[Hidden Mission: Fog City Survival—Completed]

"..."

The plane terminated.

Back in her private space, Nana Toki still felt adrift, like a skiff drifting through dawn mist.

Her head was leaden, a bell filled with sand, every thought dragging.

Did I really die once already... The idea hung like frost on glass.

She looked at her small hands, then lifted her gaze to the LCD screen beside her, a cold mirror in the dark.

A faint reflection looked back, her own face blurred like moonlight on ripples.

Nana Toki felt the years she’d lived in the last plane were smoke and shadow, a dream chased at sunrise.

In the screen, she saw herself, still herself—no missing limbs, no new lines, youth fixed like a pressed flower.

Her features were unchanged, as if time had passed her by like wind skimming reeds.

It was as if everything in that last plane had been a dream, a lantern flicker swallowed by night.

But...

"Host, the last plane has a hidden Easter egg. Want to see it?" The System’s voice fell like a pebble in a still pond.

"Like hell I do. No thanks. Just thinking of it makes my chest tight." Her mood soured first, and she pressed her aching temples without looking up.

Those two idiots—what’s worth watching there? The thought snapped like a twig in winter.

System: "..."

Fine. If Nana Toki didn’t want to watch, the System wouldn’t force a stale joke down her throat.

[Commencing plane settlement]

[Calculating...]

[Main Objective: Completed]

[Hidden Objective: Completed]

[Side Objectives: Completed]

[Current Karma Value: -100000015000]

[Current Item: The Queen of Time’s Sorrow]

[Current Points: 35]

"Wait! Wait!" The numbers hit like hail; Nana’s hackles rose.

"Why did I lose another ten thousand Karma? I didn’t do anything monstrous in there!"

"So if you kill people, I should reward you with Karma?" The System’s tone was a cold splash.

"That was self-defense! That’s different!" Her heart spiked first, then the words rushed out like steam.

"They attacked me. I can’t just stand there and take it like a sandbag."

"That still doesn’t justify giving them permanent trauma after you beat them." The System’s words were a blade without rust.

"If not for you shielding Luo Shanshan and Misty Tide, I’d have docked more."

Nana Toki: "..."

Fine. You win. Happy now?

This damned System only had leverage on her in this one corner.

"So what is this Queen of Time’s Sorrow? Why’ve I never heard of it?" She eyed the lone line in her inventory, the words gleaming like a seal on dark lacquer. "Sounds fancy."

"Ah... that’s your reward for the side quest," the System said, voice tight as a clenched fist.

"Is it strong?" Nana asked, interest flickering like a match.

"You can read the description."

A streak of gold flashed through the space with a whoosh, and before she caught her breath, something hourglass-shaped lay cool in her palm.

[The Queen of Time’s Sorrow]

[Item Description: The world brims with emotions; even the Queen of Time carries a past too thorny to revisit.]

[Item Effect: After use, it creates a beautiful ending for the most regretful, sorrowful, and remorseful event in your life.]

"What do you mean?" Nana stared at the hourglass, her expression twisting like smoke.

"It means if you’ve got a regret lodged in memory, this can recreate a version that leans toward a good ending."

"Will reality change too?" Nana’s curiosity rose like a spring bubbling up.

"No."

Nana Toki: "..."

Then what’s the point of this thing?

"Bold question: is it valuable?"

She tossed the hourglass lightly, the arc neat as a swallow’s flight, clearly not treating the queen’s sorrow with any reverence.

"In a way, very valuable. They say every grain inside is a tear of the Queen of Time." An emoticon scratching its head popped up on the LCD: "Why do you ask, Host?"

"No reason. Just wondering how many Karma points I can trade it for."

System: "..."

"One."

"Huh?"

"I said one!" (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻ A table-flip emoticon slammed onto the screen.

"Have you not realized how precious this is?" The System was near frantic, like a kite tugged by gale.

In its world, these were beyond rare, the kind nobles would burn fortunes for, like incense before an empty throne.

Why was this damned host so blasé?

"Nope." Nana sent the hourglass tracing another graceful curve in the air. "It just forges a pretty lie for people with regrets. Useless."

System: "..."

Calling it a lie is a bit much, don’t you think?

"Anyway, no returns after delivery. If you want something else, look elsewhere," the System said, washing its hands of it like a shopkeeper slamming shutters.

