My master is the immortal final boss of the Eldritch Realm. And I am just the flower-selling NPC at his manor gate. Until one day, both the players and I saw the floating stream chats. [Want to kill the final boss? It’s simple. Just attack that flower girl NPC.] [Who would’ve thought an eldritch boss could be so innocent? He washes off his blood, dresses up cleanly, buys flowers, and blushes just talking to her.] [Lol, but the flower girl has severe face blindness. She hasn’t recognized him once.] 01 Late at night, I was tapping away on my calculator. This month, I had been caught in the crossfire of players challenging the final boss a total of five times. Three times my stand was flipped, and twice my flowers were trampled. Yet, every single morning, my little stall would miraculously restore itself, with fresh flowers arranged neatly as if nothing had ever happened. Meanwhile, the taco stand next to me, which suffered the same collateral damage, remained a total disaster. The taco vendor looked at me with deep envy. “Daisy, are you sure you didn’t hire some anomaly to clean up for you?” he asked. “You’re so pretty and sweet, maybe some secret admirer skeleton is quietly doing it?” I shook my head, offering a shy smile. “No way.” I have severe face blindness. During my worst years, I couldn’t even recognize my own mother, once crying and begging to go with an anomaly human-trafficker. The trafficker, having never seen a kid like me, was so terrified she jumped into her van and sped away. Because I was decent-looking, I received plenty of love letters from anomalies growing up, but since I could never tell who was who, I never replied. Consequently, I didn’t have close friends. My only real bestie was a skeleton spirit, but she felt walking around as bare bones was too exposing and recently underwent a full-body skin-graft surgery. Now, I couldn’t even recognize my best friend. But when God closes a door, He opens a window. I was incredibly lucky. Six months ago, I managed to score a vacant, unclaimed stall right outside the highly coveted Ashenvale Manor, the residence of the ultimate boss, and began selling flowers to make a living. The neighboring vendors affectionately called me “Daisy.” I thought my days would pass quietly like this. Until recently. Someone among the players placed a massive bounty on the boss’s head. Countless reckless players began swarming the place. 02 Late at night, I finished calculating my accounts for the month and counted the remaining stock. Just as I was about to pull down the metal shutter to go home, a hand firmly caught it. “Wait.” The shutter slowly rose, revealing a man in a well-tailored trench coat with a pale, strikingly handsome face. “Can I still order flowers?” the man asked, his voice gentle. “I want to buy a bouquet for the girl I like.” I was slightly dazed by his looks. “Of course. What kind of flowers would you like? Eyeball lilies? Finger blossoms? Our heart-shaped roses are selling well lately, though they’re pricier since player drops have been low.” “What about you?” Under the warm yellow light, the tips of the man’s ears turned a deep crimson. “What kind of flowers do you like?” Compared to the eyeballs and hearts popular in our world, I preferred the normal seeds brought over by the players. I walked into the back room and brought out a bundle of ignored yellow roses. “I like yellow roses.” The man looked thoughtful. “Yellow roses it is then. I think she’ll like them too.” Before leaving, holding the large bouquet, he asked, “Can I come back tomorrow to order more?” No one turns down easy money. I nodded. “Of course.” As he turned to leave, I noticed a trail of bloody footprints behind him, as if he had been gravely injured. No wonder he looked so pale. Even after being hurt like that, he didn’t forget to buy flowers for the girl he liked. I didn’t think much of the encounter. The next morning, I was still the first to open my stall. A crowd of players was loitering around the manor gates. I recognized the emblem on their clothes instantly, a black scythe. These people were here to kill the boss again. 