DADH Chapter 31

With the aid of the prop pufferfish, the players who had been stuck by the river due to their quest could finally smoothly complete Main Quest 1-1. They rescued the valiant warrior whose leg had been caught by a river clam.

Next, the warriors could be led to the Town of Life, embarking on their adventure. The valiant warrior was a warm-hearted young man. Even though his leg had almost been severed by the “upgrade” process of the river clam, he insisted on guiding the “benefactor” to the Town of Life.

By the river, players from three different teams gazed at the limping warrior, although they knew he was just an NPC. However, due to the high realism of this game, the young man’s smile was hardly distinguishable from that of a real person. His wheat-colored skin highlighted his white teeth, and they couldn’t help but feel sympathy.

One player suggested, “Why don’t you treat your leg first? We’re not in a hurry.” Just pretending.

However, the valiant warrior waved his hand nonchalantly and said, “This little injury is nothing… Hiss…” He stumbled for a moment and, after being supported by another player, grinned, “There’s no physician in the village. To treat my leg, we have to go to the Town of Life.”

The players said, “…Alright.”

Little did they know that because the valiant warrior was too kind and warm-hearted, they would encounter an old herb farmer lying by the herb field halfway to the Town of Life. Even though he was limping, it couldn’t stop him from radiating the aura of a saintly figure.

Upon hearing that the old herb farmer’s arthritis had flared up, preventing him from sowing herb seeds in the field, the compassionate valiant warrior shed tears of pity.

He looked at the three players and said, “Kind-hearted passersby, this old man is truly pitiable. Why don’t we help him together?”

The quest log refreshed at the same time.

[Main Quest 1-2: Help the Herb Farmer (Acceptance Requirement: [Planting Skill] lv1)]

Usually, this would be another new quest for the players. They clicked on the detailed description of [Planting Skill] with a knowing look.

After seeing the line “Go to the western village to learn [Planting Skill] from Uncle Pipilu,” their vision darkened once more!

It was that devil again!

—

On the other side, Jing Nian put away the token given by the little mermaid, a pearl used to identify her friend, and arrived at the small wooden house of the little bear family.

The moment Jing Nian was seen by the little bear cub, it eagerly rushed over and hugged Jing Nian’s leg. After getting used to being hugged by the little dragon cub, it thought it was going to be embraced again and obediently raised its little paws in anticipation.

Jing Nian chuckled and was about to hug the fluffy cub when suddenly, the Dragon Soul felt a little crowded.

Inside the Dragon Soul space, the little dragon cub looked at Jing Nian accusingly: “You just cuddled with other babies, and now you want to hug another one?”

Jing Nian looked at the small bear cub on the ground, who looked eagerly at him with wide eyes. He couldn’t bear to refuse, but he also didn’t want to tease the little jealous dragon cub, who was trying to be imposing.

So he paused and directly relinquished control of his body, saying, “It’s your turn.”

The dragon cub who suddenly took control was a bit baffled: could it really be like this?

Its intention was not to prevent Jing Nian from touching other babies. It just became a bit wary after the incident with the little mermaid, feeling that its status as “Jing Nian’s most beloved baby” might be at risk.

So its earlier outburst was a way to negotiate with Jing Nian. Other babies could be touched, but exclusive affection should not be shared with anyone else!

But it didn’t expect Jing Nian to act contrary to its expectations.

While the little dragon cub was lost in thought, the entire little bear family saw it. After Chi Yan mentioned that the wood was delivered by the little dragon cub, the little bears had been wanting to thank it.

So when they saw it, they enthusiastically surrounded it. The little dragon cub wasn’t as tall as the adult little bears, so it was soon engulfed in a sea of fluffy yellow fur.

Faced with its favorite color, the little dragon cub was easily appeased. The confusion from earlier was cast aside, and in the Dragon Soul space, its tail wrapped around Jing Nian’s wrist, happily expanding the shared consciousness, inviting Jing Nian to share in the joy.

Jing Nian, after receiving the little dragon cub’s happiness, couldn’t help but smile along.

But as he smiled, his light blue eyes grew more determined.

Though they hadn’t spent much time together, who could bear to see a little cub they had raised with their own hands, one that was obedient and affectionate, being mistreated?

Outside Mini Street, a certain giant dragon who had been protecting the young master noticed the two young masters laughing happily and joined in with a hearty “hehe.”

This laughter had quite an impact. The giant dragon’s thunderous laughter shattered a few rocks on the rocky mountain where it was hiding, they tumbled down and headed straight for Mini Street.

Upon noticing the rolling boulders, all the residents of Mini Street panicked and screamed, helping each other to carry the young masters to a safer place.

“Bang!” Two massive dragon claws effortlessly caught several rocks that almost rolled into Mini Street. It was none other than the giant dragon Xuan Jing, who realized he had accidentally caused trouble.

Facing Jing Nian’s speechless gaze and the curious gaze of the little dragon cub, he had nothing to say.

Xuan Jing gave an innocent smile, placed the caught boulders aside, and then lowered his head in remorse. He silently retreated behind the rocky mountain once more, aware of his mistake.

With a tentative attempt, Jing Nian tried to convey a soothing sense to the disappointed giant dragon. He wasn’t sure if it would work, but he thought that if he could share consciousness with the little dragon cub, maybe he could do the same with the giant dragon.

To his surprise, the moment the soothing consciousness was conveyed, he received an enthusiastic response. The eagerness in the response strangely reminded Jing Nian of a particular animal—a dog, one that was excitedly wagging its tail at its owner.

