Monster - Chapter 30
Chapter 30: Little Rabbit and Little Fool
So I really am just an NPC in a Tower World... Lin Sandie thought self-deprecatingly, coming back to her senses a long time after hearing Pie's answer.
Her life was truly filled with all sorts of dramatic twists and bizarre turns.
“Is this the only body I have now? This will be very inconvenient for completing your mission.” Lin Sandie wasn't in the mood to wallow in self-pity. She started trying to negotiate with Pie, and of course, what she said was also the truth.
“You can view your basic abilities on the light screen,” Pie said. At the same time, the blue light screen in front of Lin Sandie flickered, and she saw her avatar appear on it—the avatar of the rabbit doll.
That rabbit doll had a round head, red eyes, and an “×” for a mouth. It was not Lin Sandie's real appearance.
A few lines of text appeared next to the avatar: Code Name: Little Rabbit (Guide), Mental Power 198, Stamina 5. Points 300.
“This code name is too careless...” Lin Sandie couldn't help but complain inwardly the moment she saw the first line.
Next to “her avatar” was a three-dimensional map of space, composed of blue light dots of varying shades. They formed spheres of various sizes, most of which didn't display names. On one conspicuous sphere floating at the forefront of the map, there were two constantly flashing gold dots. Above that sphere, its name was displayed: Aztec.★
Lin Sandie fixed her gaze on the two constantly flashing gold dots. Below her own name, the little savage's avatar soon appeared.
Next to the little savage's avatar was: Code Name: —— (Sentinel), Mental Power 87, Stamina 50. Points 300.
“No code name? Is it because the little savage doesn't have a name? She looks like a wandering orphan. Even if her parents had given her a name, she's probably forgotten it herself,” Lin Sandie continued to mutter to herself.
“Otherwise, she wouldn't have adopted a collapsed statue of a goddess as her mother. What a little fool.” Unconsciously, Lin Sandie said this last complaint out loud.
The moment she finished speaking, the text next to the little savage's avatar changed: Code Name: Little Fool (Sentinel)
Uh...
Lin Sandie had always considered herself relatively steady and mature, but she found that after her consciousness arrived in this Tower World, her snarky soul had begun to burn fiercely, impossible to extinguish.
“Forget it, whatever. She calls me Little Rabbit, so it's not like I'm bullying her by calling her Little Fool. I really am a little rabbit, and she really is a little fool.” Lin Sandie snarked at herself, amused. At the same time, she warned herself not to casually mutter her thoughts aloud in the future, because she didn't much appreciate Pie's habit of casually snatching words to fill in the blanks.
Lin Sandie shifted her gaze to her own abilities displayed on the light screen.
Scan: Scan simple data of characters encountered in the Tower World. If permission issues are involved, prerequisite conditions must be collected to unlock. Scanned character data will be saved automatically.
Island 【Beginner】: Release a circular space with a 10-meter diameter. Anyone passing through this circular space can have their information scanned, even if they are not within the line of sight.
Guardian 【Beginner】: Release a space with a 1-meter radius. Within this space, damage can be reduced by 50%. Affects no more than 2 people at a time. The guardian power can only be released once every 2 hours.
Heal 【Beginner】: Restore 0.1 Mental Power and 0.2 Stamina every 5 seconds, lasting for half an hour; instantly heals external wounds, can only be released once every 2 hours, related to level and Mental Power.
Active Skill 【Beginner】: Mental Deterrence. Can actively release an internal warning to inflict mental deterrence on enemies. Related to Mental Power. Can be released once per hour.
Active Skill 【Beginner】: Spirit Separation. Can be used for reconnaissance, attack, tracking, etc. Can also be attacked. The strength of the Spirit Separation state is related to Mental Power. Leaving the body for too long will cause irreversible damage.
Passive Skill: Has a mood-calming effect, particularly effective on Sentinels.
“Why are they all support skills...” Lin Sandie's gaze shifted to the word “Guide” after her code name.
Define Guide.
Guide: Possesses relatively strong mental power, exists as a partner to a Sentinel. Has strong empathy, able to feel others' emotions and is also easily influenced by them. Naturally possesses the ability to calm Sentinels and can bring a Sentinel back to their physical body from a state of Spirit Separation.
Define Sentinel.
Sentinel: Possesses relatively strong combat power, exists as a partner to a Guide. Has keen five senses and the instinct to protect and rely on a Guide. Prone to losing themselves when overly focused on something.
Define Spirit Separation State.
Spirit Separation State: The state after a human's consciousness leaves their body. Its form is usually a creature unique to one's own soul. It can be used for reconnaissance, attack, tracking, etc., and can also be attacked. The strength of the Spirit Separation state is related to Mental Power. Leaving the body for too long will cause irreversible damage.
While defining the Spirit Separation state, a cloud of black fog suddenly appeared before Lin Sandie's eyes. The fog grew darker from the outside in, as if some monster were incubating inside. The little savage, who had just swallowed something, suddenly looked at Lin Sandie and curiously reached out, wanting to touch the black fog.
Lin Sandie was startled and immediately reined in her thoughts. The black fog vanished.
The little savage scratched her head, confused, not understanding what she had just seen. But she didn't seem inclined to dwell on it. She just reached out, picked up Lin Sandie, and gathered her into her arms. Then she slowly crawled over to the toppled goddess statue, leaned against it, and prepared to sleep.
“This Little Fool doesn't even know how to make a fire... The fact that she's survived this long might really be because a goddess is protecting her.” Lin Sandie sighed inwardly. She could imagine that her body as a rabbit doll must still be damp, yet this little savage held her without a care.
