Chapter 1: I’m so cute!

Bai Linlin stood inside a pure white cubic space.

She looked down.

The first thing she saw was a lock of hair hanging down to her chest.

The color was very pale, white like freshly fallen snow, with the ends carrying a slightly unnatural soft curl.

‘This hair quality… is actually pretty good?’

The thought had barely surfaced before she forcibly shoved it back down.

Wrong focus.

She slowly raised her hand.

The fingers were slender, the skin so fair that the faint bluish veins underneath were visible, nails a healthy soft pink, round and small.

This was absolutely not him.

Her hand slid down along the curve of her body, past the neck, and stopped at her chest.

She pressed lightly.

Soft.

Not large, but undeniably soft, with an elastic touch.

She froze. Her hand jerked back as if scalded, then—unable to resist—gingly reached out again to confirm.

“…”

Her mind was a mess.

She instinctively wanted to touch her face. Halfway up, the motion suddenly filled her with an inexplicable sense of shame.

In the end, her fingers still hesitantly brushed her cheek.

The skin was smooth and delicate. The jawline had a very gentle curve. The lips… also felt very soft.

The height was even more wrong.

Her line of sight was much lower; even the perspective of this pure white space looked somewhat childish.

She tried hopping a couple of times. Her body felt light and floaty. Judging by the sensation… probably not even 1.4 meters?

‘I…’

An utterly ridiculous conclusion took shape in her chaotic mind.

‘…turned into a white-haired little brat?’

Before the shockwave from that realization could fully spread, right in the center of her vision, without any warning, a semi-transparent blue panel popped up.

The edges of the panel flickered with an ominous faint red light.

【Countdown 00:59】

【About to enter Death Game】

Below it were several smaller lines:

【Name: Bai Linlin】

【Age: Unknown】

【Height: 1.37 m】

【Overall Combat Power: 5】

【Evaluation: Nothing but cute!】

【Current Game Participations: Unknown】

Bai Linlin stared at the panel and blinked.

Then blinked again.

“Ha?”

She finally regained her voice—though the voice itself was clear, childish, and carried zero intimidation.

“What the hell is this? Death Game?!”

The countdown numbers on the panel continued their cold march: 00:58, 00:57…

“Combat power 5?! Is this panel broken?!”

She pointed at that line and shouted into the empty white space.

“You’re throwing a 1.37-meter-tall, combat-power-only-5 little shrimp into a death game? Isn’t this just straight-up sending me to die?!”

“And this evaluation! ‘Nothing but cute’—what does that even mean?! That’s personal attack! I want to file a complaint!”

The countdown remained unmoved, steadily marching toward zero.

00:05, 00:04, 00:03…

Her voice gradually grew smaller until it became a mutter:

“…At least the ‘cute’ part is still objectively true.”

00:01.

00:00.

An irresistible wave of dizziness suddenly seized her.

The pure white space spun, twisted, and melted into darkness.

The first thing to return was touch.

Beneath her was the hard, slightly rough texture of woven fabric.

Like coarse linen sheets.

The air carried a faint aged-wood smell mixed with just a hint of sweet, toasted-bread fragrance.

Bai Linlin opened her eyes.

A low, wood-grained ceiling came into view, crossed by one thick, rugged beam.

Light entered from a small wooden window to the side; tiny motes of dust floated visibly in the beam.

She was lying on a small wooden bed, covered by a plain thin blanket.

Propping herself up, she sat and looked down at herself.

She wore a white sleeveless nightdress that resembled a simple slip dress. The fabric was soft, but the style was almost crude in its plainness.

The hem reached just above the knees, revealing two slender, snow-white calves.

Her bare feet stepped onto the cold floor; the wood grain pressed against her soles.

At that moment, the familiar semi-transparent blue panel popped up again, occupying the most prominent spot in her vision.

