When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I saw was the long tail.

I wanted to go back to sleep, to confirm that I was just dreaming, but the pain in my joints made me realize that this wasn't a dream. Slowly getting up, it was quiet around me, and the monster seemed to be asleep too. I confirmed my location once again - it was a cave.

The most prominent things around were animal fur, mostly brown and black, but I couldn't tell what kind of animal it was. Anyway, I decided to be cautious and stay quiet, while the monster was still inactive.

The click of my phone unlocking made me quickly press the mute button. But the words "No service" on the phone screen didn't surprise me.

"Maybe if I break free from the rope and go outside the cave, there might be a signal?" I thought.

But the knot behind my back was impossible to untie. In my naive attempt, I found a sharp piece of rock and started smashing the thick rope, thicker than my finger, little by little.

Unfortunately, before I could even do it a couple of times, the rope suddenly tightened.

Wasn't it said that snakes have poor hearing?

Oh, right, she isn't a snake, she is Medusa.

I obediently put down the rock and nodded at her, indicating that I won't push my luck and pleaded her to spare me.

Next, to avoid the silence, I mustered a forced smile and greeted her with a "Good morning," but the monster didn't understand a word of Chinese.

Silence ensued, and I hated nothing more than two people staring at each other without saying anything, even if it was a monster. Instead of that, I decided to keep quiet myself. Within the range allowed by the rope, I stood up and walked to one side of the cave entrance, leaning against the rock wall.

Fortunately, I had plenty of belongings with me, including my phone, cigarettes, lighter, house keys, and a genuine leather wallet from a birthday gift. I took out a cigarette and lit it with the lighter, the tiny flame flickering in my hand. Suddenly, I felt like I was flying...

"?"

Can't I even smoke a cigarette? Where does it say it's not allowed?

When I landed, besides feeling like my spine was about to break, there were more than ten heads staring at me, except for one, all of them were snakes.

I didn't know if snakes are afraid of fire, but for a creature confronted by the sudden appearance of fire, caution was expected. My mind quickly raced, thinking of a way to use the lighter to intimidate the monster, giving me a chance to escape from its control.

By logical reasoning, if I could cause a certain level of harm with the lighter, she might fear the item. But practically, it wasn't feasible. However, I recalled another regretful decision - why didn't I burn the rope!

Damn my habitual thinking! Because I had been in the darkness all this time, I automatically categorized the lighter as an illuminating tool. If I had used it then, I could have instantly realized if I had gone blind. Now, leaving the darkness, I still habitually thought of the lighter as an illuminator, which was useless in the bright environment, until I wanted to smoke did I realize its true purpose as a fire starter.

But now, I needed to make a decision quickly. The worst option would be to fight desperately with the lighter against the monster, and the other bad option was to... trade the lighter for her trust. Ultimately, I chose the latter because I couldn't recall any novel or comic where the hero defeats a monster with a lighter.

Slowly, I took out the lighter, the durable plastic ones that cost a dollar each, and sparked it slowly, demonstrating twice before slowly extending it towards her, accompanied by my sincere gaze. It was seamless.

She took the lighter at the same speed as me, holding it with both hands, but she didn't produce any fire.

I was in a frenzy! I was really in distress!

Because if she couldn't use it, I would have to rack my brain to come up with a solution to her misunderstanding of the lighter.

Then I needed to rebuild the most fundamental trust.

So, I reached out my hand, yes, without any hesitation, slowly gripping her hand. Medusa's hand was colder than I imagined, similar to the temperature of a fish, and her skin was delicate. I adjusted the position of the lighter in her hand little by little, gently stacking my thumb on hers.

Looking back, this was actually the most correct decision I made then. The moment the lighter was pressed down, my life changed, and who knows into what.

"Snap."Beautiful round flames, while also full of the "rustling" sound of the snake hair in her ear.

The strength in her hand loosened, and she tried a few more times. Even without looking at her face, I knew she must be very happy. But come to think of it, I have looked into her eyes several times. If we were to go by Medusa's characteristics, I should have been turned to stone. The fact that I wasn't petrified means that this kind of magic should be controllable. Whether the target is petrified or not depends entirely on Medusa.

In another sense, it means that she doesn't want me to die immediately.

Well, in other words, for this monster who probably has petrification magic and completely surpasses me in terms of strength and speed, I have some value to be used, whether she intends to treat me as a slave or something else, at least I can stay alive.

While thinking about it, the lighter was thrown back at me, probably because she didn't think it posed any threat. But that suits me well, if I have the chance I can burn the rope...

"Clang"

What? Why are there shackles on my feet!

Can Medusa use mind reading magic? I was just thinking about it. Those shackles must weigh more than 2 kilograms. One end of the iron chain is tied to my foot, and the other end to her arm, but the iron chain is longer than that rope. And the rope, right before my eyes, turned into a snake and slithered back into her hair. Well, magic is indeed amazing, thankfully I didn't burn that rope.

With the sound of "clattering," the iron chain was dragged, and she, who had already walked outside the cave, looked at me. A valuable gemstone necklace had appeared around her neck, and thick green fabric wrapped around her chest and left arm, while the quiver on her back and the Turkish short bow in her hand were plain and simple. If you didn't look at the lower body, she really resembled a female archer character from certain games.

Without thinking too much, I tried to keep up with fast steps. The vegetation outside the cave was very dense, but there weren't many insects, completely different from the rainforests in documentaries where mosquitoes fly everywhere.

After about 300 steps, the density of vegetation greatly decreased, and in its place was a vast plain. At the same time, I noticed that Medusa's cave was roughly located on a protruding terrace near the foothills, and the path we were walking down was a very gentle slope. The foothills were covered with low bushes.

Medusa slowed down, and I took the opportunity to enjoy the rare scenery. Although I didn't know why she brought a bow and arrow here, it felt great to come out and enjoy the breeze. The smell inside the cave was really unpleasant.

After gazing at the vast grassland and then looking at the transitional area of the vegetation, I couldn't help but marvel at the wonders of nature. Just as I was about to look up at the mountaintop, I finally saw evidence that at least confirmed that I was not in the real world—a rabbit standing up and eating leaves.

Yes, that should be a rabbit, I think it can be called a "long-necked rabbit".