Familiar bedroom, familiar ceiling.

Li Ang heaved a long sigh and looked down at the two books in his hands: *Andersen's Fairy Tales* and *Grimms' Fairy Tales*.

The covers of the books featured a fresh and cute oil painting style, protected by an outer layer of transparent plastic film. Li Ang always cherished his books; these two fairy tale collections, brought from the orphanage, were kept in very good condition. Aside from some yellowing with age, they showed no signs of damage.

Li Ang touched the book covers nostalgically and tucked the Red Mane Coat, still covered with a large amount of semi-melted ice and snow, into his backpack slot to prevent the meltwater from splashing onto the floor.

"HMM..."

Miss Chai's head popped out from Li Ang's chest. She curiously glanced at the two fairy tale books, then turned her head 180 degrees like an owl and said brightly to Li Ang, "Can I go play?"

"Go ahead."

Li Ang nodded like a parent dealing with a child addicted to online games.

Miss Chai hopped out cheerfully. When she reached the bedroom door, she seemed to remember something and hurriedly asked Li Ang for the Qinge Armor.

Then, she floated into the living room, hung the armor on a shelf on the wall, found a small Vest, a little brush, tweezers, and a paint bucket, and meticulously began to clean the armor's surface.

The original color scheme of the Qinge Armor was red and white.

The yellow paint job it displayed during the scenario quests was actually a concoction of paint, oil paint, paper components, and car pinstriping tape.

When necessary, the Qinge Armor could not only be disguised as a decoy but could also transform into Batman, Iron Man, Spider-Man, GG Bond, Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and even Kirby Beast—a veritable, all-purpose shapeshifter.

The method of changing the coating was also simple. According to Li Ang's thinking, one just needed to toss the entire Qinge Armor into a blazing fire or soak it in an acid bath. Since the armor was capable of self-healing, it would return to pristine condition after being fished out and left to sit for a while.

However, Miss Chai cherished her body to an extraordinary extent—after all, her survival (which, to her, meant binge eating and drinking) depended on it.

She firmly resisted Li Ang's irresponsible, scummy behavior towards the Qinge Armor, claiming, "You're just lusting after my body! You're despicable!"

She insisted on personally handling the maintenance and repainting of the Qinge Armor.

In the end, he let her have her way, figuring it was a good way to nurture Miss Chai's artistic talents.

In the bedroom, Li Ang glanced at Miss Chai, who was squatting on the small Vest as she worked diligently. He smiled casually and lowered his head to flip through the two fairy tale books.

Unlike their unchanged covers, the contents of the books had undergone dramatic changes.

The sections for "Little Red Riding Hood," "The Pied Piper," "The Mermaid," and "The Snow Queen"—stories players had encountered—were all replaced with modified versions reflecting the players' own experiences.

The entire story basically went like this:

"Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, an Asian Monk from a distant Eastern land, a symbol of righteousness, came to the Western world with several disciples. They met many companions, and working together, they thwarted Princess Anna's scheme, leading her to realize her mistakes and choose to be with her beloved Elsa forever."

The storytelling style was very much in the fashion of children's fairy tales. The language was simple, easy to understand, innocent, and pure, while the plot was full of twists and turns, making it captivating. Perhaps to maintain the overall fairy tale tone, many darker elements like suggestive banter, pranks, discrimination, conspiracies, and combat had been removed, making it read like a typical children's story.

Other stories in the books, such as "The Ugly Duckling," "Thumbelina," and "Cinderella," remained completely unchanged.

What's going on here?

Li Ang looked at the transformation of the books, also momentarily baffled.

Previously, scenario quests concluded cleanly without bleeding into his real life.

This was the first time he had encountered a scenario quest that had an impact on the Mortal Realm after it ended.

"Every fantasy work ever created in human history is the projection of other worlds on Earth.

In this vast universe, we exist, compete, infiltrate, and interfere alongside an incalculable number of other civilizations."

Li Ang murmured the two sentences the System had broadcast when he received his player qualification, his eyes brightening slightly. According to speculation on the forums, the worlds players enter during scenario quests could very well be real parallel universes.

Is this anomaly with the fairy tale books happening because the inherent nature of the Fairy World scenario is more powerful than the previous scenario worlds I've experienced? Or has the game of slaughter undergone some change, strengthening the connection between scenario worlds and the Mortal Realm? Or is it something else entirely...

Li Ang looked at the two ordinary-looking fairy tale books, furrowing his brows in thought for a long while. He finally let out a long sigh and put the books into a metal box used specifically for storage.

Then, he took out the "Automated Pet Box" and placed the two fairy tale books inside it.

Luckily, the descriptions of the players in the storybooks were all superficial. They mostly used titles like "Monk," "Elder Senior Brother," and "Second Disciple" as stand-ins, with no mention of player IDs or more personal player information.

This is actually a good thing, Li Ang thought, his expression calm. Saves me the trouble of hunting down my teammates later.

In the Fairy World, he had fed Giant Worms to Bob and the Forest Witch, Old Dorothy.

Bob, the elderly black man, was slightly better off; as a player, he could be used as a tool by Li Ang and could even wield weapons to fight enemies in the final stages.

After returning to the Mortal Realm, Bob, who was far away in the United States, would no longer have the Worms active inside him.

The Forest Witch, Old Dorothy, fared even worse. Not only did she consume the Worms and become a tool, but before the players left Mori City, Li Ang also used the Origin of Life to alter her appearance, transforming her into an attractive eighteen-year-old girl.

This wasn't Li Ang being generous or giving her free cosmetic surgery. Completely subservient, Old Dorothy followed Li Ang's instructions, secretly bought a ticket for the same train as the players, and journeyed with them to the Rune Kingdom Capital.

Li Ang used the parasitic Worms to remotely control Old Dorothy, issuing her commands to carry out various activities within the city.

The news at the time—reports of unidentified bodies in the city cemetery and families claiming night burglars flitted across rooftops—was all Old Dorothy's handiwork.

The widespread illness in the city, with many patients suffering discomfort, nausea, and vomiting, was also Old Dorothy's doing. She had planted Special Worms in various corners of the city, and some of these had accidentally contaminated the water supply.

However, in the final stages of the scenario quest, Princess Anna did not succumb to Li Ang's threats, so this hidden gambit was not Triggered.

After Li Ang left that world, the Worms, having lost their power source, would automatically dissolve and die within a few days as per the program he had preset. They wouldn't cause any further impact on that world.

Well... Old Dorothy, now transformed into a beautiful young woman, will probably be on edge for a long time. Not only will she stop receiving messages from me, but she'll also have to endure diarrhea for the next few days as the Worms decompose... Considering she's become so many years younger, a few days of diarrhea probably isn't a bad trade-off.

Li Ang stretched, pushing aside his jumbled thoughts. He went to the bathroom for a shower, then changed into his pajamas, lay down on his bed, and began to carefully inspect the rewards from this mission.