Edited by Jules
“Looks like this cave leads to the forest outside.” Xiao Lan aimed the flashlight at the water surface again, but unfortunately, the light couldn’t penetrate the black water. “We have to find a way to make a trip into the forest.”
“From what I know, there’s a small gate behind the school that leads to the forest. Because there was once a student who secretly snuck out and got hurt, it’s now locked. It probably won’t be a problem for you, however,” Luo said.
A mere lock — before Xiao Lan, this human-shaped unlocking machine, it was just for show.
The two left the northern tower and walked to the forest outside the institute.
Xiao Lan thought of the nightwatcher’s cryptic words from before: Don’t go to the forest unless you don’t want to return.
And adding the hard-headed teacher’s glorious deed to that.
It was very obvious that this trip to the forest wouldn’t be a relaxed and cheerful journey.
Fortunately, they didn’t encounter Lady Red Moon on the way.
But they noticed a few drops of blood on the ground, as if it had dripped down while someone was running.
It looked like someone had become her target tonight as well. Wishing that player or NPC good luck.
Until they reached the small gate Luo had mentioned.
This gate was already spotted with rust, and clearly looked like it hadn’t been used for many years.
Opening the lock with a little effort, the two finally entered the forest.
Speaking of, it was strange. The other walls of the school seemed protected by the rules that prevented players from leaving.
However, they could enter the forest through this small gate.
It looked like players could come here to avoid the dangers of Lady Red Moon.
But given the Advent World’s trashiness, how could it be so simple?
If it allowed you to enter the forest, it was definitely because there was a danger comparable with Lady Red Moon here.
Perhaps it was even more dangerous.
The trees in the forest were very lush, and it seemed that the institute never came to trim them either. There was a layer of soft fallen leaves and branches on the ground.
The cries of insects rang out in the forest occasionally. It didn’t appear deathly still, but this didn’t mean that it was safe here.
The faint red moonlight was shut out by the forest and a few rays of light just barely poked through. When they walked a little further into the forest, it was utter darkness.
Xiao Lan had no choice but to turn on his flashlight again, otherwise he truly would have to ask Luo to act as a human-shaped guide dog.
The two walked into the forest.
Their footsteps rustled faintly in the thick pile of dead leaves.
Suddenly, there was the sound of something heavy falling to the ground up ahead.
Then, a four-legged creature ran towards them.
Xiao Lan stopped walking, his flashlight aimed ahead.
What appeared in their sights was something that moved like a beast, yet its body looked somewhat human.
It had no skin and it looked more like there was a solid carapace layer over it which occasionally reflected the light from the torch.
On its body, Xiao Lan saw something familiar —
The mysterious writing that had appeared in Madam Wilder’s personal journals.
Similar to Mister Wilder, this mysterious writing was connected over this creature’s entire body like a string, but it was clearly a lot more crude.
This was probably also a cursed puppet.
This cursed puppet ran towards them, the sharp fangs in its mouth clearly visible. Dry, black bloodstains could vaguely be seen above its lips; who knew when they had been left there.
Xiao Lan placed the torch on the ground.
After that, he directly took out 【Dalit’s Bone】 from his storage space and dashed towards the monster running over.
Encountering a cursed puppet at this time was just perfect; he could test its strength and also familiarise himself with the feeling of combat in this fifteen-year-old body.
The monstrous creature pounced at Xiao Lan.
The white bone rod in Xiao Lan’s hand also swung at its head. This time, Xiao Lan didn’t use all his strength; he wanted to see what level his attack strength was at when his physique was restricted.
There was a ‘bang’.
Xiao Lan struck the cursed puppet in the head and its body flew to the side.
Then, it face-planted on the ground with a ‘dog eating mud’ pose, full marks.
“Hm?” Xiao Lan was surprised.
Hitting the other had felt unexpectedly light; it wasn’t what something of that mass should feel like at all.
It seemed this cursed puppet wasn’t as strong as it appeared ah.
