Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Ding~ Congratulations, Host, you have fulfilled the Clearance Condition for Little Red Riding Hood!
Rewards: Merit Points +100, lifetime access to the System x1, return to reality x365
Host, please enjoy your 365-day vacation. During this time, the System will enter hibernation.
After 365 days, you will begin a new journey. Please make preparations in advance. ///
Wei Sen woke up in a hospital.
The first thing she saw was a pure white ceiling. The sharp smell of disinfectant gradually pulled her back to full awareness.
“Sensen!” an excited voice cried beside her.
Wei Sen turned toward the sound. It was a handsome, clean-cut young man who looked about twenty-four or twenty-five.
“Sensen, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me.” Noticing the strangeness in Wei Sen’s expression, the young man nervously took her hand.
Wei Sen felt exhausted. It was as if she did not even have the strength to sit up. Only with great difficulty did she manage to speak. “Where is this? Who are you?”
She had been inside an Instance in the Eerie World!
The Other Self had eaten the Poisoned Apple Pie, and then Wei Sen had completed Mother’s task and successfully cleared the Instance!
Before losing consciousness, she had clearly heard the System say that she had cleared it successfully and obtained lifetime access to the System, 365 days back in reality, and 100 Merit Points.
But she still had no idea what that System actually was! And now the System was in hibernation, completely impossible to wake.
And Merit Points. What were they? What were they for? She did not seem to notice anything unusual about herself.
What did the System mean when it said she would begin a new journey after 365 days?
Did that mean that one year from today, she would return to an Instance in the Eerie World?!
Wei Sen’s mind raced. The sunlight outside the window, the sound of traffic, the LCD television in the ward, everything clearly proved that she truly had returned to the real world!
The young man froze, his eyes trembling slightly. “Sensen, this is the hospital. I… I’m your boyfriend, Li Chang. You… don’t recognize me?”
Boyfriend. Li Chang?
Wei Sen tried hard to remember. Why did this name mean absolutely nothing to her?
Who was she?
What was her name?
Wei Sen suddenly realized something terrifying.
When she had been in the world of Dark Fairy Tale, she had never been able to remember anything from before. She had not even known her own name!
That was right… Who exactly was she?
“Sensen, it’s okay, it’s okay! People can temporarily lose their memories after a car accident, but they’ll come back soon!” Li Chang said while pressing the nurse call button at the head of the bed.
Wei Sen looked at the man before her.
His face was unfamiliar. His voice was also different from the voice she had heard in her haze.
She was certain that the person who said he would wait for her to come back in the real world was not the man in front of her!
The doctor and nurses arrived quickly. After giving Wei Sen a brief examination, the doctor said that memory loss caused by the impact of the car accident was normal, but they would need to run more tests before making a specific judgment.
…
“It’s all right. Even the doctor said this kind of situation is normal.”
At dusk, the setting sun spilled into the ward. Li Chang sat beside Wei Sen’s hospital bed, peeling an apple for her.
Wei Sen was already able to sit up.
According to Li Chang, she had been hit by a car that ran a red light while she was crossing the street.
Fortunately, her injuries were all minor. But perhaps because her head had struck the ground, she had remained unconscious for the past half month.
Li Chang also told her the details of her personal information.
Her name was Wei Sen. She was twenty-four years old this year and from Qiannan. Strangely, however, she had even forgotten how to speak the Qiannan dialect.
According to Li Chang, her parents favored sons over daughters, so her relationship with them had always been poor. After she started university, she had more or less cut off contact with her family.
She attended university in Jingdu. During university, she accepted Li Chang’s pursuit, and the two became boyfriend and girlfriend. Their relationship had always been very good.
After graduating from university, she had stayed in Jingdu to look for work. The day of the car accident happened to be her very first day at the job she had just found.
“Don’t worry. Your memory will come back sooner or later.” Li Chang handed the peeled apple to Wei Sen and flashed her a bright, easy smile.
“Thank you.” Wei Sen took the apple, only to instinctively think of the Poisoned Apple Pie her mother had made.
She tried taking a bite. A crisp, sweet flavor spread through her mouth.
This was the real world, not the Eerie World. She was Wei Sen, not Grandmother, and not Little Red Riding Hood!
She forced her thoughts back to reality.
She even began to wonder if everything that had happened in the Eerie World had been nothing more than a dream.
After all, that so-called System had shown no reaction at all. There was no evidence whatsoever to prove that everything she had experienced in the Eerie World had not been a dream.
Only after 365 days would she have an answer as to whether the Eerie World truly existed or had only been a dream.
“Sensen, if you can’t remember the past for now, then don’t force yourself.” Li Chang sat beside her, looking at her with eyes full of tenderness. “You can trust me completely. You don’t have to be afraid.”
Li Chang took her other hand.
Wei Sen felt the warmth of his palm, but her body instinctively rejected the touch.
Without showing it, she withdrew her hand and quietly ate the apple.
Strangely enough, it seemed she had only forgotten everything related to her identity. She still remembered everything else.
Li Chang still wore a smile, his voice gentle as he said, “It’s all right. I’ll stay with you until you remember everything from before. I believe there’s no way you could forget me, either.”
“Thank you,” Wei Sen said politely again.
A trace of bitterness flashed through Li Chang’s eyes. He took a silent, deep breath, then smiled once more. “Why are you thanking me, silly? We’re about to get married.”
“Married?” Wei Sen looked at him in confusion.
“The wedding is four months from now. You said the number 21011012 was symmetrical and easy to remember, perfect for a wedding anniversary.”
“2101…” The apple in Wei Sen’s hand suddenly rolled to the floor.
“Sensen, what’s wrong?!” Li Chang hurried forward in concern.
Wei Sen’s brow twitched faintly without her realizing it.
Wasn’t this year 2025?!
Although she couldn’t remember anything, there was one fragment in her mind that had to do with the year 2025.
As for what that memory was, it remained hazy and indistinct no matter how hard she tried to recall it. But that number, the year, she remembered with absolute clarity!
And…
She abruptly got up and walked to the window, looking outside.
The cars moving along the road, the tall buildings across the street, and the LCD television in the hospital room!
Wasn’t all of this exactly what 2025 looked like?
If it was as Li Chang said, and the current year was 2101, then… why did the world still look like this?
Something was wrong. What exactly was wrong?!
Wei Sen clutched her head, feeling as if the chaotic thoughts in her mind were about to burst apart.
“It’s okay! Stop thinking about it! Let’s not think about it anymore!” Li Chang pulled her tightly into his arms and kept comforting her. “You only just woke up. Don’t force yourself to remember. We have plenty of time. I’ll stay with you and help you get your memories back little by little.”
Wei Sen leaned against his chest, her mind in complete turmoil.
If she could never remember anything from before, would she still be the same person she used to be?
“Li Chang, is everything you said true?” Wei Sen lifted her head and looked at the person before her.
Li Chang’s eyes were gentle yet firm. “Of course. Sensen, don’t be afraid. I’ll always be here. Even if you can’t remember, it doesn’t matter. At worst, we’ll get to know each other again. We’ll start over, all right?”
Wei Sen took a deep breath and slowly looked out at the blood-red sunset beyond the window.
All she could do was start everything over again.