A thousand years ago, Cloudstone Market.
A little girl with grey hair, wearing a black hood, murmured:
"The Seamstress, I've come as promised! Look at this chest full of gold and silver treasures. I bet there are rare things you've never seen before!"
"Come on, as we agreed, I want to buy the most valuable clothes you have!"
From behind the counter opposite her, a familiar voice spoke:
"You little thief, you have little manners but plenty of courage, daring to barge into my Weaving Workshop wearing such tattered clothes?"
It was Aglaea.
Despite her words, she still took a look at what the other had brought.
It was a blue gemstone.
The grey-haired girl was very proud.
Because the magnificent gemstone she claimed to have won in a bet truly startled Aglaea.
Before her family fortune was consumed by fire and before she started this Weaving Workshop from scratch, Aglaea had only been lucky enough to see such a gemstone once, with her mother.
But.
She saw through it at a glance—Cipher's item was not obtained through honest means, and certainly not won in a bet.
The only strange thing was that even though Cipher was clearly lying, Aglaea's golden thread didn't vibrate in the slightest.
"Tell me, Sefaria, the scars and mud on your face are telling me a different story."
"By what means did you obtain them?"
Having reached this point.
Cipher seemed to get anxious and pulled up her hood, revealing a youthful and cute, yet slightly dusty face.
"You... ugh, why so much nonsense for a business deal? If you won't take it, there are plenty of other people..."
Cipher wanted to leave with the gemstone, but at the critical moment, Aglaea changed her mind.
"Wait."
She ultimately decided to accept Cipher's treasure.
Unfortunately, wanting to buy the most expensive clothes from the Golden Weaver was clearly not going to happen.
So.
Aglaea brought out another piece of attire!
A pair of golden short boots.
"Legend has it that Zagreus once blessed these boots, allowing the owner to move with divine speed without making a sound..." Aglaea introduced them.
"Whoa!"
Seeing this, Cipher's youthful face showed an irrepressible look of delight and surprise:
"They're glittering gold, so beautiful!"
"Then, then I'm taking them! It'll be too late if you want to regret it!"
Aglaea teased with a smile: "Put them on, Sefaria. Don't get caught next time; your lovely face deserves better protection."
...
"Gray Treasure, Gray Treasure, I caught you! Guess who I am?"
"Hmm? Gray Treasure, what are you looking at?"
Amphoreus, Xu Qiong Bath Palace.
Hyacine attacked from behind, trying to cover Xu Qiong's eyes, but Xu Qiong remained indifferent, scrolling through his mobile phone as if browsing something.
"It's Hyacine... no, Dear Jin is here?"
Coming back to his senses, Xu Qiong realized that Hyacine had probably been standing there for nearly two minutes.
He immediately turned around and said, "How is it? I've already sent you the preview version of your PV. Is there anything you're dissatisfied with?"
Hyacine put her hands on her hips and pouted, feeling very indignant about being ignored just now!
The kind that couldn't be easily coaxed!
But as soon as the PV was mentioned, the uncoaxable Hyacine seemed to recover instantly and talked animatedly: "The PV? I've finished watching it. Little Ika said they're very satisfied!"
"Gray Treasure, this PV you made is so interesting, all pink and bubbly, and with Little Ika..."
Xu Qiong nodded with satisfaction, and then...
"But I have a question, Gray Treasure!" Hyacine looked expectant. "How do you plan to have me die?"
Xu Qiong: "?"
Xu Qiong showed a horrified expression.
"Pfft~ Hyacine really is strange, isn't she?" Nearby, even Cyrene looked very curious. "Usually, shouldn't everyone want to see how glorious and magnificent they are?"
"Who would want to see how they go offline~?"
"There's nothing strange about that, is there, Dear Lian?" Hyacine held up a small index finger. "Looking at the situation, everyone will probably be gone in this version, right?"
"So why not take the chance to think about what kind of exit would be more creative!"
Xu Qiong fell silent.
Previously, when everyone asked him for spoilers, they would still look forward to their highlights, whether they would be very domineering and cool or something.
Now, they weren't even pretending anymore, directly asking how they died.
Did he look like such a cold-blooded person?
Well, he actually was...
Thinking about how Castorice would see the whole team wiped out and arriving in the Underworld just two days after starting work, he laughed at himself in frustration.
In the end, he had become the kind of person he hated most.
Xu Qiong patted Hyacine's shoulder: "Don't worry, Dear Jin. Once the EP called dawn is finished, I'll send it to you first!"
"Eh?"
"dawn EP? Gray Treasure, you've prepared so many good things?"
Xu Qiong nodded in a modest and low-key manner.
As for the Chrysos Heirs group chat, what Xu Qiong was browsing just now was exactly this stuff.
Not for anything else, but because the cat was spamming the group again—
[Cipher: Crying_Cat.jpg]
[Cipher: In the end, was I... still one step too late...]
[Cipher: The Seamstress~ The Seamstress~! How could you go offline first? And in that way.]
[Cipher: I can't stand this Caenis anymore! How can she be so wicked? She actually used a child as a threat!]
[Cipher: @Xu Qiong Hui Zi, I command you to make her go offline quickly. No, what's the point of making her go offline in the game? You have to make her go offline in reality!]
[Cipher: Woju Princess, get ready to receive a guest in a while and make her soul scatter immediately!]
[Phainon: Please be sure to include me!]
[Cyrene: That's right, I think it's very detestable too!]
[Castorice: Uh... Lord Sai Feier, I...]
[Keluida: My imperial law will give her the judgment she deserves. As for the severity of the judgment...]
[Hyacine: Wait, everyone, I think the severity of the judgment should be a bit more merciful. At least give her a chance to atone.]
[Keluida: ?]
[Cyrene: ?]
[Cipher: Hyacine, you...]
[Hyacine: Let me think... I've got it, everyone!]
[Hyacine: How about we let her race against Lord Cipher under the pursuit of the black tide, compete with Lord Mydei on who can survive longer against the black tide, and see who flies higher when falling from a hundred meters high with Little Ika?]
[Hyacine: I think if she wins all of those, it means she's not meant to die yet!]
[Hyacine: Happy_Little Ika.jpg]
[Cipher: ?]
[Castorice: ?]
[Phainon: ?]
[Cipher: Shocked_Cat.jpg]
[...]
[Aglaea: Sigh... Sefaria, I don't know if you, child, are being sincere or insincere. Why do I feel like you're being sarcastic with me?]
[Aglaea: Agy_Sighing.jpg]
[Tiresias: Agy, goodnight.]
[Tiresias: Tribbie_Praying.jpg]
[Aglaea: My Teacher... please don't pray. I don't want to see my own funeral portrait while I'm still alive, like you.]
[Anaxa: Hahaha!]
Xu Qiong pursed his lips and quietly looked back, pretending to glance at Hyacine casually.
Who would have thought, this pink-themed junior...
Was actually Pink on the outside, black on the inside?!
"What's wrong, Gray Treasure? You look so nervous."
Hyacine leaned in again with her hands behind her back, then she suddenly tilted her head: "By the way, Gray Treasure, Teacher Xia asked me to bring something for you."
What?
Xu Qiong looked at Hyacine: "Anaxa?"