How did this thing step out of that sea of fog like a ghost?!

Nana Toki froze, her heart beating like a caged bird.

This boss was shameless, slipping past rules like oil on water.

It blindsided her; at the bathroom door, hair like seaweed, she forgot to wipe the rain off her bangs.

“Eat... eat...” The sound came rough as a hungry cub’s cry.

Nana Toki stared, silence heavy as fog.

“Eat your grandpa—beat it!” Her voice snapped like a whip in winter air.

“Xixi, this person is...” Luo Shanshan peeked out, her voice trailing like thin smoke.

Luo Shanshan stepped out with her, eyes like drifting leaves as she saw Misty Tide by the bed.

“Xixi, a friend?” Her words were soft as cotton floating.

Silence spread like ink in water.

“Are you dumb? No normal person could befriend that!” Her warning flapped like a torn banner.

She’s the villain boss, the storm’s eye in human shape.

Nana grabbed her scarf’s corner like an anchor, then pointed like a spear at Misty Tide. “If you’re not afraid of dying, go befriend her.”

“Eat... eat...” The syllables fell like pebbles into a well.

Under Nana’s finger, Misty Tide stood still, golden eyes like twin coins locked on Nana’s hand.

She looked like a pup waiting for a treat, tail invisible yet swaying like grass.

Nana sighed, her patience thinning like frost on glass.

Honestly, she wanted to refuse, stomach knotted like wet rope.

That hollowed-out feeling? She never wanted it again, like wind scooping a gourd clean.

“What not afraid? This kid’s adorable~ Maybe she got separated during the fog,” Luo said, the mist like a torn curtain behind her words.

Behind Nana, seeing Misty Tide’s ragged brown dress like molted bark, Luo assumed she was a lost child from the whirlpool of chaos.

Nana kept quiet, thoughts bristling like thorns under skin.

Wait till you learn she can twist your head off like a hawk snapping a rabbit; see if you still smile.

“Eat... eat...” Her need tapped like a woodpecker on a tree.

Nana rubbed her temples, annoyance pooling like rainwater in a gutter.

Does this thing only know that one word? A parrot in a cage, stuck on one call.

Nana smoothed her stubborn curls, hair springing like fern coils, her face flat as slate.

Looks like if she didn’t feed her, the girl would cling like burrs on wool.

The System murmured like cold rain: You can control your power output.

Makes sense, lantern-light flicking on in her mind.

Nana thought it workable, the plan settling like silt in a riverbed.

She stirred the power in her body, gray-white light rising like dawn mist through bone.

Wait—her thought skidded like a pebble on tile.

Did you, trash System, just say “power”? Her words snapped like sparks from flint.

Nana caught the key point, a fish flashing in clear water.

Right, power! The truth rang like a bell over town roofs.

Nana swallowed her grumble, the silence hanging like a curtain.

My power is... feeding the villain boss? Destiny threw pies like a cruel clown.

Once again, she felt this damn world’s damn rules, thorns in a boot.

This world is a cesspit plotting my downfall, swamp gas choking a torch.

The System fell silent, a shutter in the storm.

Host, calm your anger, its voice a palm smoothing ripples on a pond.

Screw off—this is my “power”? It felt like being handed a rusty spoon.

If my own skills weren’t steel, ten lives wouldn’t save me, waves smashing driftwood to foam.

“Eat... eat...” The plea trembled like a moth by a lamp.

Seeing gray-white light flare in Nana’s hand like winter dawn, Misty Tide cried out, anxious as a hungry cub.

Her dullness vanished, eyes sharpening like blades pulled from their sheaths.

“Xixi?” Luo’s voice hung like a bell string in a quiet hall.

Luo Shanshan watched the soft glow in Nana’s hand, then Misty Tide by the bed; strangeness curled like smoke on her face.

“Come on. Eat, then stop clinging to me...” Her words tossed like bones to a stray.

“Awooo,” the cry rose like a wolf pup’s call.

Nana reached out her hand, and before she finished, Misty Tide seized it and started gnawing like a fox grabbing a hen, teeth like little crescents.

“Fuck! You bastard, let go! Don’t chew my hand!” Her shout cracked like thunder rolling.

