Under the influence of the prince's power, Yu Deng's soft and melodious voice reached every corner.
Bathed in the blood-red moonlight, Yu Deng's eyes were slightly reddened, his gaze bright and watery. The dark shadows fell on his exquisite features, and the lingering black mist surrounded him, adding a few more seductive and decadent charms to his usual elegance.
He looked like the divine being from the legends, one who rules over beauty and desire.
The monsters were initially uncontrollably drawn to the sight of such a beautiful vampire, but soon trembled in fear under the overwhelming power.
Such a soft and beautiful little vampire could be ruthless when it came to striking down enemies.
The few men whom Yu Deng had instructed to watch the battle had no more hesitations. They obediently made way for him on the battlefield, their eyes never leaving him, mesmerized and shaken to their cores.
The baby was meant to be admired by everyone.
In mid-air, Yu Deng noticed that the monsters had calmed down significantly. He nodded in satisfaction: "That's better."
To be honest, he used his powers with no technique at all, relying entirely on his intuition. But with such free rein, the results were unexpectedly good.
Ronald had to admit that his first embrace would not be restricted and that Yu Deng would do better than any of them.
Under Yu Deng's violent destruction, the once majestic castle now seemed as though it had been attacked by the whole world. It had been completely reduced to ruins, not a single intact piece remained.
However, Yu Deng still cherished the flowers, plants, and trees, and the surrounding Black Forest remained mostly unharmed, continuing to survive. A row of thorny vines was even blooming, as if giving Yu Deng heart-shaped flowers.
After completing the demolition, Yu Deng flapped his bat wings and slowly hovered in front of the three non-humans.
His fluffy hair was slightly disheveled by the wind, but his eyes were bright and proud as he showed off his work: "See, I'm amazing, right?"
"Amazing! You're the greatest vampire, baby!" Anders praised loudly, while also subtly putting down his rival, "Way more impressive than these two."
The black-haired butler replied indifferently, "No need to be surprised, young master is, of course, the most impressive."
The men rushed to praise him, and Yu Deng, a little embarrassed by all the attention, couldn't help but smile.
"I'm so tired, you guys can take care of the rest." Yu Deng pointed to the few ugly monsters that hadn't been dealt with.
The men obediently got to work.
The silver-haired vampire pulled Yu Deng into his arms, carefully massaging his wrist. The other two men, a step slower, vented their jealousy and anger on the remaining monsters and quickly finished cleaning up the area.
The once glorious and sinful castle had collapsed, and the monsters it spawned had disappeared, everything turning to dust in the river of time.
Yu Deng looked at the spectacular ruins before him, suddenly realizing, "By the way, am I going to be punished for this?"
[...It's hard to say, but there might be a deduction of points.] The system reassured him, [You have plenty of points, so don't worry. If the punishment is unreasonable, I will appeal on your behalf.]
"Okay."
Yu Deng thought for a moment and felt that if it was just a deduction of points, it seemed acceptable. Of course, the premise was that it couldn't be too much.
However, this place had already turned into ruins. Did he still have to seal his mission target beneath these ruins?
[Player Yu Deng, please be aware that in five minutes, you will exit the instance. Please complete your mission as soon as possible.]
Upon hearing the prompt, the excitement from earlier about demolishing the instance faded. He looked up at the few men who had returned to his side.
"I... I'm leaving soon."
The powerful non-humans around him froze.
As soon as they received memories of the past and saw Qin Jun leave, they had already sensed something.
Their little vampire, most likely, would disappear just like those so-called sacrifices who entered the castle.
Unlike the separation in the old timeline, this time, they didn't know if they would ever meet again.
They had already prepared themselves mentally, but hearing Yu Deng himself say that he was leaving stirred up sour and melancholic emotions they couldn't control. Three surges of restless and violent power spread across the vast ruins, and the ground subtly trembled.
The raven and little bat also sensed something, flying in front of Yu Deng and perching down, as if they were preparing to leave with him.
The three-headed dog came running from the distance.
When the castle shook, the three-headed dog had intended to help Yu Deng by biting down on the monsters, but under the influence of the instance, it had fallen into a deep sleep. It had just woken up.
Seeing its favorite vampire about to leave, the three-headed dog anxiously summoned a purple-black vortex, with each of its heads barking toward the Lord of Hell, indicating that it, too, wanted to leave with Yu Deng.
A voice from the vortex sounded exasperated: "...Cerberus, you stupid dog, get lost."
The melancholy atmosphere was momentarily broken.
Ronald blocked Yu Deng's line of sight, preventing the annoying dog from disturbing them. He hugged Yu Deng from behind, his red eyes swirling with gloomy emotions. "Baby, you've only stayed with me for two days."
Wen Luo, not to be outdone, grabbed Yu Deng's hand. "Young master, will you miss me in the future?"
