One, two, three, four, five...

Five little people, reaching only up to Gu Mian's waist.

Indeed, five Little Dwarfs.

However, these five Little Dwarfs looked a bit odd; it seemed they weren't naturally short, but habitually hunchbacked.

Their arms and legs bent unnaturally, and even their backs arched high, like a camel's hump in the desert.

It appears the fairy tale being enacted here is 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'? Although, they seem to be two dwarfs short...

The Little Dwarfs, carrying shovels and hoes, were merry and buoyant, humming songs. It looked like they had just finished their work and were heading home?

Seeing these hunchbacked people jumping and singing, Gu Mian almost feared they'd sprain their backs.

Gu Mian stroked his chin and swiftly took two steps forward, wanting to get a clearer look.

Just then, a RUSTLE RUSTLE sound suddenly came from the bushes nearby.

Gu Mian quickly turned his head to look in that direction.

A little girl wearing a green cloak and carrying a basket darted out from the bushes. The cloak had an attached hood covering her head, and she was looking around as if searching for something.

This costume looked somewhat like Little Red Riding Hood's, but the color seemed off.

Little Red Riding Hood would never wear such a poisonous color.

So, is this... Little Green Hat?

That's quite something.

Instead of Little Red Riding Hood, there was green.

Could it be that this instance is a bad, counterfeit fairy tale?

Whoever created this instance must be colorblind—red-green colorblind.

If Hans Christian Andersen knew his fairy tale had been plagiarized by a red-green colorblind person, he would surely jump out of his coffin in indignation.

Little Green Hat merely looked up. When she seemingly didn't find what she was looking for, she hurried back into the bushes and vanished.

She looked extremely tense, like a fugitive who had just robbed a bank and was on the run. Gu Mian wasn't too familiar with fairy tales, but he had heard the story of Little Red Riding Hood.

This was thanks to a child in the orphanage who loved telling fairy tales. Gu Mian had eagerly listened a few times back then, but the storytelling child was adopted soon after, and Gu Mian had hardly heard any fairy tales since.

In the original fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood wouldn't exhibit the panicked expression of someone fleeing after committing murder and robbery. So, this Little Green Hat and Little Red Riding Hood probably have no connection other than their similar appearances.

But what was she looking for?

Quite strange.

So far, nothing overtly strange had happened in this instance, yet everything felt odd.

Just then, the Little Dwarfs seemed to notice Gu Mian. They immediately gathered around him, eyeing him curiously from top to bottom.

"Sir," the Little Dwarf carrying a hoe was the first to speak, "are you also a guest lost in these woods?"

Despite his short stature, he had the genuine face of a middle-aged man. His skin was a tad saggy, and his nose was ruddy.

Gu Mian felt a bit strange being looked up at by such a face.

Although it was odd to be stared at by a man little more than a meter tall, Gu Mian quickly gleaned useful information from his words.

Also?

Were there others lost in these woods before him?

Stroking his chin, he asked, "Have you met other people lost in these woods?"

The Little Dwarfs nodded in unison.

The Little Dwarf holding a wooden spade replied, "Yes, many. There were many guests dressed strangely like you before. They all left eventually... Oh, and there was one who was special, a beautiful princess. She came here as a guest and stayed for a long time. Yes, her name was Princes Heitang."

Upon hearing the name 'Princes Heitang', Gu Mian almost choked on his own saliva.

Mixing up red and green was one thing, but black and white...

This was probably not the fairy tale world they knew, but a counterfeit one, crudely made by someone with a sick sense of humor.

Gu Mian didn't dwell on 'Princes Heitang' for too long; instead, he analyzed what the hunchbacked Little Dwarf had said earlier.

The strangely dressed people must have been players from previous parties in this global game instance. It was common knowledge that completed instances didn't reload. So, if it became corrupted, it stayed corrupted; the data couldn't be reset as if nothing had happened.

The Little Dwarf holding a spade jumped about. "Dear lost guest, it's getting late. Why don't you stay at our house for the night? Tomorrow, when it's light, we can escort you out."

The Little Dwarfs were very enthusiastic, as if Gu Mian were a beautiful princess lost in the woods.

Gu Mian glanced around. The forest was vast, with some trees seeming to reach the sky. The dense foliage blocked much of the sky, rendering the woods eerie and somewhat terrifying.

Wandering alone in such a forest at night wasn't a good idea.

But something was weird.

Gu Mian remembered seeing dew on the grass earlier. Logically, there shouldn't be any dew if it's nearly dark...

Strange.

So far, he still didn't understand what this instance required them to do. How can they escape Fairy Tale City? Just how large is the area encompassed by Fairy Tale City? Gu Mian didn't know the answers to these questions and realized he needed to interact with the NPCs in the instance first.

