Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Ding~ Detected that the Host has entered a vegetative state due to a car accident.
The Host has been transported to the Eerie World Instance “Dark Fairy Tale.”
Instance difficulty: S-rank (player mortality rate for this Instance: 80%). (Instance difficulties, from highest to lowest: SSS/SS/S/A/B/C.)
Number of players in the Instance: Unknown.
Host’s current identity: Grandma.
If the Host successfully clears the Instance, you will obtain this System and return to the real world.
If you fail to clear it, the Host will suffer immediate brain death.
(Although the Host is rather unlucky to draw an S-rank Instance on your very first try, please still cherish this chance to survive!) ///
Wei Sen stared at herself in the mirror: a hunched body, graying hair, sagging eyes, wrinkles deep as ravines, and withered hands covered in brown age spots…
She could not remember how the car accident had happened, but she did remember that she was a college student in the prime of youth, not the weathered old woman in the mirror!
Wei Sen looked around. The window was sealed with a massive iron lock. Outside stretched a dark, oppressive forest. The sky was dim and yellow; night was about to fall.
Four yellow candles burned quietly on the candelabrum, yet the room remained gloomy.
The furnishings were simple: an old-fashioned wooden bed, dark brown tables and chairs, and a Persian rug with intricate patterns.
This was not her world! She had to go back. She had to!
There was someone very important waiting for her in the real world!
“What kind of System are you? What do you do?” Wei Sen asked the System in her mind.
The mechanical electronic voice sounded in her mind again: /// The Host currently has no authority to know more! ///
“…” Wei Sen’s face remained expressionless. She was not particularly interested in this mysterious System.
But since all of this had already happened, if she wanted to return to the real world, her only choice was to clear the Instance as the System had said.
“How do I clear it?” Wei Sen asked.
/// The Host must explore on your own! In consideration of the Host being a complete newcomer, the System will provide Newbie Hints at irregular intervals!
(Newbie Hint) Current Story Exploration Progress: 1%! ///
“…”
She understood now. This System was basically decoration!
Once she confirmed that, Wei Sen began thinking seriously. The more dangerous the situation, the less she could sit around waiting to die. Only by taking the initiative could she grasp a slim chance of survival.
With that thought, she picked up the candelabrum, intending to use its light to search the room for clues to clearing the Instance.
Only after removing a candle did she discover that the wax was an uncanny yellowish-brown. Inside it was a broken piece of a human’s red fingernail.
Wei Sen looked at her own nails and saw that they were the exact same color as the broken nail embedded in the candle.
These candles were made from human fat!
It should have been something strange and terrifying, but Wei Sen’s heart remained utterly calm, without the slightest ripple.
It seemed the car accident had not only taken part of her memory, but also some of the emotional perception that belonged to a normal human being.
Wei Sen did not dwell on it. Perhaps as long as she returned to reality safely, everything would go back to normal.
With that in mind, she continued searching.
At present, she had too few clues. All she knew was that her identity was “Grandma,” and this place was the world of “Dark Fairy Tale.” Everything else was unknown.
Since this Instance could be cleared, then there had to be some sort of hint.
Wei Sen searched the bedroom carefully. In a desk drawer, she found a yellowed sheet of paper. The handwriting was messy, as if it had been scrawled in charcoal in a hurry.
“Grandma Identity Rules:
1. Please remember: you are Little Red Riding Hood’s beloved grandma. You must never doubt your own identity!
2. There are Big Bad Wolves in the forest. They must eat one person every night before they leave!
3. Do not trust the mirror. Mirrors lie!
4. Little Red Riding Hood likes to play games. You may not refuse to play with her! Otherwise, you will instantly enter a Chaos State!
5. Little Red Riding Hood is very fond of her Red Hoodie. She will not take it off on her own, and you must never try to force it off her! Otherwise, you will enter a Chaos State!
6. Remember: you have always lived alone!
7. Little Red Riding Hood will come every day to bring Grandma food. Please do not shut her out! And do not harm her! Otherwise, you will enter a Chaos State!
8. If you discover blue flowers in front of your door, you must not remain inside the room that night! Blue will attract the Big Bad Wolf, but hiding outside the house gives you a 1% chance of survival!”
“What does Chaos State mean?” Wei Sen asked the System.
/// Your mental power is eroded by an Eerie Entity, leaving you permanently lost. ///
Wei Sen looked at the note in her hand and fell into brief thought.
For now, she knew that she was in the story world of Little Red Riding Hood, and she was the unlucky grandma whose original ending was to be eaten by the Big Bad Wolf.
