Chapter 12

Chapter 12

“Little Red Riding Hood, isn’t the Red Hoodie your favorite?! Hurry up and try it on!” “Little Red Riding Hood, if you don’t open the door, Mommy’s coming in!”

Wei Sen pulled the blanket over her head. Not because she was scared, but because-

It was so damn noisy! She just wanted to sleep in peace!

Wei Sen had locked the door behind her when she entered, so after making a commotion outside for a while, the thing at the door eventually slunk away.

After that, everything returned to normal, and Wei Sen finally got a good night’s sleep.

Early the next morning, Wei Sen woke groggily to a sweet, fragrant smell.

She sat up in bed. Sunlight poured brightly through the window, and the melodious chirping of birds drifted in from outside. Downstairs, she could hear Mother bustling around in the kitchen.

Everything was so peaceful and serene that it didn’t feel like she was in the Eerie World at all.

She went to the bathroom to wash up and use the toilet. Once she was done, she did not hurry downstairs. Instead, she began searching the upper floor first.

There were no useful clues in the bathroom or the hallway. She had learned last night that Mother’s room was off-limits; otherwise, Mother would enter a Berserk State.

The only place she could explore was Little Red Riding Hood’s room.

Wei Sen searched around and found a small booklet made of parchment in the desk drawer.

The handwriting inside…

Was it her own handwriting?!

Why would there be words she had written here?

And why were these hints written so clearly?

[1. There is no livestock raised at home. Do not eat any meat dishes Mother makes!

2. Mother uses madder juice and Blood-red Grass to dye the Red Hoodie. Madder is not poisonous, but Blood-red Grass is highly toxic! You must find a way to determine the source of the Red Hoodie’s color!

3. The key to the basement is in Mother’s room. So far, no way has been found to enter Mother’s room safely.]

Wei Sen picked up the quill on the desk and added a fourth rule beneath the third:

[4. The apple pie Mother makes is poisonous. Do not eat it.]

The handwriting of the fourth line was identical to the first three, without the slightest sense of mismatch. Judging from the color of the ink, the first three hints had not been written at the same time either.

Before her, other versions of “herself” had also made it this far, so they had deliberately left these hints in the room!

Then where had those other “herselves” gone?

Only because the previous “herselves” had failed to clear the instance had she reached this point again. In other words, all those people before her had… died.

Perhaps the people who had written these words included the owners of those corpses she had seen in the Hunter’s Room.

Wei Sen closed the Sheepskin Booklet.

Just how many versions of “herself” existed in this world?

Every time she died, she would come back to life, but she would lose her previous memories and start exploring all over again.

Why was this happening?

When she had first woken up, the System had clearly said that if she failed to clear the instance, her body in the real world would become brain-dead.

If her death did not count as failing the instance, then what exactly counted as failure?

“Little Red Riding Hood, come enjoy your delicious breakfast,” Mother’s voice called from downstairs.

Wei Sen went to the dining room. First, she glanced at the clock in the living room. It was now seven thirty in the morning. In less than half an hour, she would face the danger of falling into a Chaos State!

On the dining table sat a freshly baked apple pie, roasted ham rich with the aroma of meat, and a vegetable salad.

Mother held the Red Hoodie in both hands and offered it to Wei Sen. “Hurry and try on your new clothes.”

Wei Sen stared at the brightly colored Red Hoodie. Thank goodness it had not been finished last night. Otherwise, putting it on directly would have been extremely dangerous, because she had no idea whether it had been dyed red with madder juice or Blood-red Grass.

If this garment had been dyed with Blood-red Grass juice, then wearing it would mean certain death.

But if she refused to put on the Red Hoodie, then in half an hour, she would fall into a Chaos State anyway.

So how was she supposed to tell madder juice and Blood-red Grass apart?

Wei Sen looked at the clothing in thought.

Perhaps her approach had been wrong from the very beginning.

She could not distinguish madder from Blood-red Grass, but Mother definitely could.

If the player was truly Little Red Riding Hood, then the Red Hoodie Mother gave her had to be nonpoisonous!

Because if the Red Hoodie Mother gave her was poisonous, then Little Red Riding Hood would die before she could even leave this house. In that case, for the grandmother player, Little Red Riding Hood would never appear that day.

