"Thank you," she said softly, her eyes meeting Lin Xiao's character's. The air around her was thick with a mix of fear and resignation.
The other teenagers, who had been beaten up twice now, stared at her with confusion, as if they had no idea who she was or where she had come from.
The girl, who had an aura of warmth and maternal care despite being the same age as the others, seemed to gather her courage before speaking again.
Her face was soft, with gentle features and an almost serene demeanor, yet the bitter tone in her voice hinted at the weight of her words.
"This is the second time you have beaten them up," she said, her voice tinged with sorrow. "The first time, you ended up killing them."
Lin Xiao's eyes widened in shock. How does she know? He had restarted the game, reset everything, but somehow this girl remembered.
Could this be part of the game? Was it a glitch, or was there something deeper going on? The realization sent a chill down his spine.
Before Lin Xiao could question her, she spoke again, her eyes locked onto his character with a mix of sadness and fury. "Why did you kill them? I was supposed to protect them, and you killed them. I prayed to the gods so they would send someone to help me... and you came. I thought you would help me, but you killed MY CHILDREN. Why did you do it?"
Her voice, trembling with anger, echoed in the temple, filling the space with an almost unbearable tension. Lin Xiao was utterly confused. What did she mean by "my children"?
Were these teenagers somehow connected to her in a way he hadn't realized? The whole situation was spiraling into something far more complex than he had anticipated.
Suddenly, time stopped. The girl, her words, and everything around him froze in place, as if the game itself was pausing for breath.
The options appeared on the screen:
[1. Apologize and ask for forgiveness]
[2. Demand more information about her and the children]
[3. Claim that it was a mistake]
[4. Restart the game]
[5. Beat her up]
Lin Xiao stared at the options, trying to make sense of the situation.
Lin Xiao hesitated for a moment longer, weighing his options. The first option seemed sincere, but somehow, it felt too straightforward.
The second might provoke more questions than answers, and the fourth and fifth were out of the question if he wanted to understand this bizarre scenario.
Finally, he decided on the third option, hoping it might reveal something useful without escalating the situation too much.
As soon as he selected it, time resumed. The girl blinked, her expression shifting as if she had sensed something off. "What the heck was that? I felt something... but I can't place it."
Lin Xiao's heart skipped a beat. Did she notice the time stop? Could she actually perceive the game's mechanics?
Before he could dwell on it, his character spoke, cutting through the tension. "I'm sorry, it was a mistake. I didn't mean to do it."
The girl's confusion turned to disbelief as Lin Xiao's character seemed to brush off her question. But the words "it was a mistake" struck a nerve. Her eyes widened, and then, in an instant, fury replaced the shock.
Her entire demeanor changed—her face twisted with rage, her eyes narrowing into fiery slits.
The gentle, motherly aura that once surrounded her vanished, replaced by something far more terrifying.
Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, trembling with barely restrained anger.
"You didn't mean to do it? You slaughtered them, and all you can say is that it was a mistake?" Her voice rose, each word laced with venom. "They are my children! They depended on me to protect them, and you—you—destroyed them!"
The temple seemed to vibrate with the intensity of her wrath, and Lin Xiao could almost feel the heat of her fury radiating from the screen. The other teenagers, who had been watching in stunned silence, now backed away, eyes wide with fear as the girl's rage escalated.
Lin Xiao's character stood frozen, caught in the storm of her anger. This was beyond anything he had expected, and he could feel the weight of the situation pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe.
Lin Xiao was baffled by the girl's words. "Her children? Why was she calling these teenagers, her children?"
The teenagers were just as bewildered, exchanging confused glances as the tension in the air grew thicker. Before Lin Xiao could even formulate a question, Wang Mei spoke up, her voice cutting through the uncertainty.
"Who are you? Why are you calling us your children?"
The girl's fiery demeanor softened instantly as she turned to Wang Mei. Her eyes, once blazing with anger, became kind and gentle again, almost maternal.
She waved her hand with a slow, deliberate motion, and a sudden transformation swept through the temple. The teenagers' appearances began to shift, their youthful faces aging rapidly until they looked like middle-aged villagers.
Their confusion deepened as they looked down at themselves, trying to comprehend the sudden change.
"You are members of this village," the girl said softly, her voice now full of warmth. "So of course, you are my children."
Lin Xiao watched in disbelief as the once-young teenagers transformed into middle-aged villagers right before his eyes. The girl's revelation sent shockwaves through him and the characters alike.
The gentle, motherly figure was now gazing at them with a bittersweet smile, as if she was watching her lost children come back to her. Wang Mei, now looking much older, was the first to break the stunned silence.
"You mean... we're the villagers?" she asked, her voice trembling with the weight of the revelation.
The girl nodded, her expression softening. "Yes, you are. You've all forgotten who you were, trapped in this twisted version of reality cause of that ritual. I was left here to guard you, to protect you from the truth, but now you know."
Lin Xiao could hardly believe what was happening. The story had taken such a sharp turn, unraveling the mystery that had been haunting him since he started playing.
The completion meter jumping to 70% only confirmed that he was getting closer to the end, but it also meant that things were about to get even more intense.
But along with the rising percentage came a new wave of questions. If the teenagers were the villagers, what had really happened to them? And who was this girl, really?