Nana Toki: "..."

So the brat shoved a useless trinket on me and wants thanks?

"Your break’s been long enough. Next plane—please keep up the good work."

"Eh?" Nana blinked, emotions snagging like silk on a thorn. "Wait, hold—"

[Plane transfer initiated...]

Her words hadn’t finished. A hard light cracked through the private space, and Nana Toki vanished like a spark in wind.

"..."

Meanwhile—

"Master, I’ve put the Host into the test subject’s core mindscape. But is this really fine? Didn’t you say the subject’s mindscape is unstable lately?"

"It’s fine."

A section of the wall slid open like a lid, and a figure stepped out, shadow long as twilight. "I have my plans."

"But if this continues, the subject may rampage!" The System’s tone trembled, a wire about to snap. "That’s nearly ten years of your work gone!"

"Ah... there’s no help for it. Pressure from above keeps mounting. We can’t dawdle, not anymore." The master’s voice was weary, like a candle guttering in draft. "I’d prefer slow and steady, but... forget it. The item I had you hand her—did she use it?"

Just thinking of the other side made the master’s temples throb.

"No. The Host doesn’t care." On the LCD, Little One’s emoticons jittered, puzzled. "Why give her something unrelated? Our data shows she’s got no real regrets."

If someone like Nana Toki had deep regrets, that would be the real absurdity!

"..."

"It’s not unrelated." After a quiet beat, the master spoke, each word placed like stones across water. "That item can change the entire board. By the way, you know she’s hiding a private space, right?"

"Eh? Master already knows?" The System inside the LCD froze, icons flickering. "Should I retrieve it?"

"No." The master answered in a breath. "Someone like her would hide things from you. Turn a blind eye. What matters now is getting her safely through the test subject’s core mindscape."

"Little One understands!"

"..."

Everything next rests on her...

Before leaving, the master glanced back at the empty room, like a pilgrim turning at the last step.

Success or failure—it’s all on her performance now.

...

The first thing Nana Toki saw when she opened her eyes was red, a sea of it like sunset poured molten.

Around her, pillars of flame surged one after another, spearing upward as if to burn the sky to ash.

She stood in an endless fire ocean; from the heart of it, she couldn’t see a shore, only a horizon wavering like heat mirage.

There was nothing else—no rock, no shadow—only fire upon fire, a forest of tongues licking the void.

"What the hell is this place?" She clenched her teeth; the heat gnawed like wolves.

Her skin sizzled under the flames, cloth and hair long since charred to dust, drifting like black snow.

Wave after wave of heat rolled over; she could almost hear her flesh crackle, like meat on iron.

Any second it felt like she’d split, like baked clay in drought.

Why is every plane drop either dying or dying soon? This damned System is cursed.

Cursing it in her head, Nana scanned the scarlet around her, hunting for a path like a moth seeking moonlight.

But there was only fire without end, no exit, not even a ledge to hide behind, just a world breathing ember.

"So you want to burn me to death." She was stunned, a bitter laugh like a dry reed. So the System’s taking revenge now?

"Senior Sister, Senior Sister, wake up!"

A voice broke through the blaze, abrupt as a bell in mist.

Nana snapped her gaze around. Someone?

"Senior Sister! Senior Sister! Wake up!"

The voice was thin as thread, near and far, drifting like a will-o’-the-wisp. Nana searched until time felt molten and found no source.

A dream?

She frowned first, then reached out her right hand and pressed into the flames, steady as a diver testing water.

Sure enough, there was only a prickling burn, no deeper pain, like nettles brushed across skin.

"Hu." She drew her hand back, evened her breath like smoothing wrinkled silk, then sat cross-legged amid the fire, forcing her mind to still.

After a short while, a white light blossomed from her chest, sharp as snow glare, and her eyes narrowed against it.

So it is an illusion.

She felt the heat drop like evening wind, coolness seeping over her skin like spring rain; certainty took root.

"Hoo..."

When the white light faded, Nana snapped her eyes open; the world resolved like ink settling on paper.

At the bedside, a girl in a cyan robe with a pretty, earnest face watched her, worry pooling like dark tea.

Seeing Nana stir, the girl’s features lit up like lanterns at dusk. "Senior Sister, you’re awake! Are you alright? I’ll go to the Inner Sect and fetch Master right now."