The cursed puppet that was thrown to the ground shook its head. Ignoring the black flames that spread over its head, it attacked Xiao Lan again.
Just like a machine without feelings that only knew to attack.
In the face of another attack, Xiao Lan no longer held back and struck the approaching monster with his full strength.
This time, the white rod directly pulverised the monster’s skull.
As well as the complicated diagram on top of its head.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ktfgf kjrc’a jcs yibbv lcrlvf atf rtjaafgfv rxeii, yea fwqalcfrr.
Coafg ibrlcu lar tfjv, atf wbcrafg’r atgfjafclcu qbrf kjr vgbqqfv jr lar ybvs ofii vbkc klat j atewq jcv cb ibcufg wbnfv, jr lo la vlvc’a tjnf jcs wbgf qbkfg.
Wljb Ojc oilmxfv jkjs atf qlfmfr bo tfjv bc tlr 【Gjila’r Dbcf】 jr lo tf kjr pera tbivlcu j ygbbwralmx, klatbea atf rilutafra gfrqfma bg gfnfgfcmf obg j gjgf lafw ja jii.
The pieces of the monster’s skull had the mysterious script on it as well, but unfortunately, he couldn’t read it.
Xiao Lan: “Looks like there’s no way to find out how it moves.”
Luo picked up the flashlight on the ground and walked over. “Does sir like this sort of thing? I can try and research it and make a more sophisticated one.”
Xiao Lan shook his head. “I’m just thinking that it’s easier to defeat it if I can figure out the theory behind it. After all, this is clearly made by the headmistress, so if there’s one, there must be more.”
Luo’s smile didn’t change. “…”
Sir is forever a pragmatic person.
Xiao Lan then examined the cursed puppet’s body and realised that there was less of the mysterious writing on its body than on its head.
“Although I’m not too clear on the theory, it looks like it’s more important to hit the head first,” Xiao Lan summed up in a simple and crude manner.
The two continued forward.
Along the way, they encountered other cursed puppets in various forms.
Some were more like humans and some were more like wild animals, but they all had varying attack strength and intelligence. Some were even more stupid than a foolish deer, while some conversely already learnt how to sneak attack and cooperate together.
It was as if in the process of creating them, the headmistress was constantly fumbling about. These were likely her test subjects.
It made one unable to help but wonder: the Adeline who was made with the headmistress’s heart and soul, what would she look like?
The two continued on for another stretch.
Up ahead, a figure that was familiar to Xiao Lan appeared —
The child Adeline.
Little Adeline still looked the same, her figure slightly transparent.
She silently stood before them. Without saying a word, she raised her hand to point in one direction.
Xiao Lan asked, “Are you showing us the way, Adeline?”
The tiny figure didn’t say a word and even began to gradually turn indistinct, as if taking this visible form already exhausted her.
Xiao Lan and Luo exchanged a look and decided to go where she indicated.
Although it might be a trap, as someone who had provided clues before, little Adeline still had some credibility.
Following little Adeline’s directions, the two arrived at an open area.
This was probably that rumoured lake.
The water was murky and cold and looked a little green. It even had a lot of algae growing inside it, and emitted a slightly unpleasant fishy smell. It was nothing like the clear lakewater in common tales.
By then, Little Adeline’s figure had already vanished.
The two who had lost their guide could only search for clues on Adeline around the lake.
Very soon, the clue appeared on its own.
Because there was an intense smell of fresh blood up ahead. Given how strong it was, if the victim who was bleeding was a person, they were perhaps in a dire state already.
Xiao Lan and Luo swiftly went forward.
They finally saw Adeline.
The monster was almost as tall as two people.
Similar to the drawing in the headmistress’s office, she had two white snake tails. They couldn’t make out what they were made of, but it should be an extremely sturdy material, and they had an extremely elaborate structure and could rotate and swivel nimbly.
On her back was a pair of light purple wings that were as thin as cicada wings, which flickered with glimmers of light under the red moon.
