Egg Hatching Guide
He Ruge had never imagined he and Xi Guican would have a… hatchling.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, let out a gentle sigh, and pondered over the two options before him.
This game really offered comprehensive services, from romance to childbirth, even considering intimacy.
He Ruge wasn’t sure if he should accept. He liked children, but he didn’t know if he could be a competent father. He didn’t come from a normal family; he feared he couldn’t provide a proper home atmosphere for the child.
But he didn’t want to reject the child’s arrival either. He wasn’t particularly concerned about having descendants since neither he nor Xi Guican had a throne to inherit, so he wouldn’t seek surrogate motherhood. But now that this child was about to come into the world, he couldn’t bear to refuse.
The planned future was thrown into disarray by this unexpected event, but thankfully, he wasn’t facing it alone.
He poked the sleeping Xi Guican beside him. The man kept his eyes closed, grabbed his fingers and placed them in his mouth, gently nibbled on He Ruge’s fingertips, then stretched out his long arm and pulled He Ruge into his embrace.
After smoothly completing this series of movements, Xi Guican didn’t even lift an eyelid.
He Ruge found it amusing. He had been mentally excited before, but as his face pressed against Xi Guican’s chest, feeling the warmth like a small stove, drowsiness gradually overtook him, pulling He Ruge into a sweet dream.
In the dream, he and Xi Guican had an egg. They took turns incubating it, and whenever there was thunder and rain, the egg would tremble and whimper.
Only when Xi Guican spread his wings to envelop him and the egg together, holding the egg while Xi Guican held him, did the doubled sense of security calm the egg’s tremors.
One could say it was a very delicate egg indeed. Not only delicate, but also difficult to hatch. They incubated it tirelessly until the end of time, and only then did the egg finally hatch, revealing a small monster with a fish head and tiger body…
He Ruge was startled awake.
Xi Guican had already gotten up, facing away from He Ruge, picking pearls from the bed. This time, the pearls he picked were all pink, about the size of a fingernail, and very round. Xi Guican looked at the pink pearls with a somewhat strange expression.
The game had informed him of the uses of these pink pearls. Naturally, the pearls produced by the koi fish were not just simple decorations. Placing the pink pearls somewhere would allow them to be absorbed and fused, not only for repair but also to enhance sensitivity and provide nourishment.
Quite ingenious.
He held a handful of pink pearls, glanced at his lover who had just opened his eyes, and was considering how to broach the subject when He Ruge informed him of an even more explosive piece of news: “Guican, we might be having a child.”
Xi Guican: “???”
What child?
Whose child?
Can you get pregnant in just one night?
He Ruge showed Xi Guican the game reward.
“Do you want this child?”
Xi Guican stared at the egg on the screen as if trying to discern its essence from its appearance. His eyebrows furrowed, his thin lips pursed, looking serious on the surface but actually his mind was blank.
A child?
His and He Ruge’s child?
Would they really have a child?
Xi Guican had never thought a child would appear in his life, a child with his blood flowing in its veins.
What would that child be like?
Would it be as unruly and bloodthirsty as the monster within him?
Or as helpless as he had been in his childhood?
If that were the case, he didn’t want the child to appear.
Not at all. He had no expectations for his past self, for his young self.
The little monster who had experienced darkness, been imprisoned in darkness, and finally left the darkness behind had already bid farewell to him and should never return.
“Guican?”
He Ruge’s gentle call came by his ear. Xi Guican looked at his lover with a bewildered gaze, looking at He Ruge’s brows and eyes, suddenly recalling the young He Ruge during his treatment in the game.
A palm-sized face, chubby fish tail, calling him Mr. Xi in a childish voice, lying on his belly like a thoughtful little cotton jacket.
Xi Guican’s gaze softened instantly, he touched He Ruge’s face and whispered softly, “Do you want this child?”
“… I don’t know, I suppose I do,” He Ruge leaned his head against Xi Guican’s shoulder, a smile on his face.
“I hope the child looks like you, both in appearance and character.”
Xi Guican raised an eyebrow in surprise and asked, “Why?”