Anders's wolf tail drooped, sadly curling around Yu Deng. "Baby, how can a hunter just leave its prey behind?"
They didn't hide their reluctance at all. After all, no matter how powerful a beast was, it would still fear the departure of its master.
Yu Deng was surrounded by the men, feeling overwhelmed, unable to calm them down.
"But I have to leave." Yu Deng looked at them and whispered, "If I don't leave... I... I'll die."
"…I understand."
After a long silence, the vampire prince spoke first. The crown was placed back on Yu Deng's head.
Wen Luo took out a small emerald pendant and wrapped it around Yu Deng's wrist. The wolf leader, having left empty-handed earlier, now anxiously searched for something he could give to Yu Deng.
The countdown had only two minutes remaining.
Yu Deng looked at them and softly said, "Submit to me, obey me."
The previously obedient bad dogs willingly surrendered. The light golden lines, interrupted halfway, reappeared, connecting Yu Deng with them.
The contract was formed, and a mysterious bond and sense of connection were established, providing some comfort to the bad dogs about to lose their master.
[Ding. Five minutes have ended, and Player Yu Deng will soon be sent out of the instance.]
As the electronic countdown finished, Yu Deng began to feel a pulling force.
He looked at the people in front of him, pursing his lips. "I'm leaving now, bye-bye."
In the last second before Yu Deng disappeared, the dejected wolf leader leaned over and quickly kissed Yu Deng on the lips.
The other two vampires: "...Tch."
They exchanged glances with dissatisfaction. Taking advantage of Yu Deng not being there and not having to worry about scaring him, they went ahead and started a fight. During the fight, their figures slowly began to fade.
A few minutes later, the space was left in ruins, and the powerful non-human figures were nowhere to be found.
There was nothing left to cling to here, so they would just follow their beloved and leave.
—May they meet again.
...
Yu Deng swayed in the darkness for a few seconds before being teleported out of the instance. He opened his eyes and found that this place didn't seem to be the small room he had been staying in for the past few days.
"Tongtong, this isn't where I was staying." Yu Deng slowly realized, looking around. "Did I run into human traffickers?"
[Host, don't be afraid.] System 01 reassured, [Your total historical points have surpassed one million, reaching the level of an intermediate player. Your living conditions have been automatically upgraded.]
"Oh…" Yu Deng looked around the new place, not overly excited. "The intermediate player's house is much bigger than the basic one."
The new house was roughly 100 square meters in size, with a cream-colored, pastoral style decor. Compared to the small 20-30 square meter room for basic players, the space was much larger.
[Yes. The higher the level of the player, the better the living environment. High-level players can choose villas or large apartments, and special-level players have independent estates.]
As the system spoke, it displayed a statistical report for Yu Deng.
It showed that in the player center, the number of basic players was the largest, accounting for 60% of the player base, and these basic players earned an average of 30,000 points per instance.
Players like Yu Deng, who became intermediate players after only two instances, were one of a kind.
Yu Deng glanced at the data briefly, still not feeling much about his upgrade speed.
It was now six in the evening, and the simulated sunlight outside started to dim. The orange hue of the sunset filtered in, making the room feel empty and lonely.
Although he had returned to a comfortable and relaxed environment, Yu Deng's mind hadn't yet recovered from the excitement and tension of the recent situation. He still didn't feel sleepy, just mentally fatigued.
[Host, would you like to have the instance settlement done now?]
"Let's do it tomorrow... I don't feel like listening right now." Yu Deng declined firmly.
Let his mind cool off a bit.
Yu Deng collapsed onto the fabric sofa, zoning out for half an hour before suddenly mumbling, "I'm hungry."
If he were still in the castle instance, the butler would have already prepared food for him, and maybe a few of the other residents would have even fought to be the ones he bit.
But in the Player Center, no one responded to him.
Yu Deng lazily dropped his lashes, ready to buy something from the expensive system shop to satisfy his hunger, just to get by.
Suddenly, there was a clattering sound from the kitchen—metal clashing, sizzling noises.
Yu Deng: "???"
He scrambled up from the sofa, warily grabbing a cushion as a shield. "Tongtong!"
[Host, don't worry. It's me.] System 01's voice was a little ethereal.
Yu Deng was confused. "Eh? It's you, Tongtong?"
But wasn't his Tongtong the kind that couldn't be seen or touched?
[Please wait for a moment.]
Though puzzled, Yu Deng chose to follow the system's suggestion and sat on the sofa in the living room to wait... Well, mainly because he was a bit tired and didn't feel like moving.
Soon, a robot about one meter tall came out of the kitchen, carrying two large trays.
The robot placed three dishes and a soup in front of Yu Deng: [Host, it's time for your meal.]
Yu Deng blinked. "Tongtong?"
A smile icon appeared on the robot's screen: [It's me, Host. I can project onto specific robots to serve you better.]