Above the snake tails was a body similar to that of a young girl.
Her skin was so pale that it didn’t seem human, and there was a delicately crafted metal disk on her chest. There was also a thread-like pattern of the mysterious script on her body; paired with the girl’s gentle and beautiful face, she unexpectedly gave off a bizarre sense of beauty.
The girl’s face was pretty and her expression was very tranquil.
But she was now biting into a corpse.
The corpse was wearing a student uniform, and his face matched one of the players Xiao Lan had seen before.
His eyes were wide open, and his expression was still frozen with disbelief in death.
His chest was torn open, and the snake woman was gnawing on the organs inside.
As Adeline ate the corpse, she also attacked in a certain direction.
Xiao Lan looked in the direction of her attack, and only then did he notice that someone else was there.
It was Dai Bumao.
Because he was wearing black all over and his own skin was very dark, he practically melded with the darkness. Only when he moved did the occasional flash of light reflecting off the top of his head indicate his sense of existence.
And at this time, he was… doing radio exercises.
Xiao Lan was a little dumbfounded.
Big brother, are you warming up before a fight?
But the snake tail is practically about to hit you in the face. Shouldn’t you stop stretching first?
On the other side, Dai Bumao was also very anxious. A bead of sweat ran down his forehead and caused his soy egg-like head to glisten.
But his stretching and leg lifts got even faster.
Finally, before the snake tail slammed into his face, Dai Bumao completed his stretches.
Following the end of his movements, a green protective shield appeared in front of him and blocked this attack.
It looked like the shield was pretty powerful.
Dai Bumao sighed in relief and hastily ran away from where he was standing, then sped up his motions as he began the next set of chest exercises.
At that moment, Xiao Lan realised that this was likely Dai Bumao’s skill; clearly, he had to complete the assigned movements before he could activate the skill’s effect.
Xiao Lan: “…”
Why were his eyes full of sympathy?
Seeing how Dai Bumao could barely fend off Adeline’s attacks alone, Xiao Lan also raised 【Dalit’s Bone】 and joined in the fight together with Luo.
Seeing that support had arrived, Dai Bumao’s eyes were filled with hot emotional tears. “Brother Xiao Lan!”
A pair of large watery eyes paired with a bald tanned head and manly face, was truly a little… underwhelming.
Adeline also noticed the new opponents.
She threw away the organs she hadn’t finished eating and attacked the two of them.
Her expression was still gentle and peaceful, but the bloodstains on her lips revealed her bloodlust and cruelty.
Xiao Lan stepped to the side and evaded the snake tail which swung at him.
The snake tail landed on nothing and directly split a nearby tree down the center; its power was clear.
At that moment, Luo had also made his move. A pitch-black blade flashed through the air and shot towards Adeline’s head.
Adeline raised a hand to block it, but the blade left a deep gash in her arm.
Like the other puppets, no blood flowed from Adeline’s wound.
Xiao Lan also seized the opportunity to swing his rod at Adeline’s back.
This attack landed very solidly, and dark purple flames instantly erupted on her back.
Noticing the troublesome flames, Adeline swiftly turned around, twisting her snake tail to force Xiao Lan to retreat, while she simultaneously reached out to tear off the skin on her back.
Like Lady Red Moon, after her skin was torn off, there was a layer of perfect skin underneath, and she healed rapidly.
But now that she was being attacked on all sides by three people, even if one wound healed, another would instantly appear.
By then, Dai Bumao completed his stretching exercises.
His fist lit up with a red light. With a single punch, he was able to leave a deep indent in Adeline’s snake tail.
Although this skill looked embarrassing, for it to be able to help a player advance to the intermediate level, its power naturally wasn’t bad. This was even a skill that could attack and defend.
Besides looking embarrassing and how long it took to set up, it honestly was pretty good.
Adeline’s attacks grew more frantic, and the movements of her snake tails were practically nothing more than afterimages.
As Xiao Lan avoided the snake tails, he looked for the other’s weakness.