“Because you are so cute, and the little white tiger is cute enough to melt my heart,” his lover smiled with a hint.
There was a strange flutter in Xi Guican’s heart.
He kissed He Ruge’s forehead and murmured softly, “Then half like you, and half like me.”
If their child could be half like He Ruge, that would be fine too.
He Ruge looked up at him, his dark eyes shining brightly, “Shall we accept it together?”
“Okay.”
They accepted it together.
【Ding~ The egg is currently being delivered~ Players, please be patient~】
Wait?
Would it be delivered like a courier to their door?
What if it got damaged in transit?
He Ruge couldn’t help but worry. While he was lost in thought, Xi Guican’s pink pearls caught his attention.
He Ruge looked at the pink pearls he had shed tears over, feeling somewhat conflicted.
“Let’s find a bottle to put them in.”
“No need to pack them, they can be used now.” Xi Guican said.
He Ruge was about to ask how to use them when he saw Xi Guican’s cold face blush unnaturally. He Ruge, who had a vivid imagination, instantly realized what he meant. H
e looked at Xi Guican in disbelief. When Xi Guican turned around and explained to him the uses of the pink pearls, He Ruge had a feeling that everything was so expected and surprising.
This really fits the style of this game… with after-sales service, it’s very thoughtful.
He Ruge wanted to stubbornly say he didn’t need it, but Xi Guican understood his situation very well. After a ridiculous encounter, He Ruge’s legs trembled slightly, the sheets were wet, and Xi Guican got up to change them.
He Ruge sat on the bed with a flushed face, feeling that there was still one pink pearl that hadn’t melted, with a remarkable presence, probably a defective pearl.
When Xi Guican wasn’t paying attention, He Ruge quickly wiped the egg clean. When Xi Guican turned around, he saw his lover with ears turning red and holding a pocket-sized egg in his palm.
【The healthy growth of the egg cannot be separated from the player’s careful care and close company. If you want the egg to hatch as soon as possible, you must work hard to hatch it~】
【Hatching Guide:】
- Players must frequently have physical contact with the egg, and not let the egg accumulate dust in a corner.
- Players must communicate with the egg frequently, and not turn a deaf ear to the egg.
- Players must keep the egg clean.
- Players can nourish the egg with spiritual energy.
【Warm Tips:】
① The color of the eggshell will change accordingly: white represents peace, red represents anger, pink represents shyness, yellow represents happiness, blue represents sadness, purple represents fear, black represents despair…
② Before deciding on a formal name, you can give the egg a nickname first, which helps in developing the egg’s self-awareness.
③ Excellent egg raising can give the child a head start.
④ Before the egg hatches, no one can predict what the offspring inside will look like. The appearance of the offspring is influenced by the time spent with the player, such as spending more time with the player Xi Guican will make the offspring look more like Xi Guican, and vice versa.
⑤ If the egg is exposed to too much negative emotion, it is likely to turn into a bad egg.
⑥ It’s okay to let the egg play with the young ones occasionally.
⑦ The egg will slowly grow larger with the passage of time.
【Wishing players a pleasant egg-raising experience!】
He Ruge and Xi Guican’s gazes converged on the tiny egg, and under the gaze of both dads, the egg slowly, gradually turned pink.
Xi Guican: “…Why does its shell have freckles?”
As the pink faded like ebbing tide, a melancholy blue replaced it.
This egg was now withdrawn.
Xi Guican: “…Fragile.”
The blue deepened, trending towards black, and just before the egg turned completely black,
He Ruge hastily interjected, “How can you call those freckles? Clearly, they’re cute little freckles.”
The egg promptly reverted back to a blushing pink.
Xi Guican: “…Tsk.”
“Alright, don’t argue with an egg.”
He Ruge intervened good-naturedly, “The game suggests giving it a nickname. What do you think would be a good nickname?”
Xi Guican pondered for a moment, “Dot?”
He Ruge responded with a puzzled “Hmm.”
“You see the little black dots on its shell,” Xi Guican explained.
But just as he spoke, the hard-won pink egg was starting to turn blue again.
