The room was only filled with Yu Deng's soft breathing.
The cold demon hovered over the sleeping little beauty, soon causing the delicate skin to turn slightly red, trembling with an unbearable shiver.
"Wife, wife..."
The demon spoke with obsession, breathing in the soft fragrance that lingered on Yu Deng's body.
However, after being intimate with Yu Deng for a moment, Cheng Chaoling suddenly noticed that his little wife seemed to have become... more sensitive.
When his waist was caressed, his leg touched, or when his palm accidentally rested on the soft flesh of his hips, there would be an obvious shiver.
It was as though being teased too much had conditioned him to have these instinctive reactions when touched.
The demon lowered his gaze, his expression dark and inscrutable.
In the days when he wasn't here, had some wild man, like that bastard adopted son, come to bully his wife?
"Wife, you are so captivating. Can you only look at me?" The black mist coiled around Yu Deng, binding him tightly. The demon's eyes were filled with pathological obsessive infatuation, which he suppressed forcefully. He murmured, "If you can't only look at me, then look at me more, okay?"
"..."
Yu Deng, in his sleep, was vaguely able to hear the demon's voice.
He had only ever heard the term "Wife" from one person. Who was it...? Let him think for a moment... Oh, it was his late demon husband.
How did he suddenly dream of Cheng Chaoling?
Yu Deng assumed he was just having an unusually vivid dream. When he was once again called in such a soft voice, he hesitated and groggily spoke, "Cheng Chaoling...? Don't bother me."
Upon hearing his wife's soft voice, the demon felt his breath catch, a wave of excitement flooding his mind.
"You remember me, that's great."
The demon embraced Yu Deng again and kissed him once more.
"Mm?"
Yu Deng still thought he was dreaming, and since Cheng Chaoling's movements had become much gentler, he didn't resist the demon's kiss this time.
"Cheng Chaoling... don't bite me..." Yu Deng mumbled sleepily.
"Alright, I won't hurt you, Wife."
They were intimate in the dark, though one of them kept his eyes closed. Cheng Chaoling endured, ultimately not disturbing Yu Deng's dream.
The simulated sunlight slowly rose outside the window.
The demon's figure began to fade: "What a pity, I can only appear for one night now."
"When we meet next time, will you be willing to fully merge with me, Wife?"
The demon sighed. Before leaving, he glanced at the robot squatting at the bedside.
Though he had never dealt with such technological products as robots, Cheng Chaoling's sharp intuition and observation allowed him to guess the robot's purpose.
The demon smiled elegantly: "Hello, may I ask if you have paper and a pen? I'd like to leave a few words for my wife."
The red light of System 01 flickered, but it said nothing, as if malfunctioning and unable to hear anything.
The demon shrugged indifferently and found paper and a pen on the desk by himself.
The black mist in the room slowly dissipated, and the room returned to its cold, quiet state. Only the faint traces on Yu Deng's body and the note beside the pillow proved that someone had visited during the night.
...
The morning light broke.
Yu Deng had slept for more than ten hours. When his stomach growled with hunger, he reluctantly opened his eyes.
He awoke from deep sleep, his hair sticking up in a few places. He sat up on the bed, hugging his knees for a moment.
It felt a bit itchy.
Yu Deng's brain slowly powered up. He looked down and noticed a few red spots on his thighs, and some soreness on his collarbone and abdomen.
Yu Deng was confused: "Tongtong, do mosquitoes exist in the Infinite World?"
He had the sensation that something was biting him last night.
[...] The system was silent for a few seconds but finally answered the clueless host's question, [There are no insects in the player center. Someone visited last night.]
Yu Deng's eyes widened: "Ah?! Who was it?"
Is this place so unsafe???
Yu Deng thought to himself and hurriedly checked to make sure his organs were all still in place.
"Tongtong, why didn't you wake me up for such a dangerous thing..."
System 01 let out a faint sigh, [Sorry, host. I detected that you needed rest, so I didn't disturb you. But don't worry, the person who visited you last night is someone you know. They won't harm you.]
Yu Deng furrowed his brow in confusion, not quite understanding what that meant. Suddenly, he spotted a piece of paper next to his pillow. After hesitating for a moment, he picked it up and unfolded it.
The handwriting on the paper was strong and forceful, with a few words written on it.
[Wife, it was a great pleasure to meet you briefly last night. Unfortunately, I didn't dare to wake you, so I couldn't speak with you.
Wife, please make use of me more. I want to see you again.
Cheng.]
Yu Deng read it twice, and after a moment, he finally realized that the person who visited him last night was his late husband from the mansion instance.
Oh... he thought he had just dreamed of Cheng Chaoling last night, but it wasn't a dream— it was real.
Wait? That's strange. His contract mission target can actually come to the player center?
