DADH Chapter 1

TL: Moonlit

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The hologame¹ is short for holographic game, I’ll be using this word. compartment opens.

A thin and weak teenager dressed in light gray home clothes emerged. The high-quality home clothes lightly covered his beautiful and perfect body structure, which was not ugly but rather exuded a unique sense of elegance.

The teenager had soft, light golden hair and light blue eyes on his delicate face. The exposed skin on his body was pale from the lack of sunlight, presenting a fragile texture.

The Jing family, a prestigious marshal family on the Imperial Star, produced marshals in almost every generation. They were all formidable warriors.

However, weakness and delicacy were the impressions that the people of the Imperial Capital had of the young master of the Jing family.

That was because the young master of the Jing family was a genetic-defective child.

—

Jing Nian walked out of the holographic game compartment and took a deep breath.

At this moment, his light golden hair was already damp with sweat. A few strands of hair stuck to his pale face, which had a faint pinkish hue due to his excited emotions. However, he had no time to pay attention to it. His beautiful hands hung naturally by his side, trembling weakly.

His body was now in a state of exhaustion, but his eyes were completely different from his physical condition.

Jing Nian’s eyes were remarkably bright, like stars shining in the dark night.

He did it!

He obtained the first-ever hologame esports grand slam in the entire galaxy!

A proud smile slowly bloomed on Jing Nian’s face. He took a deep breath to ease his physical fatigue and prepared to push the door open. However, at that moment, a communication suddenly rang.

It was a familiar voice of a friend who knew that Jing Nian was the alter ego of the rising star in the hologame esports circle, ⌈Yi Nian⌋.

As soon as the communication connected, an excited voice came through, “Yi Nian, you’re amazing! Congratulations! Now you don’t have to hide and compete hard from your family anymore!”

Upon hearing this, a relaxed expression appeared on Jing Nian’s face. He chuckled but with a hint of helplessness in his tone, “I haven’t decided whether to tell them yet.”

“Why not tell them? After all, you’re the first-ever champion in the entire galaxy! That is something to be proud of! Weren’t you always aiming to be the pride of your family? What are you waiting for?”

Jing Nian shook his head, not wanting to discuss this topic any further.

Being the hologame champion of the interstellar realm was nothing compared to the real achievements of his older brothers on the battlefield.

He understood that once he told his family, they would all be proud of him. He was born with a genetic defect and had a weak constitution, which made the entire family treat him like a precious treasure. Even something as simple as taking an extra bite of food when he was a child, the whole family celebrated for days, let alone an interstellar championship

What he wanted was the pride of moving forward shoulder to shoulder with his family, not out of pity.

Moreover, the intensity of the competitions challenged the limits of his body. They wouldn’t stop him, but they would be constantly worried.

Imagining that scene, Jing Nian decided not to tell his family for the time being. After all, telling them would only increase their worries.

Having heard about Jing Nian’s family situation, his friend didn’t try to persuade him further but instead brought up the purpose of his call.

“Do you remember the game I told you about? It might hit the competition stage within the next two years, but the game mode and format are quite different from the mainstream. The official beta testing is still half a year away, but I just got hold of an internal testing card for you. What do you think, my brother? Is it enough?”

After drinking a tube of nutrient solution, Jing Nian felt much better in his body. When he heard his friend’s words, a spark of enthusiasm lit up in his eyes. He was about to speak when a delivery drone knocked on the window from outside.

At the same time, the communication device transmitted the voice of his friend.

“The internal testing card should have arrived, right? Remember to register within today, or it will expire.”

Jing Nian pressed a certain area, and the intelligently controlled window opened. The delivery drone flew in, carrying a palm-sized box, and delivered it to Jing Nian’s hands before silently leaving.

The window closed, and Jing Nian pondered for a moment. He took out the testing card, inserted it into the hologame compartment, and prepared to complete the registration. He decided not to touch the hologame compartment for the rest of the day after completing the registration.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he inserted the testing card, a dazzling white light enveloped Jing Nian.

—

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

Jing Nian groggily opened his eyes. He felt like he was confined in a narrow space, unable to move. When he tried to think, he felt a dull pain in his mind.

Suddenly, something warm and soft brushed against him.

Jing Nian was startled. He struggled to lower his head and saw an unknown creature with a chubby, fleshy body and horns growing on its forehead. It had two milk teeth in its mouth.

The eyes of the unknown creature were round, black, and adorable. But the way it looked at Jing Nian felt strange, filled with an inexplicable sense of accusation.

When the creature saw Jing Nian looking at it, it let out a little “ao wu” and rubbed against him with its soft body.

Jing Nian’s heart softened.

By now, he had recovered from the earlier dull pain in his mind and remembered that he had logged into the game using the testing card given by his friend. He recalled his friend mentioning the possibility of a new game mode and the need to register today.

Looking at the chubby little creature next to him, Jing Nian thought, could this new mode involve having a companion pet?

Hmm?

It’s quite cute. Jing Nian stretched out his hand with difficulty and gently touched the hairless head of the little creature.

Unexpectedly, it seemed to anger the little creature, which bit Jing Nian’s hand with its milk teeth.

“Puchi—” Jing Nian couldn’t help but laugh. The little creature was too soft; even its milk teeth were soft!

“You’re so soft. Should I call you Softy?”

The little creature blinked its eyes and let go of Jing Nian, burying its head and ignoring him, continuously rubbing against him. Now Jing Nian noticed that even the horns on the little creature were also soft.

He thought that later, when he went out, he would ask his friend for some game data. This little pet was just too cute.

