Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“Fake,” Wei Sen answered without hesitation.

Little Red Riding Hood giggled and split the apple pie in half. “Then I’ll verify it.”

With that, she stuffed the half of the apple pie in her hand into her mouth in huge bites.

Wei Sen only saw the apple pie quickly vanish beneath that red face.

After Little Red Riding Hood finished eating, she stood up and twirled once in front of Wei Sen. “Grandma, you guessed wrong!”

She stepped forward and held the other half of the apple pie out to Wei Sen, smiling. “Grandma, you should eat the rest.”

Wei Sen looked thoughtful and did not take the remaining half from Little Red Riding Hood for a long time.

“Grandma, hurry and eat it. Trust me,” Little Red Riding Hood said again.

“I won the game. I have the right to refuse.”

“I haven’t lost yet either…” Little Red Riding Hood suddenly choked on her words. Clutching her stomach, she dropped to her knees, her body beginning to convulse uncontrollably.

Wei Sen’s gaze sharpened. Little Red Riding Hood had known the apple pie was poisoned, yet she had still tried to trick her into eating the other half this way, even if it meant dragging them both down together!

Little Red Riding Hood’s body kept spasming in agony. Her eyes were fixed on the half of the apple pie that had fallen to the floor, and with difficulty, she forced out the words, “I understand… I understand now…”

“What do you understand?” Wei Sen stepped forward and grabbed her arm.

This Little Red Riding Hood definitely knew more than she did. If she could say something useful, all the better.

Black blood kept seeping from that red face. Weakly, Little Red Riding Hood took a crumpled note from the pocket of her Red Hoodie, then lifted her head to look at Wei Sen. “Go… go south… You… can find… the answer…”

As her voice faded, Little Red Riding Hood lost all strength. Her body went rigid and collapsed to the floor, black blood soaking into the wooden boards beneath her.

So this was an S-rank Instance? Deadly choices at every turn!

There were no alliances between players either. Only life and death!

With that thought, Wei Sen opened the note Little Red Riding Hood had left behind before her death and read it.

[Clearance Condition: Complete Mother’s task.]

This was Little Red Riding Hood’s Clearance Condition!

What exactly did Mother’s task refer to?

Making Grandma eat the apple pie?

Was that why Little Red Riding Hood had been willing to gamble with her life just to make Wei Sen swallow it?

And when Little Red Riding Hood had chosen to eat the apple pie to verify whether it was poisoned, there were only two possibilities.

One: She had learned from Wei Sen that “Grandma” was also a player. Combining that with the additional information she possessed, she had finally decided to make a desperate last stand and eaten the poisoned half of the apple pie.

Two: She had not known the apple pie was poisoned. She might even have been certain it was harmless, which was why she had dared to eat it so fearlessly.

Wei Sen looked at the corpse on the floor. Unfortunately, now that she was dead, there was no way to know what exactly had been going through her mind when she ate the apple pie.

///Ding~ (Newbie Hint) Host’s current Story Exploration Progress: 5%!///

Maybe once Story Exploration Progress reached 100%, she would be able to clear the Instance?

Wei Sen thought this, but the System gave no response at all.

She still had to test things on her own.

With that in mind, Wei Sen searched Little Red Riding Hood again, but found nothing related to Little Red Riding Hood’s Identity Rules.

Then she checked Little Red Riding Hood’s bamboo basket. Inside was indeed a pair of bloody eyes!

Earlier, Little Red Riding Hood had said it was fake that she had dug out the Hunter’s eyes. But in reality, she really had dug out a pair of eyes. They just were not the Hunter’s. They were…

Wei Sen studied them for a moment. The eyeballs were huge and drenched in blood, their pupils giving off a faint green glow.

These were… a Wolf’s eyes!

Little Red Riding Hood had hacked the Big Bad Wolf to death with an axe, then taken its eyes!

But why?

What did she need the Wolf’s eyes for?

And how had such a frail little girl managed to hack a Wolf to death with an axe?

Before she died, Little Red Riding Hood had said that if Wei Sen went south, she would find the answer.

Was that the truth, or a trap?

Going south meant she would have to cross the forest outside. She might also run into a Wolf.

Wei Sen swung the axe experimentally. Using an axe to kill someone about her own size might still be possible, but killing a swift and ferocious Wolf was probably out of the question…

There were too many mysteries. Wei Sen could not figure them all out at once. She looked toward the night sky outside the window. A red Blood Moon hung among the branches, and the entire world had the indescribably sinister strangeness of an Eerie Entity.

Wait. When had the moon turned red?

