Chapter 38: Do You Think This Is a Fairy Tale?

The die gradually came to a stop, showing a single dot on its upward face.

Xi Yan glanced sideways at the dice instructions.

“Game Difficulty Explanation:
6, 5, 4: Easy
3, 2: Medium
1: Hard!!!”

Staring at the three exclamation points following “hard,” Xi Yan felt as though all hope had drained from life.

Qu Ya and Lin Shuang had also noticed the number Xi Yan’s die had landed on.

One...

The two of them exchanged helpless, amused looks; Xi Yan’s luck was truly... beyond words.

Xi Yan turned to them with a strained smile, the curve of his lips as forced as it could possibly be. “What difficulty did you two get?”

“Easy,” they answered in unison.

Their identical replies finally broke Xi Yan’s composure.

But when he considered his own “adorable” ability, he found a measure of peace. After all, he couldn’t exactly fight with his own power, could he?

No matter how much trouble it brought him, it was still his. He would have to cherish it—even if only with tears in his eyes.

“Difficulty selection complete. All players, please enter your respective channels. The game will begin shortly.”

“Generating channels...”

Two passageways appeared before the trio, each clearly labeled with large words: “Easy” and “Hard.”

Xi Yan looked at his companions with a tearful, wry smile. “I’m off. If fate allows, we’ll meet again.”

Seeing his expression, Qu Ya could only shake his head with resignation. “Go on, we’ll wait for you at the finish.”

Dropping the act, Xi Yan’s demeanor turned serious. He turned and stepped into the “Hard” channel.

The other two watched him enter before exchanging a glance and heading toward their own “Easy” passage.

...

Upon entering the hard channel, Xi Yan found himself standing on a vast, breathtaking prairie.

There was no time to admire the view; the task appeared at once.

“Please choose a season: spring, summer, autumn, or winter. The game will begin shortly.”

Which season would be best? Xi Yan propped his chin, considering carefully. In the end, he chose spring—summer was too hot, autumn too cool, winter simply cold.

He pressed the spring option.

As soon as he did, the scenery faded away, replaced by a forest.

A woman in a Western-style dress emerged from between the trees. Her hair was black as ebony, skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and a charming bow adorned her head.

She carried a basket over her arm, inside which were what appeared to be apples.

Wasn’t this... Snow White?

Xi Yan rubbed his eyes, but when he looked again, the woman was unchanged—she was still Snow White.

“This scenario... is rather intriguing,” Xi Yan muttered to himself.

By now, Snow White had approached him, extending her pale arm to offer a red apple from her basket.

“Traveler from afar, please try this delicacy~ If you eat it, you’ll be blessed with immense good luck~”

Snow White smiled sweetly as she held out the apple. Upon seeing it, Xi Yan immediately recalled the tale of Snow White, who was tricked by her stepmother, the queen, with a poisoned apple.

In this scenario, could the apple in her hand be the same deadly fruit?

Xi Yan hesitated to take it. Sensing his reluctance, Snow White thought for a moment and said, “If you don’t want to eat it, you can carry it with you for protection.”

With an awkward smile, Xi Yan considered his options. Instead of reaching out, he opened his “inventory” from the control panel and retrieved a plastic bag.

That’s right—a plastic bag!

He couldn’t even remember when he’d stashed it there; perhaps he’d put it away while packing food.

Though both Xi Yan and Qu Ya were evolutionaries, they still needed food to survive, so they would collect supplies along the way whenever possible.

Now, the plastic bag was unexpectedly useful.

Snow White showed no displeasure at his actions, maintaining her sweet smile.

Xi Yan opened the bag, and Snow White placed the red apple inside.

Looking at the apple inside the plastic bag, Xi Yan couldn’t help but feel it looked a little odd. “Thank you.”

He was about to leave when Snow White called out, “Wait.”

Xi Yan turned around. She stepped forward again, took out a green apple, and handed it to him. “You must keep this safe. Both the green and red apples will help you.”

She opened the bag herself, slipped the green apple inside, and left gracefully.

Staring at the two apples in his plastic bag, Xi Yan raised an eyebrow. This turn of events was truly unexpected.

Fairy tale figures, apples...

He shook his head with a smile, then followed the arrow markers deeper into the forest.

A sign at the forest entrance indicated the rules for the “Spring” game.

Xi Yan found the sign.

“Spring:
Rules: Within the allotted time (1 hour), find the hidden green apple in the forest. The green apple will have the character for ‘Spring’ on it. Once found, return here and place the apple on the tray to your left to clear the stage.
Note: During your search, you will encounter wild beasts and other races. You must not kill or harm any living creature or damage a single tree.
Special: Crossing the line under this sign signals the start of the game. (You have only 30 minutes of preparation time.)”

After reading the rules for “Spring,” Xi Yan was left bewildered.

This all seemed simple enough—there didn’t appear to be much danger. The unknown creatures might pose some threat, but as long as he avoided them, it should be fine.

He hesitated to step over the line, feeling something was off about the rules.

Xi Yan had always trusted his instincts.

“Hmm... A hard level wouldn’t be this easy. These rules... these rules...”

He paced before the sign, analyzing the game’s stipulations but couldn’t pinpoint the flaw.

Half of the thirty-minute preparation time had already passed, but he was in no hurry, still lost in thought.

Reading the rules over and over, Xi Yan gradually sensed something amiss.

“During the search, you’ll encounter wild beasts and other races, and you must not kill or harm any creature, or damage a single tree...” Reciting this, Xi Yan thought he’d found the problem.

“So what happens if I do kill or damage something? What then?” The rules gave no answer.

Remembering his three lives in this scenario, Xi Yan pondered whether he should risk one life to test the consequence.

But if there really was a problem, he’d lose a life, and his chances of survival would diminish.

Still... if he used one life to find out...