The Sword NPC Woke Up

Bai Bei woke inside a sword and felt the weight of every hand that had ever used her. One young wielder held her now, and his footwork was already bending toward the same fatal mistake that had killed the others. She could feel the tiny slips in his grip, the way he rushed the turn, the way he smiled when he should have stayed alert. That made her care even as she feared him. A cracked rice ration tag, wrapped in cloth, tied her to a life she did not choose. Then a long-absent classmate returned with a child’s drawing of a house Bai Bei had never entered, yet her family clearly knew. The drawing pulled at memories she could not fully trust. She had to decide whether to guide the boy or break...