Ye Yatong plopped down into the seat across from Mo Bai.

The instant she sat down, the student who had originally occupied that seat vanished. It was as if time in the entire classroom had frozen.

Only three people could still move: Mo Bai, Pang Mian, and Ye Yatong.

Ye Yatong's behavior proved that Mo Bai's guess had been correct.

She, or rather it, was Phantom Butterfly.

"You've recognized me again," Phantom Butterfly said, resting its chin on one hand in an elegant, alluring pose.

Seeing it like this, Pang Mian couldn't help swallowing nervously. Mo Bai glanced at him.

This player had already been partially contaminated by the Love Amusement Park.

Even at a moment like this, he was still thinking about conquering the instance monster rather than figuring out how to subdue Phantom Butterfly through nonviolent means.

He was useless.

For the time being, Mo Bai ignored Pang Mian and turned to Phantom Butterfly.

"How can you say 'again'? The previous two times, you never really tried to hide your identity, did you?"

Phantom Butterfly's expression stiffened.

Mo Bai exclaimed in surprise, "What? Were you hiding your identity those times too? Sorry, I recognized you immediately every time, so I never even noticed."

Phantom Butterfly could no longer maintain its seductive smile.

Mo Bai continued, "This time was different, though. When I first saw Lin Xiafei, I actually hesitated for a few minutes. But the moment I saw you, I knew exactly who you were."

Phantom Butterfly: "..."

With only a few simple sentences, Mo Bai shattered Mimicry, which was the first layer of Phantom Butterfly's psychological defenses.

It was the ability that Phantom Butterfly depended for survival and the key to its escape from the research institute.

It was the greatest source of pride, and Mo Bai intended to break that pride.

She wanted Phantom Butterfly to understand that no matter what form it mimicked, all of its disguises looked like nothing more than a child's game of pretend in her eyes. Its mimicry was useless against her.

This was an instance centered around mutual psychological contamination. Since direct combat was prohibited, the best strategy was to attack the heart.

Through accurate judgment and precisely chosen words, Mo Bai dismantled Phantom Butterfly's first weapon.

The rules had stated that the only form of combat in this park is Love Value. The higher your Love Value, the stronger your abilities.

Following that logic, players were expected to gain Love Value according to the wristband's instructions.

But the rules referred to participants not as players, but as visitors.

That meant anyone entering this game of love, whether player or instance monster, should count as a visitor and therefore possess a wristband.

If Phantom Butterfly was participating in the game, then it should have a wristband too.

Mo Bai's gaze swept over Phantom Butterfly's hands. Its wrists were pale and slender.

There were no watches, wristbands, or anything similar.

Mo Bai reached out and grabbed Phantom Butterfly's hand.

Since the hand currently belonged to Ye Yatong's form, she felt no discomfort touching it.

"Where's your wristband?" she asked. "Why aren't you wearing one?"

Her hand rested on Phantom Butterfly's wrist.

It looked intimate, but in reality, it was a threat.

Mo Bai suspected that she had not yet entered the real Love Amusement Park.

The rules stated that only a visitor and their lover could see a visitor's Love Value.

Yet Mo Bai had been able to use the most basic B-rank ability of the Prying Lenses to view the contents of Pang Mian's wristband.

That made no sense if the rules posted outside were genuine.

But the box containing the wristbands might have been fabricated by Phantom Butterfly.

This classroom was likely an illusion Phantom Butterfly had created before the actual Love Amusement Park.

Its purpose was to gain Love Value in advance and secure an overwhelming advantage once the real game began.

"I'm not the same as you," Phantom Butterfly insisted stubbornly, trying to maintain its image as something special within the instance.

"No," Mo Bai replied.

"You're exactly the same as us."

She clasped Phantom Butterfly's hand.

The sincerity and affection in her eyes seemed even more genuine than Phantom Butterfly's own.

She said, "Haven't you always wanted me to fall in love with you? I'm actually a very softhearted person.