Finally, he noticed a complicated diagram on Adeline’s back that was hidden by hair. This diagram was far more abstruse than any other he had seen on the other puppets.
Could Adeline’s weakness be here?
Xiao Lan tried to aim an attack at the diagram on her back, but it seemed that Adeline was very vigilant. Even if she had to forcibly bore through the other two’s attacks, she still blocked Xiao Lan’s attack on the diagram on her back.
After a few failed attacks, Xiao Lan was basically able to confirm his conjecture.
Xiao Lan quietly called out, “Luo.”
When Luo’s gaze shifted towards him, Xiao Lan gestured to indicate for him to temporarily restrict Adeline’s movements. Even a second was enough.
Luo nodded.
After that, a black shadow silently merged into Adeline’s shadow and spread slowly without her knowing.
The battle between three people and a monster continued.
Xiao Lan found another chance to approach Adeline’s back.
Luo had been paying attention to Xiao Lan’s movements. Seeing the opportunity arrive, the shadow’s strength was abruptly unleashed.
Adeline’s attack motions instantly paused, as if pulled back by a tremendous force.
Xiao Lan seized this opportunity, and 【Dalit’s Bone】 switched to its sharpest blade form. He abruptly leapt up and swung his blade to viciously stab at the diagram on Adeline’s back.
This time, there were no longer any obstructions as the sharp blade ruthlessly pierced the center of Adeline’s back.
Adeline’s body instantly fell down with a thump like a wooden puppet whose strings had been cut.
But she didn’t lose the ability to move because of this. She still braced herself on her arms as she attempted to get up once more from the ground.
Xiao Lan also felt a very powerful repelling strength under his hands, as if it was trying to push out the blade embedded in her body.
Adeline’s recovery ability was unexpectedly this terrifying!
The expressions of the three became tense once more.
Right at that moment, a somewhat indistinct little body arrived at the battlefield.
It was little Adeline.
Her figure was already much fainter than before, and the edges were blurred, as if she would fade in just a little while.
Little Adeline stood before the strangely beautiful snake woman and stretched out a finger to tap the snake woman on the forehead.
The next moment, little Adeline’s figure vanished.
The snake woman’s expression which had remained serene all this time abruptly came alive.
She no longer tried to struggle and just lay where she was quietly as tears suddenly poured from her eyes.
Dai Bumao raised his fists. “This… what’s going on? She – she – she’s crying…”
Sensing the repelling force under the blade disappear, Xiao Lan attempted to communicate with Adeline. “Adeline?”
The initially silent snake woman opened her mouth. “…Hello.”
Her voice was gentle and tender; it was a little girl’s voice, and didn’t align with her appearance as a young woman.
It made the three of them suddenly feel like they were bullying a child.
Sensing that the other had no intent of attacking them, Xiao Lan withdrew his blade and asked, “Were you the one who left me clues?”
Adeline: “Yes.”
Xiao Lan: “Can you speak about what in the world is going on?”
Adeline began telling them about what happened to her in the past. Everything was more or less as Xiao Lan had guessed.
After Madam Wilder obtained the method to create cursed puppets, she became extremely obsessed. She would often use this method to create some toys, such as toy bears that could run and small wooden people that could fly, to amuse Adeline.
As she got deeper into her research of cursed puppets, she started to develop a new train of thought.
Could she remodel humans?
But Madam Wilder was someone who was inherently benevolent. She was unwilling to lay a hand on anyone, so she chose herself.
At the very beginning, it was just a tiny experiment that allowed her to become younger and livelier.
Later, she gradually became addicted to it, so much so that she often locked herself in her room and wouldn’t come out.
Until a certain night of the red moon, when Lady Red Moon appeared for the first time.
Lady Red Moon’s character and behaviour were all completely different from Madam Wilder. She was ruthless and bloodthirsty, and often slaughtered anyone who was nearby.
Later one day, Mister Wilder noticed the abnormality in his wife and attempted to stop her.
