"Do not...do not come near...don't..."

In the dense forest where the sunlight was blocked by the lush canopy, a stunning gray-haired girl was slowly backing away. Her face was filled with panic as she took only three or four steps before there was nowhere else to retreat, and her back hit a giant tree. She looked at the two ferocious men approaching and although she tried to remain calm, her trembling voice betrayed her fear.

Bathed in the sunlight filtering through the leaves, the girl's transparent fluorescent eyes seemed to possess a playful and ethereal aura. Her fair skin was delicate and her rosy lips were exquisitely tempting, making one unable to resist the urge to take a bite.

She appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen years old, with a tight and well-proportioned figure that exuded a seductive charm. She was only wearing a plain gray cloth dress, which failed to hide her perfectly sculpted body.

"I can't believe we've encountered such a beautiful girl here. It seems that the heavens haven't abandoned us yet," one of the men, the chubby one, chuckled. He made no efforts to conceal his lewd intentions, but he did not rush to attack, seemingly confident that no hero would come out to save the damsel in distress in this place, just like a duck that couldn't fly away from being caught.

"Do you...do you even know what you're doing? This kind of thing cannot be forgiven!" the girl protested.

"Forgiven? Who do we need forgiveness from?" the taller man couldn't help but burst into laughter upon hearing her words.

"Well, since we can't leave anymore, what is there to worry about?" he added.

"No...there must be a way to log out. It's been less than an hour, it's too early to give up!" The girl was still attempting to make a final struggle, but the seductive tone of her voice only served to further fuel the hormones of the two men. It had no other effect.

"Even if we can log out, so what? Can you find us once you return to reality? Besides, it's just a game, we don't need to take any responsibility, right? Let's enjoy ourselves, it's good for everyone. If you want to blame someone, blame this damn game that advertised 'completely free physical contact just like in reality,'" one of the men said.

"No..." The girl finally realized that there was no room for negotiation with the two men in front of her. She couldn't help but show a look of despair.

Even in the game, she didn't want to experience something like this!

"When did 'The Fate' company make such an advertising claim? Why am I not aware of it?" the young man suddenly appeared behind them and almost startled the two men. Someone had silently approached from such a close distance. But when they turned their heads and saw who it was, the two men immediately felt relieved.

"Oh, turns out you're just a level 2 noob as well, kid. Boy, what were you thinking, sneaking up on us so slyly? This isn't a place for you! Get lost!" one of the men snapped impatiently.

As the two men angrily berated the young man, the girl also cast her gaze upon him.

He was a young man who didn't appear to be very old. His facial features were handsome and even somewhat charming. What stood out the most was the sunny and friendly smile on his face.

If one were to judge solely based on appearance, everyone would think that this young man represented justice and sunshine. In contrast, the faces of the other two men, one tall and one fat, could easily be labeled "thug."

At least, in the eyes of the girl, this suddenly appeared young man was the lifeline thrown to her by fate.

"Please...please save me! These two men...they want to...do that to me..." she pleaded.

"I know, I know. I've been listening on the side the whole time. Let me ask you both, my dear friends, why haven't you made your move yet? The audience is getting impatient, you know?" The handsome man tilted his head with a smile. "Look, the female lead in the scene is asking me to save her. It's not easy to refuse such a beautiful girl's request, right? So, are you going to leave on your own, or do I have to step in?"

"...What?" The two thugs seemed momentarily unable to understand the meaning behind the sudden appearance of this man. They exchanged a brief glance and saw a mocking glance in each other's eyes.

"Did I hear correctly? You just said what?" The taller thug stroked his chin and couldn't help but smile. "You're only level 2, just like us. Where did you get the idea of grabbing the limelight?"

Note: The translation captures the meaning and tone of the original text, but some phrasing and word choices may be adjusted for better flow and readability in English."Everyone's attributes and equipment are the same, is something wrong with you? Suicide shouldn't be done this way either."

The fat man followed with mockery, "You should also know that if you die before level 12, you're really dead. Even if you can't return to the real world, it's not necessary to seek death like this, right?"

"Yeah, that's also what I'm wondering about."

The handsome man's expression remained unchanged, even his smile became stronger.

"Since you know that dying before level 12 means really dying, why don't you run away?"

"..."

It seemed that the tall man finally confirmed that the man in front of him was absolutely insane. He put away his smile and showed an impatient expression.

"Fine, since you're looking for death, we'll grant your wish!"

As he raised his hand, a white light burst forth. In the tall man's hand appeared a short dagger.

"Kid, when you beg for mercy later, make sure you cry out loud..."

"Clang!"

Before he could finish his words, a crisp sound of a blade being unsheathed could be heard. Then, in an instant, a flash of blade passed by and the tall man felt several stabbing pains all over his body.

"Wow!"

The tall man let out a scream and took several steps back before finally stopping. His face was filled with an expression of disbelief. After a whole two seconds of daze, he remembered to check his life points. He didn't dare to look at it, but when he did, a chill ran down his spine.

He had no idea what had just happened, but the fact that his HP was only one-third remaining was something he confirmed several times and couldn't be wrong about.

"Tsk... My 'Night Seven Stars' couldn't even take down an ordinary person. This feeling is so out of place... It's probably not a 'System Skill', maybe it doesn't have any attribute bonus?"

