The Story of "Fairy Tale"

Ai Lin emerged from Hu Li's embrace and hopped onto the table. She stood there, also gazing somewhat absently at the open space outside the window along with Little Red Riding Hood.

"'Fairy Tale' first broke out right here. After that, the victims started treating this place as home... It feels a bit strange," the little doll muttered.

"Everyone needs a home," Little Red Riding Hood turned around, a faint smile on her face. "I don't know how the 'predecessors' from many years ago made their decision, but the children who live here now all regard this orphanage as home. For me, it's also a place where I can feel at ease... even though so many things happened here before."

"Are only orphans affected by 'Fairy Tale'?" Yu Sheng frowned. "Or do ordinary children get sent here after being influenced by a fairy tale?"

Little Red Riding Hood sighed. "Only orphans."

"Why? Any conclusions?"

"Because their hearts lack protection," Little Red Riding Hood said calmly. "Although there are still many gaps in our understanding of 'Fairy Tale,' based on current progress, we've determined that its influence is related to the victims' 'personality patterns' and 'social relationships.' Orphans—those without protection from parents or other relatives, those in a long-term state of psychological instability, those with weak social ties in the real world—are its best 'prey.' After all..."

She paused here, then shook her head gently after a moment. "After all, if reality is too cold, the warmth in fantasy becomes especially tempting. When 'Fairy Tale' first takes effect, its power is actually very weak. It only needs a thin 'rope' to firmly anchor the affected child on the reality side. But for many orphans, even that thin 'rope' doesn't exist."

Yu Sheng's brow remained furrowed. After a moment, he asked again, "What triggers the influence? I heard from that squirrel... is it reading the corresponding fairy tale?"

Little Red Riding Hood nodded lightly. "That's the most important part."

"Why not just ban those stories?" Hu Li asked with curiosity. "Back in my hometown, there was a demon cultivator who, before dying, melted himself into a legend. Later, he almost succeeded in turning from fiction into reality by spreading through word of mouth. It feels similar to this... just as terrifying."

Ai Lin's eyes widened at that. She stared at Hu Li in astonishment. "Damn, your hometown really has some outrageous stuff... So what happened? How did you deal with that 'demon cultivator'? By sealing off the contaminated 'legend'?"

"Ah, not exactly," Hu Li waved her hand. "We did try sealing it at first, but the demon cultivator's backup plan had too wide an influence, and it couldn't be sealed. Then the era of social media came."

Yu Sheng's expression instantly froze. "Uh... what?"

"Suddenly, there were remixes, spoofs, and short video clips everywhere. That demon cultivator died a miserable death," Hu Li gestured animatedly. "His final distress signal was turned into meme videos and emoticon packs. By the time the Immortal Alliance noticed, he had already perished amidst the laughter and joy of the world's people..."

The room went quiet for a moment. Little Red Riding Hood, Yu Sheng, and Ai Lin all stood there dumbfounded on the sofa. Hu Li, still oblivious, continued, "So after that, even the great demon foxes in our tribe didn't dare to casually refine themselves into legends anymore. If they did refine themselves, they'd choose math problems and physics formulas instead—at least those aren't easily changed..."

Little Red Riding Hood listened to Hu Li in a daze. It took a while before she blinked and turned to Yu Sheng. "Um, I think I lost the thread..."

"Don't worry, I often can't keep up with her hometown stuff either," Yu Sheng waved his hand. "Don't dwell on that. But Hu Li's question is also what I wanted to ask—since the corresponding fairy tale is an important trigger for 'Fairy Tale,' why not directly control the spread of those stories? Or, like in her hometown, 'destroy' them..."

Little Red Riding Hood didn't answer directly. Instead, she threw a question back. "Remember when we discussed why we didn't just tear down the old theater to 'permanently close' the Anomaly Domain Museum?"

Yu Sheng's heart stirred. His expression instantly turned subtle.

He knew what was going on.

"Does the same principle apply to anomalous-type Anomaly Domains?"

"Yes. Anomalous-type Anomaly Domains are still Anomaly Domains, and the underlying rules are the same," Little Red Riding Hood nodded. "The true body of 'Fairy Tale' is 'information' hidden even deeper. Those stories are only 'entrances' connecting it to reality. It's like how the 'Museum's' true body is a distorted space, and the old theater stage is just its entrance. Removing the entrance only causes the Anomaly Domain to go out of control in an even stranger, harder-to-prevent way, possibly even increasing the danger. And..."

