Hacking the Game Didn't Go as Intended

CHAPTER 188: The Mysterious Hunger

Fay and Silvestia craned their necks forward.

The wind sounded almost like a high soprano voice as they stood at the edge of the Luminal Obelisk, the highest point in Lunarel. The balcony, wide and open, offered an unobstructed view of the royal capital below.

Their gazes swept over the sprawling city, the shimmering canals tracing patterns like veins of blue across the landscape. Beyond the city, the distant snow-capped mountains loomed.

Fay's breath caught in her chest as she looked out, her heart filled with a mix of awe and disbelief. The city spread before them like a dream, its marble-paved streets teeming with life, the vibrant rooftops standing in perfect harmony.

"It's... breathtaking," Fay whispered, her voice barely audible over the wind as she watched the gondolas drifting lazily across the central lake.

Silvestia nodded, her eyes reflecting the beauty that surrounded them. "It is, isn't it? With everything that's been going on, sometimes it's easy to forget just how magnificent Lunarel is."

Fay's fingers tightened around the stone railing as she recalled the struggles she endured upon first entering the city. "...It feels almost unreal."

"It does, doesn't it? But it's real, all of it. This is Lunarel, the heart of our kingdom. It definitely needs some work, but this is our home."

They stood in silence for a moment, the vastness of the city wrapping around them, its beauty as endless as the sky above. Fay couldn't help but feel a pang of longing, her thoughts drifting to the life she once knew—a simpler life, where nothing seemed so grand or unreachable.

Yet, standing there with Silvestia beside her, she couldn't shake the feeling that maybe, just maybe—despite everything she had been through in the beginning—that her place was here, too.

Without a word, Fay pulled back her hood. Time seemed to slow as Silvestia took in her features with wide eyes. Her straight, shoulder-length pink hair framed her delicate face, the strands catching the light with a silken luster. Crimson-red eyes, striking and deep, held an almost hypnotic allure, their intensity softened by the innocence in her gaze. Just beneath her right eye, a small mole added a touch of elegance, subtly accentuating her spellbinding beauty. Her features were refined—far too mature and graceful for her age—yet there remained a youthful charm in the gentle roundness of her cheeks and the natural pout of her lips.

"Kuaaagh!" Silvestia fell on all fours with a pained yelp as an arrow embedded with the words 'ugly in comparison' struck her poor heart. "I-I can't believe that face is what you've been hiding underneath your hood all this time!"

"Si-Silvie!" Fay exclaimed worrisomely, reaching down to assist the girl.

"Ohh?" Silvestia said with an ominous smile, a single eye flashing like a laser beam. "So, we're on a nickname basis now, huh?"

Fay cringed back, the cowlick atop her head morphing into a stiff exclamation sign.

"I'm just kidding, Fee-Fee," Silvestia grinned mischievously. "Silvie is fine. Loosen up a bit."

Fay let out a long sigh, her cheeks puffing out like a balloon. "You can be such a meanie sometimes."

"Pff," Silvestia snickered, her amusement growing until it spilled into a full, infectious laugh.

Fay frowned at her for a moment, but it didn't take long before the warmth of Silvestia's laughter spread to her and she couldn't help but smile, as well.

As the wind gusted, Fay held locks of hair behind her ear, her gaze drifting off into the distance again. "This place is incredible," she murmured. "I'm surprised we're the only ones here."