I’m A Little White Flower In An Escape Game ☆ 3

Arc 1: 《Mermaid Village》 Ch2-ch14

Exploring the Secrets of the Mermaid Village and Surviving for Three Days?

Upon seeing the bold red letters floating before her eyes, Ruan Bai finally realised that she had been tricked by the White Lotus Flower system! What kind of reality show was this? It was all fake!

She knew about the Infinite Horror X genre. She understood that she had somehow been transported into an Escape Game, becoming one of its players!

Suppressing her anger, she frantically called to the system within her mind: 'Hey? System? Are you there?'

After asking the question, she felt a sharp pain deep within her brain. Then, a slightly stuttering mechanical voice sounded in her ear:

【Zi zi...Host...Zi...Hello...】

Hearing this familiar robotic voice, Ruan Bai squinted her eyes and said, 'Hurry up and tell me what's going on when you come out! Don't dawdle!'

While she was confident in her strength and believed she could handle danger, she was also aware of her limitations. The Escape Game vastly differed from the worlds of "CEO Domineering Love" she had experienced before. She could actually die here!

Just as Ruan Bai was getting frustrated, her system sensed something was amiss.

【Huh? Wait a minute; something doesn't seem right.】

【Click...Slk--...Click...】

【Oh, okay, I see what happened. I accidentally tuned to the work area of the Escape Game system.】

Upon hearing this, a glimmer of hope ignited within Ruan Bai's heart. Does this mean that she has a chance to leave? However, in the next moment, the White Lotus System continued its soliloquy.

【Well, let's just deal with the wrong frequency. It's still possible to get through it.】 Ruan Bai: "..." No! Wake up! How can you just make do with this kind of situation!

As Ruan Bai's vision faded and she almost passed out, the other players started to move.

A man in his thirties stood first, looking sternly at the others. "I assume everyone has received their respective systems and knows their tasks now?" He pointed to himself and volunteered, "Let's unite first to complete the task and introduce ourselves. My name is Qin Yu. I have cleared this type of game instance three times before. This is my fourth time playing."

"I'm Wang Wen Wen, and this is my first time playing," a high school girl who looked about sixteen stood up nervously and said. She seemed to have cried until her eyes had turned red.

Ruan Bai remembered that she was among the group of frenzied people just now. "I'm Li Huo, and this is my second time playing," a boy said. His demeanour was noticeably calmer and more composed now.

"I'm also playing for the second time, and my name is Wang Lu..."

Hearing the discussion among the other players, Ruan Bai couldn't help but lift her head and ask without hope, 'System, is there really no way for me to leave?' Does she also have to stay here for three days like the others?

【I do apologise, dear host, but your own words confirmed your entry into this world,】 said the White Lotus Flower System without mercy. 【Now that your identity has been recorded, there's no way to change or delete it.】 Afterwards, it added: 【Of course, even though you find yourself in an Escape Game, your score reward upon completion will be determined by your performance. Please hold on, dear host, and strive to become a weak, pitiful, innocent, and pure White Lotus Flower, no matter the circumstances.】

Ruan Bai couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. She understood that even in an Escape Game, she had to maintain her damn White Lotus persona.

At that moment, she pinched her arm without hesitation. Her tears started flowing uncontrollably. How could a normal White Lotus Flower keep her composure in such a situation?

Ruan Bai wasn't foolish; she knew that if she continued to speak in the same manner as she did with the bespectacled man on the bus, she would only incur the disdain of the other players.

Since that path was no longer viable, she decided to feign weakness. Although sobbing incessantly would undoubtedly irritate those around her, it would also lower their guard and even evoke some sympathy.

If this was the world she had found herself in, she had to strive to survive.

Everyone had already introduced themselves by now. It was Ruan Bai's turn to do so. While trembling and sobbing, she forced out her name: "My name is Bai Ruan Ruan. Where am I? Can I go home?" Her eyes were swollen. Her pale face was incredibly frail-looking, which added to her pitiful demeanour.

"This is an Escape Game, and we are all hosts of the Escape Game system and players." Perhaps seeing how much she was crying, a gentle young woman in her twenties next to her said, "Don't worry, after completing the tasks released by the system, you can go back. The B-level world difficulty isn't too hard."

She seemed to want to say something more, but her two teammates had unhappy looks on their faces, and one of them even pulled her, making her close her mouth involuntarily.

Ruan Bai saw this scene but pretended not to see it, obediently nodding her head after the introduction.

It turned out that these people were all like her, the system's hosts.

However, the Escape Game system seemed different from her White Lotus Flower Development System.

After Ruan Bai finished introducing herself, everyone exited the car and walked toward the mermaid village, preparing to find a household to stay in.

To smoothly enter the village and explore its secrets, they told the old people they were city tourists who planned to stay in the mermaid village for three days.

