DKIE CH105: Extra VII

After the wedding trip, the Old Monster of Boulder City had one more elder to support. Luka politely declined the inheritance, stating that if the children were filial, it would be better to leave it to future generations.

The Old Monster, who had recently become addicted to the terminal, thought for a moment. “That works too. If my relationship with my descendants deteriorates, I’ll go to the legal channel for mediation.”

The Chaos Beast, still picky, insisted on riding in a carriage despite having wings. Following the principle of respecting the old and loving the young, everyone had to let him board first.

As the griffon took flight, the man waved down with a smile. “Everyone, we’ll meet again.”

“Goodbye—”

As the carriage flew away, Luka, who had also been waving enthusiastically, was the first to let out a long sigh of relief. “We’ve finally sent off another ancestor.”

The others silently nodded in agreement.

_

After returning to the magnificent Demon King’s Palace, Luka didn’t rest for long before feeling he was wasting the beautiful spring days. “I’ve decided to set a new small goal,” he announced. “I want to create a holographic game.”

“It can be achieved with illusion and confusion spells, similar to 3D movies,” Quill evaluated. “Not difficult.”

“The difficulty is in setting up the various data,” Luka sighed. The most important thing was the combat skills. “I want to link everything from clothing to weapons to moves with strength, and light up different recharge interfaces like the periodic table of elements.”

“Why not invite powerful individuals from other races to experience it?” Quill suggested. “Each tester can set up a skill, and we’ll choose the best ones in the end.”

Luka praised him as a genius. They spent the entire afternoon working, with Luka writing the game’s background story and Quill building the game pods, an idea borrowed from the Chaos Beast’s hibernation pod.

Luka set the background in a “cultivation world” but didn’t want to use concepts like “qi” or “internal energy” right away, as it might deter new players. Instead, he wanted to focus on strong NPC interaction. Invitations were sent out via the terminal, promising limited-edition items as rewards.

At the end of the month, a group of over three hundred testers, including Luka’s acquaintances, lottery winners, and students from the First Magic Academy, gathered in a newly built desolate land.

“Does this mean we’re playing a game in an illusion?”

“Be quiet, the Elf King is here. His Excellency doesn’t like noise.”

The students were busy secretly taking pictures of the Saint, marveling at his transcendent demeanor.

Luka explained the rules. “After entering, you’ll be randomly matched with abilities. It’s not perfect yet… so you’ll most likely be matched with abilities designed by others.”

Nellie’s eyes lit up at the sight of the high-tech helmets. “So exquisite! The chieftain will definitely regret not coming today!” A rare version of the helmet, featuring a popular cartoon character, was won by Grover in a lottery.

“It can’t be that my game pod has a defect, can it?” Luka muttered to himself. “Or is the game experience not good?” Grover, the unluckiest of the dragons, had actually won. This was not a good sign.

Quill would not be participating in this test; he was responsible for monitoring the stability of the game pods from the outside.

As the testers lay down in the pods, a current of magical elements flowed through their bodies. It was a small “perk” to temper their bodies. In reality, Luka just wanted everyone who liked to act cool to experience being struck by lightning together. Hahahahaha.

But after a minute of awkward smiling, Luka thought, “??? Why am I still awake?”

From outside the pod, Quill said gravely, “Your body has probably developed a resistance to lightning.”

“…Then what?”

“A few more strikes.”

“…”

After the thousandth current flowed through his body, just as Luka was about to fall asleep from the “massage,” he suddenly felt the invasion of an unfamiliar spiritual force. “I’m going in,” he managed to say to Quill before his consciousness finally sank into another world.

After a brief moment of darkness, the world was filled with the songs of birds and the fragrance of flowers. [Welcome to the Cultivation World.]

[You have been randomly assigned an identity: Nobody]
[Randomly matching you with a skill—]
[Skill: Name Change Card.]

Luka’s expression froze slightly. He knew this “Name Change Card” idea could only have come from one person: the Saint.

There was only one mission on the main panel: [Mission Objective: Obtain the Bloody Fruit. Mission Introduction: The Bloody Fruit is hidden within the Soltex Sword Sect. Consuming it can greatly increase strength.]

Sol-what? Wasn’t this a cultivation world? Why was there a sect with a name that was a mix of Chinese and Western?

“As expected, I can’t be lazy.” He would have to redo this part later.

Deciding to take it slow, Luka opened the map, walked to the foot of the Sword Sect mountain, and cautiously hid in the roadside bushes to observe and plan. Suddenly, a song drifted from a distance. A patrolling sect disciple appeared, a full three meters tall. The disciple’s sweeping gaze met Luka’s in the bushes.

…I have ten thousand curses I don’t know if I should say.

Before the disciple’s iron rod could sweep him offline, Luka made a desperate move and used the [Name Change Card]. The disciple’s movement froze.