【Welcome to the Death Game.】

【Current Role: Little Red Riding Hood.】

Several new task descriptions emerged:

【Current Stage Objective: Follow Mother’s instructions, head to Grandmother’s house in the forest, and deliver the cake and wine.】

【Ultimate Goal: Kill the Big Bad Wolf.】

【Failure Penalty: Death.】

【Clear Reward: Little Red Riding Hood’s Basket (special item; automatically refreshes with one cake and one bottle of water every 24 hours).】

The panel flickered once, then slowly faded—but did not vanish completely. It could be summoned again with a thought at any time.

Bai Linlin stared at the words “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Kill the Big Bad Wolf” in silence for a full ten seconds.

“…”

“Me? Little Red Riding Hood?”

She raised one slender arm and waved it feebly in the air. Not even a breeze was stirred.

“You want someone as frail and pitiful as me—hand strength barely enough to strangle a chicken, combat power only 5—to go kill a Big Bad Wolf?”

She pictured the scene.

A furry, drooling, green-eyed wild wolf—probably taller than her current height when standing—facing off against this tiny bean of a girl in a nightdress who barely reached 1.37 meters.

Then the wolf pounces.

The ending probably didn’t need imagining.

“Was this game’s balance eaten by a dog?!”

She couldn’t help venting at the empty air.

“Where’s the newbie protection period? Where’s the starter weapon? Even if there’s no dragon-slaying sword, at least give me a slingshot!”

Even while complaining, the blood-red words “Failure Penalty: Death” on the panel stung her eyes.

She sighed. Her shoulders slumped.

No use standing here cursing the heavens.

From years of gaming experience (even though she had now become the game character), the first step was usually…

She scanned the room.

Very small. Apart from the bed, an old tiny wardrobe, a wooden table, and a chair, there was almost nothing else.

On the table sat an empty wooden bowl.

Bai Linlin walked to the only wardrobe.

The door wasn’t fully closed; a narrow gap showed.

She reached out with her small hand, grasped the cold wooden handle, and pulled hard.

The old hinges groaned.

Inside were not many items.

A few neatly folded plain coarse-cloth garments, all dull grayish colors.

But the most eye-catching thing was the garment hanging inside.

A vivid scarlet cloak.

The color was so rich it looked dyed with the deepest sunset.

Hooded style, with a circle of slightly darker, soft trim around the hood’s edge.

The fabric appeared thick and warm.

No doubt about it—this was the famous “red velvet hood,” the iconic outfit of Little Red Riding Hood.

Bai Linlin took the red cloak out.

It was lighter than she expected.

Clumsily (mainly because she wasn’t used to this body or this kind of clothing), she draped the cloak over her nightdress and tied the strings under her neck.

Then she walked to the room’s only mirror—a somewhat blurry copper one.

The reflection showed a tiny figure.

White long hair lay somewhat messily across her shoulders and the red cloak, tips curling up.

The red hood sat on her head, making the small face beneath look even fairer.

Eyes very large, pupils pale, expression a little dazed, lips slightly parted.

A thin ring of the white nightdress collar peeked out from under the red cloak; below the hem were thin ankles and small bare feet.

The overall image truly matched the fairy-tale illustration of “the adorable little girl everyone loves.”

Bai Linlin raised her hand and poked her own cheek in the mirror.

The little girl in the reflection did the same.

She made a silly face.

The girl in the mirror stuck out her tongue too.

“…Fine.”

She lowered her hand and spoke to her reflection in a resigned tone.

“It really is quite cute.”

“I’m seriously adorable!”

She announced in an exaggerated, theatrical voice, trying to cheer herself up.

But paired with this childish tone and appearance, it only came across as even more comical and powerless.

At that moment, a gentle female voice came from outside the door.

“Little Red Riding Hood? Are you awake? It’s time to set off.”

It was “Mother’s” voice.

According to the fairy tale’s sequence, next would come Mother’s instructions, then receiving the cake and wine, and stepping onto the path toward Grandmother’s house in the forest.

Bai Linlin took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

In the mirror, the little girl in the red cloak gradually gathered up the confusion and ridiculousness in her eyes.

Though still childish, something else had been added.

Resignation—and the hard-headed determination to face it anyway.

“Coming.”