Reborn As A Doomsday Villainess
Chapter 212: VR Simulation (2)

Chapter 212: VR Simulation (2)

<[Every player has been granted a dormant Trait Seed.]>>

<<[Perform actions that resonate with the environment to activate it. Once triggered, your form will adapt. These changes are temporary and harmless. Use them to explore, solve, and survive.]>>

The kids immediately began moving in exaggerated gestures. Some tried handstands, others sniffed trees, or shouted at mushrooms.

One girl poked a fat caterpillar on a leaf. The caterpillar screamed and exploded into glitter.

"Oh my god.." Mora choked, wheezing with laughter. "I am never leaving this jungle."

Qingran sighed and turned slowly, scanning the trees. "Lingquan, what’s the goal here?"

<<[Locate the Heart Tree at the center of the Garden. It is guarded by puzzles and creature trials. Cooperation increases success rate. Time limit: Three hours. No real injury allowed. However, simulated discomfort is possible.]>>

"Meaning?" Yu Song asked warily.

<<[You might fall into a mud pit or be sneezed on by a six-eyed chameleon, but you will not die.]>>

"Good to know."

Qingran crouched next to a softly glowing plant. It released a low hum as she touched it, and for a second, her bracer blinked.

<<[Resonance detected. Trait Seed at 12%.]>>

She stood. "Let’s move."

They ventured deeper into the Garden, stepping carefully over strange roots that pulsed with warmth. Sounds echoed faintly chirps, hoots, distant gurgles but nothing threatening.

They passed a glade where the air shimmered pink, and Mora’s bracer suddenly lit up.

<<[Trait Unlocked: Glider Lizard. Partial transformation activated.]>>

With a pop and a yelp, leathery wings unfurled from her arms. She shrieked not in fear, but in pure delight.

"I have wings?? Huh..I guess I have wings.."

She leapt off a boulder, caught a breeze, and glided ten meters before tumbling into a bush.

Yu Song muttered, "If I turn into something stupid I’m uninstalling this AI."

"Too late.." Qingran said, grinning as she stepped into a clearing with a large, stone-faced creature blocking the path forward.

It snorted and spoke in a deep, gravelly voice. "To pass, one of you must give something sweet, something clever, and something brave."

They blinked.

Mora was still tangled in ferns as Yu Song sniggered before helping her.

One of the little boys shyly stepped forward and handed over his lollipop. "It’s strawberry..."

The creature took it gently and nodded.

Xu Tianming stepped up next. "I know how to solve a Rubik’s cube blindfolded."

He conjured one from the vines behind the stone face using the simulation’s context mechanics and solved it in thirty seconds. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

The creature rumbled in amusement.

Then all eyes turned to Qingran.

"What’s something brave?" a kid whispered.

"..."

So that’s why, they turned to her.

Qingran didn’t hesitate either.

She stepped forward and said, voice low but steady, "I’ve died once. Came back. I still chose to fight again."

The creature’s eyes glowed faintly.

It bowed. "I don’t need to question you to see if you’re lying. I can see it in your eyes and your countenance.

"Pass. Brave and strong Gu Qingran."

The moment the stone creature spoke her full name, a ripple of golden light swept through the clearing.

Vines that had previously formed an archway above them slithered aside, revealing a narrow path lined with tall, translucent flowers that pulsed in time with unseen heartbeats.

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Not just because of the awe-inspiring transformation of the terrain, but because the creature had said her name. And not just her name, her true name.

Not the alias she’d occasionally used in front of survivors. Not the clipped tone she’d given over the walkie. But Gu Qingran, in full, spoken with reverence.

She didn’t flinch, but Yu Song stepped subtly closer to her, his eyes flicking between her and the creature. "Is that normal?" he muttered.

"Do I look like I’ve done this before?"

"You kind of do," Mora chimed in, wings twitching as she extricated herself from the bush. "What even is this place?"

<<[You are entering the Inner Garden. Proceed with care. Trait Seeds will evolve further based on continued resonance.]>>

Qingran exhaled. "Eyes open. We don’t know what’s coming."

They walked.

The deeper they went, the more surreal the Garden became.

Somewhere along the path, gravity began to curve not violently, but subtly. The air grew thick with golden pollen.

The ground beneath their feet wasn’t exactly earth anymore, but a kind of soft, mossy membrane that shifted as they moved.

And then, out of nowhere:

A massive butterfly the size of a glider swooped low overhead. It glittered with jewel-toned wings and left a trail of silver spores that shimmered like stardust.

The kids squealed and ran after it.

"Mora—don’t encourage them—" Qingran began, but she was already chasing the group.

Yu Song gave her a helpless look. "What’s the worst that could happen in a place where caterpillars explode into glitter?"

The chase led them to a luminous grove where the trees formed a natural amphitheater.

In the center, an enormous flower stood shut tight, its petals shivering. As the group entered, the bracers on their arms all pulsed at once.

<<[Trial Two Initiated: Harmony. All must resonate together to awaken the Bloom.]>>

Mora flapped her arms. "What does that mean? Do we... sing?"

"No, wait." Xu Tianming pointed at the glowing bracers. "Look. They’re reacting to motion. And sound. Try this.."

He clapped once, then twice, then stomped a foot.

One bracer lit up brighter.

Another kid followed. Then Mora. Then all of them.

Soon, they were forming a rhythm, claps, steps, twirls, shouts, a kind of weird, chaotic jungle beat, but it was working. The flower began to unfurl.

A petal opened. Then another.

Another kid followed. Then Mora. Then all of them.

A petal opened. Then another.

When the last petal unfolded, the interior glowed and each of them saw something different inside.

To one kid, it was a little glowing fox. To another, a baby bird. To Yu Song, it was a dragon no bigger than his palm.

To Qingran...

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