She looked up, her expression serious as she gazed at Yu Sheng.

"And 'Fairy Tale' has another even stranger characteristic. Its 'stories' don't even need someone to tell them. There have been records of a child who had never been exposed to the corresponding story falling into a 'subset' created by Fairy Tale after a dream. Later investigation revealed that child had heard the sound of someone reading a story from the void. That's why, even though the 'Fairy Tale' Anomaly Domain doesn't directly kill, its danger level is rated above three—it possesses proactive malice."

Little Red Riding Hood finished her account. Yu Sheng sat on the sofa, looking somewhat glum.

A nameless irritation surged within him. He stood up from the sofa and paced around the room, not knowing what to say.

"It shouldn't be like this... Doesn't the Special Operations Bureau have any way?" He suddenly turned around and looked at the girl in red sitting nearby.

Little Red Riding Hood just sat there, raising her head to meet his gaze calmly. "Have humans eradicated the common cold?"

Yu Sheng: "..."

"Think of it as a chronic illness that only affects a few orphans. Doesn't that make it easier to understand and accept?" Little Red Riding Hood continued. "You can't demand that a natural phenomenon be completely eliminated from the world just because you think we orphans are 'pitiful.' You can't ask the Special Operations Bureau to do something beyond human capability. An Anomaly Domain is not a broken factory that you can just shut down and be done with. An Anomaly Domain is a 'phenomenon' that operates in this world. Having its entrance fixed in one place is already the greatest mercy it shows to people."

Little Red Riding Hood's voice was calm and forceful, but Yu Sheng still felt something was off.

No, there was one Anomaly Domain... one Anomaly Domain that had indeed been 'eradicated.'

That valley.

Yu Sheng thought rapidly, various ideas swirling in his mind like a storm—

Could what happened in Nightfall Valley be replicated in that Black Forest? Even if it could be replicated there... how would it affect the true body of 'Fairy Tale'? After all, that Black Forest was only a subset of Fairy Tale, a temporarily generated 'room' within that 'invisible edifice.' Based on what Little Red Riding Hood had explained, Yu Sheng couldn't think of any way to reach the true body of 'Fairy Tale'...

How could he smear his blood onto a 'collection of stories'?

Little Red Riding Hood watched Yu Sheng, who had suddenly stopped by the window, curiously observing the changing expressions on his face. She didn't know what this strange 'adult' from 66 Wutong Road was thinking, but she could sense that this 'weird entity,' who even made the Special Operations Bureau so tense, genuinely wanted to help.

"You want to do something very difficult," she said to Yu Sheng. "I know you want to help us. In fact, there have been others before—deep divers, scholars, investigators, even an astrologer from Algrade. Adults who wanted to shield the children from nightmares. But none of them succeeded. I... I'm not saying this to discourage you, just to tell you in advance that this is dangerous and so far, there's no clue at all."

But Yu Sheng seemed not to hear what Little Red Riding Hood said. He was still deep in thought. After a long while, he suddenly lifted his head. "I might not have any idea about the true body of 'Fairy Tale,' but we can start with the Black Forest."

Little Red Riding Hood was taken aback. "Uh... Did you hear anything I just said?"

"I heard you. I think it's no big deal," Yu Sheng waved his hand. "For me, there are plenty of things in this world with no clue. I still have no idea about my utility bills or where the sewer drains. As for danger... to be honest, which Anomaly Domain isn't dangerous?"

Little Red Riding Hood opened her mouth but couldn't think of a way to refute him.

Just then, as Yu Sheng was about to ask the girl for more information about the Black Forest, a rush of hurried footsteps came from the hallway, interrupting the conversation.

The meeting room door was pushed open. A girl with long black hair, who looked a year or two younger than Little Red Riding Hood, rushed in.

Little Red Riding Hood immediately stood up. "Long Hair? What happened?"

The girl called Long Hair first glanced at the 'outsiders' in the room. After receiving a nod from Little Red Riding Hood, she took a shallow breath and spoke quickly in a low voice. "One of the children 'left.' It happened very fast. There was no time..."

Yu Sheng noticed that Little Red Riding Hood's body swayed slightly for a moment, and her breathing stopped.

"...Which one?" she asked quietly.

"The new one."