"We wish you a
Merry Christmas, and a tree decorated with splendor!"
...
Lin Ruoyi huddled in the corner of the street, her hands and feet numb with cold.
She was now very sure that she had arrived in a strange place.
Moments ago, this had clearly been a dark little town, with everyone still asleep.
But when she leaned against the window and met the gaze of the old woman with white hair.
A bright white light flashed,
And when she opened her eyes again, her surroundings had transformed into this scene.
Lively, festive.
Yet filled with the chill of winter.
It was as if the scene had switched in an instant.
Even her own clothes had changed to winter attire befitting the setting.
However, her clothes,
Were noticeably more tattered than those of the pedestrians on the street.
After realizing something was amiss, Lin Ruoyi had already scouted the area.
She wandered through everyone's merriment like a destitute wanderer, step by step.
—That's right, not only had her clothes changed, but she seemed to have gained a physical body?
There were no familiar landmarks around.
Using a landline in a shop to make a call, she couldn't reach anyone familiar at all.
When she tried to call the police, it prompted, "The number you have dialed is invalid."
After checking everything,
Lin Ruoyi's body hadn't warmed up from running; instead, as time passed, it grew colder and colder.
The chill seeped into her bones.
Based on the available information, Lin Ruoyi speculated.
Either she had drifted to another world and transmigrated.
Or she had been trapped in another dimension by something.
She felt the latter possibility was more likely.
"If this is the Ghost Realm, it's normal not to be able to contact the outside world... This world has ghosts.
As long as I hold on, I'll eventually wait for the underworld's ghost envoys."
Lin Ruoyi rubbed her cold hands.
Though it was useless, it offered a sliver of psychological comfort.
She quickly analyzed her current situation.
Because she ran a game company,
She instinctively applied conditions, data, and equipment to her thinking.
Known:
The current survival environment is harsh.
If things continue like this, she will eventually freeze to death.
The escape conditions are currently unclear.
But as long as she holds on until the ghost envoys arrive, she will be saved, so her most important task now is to survive.
As for equipment...
She took out a box of matches from her pocket:
—These were items from a bygone era, from when people used firewood to cook before gas stoves.
A paper box the size of an eraser, containing small wooden sticks with red tips.
By quickly striking the red end of a small stick against the side of the paper box.
Friction would ignite a flame.
But the flame would only last for a short while before extinguishing.
...
After her clothes changed, her pockets also contained many more boxes of matches.
Lin Ruoyi counted them; there were nineteen boxes.
Were these the only valuable things she possessed?
Her gaze swept across the shop opposite.
A fiery red Christmas wreath, and a fiery red... roast chicken.
Gurgle—
Her stomach grumbled uncontrollably.
To survive, a warm place and delicious food were indispensable.
To obtain these two things,
There were currently three methods.
One: Work.
Two: Seek help from a kind person. (If this is indeed the Ghost Realm, the possibility of this method is extremely slim.)
Three: Sell matches.
"Wait, sell matches...?!"
A flash of inspiration quickly crossed Lin Ruoyi's mind.
She suddenly remembered a story...
Although it was a story for children, the original version was indeed a dark fairy tale.
—The Little Match Girl?!
Lin Ruoyi shot to her feet, her movements a little stiff due to the cold.
She looked at the glass behind her, carefully observing her reflection.
The glass wasn't clear enough; she could only see a blurry shadow.
She had only paid attention to her clothes before,
But now...
Lin Ruoyi looked at the blurry but very youthful face in the glass.
She couldn't feel happy at all.
She was around thirty now!
Even with excellent skincare, she couldn't have the collagen-filled cheeks of a teenage girl.
A thought suddenly struck her.
—Wouldn't they refuse child labor here?!
...
"Matches for sale, matches for sale."
"Sir, would you like a match as red as a roast chicken?"
A clear hawking voice emerged from the street, mixing with the sound of Christmas carols.
Passersby all waved their hands and walked past.
Lin Ruoyi continued to hawk her wares, fitting her persona, while contemplating how to sell them.
In the story of "The Little Match Girl,"
The little girl didn't sell a single match.
Shivering from hunger and cold,
She eventually died on this "beautiful" Christmas Eve, while everyone else was celebrating the holiday harmoniously with their families.
...