He Ruge quickly interrupted, “How about just calling it Egg? Sounds cute.”
Something casual would suffice for a nickname.
The egg blushed pink again, seemingly acknowledging the name.
In Xi Guican’s heart, though, Dot seemed like a better name, but he wasn’t about to argue with an egg. No, he didn’t get upset at all over the name Dot.
Following the Hatch Egg Guide, they found a small white bag and placed the egg inside, hanging it around He Ruge’s neck. The egg was so small that it easily passed as a necklace.
For a brief moment, He Ruge felt like a kangaroo dad. He chuckled at his own thoughts while touching the little bag.
With the egg properly taken care of, He Ruge and Xi Guican finally left the bedroom, had a meal downstairs, and discussed what had happened recently.
He Ruge had previously checked on the Star Network and learned that he had been attacked by a Glutton, which resulted in spiritual injuries and a two-week coma.
Xi Guican had managed to deal with almost all Glutton carriers, except for one. The one who had eluded them was Scarface, the new leader of the Janitor faction.
“I didn’t have the time or energy to investigate this carrier before. Luckily, the game provided me with information about this carrier during the treatment. If the information the game gave is accurate, I can go and deal with the last carrier today.”
Xi Guican worried about the night being long and dreams plenty, also fearing the game’s information might have an expiration date. If some time passed and the carrier’s location changed, it would complicate matters further.
He Ruge pursed his lips, suppressing his worries, “Okay.”
Xi Guican sensed He Ruge’s concerns. Originally intending to kiss his lover, his eyes fell on the small bag hanging from He Ruge’s chest. He fell silent for a moment, covering the bag with his hand, before finally giving He Ruge a kiss.
“The Seventeen Star Orphanage has been completed, and the young ones have already arrived there. Do you still remember the nursery we visited in our dreams? Those little ones made a cameo appearance,” Xi Guican said.
Upon hearing Xi Guican’s words, He Ruge turned on his light brain to contact Soft-Sofa and the others. When the young ones realized He Ruge had truly awakened, they were all overjoyed. He Ruge chatted with them for a while before reluctantly ending the video call.
“Oh, and Zhi Zhi has been adopted by Fu Xi. Two days ago, Squeak met his biological parents, who wanted to take him home, but in the end, Zhi Zhi chose Fu Xi. Fu Xi is a key figure in the Treasure-Seeking Mouse clan, and with him looking after Zhi Zhi, he’ll have access to the best resources,” Xi Guican said.
He Ruge shook his head, then nodded, somewhat helplessly smiling, “Perhaps this is just the vicissitudes of life. Who knows what is fortunate or calamitous.”
He had originally wanted to say that parental love is irreplaceable, but actually, nothing is truly irreplaceable.
Xi Guican reached out again to cover the small bag hanging from He Ruge’s chest, then inexplicably bit He Ruge’s nose tip. The bite was very light, leaving no red marks behind. For some reason, Xi Guican just wanted to take a bite.
Maybe because the person in front of him looked so appetizing.
He Ruge rubbed his nose, “Are you born in the Year of the Dog?”
“I’m a Tiger.”
Xi Guican flicked out his tiger ears. He knew He Ruge loved fluffy things like this.
Sure enough, He Ruge reached out and grabbed his tiger ears, pinching the tips while muttering softly, “Mr. Xi, you know you’re a tiger, yet you still insist on lying to a child, telling him you’re a white cat.”
Xi Guican obediently let He Ruge pinch his ears, boldly stating, “If I didn’t say that, would the child really go and raise a cat?”
Feeling somewhat guilty, He Ruge feared Xi Guican’s jealousy might flare up, so he quickly promised, “Kids are naive. I only like Mr. Xi, the big white tiger.”
“I’ll remember your words today, that you only like me.” Xi Guican suddenly remarked.
At this moment, He Ruge hadn’t yet grasped the seriousness in Xi Guican’s words, and he simply nodded absentmindedly.
Satisfied with the promise, Xi Guican left contentedly to deal with the last Glutton carrier. He Ruge, with the egg hanging from his neck, moved a lounge chair to the balcony.