Just as he was thinking this, there came a joyful sound of wings flapping from behind the rocky mountain.

Jing Nian: “…” It’s almost like dealing with a dog.

Faced with this situation, Jing Nian silently sighed.

He had known the style of the giant dragons since he was still in his eggshell. Their nesting activities were always accompanied by some commotion, and when they traveled, it was like an earthquake.

In reality, after Mini Street was established, the giant dragons had become much more restrained. After all, the threat of giant dragons fighting and causing destruction from the depths of the abyss was ever-present, with rocks tumbling and landslides.

However, because the small animals that moved into the abyss couldn’t climb up to the vacant dragon nests carved into the cliffside on their own, and they couldn’t possibly live in the giant dragon palace, they had no choice but to settle in this place.

The result was that not only did the giant dragons have to tread carefully when passing through, but all fighting was also prohibited in the area above Mini Street.

Fighting was an essential part of life for giant dragons, so many of them simply “huffed” and dug new nests nearby.

All of this was due to the wishes of Jing Nian and the little dragon cub.

So everyone chose to endure the inconvenience without a second thought.

Watching the big tail that couldn’t quite be hidden behind the rocky mountain, Jing Nian’s eyes grew slightly moist. This bond among the giant dragons had become like family to him.

So how could he allow the giant dragons to be harmed by the players?

Seeing that Xuan Jing had tidied up the trouble he caused on his own, Mini Street’s animals and little beast people had returned to their lively and joyful selves.

The little bear people shyly handed honey cookies to the little dragon cub.

The little one took a bite of the honey cookie and closed its eyes in bliss, then quickly allowed Jing Nian to take control of his body through the Dragon Soul space so he could taste it.

Jing Nian ruffled the little dragon cub’s head and suddenly said, “Do you remember when you fell asleep, and I secretly went out to play?”

The little dragon cub, whose blissful expression faded as soon as Jing Nian reminded him, thought of the last time his little brother had gone out to play without him.

Before the little one could express his reproach, Jing Nian immediately said, “Do you want to go together?”

As expected, as soon as the little dragon cub heard Jing Nian’s words, he relaxed his furrowed brows, and his eyes lit up.

Sneaking out to play?

Why wait!

Thinking that Jing Nian had taught him to say goodbye with a wave of his paw, the little one looked down at his two paws, both holding a full load of thank-you gifts. His instincts kicked in, and he lifted one wing and waved it at the residents of Mini Street, eager to leave Mini Street.

The habit of the little dragon cub “waving goodbye” had caught on among Mini Street’s residents, so when they saw the little dragon cub with full hands and waving wings, they immediately understood and also waved their goodbyes.

Jing Nian chuckled.

Having pacified the little dragon cub, Jing Nian began to contemplate how to negotiate with the giant dragons about going to the Novice Village.

After all, whether it was based on Gordon’s words or the pitiful clue from the little mermaid’s friend, the players should have already begun power-leveling like crazy.

For players, all NPCs or bosses in this world were their natural enemies!

For Jing Nian, his primary concern was the giant dragons in the forest, followed by the adorable residents of Mini Street.

However, this game was called “Dragon Slayer,” and it was evident that the situation for the giant dragons would become extremely dire as the players leveled up.

Fortunately, in most games, unlocking high-level dungeons or maps requires either a sufficient level or enough combat power, even in virtual reality games.

The Giant Dragon Abyss was a level 100 dungeon, likely the ultimate dungeon in the game. This meant that it would take some time for the players to reach the conditions needed to access this dungeon.

However, Jing Nian suddenly realized something even more frightening.

He couldn’t be certain about the passage of time in the game compared to the real world!

He had no idea what the current time was in reality.

What if he not only entered the game but also traveled through time? Even if he had only spent a few days in the game, what if the real-world time was still progressing according to its original timeline, from development to launch? That would mean…

It was very likely that the players would arrive at the Giant Dragon Abyss much earlier than he initially anticipated!

Thinking about this possibility sent chills down Jing Nian’s spine.

Leveling up was an urgent matter!

And he had to go to the Novice Village to investigate the players’ situation.

For a moment, Jing Nian even considered the idea of revealing everything to the giant dragons.

But before he could decide whether to come clean with the giants or how to negotiate with Hesse, or whether to deceive them and go alone to the Novice Village, something unexpected happened.

Hesse arrived at the Giant Dragon Palace before Jing Nian had made up his mind.

As it entered, Jing Nian was sitting on the golden throne, looking troubled, while the little dragon cub’s excitement in the Dragon Soul space had caught Jing Nian’s attention, causing him to furrow his brow. The little dragon cub was being held by Jing Nian, who was patting his back.

Hesse noticed the hesitant expression on Jing Nian’s face in the Dragon Soul space. It grinned, and its old dragon face revealed the familiar, affectionate smile that Jing Nian recognized. Then, slowly, it knelt down on one knee in front of Jing Nian.

–

At the same time, a tall figure in black clothing walked slowly through the Lost Forest. Suddenly, the person stopped and headed toward a particular spot.

There was a faint yellow beam of light there.

The person in black halted, extended a hand that seemed to touch nothingness, withdrew it, and a barely perceptible ripple spread out. The person then dissipated into particles of light as if disintegrating in place. Soon, these blue particles reassembled.

It was still the same person in black, but something seemed different.

This time, when he raised his hand again, he indeed touched the edge of the entity that emitted the beam of light. He said softly, “As I suspected.”

Behind a tree, a timid and curious little squirrel widened its eyes in fear.

This formidable person seemed like a madman!

There was clearly nothing in front of him!