"Who are you?"
"Huh?"
Xiaohua's eyebrows furrowed into an 'eight'-shape, and she explained with a look of bewilderment, "My name is Xiaohua, I'm your friend."
"The Underground World"
"Do you want to understand why the Underground World is like this?"
Xiaohua seemed stumped by the question. She closed her eyes tightly, appearing to be in deep thought, "e/
"This is something that happened in your world."
After a pause, it said slowly, "How about this, I'll tell you when the time comes. The current situation can't be explained all at once."
Helpless, Mo Zhi could only go back and choose "Know".
It seemed like she had a choice, but in reality, she had none.
The transition was not smooth enough, it definitely lacked the finesse of a seasoned player.
"Then let's make a long story short," Xiaohua began to chatter incessantly. "After the wizards imprisoned the monsters, many monsters became melancholic."
"Of course, there were still some who believed in miracles, like our king."
Speaking of which, Xiaohua suddenly became serious. "But for some reason, after their children died, the king ordered the killing of all humans who fell into the Underground World."
Frewick interjected, "So all the humans who fell into the Underground World before were killed, right?"
"That's right."
"And not only that."
Then it jumped to the remaining two options.
"The Monsters"
Mo Zhi realized that she truly didn't know about the monsters' melancholy. Her earnest curiosity drove her to follow Xiaohua's lead and continue to explore.
"Do you want to know why the monsters want to kill you?"
Xiaohua spoke to herself, "Alright, perhaps humans started the war first, and after winning, they trapped the monsters under a barrier, preventing any monster from escaping. Moreover, they killed royal family members."
Damn it!
Isn't this stepping on a landmine precisely?
Not a single one missed!
Mo Zhi grumbled inwardly.
At this moment, the last question option appeared – "Toriel"!
Upon seeing this name, Mo Zhi's eyelids twitched slightly. To be honest, this Toriel was vastly different from the kind and benevolent goat mom in her memory.
Perhaps this was the most significant difference between the AU and the original setting, and the story would unfold around this point.
In response to Frewick's question, Xiaohua hesitated for a long time, which was rare.
"Erm, how to say it?"
"I can't really describe it."
"But whatever you do, don't try to make her angry."
It was evident that Xiaohua greatly feared Toriel.
"Promise me, okay?"
The sudden concern left Mo Zhi somewhat bewildered. The Xiaohua, who she was increasingly finding likable, didn't seem so bad anymore.
At this moment, Mo Zhi truly began to view Xiaohua differently, noticing many deviations from the original character's settings.
Since the purely good goat mom character could be subverted, could the purely evil Xiaohua from the original work also be subverted in the AU?
So...
Is the Xiaohua before her truly looking out for the player's best interests, and can she be trusted?
The audience also noticed the difference in Xiaohua and began to express their speculations:
'The character change caught me off guard. If I hadn't seen the original work, I would really think the Xiaohua before me was a great person.'
'Xiaohua is so broken... alas...'
'Perhaps in a more benevolent world, Xiaohua wants to do evil, and in a more evil world, Xiaohua wants to do good?'
'An angel flower that subverts imagination?'
'The background music for Xiaohua is so cute, is this a case of loving the house and its crow?'
'I think this Xiaohua looks like she's been through Genocide route.'
'Isn't it for the soul? This FA isn't as bad as the original, and there's much less information.'
'Is there a possibility that this Xiaohua's survival environment is much worse than the original, and it's good enough to be alive?'
'I think you have a point.'
......
"Do you have any more questions?"
Xiaohua's words jolted Frewick awake. "No, I understand pretty much everything."
"I think you've done very well today; this is just the beginning."
Xiaohua comforted her, "You've had enough of a day, get some rest."
Frewick nodded, "Perhaps, but one thing is certain, I am indeed very tired."
"Aow~~~~"
She yawned widely, and as she relaxed, her back began to ache faintly.
However, Frewick wasn't overly surprised, as falling from such a height today and bumping into things was normal.
After all, compared to the pain she felt now, she was more grateful that she hadn't been smashed to death.
But thinking that everyone in this place wanted to kill her, Frewick couldn't feel happy at all.
"Human!"
Xiaohua's startled voice interrupted Frewick's thoughts. She looked up and saw Xiaohua staring at her with a look of horror.
Frewick was puzzled. What had happened to make Xiaohua suddenly so scared?
She asked, "What's wrong, Xiaohua?"
"Hu-human, is it normal for flowers to bloom on you?" Xiaohua's trembling voice made Frewick realize something was wrong. She retorted, "What do you mean? I don't think I understand."
"Touch your back, and you'll know."
Xiaohua's words were strange, but Frewick did as she was told. She tried to reach her hand behind her back. It was then that she realized her sweater had been pulled up quite a bit, as if a wad of paper had been stuffed inside the clothing to make it bulge significantly. She also felt something strange.
She tried to pull out the 'paper' that was propping up her sweater.
Hiss~~~~
Suddenly, a burning pain spread throughout her body, and Frewick couldn't help but gasp. Her vision gradually dimmed.
Thump—
Even through the screen, Mo Zhi could feel Frewick's pain. To be so pained as to faint, she could hardly imagine what was growing on Frewick's back.
Wait... didn't Xiaohua just ask if flowers blooming on humans was normal?
"Could it be that the 'paper' on Frewick's back is a blooming flower?" Mo Zhi asked in disbelief.
The water friends, also greatly shocked, burst into a torrent of comments:
'Back pain because of growing flowers (eyes widening in shock)'
'Flowers growing on a human body, pulling them out causes fainting, does it grow from the bone marrow?'
'Human! You still don't know the seriousness of the situation!'
'The Flower Falls... does it refer to this flower?'
'Danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger!!'
'I think Goat Mom is behind her :)'
'That's truly terrifying.'
'Based on my years of experience with tragic endings, the real knife is coming!'
......