Also, what does it mean by "make use of Cheng Chaoling more"... That's such a weird request. At first glance, it even sounded a bit inappropriate, causing Yu Deng's ears to turn slightly red.
"Tongtong, didn't you say NPCs can't come to the player center?"
If that's the case, could the other NPCs he encountered also come to find him?
[Under normal circumstances, instance NPCs indeed cannot come to the player center. Your situation is rather special, host. Please be careful not to let others know.]
Yu Deng was a little confused but nodded in response, shaking his head as he got up to wash up. By the time he finished getting ready, the robot had already prepared breakfast.
Yu Deng took a bite of the soup dumpling and smiled at the robot, "It's delicious, Tongtong. Did you make this?"
[Yes, I'm glad you like it.]
After Yu Deng finished breakfast, the system spoke again, [Host, would you like to proceed with the instance settlement?]
"Okay, let's settle it."
[Ding, now processing the instance score settlement for 'The Castle Blood Feast.']
[Player Yu Deng, ID A3270, your performance in this instance is as follows:
Main quest completion: 100%, reward points 20,000. You triggered four side quests, earning an additional 20,000 points. Due to the instance changing to difficulty mode, points are doubled.
Hidden additional quests completion: 100%, reward points 40,000.
Special quests completion: 100%, reward points 100,000.
Instance exploration: 100%, overall contribution rank first, points coefficient ×3.
Additionally, tips were received from live stream viewers, which were converted at a 10:1 ratio to 250,000 points.
Total points earned for this instance: 910,000.]
[Congratulations, player Yu Deng. Your score for this instance is S.]
Yu Deng was stunned as he listened to the system's electronic voice, completely dumbfounded.
How much? He earned almost a million points from a single instance??
Yu Deng stood dazed for a few seconds before coming to his senses. His beautiful eyebrows were clearly filled with pride, "Tongtong, I'm so amazing."
[Mm, host is especially amazing.] System 01 said indulgently, [You've also received two items and activated an active skill.]
There's that much? Yu Deng's eyes lit up, "Let me see!"
Yu Deng quickly had a skill detail pop up in front of him.
[Active Skill: Flight]
Level: A (Upgradeable)
Effect: Unfold bat wings to gain the ability to fly. Flight speed is 50 km/h. If flying at full speed, the skill lasts for three minutes. If the speed is under 10 km/h, the flight lasts for one hour. Cooldown time is 48 hours. Note: This skill cannot be used in restricted flight areas.
This skill looks so useful—flying is definitely an essential skill for escaping!
Yu Deng also noticed that the "Prison" skill he obtained in the first instance had already been upgraded to Level B.
Next, two items dropped in front of him, and their introduction pages popped up.
[Item Name: Vampire Crown]
Level: S
Effect: This is the most important treasure of the vampire clan, only to be held by the vampire prince and his spouse. When worn, the crown doubles the wearer's attack power and agility for one hour, with a cooldown time of 48 hours. Note: The S-level item has additional functions waiting to be explored by the player.
Yu Deng looked at the beautiful crown in his hand and gently touched the gemstones on it.
This must be the crown the prince gave him.
Yu Deng blinked and looked at the other item.
[Item Name: Sweater (Wolf Fur)]
Level: A
Effect: The fur of werewolves is very warm, and sweaters made from wolf fur are both insulating and durable, with excellent defensive properties. Wearing this item grants immunity to three instances of damage from A-level or lower attacks. It can be repaired with special materials to increase its usage.
Yu Deng: "???"
He stared blankly at the gray wolf fur sweater and reached out to touch it. The texture of the sweater felt especially good, fluffy and soft, and it would surely be very comfortable to wear, but...
Yu Deng became worried.
Did Anders shed this much fur? He wouldn't be going bald, would he? A bald wolf would look terrible... He hoped that wouldn't be a problem.
In addition to the items and skills, Yu Deng's contract book had also changed. After the entries for Cheng's adoptive father and son, there were now four new pages for the characters related to his four current mission targets.
Hmm, there seems to be new content?
Yu Deng casually flipped to the last page and was surprised to see the illustrations of the little bat, the raven, and the three-headed dog he encountered in the castle.
"Tongtong? I didn't contract them, did I?"
[Ding, detected as a special situation. They have a strong desire to follow the host, so they were proactively contracted.] System 01 explained, [Since they are not part of the special mission targets, they are placed at the end of the book for distinction.]
I see... Yu Deng actually liked those little animals and poked the illustrations of each one before closing the book.
Yu Deng carefully sorted out his spoils and opened the player forum to take a look.
During the instance, the player forum couldn't be accessed, and players couldn't contact others.
Yu Deng now noticed that there were many posts discussing him on the forum, and his contact list had been updated with dozens of new messages from his only friend, Zhou Ji of the Wind Lantern Guild, who he met that day.
