[Congratulations, Host. You had committed the impossible and successfully broken the fourth wall! As a reward to your prestigious achievement, you will now be bound to the Self-Saving System!]
Riley's mouth hung open, unable to keep up with the sudden shift of genre.
Breaking the Fourth Wall? Self-Saving System?
"W-Wait, give me a moment." She tried to stop the screen to demand an explanation, but to no avail as the system continued spitting out more outrageous lines of text.
[From recognizing death flags from miles away to turning misfortunes into unmissable opportunities, the Self-Saving System will be there to assist the Host whenever needed.]
[The Creator of the Universe then wishes the Host good luck in surviving the vicious world of the novel << Bloody Triangle in a Fantasy Romance >> *blinking eyes cutely]
"..."
So, were things just as what she had thought them to be?
They were truly in the universe of the dog-blooded book and she, the cannon fodder that would soon be dead under the second male lead's unreasonable display of wrath?
Well, that's bad.
Riley may not be the brightest bulb there, but one thing she was very good at was adapting.
With a turn of her thought, she addressed the system with fluidness that caught the system off guard.
"System, I have a question."
Riley voiced out, mentally making a quick review of the only scene where her character had appeared before her three-sentence-death.
The book hadn't bothered to waste much words to elaborate the cause of her enmity with the second male lead, so she could only make some random guesses and bitterly settle with it.
Fortunately, her head was exceptionally clear today.
"I may not know why the second male lead was so bent on killing me however, to escape from this ending, wouldn't it be enough for me to simply not meet that psycho and avoid him like the plague?"
The system carefully processed her words and gave out a response.
[The Host is brilliant! As expected of the Host! The system will now submit the host's idea for examination.]
After a few seconds, the system beeped out a reply.
[The test is done. The strategy is applicable!]
Oh yeah!
Riley cheered in her heart, her face visibly blooming like flowers.
[The system will now scan the surroundings for the death flag, Francis Ravenmore's, whereabouts….]
'You can even do that? Amazing!'
Riley couldn't help but give the system a hearty thumbs up for the efficiency of its work.
The Self-Saving System was a great assistance indeed! She was almost sure that she could never be any prouder of someone else as this!
Unfortunately, that feeling didn't last for long.
[Good news, the target has been found.]
[Bad news, the target is on the ship.]
[To make it clearer, IN THIS SHIP.]
Riley's smile froze, finally experiencing herself what it felt like to drop from the highest stair of Heaven to the lowest pit of Hell in the next second.
"Seriously, how can that happen?" She lashed out, frustration eating at her like she was the sweetest fruit on earth.
Undoubtedly, Riley was now in a state of panic and despair and yet, the insensitive system didn't plan on giving her a moment to breathe as it flashed out another report of its finding.
[The death flag has been recognized. The system will now start the countdown.]
[The host will be kissing the world goodbye in 23:55:19…18…17…]
The number was dwindling down little by little, just enough to grind at her anxiety bit by bit.
"..."
Damn you!
Knowing how damned she would be once she mistakenly offended the psycho second male lead, Riley quickly rang the bell to call for her assistant Lily, literally screaming for the girl's immediate presence.
Half a minute later, a series of hurried footsteps was heard as a young lady with two cute little braids bouncing against each side of her chest barged into the room, her palm-sized face red and sweating.
"B-Boss, is there anything that you need me to do?" Wiping her beaded forehead with the long sleeve of her uniform, Lily asked in between her hurried breaths, her timid eyes sheepishly eyeing her seemingly agitated boss.
'This… Had the boss found out something regarding…'
With such thought in mind, Lily couldn't help but jolt back in fear when Riley suddenly rushed to her and questioned her.
"Lily! Have you noticed anyone suspicious on our ship?"
After considering all possibilities, Riley was nearly certain that the second male lead Francis must've sneaked into the ship without them knowing.
As for the reason behind that, well, it could be anything. Perhaps, he only needed a ride and her ship was coincidentally there ready to be sneaked a hitch or, he may be escaping from someone?
Hah. Serves him right for being such an obnoxious bastard!
If not, why in the world would she be so out of her mind to let the psycho enter her territory and threaten her life?
Riley was so deluded by her theory that she noticed nothing amiss in the silent Lily. Instead, when she heard no reply from the girl, she thought that she hadn't been specific enough and sensibly added.
"It's a man! He's tall, unreasonably handsome, has a hot figure – well, someone that girls will definitely fall over heels for in one glance, you know, that kind of hottie…"
Riley recalled the portrait she saw before and struggled hard to describe the man with her inadequate words.
The second male lead Francis Ravenmore. He was indeed a beautiful man, his every aspect perfectly fitting her taste. Too bad he's a psycho.
Not worth the trouble. Not worth the trouble.
Riley shook her head to dispel the indecent thoughts swirling in her mind.
'Let's just hope that nothing bad has happened to the second male lead in this ship and we'll all be safe and sound…' was what she thought when a dull thud suddenly resounded, breaking the tense atmosphere.
Riley watched the kneeling Lily with blank eyes, her heart racing faster and faster as she heard the trembling girl beg for forgiveness.