Darkness engulfed Li Ran’s vision.
He had lost track of the little demon baby.
At the very last moment before the virus consumed him, he had followed the little demon baby into the Gate of Dark.
After that, he arrived in this strange space.
He couldn't see a thing—pitch black.
Not even his own hands were visible. He couldn’t make out anything.
He didn’t even feel like he was standing. It was as if he were floating in space, unable to tell whether he was drifting or weightless, with no sense of up or down, left or right.
“Splashhh~~”
He moved his arms, as though swimming. There was the sound of flowing water in his ears.
He tried to feel the current. It was incredibly warm and comforting, even better than soaking in a hot spring.
It was a sensation he had never felt before. The nerves that had been tightly wound slowly began to relax.
“So comfortable...”
Wrapped in the warm flow and suspended in weightlessness, the pressure in his heart was instantly released. Li Ran felt more at ease than he ever had before, like he had returned to the carefree days of childhood.
“Wait... I can breathe?”
Just now, he had seen a hint in the darkness, so he had been holding his breath all along.
He tried breathing, letting the warm current flow into his mouth. Strangely, there was no sensation of choking on water. He could even clearly feel the warmth pass through his stomach and flow into his body, gently warming his internal organs.
“Where did the little demon baby go?”
Just as he was wondering, a light appeared in the darkness.
His body drifted toward the light involuntarily, until it filled his entire vision.
When the white light faded, Li Ran found himself inside a beige room.
The room was empty, but there were four doors in four directions.
What caught Li Ran’s attention was that the beige walls were actually covered in countless fine, soft fibers, making the whole place look warm and cozy.
“Is this the kind of place the little demon baby hides in every time?”
Li Ran looked around the beige room in confusion.
(Warning: Do not open doors at will. You never know what dangers lie behind them.)
(Warning: You are currently in a safe room within the Dark World. Your power here is like that of an ant. Do not act rashly.)
(Hint: There is a key on the wall to your right. Use it to open the door behind you to search for the little demon baby.)
“Dark World?” Li Ran's heart trembled.
He had followed the little demon baby through the Gate of Dark and ended up in this "Dark World."
But what exactly was this Dark World?
This time, his golden finger didn’t provide any hints.
Perhaps the question was too broad.
“No point thinking about stuff I can’t figure out. Just follow the hints—I can’t go wrong.”
He knew the saying "curiosity killed the cat" all too well.
His strength in this Dark World was like an insect’s—he wasn’t about to go looking for death.
Better to obediently follow the instructions and find the little demon baby first.
Li Ran looked down at his hand—his [Aged Bridle] was gone.
Its enslaving effect only lasted ten minutes. In other words, he had less than ten minutes to find the Dark Little Demon Baby and use the Contract Scroll to subdue it. Only then could he leave this place.
Li Ran approached the wall on the right, eyes scanning for the key.
The wall was covered in soft, fine fluff—like an ocean of fuzz.
He reached out and felt along the wall, searching among the fibers. It felt like rummaging through a soft carpet—gentle and comforting.
Before long, he found an off-white key.
He walked to the indicated door.
Inserted the key all the way.
Turned it.
“Click!”
With a crisp sound, Li Ran pushed the door open.
He stepped inside and entered a blue room, identical in layout to the previous beige one. Except now, in the center of the room, there was a large machine.
It took up half the room. One side was a transparent glass incubation pod, and the other was a mechanized control panel.
Seeing it, Li Ran frowned deeply.
What the hell is this crap?
(Cub-Making Machine)
(Collect the required materials and insert them into the machine. Flip the switch to produce a human cub.)
(Hint: Materials are scattered across each room. All must be found and inserted in the correct order.)
(Warning: Entering the wrong room or standing still for too long is extremely dangerous.)
(Hint: There is a Cub Manual on the ground. Select “Dark Cub” to begin gathering materials.)
After reading the hints from the machine, Li Ran was dumbfounded.
Even with his toes, he could guess—this had to be a trap set up by the Dark Little Demon Baby.
He just didn’t expect the challenge to be this absurd.
Li Ran picked up the tablet on the ground. It displayed various cub-making methods and the materials required.
Human cub?
Angel cub?
Demon cub?
Hell cub?
Divine cub?
Dark cub?
…
Scrolling through the tablet, Li Ran was shocked.
Bizarre and outrageous—there were even cubs beyond gods and demons.
The materials required to create them were equally bizarre. Most he had never even seen before.
Ironically, the human cub was the simplest—just basic human body-related items containing certain elements.
As for god cubs or demon king cubs, the material list was endless, a huge pile that seemed to have no bottom.
Li Ran skimmed through and locked onto his target: the Dark Cub.
If he was right, the Dark Cub was the Dark Little Demon Baby he was after.
"Dark Cub Materials: Iron Shard x1, Tree Branches x10, Candle x1, Lime x1, Soap x1, Wire x1, Lead Block x1, Bottle of Water, Liquid of Eerie Power."
After reading the list, black lines covered Li Ran's forehead.
This crap can make a cub?
As ridiculous as it sounded, this eerie world was full of absurdities.
Holding the manual, Li Ran began following the golden finger's instructions to search through various rooms.
Each door led to a room with very similar layouts. Li Ran didn’t dare wander—he feared stepping into the wrong room and running into danger.
He stuck strictly to the guidance, and soon had most of the materials collected.
He returned to the Cub-Making Machine’s room and looked at the final item on the list.
“Liquid of Eerie Power?”
Li Ran hadn’t found that one. But the golden finger hinted that he already possessed it.
He had no idea when that had happened.
He opened his inventory, scanning through it quickly.
“Could it be... this thing?”
Li Ran pulled out a delicate little bottle.
“Eerie Power Perfume?”
It was something Song Linjia had given him. Afterward, Li Ran had been hypnotized by Su Bingyao and lied, saying it was the latest perfume from Lankor, then gave it to her.
Yesterday, while spending time with his family, Su Bingyao returned it to him, saying it was a fake Lankor perfume. And so, the bottle had ended up back in his hands.
It was also available for purchase in the shop—100 points per bottle. Kind of like a buff potion, but Li Ran had always thought it too lame for that purpose. He figured it was better to just buy potions that directly boosted Eerie Power.
“So you wanna play like this, huh?”
This level—if it had been any other player, there was no way they could pass.
Each room had four doors. Most could be opened directly, others required keys. Inside each room was another four-door room, forming a never-ending maze, with no landmarks or orientation. One wrong move and you'd never find your way back, let alone gather all the required materials.
This wasn’t a challenge meant for players. One misstep, and you were in a death room.
If not for his golden finger, Li Ran would’ve died ten thousand times over by now.
“Just you wait, you damn brat—I'm gonna make you call me daddy!”
(End of Chapter)