What?! The Gamemaster And The Top Player Are Dating?!

Zhihao turned his head around to look at the girl who was calling him by his name and due to the darkness, her face was hardly visible. 

Just like Hephorus, the only thing visible about her was her dark silhouette that was sitting on a chair that Zhihao had never realized was there. 

Actually, he was sure that it wasn't there before this. 

"How..." Zhihao couldn't even form a complete sentence as he looked at the girl. 

The girl laughed as she saw his reaction, "You're wondering who I am?" 

Zhihao nodded his head as he clutched tighter to Li Ling's hand and pulled the man behind him to keep him safe from any potential danger. This girl just gave out a really creepy vibe so he wanted to make sure that Li Ling wouldn't be targeted again. 

Li Ling seemed to be a bit too docile as he clutched onto Zhihao's sleeve and whispered in his ears, "A-Zhi... Be careful." 

Zhihao gave a slight nod as he squeezed the man's hand as if trying to reassure him that he was going to protect him at all costs and when Zhihao thought about what he was doing, he couldn't help but cringe a little. 

He was really trying to act like a knight in shining armor to a damsel in distress, however, there was no damsel here, the person he was trying to protect was also a man, and that too, a capable man that perhaps played better than Zhihao. 

It was a bit funny to see Li Ling actually play along with this setup and let Zhihao protect him, all the while, looking out for any dangers that might affect Mastermo. 

They were protecting each other and while Zhihao was showing it more openly, Li Ling was doing the same thing silently, in order to avoid looking suspicious or becoming the center of attention. 

The girl had a staff in her hand that she used to tap on the ground twice and just as she did, the ground beneath them started shaking. 

"This level would now be going into a self-destruct mode."

Zhihao bent his legs slightly and tried his best to keep himself stable as he asked, "What do you mean? Who are you?" 

The girl chuckled once again as she stood up and stepped into the light. 

When Li Ling saw the girl's face, he recognized her immediately, but Zhihao was still not sure about the identity of this girl. 

"Elsie..." Li Ling mumbled and the girl smiled as she looked at him. 

"So you remembered me? I'm flattered. " She giggled, "That's my name. Elsie." 

Zhihao, "Who are you?"

Elsie tilted her head as she questioned, "Is that important? 'Who I am' does not matter. What matters is what my purpose is." 

"Then what is your purpose?" 

Elsie chuckled as she walked over to them, "My purpose is simple." 

Zhihao prepared for a fight. If the situation asked for it, it was best if he was prepared. 

"I'm here to eliminate the rats that don't belong to this world." 

It took a few minutes for Zhihao to realize that the 'rats' in question were referring to him and Li Ling. 

Zhihao unconsciously took a step back as he prepared for an attack, but before he could get the chance to attack the girl, the girl had already disappeared. 

"Huh?" Zhihao looked around, but there was no sign of her. 

He heard her giggling from behind him and it was so close to his ears that he almost felt a shiver run down his spine. 

He immediately let go of Li Ling's hand as he realized that it wasn't Li Ling anymore, it was Elsie. 

He aimed his gun at the girl, but before the bullet could leave the gun, the person changed back to Li Ling who looked innocently at Zhihao. 

"What the...?!" Zhihao was thoroughly shocked. 

He felt as if something had gone extremely wrong, but everything was happening so fast that his brain was unable to catch up to it all. 

"Mastermo" The voice came from the left side and this time Zhihao shot his gun before looking, however, it had still missed. 

"Why do you think that puny gun is gonna hit me?" The girl chuckled and it was coming from behind him. 

Zhihao turned his head, but he was met with an empty dark room. 

At this moment, he was panicking, but his outward appearance didn't look to be as affected as he was on the inside. 

This girl was certainly an in-game character and she wasn't even Alvi so how come she knew Zhihao's in-game player name? Wasn't she supposed to know him by the name of Carmen? 

If she knew him by the name 'Mastermo', there was no way she was a simple in-game NPC. 

At this moment, Li Ling tugged at his arm and spoke, "We need to run." 

"Run?" 

Li Ling pulled him along as he spoke, "Just trust me on this... Okay?" 

Zhihao took a minute to respond, but his response was as confident as it could get. 

"I trust you!" 

Li Ling didn't know why, but Zhihao's answer was like a stab to his heart. This man really meant what he said. He really trusted Li Ling with all his heart and yet, Li Ling had always lied to him and tricked him. This feeling in his heart that hurt so much was called guilt and it was enough to suffocate him to death. 

"Then... If I tell you who she is, would you ask me how I know?" 

"..." Zhihao looked at Li Ling as he questioned, "Do you want me to ask you?" 

Li Ling shook his head. 

"Then I won't ask." 

Li Ling looked at the man's honest expressions and couldn't help but feel as if Zhihao was sometimes a bit too kind to him. So nice like an angel, that it was plain torture for Li Ling. It would have been better if Zhihao wasn't this nice and innocent, at least, in that way Li Ling wouldn't be feeling so guilty. 

"She's an antivirus system." 

"Huh?" 

"I mean not really an antivirus system, but something like that." 

"What do you mean something like that?" 

"If you hit the OOC alert, she comes into the level and overtakes a character. She is not a she. She can be a he or a she. Gender doesn't matter. She can take the body of a normal NPC or our character body. She can take my place and switch out with me anytime she wants. She can change the appearance of a character to whatever she likes. Basically speaking, she can do anything she wants. She can control almost everything inside a level that had been hit with an OOC alert." 

At this moment, Zhihao really wanted to ask how Li Ling knew all of this, but he had already given his word to the man. If Li Ling didn't want to give him an answer to that question, he wouldn't want to force the answer out of him. 

"Why is she allowed to do all that?" 

"As I said, she's something that is like an antivirus. If a player alerts OOC, it disrupts the working of this world and the level would start to malfunction. In order to prevent it from-" 

CRASH! 

The ceiling started falling on them as they ran away and tried to avoid the girl whose giggles could still be clearly heard. 

Zhihao almost had a heart attack as he saw the rubble missing Li Ling by just a few meters. 

Li Ling was also shocked to have suddenly heard the sound and it took him a minute to calm down before he continued, "Um... In order to prevent it from affecting other levels, the level in which OOC had been alerted would go into the self-destruction mode. During this self-destruction time, she would come out and search for the players who had alerted OOC. Since they are the ones who don't belong in this world, she'll try to eliminate them." 

Zhihao gulped as he listened to Li Ling saying something that he couldn't completely comprehend, but he understood it enough to know that the girl was trouble and staying in this level was even more trouble. 

"Remember what our mission in this level was?" Li Ling asked. 

"Mission? Save the vampire?" 

Li Ling smiled as he commented, "Now it has really turned into a saving level. Try your best." 

"Eh?" It took Zhihao a whole minute to realize that Li Ling was trying to tell him something more by saying that last sentence. He was asking Zhihao to try his best. To try his best and save Li Ling. 

"Little rats~ Little rats~ Come out and play~" The girl chimed and it seemed that she was getting nearer and nearer to them. 

At this moment, Li Ling closed his eyes and his in-game character went into sleep mode. 

"Eh?" Zhihao caught the man's falling body and tried to calm himself down as he wondered what he was supposed to do now. 

Li Ling wanted Zhihao to protect him but... Why would he go into sleep mode at such a critical time?! 

It wasn't like Zhihao was complaining. He would be honored to get the chance to be so trusted, but he couldn't understand what Li Ling was thinking. 

The man really dumped himself onto Zhihao and fled the scene!