When someone this beautiful goes to such lengths to please me, I always try to help make their wishes come true.

Understanding is the foundation of love, so I've tried to understand you as well.

Ever since I learned that you were still alive, I've been waiting for you. I've been looking forward to meeting you again in an instance. I even stopped teaming up with other players and entered solo instances because I hoped you'd come find me.

But you never appeared."

Phantom Butterfly: "..."

It enjoyed being loved and feeding on human suffering, but it wasn't stupid.

How was Mo Bai able to tell such blatant lies with a straight face?

And not only lie. She somehow made something filled with murderous intent sound so beautiful.

Phantom Butterfly finally replied, "You call it 'looking forward to meeting me,' but weren't you really just carrying a full loadout of equipment while waiting to ambush me in an instance where you already knew the strategy?"

Mo Bai smiled gently.

She held Phantom Butterfly's hand, their fingers intertwined in a way that almost looked intimate.

"What are you talking about? This is love. It's the way you've always loved others. I want to satisfy you, cooperate with you, and love you the way you love people. Isn't that exactly what suits you best?"

Phantom Butterfly tried to pull its hand away, but Mo Bai refused to let go.

Then she continued, "But you never came to find me. I was disappointed and even worried too. I thought maybe you'd been injured at the research institute and were spending all this time recovering.

It wasn't until I entered Disease Town and heard about you from the Magician that I learned you'd evolved. I was genuinely happy for you, and when I learned that you'd been trapped in this town for three months, my heart ached for you.

No wonder you never came looking for me. You'd been imprisoned. You're a butterfly who loves freedom. You love flying and wandering through different instances.

You love becoming different people and experiencing different lives. Being trapped in this town all that time...

That must have been very hard for you, wasn't it?"

Mo Bai looked up.

Her eyes were filled with concern and affection as if they had once fought side by side.

As if she truly cared about Phantom Butterfly.

Mo Bai understood perfectly how to use her appearance to her advantage. She knew she was beautiful and knew exactly which expressions were most capable of deceiving people.

She simply rarely chose to make use of that attribute, it didn't mean she couldn't.

Her face. Her eyes.

And the words that struck directly at Phantom Butterfly's deepest desires.

Together, they were enough to make someone lose themselves.

Mo Bai said softly, "Phantom Butterfly, violence is forbidden in this instance. We're enemies, yes. But it's rare for us to meet in such a peaceful place, so why don't we sit down and catch up?

Tell me about everything that happened after we parted ways. I've been worried about you all this time."

Worried that it was still alive. Worried about when it might appear again. These were worries too.

After all, Mo Bai wasn't technically lying, and Phantom Butterfly did not possess telepathy.

However, it could sense people's emotions. Sometimes emotions were even more reliable than spoken thoughts. After all, people could lie to themselves, but hidden emotions rarely lied.

Phantom Butterfly could clearly feel it; Mo Bai was worried about it.

No matter what exactly she was worried about, worry was still worry.

And beyond that, Phantom Butterfly sensed that Mo Bai had changed.

The Mo Bai of the past harbored hostility toward instance monsters, an irreconcilable enmity, as though only one side could survive.

But the current Mo Bai was stronger and also softer.

Her feelings toward instance monsters were no longer limited to hostility and disgust. There was now a trace of a desire to understand them.

Phantom Butterfly could feel that change.

"I want to understand you," Mo Bai said, and she was not lying.

Even if her ultimate goal was still to kill monsters like Phantom Butterfly, she genuinely wanted to understand them.

Phantom Butterfly's lips moved slightly as its resolve wavered.

But it still could not completely lower its guard.

Mo Bai glanced at Pang Mian and said to Phantom Butterfly, "There are some things I'd like to say to you, but I don't want outsiders present. Help me out?"

The moment it heard Mo Bai asking for a private conversation, Phantom Butterfly immediately activated its mimicry ability and created a space containing only the two of them, excluding Pang Mian entirely.

