi Yifang in confusion.

“Qi-ge... which Little Witch are we supposed to follow?”

One of these Liu Jiayis had to be the real Liu Jiayi.

The other was Bai Liu in disguise.

But the problem now was simple:

If they couldn’t tell which was real, who were they supposed to protect?

Qi Yifang frowned deeply as he watched the two figures calmly split apart.

Not far away, Tang Erda silently observed them as well.

Liu Jiayi was clearly only an accomplice carrying out Bai Liu’s plan. The person truly making the decisions here could only be Bai Liu.

For once, Tang Erda and Qi Yifang arrived at the same conclusion:

Which path would Bai Liu choose?

Tang Erda lowered his eyes in thought.

Based on Bai Liu’s usual style—maximizing profit at every step, controlling everything personally, refusing to hand important tasks to others—he would never entrust a crucial main storyline objective to someone else.

He would do it himself.

Which meant—

Tang Erda’s gaze shifted toward the “Processor Liu Jiayi,” who was struggling to drag the heavy sack toward the factory, panting slightly from the effort.

That one was more likely to be Bai Liu.

And yet...

Something felt wrong.

Tang Erda’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked toward the back of the “Flower Picker Liu Jiayi” walking toward the flower fields.

That posture looked familiar.

It was Bai Liu’s habitual way of walking.

More importantly, Tang Erda simply did not believe Bai Liu was incapable of completing the side objective of gathering 720 kilograms of dried roses so both of them could remain processors.

Last night, under far worse conditions, Bai Liu had still found a way to freeload an absurd amount of roses off Tang Erda.

Yet today, in a far simpler situation, he had somehow ended up with only 360 kilograms—

exactly enough for only one person to continue as a processor.

And if the purpose of the “Two Liu Jiayis” strategy was merely to confuse Tang Erda and the King’s Guild, then logically the two of them should have stayed together.

That would make protection easier.

And make identifying the real one even harder.

Bai Six never made meaningless moves.

So what was the purpose of this “Liu Jiayi” willingly abandoning the main task and accepting demotion to flower picker?

...But the game’s primary storyline really did revolve around becoming Factory Manager.

And the core reward items for Rose Factory would almost certainly be tied to completing the main storyline.

After a long silence, Tang Erda tightened his grip on his gun—

then followed the “Processor Liu Jiayi” into the factory.

Qi Yifang repeatedly studied both Liu Jiayis, but no matter how hard he thought, he still could not understand Bai Liu’s intentions.

Seeing Tang Erda already choose one path, he finally made his own decision.

“Split up.”

Qi Yifang inhaled sharply before turning toward the “Flower Picker Little Witch.”

“I’ll follow her. You two stay with the other Little Witch. If anything happens, contact me immediately.”

He paused briefly.

Then his expression softened into something more complicated.

“We were all saved by the Little Witch. We have to protect her.”

He exhaled slowly.

“...She’s trying very hard to protect someone else too. So if possible... please protect that ‘her’ as well.”

The other two King’s Guild members fell silent for a moment before understanding what he meant.

“We owe her.”

Qi Yifang shoved the roses in his hands toward them, turned around, and resolutely chased after the “Flower Picker Little Witch.”

—

Game Lobby — Graveyard District

King’s Guild members flooded toward Bai Liu’s rapidly descending small TV screen.

Their faces were filled with obvious anger and resentment directed toward Bai Liu—

especially after watching him casually treat the Little Witch like unpaid labor while manipulating Qi Yifang at every turn.

But very quickly, their expressions changed.

The moment Liu Jiayi handed Bai Liu the Ace of Hearts card, nearly everyone froze in disbelief.

What shocked them was not merely the level of trust the Queen had placed in the Little Witch—

but the fact that the Little Witch had still betrayed her despite that trust.

Revealing the Queen’s abilities so openly to another person—

even handing over the Hearts skill card itself—

was practically equivalent to exposing the Queen’s greatest weaknesses and desires directly into someone else’s hands.

