“This is just too dreamlike...”
【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 had arrived in Fairytale Town.
Standing just outside the boundary of Fairytale Town, his mouth hung open in an ‘O’ shape. Before him lay a world of candy colors, a vibrant tapestry where every hue of the rainbow intertwined.
In the distance, gingerbread houses were blanketed in thick layers of frosting, and pink marshmallows billowed from their chimneys like smoke. The ground was paved with colored hard candies that let out a crisp crunch with every step.
The air was thick with a cloying, sugary aroma—so potent it felt like his throat was being coated in sweetness. Yet, strangely, it only served to sharpen his appetite.
Unfortunately, one couldn’t simply eat anything in Fairytale Town; everything here was laced with contamination and curses.
Pushing those thoughts aside, 【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 stepped into Fairytale Town.
A Gingerbread House appeared after he had been walking for about ten minutes.
The house wasn't large. Its exterior walls were built from gingerbread, with frosting outlining the doors and windows. Colored jellybeans sat on the windowsills, shimmering under the sunlight.
The door was slightly ajar. 【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 pushed it open, and an even denser sweetness greeted him. The floor was tiled with biscuits, and sugar cubes burned in the fireplace in the corner, casting a soft pink glow with their flames.
A bread-person sat by the fireplace. His body was made of golden-brown toasted bread with grid-like patterns on the surface. His limbs were baguettes joined at the joints with cream, and his face featured two raisin eyes and a smiling mouth drawn in frosting.
The bread-person looked up as 【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 entered, studying him with his raisin eyes.
“Hello there. Are you from the outside?” The bread-person’s voice was raspy and slow, but his tone was quite friendly.
【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 crouched down to meet the bread-person at eye level. He couldn't remember how many times he had been stunned by the realism of the NPCs. There were even tiny cracks on the bread-person's face—the kind of scorch marks that only appeared when bread was slightly over-toasted.
“How long have you lived here?” 【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 asked.
The bread-person tilted his head and thought for a long while. “I don’t know. I’ve been here for as long as I’ve had memories.”
He looked down at his bread hands, turning them over and over. “I don't think I was always like this, but I can't quite remember.”
【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 asked a few more questions about Fairytale Town and the Candy Factory.
The bread-person truly was like a character from a fairytale—simple and kind, answering whatever was asked.
Unfortunately, he didn't know much. He only knew that there was a Chocolate River nearby and a Candy Factory on the other side that produced all sorts of sweets every day.
He didn't know why; he only knew that was how it had always been.
As the bread-person spoke, his golden body took on a warm glow from the fireplace, and waves of fragrance drifted over.
【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 swallowed hard, feeling his stomach contract and his teeth begin to ache.
His appetite was growing uncontrollably; he felt a sudden, intense urge to take a bite out of the bread-person.
Holy crap!
The moment the thought of eating the bread-person flashed through his mind, a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back. He turned and bolted out of the Gingerbread House.
The entirety of Fairytale Town radiated this overwhelming temptation of sugar and fats.
The Chocolate River appeared after he had walked for another twenty minutes.
The river was wide, with the opposite bank appearing to be at least two hundred meters away. The water was a thick, dark brown chocolate syrup that occasionally bubbled, releasing a rich cocoa aroma.
A bridge spanned the river, its surface made of pale yellow wafer biscuits with a checkered texture.
The railings were made of ladyfingers, stuck one by one into the edges of the wafers.
【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 stepped onto the bridge. The wafers let out a faint crunch beneath his feet. After only a few steps, a crack split open in the biscuit under him.
Countless lollipops sprouted from the crack. The candy spheres were colorful, and each one possessed facial features.
These lollipops had the faces of children—round, chubby, and grinning as they grabbed his ankles with their sticky little hands.
“Come play! Come play! The Chocolate River is so much fun!” the lollipops sang in unison, their voices innocent and pure.
【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 looked down at the lollipops clutching his ankles, his scalp tingling with dread.
He kicked out forcefully, shaking the lollipops off his ankles. They fell into the Chocolate River, creating thick, viscous splashes.
More lollipops reached out from the cracks, grabbing his pant legs.
He struggled desperately, sprinting toward the other side across the wafers. The biscuits shattered under his weight, the sound of crunching becoming a rapid-fire staccato.
He crushed several lollipops underfoot, and they stuck to his soles, making every step stickier than the last.
Finally, he lunged onto the far bank just as the bridge began to collapse.
Looking back, the entire wafer bridge had shattered into dozens of pieces floating on the Chocolate River. The lollipops were perched on the fragments, still waving at him.
“Come back and play next time!”
【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 shuddered. These NPCs were truly creepy.
He turned his gaze toward his destination: the Candy Factory.
Standing tall on the other side of the Chocolate River, the factory was a massive structure assembled from candy and biscuits. The main body was made of biscuits, the exterior walls were studded with colored jellybeans, the window frames were chocolate, and the roof was covered in white frosting. Strings of lollipops hung from the eaves, clinking gently in the wind.
At the top of the factory was a chimney that continuously sprayed colored sugar powder into the sky. The main entrance was shaped like a giant mouth, with lips made of thick, plump red candy and teeth made of neatly arranged white sugar blocks.
A warm yellow light glowed through the gap in the ‘lips,’ and an even denser, sweeter aroma drifted out, beckoning him inside.
“Little one, come inside. There’s plenty of delicious food in here.” A voice drifted out from the crack in the door, sweet and gentle.
【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 gritted his teeth, suppressing the appetite that felt like it was about to overflow from his throat, and pushed open the doors.
The interior of the factory was much larger than he had anticipated.
The production lines were in full swing. The conveyor belts were made of biscuits, the gears were sugar blocks, and the power source was dozens of large gingerbread men pedaling bicycles.
The conveyor belts were piled high with various sweets, transporting them downstream in a steady flow.
Jellybean Soldiers stood along the packaging line. They were round-bodied entities with limbs, appearing in various colors and holding candy canes as weapons. They were packaging the candy with synchronized, mechanical movements.
The noise of 【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 pushing the door open didn't seem to alarm any of the ‘people’ here.
He crouched behind a production line, waiting for a squad of Jellybean Soldiers to pass before darting deeper into the factory.
After navigating through the packaging workshop and the raw material warehouse, he walked down a corridor made of wafers and finally arrived at a door labeled ‘Control Room.’
The Control Room looked more like a child's playroom. The floor was covered in colored soft mats, blocks and dolls were piled in the corners, and a hand-drawn picture of a sun, clouds, and a small house hung on the wall.
In the center of the room sat a desk covered in buttons. Next to them lay a conch shell about the size of a palm. Its shell was a translucent milky white, with a stardust-like shimmer slowly swirling within.
【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 picked up the conch.
“Hello! I am the Magic Conch. Is there anything I can help you with?” the conch suddenly spoke, its voice cheerful and enthusiastic.
【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 jumped, nearly dropping the conch.
He steadied his hands and brought the conch closer to his eyes, inspecting it carefully. It really was the one talking.
“Are you alive?”
“Yup! I can answer your questions. I’ll answer anything you ask.”
【Perfume is Non-Toxic】 was skeptical, but he figured a talking conch couldn't be ordinary—it was at least a game item.
He asked tentatively, “Who built this Candy Factory?”
The Magic Conch immediately replied, “This question is so high-level! I completely understand it. I will give you the most direct, detailed, and incisive answer...”
【Perfume is Non-Toxic】’s lip twitched. What was with this heavy vibe of a low-intelligence AI?
Rate on N.U.