The players in this instance had all been separated. He had no idea where the others were or what fairy tale they had encountered.

Unable to find the others, Gu Mian decided to follow the five Little Dwarfs for the time being.

The Little Dwarfs were fervent and sprightly, leading Gu Mian through a small thicket. Shortly after, a somewhat small wooden house came into view.

The Little Dwarf carrying a hammer said excitedly to Gu Mian, "The beautiful princess who is our guest has stayed at our house. She must have soup ready for us by now. Hurry, hurry."

Just then, Gu Mian noticed a little girl standing under a tree not far away. It was Little Green Hat, who had emerged from the bushes earlier.

She was still carrying her basket, as if it contained some treasure.

Little Green Hat seemed to notice Gu Mian looking at her. She offered a shy smile, then turned and ran off in a flash.

A few of the Little Dwarfs also seemed to see Little Green Hat in the distance.

"Ah," one of the Little Dwarfs said, "that's Little Green Hat who lives near us. She has an elderly grandfather at home."

Grandfather? A gender-swapped grandma?

Gu Mian knew many games liked such gender-swapping twists; he hadn't expected this instance to be so trendy.

However, they didn't seem very interested in Little Green Hat and quickly led Gu Mian to the front of their cottage.

"What a lovely house," the Little Dwarfs exclaimed.

Gu Mian suspected they probably said this every day upon returning home.

Just then, the wooden door of the house CREAKED open, revealing a beautiful face from within. "You're back."

This must be the princess.

Although she didn't quite match Gu Mian's mental image of Princes Heitang—he imagined Princes Heitang to be very dark, her face like charcoal with only two shiny black eyeballs visible—the woman before him was not dark. In fact, she was rather fair and quite pretty.

Upon seeing the unfamiliar Gu Mian, Princes Heitang seemed completely unsurprised. She smiled and said, "It's almost dark. Come in."

Almost dark?

Gu Mian looked up at the sky, somewhat surprised. Indeed, it was already dusk. The sun was about to dip below the horizon completely, and night was approaching.

Because the light in the forest had been so dim earlier, Gu Mian hadn't noticed the sky gradually darkening.

Strange. Wasn't it pretty bright just a while ago? How could the sun set in less than an hour?

Perhaps it was because darkness better suited the atmosphere of a horror instance.

「At this moment, the Xingyun Fatty had already met another player, one with the nickname 'The Most Flamboyant Supermodel'.」

No doubt the name was incredibly flamboyant, but this wasn't the time to compete over who had the more flamboyant name.

The fairy tale they encountered is Cinderella... but things don't seem to be going that way.

Fatty and Supermodel, lost in the forest, had met up. They were then found by a fair-skinned young woman who was gathering firewood outside. Hearing she had two sisters and a stepmother, Fatty immediately suspected this was the infamously abused Cinderella.

But the young woman promptly clarified that this wasn't the case and introduced herself as Elizabeth.

Her stepmother was kind to her, as were her two stepsisters. Since their family temporarily had no servants, they sometimes went out to gather dry branches for firewood.

Not the same as Cinderella's plot at all...

The two were kindly taken in by Elizabeth and settled into two adjacent rooms on the second floor. But the two restless souls eventually snuck into one room together.

Currently, Supermodel was nervously watching the sun set outside the window, "Nothing good usually happens after dusk. Besides, don't you feel there's something off about Elizabeth, the one who brought us here?"

Fatty patted his shoulder, "Indeed, something seems off. But our mission is to escape Fairy Tale City. We won't find any clues wandering in the forest, right? We have to interact with the NPCs."

As he spoke, he pressed his ear to the door and gestured for Supermodel to come over. "Look, we can eavesdrop on Elizabeth and her mother below and see what they're discussing..."

Fatty pressed his ear to the door, listening to the sounds from outside. After a while, he frowned slightly. "Hey, listen. Do you hear them? Are they talking about us?"

Supermodel mimicked him, placing his ear against the door. And then, both their faces slowly turned pale...

「Meanwhile, Chu Changge was standing on a bustling street.」

The sun had set, only a hint of afterglow remaining on the land, but the crowd on the street showed no signs of thinning. The weather had turned a bit cold, and everyone was wrapped in thick coats.

Right in front of Chu Changge stood a ragged little girl. She shivered as she held up her basket, earnestly trying to sell him something, "Sir, buy a lighter."

A lighter-selling little girl?

Night had fallen unusually fast.

The sun's afterglow was gradually disappearing. In a few seconds, not even a speck of light remained, and it was already becoming difficult to see the ground clearly.

Chu Changge walked past the shabby little girl, paused for a moment, then intended to continue forward.

But just then, he heard the same words from behind.

The voice, however, had turned cold and resentful, "Sir, buy a lighter."

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