Chapter 32

【Is the prince questioning his entire existence now? Why wasn’t the streamer enchanted by him, and instead just asked about his abilities?】

【Seriously though, why wasn’t the streamer charmed? Judging by everyone else’s reactions, it seems like this prince has some kind of enchantment trait.】

【Prince: I thought you’d confess to me. Why are you only interested in my hacks?】

Very few people had ever approached a dungeon NPC like Shi Jian just did—directly asking about their abilities. Even the audience felt their horizons had been broadened.

No one had really looked into this before, but now curiosity was piqued.

【Maybe the prince just hasn’t directed his charm at the streamer yet—that’s why she wasn’t affected?】

The prince did seem shaken, which showed in how his smile didn’t change, but he stayed silent for a moment.

Then he shook his head and told Shi Jian, “Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Shi Jian nodded perfunctorily. “Yeah, yeah, sure.”

Clearly didn’t believe it.

Shi Jian definitely didn’t buy that the prince didn’t understand. This was just like when certain celebrities secretly get plastic surgery and then give the standard PR response when asked by reporters—

“What are you saying? I don’t know what you mean. I’ve never had work done, I was born with natural beauty.”

Treating everyone like they’re idiots. And honestly, the audience and reporters kind of do treat them that way in return.

Shi Jian always wanted to roast them in situations like this: Bro, your face is puffed up like a steamed bun, your skin’s shinier than a pig demon, and your smile-lift makes even your crying face look like it’s grinning—who do you think you’re fooling?

Now it was this buffed-up prince, and Shi Jian was thinking: As if we didn’t notice the special lighting, background music, and how a single smile makes people lose control?

The prince ignored her sarcasm. He took a step closer to Shi Jian, his golden eyes gazing at her with a rippling softness, and in a gentle tone, he said, “Will you try on the glass slipper for me?”

The prince bent slightly at the waist toward her, his face framed with a smile meant to make any girl’s heart race. At some point, he had already taken out the crystal shoe and was holding it in his hand.

Glass slipper alert!

The prince had officially invited Shi Jian to try it on.

Everyone present—streamers and viewers alike—froze: !

They had just witnessed how that shoe could slice off part of someone’s heel. It was obviously dangerous. But just now, the prince had only looked at the curly-haired girl and she nearly walked over in a trance.

And now Shi Jian was directly facing him.

Would she fall under his spell and put on the glass slipper?

The curly-haired girl instantly panicked like an ant on a hot pan. Shi Jian had just saved her—if Shi Jian agreed, she planned to grab and stop her.

But before she could move, a loud and clear refusal rang out.

Shi Jian stared at the glass slipper with a complicated expression and answered decisively, “No!” She refused—don’t even think about it.

Even though the shoe had been cleaned, there were still faint bloodstains at the edges.

The prince, still holding the slipper out, clearly didn’t expect to be rejected. He couldn’t hide his surprise. “...Why?” Why won’t you?

Shi Jian looked even more baffled. With arms crossed, she replied silently with her expression: You seriously have to ask?“I just don’t want to. Also, are we even close?”

Shi Jian didn’t get it—Brother, are we close, bro?

Even setting aside the fact that thing could slice her foot open, Shi Jian absolutely wasn’t about to agree to some random man telling her to wear a shoe.

The prince fell into deep thought: Could it be… my charm has failed?!

He was sure he had just directed his charm at Shi Jian. But why could she stay so clear-headed? The prince was now doubting whether there was a problem with his skill.

However, when the prince shifted his gaze to the others around him, he was met with immediate, enthusiastic responses.

“Ahhh, Prince, I love you!”

The prince’s uneasy heart finally settled: Good. My charm still works.

So the problem had to be with the woman standing in front of him.

Shi Jian had flat-out refused, and she very clearly wanted the glass slipper to stay the hell away from her. Don’t come near me! This flashy, pay-to-win pretty boy prince better not be shameless enough to try and force her, right?

Turns out, the prince wouldn’t—but his diehard fans, his royal guard, sure would.

“You dare reject our noble prince?!”

“Insolent commoner! His Highness granted you the honor of trying on the glass slipper, and you have the audacity to refuse? Do you even know what’s good for you?”

One of the guards, seemingly their leader, was already furious. He drew his sword and pointed the gleaming blade straight at Shi Jian.

Judging by the look on his face, if she didn’t give him a “reasonable” explanation, he’d avenge his prince on the spot—by stabbing Shi Jian through.

