As a former hardcore player well-known in game forums, Xue La quickly remembered the origin of this troublesome name!
The cannon fodder villainess maid who gets killed by the Brave!
The main storyline of Epic Fantasy Legend actually has a bit of humor in it.
According to the game’s setting, the war between the human kingdoms and the Demon Realm lasted centuries, with both sides pouring in massive military forces.
The Brave defeating the Demon King was just the beginning…
After the war ended, how to handle the armies became a troublesome issue.
And the Brave, in a sense, became a target of everyone’s arrows.
Because he had helped the frontline army destroy the demons, he was a hero who won the soldiers’ hearts, but in the end, he got dragged into even more troublesome politics…
One of the landmark events was when the Brave had to personally kill his own teammate Xue La—who was actually a spy placed in the Brave’s party by the kingdom’s princess!
But Xue La had always been a speedrunner before.
On her second playthrough, she always chose the shortest route—getting disillusioned after resolving the kingdom conspiracy, retiring from military life, and opening her restaurant!
Xue La was nothing but a stray dog you could kick over on the roadside.
But the problem was, you couldn’t mock Xue La like that unless you were the Brave yourself!
Why did she have to become the cannon fodder maid?
Wasn’t she dead for sure now?
No, that’s not right.
She just needed to latch onto the Brave’s thigh!
‘In the game, the Brave’s name is Luo Yi,’ Xue La thought. ‘And what did he look like?’
Mm, just like the boy who had caught up to her—with a head of red, curly hair, a bit messy, like a chicken nest!
Mm, just like the boy who had caught up to her—with a broad chest and sturdy limbs, clearly able to wield the greatsword that Xue La herself couldn’t even lift!
Mm, just like the boy who had caught up to her—his name was Luo Yi.
Huh?!?!?!?!?!
The boy in front of her was the Brave?
Xue La was instantly terrified, hardly daring to breathe.
Her small hands clutched the hem of her dress, not knowing if Luo Yi would kill her on the spot.
‘In… in novels, it’s written that transmigrators all… all have golden fingers, right?’
There was no way she could just go straight to Game Over, could she?
Xue La was at a loss, and then in her panic, she blurted out a few life-saving incantations like they were her last hope; “Equipment,” “Status”—all the most familiar words for deep RPG players.
And then the system panel appeared.
‘Great! I knew it, as a transmigrator, I still had hope!’
But the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.
There were only a few things on the panel.
The cold panel displayed her stats.
Xue La, Class: None, Stats: Dreadfully low.
No wonder she couldn’t equip the greatsword.
‘Oh no, I’m really dead this time.’
‘A cannon fodder villainess without a golden finger—can I still get a refund on this game?’ Xue La thought.
Luo Yi approached and reached out his hand.
“Are you okay, Miss Xue La? I’ll… protect you!”
A line appeared on the panel.
[Luo Yi has joined the party.]
This—this was a lifeline!
Xue La quickly recalled the discussions she’d had on the game forums back then—even the story analysis that veteran players hated the most.
The cannon fodder villainess maid Xue La actually appeared in the game’s Novice Village.
She was the daughter of a minor rural noble in the kingdom, theoretically under protection, but only limited protection—otherwise, she wouldn’t be here facing the risk of being eaten by a Manticore.
Unfortunately, although the Brave Luo Yi saved Xue La, the gap between nobility and commoners meant he only got a lukewarm thank you.
The next time they met would be amid the royal conspiracy.
In any case, Xue La was Luo Yi’s fellow villager.
It was hard for Luo Yi to refuse when she was planted as a spy at his side.
Ah…
Xue La breathed a sigh of relief.
She quickly figured out a future solution.
‘No need to refund the game,’ she thought. ‘This makes speedrunning a lot easier.’
The Demon King?
That was something the Brave had to deal with.
Xue La just needed to cling to the Brave’s thigh to survive.
Her parents wanted to send her to the royal capital to be a maid?
She could just run away.
‘I’m here to open a restaurant in another world. The Brave’s business has nothing to do with me.’
With a goal in mind, everything became simple.
