Unsurprisingly, Leona died beneath the fangs of the Big Bad Wolf. Her trachea was completely crushed, and a sense of suffocation accompanied by excruciating pain swept through her entire body as blood gushed forth.
Her vision gradually blurred, and her soul slowly drifted into the air before turning into a horrifying eyeball that hung suspended high above this world, replacing the moon.
“I’ve truly gone mad, actually shoving my head into someone’s mouth just to see if Grandma was there. Strange, how could I have such an absurd thought?”
While grumbling, Leona turned herself to observe the world.
The lake, the soil, the wooden cabin, and her own corpse—it could be said that under her observation, the entire world was stripped naked, fully laid bare.
As she had suspected, there were indeed no other living creatures in this world, and what was more... there was no sun.
She began to focus her attention inside the wooden cabin.
After she was mauled to death by the Big Bad Wolf, Lu En had shot and killed the wolf without hesitation. Afterward, he had actually dropped to his knees before her corpse, a hand placed over his chest as if begging for her forgiveness.
Leona paid it no mind. The two had harbored no grievances against each other, yet were forced to kill because of the Main God’s quests. Lu En had likely entered this world not long ago as well, so it was inevitable that he would be affected by psychological factors.
She could also understand Lu En ruthlessly attacking her in order to survive; after all, she would have done the same in his shoes.
Her gaze left the cabin and shifted onto the main road. It was a path formed of barren soil, only the earth had been dyed bright red with blood.
As for where this blood came from? Perhaps it was the blood of all living things in this world; after all, aside from the characters in the story, not a single other living creature could be found.
Of course, it could also be the blood of innocent people from the real world who had been branded with the title of invader.
Right upon this red earth stood a burly old man. His beard was already grizzled, one of his lower legs was emaciated to the bone, while the other leg was exceptionally sturdy.
How could a human possibly possess such an anatomy!
Leona could not help shuddering; right now she was an eye, which meant the eyeball suddenly contracted for a moment.
Just then, the old man suddenly looked up, meeting her gaze.
He slowly raised his hunting rifle toward the sky, seemingly... aiming at her.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out. The bullet did not hit Leona, but the one-minute observation time had just ended.
Upon her death, Leona reloaded her save, selecting her first and currently only save point.
Playthrough two commenced.
“Far too bizarre. This is ten times more terrifying than when I have nightmares, but nightmares end, whereas who knows how long I’ll have to stay in this damned world.”
Recalling everything that had just happened, Leona could not help breaking out in a cold sweat.
If not for the fear of being eroded by darkness, she would have stripped off her cloak right then and there.
She turned to look into the bamboo basket; several pieces of butter cake were missing inside, and the wine had become an empty bottle.
“As expected,” Leona muttered inwardly.
She knew the Main God would never allow her to exploit any loopholes.
If items remained unaffected, then once she mastered how to clear an instance, she could claim rewards back and forth multiple times.
Leona tucked the knife at her waist once more.
In her earlier observation, she hadn’t spotted Grandma’s presence, meaning that either this story had no Grandma, or the Big Bad Wolf was Grandma, with Grandma merely being her daytime form.
Yet this world had no daytime, so the path of killing Grandma was undoubtedly a dead end.
With no hints provided for the perfect ending either, she could only choose the third method to clear the instance.
Leona’s hand involuntarily reached for the diary. Before taking action, she wanted to look over the rules of this world once more.
Yet when she opened the diary, the contents inside had changed.
The rules had been moved to the second page. The first page was in a different handwriting, the ink having dried long ago.
“Child, please forgive what Mother has done. Your eyes have been placed back into your pocket by me. You were right—they are demons, emissaries sent by the Main God to punish us. No one can escape the Main God’s judgment, no one... If we stay here continuously, we will never see the light. Flee, flee as far as you can.”
The handwriting paused here, followed by a skipped line.
“If you unfortunately return, please do not show mercy. Your Grandma might no longer be your Grandma, and I will no longer be your Mother. To survive, you must kill us. Do you understand, Leona?”
Reading up to this point, Leona could not help swallowing hard, closing the diary and placing it back into the basket.
“I don’t understand, my dear Mother. Your child had to die once before the Main God deigned to inform me of such crucial information.” Leona felt as though she were about to go crazy.
If every instance worked like this, wouldn’t she have to die once every time just to learn all the instance’s information?
Recalling the contents of the diary, she reached into her pocket again, only to find it completely empty.
Her lips twitched. Initially, she hadn’t wanted to face this reality, but now it seemed she had no choice but to admit it.
Indeed, she had eaten her own eyes before the instance started, and saving had occurred afterward. That meant she could never get her eyes back in her entire life.
Just as Leona was disheartened, a pleasant female voice sounded once more.
“Ding! Due to Leona’s Blessing, it has been detected that you have entered the 《Little Red Riding Hood》 instance. Your bonus ability is now being altered. Your bonus ability this time is: Straw Effigy Substitute.”
Straw Effigy Substitute: Upon death, you can summon a straw effigy within a brief window of time to take your place, bearing everything you suffered within one minute and transferring you to any location within a one-hundred-meter radius. The straw effigy’s appearance, demeanor, and behavior will replicate yours in a one-to-one fashion. Duration: 3 minutes.
“Reloading a save can randomize abilities too?” Slightly calmed by this pleasant surprise, Leona whispered, “Leave it to you, Leona. I’ll live on properly in your place; starting today, I’m your most devout believer.”
Leona leaned down over the lake’s edge, gave her reflection a kiss, and then began sprinting desperately in the direction of the main road.
She had to find the hunter before Lu En arrived so she could carry out her plan.
Because she hadn’t known earlier whether wild beasts would prowl the forest, she had walked with utmost caution.
Yet after observing this world and learning there were no other living creatures, there was no longer any need to be as cautious as before.
While running, as soon as her condition fell below peak, she would immediately eat a piece of butter cake.
As she had expected, she did not encounter Lu En when passing by the small path.
Back then, when facing that bed, the quilt hadn’t even been pulled back yet, but Lu En had already known the Big Bad Wolf was inside.
Therefore, his starting location was likely near Grandma’s house. The reason he hadn’t chosen to wait in ambush for her there was that he feared she would take the main road to find the true hunter, which was why he had rushed to the small path to intercept her.
By the time only one piece of butter cake remained, Leona finally reached the main road.
Unlike the small path, the surroundings of the main road glowed with a red light. Although it provided some visibility, it was extremely uncomfortable to look at, and it carried a faint stench of blood.
The old man she had observed earlier was sitting by the roadside, seemingly having waited for a long time.
We meet again, true hunter.
Leona thought to herself. Just as she was about to step forward to greet him, the hunter took the initiative to walk toward her.
“My heavens, Leona, is that you? I can truly hardly believe it—it really is you! You’re finally willing to come back to see your Grandpa. I’m so happy you’ve returned.” The old man’s excitement was beyond words.
The speech Leona had just prepared dissolved entirely into foam at this moment. She had never imagined that the hunter would be a relative of Little Red Riding Hood.
Yet she didn’t need to waste her breath pleading with this so-called Grandpa to help her clear the instance, because the hunter’s subsequent words had already granted her request.
The hunter first stared at her with a benevolent expression for a moment, then his expression turned grim, and finally he sighed, gazing up at the night sky:
“It’s just that you’ve returned too late; there is no daylight here anymore. Because of that, we can only use the third method to clear the instance.”
Rate on N.U.