The prince looked at his guard, then at Shi Jian, troubled expression on his face—but he made no move to stop it.

Now, after rejecting the invitation to wear the glass slipper, Shi Jian was once again faced with a test—this time a deadly one.

Question: Why did you refuse the prince’s glass slipper?

Examiner: The prince’s royal guard

Candidate: Shi Jian

Penalty for failure: A sword through the chest.

Shi Jian: “……”

Even the curly-haired girl was frightened by how fast the situation escalated, but she tried to give Shi Jian a bit of confidence. She whispered close to her, “I exchanged points for a gun. They’ve got cold weapons, we’ve got heat. If it comes to it, I’ll shoot. We’ll see which is faster—the bullet or his sword.”

Boss, the times have changed!

But Shi Jian didn’t feel any more confident—she was already numb. She pointed at the guard’s sword and motioned for the curly-haired girl to look. “...I think the sword’s faster.”

Just now, the sword that had looked sharp but otherwise normal suddenly morphed at the tip into a gaping bloody mouth—full of metal fangs, chomping up and down with a ka-cha ka-cha sound.

The curly-haired girl: “……” Yeah, agreed. That’s not a cold weapon. That’s magic. The gun can pack up before it even gets to come out.

“Why is everything on this ship growing a mouth full of teeth?!”

Shi Jian didn’t have the energy to respond anymore. She had to come up with an answer fast. The guard was still staring her down, waiting.

Shi Jian tentatively opened her mouth and said, “I don’t like glass slippers. I just like my own shoes.”The guard didn’t say a word, but he moved that gaping-mouthed sword a little closer to Shi Jian.

Shi Jian hurriedly took two steps back.

That answer didn’t work.

Her Barbie pink heels clearly weren’t convincing. Shi Jian was helpless—were they really so ugly even the NPCs couldn’t stand to look at them?!

She felt like she was running out of options. Staring at the pair of crystal heels, she spoke with conviction: “These shoes have been worn by a lot of people already. I’m afraid I’ll catch athlete’s foot.”

…

Quite a few people had tried them on just now.

【HAHAHAHA athlete’s foot, what the hell?】

【But honestly, very likely. I saw a lot of people try those crystal shoes. There’s only one pair. You really could catch something. (doge emoji)】

【Athlete’s foot, aka tinea pedis, is a fungal infection. Highly contagious. PS: quoted from literature for science, you’re welcome.】

【Oh my god, my feet are already starting to itch just hearing that.】

【I can never look at those crystal shoes the same way again.】

After Shi Jian said she was afraid of catching athlete’s foot, everyone’s attention—both on-site and in the livestream—instinctively shifted to the prince’s crystal shoes.

Aside from their fairy tale origin and horror-foot-slicing feature, the crystal shoes had now gained a brand-new attribute—

Contagious fungal disease carrier.

The prince suddenly felt like the shoes in his hand had become burning hot. He really didn’t want to be holding them anymore. Even the guard was convinced by Shi Jian’s reasoning. He looked at the shoes with concern and hesitantly warned:

“Your Highness, athlete’s foot can apparently spread to your hands too.”

The prince took a deep breath. “Don’t say another word—”

He tossed the crystal shoes to the guard. Even though he tried hard to maintain composure, it was obvious he couldn’t wait to get rid of them.

When the prince turned back to Shi Jian, his face wore that same perfect smile mask. “You’re very funny. I, Panpan, would like to invite you to be my dance partner.”

Shi Jian: Thank god he didn’t say ‘You’re so interesting, you’ve caught my attention.’ Otherwise, no matter how professional I am, I would’ve died from cringe.

She didn’t refuse—because she couldn’t.

The entire royal guard had drawn their swords, and all those blades with gaping, toothed mouths were pointed directly at her.

How was she supposed to refuse?

The other streamers, watching the scene unfold, began making new guesses. After the prince turned and left, they gathered around her, talking over each other.

“Are you the Cinderella?”

“I mean, they never said Cinderella couldn’t be a streamer, right?”

Their speculation became more and more excited. After all, Shi Jian had just been personally invited by the prince to be his partner—if that wasn’t main character treatment, what was?

After all the chattering, Shi Jian was drained, but she still asked, “Do I really look like her?”

After the chaotic ballroom ordeal, nearly none of the streamers looked decent anymore. Some had burn marks on their masks and limped as they walked. The luckier ones still looked disheveled, like they’d just been fished out of water, faces streaked with soot.