Yu Deng simply replied to him.
[.]: Mm-hmm, just came out of the instance, really tired, slept all day.
A few minutes later, a reply came through.
[Zhou Ji]: Glad you're safe. Congratulations on surviving another instance.
Yu Deng politely responded, "Thank you."
After finishing these tasks, Yu Deng began to rest and let his mind wander. He stayed in his new house for two days before deciding to go out and take a walk.
As usual, he wore a cloak and a little fox mask, strolling slowly along the street near the central area.
The leaderboard for this residential area was also very noticeable.
Yu Deng quickly spotted that he was still at the top of the newly ranked leaderboard. His live-stream real-time popularity had risen to seventh place, with a note indicating that he was the third most popular of the week. The players ahead of him were two big shots who had just finished their dungeons. Yu Deng vaguely remembered seeing their names in the top twenty of the overall leaderboard.
He bought a cup of taro milk tea at a bubble tea shop, sipping it slowly while overhearing a discussion about him as a few people walked into the store.
Yu Deng looked up, trying to make out the conversation.
Sweet Story? That seemed to be a cake shop? Hmm, let's go inside and hear what they're saying.
...
Meanwhile, inside the Fengdeng Guild's internal building, about a dozen players were in a conference room, conducting an analysis meeting.
The topic was none other than the new player, Yu Deng.
After all, he was the only player in the entire Infinite World to have reached the intermediate level in such a short amount of time.
Even the current number one player on the overall leaderboard had to go through three dungeons before accumulating a million points.
They couldn't imagine just how strong Yu Deng must be.
"On average, a low-level dungeon earns over 500,000 points. That must mean he completed all the tasks within the dungeon, including hidden ones, to accumulate that many points. He's not simple."
The guild's senior, who was hosting the meeting, concluded: "Based on the information we have so far, Yu Deng is definitely a player with deep schemes, nearly inhuman intelligence, and high attack power."
"In any case, if anyone comes across Yu Deng, remember to build a good relationship with him and try to recruit him into our guild."
The guild members nodded in agreement.
"Alright, let's move on. Gao Yan, you were in a difficult dungeon this time, right? Tell us about it?"
Gao Yan, the player known as Xiao Gao, cleared her throat. "Yes, I was in a C-class dungeon that was modified into a difficult one, but I didn't think it was as hard as I imagined."
"How so?" she briefly explained the various pitfalls set by the dungeon's rules. "The general rules meant players would inevitably fight each other. Indeed, some players were backstabbed."
"But the game wasn't actually that hard. For example, there was a hide-and-seek side quest where the monster bosses didn't even bother with me. In the end, during the chaos in the castle, the bosses were too distracted to care about the players."
Xiao Gao spoke all at once before realizing she had said too much.
Normally, players were not allowed to share the details of dungeon clears with those who hadn't completed them.
"Xiao Zhang can also share." Zhou Ji, a new member of the guild, pointed to the new female player. "That means your dungeon is no longer open for others."
Was it a dungeon bug, or were the new generation of players just unusually talented?
The guild's higher-ups looked thoughtful.
"Xiao Gao, was there anything else that left a strong impression in this dungeon?"
"Yes. There was an NPC who was incredibly beautiful." Xiao Gao said firmly. "I believe the bosses' attention was focused on him, which reduced the difficulty of the dungeon and the death rate for players."
Zhang Ziyun from the next table nodded in agreement. "I met someone like that too. That NPC was so beautiful, I can't even describe it."
"That's so lucky. I met one who was quite friendly."
"I met one as well! And the interaction between the bosses and him was adorable. I'm so thankful he made the dungeon more fun."
"Same here… What a coincidence. Looks like we're destined to be half-sisters!"
They clasped hands and shared an unspoken understanding, both revealing happy smiles that only fangirls could.
The other guild members: "??"
The meeting ended with a mixture of awe toward Yu Deng and confusion over the fangirl's joy.
"By the way, who is the guild leader of Fengdeng?" Zhang Ziyun suddenly asked, linking arms with her best friend.
"Actually, I've never met the guild leader since joining. I heard they're in a dungeon," Gao Yan said, opening her player info and browsing the details of the guild.
[Fengdeng Guild Leader: YF]
Just like the display on the leaderboard, the name wasn't shown.
She glanced at Zhou Ji. "Vice-leader, can we know?"
Zhou Ji sighed as he looked at the two girls who had passed the guild entry test.
"Alright, it's not a big secret anyway. You just didn't know it yet," Zhou Ji scratched his head. "It's fine to tell you."
He shared his player screen and tapped twice on the guild leader's name. Two lines of identity information appeared.
[Overall Player Ranking Second, YF]
[Yu Feng]