[Name Change Card used successfully]
[Congratulations, he is now your disciple]
[Duration: 30 seconds. Cooldown: 30 minutes]

What could he do in thirty seconds? Luka quickly stood up. “Can you take me to get the Bloody Fruit?”

The NPC’s answer was as artificial as it gets. “No. Tall person, stealing thing, will see.”

With only a dozen seconds left, Luka had an idea. He grabbed the disciple’s identity token. “A man strives upwards! Quick, throw me into the nearest building.”

“Yes, sir!”

With a heave and a throw, Luka drew a perfect parabola in the air. “Ahhhhhh—” He flew through the air at an unscientific speed and finally crashed into the cafeteria.

He had no pain setting, but when he crawled out of a large pot of soup, covered in tomatoes and eggs, he found he had lost more than half his health bar. Wiping the egg drop from his eyes, he saw an unexpected face. “Cullen!”

Cullen was more shocked to see him than if he’d seen a meteorite. But he was soon surrounded by sect disciples holding “Refund!” signs. He had been a “big spoon” in the cafeteria, constantly “shaking” while serving rice, and had been caught embezzling.

Just as he was about to be mobbed, Cullen pointed at the wreckage. “Look, a meteorite!”

Luka took the opportunity to flee. “Eek, so embarrassing, I’m going to take a bath.”

Cullen quickly followed. “I’m going to get him to pay for the pot, then I’ll give refunds.”

They ran into the Elf King, who was also on the run, being chased by a horrifying, mutated plant monster with countless tentacles. It turned out he had found the seeds of the Bloody Fruit and tried to grow it himself using a growth accelerant made from random herbs, his own blood, and singing to it daily.

The three of them were swatted into the air by the monster’s tentacles.

“Ahhhhh—” Luka was really tired of screaming today.

After crashing on another mountain, left with only a sliver of health, the three of them decided to team up. Cullen’s ability was “Devil Investor,” allowing him to invest in talented disciples. The Elf King’s was “Healing.” And Luka’s?

“My ability is flying,” he lied, changing the subject quickly. “Let’s go. Let’s be bandits. Scooping rice is not as fast as robbing.”

In the year 3327 of the Star Calendar, the three big shots of the Saint-Demon Continent became bandits in the cultivation world.

Luka established the “Hidden Immortal Pavilion” in a pile of haystacks. “If we’re going to be bandits, we can’t just have a bandit’s name.” This way, they had a chance to argue if they were caught.

He then recruited a group of disillusioned First Magic Academy students who had been tricked into joining a “militia” run by Admiral Carol and were being worked to the bone.

With his new gang, Luka started a “protection” racket, escorting merchant caravans for a fee and “convincing” them of the dangers of the notorious Black Wind Fortress bandits. His smooth talking and the students’ surprisingly effective (if dirty) fighting skills, learned from their military training, made them quite successful.

Just as they were about to infiltrate the Soltex Sword Sect by pretending to be righteous cultivators who had been wronged, a system notification suddenly sounded:

“Mission: Obtain the Bloody Fruit has been completed by another player.”
“You will be forcibly logged out. Welcome to fail next time.”

Luka blinked. What was going on? He hadn’t even finished his speech!

Outside the game world, Quill looked grim. He had been patching up loopholes in the inscriptions nonstop. What on earth were these people doing in the game to cause the system to be on the verge of collapse so often? He had also been remotely placing bets on the black market gambling den run by the Saint. He knew Luka liked to be unpredictable and might not be the fastest to complete the mission. In the end, he had gone all-in on an unnoticed player.

As the game pods began to open, the players emerged, all chattering about who could have won.

“Was it you?”

“No.”

“Could it be His Excellency Luka?”

“Not me,” Luka said as he came out.

A snow-white figure silently walked to the front. The ferret stood at attention, preened its fur, and with a flick of its right paw, got everyone’s attention.

“Don’t tell me we lost to… the animal kingdom.”

The ferret puffed out its chest, confirming it was indeed the winner. It then used magic to write out its acceptance speech:

“Each of you has a skill,” it wrote. “But I, from beginning to end, never once looked at the skill panel. Because at any time, playing to my own strengths is the key to victory.”

At the end, it spread its arms wide in a benevolent and wise gesture—

Squeak!

The audience was silent. After a long moment, Luka broke the silence. “What is its ‘own strength’?”

The Saint’s voice drifted over faintly. “The village bicycle.”

The ferret had wandered among the rich and powerful and finally found a sect called the “Beast Taming Sect.” It didn’t have to do anything. It just stood there, and all the Beast Taming Sect disciples would love it.

The Saint added, “It is said that for a mere Bloody Fruit, it could have anything it wanted.”

Luka: “…” He knew it. In the end, this world belonged to the bamoered pet stories.

Then, a brilliant smile spread across Luka’s face. It’s time to start writing the third part of “The Beloved Three-and-a-Half-Years-Old”!

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