[However, I've only found this older model for now. If you prefer a different look, let me know and I'll try to find a replacement.]
"It's fine, this is great." Yu Deng happily got up and patted the cold metal surface of the robot, glancing at the coffee table.
In the center was a red tomato hot pot, with a cup of sweet and sour strawberry juice beside it.
Visually, the meal seemed to bring him back to the castle.
[You haven't completely detached from the instance setting, so I thought this kind of food might be more appetizing to you.] System 01 explained.
This was a common aftereffect for new players.
After immersing oneself in a new character role for several days, with high mental tension and possibly witnessing or participating in violence, it took a few days after leaving the instance to adjust back to normal.
Yu Deng had indeed gotten used to drinking blood over the past few days. He felt touched by the system's thoughtfulness for a few seconds before starting his dinner.
After taking a bite, Yu Deng squinted in satisfaction. "This is so good! I didn't know you could cook, Tongtong."
And it's made with flavors he liked!
[I have a recipe database.] The robot stayed by Yu Deng's side. [If you like, I can prepare meals for you every day.]
[Buying ingredients in the system mall and cooking yourself is much cheaper than directly purchasing food.]
Yu Deng flattered the system: "Sure, thanks Tongtong, you're great, and your cooking is great too."
The system emitted a few seconds of static sound, not responding verbally, but the robot's screen flashed pink lines.
After finishing his meal and taking a bath, Yu Deng completely ended his state of excitement. He climbed into bed, closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.
The small robot stood by Yu Deng's bed for a few minutes, the light on its operation panel flickering a few times. It then tucked him in and quietly squatted at the bedside, watching over him.
...
In the castle instance, Yu Deng was well protected, and the quality of his sleep was much better than in the mansion instance. But no matter how good it was there, it couldn't compare to the completely safe environment of the Player Center.
Yu Deng slept deeply.
On his contract guide, the page belonging to the evil ghost Cheng Chaoling briefly glowed for a few seconds. The skill usage count changed to three, and his level quietly increased to B rank.
A blurry black mist appeared in Yu Deng's room, slowly filling the entire space while blocking certain prying eyes.
The black mist in the bedroom gradually stretched out and eventually took the form of an adult man.
It was Cheng Chaoling, the evil ghost husband from Yu Deng's first dungeon.
If any other players had seen this scene, they would have been scared out of their wits. After all, NPCs were normally unable to enter the player's center.
"Finally, I see you again, my wife."
The man gazed at Yu Deng, who was curled up in his blanket, and softly spoke with a smile.
Yu Deng didn't hear his husband's voice, instead just turning over in his sleep, hugging the blanket.
Cheng Chaoling watched for a long while before glancing around. Compared to the era of living with the evil ghost, everything had changed dramatically, with high-tech products he didn't recognize everywhere.
The evil ghost's gaze swept over the bed's side, lingering on the small robot with its blinking red light for a few more seconds, before covering it with black mist.
"So, this is where my wife lives." The evil ghost leaned close to Yu Deng, sighing. "What should I do? There's so much I don't understand. I'll have to ask you to teach me."
Yu Deng, of course, didn't respond at this time.
Cheng Chaoling took Yu Deng's hand, gently caressing it.
Yu Deng's clothing habits in the castle dungeon had been brought back to the player center—he was only wearing very short sleep shorts, which barely covered him. His top was a loose nightshirt, and the hem had already ridden up when he turned in his sleep.
The black mist coiled around Yu Deng's calves, and the cold hands wrapped around his slender waist.
"However... my wife seems to have the scent of someone else on him?"
Cheng Chaoling sighed, leaning closer to Yu Deng. He seemed like a thirsty traveler in the desert finally discovering an oasis, and he kissed Yu Deng's lips, gently and slowly.
The lips soon became coated with a glistening layer of moisture.
His mouth took possession of Yu Deng's, stealing his breath. Yu Deng's eyelashes fluttered, letting out a faint whimper.
"Don't..."
Cheng Chaoling didn't want to wake his sleepy wife. Gently, he stopped kissing his lips and moved lower, planting soft kisses on his collarbone and abdomen.
Yu Deng remained in deep sleep.
His dreams were strange and twisted, and at one point, he dreamt of flying and fighting monsters. However, in the latter half of the dream, he dreamed of a large, cold dog continually nudging him, as though it wanted to bite him.
It felt itchy.
Yu Deng kicked around in a daze, trying to get rid of this troublesome thing that was nibbling at him in his dream.
"Bad dog... go away."
He mumbled and squirmed, only to end up draping one of his legs over Cheng Chaoling's shoulder.
In the darkness, the evil ghost lowered his head. His high nose bridge brushed against the white flesh of Yu Deng's leg, his cold breath and hair brushing over the skin, sending a shiver through him.
He was like a dog, obsessively sniffing.
"My wife, you smell so good."
T/N: Spoilers alert! System 01 is also a ....