"End the roleplay now."
"Okay, Master."
In a quiet corner, after confirming that no one was around, Kafka smiled faintly and instructed the system to end the roleplay.
In an instant, Kafka vanished—replaced by Jiang Ge, whose expression was full of exhaustion and faint pain.
He stood there motionless for a long time before finally gathering himself.
Time to go back to the bookstore and see Corin… maybe regain a bit of sanity.
...…
"Hey, Belle? Wise? I brought Eous back for you."
"Boss, they don't seem to be here."
Nicole, holding Eous, pushed open the door to the video store. The shop was still empty and eerily quiet.
"Nicole, I'm detecting murmuring from inside. There's an 80% probability that both shop owners are there."
Anby's sharp ears had picked up faint voices coming from the inner room. She pointed toward the door leading further inside as she spoke.
Nicole walked over, but the door didn't open automatically, which annoyed her a little. She gestured for Anby to open it.
Once the door slid aside, they saw Belle sitting motionless on the sofa.
"Belle? What's wrong?"
The noise from Anby opening the door wasn't exactly quiet; normally, Belle would have turned her head immediately. Nicole called out again, but Belle didn't respond at all.
"In that case, Boss, I'll go check upstairs for the other manager," Billy said, heading toward the stairs.
Anby stayed near the door, her posture tense. The atmosphere in the shop felt off—too heavy for her to relax.
Meanwhile, Eous, still in Nicole's arms, began to chirp anxiously.
"Nn? Nn nn! (Why isn't Belle responding?)"
Feeling uneasy, Eous wriggled free and landed on the floor with a small thud. Two Bangboos suddenly peeked out from beside the sofa. When they saw Eous and Nicole, they ran over in excitement.
"Nn nn! (You're back!)"
"Nn nn nn nn! (Belle and Wise have been acting weird—help!)"
The two Bangboos—18 and 06—hugged Eous first, then bounced toward Nicole, pointing frantically at Belle, urging her to check on her.
"What happened...?"
Nicole frowned. On the way back, Eous had already cut the shared sensory link with Belle, but things had been quiet then. She hadn't wanted to deal with more chaos—but in just this short time, something had clearly gone wrong.
"Hey, Belle, are you okay? At least answe—ah!"
As she spoke, Nicole came around behind the sofa and gently patted Belle's shoulder—only for Belle's frail body to slump sideways immediately.
"Nicole, what's wrong?"
"Anby, come here, quick—look at her!"
Nicole crouched beside the sofa, her tone panicked. Anby hurried over, but the moment she saw Belle collapsed and motionless, her brows knit tightly together.
"This... this is bad."
Belle's eyes were blank, a bit of foam clinging to her lips, her whole expression dull and lifeless.
But Anby noticed something strange—Belle's lips were still moving slightly.
Anby tried to read them, but the motion was too faint to make out. So she leaned closer. After listening carefully for a few seconds, her eyes widened.
"Nicole!"
"Wh-what is it? You scared me, Anby."
"She's... calling Miss Kafka's name."
"Huh?"
Nicole froze. Looking at Belle's condition, she remembered how distraught Belle had been when Kafka left, how unhinged she'd sounded earlier. A realization hit her.
"Withdrawal symptoms?"
"Mmm... it looks very similar."
"Miss Kafka? Miss Kafka!"
"Anby, hold her down!"
The moment Belle heard Kafka's name, her eyes snapped open and she began thrashing wildly, screaming incoherently. Startled, Nicole lunged forward and shouted for Anby's help.
Once again—who knows how many times now—the Cunning Hares found themselves having to restrain Belle.
Fortunately, after a while, she gradually quieted down, returning to her dazed, vacant state.
Nicole exhaled deeply, exchanged a look with Anby, and both silently nodded. Without needing to say it, they knew: they couldn't mention Kafka's name in front of Belle ever again.
But then—from upstairs—came the loud sound of something tumbling down, followed immediately by Billy's panicked shout.
"Boss! Anby! Hurry!"
"What is it, Billy?"
Nicole rushed up with Anby in tow. They found Billy pointing, pale-faced, toward the stairs.
Following his gaze, Nicole saw a pair of hands dangling weakly from around the corner of the steps.
"Eek—It's just Wise! What's wrong with you siblings today?"
"S-sorry... I suddenly remembered something sad and... ended up like this..."
Nicole hurried over and found Wise lying face-down on the stairs. After confirming nothing else was amiss, she sighed and dragged him down, turning him over.
But Wise's condition wasn't much better than Belle's—weak, pale, drained of all energy.
Nicole looked at him, then back toward Belle slumped on the sofa.
This... was this also withdrawal symptoms?
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A/n: While I am a new translator, I have a Patreon! While it may be a bit empty right now both this and the other book on my page has advanced chapters posted on patreon. Set up for my web novel will be 2 chapters for every book a day and if you go to my patreon you'll see the set up there.
patreon.com/deadlygoober