Jing Nian was amused by the little creature that kept rubbing against him. “Alright, alright. I’ll play with you later. Now I have to go out.”

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the little creature suddenly stopped its movements and looked up at him.

Jing Nian thought the little creature was reluctant to let him go, so he was about to appease it, but then he realized he was overthinking.

He saw a look of delight in the creature’s eyes.

Hmm?

My goodness, you’re so happy that your dad is leaving?

“You heartless little rascal.” Under the accusing gaze of the little creature, Jing Nian playfully rubbed its head and started the process of logging out.

But…uh?

Jing Nian froze. Why wasn’t there any response?

He attempted to switch to voice commands, saying, “Log out of the game.”

No response.

The little creature continued to look at him with anticipation.

The smile on Jing Nian’s face froze, and he tried a few more phrases.

“Game assistant?”

“Game steward?”

“Open hologame compartment?”

“Safe mode?”

…

After five minutes.

Jing Nian tried all the forced logout commands, even calling upon the intelligent assistant of the hologame compartment, but there was no response at all.

None of them worked.

Something had gone wrong.

Jing Nian sat there in disbelief, while the small creature beside him gave him a gaze filled with extreme accusation.

Meeting the gaze of the little creature, Jing Nian observed the small space with gentle light, and finally, he slowly came to understand. He had misunderstood from the beginning.

The little creature wasn’t playfully rubbing against him in a friendly manner; it was urging him to leave!

Because he had intruded forcefully into someone else’s home—a shell.

“…”

Jing Nian felt embarrassed about his own assumptions.

But now, he couldn’t leave at all. The little creature, which had been eagerly waiting for him to leave, seemed to realize this too. Its joyful gaze gradually turned into a deeper accusation—more profound than before.

Liar!

Didn’t you say you were leaving?

Why are you still inside my shell?

Understanding the meaning in the little creature’s eyes, Jing Nian blushed.

He didn’t want this either.

He cleared his throat and consciously tried to shrink his body, occupying as little space as possible within the little creature’s shell. Then, he started to negotiate with the little creature, “Um… cough, you can see that I’m trapped here and can’t leave. I can only stay in your shell temporarily…”

Hearing Jing Nian’s words, the little creature’s dark and bewildered eyes became even more puzzled.

What do you mean? You want to stay here and not leave?

The intense gaze from the little creature was overwhelming, and Jing Nian could barely withstand it. He touched his nose and hesitated, saying, “Or perhaps you can tell me where this place is? Maybe I’ll find a way to leave.”

Instantly, the little creature’s eyes brightened.

Then it looked at Jing Nian with a mixture of belief and doubt.

Seeing that the little creature seemed to genuinely have a solution, Jing Nian quickly returned the gaze with the utmost sincerity.

Perhaps moved by Jing Nian’s sincere gaze, the little creature slowly approached him. Then, the horn on its head began to glow. The little creature glanced at Jing Nian, seeming somewhat disdainful, but still lowered its head and gently poked Jing Nian’s palm with the glowing horn.

Suddenly, Jing Nian felt a magical sensation.

He seemed to gain a godlike perspective all of a sudden. He saw a magnificent and grand canyon abyss, massive, steep, and unfathomably deep. The abyss exuded a mysterious and terrifying aura that made it impossible to look directly into it.

Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed through the canyon abyss, causing Jing Nian’s heart to instinctively tremble along with the sound. It was evident how terrifying the sound was.

Then several similar screams followed.

The sky quickly darkened with speckles.

Jing Nian shifted his gaze to the sky, where several immensely gigantic sky-winged dragons flew towards the abyss. The dragons carried an aura similar to the horrifying aura emanating from the depths of the abyss.

Suddenly, one of the fiery red dragons came to a halt. Its crimson eyes stared directly at Jing Nian, crossing through space.

The feeling of having his soul seen through made Jing Nian shudder.

He was completely stunned, and his hand retracted in fear from the dragon hatchling’s head.

—

Above the Dragon Abyss.

Several dragons saw the foolishly joyous expression of the Flame Dragon and couldn’t help but stop.

Wood Dragon Cang Ji flew back to the dazed Chi Yan’s side. He waved his giant wings, suspending his large body in the air like a hanging gourd, coming to a halt. He asked, “Chi Yan, what’s wrong with you?”

The other dragons imitated the posture of Wood Dragon Cang Ji and stopped, looking toward the Flame Dragon Chi Yan.

The fiery red eyes of the Flame Dragon Chi Yan almost burst into sparks as it excitedly flapped its wings. “I sensed our young master!!!”

Other dragons: “…”

The dragons collectively rolled their eyes at the Flame Dragon’s words, prepared to flap their wings and fly away. Suddenly, they heard an astonished voice from behind.

“Oh! Blessed be the Dragon Lord! I sensed the second Dragon Soul!”

The dragons turned back again in unison, their wings still in mid-flap. They exclaimed in unison, “What did you say?!”

Three seconds later, the dragons roared with excitement, their howls echoing through the Dragon Abyss.

The entire abyss was stirred by this news, catching the attention of all the dragons within.

The discoverer, Chi Yan, earnestly reminded all the dragons one by one, “The second little guy is quite timid! Everyone, don’t peek at him randomly, and absolutely don’t scare him! Got it?!”

 

Author’s note:

Quietly starting the story~

The dragons are drawn in a silly style, hahaha.

Naming them is exhausting. There are quite a few dragons in the early stages. Does anyone have any good suggestions? Hearts~

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  is short for holographic game, I’ll be using this word.