Only Shi Jian was different.

She still dazzled. Her hair was slightly tousled, but even that messiness carried a kind of effortless beauty, like it had been styled that way on purpose.The streamers all shook their heads—Shi Jian really didn’t resemble Cinderella at all.

Even though they didn’t know what Shi Jian did for a living in the real world, it was obvious she was someone at the center of the world’s attention, a favorite of fate itself. She looked like Nuwa had spent an extra long time crafting her by hand.

Shi Jian was actually thinking too—if she was Cinderella, then maybe...

Shi Jian looked up at the air and said, “I declare, I’m very happy right now. Can I clear the stage now?”

Livestream viewers: What a little smartass you are.

Turned out, nothing happened.

“Why don’t you just try on the crystal shoe?”

Everyone had stopped chatting by now, trying to calm their nerves, savoring the rare peace after surviving a brush with death. Some streamers were still racking their brains, trying to figure out how to clear this dungeon.

If this trap-filled ballroom ordeal happened once a day—or worse, multiple times a day—no one had the stamina to handle it. Plus, the prince’s charm ability was disturbingly odd.

But there’s always someone ready to stir the pot, breaking the calm.

It was Wang Biao who said that. His leg was badly burned—everything except some necessary cloth was scorched away, and the skin underneath was black and charred like coal. Even though he had used some expensive healing pills and ointments, his leg was still in agonizing pain.

Wang Biao’s face twisted from the effort of holding back the pain. His already unpleasant features looked even more lecherous now. Fueled by the logic of “if I’m suffering, Shi Jian shouldn’t get to relax either,” he aimed his words at her again: “Just try it on. Then we’ll know if you’re Cinderella. I bet all the other streamers here want to know the truth too, right?”

He was clearly trying to sway public opinion, pressuring Shi Jian by dragging everyone else in.

But his little scheme failed. The curly-haired girl’s group immediately jumped in to scold him.

“Are you trying to stir up drama?”

“So disgusting.”

None of the other streamers fell for Wang Biao’s manipulation either. Everyone knew—those crystal shoes were clearly a trap. No one in their right mind would put them on.

Shi Jian glanced at Wang Biao’s injury and felt like the burn wasn’t nearly bad enough. She immediately called over the prince’s guard squad—the prince may have left, but his guards hadn’t all retreated.

Shi Jian reported, “Your prince didn’t force me to wear the crystal shoe, but this guy is trying to make me do it.”

She pointed right at Wang Biao with her slender finger.

The prince’s ultra-loyal guard squad all turned their gazes to Wang Biao in unison, their expressions hostile. “What the hell are you supposed to be?”

Wang Biao: “……”

…

Shi Jian didn’t care what Wang Biao was going through. Whatever he suffered, he brought it on himself. Meanwhile, Shi Jian had now been assigned two handmaidens—one called Xiao Lan, and the other Xiao Jia.

They had been sent to help her dress and style herself.

This reminded Shi Jian of Xiao Hua—she thought the dungeon's naming process was truly half-assed.

Xiao Lan and Xiao Jia didn’t just show up alone—they brought tons of jewelry, dresses, and accessories. Unsurprisingly, they were both diehard fans of the prince, constantly showering him with praise. When they learned Shi Jian had been chosen as his dance partner, they couldn’t even hide their jealousy.

Xiao Lan gushed, “Our prince is absolutely perfect. His intelligence is unparalleled, and he’s incredibly well-educated…”

Shi Jian, studying her reflection and comparing which jewel suited her better, nodded and replied, “Mm, yeah, just… doesn’t really show. I mean, anyone with half a brain wouldn’t believe that whoever fits a shoe must be their true love.”

“What if the one who fits it is a man? Or an animal?”Shi Jian felt like even monsters were a possibility—Tentacle Mama’s tentacles could definitely be stuffed into the crystal shoe.

Xiao Lan: “……”

Xiao Jia followed up, “No one could not love the prince. You just don’t understand him well enough!” Insert 800-character-long essay of sycophantic praise.

Xiao Jia added, “I’m so jealous you get to dance with the prince. You’re so lucky.”

Shi Jian clipped on a pair of diamond earrings. The diamonds sparkled, but they were still outshined by her striking features. She rested her cheek on her hand, looking into the mirror with a sigh, “You should envy your prince too—he gets to dance with Shi Jian. He’s the lucky one.”