Chapter

However, things weren't as smooth as expected. In the floating window's control panel, there was no exit button.

Aya clicked her tongue in realization—it wasn't going to be that simple. She could smell flowers, but the game didn't have a smell feature.

How to judge this? After a brief moment of thought, Aya instinctively looked down at her chest.

In the game, there were things she couldn't touch due to certain harmonizing plugins.

Her hand touched the beast-skin ceremonial attire on her chest.

She succeeded! Was this how it felt? So soft... so this was what it was like!

It was quite sad. Although she had been a girl in her past life, she had never experienced such a feeling. Aelna, her past self, had been a short and flat woman, with a figure that was as flat as the Great Plains, a steel-plate body that was as flat as could be. Though she never showed any concern for this outwardly.

It was impossible not to care. If she truly didn't, she wouldn't have made every game character into an elegant, mature lady type.

"Why am I doing this?" Aya realized, three minutes later, that she had been excitedly groping herself in this strange, perverted manner. She sighed.

This wasn't in the game. Had she crossed over into the game world?

Impossible. Could something so nonsensical really happen?

No, the more pressing question was, hadn't she died back then?

Aya vividly remembered the feeling.

At that moment, when the life-support device malfunctioned, the sharp pain instantly pulled her out of deep sleep. Her body, numb from the cold, emitted a faint cry of agony. Her brain, disoriented and unable to understand the situation, could only feel that she couldn't breathe, yet without the pain of suffocation.

"I'm going to die." Her brain instinctively processed the situation, and she felt her world dimming slowly.

So this was it. She was going to die.

Great. Finally, it was time for complete liberation, unlike the sorrowful sleep she had been in.

In the end, only a sense of desolation remained. Her consciousness drifted away as her life, prolonged by technology and wealth, was ultimately defeated by illness and time.

She didn't believe this pain and memory was fake, but the world she saw before her now was just as real—and terrifying.

Aya fell into a brief period of confusion.

"Hey, who's there? Gurgle." A hoarse voice interrupted Aya's thoughts, followed by the sound of someone swallowing saliva.

Startled, Aya looked toward the source of the sound and saw a large silver wolf-man emerge from the forest.

"Oh no." Just as she thought that, she heard rustling sounds, and one after another, thirty wolf-men emerged from the bushes.

They all wore brown leather vests and carried machetes. The two leading wolves had silver fur, while the others were gray wolves.

Grinding her teeth, Aya cursed her carelessness. Though not a professional PvP player, she had been good at it in the past. She'd participated in countless outdoor PKs, team battles, ambushes, and counter-ambushes. She understood the importance of information in combat—no matter what the competition was.

Back in her time, any high-end player would have several reconnaissance buffs and tools activated when traveling through wild areas. But now, due to the shock of her reincarnation, she had forgotten everything.

Without activating any buffs or racial abilities, she was so lost in thought that she didn't notice how close they had gotten until it was too late.

If Furry-san knew about this, she'd be scolding me right now. Aya smiled bitterly.

Meanwhile, the wolf-men were staring at Aya. They belonged to the same tribe and had been scouting a human outpost near the border when they encountered the unexpected scene.

They had never seen such a beautiful being before—her amethyst-colored eyes gleamed like jewels, her skin was as smooth and white as jade, her long hair cascaded like a waterfall, and her spiral horns were intoxicating.

Subconsciously, they took her for a goddess. Her beauty was at a level that made them want to worship her.

"Are those sheep horns? A member of the sheep tribe? No fur? Is she a mutated sheep-human?"

Their awe quickly turned to disdain. They associated her with the weak sheep-people who had been prey to the wolf-men during hard times.

Along with this contempt came ugly desires.

They couldn't take their eyes off her, swallowing saliva as they unconsciously bent their bodies to prevent friction from their leather outfits.

"Which subhuman tribe are you from?" The silver wolf, who seemed to be the leader, was the first to regain composure. He wiped the saliva from his mouth and walked toward Aya, casually planting his machete in the ground.

He had seen elves and revered the forest guardians, but none of them were as breathtaking as the being before him.

"Little girl, what are you doing in such a dangerous place? How about coming back to the tribe with me and having some fun?" The silver wolf said, and the others behind him began to whistle and cheer.

"Ten..."

"Huh?" The silver wolf didn't hear clearly and didn't stop his leisurely pace. He liked to pressure his prey with slow, deliberate steps, enjoying their fearful reactions.

It would be even better if she turned and ran. Chasing was one of the wolf's favorite pastimes.

From the way she sounded, the silver wolf was certain that this horned, beautiful being—this subhuman—was his prey.

The more he looked, the stronger his desire became, and he couldn't contain his excitement. He marveled at his good fortune—until he finally heard what she said.

"Ten Tier Magic—Special: Reverse Summon—Life Sanctuary!"

But nothing happened.

"What's this? Ten Tier Magic? Hahaha, how could there be magic higher than Tier Six in this world?" The wolf-men burst into laughter.

"Little girl, if you're going to lie, at least write a script."

"Hahaha, Ten Tier Magic, you're killing me."

The failure to cast magic made Aya's heart sink. She had felt, just moments ago, the familiarity of the magic deep within her, and was confident she could cast it.

Reverse Summon—Life Sanctuary OR Temple of Life wasn't her most powerful spell, but it was her best survival skill. If cast on herself, it would instantly transport her to a sanctuary where she'd be safe.

After all, these wolf-men weren't the same as the ones in the game—not even the same species she knew. She couldn't predict their strength. If every wolf was level 90, even at max level, Aya wouldn't have had time to summon and would have been defeated.

So, she'd cast her strongest defensive spell first—but it failed. This was bad.

Why didn't the magic activate? She should have been able to use it. Was it that she couldn't use any magic or abilities now, or was it...?

Aya instinctively looked at her left hand and froze.

There wasn't a ring on it—this was an illusion. She had removed her rings because she thought they looked bad. In truth, she wore ten rings, but the one she relied on most was missing from her left ring finger.

Who swapped out my ring?!

Without the 'coordinate guidance' ring, Reverse Summon wouldn't work. That was probably why she couldn't cast it.