After a long pause, Ningbeibei finally let out a deep sigh. "As a well-mannered girl, showing off is still wrong."

*Not even allowed to show off? This woman’s values are as twisted as Yingning’s! Besides… I never claimed to be some well-mannered girl!*

Thankfully, she didn’t zap me this time.

My fondness for her rose significantly… and she clearly knew it. A childlike joy lit up her face—not because of my relieved expression, but because it was all spelled out right before us.

**[System Alert: Affection +3 • Loyalty +1]**

*I must’ve been turned into some masochistic raising-sim heroine—ultra-sensitive, crumbling at the slightest kindness from her owner, tail wagging with pathetic happiness.*

"*Beibei*," the girl cooed, ruffling my hair. I felt my traitorous face melt into pure bliss.

"*Beibei*, are you rested? Time to go!"

I pretended to be exhausted, stubbornly glued to the stone bench.

*I’m sick of this under someone’s thumb—no, under someone’s roof! Is this what online games are like? Exactly as unfriendly as I expected!*

**[System Alert: Your owner activated FOLLOW command]**

*…What could I even say to that?*

Dragging my limp body, I trailed after her like a shadow. Her destination: a monster spawn point.

She still treated me like a dumb pet—never asking my opinion, never seeing the human soul inside this data-shell. *Of course. To her, I’m just code.* Her earlier control made sense now: she’d been "training" me like any NPC pet, mechanically shaping behavior.

My ears drooped. My tail—like an overzealous peacock’s fan—coiled around me until I became a snow-white fluffball. Any onlooker would’ve seen nothing but a walking puff of fur.

We were deep in a grove at the spawn zone’s edge, rarely visited by players. For now, we avoided drawing crowds. But once we hit the main grinding spot? *We’d be a spectacle.*

*Turns out I was naive.*

We’d already drawn stares. Most players were too busy farming mobs to care—but the idle ones? They’d been watching.

By the grove’s exit, we were blocked.

I hadn’t seen my own face yet, but I knew a Nine-Tailed Fox would be devastatingly beautiful. With this alluring outfit, nine flowing white tails, and those oversized fox ears? *Invisibility was impossible.*

I watched smugly as a mob surrounded us.

*No crime but possessing jade—every kid knows that. How dare she parade me around like this?* Jealousy, suspicion, sheer imbalance—they all had reason to attack. I fully expected "Ningbeibei" to be shredded into pixels any second.

The blockers were guildmates—coordinated, forming a tight circle that cut off all escape.

"Miss, please wait," their leader said smoothly. The others didn’t flinch; he was clearly Guild Leader.

I buried myself deeper in my tail-fluff, shrinking into invisibility.

"What do you want?"

Her voice was sharp. No fear. No hesitation.

I stared. When provoked, she’d flickered with panic—but now? Ice-cold composure. Like a moon blazing in a starless sky, she stood out fiercely among the ragged newbies. *A golden phoenix in a chicken coop.*

I remembered her private self: sweet, slightly airheaded, utterly unlike this warrior before me.

*From gentle neighbor to battle-hardened Female Warrior—in a heartbeat.*

The whiplash was staggering.

Since she wouldn’t fake this around her pet… this armor was deliberate. *Self-preservation.* Beautiful women learn to shield themselves from swarming flies.

*As her pet, I’d just witnessed a woman’s two faces.*

"Nothing serious," the man grinned warmly—then his smile curdled into something vicious. "Just inviting you to join our Guild… and asking about your fluffy friend here—uh…"

*Fluffy friend?! Where’s the majestic Nine-Tailed Fox? I’m just a furball now?!*

He squinted at me. I tucked my face deeper into the fluff, peering out through fur-slits with wide, curious eyes.

*You can’t see me… you definitely can’t see me… I’m too embarrassed as a girl! What if you fall for me and confess?!*

Sadly, he wasn’t dumb. He spotted the pair of twitching white ears atop the fluffball.

His lip curled—briefly doubting his plan to kill-steal this idiot pet. But only briefly.

"Game mechanics don’t lie," he sneered. "That’s no player. It’s a rare high-tier humanoid summon."

Ningbeibei’s delicate brows furrowed. "You’re mistaken. She’s my friend."

"Then allow me to formally invite *both* of you to join **Aotian Divine Domain**. We’re an affiliate of **Jian Hui Tianxia**—top ten globally. Yes, *that* **Jian Hui Tianxia**. They’ve fully migrated here. Surely such a Guild warrants your consideration? We’d offer elite benefits."

*Clever bastard.* Summons can’t accept Guild invites. One click, and my true nature would be exposed.

*I almost applauded him. Almost. (Mainly because I feared the 100,000 Volts special.)*

"Sorry. We have our own Guild. I’m the Guild Leader."

For a split second, I thought I saw hatred flash in her eyes—quickly buried under necessity.

The man hesitated, weighing a Guild war. Then his gaze snapped to me. He swallowed hard, resolve hardening. "Distant water won’t quench this fire. Today, you won’t leave this grove. I know high-tier pets are precious—death costs rare revival materials." He paused, letting dread sink in. "Trade her to me. My Guild will protect her. Only *I* can maximize her value. Refuse? Countless players will hunt her down to fix this broken early-game balance. She’s… level 1, right? No combat skills. No survival chance."

He didn’t even ask our Guild’s name. *He was past reason. If he couldn’t have me, no one would.*

Ningbeibei glanced at me. Beneath her icy mask, I glimpsed raw helplessness.

*He’s right. If I die now? I won’t revive for two years. The materials only drop at level 120.*

*His logic was brutal: What I can’t own, I’ll destroy.*

*And a level 1 pet? Defenseless. Probably.*

*So I stayed a fluffball.*

"Of course," he added, grin turning feral, "you could dismiss her. But then…" His eyes glinted. "*You* won’t make it out of Newbie Village alive."

A soft, bitter laugh escaped Ningbeibei’s lips.

"I’m sorry…" Her voice cracked, just once. "*Gege*… I can’t protect her…"

I didn’t grasp her turmoil. But I heard the four words I dreaded most:

"**Dismiss!**"