Shen Yi was far from being as calm as she looked.
Holding the doll, she had even forgotten how to load her save file, how to save people.
It wasn't until the system's cold voice rang out, attempting to remind her in a routine manner:
[Do you want to go back?]
Shen Yi gripped the doll in her hand tightly. Hearing the system's voice, her mind, which had been on the verge of collapse, was gradually pulled back.
—Go back.
She could start all over again.
Shen Yi swallowed the lump in her throat and collected herself. She frantically wiped away her tears, swiped the screen twice to enter her contacts, and dialed a number.
She contacted Li Jianwei.
"This person, White Sparrow... Li Jianwei, do you know him?" she asked the moment the call connected.
"He's a very well-known assassin. His current whereabouts are uncertain, and he is a core member of He Guang. To investigate him, even I would need some clues." Li Jianwei hesitated for a moment. Hearing the muffled tone of her voice, he asked in a low voice:
"Little assassin, are you alright?"
He was used to this girl being triumphant and charging forward recklessly; this was the first time he had heard her sound so devastated.
Shen Yi did not answer.
She opened her phone and sent a photo of White Sparrow over. "Do you have any information on this person?"
Having a photo made things much easier for Li Jianwei. In the past, the Que organization's intelligence network had penetrated every corner of this city. Even though the headquarters had been destroyed, he still had other channels for information.
A short while later, Li Jianwei sent over all the information on this man.
Name unknown. Works at a Taekwondo studio.
And the place where this man worked was the Taekwondo studio owned by Xu Meng's family.
Shen Yi stared at the screen, silently memorizing the man's contact information, address, schedule, and frequently visited locations.
On her phone, there were also many missed calls.
Concerned inquiries from her parents, her uncle, her brother, and even her close friends.
The messages almost drowned her.
Shen Yi turned off her phone.
She didn't reply to anyone.
The sky had completely darkened. The streetlights nearby flickered on, casting a warm orange halo over the road.
Shen Yi walked aimlessly through the vast night, feeling a profound loneliness of not knowing where she came from or where she was going.
She hugged the doll tightly, thinking about what to do.
White Sparrow...
Shen Yi murmured, "He's very strong, right?"
The system replied: [He is second only to your mother. Can you imagine him?]
Shen Yi could imagine it.
This White Sparrow was not like the snipers and gunmen she had encountered during her first file load.
Those people had been relatively easy to deal with.
But White Sparrow...
Was only slightly weaker than her mother.
Shen Yi's gaze landed on the streetlight not far away.
Several tiny bugs fluttered within the orange halo, circling endlessly, tirelessly.
She lowered her eyes.
If she compared the plot of this file load to an instance dungeon...
Considering the difficulty, Shen Yi had a premonition that she would be repeatedly grinding this place many times.
Many, many times.
"I want to load my save."
Shen Yi told the system.
After twelve o'clock.
Time completely reset, returning to that day.
Shen Yi looked at the time on her phone with mixed feelings. She lowered her eyes, suppressing all the emotions in her heart to the deepest depths.
During her first file load, she had gone to see Shen Ruxu, wanting to draw some sense of security from her brother.
But this time, she didn't plan to go see Shen Xun.
He was too smart.
If she sought him out in the middle of the night, unable to hide her emotions well, he would definitely see right through her.
In this file load, Shen Yi didn't go to see anyone.
She made a late-night phone call.
The person on the other end answered with a hoarse voice, having been woken up in the middle of the night. "What is it?"
Shen Yi replied, "Do you know Harbinger Bird?"
White Sparrow's drowsiness completely vanished. He became alert:
"Who are you?"
"I am her daughter. Do you want to seek revenge on her? Come to me." Shen Yi's voice was very calm. "I will come to see you."
She provided an address.
She was going to find him.
One-on-one.
She knew she couldn't beat him.
Against someone who defied common sense, guns and speed were simply too slow.
He was second only to her mother.
With Wen Ya's skills, ordinary firearms couldn't even touch the hem of her clothes.
But Shen Yi could treat all of this as a game.
White Sparrow was the boss. His health bar was ridiculously thick, his attack power terrifyingly high, and a casual strike from him could instantly kill her.
And she had an advantage that no one else had.
Loading a save file.
She could start over again and again, memorizing his attack habits, his movement trajectories, and every flaw.
If once wasn't enough, she would do it twice. If twice wasn't enough, ten times. If ten times wasn't enough, a hundred times.
She would eventually find a way to kill him.
It was just that the process would definitely not be smooth.
Shen Yi rolled out of bed, changed into a set of convenient clothes, and snuck into a small armory where the Shen family stored things.
The door had a fingerprint lock.
Her hand was still trembling slightly when she pressed it against the scanner. It took two tries before it successfully recognized her print.
The door opened, and the lights inside automatically turned on. Cold white light shone on rows of gun racks.
Shen Yi stuffed all the useful firearms into a huge suitcase.
Different models of handguns, as well as various knives.
She categorized and arranged them one by one.
The suitcase made a dull click when it was closed.
The system uncharacteristically spoke up, carrying a tone of warning:
[Shen Yi, I will warn you this once. You are too young right now. Even your mother, at your age, could not have single-handedly taken down that man named White Sparrow.]
Shen Yi crouched beside the suitcase, her voice very calm.
"I know."
Of course she knew.
Her brother had calculated so much, perfectly calculating the terrain, the time, and every step, but in the end, he only managed to achieve mutual destruction.
She wasn't as smart as him, and because of the restriction that she couldn't ask for help, she couldn't come up with a perfect plan.
Similarly, she knew that she would die if she went.
But Shen Yi was still going to go.
"I have no other choice."
She placed the suitcase in front of her and said lightly, "The one who died is my brother."
Shen Yi had always believed.
That she was a useless, cowardly, and incompetent person.
She wanted to escape whenever she encountered problems, possessing no agency of her own.
They say that people must save themselves from a million fiery trials.
But in the end, the one who saved Shen Yi wasn't herself.
It was her family.
Whether it was the so-called script, the system, or the family and friends she met, she considered them all gifts of fate.
She was grateful.
She cherished them.
So this time, Shen Yi did not lack the courage to start all over again.
As long as...
As long as the ending was what she wanted.
Then no matter what price she had to pay in the process, it would be worth it.
At midnight, only the lonely moonlight remained. The nights in early May were still chilly.
It was as if she had returned to the scene of her first file load.
As the night breeze blew, her clothes fluttered slightly against her waist, making her look as fragile as if she would snap in half.
The young girl lifted the heavy suitcase, dragging it with a swift and resolute arc. Her shadow stretched endlessly under the night sky.
Like a sword being sheathed.
Her back was slender and serene.
—And yet, putting everything on the line.