Ruan Bai deeply understood the logic of "less talk, less mistake", following them not too far away while crying softly and looking at the terrain around the mermaid village.

Surrounded by rugged mountains and dense forests lay a small village. Despite its pristine natural surroundings, the village was humble and small, comprising no more than twenty to thirty households. The inhabitants were either elderly or children, and the presence of young adults was scarce.

Fields lay on the village's outskirts, but many lay abandoned, overrun with weeds and forlorn. A small stream flowed softly on the left side of the village, it's trickling waters a gentle accompaniment to the peaceful ambience.

A hidden Taoist temple lay nestled among the overlapping trees on a nearby hillside. Its timeworn facade blended in with the surrounding foliage. Unless one was observant, it was easy to miss its presence.

The prospect of money had lured many villagers into agreeing to provide lodging for the newcomers. When it was their turn to choose, Gu San didn't make a decision immediately but instead turned to Ruan Bai, lifted his chin, and asked her to choose.

Ruan Bai scanned their options and, wiping away her tears, shook her head and said, "It doesn't matter to me; you decide."

Gu San smiled mysteriously, his eyes shining with amusement. "Stop pretending to cry," he said, seeing through her act.

She had played the role of four different White Lotus women across various worlds. Do you think she would admit it so readily? Puzzled, she looked at Gu San, blinked, and pretended not to understand what he was talking about.

Seeing her reaction, Gu San chuckled disdainfully, wasting no more words on her. He headed straight for the nearest household, where an elderly woman and her young grandson greeted them with curious eyes.

Ruan Bai couldn't help but feel the villagers covertly scrutinised them as they passed by.

Eyes followed their every move as they made their way to the homestead, their cold and eerie probing gazes unnerving. Ruan Bai caught a glimpse of the villagers' scrutiny, but as soon as she turned to meet their stare, they averted their gaze.

The elderly woman ushered them into a guest room and served a modest dinner. Gu San remained stoic throughout the meal, and Ruan Bai, wary of his mercurial temperament, opted to keep her distance. She knew that, as a despised weakling, her fate rested solely in Gu San's hands. She couldn't afford to rub him the wrong way. So, she held her tongue and awaited his following command, determined to survive at any cost.

Amidst the silence, they quickly finished their dinner. After the elderly woman cleared away the dishes, Gu San suddenly lifted his head and asked her, "Grandmother, which deity is worshipped in the Taoist temple over there? Is it the Sanqing Daozu?"

Like Ruan Bai, he had also noticed the temple.

The elderly woman shook her head in response and corrected them, "It's not Sanqing; it's the deity of the mermaid Ah Ma that's being worshipped." She smiled mysteriously and added, "She is the protector of our village."

Mermaid Ah Ma? Ruan Bai recalled observing the outskirts of the village upon arrival and had noticed that the village was surrounded by mountains, with no other water sources except for a small river that flowed through the area. Aren't mermaids supposed to live in the sea? How did this guardian deity come to be?

As the evening fell and the sky outside grew dark, the lights in the surrounding houses were turned off one by one, plunging the entire village into darkness.

After a long day of bus travel, Ruan Bai and the others were exhausted. Having hastily finished their meal and failing to glean any helpful information, they retired to their room to rest. Though they were now alone in the same room, precautions against any possible romantic entanglements were unnecessary in these circumstances.

The room had two beds, one for each of them. Ruan Bai yawned. After washing up, she got ready to go to bed. Amid the silence, she eventually closed her eyes and drifted asleep.

However, in the middle of the night, Ruan Bai suddenly awakened. She couldn't quite explain the feeling, but in her half-awake state, she felt like someone was staring at her. Accompanying the gaze was the sound of dripping water.

"Drip...drip-drip..."

The intensity of the other person's gaze sent shivers down Ruan Bai's spine, causing her to open her eyes drowsily. And then, she saw it: a woman's face was pressed against the window from the outside.

——— Translator's Notes ———

秦宇 (Qin Yu) 宇 (yǔ) means "universe" or "cosmos,

王雯雯 (Wang Wen Wen) 王 (wáng) meaning "king" or "monarch." The two characters 雯雯 (wén wén) together are a given name and mean "charming and graceful."

李火 (Li Huo) 李 (lǐ) meaning "plum." The second character 火 (huǒ) means "fire," so the name can be interpreted to mean "plum fire."

王路 (Wang Lu) 王 (wáng) means "king" or "monarch," and the second character 路 (lù) means "road" or "path." So, the name can be interpreted to mean "the road of the king."

三清道祖 (Sānqīng Dàozǔ) Refers to the Three Pure Ones in Daoism, the highest deities in the Daoist pantheon.

阿妈 (Ah Ma): In Hokkien dialect, "Ah Ma" means "grandmother."

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