Misty Tide sucked most of the power in one bite and still wouldn’t let go; Nana felt drained, like blood soaking into sand.

“What the hell are you doing? Stop licking—licking won’t get you more!” Heat crawled like a river stone warming in a stream.

Her hand wet under a soft tongue, Nana’s skin crawled, goosebumps bristling like pine needles.

“Are you a damn dog? Holding my hand, gnawing and biting like it’s a bone.”

She yanked her arm free; teeth marks like tiny moons and spit gleaming like slime darkened her face.

“Eat... eat...” The sound trudged on like a beggar’s footstep.

Misty Tide watched the arm retreat, eyes dimming like embers under ash.

She gazed up, smacked her lips like a little fish, still wanting.

“Eat shit. Get lost.” Her words flew like stones at a stray cat.

Nana didn’t buy the loli act, her heart hard as ironwood.

“There’s no more. You think I’m your free meal ticket?” Her wallet shut like a clam in cold tide.

Taking tissues from Luo Shanshan, Nana wiped while lecturing, words cold as rain: “Want more power? Show some sincerity. Like the protagonists’ heads, or something.”

“Xixi, what do you mean by protagonists’ heads?” Luo’s curiosity shone like stars.

“Don’t worry about it.” Her hand flicked the air like a slice of wind.

The System sighed like air leaking from a punctured tire.

Host, are you even human? You want to trick the villain boss into working for you?! The rebuke pricked like cactus spines.

What else? Her shrug drifted like a leaf on a stream.

You expect me to be her free meal ticket? Her neck stiff as bamboo in the wind.

No way. She wants to freeload, like a leech clinging to warm skin.

Not! A! Chance! Each word slammed like a drum in a temple.

Even if the Emperor himself shows, there’s no negotiating, her stance firm as a stone gate.

Unless she’s dead, don’t expect a crumb from me, dry bark for the greedy hands.

The System held its tongue, quiet as snow.

“Awo... awo... awo...” Misty Tide bit her finger, growls threading like wind through reeds.

This loli from the great fog didn’t understand Nana, confusion thick as mist rolling in.

But—her thought sparked like flint.

That’s right, the gist landed like a pebble in a bowl.

The power-hungry Misty Tide still grasped the gist, idea sinking like ink into water.

“Grr... grr...” The low sound rippled like a cat’s warning.

After a few more growls at Nana, the ragged-dress loli lunged for the window like a swallow bolting from eaves.

Crash! Glass rained like icy petals.

Misty Tide vanished from their sight, a shadow swallowed by night.

Nana blinked, thoughts scattered like fallen leaves.

“This...” The word trembled like a thread in wind.

Beside her, Luo Shanshan was startled by that hardcore exit, mind stalling like a sputtering engine, heart fluttering like a trapped moth.

This is the sixth floor, height hanging like a cliff edge.

She just shattered the window and left, shards like frozen rain.

“Alright, stop staring.” Nana’s voice pushed like a small breeze on a hot day.

She didn’t care whether Misty Tide lived or died; she patted Luo’s cheek like a drum tap, grabbed the hairdryer, cicadas humming from its mouth. “We’ll head down later and find food. I’m hungry,” her hunger growling like a wolf in a hollow belly.

Maybe it’s coincidence, but every time Nana used her power, her stomach turned into a hollow drum.

It felt like the energy from her food was siphoned away, lantern-light drained to a ghostly glow.

“Ah... this little curl sticks up...” The strand sprouted like a stubborn shoot.

Seeing Nana blow-drying, Luo came forward to help, her hands gentle as warm rain on tiles.

But... the pause hung like a cloud snagging a hill.

“biu~” The sound popped like a spring under a finger.

The result was still disappointing, hair springing back like willow twigs.

No matter how they blew, Nana’s hair biu-ed into silly antenna-like curls, little grasses defying gravity.

Nana eyed the mirror, mood flat as a lake under fog.

She didn’t care much about her image, indifference thick as dust on old frames.

Still—her thought clicked like a bead sliding on a string.

Looking at herself, she felt a few degrees of silliness, like a dandelion puff above a pond.