03 “Hey shopkeeper, how’s business lately?” A few players approached my stall. The one bringing up the rear looked thoroughly bored, lazily flicking a lighter open and closed. Before I could answer, another player sneered, “Why are you asking a brainless NPC? Didn’t you check the guild archives? She’s just a D-rank flower girl with unknown attack power. She’s got a pretty face, but she’s clearly nothing special.” The player who asked scratched his head. “I wasn’t the one asking, it was him…” Snap. The bored player closed his lighter. The rest of the group immediately fell silent. He stepped forward, stopping right in front of my stand. “I’m Jude,” he said. “I wanted to ask if there’s been any unusual activity around the manor lately?” So this was Jude. Just as players kept files on us, anomalies had a leaderboard for players. Jude was a rising star who had climbed to the very top of the danger rankings at an alarming speed. I lowered my head, adjusting an eyeball lily. “No.” Actually, there was. Last night, our local forums had exploded with rumors that the boss had been ambushed, gravely injured, and was now unconscious. But as an anomaly, I wasn’t about to tell the truth to players. Before Jude could speak, the others grew impatient. “No way! Jude, don’t listen to her!” “I saw it with my own eyes. The Guild Master risked his life to corner the boss. We were so close, but the bastard managed to escape.” “Now that our Guild Master is wounded, the boss must be hiding in the manor to heal. Jude, you’re the only one who can…” “Are you buying flowers?” I interrupted, picking up the bouquet of eyeball lilies. “If not, please step aside.” I was clearly showing them the door. To my surprise, Jude pulled out a thick stack of local currency. “I’ll buy them.” “Since I bought your flowers, can you tell me a bit more about what you’ve seen these past few days?” “Sure.” I took the money without hesitation. Jude hadn’t specified that I couldn’t lie. So, I started talking about my ruined stall and ended with the yellow roses I sold yesterday, glossing over every important detail. Jude remained calm, but the players behind him were losing their patience. Just as one of them was about to cut me off, lines of glowing text suddenly floated in the air above us. [This is agonizing to watch. Want to kill the final boss? It’s simple. Just attack that flower girl NPC.] [They gave the boss such high defense and attack stats, so he had to have a weakness. Who would have guessed the boss’s weakness is the flower girl at the gate?] [Who would’ve thought an eldritch boss could be so innocent? He washes off his blood, dresses up cleanly, buys flowers, and blushes just talking to her.] [Not going to name names, but someone was sniffing those yellow roses like a lovesick fool last night.] [Too bad the flower girl is face-blind. She hasn’t recognized him once.] … I slowly raised my head. Suddenly, the eyes of every player in the square locked onto me. [System Notification: You have reached the end of the free preview. Please unlock the next chapter to reveal Daisy’s fate and the dark secrets of Ashenvale Manor.] My back was instantly drenched in a cold sweat. My skin prickled with danger, but I didn’t dare take a single step back. Regardless of whatever nonsense these floating texts were spouting, if the players believed it, the more aggressive ones would attack me immediately to force the boss out. Under the circumstances, I decided to play dumb. I pretended I couldn’t see the text. “Is there anything else you want to ask? Blocking my stall affects my business,” I said, pushing the eyeball lilies toward Jude. The next second, the air whistled as a dagger flew straight toward the space between my eyes. The eyeball lilies were knocked out of my hand, scattering across the ground. It was too fast. At this distance, I couldn’t dodge. But at the critical moment, the dagger was deflected. It grazed my ear, slicing off a lock of my hair. The strand twirled in the air before drifting slowly to the ground. “Jude, are you insane?!” A player wearing glasses held his bruised wrist, his eyes wide with fury. “Didn’t you see that? Attacking this NPC will draw the boss out!” “He’s heavily injured right now. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance! If we kill him, this nightmare realm will collapse, and you…” Jude’s expression was freezing. “This is the anomaly world. Are you sure you want to trust random floating text?” “Besides.” Jude’s eyes swept over the crowd of anomalies gathering around us, drawn by the commotion. “If the boss actually shows up now, do you think any of us are walking out of here alive?” The players looked at one another, and no one dared to speak. “My apologies. I won’t be taking the flowers,” Jude said, leaving double the payment on the counter. He turned and walked away, but some of the players still weren’t ready to let it go. The guy with the glasses was breathing heavily, glaring at me with raw resentment. A kind-hearted player pulled his arm. “Let’s go. Jude already left.” I gathered the scattered eyeball lilies from the ground. With a little dusting, they could still be sold. One batch of flowers, three payments. With that happy thought, I offered the glasses-wearing player a friendly smile. He froze, his eyes filling with sudden terror, and his entire body began to shake. Without waiting for his companion to urge him again, he spun around and bolted, running as if a demon were snapping at his heels. Huh? I looked behind me. There was no one there. Was my face really that terrifying? 