“You want to protect me? I’m really grateful…”
Xue La pretended to be cute, putting both hands over her chest.
‘So embarrassing! So embarrassing!’ she grumbled inwardly. ‘Don’t transmigrators to another world usually dominate everything and slaughter everyone in sight like arrogant heroes?’
Why did she have to act innocent and cute?
Was she exploiting the little privilege of being a nobleman’s daughter and a loli after transmigrating?
If it weren’t to survive, she would never do something so humiliating!
“It’s nothing?”
The innocent Brave Luo Yi was most vulnerable to this kind of act.
He actually scratched the back of his head, looking a bit embarrassed.
“My grandfather said that to be a Brave, you must always follow the creed of protecting the weak.”
“What about the others?”
Xue La asked.
The blush on her face was unmistakable—though it was hard to tell if it was from gratitude or shame.
“Why did you chase after me?”
“Because Miss Xue La, you’re special. Many of the other children were crying and wasting their energy.”
Luo Yi’s eyes carried a layer of gray—the color of disappointment.
Originally, Luo Yi’s eyes were a proud silver-gray, sharp as an eagle’s.
“But you were different. You didn’t cry, and you ran all the way here. I had a feeling you were trying to save yourself,” Luo Yi said. “I want to survive too.”
Xue La was delighted.
This was her pre-transmigration experience paying off!
“It’s not just about saving myself!”
Xue La said as she stepped aside, generously sharing the key to survival.
“Look, the Manticore only cares about eating. It piled up the relics of past adventurers here all haphazardly. If we pick them up, they should still be usable. I recommend that greatsword, but unfortunately I can’t swing it!”
Luo Yi did as she suggested.
With just one hand, he lifted the greatsword and swung it as if the wind was passing through, wielding it like an extension of his arm.
‘This is Luo Yi, a natural-born Brave!’ Xue La couldn’t help but admire inwardly.
“I’ll help you!”
Xue La said.
“I know the Manticore’s weakness…”
But just then, a rather ill-timed growl came from Luo Yi’s stomach.
Well, someone was hungry.
Xue La flinched and quickly stepped back, then picked up a weapon from another adventurer’s remains.
A dagger from a unlucky thief’s corpse.
This was the weapon with the lowest stat requirements—even Xue La, in her girl’s body, could use it.
Moreover, the game’s story had shown that the adult maid Xue La, as the kingdom’s lackey, specialized in the profession and weapon of an assassin wielding a dagger.
In some bad endings, Xue La even backstabbed the Brave… yet another outrageous plot decision from the orphan developer.
“I won’t hurt you!”
Luo Yi saw the fear in Xue La’s eyes and pulled something out of his pants pocket.
Some plant roots, yellowish and unappetizing to look at.
No wonder Luo Yi’s fingertips were dirty—he had just dug them up!
“I’m not hungry!”
Xue La shyly approached Luo Yi again, but the dagger never left her palm.
“Mm.”
Luo Yi felt a bit awkward, his face turning red.
‘Oh no, is Luo Yi feeling hurt?’
Xue La sheathed the dagger and showed Luo Yi her empty hands.
“I’m sorry!”
The boy and girl said the same thing at the same time, bowing to each other.
Luo Yi straightened up.
His little face was even redder.
He looked at the uneven plant roots in his hands, then at Xue La’s white dress—dusty but clearly of fine quality.
A bitter look filled Luo Yi’s eyes.
The red-haired, black-eyed boy seemed at a loss.
His voice dropped.
“I-I’m sorry, Miss Xue La… I forgot, you’re a nobleman’s daughter. You must not be used to eating this kind of stuff… this bitter, astringent thing dug out of the mud, right? My grandfather taught me this—a farmer’s way of living.”
Luo Yi hurriedly tried to hide the roots behind his back, as if he were holding something offensive.
“I didn’t mean to give this to you… I just, I just thought you shouldn’t go hungry…”
His tone was sincere but clumsy.
“Anyway, please trust me. I will never let you go hungry to the point of eating something hard to swallow. I will definitely find a way to get you out of here! This is my—Luo Yi’s—promise!”