“Queen...”

One nearby player spoke cautiously.

“The Little Witch muted the small TV. Besides Bai Liu, she probably never intended anyone else to learn about your skills. Maybe this is just temporary rebellion... please don’t be angry with her...”

By the end, his voice had become weak with fear.

But he still forced himself to finish speaking.

“Please forgive her.”

Everyone present understood how serious Liu Jiayi’s betrayal truly was.

But none of them wanted the Queen to become angry enough to kill her.

Because Liu Jiayi had genuinely saved them before.

And if she returned, she would continue saving more people.

They all knew the Little Witch was not what anyone would call a “good child.”

But she had always been good to them.

And for players like them, that alone was enough.

Within this massive, brutally hierarchical guild and these cruel death games, the Little Witch was the only glimmer of hope many weaker players had ever seen.

Even if she had betrayed the guild—

they still did not want her to die.

The Queen herself showed no visible anger.

Her gaze rested quietly on the small TV, calm as an autumn lake, touched only by faint exhaustion from standing too long.

Onscreen, Liu Jiayi puffed out her chest and loudly demanded to participate in Bai Liu’s plan.

The sight reminded the Queen of the first time she met the girl.

Dirty.

Guarded.

Far too intelligent for her age.

Her face had been packed with suspicion and hostility toward the entire world.

The newly born Little Witch had stood there with blind gray eyes, clutching poison and antidote alike, balanced precariously between self-destruction and salvation.

The Queen liked that hedgehog-like child.

Within Liu Jiayi’s paranoia and fixation surrounding Liu Huai, the Queen saw reflections of her younger self.

So she reached out—

and pulled Liu Jiayi into her embrace.

Liu Huai was never suited to be this child’s gege.

If Liu Jiayi wanted to escape her unstable mental state and one day become the pillar supporting an entire team, she needed family and teammates worthy of absolute trust.

Her gege should never betray her.

He should love her unconditionally.

Clear away every obstacle standing before her.

And willingly die for her if necessary.

The Queen’s gaze drifted toward Qi Yifang and the two King’s Guild members visible on Bai Liu’s TV screen.

Every reserve member there had been carefully selected by her personally to become Liu Jiayi’s “gege.”

They were grateful to Liu Jiayi.

Loyal to her.

Talented.

Reliable.

Kind.

And experienced in cooperating with her.

Despite how stubborn and guarded Liu Jiayi remained, she was soft-hearted in the end. Even while rejecting their affection outwardly, she had gradually begun accepting them.

If one day someone among them could replace Liu Huai’s position in her heart—

then the King’s Guild would truly become home for this Little Witch with limitless potential.

No one understood Liu Jiayi better than the Queen.

She knew that Liu Jiayi might betray anyone in the world—

except her family.

Even if betrayed by them a thousand times over, Liu Jiayi would still willingly die for them.

And when that day finally came—

Liu Jiayi would naturally become the next Queen of the King’s Guild.

Its symbol.

Its irreplaceable tactician.

Unfortunately, Bai Liu had interrupted that perfect plan.

But interruption did not mean failure.

The reason the Queen deliberately sent these three reserve members into the game was twofold.

One purpose was naturally to stop the Rose Hunter from harming Liu Jiayi.

Still, after observing him twice since entering the game, the Queen had already sensed that despite everything, Tang Erda possessed clear moral boundaries.

Whatever had happened before to make him shoot Liu Jiayi, he held no true killing intent toward her.

The second purpose—

was to force Liu Jiayi into making a psychological choice.

The Queen slowly lifted her eyes.

Through the lingering mist on the screen, she looked toward Qi Yifang, who was resolutely chasing after the “Flower Picker Liu Jiayi.”

Little Witch—

This is the reserve member you trust most.

The closest thing to the ideal gege you always wanted.

If you choose Bai Liu—

then in order to leave this game, you may have to sacrifice Qi Yifang and the other two people who sincerely care about you.

...Can you really bring yourself to do it?