That would break the balance of the Eerie World’s rules.
Little Red Riding Hood’s identity rules said she could trust Mother absolutely. But right now, Wei Sen was not yet the Little Red Riding Hood recognized by the Eerie World, so she could not trust Mother completely.

This Red Hoodie could not be worn for the time being!

“Thank you, Mother. I’ll eat first. I’ll put the clothes on later, when I go to Grandmother’s house.”

As Wei Sen spoke, she knew she had to buy as much time as possible to determine whether this Red Hoodie was safe.

Mother’s gaze darkened a shade. “You don’t like the clothes Mother knitted for you?” she asked.

“Of course I do. It’s precisely because I like them so much that I can’t bear to wear them while eating. It would be terrible if I got them dirty,” Wei Sen explained.

Mother glanced at the lavish dining table, then walked over to the sofa and folded the Red Hoodie neatly on it. “All right. Then before you go to Grandmother’s house, you must remember to put it on.”

“Mm.”

Wei Sen and Mother sat down at the dining table.

Mother sliced off piece after piece of fragrant ham and placed them on Wei Sen’s plate.

“Try it. Your favorite ham.” Mother curved her lips into a faint smile, but her eyes carried a hint of scrutiny.

The hint in the Sheepskin Booklet said: There is no livestock raised at home. Do not eat any meat dishes made by Mother!

She could not eat this ham!

She could not eat the apple pie on the table either.

The vegetable salad had not been mentioned specifically, so it should be fine.

“Mother, I’m trying to lose weight lately. I can’t eat sweets or greasy food.” As Wei Sen spoke, she pulled the vegetable salad over.

“But this ham really is delicious. Have a taste.” Mother’s smile did not fade as she continued urging her.

Wei Sen looked at the sizzling, oily ham. Whether by smell or appearance, it was extremely tempting.

But just as the hint said, Mother did not raise any livestock at all. There was no town or butcher anywhere nearby either, so where had the meat Mother used to make the ham come from?

If she ate it, the lighter consequence might be Mental Pollution; the heavier one might be being poisoned to death on the spot.

Wei Sen suppressed her appetite and refused again. “Mother, I’m losing weight.”

Mother’s expression visibly turned sinister. She turned her head away, lowered it, and began eating the ham.

She stuffed slice after slice into her mouth and chewed in great bites. Grease ran down the corners of her mouth, but she did not care in the slightest.

Wei Sen picked up the vegetable salad and started eating.

It was bitter, and the texture was not very fresh.

Fortunately, after eating it, nothing felt wrong with her body. It could at least fill her stomach for now.

As Wei Sen ate the salad, she studied the stone door that looked completely out of place in the dining room.

She looked around. This was the only place most likely to lead to the basement.

The previous versions of “herself” had all failed to enter the basement, so she had no idea what was inside.

But the more dangerous a place was, perhaps the more likely it was to contain something useful.

“Mother, what’s behind this door?” Wei Sen asked.

At that, Mother, who had been feasting, turned her head and stared straight at her. Her greasy mouth opened and closed. “The basement! It’s a very dangerous place. You must stay away from it.”

“Mm, all right.”

Only after hearing that satisfactory answer did Mother’s expression ease slightly, and she lowered her head to continue eating.

Wei Sen looked at the stone door. It needed a key to open, but the key was in Mother’s room. She could only search Mother’s room when Mother was not there.

But under what circumstances would Mother leave the house?

Wei Sen’s gaze fell on the spinning wheel in the living room.

After the meal, Mother took the dishes back to the kitchen. When the sound of running water came from inside, Wei Sen went to the cupboard, chose a round glass, and poured herself a cup of water.

After taking a sip, she casually placed the glass of water on the wooden table in the living room, then turned and went back to her room.

Before long, Mother’s scream came from downstairs.

“Oh God! How did it catch fire? Little Red Riding Hood!”

In the second-floor hallway, Wei Sen stood calmly in place.

She heard Mother’s voice, and the corners of her mouth curved into a cold smile.

The reason the fire had started was that the round glass filled with water had become a convex lens, focusing the sunlight from outside the window right onto the thread of the spinning wheel in the living room. The dry thread was quickly ignited, and the spinning wheel became the source of the fire.

She had deliberately placed the glass on the cupboard for precisely this situation.

Only this way would she have a chance to enter Mother’s room!