“Wait, this Little Fool is also a participant in the mission, right? Uh, hmm...” Lin Sandie suddenly guessed at a possibility that shocked her.
Could it be... could it be that Pie had also spoken to Little Fool, telling her to complete the mission and so on, but this little one who couldn't even speak properly didn't understand what Pie was saying at all, let alone being told to look at the words on the light screen? And then Little Fool automatically associated Pie's voice with this collapsed goddess statue, and wishfully adopted Pie as her mother?
Lin Sandie wanted to cover her face. She found it both amusing and pitiful, and a feeling of tender affection for the little savage holding her welled up in her heart.
“Pie, based on the information you've given, can I understand it that in this Tower World, Aztec, I am Little Fool's partner?” Lin Sandie asked.
“In this Tower World, you are partners. Before leaving Aztec, if either of you dies, the other will also be erased. A team bound as a Sentinel and Guide has no possibility of one surviving alone in the same Tower World.”
This piece of information from Pie left Lin Sandie completely stunned. She opened her mouth, but her good upbringing stopped her from cursing. In any case, no matter which world she was in, her situation couldn't possibly get any worse.
“So neither Little Fool nor I have the right to choose our partner?” She didn't want to be partnered with a six or seven-year-old orphan, and if Little Fool had the choice, she most likely wouldn't choose a dirty rabbit doll that couldn't do anything.
Pie didn't answer. For some reason, a faint sadness permeated the air. The light screen in front of Lin Sandie flashed, and a list appeared.
The first line clearly read:
Name: Illiteracy Elimination Potion
Effect: Permanent
How to use: Drink this potion and you will no longer be illiterate.
Exchange Points: 150
Lin Sandie had 300 starting points, and using half of them at once would certainly feel like a waste. However, if her partner was a little savage who couldn't read a single word, future missions would definitely become nightmare-level, not to mention she herself was just a rabbit doll.
Without rashly exchanging her points, Lin Sandie continued to look at the items on the list. During this time, the little savage had already laid down with her in the slightly curved crook of the goddess statue's arm, holding her up so they were face to face.
Name: Soulmate Buff
How to use: After purchase, gift an item from your person to the target. Afterward, as long as the two are within 1 meter of each other, they can communicate telepathically.
Side Effect: 10% chance of leaking true inner thoughts.
Exchange Points: 300
Name: Soulmate Super Buff
How to use: After purchase, gift an item from your person to the target. Afterward, as long as a similar type of item is within 1 meter of the target, the two can communicate telepathically.
Side Effect: 10% chance of leaking true inner thoughts.
Exchange Points: 3000
“Pie, can points be given to a teammate?” Lin Sandie asked.
“Yes.”
“Can I know what our first mission is?”
“Missions are graded: Simple, Medium, Hard, Nightmare. Which do you choose?”
“Simple.” That was without question. Lin Sandie glanced at the sleepy-eyed little savage and saw traces of a beating on her face. With a thought, she released her healing ability. Although restoring 0.1 Mental Power and 0.2 Stamina every 5 seconds was a bit low, it lasted for half an hour, which was pretty good.
While using Heal, Lin Sandie also used her calming ability. She then saw the little savage's eyelids close completely, and the sound of steady breathing came from her nose.
Seeing that the bruises on the little savage's face seemed to have subsided a little, Lin Sandie shifted her gaze back to the light screen.
“The bell has begun to toll, let us run together toward our eternal home.”
You have been away from home for too long. Please return to the White Bear Tribe, located west of Lake Texcoco, as soon as possible.
Time Limit: Indefinite.
Success Reward: 500 Points.
Failure Penalty: None.
“This is a simple mission?” Lin Sandie was speechless. Making a six or seven-year-old child trek through the jungle was somewhat unreasonable. But at least there was no penalty mechanism, and the reward was generous. She started looking at the list again. She still had many questions in her heart, like why a rabbit doll was chosen for her consciousness to possess to complete the mission. Although she kept asking Pie, she always avoided the topic. Furthermore, as an adult, she could somewhat comprehend these bizarre events—after all, she had long since learned how crazy the world could be. But why would Pie find a six or seven-year-old child who understood nothing to do these missions?
Could Pie really be counting on the little savage to complete this so-called simple mission?
“Perhaps Pie is some kind of deity who foresaw that Little Fool will have to save the world, save all of humanity, or something, so she's investing in her now...”
“No, no, that's probably impossible. There can't be that many apocalypses that need averting.”
At this thought, Lin Sandie stared at the little savage. She was drooling a river in her sleep and constantly grinding her teeth. No matter how you looked at it, she didn't seem like a savior—though Lin Sandie had never seen a real savior herself...
“The investment cost is too high. That guess doesn't hold up. I feel like in her current state, Little Fool could die at any moment if left unattended.”
“Could it be that she's like me, on the verge of death and then chosen by Pie? I just don't know what the selection criteria are.”
Lin Sandie's thoughts were a mess. As she thought, her mind drifted back to her real self. According to Pie, she should be seriously injured. Maybe she was still being treated in the ICU right now, while her consciousness had been brought to this Tower World called Aztec. She wondered if there were any rules about the flow of time between the two places. If her consciousness remained active all the time, could she just drop dead from lack of sleep?
Lou watched as Lin Sandie was wheeled into the operating room. Her own hands were covered in the latter's blood. She stood dazed for several seconds before running to the restroom to wash her hands clean. She looked at herself in the mirror, but her mind was filled with the pale, lifeless face on the hospital bed.
Lin Sandie couldn't die.
Lou thought, and then an invisible line appeared from her wrist, as if being pulled by someone. The other end of that “line” was tied to the still-unconscious Lin Sandie.
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