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MidReal Story
Chosen One: Breaking the Cycle of Failures
Anonymous
May 22
Scenario:Dad is dad, holding a knife in his hand. Mom is mom, taking the knife from dad. Grandma just walked to the door, her eyes filled with confusion and worry. Sister is accompanied only by her older sister, her beloved sister…
And then?
What happened? You’ve forgotten…
Dragon Country Chosen One: Welcome to the rules-based strange tale of the first level.
Successfully clearing the level rewards the Chosen One with mysterious points, and the country bound to the Chosen One rewards national fortune and resources.
Failure to clear the level results in the death of the Chosen One, with their country randomly falling into a strange tale.
Tian Mai traversed and arrived in this world invaded by strange tales.
Just on the first day of her arrival, she became the fifteenth Chosen One of Dragon Country, entering the realm of rule-based strange tales.
Having failed fourteen times already, Dragon Country sees her as its last hope.
Create my version of this story
I was the fifteenth Chosen One of Dragon Country.
I was also the last.
The first fourteen Chosen Ones had all died.
I was the last hope for my country.
The moment I opened my eyes, I found myself in a strange room with a strange man.
He looked at me and said, “You are the fifteenth Chosen One of Dragon Country.”
I was still in a daze when he continued, “The first fourteen Chosen Ones have all died, and you are our last hope.”
I was confused.
What did he mean by “Chosen One”?
And why was I the fifteenth?
Before I could ask any questions, he handed me a piece of paper and said, “This is your first task.”
I took the paper and read it carefully.
It turned out that I had to go to a place called “Strange Tale Realm” and clear all the strange tales there.
The room was dimly lit, and the air was heavy with the smell of medicine.
I tried to sit up, but my body was weak and my mind was still fuzzy.
Last night, I went to bed early after finishing my homework.
How did I end up here?
I couldn’t remember.
I looked around and saw an old woman sitting by the bed, her eyes red with tears.
She seemed to be my grandmother, but who was I?
I began to panic.
Was I suffering from amnesia?
Suddenly, a voice spoke in the darkness, startling me.
“You are the fifteenth Chosen One of Dragon Country”, the man said and paused for a moment before continuing, “The first fourteen Chosen Ones have all died, and you are our last hope.”
What did he mean by that?
I tried to calm down and asked, “Who are you?”
“My name is Li Yundong”, he said and walked out of the shadow.
He was a middle-aged man dressed in black robes with long white hair that reached his waist.
I stared at him in shock.
He looked horrible, as if he hadn’t slept for days.
“Do you know me?”
he asked in a cold voice.
“I’ve never seen you before”, I said honestly.
But why am I here?And what is this place?
He looked at me for a while and sighed, “You have lost your memory.”
What did he mean by that?
Did I really lose my memory?
“Don’t worry”, he said gently, “You will remember everything soon.”
I nodded dumbly.
“You must be wondering why you are here”, he said in a serious tone, “Let me explain it to you.”
He took a deep breath and said slowly, “You are the fifteenth Chosen One of Dragon Country.”
“We have been waiting for you for a long time.”
“The first fourteen Chosen Ones have all died, and you are our last hope.”
What did he mean by “Chosen One”?
And why was I the fifteenth?
Before I could ask any questions, he continued, “Your task is to go to the Strange Tale Realm and clear all the strange tales there.”
“You cannot fail like the first fourteen Chosen Ones.”
“You must clear all the strange tales.If you succeed, your country will be prosperous and peaceful; if you fail, your country will be destroyed by chaos and war.”
His words echoed in my ears, and I couldn’t help but hold my breath.
I looked at him and asked in a trembling voice, “If I fail…how many people will die?”
“Countless people will die”, he said calmly.
“Your country will be destroyed by war and chaos.”
I bit my lip and said softly, “I have no choice but to agree.”
He nodded and said, “Good.You are a smart girl.”
“But remember,” he added, “You only have one chance.If you fail…everyone will die.”
With that, he handed me a piece of paper with a task written on it and said gently, “This is your first task.I hope you can complete it successfully.”
I looked at him in confusion and asked, “But I don’t know what to do…”
“I know”, said another voice, closer this time.
The old woman who was sitting by the bed had woken up and stood up slowly.
She was still crying and said to me in a choked voice, “Mai’er…you have to finish your homework…”
That’s when I realized that she was my grandmother and that her name was Tian Linmei.
I tried to speak to her, but no words came out of my dry throat.
