Qi Xu and the others started looking for Shi Yuebai early in the morning, even going as far as to find Yu Kongyou, all for the sake of successfully clearing the dungeon.
This message didn’t appear together with the dungeon’s completion data but popped up nearly two hours later. By then, not only was Shi Yuebai “busy” with Xu Yintang, but Qi Xu and Noah were also deeply asleep, having activated “Do Not Disturb” mode, and wouldn’t wake up even if the sky fell.
After all, it was just another Witch Hunt run. Even if it was an S-rank dungeon, after clearing it thousands of times, there was nothing new about it. The completion rewards were so familiar they could recite them backward, which couldn’t compare to the lure of a warm bed.
Ah, the bed, the eternal haven of happiness.
In the end, it was Ke Zhouji and Zhang Xinyi who forcefully kicked open the door and shook them awake. Only then did they realize that the dungeon was not infinitely replayable. While they were entangled with their blankets, the entire player forum had exploded over the news.
The uproar was much bigger than when the hidden content was discovered in [Night of the Birth of the Gods]. As Qi Xu put it, the last time the forum was this lively, you’d have to go back to the time when Moon God cleared it five times in one night…
“Ahem, it was sharing strategies for five different dungeons at once.”
Under the icy glare of his boss, Qi Xu wisely changed his wording.
From their current perspective, the strategies Shi Yuebai shared back then were actually quite rudimentary, with low tolerance for operational errors. But at that time, when AFA almost monopolized all information channels, Shi Yuebai’s single strategy post was groundbreaking, instantly opening a new world for most players.
Although he wasn’t the strongest player—not by a long shot, as even Mofu Mofu, who could summon his husband (an eldritch entity) to play for him anytime by burning sanity points, had higher overall combat power—when the system’s golden announcement was pinned at the top of the forum, even AFA’s die-hard fans, who usually couldn’t stand him, had to acknowledge, “No wonder he’s the Moon God.”
As for Shi Yuebai, the Moon God himself, who was being showered with thousands of compliments…
The moment he entered the player forum, the golden announcement with spark and lightning effects hurt his eyes.
# Congratulations to the players, Player Noah, and all players who have successfully cleared the S-rank dungeon “Witch Hunt”! #
# The dungeon “Witch Hunt” is now closed. All players who have cleared the dungeon will receive 50,000 reward points! Keep up the good work! We look forward to more of your amazing performances! #
Under the system announcement, tall threads titled “Moon God Forever” and “Laundry Liquid Team Rules” had already been built. For 99% of players, an S-rank dungeon was just a place to admire god-tier players. Seeing the successful news made their hearts surge, akin to the joy of New Year’s celebrations.
For players capable of clearing an S-rank dungeon like Witch Hunt, the 50,000 points reward wasn’t even pocket money. However, as a reward for successfully clearing the dungeon for the first time in the entire game, the points held a different significance.
Noah, speechless, complained that Ellos from the neighboring Cat Team had bombarded him with over a dozen missed calls and messages overnight, saying he wanted to worship this precious reward.
“I don’t know how he plans to find those 50,000 points in his points balance.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Especially this time, Shi Yuebai’s movements were so fast that he and Qi Xu had only looted half their usual amount before being kicked out of the dungeon.
“Sigh,” Qi Xu sighed dramatically, “I was just half a second away from extracting the spider’s venom sac.”
The spider was an eight-legged monster in the dungeon. Its venom was great for poison-based enchantments and could be diluted to make sedatives and control potions. It was always in short supply in the trading market, often self-farmed.
Shi Yuebai glanced at the significantly reduced numbers on the list and, not very seriously, repented, “I’ll remember to go slower next time.”
Qi Xu’s complaint was just a formality. After all, the first-clear rewards had more than made up for their losses. Selling the first-clear-related information could earn them another fortune.
Qi Xu and Noah felt they were carried by Shi Yuebai this time. Believing they hadn’t contributed much, they listed out all the first-clear rewards for Shi Yuebai to choose from first.
Ke Zhouji and Zhang Xinyi, who hadn’t participated in the dungeon, naturally had no objections. They just rubbed their hands, expressing curiosity about what their boss had done in the dungeon.
Shi Yuebai shared his clearing record with his teammates in one click, then relayed Qingxiao’s advice that “the salvation ending is better than the destruction one,” and opened the first list sent by Noah.
If he remembered correctly when Xu Yintang wanted to go again last night, didn’t he use “today is my birthday” as an excuse?
…
“So, here,” Shi Yuebai handed the exquisitely wrapped box to Xu Yintang, saying earnestly, “Although it’s a day late, happy birthday.”
The mysterious gift inside the box emitted a strong sweet fragrance that couldn’t be detected through smell, but rather conveyed directly to Xu Yintang’s consciousness through some indescribable, more subtle sensation, awakening every fiber of his being.
Want it!
This sudden and intense emotion came over him like a powerful magnet inside the gift box, pulling all of Xu Yintang’s attention toward it.
The few cubs who were clinging to their mother and acting spoiled also noticed the smell emanating from the gift box. However, in stark contrast to Xu Yintang, who was almost overwhelmed by desire due to the fragrance, the cubs absolutely despised the scent. One moment, Second Treasure was clinging to his mother and the next, he scurried off to the corner of the room, transformed into a big fluffy ball emitting smoke, panting heavily and widening his eyes in disbelief.
It’s Daddy’s smell! Spread the word! The male mistress actually sent Daddy’s smell to Mommy!
Yuck!
Third Flora’s butterfly wings fluttered vigorously, agreeing with Second Treasure’s sentiments, hastily flying further away for refuge. Even the moonlight on her wings dimmed significantly as if it had been tainted.
