In her past life, by the time Yu Lingye was brought to the Descenders' Guild, she had long since been stripped of her dignity, reduced to a bottom-tier slave anyone could kick around.
Back then, she had just been "transferred" from a small squad.
The excuse sounded nice enough: a new clique was expanding, they needed someone to handle logistics, and the guild was all about mutual aid.
That was when Meng Yinyin appeared.
She handed Yu Lingye a bowl of hot soup, her tone so gentle she seemed genuinely heartbroken for her.
“Don't be afraid. Follow us from now on, and at least you won't starve to death.”
By then, Yu Lingye had already been tortured to numbness by this world. Any shred of care or warmth was enough to move her to tears, making her believe she had finally met good people.
Only later did she realize that the bowl of hot soup wasn't an act of kindness; it was merely the final bit of bait before collaring a beast.
The small clique of Zheng Chuan, Meng Yinyin, and Luo Qi specialized in buying "disposable tools" from the guild with materials or gold coins—people who couldn't fight, couldn't read maps, and didn't understand the rules.
To the outside world, they claimed they were helping people level up and teaching them skills.
But the reality was that they sent these people to the Rust Mine to dig up crystals and harvest herbs for them.
The place was permanently shrouded in toxic mist, infested with rock-shatter bugs, and scarred by sinkholes that swallowed people whole. Even normal players had to form full parties and carefully time their exits just to go in.
Yet, the depths of the mine held some of the richest mineral resources and herbs on the continent.
And so, Yu Lingye naturally became consumable labor in those tunnels, digging for crystals day and night.
Her fingers were worn down to raw, bloody flesh, and her shoulders and back bled from the chafing of the ore baskets. If she didn't mine enough, she would be brutally beaten.
She had tried to run.
The first time she escaped, she hadn't even made it half a mile before Luo Qi's arrow pinned her calf to the ground.
Zheng Chuan dragged her back into the mine and smashed her shoulder with the back of his axe in front of everyone.
She thought she was going to die. Dying would have been fine; at least she wouldn't have to be tortured by these beasts anymore.
Meng Yinyin came to her side, still wearing that same gentle expression.
She said, “Lingye, we're doing this for your own good. It's so dangerous outside. You'll die if you run around blindly.”
Then, she personally pressed the slave curse into Yu Lingye's wrist.
From that day on, Yu Lingye completely lost her rights as a human being.
She could not disobey, she could not escape, and she could not even commit suicide.
The moment she harbored any self-destructive thoughts, the curse would amplify her pain tenfold, violently dragging her back from the brink of unconsciousness.
It wasn't until a later cave-in, when another team conveniently picked her up, that she finally escaped their control.
Of course, life with the new team was hardly bright either.
By then, Yu Lingye had long ceased to look human. She was like a soulless husk, with only the seeds of hatred growing wildly inside her shriveled skin.
Every single day, she cursed them. Every single day, she wanted to sacrifice her own soul in exchange for a weapon to judge their sins, to return every bit of that wretched despair and agony back to them.
Thinking up to this point, Isolde paused for a moment, then looked down at her palm and suddenly smiled.
So that was it.
This was why she had become Isolde—just to wait for this very moment, wasn't it?
Her smile was faint, playing on her pale lips, yet it felt colder than any rage.
According to the trajectory of her past life, these three shouldn't have appeared here.
At this time, they should have been fighting for resources in the wild forest closer to the descent point, before eventually joining the guild and becoming key figures of that small clique.
However, while repairing the illusion formation of the east tower over the past few days, she had casually altered a few guiding runes, expanding the boundary of the grey fog slightly outward.
Just that tiny adjustment had somehow delivered these three, who never should have strayed here, right to her doorstep.
Isolde's mood suddenly brightened. She raised her hand and slowly smoothed the cuffs of her white dress.
Since the path had already been laid out for them to her front door, she would naturally play the "gracious host."
And along the way, she would resume the dark fate of their past lives.
The thick fog slowly parted before the castle gates, and a young girl in a white dress came stumbling out.
Her black hair was disheveled, her face pale, and a corner of her hem was damp from the grey fog. She looked as though she had been fleeing through the darkness for a long time before finally seeing the light of day.
Zheng Chuan and the other two stopped simultaneously.
Isolde also came to a halt, her gaze first landing on their equipment.
Mid-tier leather armor, an iron axe, a staff, and the bow slung across Luo Qi's back.
This setup was far better than that of ordinary, newly descended rookies.
It seemed these three had already plundered the resources of some unfortunate souls ahead of schedule.
No wonder they had arrived earlier than in her past life.
Greedy people always moved fast, especially when they caught the scent of profit.
Through the damp mist, she also clearly saw those three faces she loathed to the bone.
The hatred in her heart no longer needed to boil over; just looking at them, the coldness seeping from her bones was enough to keep her rational and temporarily suppress her killing intent.
Isolde looked up, her eyes rimmed with red. As if using the very last of her strength, she stretched her hand out toward them:
“Please... save me.”
【Passive Skill: Witch's Mask—Activated.】
【Target Zheng Chuan: Alertness reduced by 60%.】
【Target Luo Qi: Alertness reduced by 55%.】
【Target Meng Yinyin: Active suspicion detected. Effect decayed. Alertness reduced by 32%.】
All three of them stared at her. Zheng Chuan was the first to react, saying in pleasant surprise:
“There really is an NPC.”
Luo Qi gripped his bow and arrow, sizing her up. A hint of excitement quickly crept into his eyes.
They had only been dropped into this hellhole a few days ago. Before they could even find a starting village, they had run straight into the grey fog surrounding a castle.
For a beautiful girl to suddenly appear crying for help at a time like this didn't look like a random passerby at all; it felt much more like a hidden questline.
But Meng Yinyin had already raised her staff, pointing it at her. “Stop right there. Don't come any closer.”
Isolde froze mid-step, looking thoroughly frightened.
Her eyelashes trembled as her pale fingers gripped her hem tightly, her voice growing even softer.
“I'm not a bad person... I just want to escape.”
This appearance perfectly matched their imagination of a "weak story NPC." It practically had the words "Quest Reward" written all over her face.
Meng Yinyin was more cautious than the other two. She asked first:
“Who are you? What exactly is going on here?”
Isolde raised her tearful eyes to look at her. The hatred in the depths of her gaze flared for only an instant before she suppressed it.
When she looked up again, she was still that terrified noble girl.
“I am the daughter of a western noble. When I passed by this place last month, I was captured by the Duke of the castle.”
She bit her lip, her voice dropping even lower.
“He engraved a soul contract on me, so I can't leave this castle. There are many monsters inside, and I hear screams every day... I'm so scared...”
Luo Qi sneered. “This plot is way too cliché.”
Isolde sneered inwardly.
The more cliché it was, the more it aligned with a player's expectations of a hidden quest.
And the more it fit their expectations, the easier it would be for them to let their guard down.
On the surface, she looked as if she had been stung by his words. Her face grew even paler as she hurriedly explained:
“I'm not lying to you, I really am...”
Zheng Chuan had already lost his patience for her setup. He took a step forward, reaching out to grab her arm:
“Cut the crap. Just tell us what you want us to do.”
Isolde hurriedly retreated, avoiding his hand, a wave of disgust rising in her heart.
“We need to enter the castle basement,” she whispered. “The contract core is there. As long as it's destroyed, I'll be free.”
Rate on N.U.