Tian Linmei looked at me with red eyes and said with a smile, “Mai’er…You are finally awake…”
“It was so dangerous…”
“Oh no…”
“I have to call your mother…”
She was so excited that she started talking to herself again.
I turned to Li Yundong and asked in a low voice, “Who is she?”
“She is your grandmother”, he said calmly.
“You have to pretend that you don’t know her.”
I was taken aback and asked in surprise, “Why?”
“Because…”
He hesitated for a moment before saying in a low voice, “She has lost her mind.”
I didn’t know how to react to his words.
I stared at him in confusion and finally asked, “Why does she think she is my grandmother?”
He looked at me for a while and finally said, “Because you don’t remember anything.”
“I don’t understand”, I said in a daze, “What do you mean by that?”
He took a deep breath and said, “The first fourteen Chosen Ones all failed because they were too weak or too strong.”
“You are different from them.”
He looked at me and paused for a moment before saying, “I hope you can succeed.”
I was about to ask him what he meant when he suddenly handed me a mirror.
I took the mirror from him and looked at my reflection in it.
But to my horror, there was a thick layer of fog on the mirror, and I couldn’t see anything clearly.
I tried to wipe it off, but it was no use.
I turned to Li Yundong and asked in a trembling voice, “What’s going on?”
He looked at me with a complicated expression and said, “You can’t remember anything, right?”
I shook my head dumbly and asked, “What’s wrong with me?”
He took a deep breath and said calmly, “You were lucky to survive.”
It felt like a bomb had exploded in my mind, and I felt like I was going crazy.
“What happened to me?”
Li Yundong gave me a meaningful look and said, “ Read the rules carefully and complete your first task.”
I looked at him in shock and didn’t know what to say for a while.
After a while, I finally asked, “What do you mean by that?”
“Your country is counting on you”, he said calmly, “Don’t let them down.”
With that, he turned around and walked out of the room.
I wanted to stop him, but I didn’t know what to say.
It felt like everything had happened too fast, and I couldn’t keep up with it.
After Li Yundong left, I sat on the bed for a long time without moving.
My mind was blank, and I didn’t know what to do next.
I opened the note in a daze and saw a few words written in a neat handwriting.
Rule 1: You are in the Strange Tale Realm.
If you die here, you will die in real life as well.
If you die in real life, you will die in this realm as well.
Rule 2: You are the last hope of Dragon Country.
If you fail, Dragon Country will be destroyed.
Rule 3: Only you can see this paper.
Don’t trust anyone in your journey, including me.
I read the rules a few times, and my heart sank lower and lower.
I knew that there was no turning back now.
I could only do my best to survive in this world.
As for what else would happen in the future, it would depend on my luck.
I didn’t expect Li Yundong to come back.
I thought for a long time and finally asked, “What do you mean by that?”
He walked over to me, his white clothes fluttering like a fairy, giving off an otherworldly aura.
He looked at me with a complicated expression before finally saying, “This place is not real.”
I looked at him in confusion and asked, “What do you mean?”
He took a deep breath and said, “The Strange Tale Realm is a place full of strange tales that need to be cleared by someone like you.”
I asked in a daze, “What are these strange tales?”
“Why are they here?”
He looked at me and said in a low voice, “No one knows.”
“The only thing we can be sure of is that if they are not cleared, they will bring chaos and destruction to this world.”
It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck me, and it took me a long time to recover from my shock.
He said in a low voice, “Don’t think too much about it.”
“There are so many strange tales in this world that no one can clear all of them.”
“As long as you don’t die, you will be able to return to your world.”
“I hope you can remember what I said.”
After Li Yundong finished speaking, he stood up and walked to the door.
He stopped and said in a low voice, “There are many people who want to use you as a stepping stone.”
“You must not trust anyone in this world.”
I stared blankly at his back and didn’t know what to say for a while.
After a while, he finally left.
The room fell silent, and I sat on the bed for a long time without moving.
Later on, I finally got up and walked to the window.
The sky outside had darkened, and there were no stars or moon in sight.
It was as if this place was isolated from the world and no one could come near it.
As for how long I stood there, I didn’t know either, but when Li Yundong came back, he found me standing by the window in a daze.
He looked at me for a while before finally saying, “How many strange tales are there in total?”
Li Yundong looked at me for a while and finally said, “As many as there are stories in this world.”
Li Yundong looked into my eyes and said in a serious tone, “Your country is counting on you.”
“If you fail, there will be war.”
As he spoke, he walked up to me and handed me something wrapped in white cloth.