Rule Two said there were Big Bad Wolves in the forest, and they had to eat one person every night before they would leave.
But she lived alone. So who were the Big Bad Wolves supposed to eat?
According to Rule Eight, if there were blue flowers outside the door, hiding outside the room at night would instead give her a 1% chance of survival.
Then, if she was the only person here, did that mean her only hope was to find blue flowers at the door and bet everything on that 1% survival rate by hiding outside for the night?
And then there was Rule Three: Do not trust the mirror. The mirror lies.
Wei Sen looked toward the full-length bronze mirror. Reflected in it was herself, transformed into an old woman.
But mirrors did not speak. So how could it lie?
As she thought, her fingertips brushed over the back of the note and felt faint, uneven grooves.
She held it up to the candlelight and examined the back carefully. The words had been carved into the paper by someone’s fingernails.
But like this, there was no way to tell what had been written.
Wei Sen set down the candlestick, found the remaining half of a charcoal pencil in the drawer, scraped it into powder with the blade of a pair of scissors, then used the ends of her hair as a brush to gently sweep the charcoal dust across the back of the note. Finally, she shook off the excess powder, and several crooked words emerged-
[Do not trust Little Red Riding Hood!]
Rule Six said Grandmother had always lived alone. Then who had left this hidden message?
And could this message be trusted?
Still, since this was Dark Fairy Tale, she had never expected Little Red Riding Hood to be a good person in the first place.
If the story followed the fairy tale’s plot, Little Red Riding Hood would come to visit her sooner or later.
With that thought, Wei Sen put away the Identity Rules.
There were no more clues in the bedroom, so Wei Sen picked up the candlestick and opened the bedroom door.
Outside was a narrow wooden staircase. Down the stairs was the first-floor living room.
The living room had only one window, and it too was locked shut with iron chains.
Flames burned in the hearth. An empty recliner creaked back and forth on its own. And in the center of the living room, a corpse hung beneath the crossbeam, a hemp rope looped around its neck.
A chill ran down Wei Sen’s spine. Holding the candlestick, she slowly approached the body.
The rules said Grandmother had always lived alone!
Then who was this hanged person in the house?!
Wei Sen drew closer. The candlelight fell across the corpse’s bluish-purple face. Her hand trembled slightly, and a drop of scalding wax fell onto the back of her hand.
The hanged person was her?!
No. More precisely, the hanged person looked exactly like her!
Wait. If the dead woman was the true owner of this house, Little Red Riding Hood’s real grandmother, then who was she?
Damn it! Rule One: Never question your own identity!
Right! Right now, she was Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother. As for the hanged woman, even if she looked exactly like her, she was nothing more than a breathless corpse!
Wei Sen found a chair and the scissors, then cut the hemp rope and lowered the body down.
She had to dispose of this corpse. If she left it here, it would definitely interfere with her perception.
The moment she began doubting the authenticity of her identity as “Grandmother,” the unspeakable power of the Eerie World would start eroding her sanity!
Rule Two: There were Big Bad Wolves in the forest, and they had to eat one person every night before they would leave!
Perfect. Wasn’t this ready-made food?
It took Wei Sen every ounce of strength she had to drag the corpse outside the door.
By then, dusk was falling. Crows cried one after another from within the forest, and the air carried a faint, rotten stench.
After throwing the corpse outside, Wei Sen quickly returned indoors and locked the door tight.
This house had pitifully few windows, and every single one was sealed with heavy locks. That was more than enough proof of how dangerous the forest was. For now, the safest choice was definitely to stay hidden inside the house and not go out!
Knock, knock, knock!
Wei Sen had just turned around when a knocking sounded from outside the door.
Knock, knock, knock!
Rule Seven: Little Red Riding Hood will bring food to Grandmother every day. Please do not shut her out.
Wei Sen quickly swept her gaze around the room. She had not seen any food in the house, which meant Little Red Riding Hood had not come by today.
But was it really Little Red Riding Hood outside?
She lived alone, but what kind of people lived in this forest?
By now, the sky had gone completely dark. The room was enveloped in the firelight from the hearth, while beyond the glass window, dark shadows loomed, their outlines twisted and distorted. They did not look like the shadows of leaves.
Wei Sen gripped the scissors and walked to the door, but she was in no hurry to open it.
She had to confirm whether the person outside was Little Red Riding Hood. If it was Little Red Riding Hood, then only by opening the door would she avoid breaking the rules.
If it was not Little Red Riding Hood, then she would have to take other measures.
She raised the sharp scissors. The keen blades gleamed with a cold, ghostly light.