After the nth attempt to force it straight and watch it spring back, the coil leapt like a watch spring.

Yep, acceptance settled like dust in late afternoon sun.

Nana gave up, hands falling like leaves losing fight with autumn.

Fine. Later at home I’ll hunt for tools to straighten this cursed curl—resolve hard as iron, curl like a rebellious vine.

...

Hair done, Nana took Luo downstairs to find a random restaurant, stairs creaking like old trees, hunger rising like smoke in a chimney.

Emmm, because the fog just passed, the city was nearly empty, streets hollow as sun-bleached shells.

Restaurants were even messier than outside, chairs toppled like driftwood after a storm.

No choice. Nana changed plans and headed to the supermarket for instant noodles, fluorescent lights buzzing like trapped moths.

“Hm? You don’t want to go home tonight?” Her question floated like a kite against a gray sky.

In the supermarket, the air was cold as a fridge at dawn.

Pushing a cart of noodles, wheels rattling like pebbles, Nana looked back at Luo, puzzled.

“Mm... I’m a little scared,” Luo said, voice small as a mouse in winter.

She scratched her nape, blush blooming like peach petals after rain.

“Xixi, look, the city’s a mess; my parents work in another city, and nights are empty... so I want to stay with you.” Her loneliness lay like a cold bay.

She lifted her head to look at Nana, eyes hopeful as the line of dawn.

“Eh... sounds like a hassle.” Her words dropped like stones into shallow water.

Pushing the cart, Nana wore a full-on “ugh, spare me” face, expression stiff as granite.

The System tutted like dry wind across a field.

Host, your personality is vicious, the comment sharp as a thorn.

None of your business, her retort snapped like a twig underfoot.

“I won’t be trouble for you, Xixi,” Luo promised, voice soft as velvet in a quiet room.

Afraid of rejection, Luo hurried to volunteer, eagerness fluttering like sparrows: “I can do your housework.”

Nana exhaled, breath misting like winter on glass.

“Forget it. Think of it as extra bowls and chopsticks,” her concession slid in like a tide over sand.

Watching Luo’s nervous look, Nana sighed, a rule laid down like a stone: “But hear me—my home doesn’t keep idlers.”

“No problem, Xixi!” Her answer was bright as a spark in kindling.

...

“I haven’t been to Xixi’s place yet,” curiosity peeking like sunlight through shutters.

Following Nana home, Luo pushed the cart and babbled, words skipping like pebbles on a pond: “Pajama party? Shower together? Whisper under blankets?”

A whole flock of ideas wheeled like birds across the sky.

Nana, walking ahead, heard it all, face blank like a stone mask, machine-calm.

Even so, her thoughts drifted like smoke from a kettle.

She was deciding whether to boil water for braised flavor or spicy flavor noodles first, steam rising like pale ghosts.

“Xixi, what’s the plan tonight?” The question bobbed like a buoy on a dark lake.

Luo ran up, smiling crescent-bright: “Will there be a girls’ event tonight?”

Nana stared, patience thinning like thread pulled too taut.

We just survived the fog; can you at least act uneasy, fear like a shadow under a lantern?

Otherwise I’ll think I crossed into a campus slice-of-life, watercolor edges blurring, not a magic world.

“We’re here.” The word dropped like a pebble into still water.

After a short walk, behind an abandoned factory hulking like a dead whale, Nana pointed: “That block, second floor, first left. Walls are paper-thin—stay quiet. The floor’s wood—step light or you’ll stomp through,” boards creaking like old bark.

She waved the stunned Luo upstairs and handed her slippers, holes gaping like little mouths.

“I’ll prep dinner. Hang out a bit. If you’re bored, turn on the radio,” a relic crackling like campfire sparks.

Yeah, truth plain as dry bread.

The original owner’s home didn’t even have a TV; the only entertainment was a radio salvaged from a dump, the place reeking like a hot marsh, the radio a rusted shell.

Luo stared, silence heavy as stone stacked in a wall.

Watching Nana push the cart toward a room that felt like a kitchen, Luo’s mind stayed fogged like morning fields.

Xixi’s home... The words trailed like faint smoke.

So shabby! Walls peeling like old bark, air dry as dust in a long drought.