Hide and Seek: The Mad Girl Sees All novel Chapter 46

Chapter 46

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As Lyra Vance made her way through the forest, she steered clear of any clusters of ice trees, always giving them a wide berth.

Even if there were just two ice trees huddled together, Lyra avoided them too.

Only the solitary ones were fair game for her.

On her way, she came across three players hiding beneath a fallen log. One of them, spotting the ice tree passing by, was yo terrified that he tumbled out from the gap, crawled a couple of steps, and then quickly scrambled back in,

Lyra didn’t pay them any mind and just kept going.

After walking about 650 feet, Lyra finally spotted a lone ice tree. Two of its branches were draped with four corpses, and the

1 thorns were slowly tightening, forcing the bodies deeper into the tree.

Lyra stopped in her tracks, her roots hesitating for a beat.

She knew this tree.

Or rather, she recognized the bodies hanging from it-it was the same ice tree she’d run into behind the palm tree after her transformation.

Back then, it had fled with the corpses, and now it had strung up two more.

Lyra controlled her roots, creeping forward slowly-not heading straight for the ice tree, but cutting across at an angle to avoid it.

She was taking a route that would let her just skirt by.

The ice tree sensed another of its kind approaching. Its trunk twisted halfway around, its branches drooping as it repeated the same gesture as before-its leaves rustling together, sending out a soft, trembling sound.

Maybe it was testing her, or just saying hello.

Lyra didn’t respond. Her roots kept moving at a steady pace.

30 feet.

25 feet.

15 feet.

Lyra slid right past.

Deep within her branches, the Scrying Orb was securely held by a slender branch.

She activated it.

As she slipped past, she drew the Scrying Orb out from her branches.

The murky glow on the Scrying Orb faded, and the inside turned clear-a picture appeared.

It showed a barren wasteland, gray skies overhead and cracked earth stretching out below.

A young woman in military gear, her short hair brushing her ears, was sprinting across the wasteland. Behind her, a pack of red-robed Wraiths gave chase. She vaulted a broken wall and squeezed into a narrow crack.

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Then, the game’s voice echoed out.

[Hunting time is up.)

[This round of hide-and-seek is over.]

She dragged herself out of the crack, bloodied from head to toe-but she was still breathing.

The scene shifted again, this time to a whole new setting.

It was a massive square. Draconian flags blanketing the ground, packed shoulder-to-shoulder with people The woman stood tall on a high platform, her uniform spotless, a medal gleaming on her chest. Down below, the crowd roared her name.

“Jane! Jane! Jane!”

A huge banner stretched across the front: “Hero Returns, Nation Celebrates.”

Jane snapped off a sharp military salute, and deafening applause erupted from the crowd.

The scene shifted again. It was still Jane, still in her military uniform, but the surroundings had completely changed.

She found herself in a pitch-black underground tunnel, the walls crawling with weird, unidentifiable fungi, and the air reeking of decay.

She was running-faster, more frantic than before-gripping a dagger with a jagged, chipped blade.

One passage was blocked, so she spun around, slammed her back against the wall, and brandished the dagger in front of her.

The sounds in the scene grew sharper.

“I’m sorry,” Jane whispered, her lips trembling in the vision.

“I’m sorry… I couldn’t hold on until the end.”

A hooked scythe from one of the red-robed Wraiths came flying at her, striking her hard. The scene shook violently.

Her eyes stayed open, blood streaming from the corner of her mouth. Her hand clenched the dagger with all her strength. holding on in the last second before death.

“I’m sorry, my country… my people…” Jane whispered.

“I failed.”

The scene shattered.

The light inside the Scrying Orb vanished in a flash, leaving it nothing but a clouded black orb once more.

Lyra stood frozen in place. The real ice tree had already crawled away, its rustling fading into the depths of the forest.

She wore the Draconian uniform, a true Draconian player.

She’d won, she’d survived, and she’d been celebrated as a hero by Draconia and its people.

But she kept fighting, kept risking it all, kept pushing herself.

Until the day she just couldn’t hold on anymore.

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She died in that underground tunnel, and now roams this forest as an ice tree, forever hunting the living

Draconia Live Channel.

The Scrying Orb’s memories were synchronized; the images inside it were projected onto every livestream screen the moment Lyra triggered the item.

The barrage of comments froze for two seconds, then flooded the screen.

LyraMyldol: [It’s Jane]

NeverAteVeggies: [Round 23… How long ago was that?]

LuckyKoi: [Waaah, I’m crying. She said she was sorry, she said she failed:]

AnotherDayAlive: [Waaah, Saint Jane, you don’t have to apologize! You already won!]

GoDraconia: [Jane, James, William, Sarah… They’re not the only heroes who gave their lives in battle.]

LyraMyIdol: [Respect. That’s what it means to be a Draconian warrior.]

DontTalkToMe: [Salute!]

LyraSuperfan: [Wait, so when players die, they turn into Wraiths?]

momo: [Did you guys catch that? After she died, she became one of the Wraiths in this game!]

BornToCuss: [Holy crap, so all these ice trees were once people? Players?]

BornToCuss: [I can’t even wrap my head around how twisted this game is. Turning heroes into Wraiths and making them hunt their own people? That’s sick.]

GoDraconia: [They fought for Draconia, and even in death, they can’t rest in peace. The game just turns them into tools. I can’t take this anymore!]

The chat was exploding so fast, the screen was basically unreadable.

Half were crying, half were raging.

Command Center.

The Scrying Orb’s memories had just finished playing on the main screen, and the whole Command Center fell silent-the air was heavy.

Lana Sterling stood at the main console, and she couldn’t help but clench her fists.

That had been her comrade.

Garrett Hayes stood behind her, his lips pressed into a thin line.

After a long silence, he finally spoke in a low voice, “Chief of Staff, Round 23 was over twenty days ago.”

Lana didn’t turn around.

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