If Shi Yuebai hadn’t already established himself as part of the family, they would have surely kicked both him and the gift outside.
Similarly, because Shi Yuebai had already been accepted into the family, Little Darling didn’t flee from the smell attack like his younger brothers did. The normally sprawling tentacles that filled the entire room conspicuously left a blank space, skillfully avoiding the table where the terribly-smelling gift sat.
Whimper…
Stinky…
The blunt disgust from the little ones, brewing the “the gift is too valuable, I can’t accept it” from Xu Yintang and the simultaneous “as long as you like it, it’s fine” from Shi Yuebai, suddenly choked up as Fourth Joy’s eager eyes stared at the gift, drooling uncontrollably.
It smells so good… looks so delicious…
Fourth Joy was so entranced by the scent that he looked foolish, like a blob of mixed-color slime on the table, rubbing against it softly. Suspicious liquid, resembling saliva, seeped out, prompting Second Treasure to jump back three times in succession, emitting a loud buzzing noise that could be heard throughout the hospital.
Stinky little brother!
He’s a stinky little brother who eats poop!
Before Second Treasure could repeat his colorful outburst, a few tendrils wrapped around a glowing orb and blocked his mouth. This glowing orb, which Qingxiao had previously given to Xu Yintang, tasted unbearably bitter and acrid to Second Treasure and the other cubs. Despite Xu Yintang’s gentle coaxing, they would only reluctantly lick it once.
As expected, forcibly feeding them medicine, whether soft or hard, was the most effective. After Second Treasure licked it once, he stuck out his tongue, rolled over, and cried for a while, but once his mouth was pinched shut, he couldn’t spit it out.
Selective ignorance of the fact that Second Treasure’s soul was being tortured by the bitter medicine soup, Xu Yintang looked at Little Darling and Third Flora, then awakened the little one’s fear of being held down and beaten by their mother.
They remembered: when Mom spanked, it was real.
Little Darling and Third Flora immediately behaved, lined up, and thanked Shi Yuebai for giving their mother a birthday present.
As the saying goes, “A thousand miles to deliver poop, the gift stinks but the sentiment is deep…”
…Sob QAQ.
With the little ones causing a commotion, Xu Yintang’s planned excuses couldn’t be voiced anymore—saying something like “the gift is too valuable, I can’t accept it” would probably make the little ones think he was broken somewhere, causing more chaos. So, he could only dryly thank Shi Yuebai.
Shi Yuebai didn’t say much, just uttered a couple of “hm” and “ah” to indicate that Xu Yintang could open and see for himself, proving that what he gave wasn’t anything strange.
He also kept an eye on the little ones, ready for them to come out and disrupt things at any moment. Now that the gift was successfully delivered, it was best to wait and see what would happen next.
Actually, if Shi Yuebai were to say, he would prefer to give Xu Yintang the gift during some private time between them, ideally after certain activities had reached their peak. Unfortunately, he had to deal with contacting several people about the first clear of the instance and system integration next. Even though Xu Yintang would accompany him during these busy times, firstly, Xu Yintang couldn’t be without his children, and secondly, judging by Xu Yintang’s usual behavior, he wouldn’t indulge in carnal desires during important matters.
At least not today, even though physical contact through tentacles excited Xu Yintang more than wearing a human skin. Just fed wild beasts would tend to seek closeness and comfort to their offspring who had been shut out all night.
But the excuse of a birthday gift had an expiration date, no later than the day after the birthday. Any further delay would diminish its significance, especially since this was the first birthday gift Shi Yuebai was giving Xu Yintang.
Likewise, if Shi Yuebai didn’t have enough confidence in the gift, he would never have chosen it as the first birthday present for Xu Yintang.
The fact that the gift was disliked by the cubs was unexpected, but Xu Yintang’s reaction suggested the gift had the anticipated appeal.
After Xu Yintang opened the gift and understood what was inside, it was clear why Fourth Joy found this thing irresistible while the other three children avoided it with disgust.
At the same time, Shi Yuebai felt that his phrase “this is too valuable, I can’t accept it” was perfectly appropriate. This was indeed a gift so valuable that it made him feel burning from the tip of his tentacles to the core of his soul.
In official system terminology, this was a “World Heart”—a fragment that constituted the core rules of a world, something that only had a very, very small chance of dropping when a world was destroyed.
Undoubtedly, the World Heart Shi Yuebai gave to him was an item that the system had recovered during the destruction of the world in the Witch Hunt, then used as a first clear reward.
For creatures whose essence was chaos, fear, and distortion, like the little ones, this was equivalent to a super-concentrated version of the Qingxiao light cluster. Survival instinct made them stay away from this toxin that could make them collapse at their roots.
For beings like Xu Yintang and Fourth Joy, who considered themselves human and possessed the innate properties of “newborn, growth, and progress” in the void sea, with fundamental rules embedded within their constituent elements, the embryonic form of the world consciousness stamped by Qingxiao—the World Heart was the top-grade fantasy ingredient on the recipe.
Taking a bite would firmly anchor Xu Yintang in the space where the hospital was located, preventing the void sea from pulling him over so easily. By anchoring himself as the anchor, he could make the hospital, which was trying to become independent and facing collapse, more compatible with himself in the middle of the road, so that he wouldn’t have to expend too much effort to open all doors in the instance.
Fourth Joy, taking a bite, would be even more powerful—he could feel that as long as he ate this sweet and delicious thing, he could break free from the egg form and be truly born into the world!
Author’s Note –
The Family Conflicts Caused by Different Tastes [doge]
Just binge read this all from the beginning again…it’s so good!! Thank you so much for all your hard work in translating this masterpiece for us!! ❤️
Ah. This chapter is funny but I feels sad reading doge emoji.
RIP Kabosu.