04 Once the players left, the curious anomalies dispersed. Over the years, anomalies and players had maintained a tense but mostly peaceful coexistence outside of active trials. The taco vendor next door kindly helped me set up the potted plant the players had knocked over. “Those players are losing their minds,” he muttered. “Broad daylight, and they just start attacking you?” As he spoke, lines of text kept floating past, but the vendor didn’t seem to notice. It seemed only the players and I could see them. Being special is rarely a good thing. I had long outgrown the age of thinking I was the chosen protagonist of some grand story. I just wanted to run my shop peacefully, save up a fortune, and retire early. [Jude’s strategic retreat is brilliant. He pretends to argue and leave, but he’s actually watching from the shadows.] [If the boss comes to buy flowers tonight, he’s walking straight into a trap.] [What if the boss doesn’t show up?] [Trust me, that lovesick fool would crawl here like a caterpillar even if he lost all his limbs.] … I looked back at the yellow roses in my storage. Whether the rumors of his crush were true or not, the yellow roses were a hard sell, and I was close to losing money on them. So, I decided to pitch yellow roses to every anomaly who stopped by. Which one of them was the boss anyway? The rest of the day passed without incident. Night fell, and a light drizzle began to patter against the pavement. I organized my stock and cleaned up, preparing to head home early. The moment I reached for the light switch, the text in the air suddenly spiked in volume. I instinctively looked outside. “Can I still order flowers?” A man stood under an umbrella, tilting his head slightly to look at me. He really was remarkably handsome. “Of course! I have a special offer on eyeball lilies today. They’re visually stunning and edible, our best seller. Want to take a look?” He paused, his ears turning slightly red. “No, thank you.” “I would like a bouquet of yellow roses, please. Do you have any left?” The text was scrolling at lightning speed now. [Is the boss really injured? He looks completely fine.] [What if it’s bait? Maybe he leaked the injury rumor just to wipe out the top players in one go.] [Should we test him?] [If he isn’t hurt, anyone who tries to test him will be wiped out instantly.] … The sound of rustling leaves came from the trees nearby. Several players dropped down from the branches. Jude looked toward the flower shop with a complicated expression. “Jude, should we…” “Fall back for now.” I brought out a bundle of yellow roses from the back. As I arranged them, I couldn’t help but think how handsome this customer was. Wait, what did he look like again? I quietly sneaked another glance at him. Seeing this, the boss stood a little straighter. [If I counted correctly, that’s the seventeenth time she’s sneaked a peek at him. She gets starstruck every time, then immediately forgets his face.] [Look at him, his face is completely red. He’ll probably claim it’s just warm out.] [He’s probably already picked out names for their future children.] … I wrapped the roses and handed them over. “The girl I like is very fond of yellow roses,” he said, looking into my eyes. “I bought a bouquet yesterday too. Do you remember?” I shook my head. He seemed slightly disappointed, his eyelids drooping, casting long shadows with his lashes. “Silas. That is my name. Next time, will you remember it?” The customer is always right. I agreed. “I will.” As the strongest entity in this realm, I supposed I should technically call Silas my master. Before he left, I decided to offer a small warning. “Um, please be careful lately.” Silas’s eyes lit up instantly. “I will.” Once the transaction was over, I closed the shutter and caught the last train home. Back at the flower shop, the dark mist slowly coalesced into a human figure. Silas stood in the shadows, staring in the direction my train had gone. He pressed a hand to his chest, a trickle of dark blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. Hearing a faint rustle in the dark, he raised his hand, and countless black tentacles erupted from his shadow. The player who had been tailing him from the trees was dragged out. Before he could even scream, his neck was snapped.
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