Chapter 53 Side Quest: The Choice of Fate

[You turned your eyes away from the girl and began to observe the guards around you, planning how to escape from here.]

　　[This transit station for human traffickers is built in a lush jungle. As long as you can run into the jungle when the guards are not paying attention, the probability of successfully escaping is very high. However, these human traffickers are not fools and know this, so there are many guards around.]

　　[There are about 200 to 300 children captured from all over the world in this transit station, but there are nearly 50 adult guards guarding them. All the children are tied to trees and cannot even move, let alone escape. Unless all the children break free from the ropes and run away separately, you will never be able to find a way to escape successfully.]

　　[And even if they could escape, where could they go? This transit station was built in a place far from human habitation. A child who was unarmed, physically weak, and had no experience in surviving in the wild would surely die if they wandered around in such a jungle.]

　　[Thinking of this, you gradually become pessimistic. Thinking that you can never go back to the familiar Mondstadt, your eyes start to become moist, your nose twitches, and soon you start to cry.]

　　["Oh, it's so noisy, can't you be a little quieter?"]

　　[After crying for a while, the black-haired, black-eyed girl who was tied to a tree with you finally couldn't stand it anymore and whispered to you fiercely.]

　　["I…I…" You couldn't even utter a complete sentence because you were choking with sobs.]

　　["Okay, okay, don't cry. At worst, I can find a way to take you out together." Seeing your expression, the black-haired girl's heart softened a little, and she spoke to comfort you.]

　　["What's the harm in running away? Two little kids wandering around in the jungle far away from human habitation will eventually be killed by monsters. It's better to stay here and pray that you can have a good master in the future." Hearing the girl's words, you retorted in self-abandonment.]

　　["Hmm? You actually thought of this, you have a good brain." Who would have thought that after hearing your words, the black-haired girl didn't look disappointed at all, but was delighted by your cleverness. "I can protect you when we get to the wild. Of course, the premise is that we must escape."]

　　["Look at that girl over there. I've been noticing her for a few days." The black-haired girl pointed you in a direction. You looked in that direction and saw the girl with short purple-red hair that you noticed before.]

　　["Look at the look in that girl's eyes. You can tell at a glance that she is the type of person who has completely given up hope of survival. If we can convince her, she will definitely be willing to risk her life to help the two of us escape."]

　　["Let's not talk about whether we can convince her. What makes you say she has given up the will to live? Maybe she was born with the eyes of a fish with life and death." You couldn't help but question it, but you said it just to argue with the black-haired girl. You knew in your heart that the black-haired girl was right. The girl with short purple-red hair had indeed given up hope of living.]

　　["Hmm? That's what's written in the novels I read." The black-haired girl answered as if it was a matter of course.]

　　Tsumugi Kujo: "…"

　　["The stories in novels are all fake! Why do you take the things in novels as your basis?" You complained, but after the black-haired girl interrupted you, you no longer wanted to cry, and told her your previous guess, "Unless everyone flees separately, I can't think of a way to leave smoothly."]

　　["Should everyone flee separately?" the black-haired girl murmured, "I just wanted to sneak out by myself before, but after your reminder, it turns out that if everyone flees separately, our chances of escaping will be greater."]

　　["Wait, are you serious about escaping?" You couldn't help but ask when you heard the girl's words that didn't seem to be a joke.]

　　["Of course, I don't want to become someone else's servant or child bride." The black-haired girl said seriously, "Then it's settled, let's run away tonight."]

　　["Tonight?! Isn't this a bit too hasty?"]

　　["Shh… don't talk, save your energy."]

　　[No matter how you ask, the black-haired girl just closes her eyes and rests, not wanting to answer you at all. You have no choice but to close your eyes and rest as well.]

　　[At midnight, you felt someone patting your cheek while you were fast asleep. You opened your eyes and saw that the black-haired girl who was tied to the tree with you had broken free from the rope and made a gesture to you to keep quiet.]

　　[Then, in your expectant gaze, the black-haired girl shows you a sharp iron piece only two centimeters long in her palm. She uses this iron piece to cut the rope.]

　　[After cutting your rope, the black-haired girl whispered to you: "Stay tied up, wait for my instructions and then everyone run together."]

　　[You nodded to show your understanding, and then you saw the black-haired girl began to help others untie the ropes, and then said the same thing to them.]

　　[With the help of the cover of night and the jungle, the black-haired girl finally cut the ropes of everyone, then found you again and held your hand.]

　　["You must follow me closely when we start running, understand? It will be dangerous if you fall behind."]

　　["Three…two…one…everyone, run!"]

　　[Following the girl's order, the rescued children immediately began to flee in all directions.]

　　"Tsk, it's really me who can come up with such a sinister plan." When the real Kujo Tsumugi saw this message, a trace of pity flashed in her eyes, but she immediately adjusted her mentality.

　　This is just a life simulation, it's okay, Tsumugi Kujo thought to himself.

　　The other children were different from themselves and the black-haired girl in the simulation. Although it was unknown what the black-haired girl had the confidence from, she was obviously prepared to wander in the wild...but the other children were not prepared to respond.

　　It is conceivable that even if these children escaped from the human traffickers' transit station, only one in ten would survive. This strategy was almost like exchanging the lives of all the children for the chance for himself and the black-haired girl to escape. This was why Kujo Tsumugi said that this plan was "sinister."

　　[Trigger an important plot, then enter the immersive mode...]

　　"Um?"

　　Kujo Tsumugi was stunned for a moment, and then found himself in the jungle. A girl with black hair and black eyes was looking at him anxiously.

　　"Why are you standing there in a daze at this time? Run!"

　　At this time, the children running around have attracted the attention of the guards. The transit station is in chaos and disorder. If they want to escape, they can only take this opportunity.

　　『Trigger the side quest: The choice of fate』

　　"Mission content: The plan you and the black-haired girl came up with was successful. The transit station is currently in chaos. If you want to escape from here, you only have this chance. However, just as you were about to leave with the black-haired girl, your eyes unconsciously looked towards the girl with short purple-red hair..."