Ethan helplessly opened his eyes.
And then—
He saw an even more scalp-numbing scene.
From the ruptured flesh tumor he had just pressed, clusters upon clusters of red spiders about the size of ping-pong balls actually crawled out.
And those spiders lined up one by one, quickly crawling toward the fleshy fibers on the ground. Very soon they merged into them and disappeared from sight, but that rustling "shasha!" sound like something crawling through a red carpet instead grew even denser.
'Holy crap!'
'This is fucking terrifying!'
Ethan really wanted to cry at this moment, but he soon realized.
Fortunately, the cushions on those benches were not some kind of fleshy fibers, but real, solid animal fur. Only then did he finally let out a breath of relief and hurriedly shrank himself up onto the bench.
He even pulled his feet up with him.
He did not dare leave his feet on the ground at all. Who knew whether a spider might suddenly crawl out and climb up his leg?
And who knew whether these spiders were poisonous.
If they were poisonous and he got bitten once, wouldn't Ethan be completely done for?
[Parasitic Spider: A beneficial symbiotic organism that lives inside a Lamp Spider.]
(Because the Lamp Spider is extremely large, and because it has two stomachs. One is often used to load and unload goods, or modified into a passenger compartment, but since it is inconvenient to clean, garbage often accumulates inside, causing indigestion in the Lamp Spider.)
(Therefore, Lamp Spider tamers usually raise large numbers of parasitic spiders to clean out the garbage inside the Lamp Spider.)
(Parasitic spiders will also enter the Lamp Spider's other digestive stomach, but since the Lamp Spider can only swallow energy bodies, it cannot digest many things. Thus it relies on an enzyme secreted by the parasitic spiders to break down non-energy matter and then excrete it from the body.)
[PS: Parasitic spiders are non-toxic, but their secretions can decompose everything, so please be careful not to get bitten.]
"..."
After reading that, Ethan really did not want to say anything.
'Non-toxic, my ass!'
'If it secretes enzymes that can decompose everything, how is that not poison?'
'This shit is even more toxic than bone-melting acid, all right?'
Anyway, right now Ethan only wanted to stay as far away from these things as possible.
Ding!
Finally, after so much suffering, Ethan heard that long-missed copper bell sound again.
He was so excited he was practically about to cry on the spot.
(´இ皿இ｀)゜
If nothing unexpected happened, they should have arrived at their destination.
Sure enough, Ethan suddenly felt the entire Lamp Spider tilting, and the tilt grew more and more severe, turning into a full one hundred and eighty degree flip.
Immediately after, Ethan completely lost his balance and fell out of the Lamp Spider's mouth under the pull of gravity.
"Ow!"
Ethan landed hard on his butt on the ground.
This damn vehicle had an experience rating that was absolute trash. If he ever rode this thing again, he would be a dog.
"Honored guest, we have arrived at your destination."
The driver also jumped down from the vehicle, and the Lamp Spider, having lost control, soon ran off into the fog and disappeared.
Ethan looked at the Lamp Spider running farther away, then looked at the indifferent driver.
He finally could not help but ask, "Your Lamp Spider ran off?"
"I know."
"You're not going after it?"
"Why would I chase it?"
"Isn't that your vehicle?"
Ethan looked completely confused. He felt like he was talking to a cow.
The driver, however, gave a sinister smile and said, "It's my vehicle, but it's just hungry right now and went to find food on its own. Once it's full, it'll come back by itself."
"...", Ethan did not want to talk anymore.
Although riding this piece of junk was a terrible experience. He had to admit that having a vehicle that refuels itself, and does not even need you to look for a parking spot, was pretty damn nice.
"Honored guest, we have arrived at your destination."
The driver turned and pointed behind him.
Ethan raised his head, and only then did he realize that the place the driver had brought him to was not his villa at all.
It was a castle.
The outside of the castle was covered in creeping vines, but those pillars full of stone carvings, as well as the mottled stone walls, were all telling Ethan that the history of this castle was probably extremely ancient.
[Traveler's Inn: An inn that has been operating within the fog for several thousand years. As for who the owner of this inn is, no one has ever known. They only know that it is a very powerful and mysterious individual.]
[Your luck is not bad. Traveler's Inn has always only received special guests, and you just happened to catch their eye.]
"???", Ethan looked utterly baffled.
'According to the system's prompt, this Traveler's Inn only accepts special guests, but what is special about me?'
'Just because I have a cheat ability?'
"Honored guest, your destination has arrived."
Before Ethan could react to the system prompt, the driver reminded him again.
Only now did Ethan finally get a clear look at the driver's face. Although the driver had a thick ring of beard, his face was unusually pale. Not only that, his muscles seemed exaggeratedly developed.
Clearly wearing a suit, yet it gave the impression that he was so muscular he was about to burst out of it.
And in the darkness of the night, the driver's eyes also emitted a faint red glow.
No matter how you looked at it… he did not look human.
"Mm, I know. Thank you."
Ethan thanked him very politely, then tried to go around the driver.
Since the driver had brought him to this Traveler's Inn, there must be a reason for it. Rather than running around blindly in the fog and courting death, he might as well go into the inn and explore the map. Maybe there was something good waiting for him inside.
After all, he was a heaven-chosen child.
But the driver was very strange. He had clearly told Ethan that they had arrived, yet he stubbornly blocked Ethan's path and said, "Respected guest, have you forgotten something?"
"Forgotten something?"
Ethan was even more confused by the driver's question.
He had not taken anything from the driver. He had not even stepped on a single parasitic spider. What could he have forgotten?
[Werewolf Driver: A taxi driver that roams within the fog, employed by various inns to search for suitable target candidates. Once you get into its vehicle, you must give it a tip, otherwise it will go berserk from anger and tear you to pieces. (Dragon Coins are the universal currency of this world)]
[PS: Please leave some Dragon Coins to pay the Traveler's Inn fees, otherwise you will be expelled from the inn.]
'So that's how it is.'
Only at this moment did Ethan finally come to a sudden realization.
Turns out this damn Traveler's Inn had set its sights on his Dragon Coins. No wonder it sent a vehicle in the middle of the night to pick him up.
This Dragon Coin was something Stone Six had dug out back in the gray ore mining area after awakening "Great Strength Produces Miracles." At the time, Ethan thought it was interesting and kept it in his backpack.
But the problem was, he only had one Dragon Coin.
If Ethan gave that Dragon Coin to the driver as a tip, then what would he use later to rent a room?
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