Stepping into Vanarana, Lin Feng couldn't help but draw in a quiet breath.
Even though he'd seen countless photos of beautiful landscapes in his past life, the scene before him—so dreamlike it felt unreal—still struck him speechless.
—Massive spherical root systems sprawled through the land, each supporting enormous lotus-like leaves.
The dense layer of jade-green foliage formed a dome that hid the amethyst sky above.
Round little houses dotted the ground in no particular order, each with warm orange light glowing through its tiny windows.
It really was a fairy tale.
Not seeing the little cabbages—the Aranara—waiting at the entrance, Lin Feng looked awkwardly at the "gifts" in his hands: several freshly-defeated Flaming Whopperflowers.
Knowing how afraid these little creatures were of humans, Lin Feng had used his Dendro-attuned senses along the way to easily track down a handful of whopperflowers.
Once defeated, the dangerous "Vanastra" became gifts—tokens of goodwill to prove to the Aranara that he meant no harm.
Since no one showed up to greet him, Lin Feng sighed and prepared to head directly toward central Vanarana to meet "the village chief," Arama—the brown Aranara from the story.
He didn't get long to feel disappointed.
Because Xiao Bai solved the problem for him in the most unacceptable way possible.
A few minutes later, staring at the huge bundle of trembling "cabbages" dumped at his feet, Lin Feng felt ten thousand grass mud horses stampede across his heart.
"Put them down!" Lin Feng nearly choked.
"Squeak?"
Xiao Bai tilted its head, not understanding what went wrong.
It thought it was helping—delivering all the targets right to its master.
"Ah! S-so many Vanastra!"
"Vanarana is going to be eaten! We're doomed!"
The little Aranara only trembled harder after seeing the whopperflowers in Lin Feng's hands.
Lin Feng's face darkened.
Fortunately, just as he struggled to explain the misunderstanding, a familiar soft green glow shimmered beside him.
Nahida appeared.
As her radiance washed over them, the terrified Aranara gradually stopped shaking.
"小家伙们,别害怕哦."
"Don't be scared, little ones," she said gently.
"These 'Vanastra' have already been defeated. They won't hurt you."
"Ah—i-it's the little Grass God!"
"We're saved!"
They instantly calmed down, as if nothing had ever happened.
Despite the chaos, Lin Feng's "gifts" ended up working.
The Aranara were shocked that he could defeat so many whopperflowers on his own.
His title was promptly updated to "Nara Vanastra."
…He protested violently, but they didn't listen.
"Why did you bring whopperflowers here in the first place?" Nahida asked, sitting beside him and swinging her small legs.
"Would a bird get happy just because someone showed it the corpse of a tiger?"
Lin Feng: "…"
That… was actually very logical.
Refusing to be roasted further by the little Archon, he quickly changed the subject.
"Since this is a dream, you can actually appear in Vanarana directly?"
"Of course."
Nahida smiled. "Aranara are the spirits of plants. The dreamlands they weave are far more stable than ordinary dreamscapes. When I first came into being, they were among my earliest friends."
"…Also," she added tiredly, "can you take your hand off my ear?"
Lin Feng: "…"
He had gotten way too used to touching her.
"Ahem, anyway—most of the Aranara have returned already, right?"
Once he reluctantly withdrew his hand, they returned to business.
"Yes," Nahida nodded. "Most of them are back. But a few Aranara still have their own tasks to complete. They may need help."
"There are three such places. I will send Aranara to handle two of them. But the Withering in Lokapala Jungle has accumulated for far too long. Only in dreams can I appear, and the Aranara alone cannot resolve it."
She looked at him seriously.
"I'll have to trouble you with that one."
—Got it.
The "Righteous Mind" questline.
Lin Feng, having run Forest Book multiple times on alts in his previous life, knew the whole process by heart.
But with Nahida personally intervening this early in the timeline—and in a much more motivated state than in the main storyline—he didn't need to search for scattered Aranara, heal giant mushrooms, craft incense, or run across half the rainforest.
Just one enhanced Withering Zone and the quest would basically be done.
He felt like he was being showered in cheat codes.
"This is way better than I expected! Nahida, you're amazing!"
His emotions overflowed.
He reached behind Nahida and lifted her straight up into the air.
"Eh—!?"
Caught entirely off guard, the little Archon let out an adorably startled cry.
Completely flustered, she teleported away a moment later.
Lin Feng replayed the moment in his mind with deep satisfaction.
No regrets.
Who wouldn't want to lift the little Grass God?
Her favorability was already at 70.
Lin Feng smiled to himself.
—Yes, I know I was wrong.
And yes—I dare do it again.
With great effort, he finally tore his mind away from Nahida and reviewed the quest steps of the Righteous Mind:
Collect three medicinal plants:
• Viparyas
• Padisarah
• Harra Fruit
Have three Aranara—Aranakin, Aranakula, Aranaga—brew them into incense.
Offer the incense to Yasna Monument, awakening its power and opening the way to Mawtiyima Forest, where the strengthened Withering must be defeated.
…What a hassle.
Having tasted the joy of skipping steps, Lin Feng now felt the official route was unbearably slow.
If incense was only meant to recharge the giant mushroom and open the path…
—Then why not just pour a massive amount of elemental power and dream energy into it directly?
—Worst case, just dig through the path myself and refill the dirt later.
"I'm not the Traveler stuck behind every wooden door because I don't have the key," he muttered.
The idea hit him like enlightenment.
A wild urge rose within him—to go back into the game and redo all puzzles with brute-force shortcuts.
Cheating was addictive.
With this brilliant plan in mind, Lin Feng waved goodbye to the Aranara still admiring the whopperflower corpses and went to speak briefly with Arama.
Then, calling out to Xiao Bai—who was joyfully playing hopscotch on the gigantic lotus leaves—he set out on a "serious" mission.
His destination:
The fungal forest northeast of Vanarana—Lokapala Jungle.
Carrying anticipation and the thrill of a new exploit run, Lin Feng officially departed from the fairy-tale world of Vanarana to begin his Righteous Mind quest.
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