He took the egg out of the small bag, cradling it gently in his palm, whispering, “Egg, your dad Xi is off to deal with the bad eggs. Now it’s just the two of us. Come, let’s sunbathe.”
The afternoon sun made one drowsy. He Ruge had been tossing and turning the night before, even though the Dual Cultivation technique helped replenish his energy, he still felt a bit drained.
With both hands folded on his chest, the egg rested between them. Under the sunlight, the young man’s skin was translucently white. Kiss marks on his skin resembled petals scattered on fine snow, as if draped in a layer of cool floral fragrance.
He hummed an unknown tune softly, his eyes half-closed. When the song ended, his slender neck bent slightly, and He Ruge fell asleep with his eyes closed.
He dreamed again. In the dream, the egg grew from the size of a fingernail to that of a watermelon. He could only carry the egg behind him, day and night, enduring hardship. Xi Guican always liked to playfully touch the egg, treating it like a ball, rolling it around the room.
As the egg rolled and rolled, it finally hatched. Goodness, this time it was a tiger-headed fish body.
He Ruge was jolted awake once more.
After waking up, he almost couldn’t find the egg, but in the end, He Ruge discovered the egg on his own collarbone. While others might use their collarbones to keep goldfish, He Ruge’s could rear an egg.
After a false alarm, He Ruge decided to make a small bed the size of a palm so that he could place the egg inside.
After spending the afternoon making the bed, He Ruge drank nutrient solution for dinner and retrieved a small piece of energy crystal from the energy crystal storage room, sharing it with the egg.
Busy until this point, it was almost six o’clock. He Ruge realized he hadn’t livestreamed in a long time, so he logged into the livestreaming website. As soon as he opened his livestream room, he was inundated with an avalanche of comments.
During He Ruge’s coma, not only were there many comments, but also the archived videos in his livestream room had reached an astonishing number of views.
Many comments were praying for He Ruge, and a continuous flow of faith poured into He Ruge’s body.
“Ah, please, livestream god, let Ruge recover. I’m willing to offer ten kilograms of fatty meat!”
“I have that. I’m willing to offer thirty kilograms!”
“I’ll also contribute fifteen kilograms of fatty meat, but not from my chest, or I’ll be sunken.”
“May you all be blessed.”
“I miss you so much, idol…”
“Can someone kindly explain to me why everyone says He Ruge is a mythical merman? Don’t we have merpeople in our interstellar race too? I just came back from a trip to Mermaid Star a few days ago, and their part-animal forms are thrilling.”
“Brother upstairs, were you deceived by a tour group to Mermaid Star? The appearance of mermaids there is so anti-interstellar… You’ve really been through a lot. The mythical merman is said to have a human upper body and a fish tail, exquisitely beautiful, and possessing a divine voice! Why do they say it’s mythical? Because the mermaids on Mermaid Star today are completely different! I used to think the legend was false until I saw the idol, then I realized our ancestors were wise and I was ignorant…”
“I really think there’s something fishy about the military parade. The video feels so eerie. Why did the officials say the honor guard’s attack on Ruge was a performance? If it was really a performance, why did Ruge pass out after singing and even fall ill? And he contracted the same illness as Marshal Xi did years ago! Isn’t this illness rare? Why is it now so common? I reasonably suspect this is a conspiracy! (Please don’t ban my account, my account was just unblocked recently.)”
“Brother upstairs, can you be more resolute and remove the content in parentheses? Adding that made the entire paragraph collapse.”
“Shh, let’s not talk about this topic unless you don’t want your account anymore. Those who discussed this topic have all been banned. Brother in parentheses, you’re on your own.”
……
There were too many comments; and He Ruge couldn’t possibly read them all. Regarding the incident at the military parade, Xi Guican told him that the Federation doesn’t intend for the public to know about the Taotie;s existence, so the official explanation was that He Ruge suddenly fell ill.
He Ruge touched the egg hanging from his neck and said, “Egg, I’ll tell you a story later.”
After saying this, the DJ started the livestream.
Mini Theater:
Egg: Do you want a single yolk egg or a double yolk egg?