But Madam Wilder, who had transformed into Lady Wilder, didn’t recognise him at all. She directly cut open her own husband’s chest, then swaggered off without a second thought under the red moon.
All of this was seen by Adeline, who had secretly run out to play with her father.
She felt extremely scared. Mommy had become a monster and killed daddy.
She stayed by her father’s corpse and cried, but suddenly heard familiar footsteps —
It was what she once loved most: the sound of her mother’s footsteps.
But now, it just made Adeline feel exceptionally afraid.
In her terror, she tried to crawl through the window and escape, but lost her footing and fell.
Adeline sat up, gently telling the three of them, “During the soul summoning ritual, I refused to respond because of fear, but a portion of my soul was forcibly retained through mother’s ritual, so I turned into a monster.
“The remnant of my soul has always tried to stop her, but I was too weak; even speaking and showing my form was very difficult, and I was unable to approach this body.
“All this time, mommy doesn’t know that she’s Lady Red Moon herself. She keeps trying various methods to revive me; perhaps, because this idea is in her head, she collects human skins as material whenever she turns into Lady Red Moon.”
Adeline reached up to clutch her face. “After becoming a monster, I also killed many people. I’m now a bad girl.”
The three looked at her, unsure what to say to comfort her for a while.
In the face of the heavy truth, all words appeared feeble and powerless. Even if Adeline was unwilling, in the end, the one who hurt people was still her.
Fortunately, after Adeline cried for a while, she wiped away her tears. “Mommy is crazy now. I want to leave with her; we both should go to the underworld. Can you help me?”
At this time, a system notification appeared before Xiao Lan.
【Mommy, let’s leave ba…】
【Triggered plot task: Adeline’s wish】
【Task description: Liberate Adeline, destroy Kriv】
【Task reward: Random rare item*1】
【Reminder: The plot task cannot be abandoned. It is crucial to the game progression. Please treat it prudently】
Accepting the task, Xiao Lan asked, “What should we do?”
Adeline said, “Tomorrow is the last night of the red moon. It is also the day mommy’s strength is at its weakest. There are four seals in the four corner towers of the institute. Break them on that day, and my power will be dispelled.
“Please note that breaking the seals will stir up a lot of activity. It’s best to ensure they are destroyed simultaneously, or else mommy will be alerted.”
After explaining it to the three of them, Adeline turned and leapt into the lake without a trace, probably returning to that gloomy underground room in the northern tower.
Xiao Lan felt his heart ache a little: for Adeline, and for the tragic Wilder couple.
However, if they needed to break the seals at the same time, the three of them clearly lacked one more person. It looked like they had to find another player to cooperate with them.
He planned to discuss it with Dai Bumao, but came face to face with a heavily crying soy egg face.
Dai Bumao sobbed out snot and tears, and even fell butt-first on the ground. “Wuuuuuuuuahhh… Adeline is too pitiful… I even hit her… Wuuuu…”
There was an undulating tempo to his tears, and he bore a remarkable resemblance to Tie Hanhan.
Xiao Lan: “…”
The faint melancholy in his heart was thus shattered by this scene.
thanks for the chapter
Ah so sad. Hope they can finish the game on the next update.
Thank you for the chapter ❤️
Omg the egg man is shockingly cute…gap moe?
Luo: Is there something sir wants I can give to him?! Oh, well, maybe another time. You are making wooing you harder, sir!!
Thx for the ch ٩(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )و
dai bumao’s skill is hilarious!
thanks for the chapter! <3
lol
thanks for the chapter~
Cute egg man, TYSM
“Swing his rod.” 😏😏
Ohohoho~ Luo you little- Only Xiao Lan who have the common trait of an MC’s obliviousness might not get it, but I sure [kinda?] do know what you just said ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Thank you for the chapter~ 💕
I kinda want to adopt Adeline qwq
💜💜💜
Why do I always read Adeline as Adrenaline !!! 😂
Jokes apart, she is really such a sweetheart.. 😔