The World in the Box-Sakura Cycle

"Just... a little more..."

"Just... a little..."

At last, Feng Chen's hand touched the black box, and his consciousness gradually faded.

"Host! Host!"

"Feng Chen! Feng Chen!"

The voices of the system and Xiao Yun were becoming impossible to make out.

"Am I going to die before I've even been transmigrated for a day...? I might be the most pathetic transmigrator ever." The armor and purple lightning on his body also disappeared, leaving only the two anxious voices by his ears. He could no longer understand what they were saying.

"Ah!" When he awoke, he saw a blue sky before him. He was actually lying in a small boat.

Fragrant grass lined the long embankment, while the distant sound of flutes and singing drifted from every direction. The windless water was smooth as glass, and he did not notice the boat moving.

"Where... is this?" Could he have transmigrated again?

"System, system?" He called out twice in his mind, but the system did not respond at all.

"Miss Xiao Yun?" Xiao Yun did not respond either, but the Stigmata on his left hand was still there.

When he opened the map on his left hand, he discovered that an item slot had appeared beneath it.

The system had already automatically broken down all the useless items, leaving only Ganesha's egg, Judas' Embrace of Blood, the Shadow Knight: Moonblade armor data (under repair), a golden cross, and an Oni Mask.

The cross could be worn around his neck, but the Oni Mask was too large to wear on his face. It was more suitable for hanging on his head.

"These two things... should have something to do with my two sets of armor." He had never seen these two little objects before. Although they looked like children's toys, the system must have had a reason for putting them there.

He hung the cross around his neck and looked at the scenery around him.

He realized that he had drawn near a small village, so Feng Chen entered it to investigate.

The villagers lived according to a lifestyle of men farming and women weaving, which seemed completely out of place in the twenty-first century.

"Hey, uncle, it's already the twenty-first century, and reform and opening-up happened ages ago. Technology is so advanced now, so why are you still doing farm work yourself?"

He had said things like that three or four times, but the other party ignored him, as though he could not see him.

"Hey, have you heard? Apparently, the new shrine maiden is presiding over the ritual tonight."

"Really? I heard the offering this time is her younger sister. Tsk, I really wonder what she'll do."

"The second daughter of the Yae family has been seriously ill from birth. She definitely can't be cured. Doing this is probably a kind of release for her."

Wait, the Yae family?

The conversation between the two people quickly caught Feng Chen's attention. Could this Yae family have something to do with Sakura?

He turned around and saw that both of them had put on fox-demon masks.

Then more and more people appeared, surrounding two little girls.

The two girls looked very much alike. There was no need to think too hard to know that they were sisters.

"Sakura, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and kill her!" the man at the front ordered. Although he was wearing a fox-demon mask, his tone still made Feng Chen extremely uncomfortable, and he wanted to go up and punch him a few times.

"I won't!" The slightly older girl threw down the knife in her hand and grabbed the other girl's hand.

"Rin, hurry, let's go!"

They had not gone far when the girl called Rin fell to the ground. Just as Sakura helped Rin up, the group surrounded them again.

"Didn't you hear what I told you to do? Hurry up and kill her, Yae Sakura!"

Then the man at the front forcibly shoved the knife into her hand. He took hold of her hand and used it to kill the girl named "Rin"—no, the girl named "Yae Rin."

"Big sister... you have to become the greatest shrine maiden... Rin... will bless you..."

"Ahhhhhhh!" Cries and rain blended together. Feng Chen knew that this would become a trauma in Yae Sakura's heart, lasting until... the arrival of the person named Kallen Kaslana.

"Host's life signs detected as normal. Host has received treatment. System restarting."

"System?"

"Yes. Xiao Yun is here too."

"Where are we now? This is...?"

"It should be the World in the Box—Sakura Cycle, inside the memory of the current owner of this box, Yae Sakura. However, because of the Herrscher of Erosion, the memory has also been altered considerably. But in broad terms, this is it."

"What a pitiful child. She may never have been able to let go of her younger sister's death." Xiao Yun was from Cathay, where something like this was practically impossible. In the eyes of the ancient people of Cathay, even if gods or immortals existed, they were beings ordinary people could never come into contact with. To put it simply, they knew their place.

Time passed swiftly, and the quiet little girl had grown into a beautiful young woman. She rarely spoke. Others only needed to look into her eyes to know what she wanted to express.

One day, an injured girl drifted into the village. She had silver hair and blue eyes. Was she a foreigner?

"I..." Having not spoken for years, she had nearly forgotten how to talk. She secretly practiced by herself, hoping to speak properly before the girl awoke.

There was a box beside the girl. Yae Sakura had no interest in peeking at other people's belongings. She had only glanced at it and held it for a while when she brought the girl back.

The medicine was ready, but the girl had suffered such serious injuries and was still unconscious. How was she supposed to drink it?

Yae Sakura hesitated for a moment, then drank the prepared medicine and passed it into the girl's mouth.

"You—you—you—you—you—you, what are you doing?!" The girl woke up, but her first reaction was to flush crimson. Although they were both girls, she was still straight for the time being. The day when Yae Sakura would bend her had not yet arrived.

"I was giving you medicine. Otherwise, how were you supposed to drink it while unconscious?" Yae Sakura had lived in this small village and did not know much about the outside world, so she had no idea what the girl had imagined.

"I-I-I can do it myself." She then drank the entire bowl of medicine, afterward wearing an utterly despairing expression.

"It's so bitter..."

Her reaction made Yae Sakura, who had not smiled in years, laugh for the first time. "Good medicine tastes bitter but cures illness. Drink it for a few more days and you'll be fine."

"By the way, where's my box?" The girl suddenly realized that something was missing and hurriedly asked.

Yae Sakura picked up the black box and handed it to her.

"Is this it?"

"Give it to me!" The girl snatched the box away and hugged it protectively to her chest.

"I'm sorry. I was rude to touch your things without permission." Yae Sakura stood up and bowed apologetically.

The girl could not handle this sort of formal behavior and waved her hands. "It's fine, it's fine. Just don't touch this box. The things inside... aren't good for you."

"Warning! The World in the Box—Sakura Cycle is about to collapse. Host, please leave as soon as possible."

"What's happening? How do I leave?"

"This World in the Box—Sakura Cycle is the instance unlocked after the host conquered Yae Sakura. What the host is seeing now is merely the instance's background, but it has already exceeded the host's authorization. Also, Yae Sakura of Changkong City is about to awaken. Go to that small boat and leave this behind by the river."

A small cross appeared in Feng Chen's hand once more, but it was different from the previous one.

This one felt... very familiar, yet extremely dangerous.