Seemingly dissatisfied with the results of his attack, the young man with a frown looked at the dagger in his hand that was the same as the one his opponent had. He shook his head and once again turned his gaze to the two men who were completely stunned.

"What were you saying just now about begging for mercy?"

"I..."

"Forget it, it doesn't matter. I'm not interested to know anyway."

Without waiting for the other man to answer, the young man lifted the dagger in his hand again, without any hesitation. Just like before, a bright white blade flashed, and the tall man's body suddenly stiffened. Unbelievably, he let out several screams of "Ah ah", without leaving any last words. With a muffled sound of "bang", he shattered into countless crystalline fragments, with half of them falling to the ground and the other half being carried away by the wind, quickly dissipating into the air.

It was only at this moment that the fat man next to the tall man snapped back to reality.

"You... you killed him? You killed him!?"

Seemingly still in disbelief, the fat man repeated his words loudly with self-affirmation.

"Well, I guess so. Didn't you see it too?"

The young man hung up the friendly smile he had just displayed, but now the fat man knew that this seemingly righteous smile was full of deceit and had no reference value at all.

"So, it's better to be low-key in life. I told you to leave earlier, but you didn't. Now, it's too late."

Watching the man in front of him aim the dagger at himself, the fat man took two steps back in fear, his voice trembling.

"You can't kill me! I haven't reached level 12 yet! If I'm killed now, I'll really die!"

"I know, I already said it before, but so what?"

The young man didn't immediately make a move. He walked slowly towards the fat man and gently pressed the dagger against his fat belly. His gentle voice seemed to echo from the depths of hell, resonating in the fat man's ears.

"But you need to understand one thing. Killing you isn't about whether you want to die or not, it's about whether I want to kill. Honestly, dealing with waste like you, I think the level 12 protection system is too considerate."

"So, before reaching level 12, it's not bad to eliminate a few people like you."

"No... please..."

The young man's not-so-loud voice seemed to carry a strange enchantment. In just a few words, the fat man's will was on the verge of collapse, without any intention to resist. He scrambled and crawled, using both his hands and feet, running towards the direction outside the woods.

"Help... help me! He's killing someone!"

Having forgotten that there shouldn't be anyone coming to such a place, he now only hoped that someone could appear and save his life."If shouting for help worked, wouldn't I be out of a job long ago?"

The fat man, who was running for his life, felt the faint voice approaching rapidly. Then a desperate scream came from the woods.

"No... No, please!"

The girl with gray hair had already fallen to the ground, witnessing the whole process in front of her. She trembled as she heard the scream, as if she had just come back to her senses.

Though the two thugs were despicable, they didn't deserve to die. But the young man seemed to not care about that at all.

As the man turned and walked slowly towards her, the girl silently raised her head and met his gaze with her sparkling eyes. She opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say for a moment.

However, no matter what, the fact that he saved her was undeniable. Compared to that, the girl definitely didn't want to be tainted by those two nondescript thugs. Although the man in front of her looked a bit eccentric, at least from his appearance, he gave her a sense of comfort.

Being saved from despair, no matter what method was used, gave the girl a feeling of rebirth.

It turned out that the cliché of a hero saving a damsel in distress, no matter how cliché it sounded, was still something that left an indelible mark in the hearts of most girls.

However, before the shock had completely worn off and she could think about how to thank him, the man in front of her rubbed his chin, then suddenly bent down and brought his face close, carefully examining the girl in front of him. He still had the same sunny and gentle smile on his face.

"You are really beautiful. Are you a model in real life?"

"Huh...? I..."

"Never mind, it doesn't matter."

Before the girl could answer, he interrupted, and then threw out an unbelievable statement.

"Actually, what those two said earlier makes sense. This is a game world, and whatever we do, we don't have to take responsibility, right?"

"What did you say...?!"

In the terrified eyes of the gray-haired girl, the man suddenly reached out and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her down onto the ground. He leaned down and kissed her tempting lips, and the girl only felt darkness before her, instinctively closing her eyes.

The sudden change made the girl's consciousness go blank instantly. She had just thought that although the man's behavior was a bit excessive, she should at least thank him for saving her, but as soon as this thought arose, the next second, he suddenly pressed her onto the grass.

"Please...!"

With her eyes tightly shut, the girl instinctively tried her best to push away the man on top of her, but her weak effort had no effect on him at all.

"Ding!"

Just as the girl felt despair about her next move, a crisp sound suddenly sounded in her ears, as if a system message had popped up.

"Intimate contact option cannot be activated before level 12."

A prompt message appeared in front of the man, blocking the kiss between the two.

"..."

A strange silence settled, as if the whole world had come to a stop. In this dense forest, only the heavy breathing between the two young boys and the occasional bird chirping could be heard.

The nervous girl kept her eyes closed for a while, then realized that she didn't feel any strange sensation on her lips. She couldn't help but open her eyes again, only to see the man in front of her with an embarrassed expression.

The girl didn't know why the man stopped, she only heard him sigh secretly and shook his head with a hint of helplessness.

"Forget it... I'm really not suitable for this kind of thing."

After saying this, without waiting for any response from the girl, the young man turned around and walked away quickly, leaving the girl with a puzzled expression.

However, as she watched his figure not go far, another "ding" sound came from the same direction, and then a line of blood-red name appeared in her sight.

"Ye... Yunyou?"