Wei Sen remembered that when darkness fell earlier, she had glanced at the moon outside the window, and it had still been its normal color…
It was late into the night, and Wei Sen had formed a few guesses. Once tomorrow came, she would be able to verify them.

For now, she decided to return to the bedroom and get a proper night’s sleep to conserve her strength. Tomorrow might bring another brutal battle.

Early the next morning, Wei Sen stretched and sat up in bed.

Aside from the lack of a kitchen, the two-story wooden cabin had everything else one could need.

After washing up, Wei Sen returned to the living room. Little Red Riding Hood’s corpse still lay beside the rocking chair, the black blood already dried and congealed.

Wei Sen opened the door, letting light spill into the cabin.

A gray, murky sun hid behind the clouds. The entire forest was wrapped in thick fog. Everything around her was deathly quiet; there was not even a single birdcall from the woods.

Bloodstains still remained on the steps in front of the cabin, but the old woman’s corpse from yesterday was nowhere to be seen.

Beside the door was a flowerbed planted full of lavender. The purplish-red blossoms were blooming wildly, but what drifted from them was not fragrance. Instead, there was only a faint smell of damp earth and decay.

Wei Sen walked outside. After confirming that there were no blue flowers anywhere beyond the door, she noticed a small blackboard hanging by a hemp rope at the entrance. Written on it in chalk were the following rules:

[Misty Forest Rules:

1. The forest is relatively safer during the day than at night, because the Big Bad Wolf does not come out to hunt in the daytime.

2. Other people live in the forest, but those who live here are not warm or hospitable. It is recommended that you do not associate with them.

3. When a Blood Moon appears above the forest, the Big Bad Wolf will take human form!

4. The forest is vast. If you cannot leave before nightfall, you will be lost in the forest forever.

5. There is only one stream in the forest. There is no sea! If you hear the sound of waves and singing, immediately find the stream and drink its water! Do not, under any circumstances, try to find where the singing is coming from!

6. There are many wild fruits in the forest, but most of them are poisonous! Only the green fruits are edible, but remember, green fruits must never be shared with others!

7. After reading, erase these rules! You must erase them. Do not let anyone else know!]

Rule three: When a Blood Moon appears above the forest, the Big Bad Wolf will take human form…

Wei Sen thought of the moon she had seen last night. It had indeed been a Blood Moon.

That meant the Big Bad Wolf had taken on a human appearance last night, and Little Red Riding Hood had seen through its disguise while it was in human form, then hacked it to death with an axe.

Only then did it make sense how Little Red Riding Hood could kill a Wolf.

However, Little Red Riding Hood had only appeared at the cabin after dark last night, and she had even been preparing to return to her mother’s place.

Rule four said that if one attempted to enter the Misty Forest, because the forest was vast, anyone who could not get out before nightfall would be lost in the forest forever.

Why didn’t Little Red Riding Hood get lost?

This rule… had a problem.

Wei Sen propped up her chin and recalled everything that had happened from the moment she met Little Red Riding Hood last night until the girl’s death.

Why could Little Red Riding Hood wander through the forest after dark without getting lost?

Was there something wrong with the rule?

Or…

The rule was incomplete!

Wei Sen realized what was strange. Why had Little Red Riding Hood dug out the Big Bad Wolf’s eyes?

A Wolf was a nocturnal animal. Its eyes could see everything clearly in the dark.

There should be a hidden portion to rule four. The complete rule was: The forest is vast. If you cannot leave before nightfall, you will be lost in the forest forever. Unless you can obtain the Big Bad Wolf’s eyes!

These “Misty Forest Rules” were probably information left behind by the previous “Grandmother” after her own exploration.

Thankfully, it had already been dark when Little Red Riding Hood arrived last night. Otherwise, if Little Red Riding Hood had seen these rules, who knew what the consequences would have been…

With that thought, Wei Sen followed rule seven and wiped all the information off the blackboard. To prevent any traces from being noticed, she picked up the chalk on the ground and casually drew a doodle on the board.

After finishing all of this, Wei Sen dragged Little Red Riding Hood’s corpse outside.

Her plan had already begun. This corpse had to be dealt with first.

She found an iron shovel outside the cabin and went to a corner of the flowerbed to start digging, intending to temporarily hide Little Red Riding Hood’s body there.

But after the shovel had only turned over one scoop of soil, a corner of red fabric was revealed beneath the dirt.

At the sight, Wei Sen began digging all around the flowerbed. To her surprise, buried beneath the entire flowerbed were corpses!

And all of those corpses were all Little Red Riding Hood!