Its psychological defenses were still there, yet somehow, it had already begun to unconsciously follow Mo Bai's requests.

Mo Bai said, "Since you don't want to talk about what happened after we parted, then I'll talk about what happened to me instead.

You must be wondering why I've changed so much...

It's because I met a forensic doctor and a police officer in this town."

In just a few sentences, Mo Bai summarized the events of the Abandoned Hospital and the Dream Domain.

She even thoughtfully informed Phantom Butterfly that information related to the town's boss carried powerful mental contamination.

For its own good, she would not discuss the details and would only mention them briefly.

After finishing her explanation, she continued, "Until the very end, neither the police officer, the forensic doctor, nor I ever fought.

The domain collapsed, and the instance ended simply because their wishes were fulfilled.

That experience taught me something. Players and monsters aren't necessarily mortal enemies. Maybe I'm actually here to help you.

Phantom Butterfly, think carefully. Setting aside malice, is your true wish really to kill everyone who loves you?"

Wearing Ye Yatong's face and carrying herself like a young girl, Phantom Butterfly unconsciously bit her lip.

The gesture looked unexpectedly cute.

It was beginning to hesitate, but Mo Bai didn't press further.

Instead, she deliberately retreated.

In a gentle voice, she said, "I've talked too much, asked too many questions, and pushed you too hard. That's my fault. Take some time to think about what I've said, and if you don't want to say anything at all, that's fine too."

Mo Bai and the real Ye Yatong had truly been close. Whenever she looked at that face, her heart softened just a little.

Under Mo Bai's gentle gaze, Phantom Butterfly finally spoke quietly.

"After I escaped the research institute and returned to Butterfly Cottage, I discovered that I had evolved. I lay inside Butterfly Cottage, enduring the pain of evolution and transformation.

While suffering through it, I kept thinking that once I finished evolving, I would definitely come find you."

Become stronger, use even greater power to lure her, and then kill her.

That obsession had become deeply rooted in Phantom Butterfly's heart.

"After I finally endured the pain of evolution, I left Butterfly Cottage and discovered that everything outside had changed.

I became trapped in this town, and everywhere was filled with contamination that burned like fire. I couldn't fly and could only remain trapped here.

Fortunately, there were always townspeople fleeing the disease and searching for safe houses. Some of them wandered into my Butterfly Cottage by accident and provided me with energy. Otherwise, this town would have devoured me long ago."

"That sounds incredibly difficult," Mo Bai said with feeling. "I almost never got to see you again."

Phantom Butterfly made itself sound pitiful. In reality, it was already an S-rank monster. It would have been among the very last creatures in the town to be consumed and wasn't nearly as helpless as it claimed.

Mo Bai also made herself sound sincere. In reality, she would have been delighted never to see Phantom Butterfly again.

Yet both of them wrapped their words in beautiful language.

"Once my strength stabilized somewhat, I gained the ability to resist the contamination," Phantom Butterfly continued.

"Then I began exploring the town and discovered its secret."

"What secret?" Mo Bai asked.

"There are two incredibly powerful monsters in this town," Phantom Butterfly replied.

"I know," Mo Bai said. "They're a mother and daughter."

The implication was clear: I know more than you do.

Phantom Butterfly continued.

"And there's also a heart."

"I know," Mo Bai replied. "Someone stole it."

Phantom Butterfly said, "I helped them steal it."

Oh?

Mo Bai raised an eyebrow slightly.

She was beginning to view Phantom Butterfly in a new light.

Phantom Butterfly continued, "Afterward, I trapped them inside Butterfly Cottage because I knew you would want that heart. I wanted to give it to you as a reunion gift when we met again."

Mo Bai stared at Phantom Butterfly, carefully weighing how much of this was true and how much was false.

Then Phantom Butterfly added, "As long as you fall in love with me, I'll give you the heart."

Mo Bai: "..."

Well.

At least some things never changed.

It was still the same Phantom Butterfly, obsessed with nothing but love and death.