After a long while.
Luo Wei surveyed his surroundings. The troublesome young vampires were now gone, but Helena’s attacks still hadn’t ceased.
Shattered wine barrels littered the underground cellar, the pungent scent of alcohol thick in the air, the floor covered in debris.
“Alright, Helena…” Luo Wei activated the [Punishment Command] on her. “Let’s go find the others—our teacher and the rest.”
As he spoke, he turned his gaze toward the direction Evelyn had left, searching carefully in the darkness.
“NO!!!” Helena suddenly reacted as if triggered, a thick black tentacle lashing out toward him.
“Holy—!” Luo Wei barely had time to react before a terrifying force slammed into him.
The [Sigil Shield] flickered into existence, only to shatter instantly. The impact sent him flying, crashing heavily onto the ground.
“Brother!!”
The [Punishment Command] caused Helena’s [Pollution Level] to plummet. Her crimson eyes faded back to their normal blue as she stared at Luo Wei’s disheveled state, panic flooding her voice. Her serpentine tentacles writhed around her body as she hurried toward him.
“Brother, are you okay?! Brother!!”
[Pollution Level: 50↓]
[Pollution Level: 40↓]
“I’m fine…” Luo Wei coughed, clutching his chest as he struggled to stand. He felt like he’d almost been forced to reload a save thanks to Helena…
Helena’s body shrank back as her tentacles coiled around Luo Wei, carefully helping him up.
“I’m sorry, brother, I’m so sorry! I don’t know what came over me…”
Seeing Luo Wei still coughing, Helena’s expression twisted with fear and guilt. Without thinking, she instinctively wrapped her tentacles around him again.
The cold, slippery appendages pressed against his skin, gently undulating. Luo Wei could almost feel her trying to cocoon him entirely and chuckled helplessly. “Really, I’m fine. You know how strong my recovery is now…”
But Helena didn’t let go. Instead, she clung to him tightly, bursting into loud sobs.
“Waaah… Brother, I almost tried to kill you again…”
“I thought you were leaving me… That you’d abandon me, and I’d be all alone again…”
Luo Wei patted her head, shaking his head with a smile. “How could that happen? I’m right here, aren’t I? Right in front of you.”
Helena immediately looked up, tear-filled eyes locking onto Luo Wei as if double-checking his words.
Seeing her tear-streaked face, snot and all, looking like a pitiful little crybaby, Luo Wei couldn’t help but laugh.
“Really. Didn’t I promise you? I’ll never leave you again.”
Helena threw herself back into his arms, squeezing him tightly. “You have to keep your word, brother! You have to stay with me forever, never ever leave!”
“Yeah.” Luo Wei smiled, gently stroking her back. “We’ll be together forever.”
At those words, Helena finally stopped crying, a bright smile breaking through. “Brother’s the best~”
After a while, her black tentacles slowly began to loosen.
Only then did Helena notice the changes in her own body.
She glanced down at the tangled mass of writhing, snake-like appendages and suddenly looked distressed. She quickly turned to Luo Wei.
“Brother… Can you use that again…?”
“I don’t like looking like this… Please turn me back…”
Luo Wei immediately understood—Helena was feeling self-conscious about her appearance again.
He remembered that time by the river when she’d hidden herself away, too ashamed to let him see her monstrous form…
“Of course I can turn you back.” Seeing Helena relax slightly, he added with a reassuring smile, “But honestly, I don’t hate how you look like this, Helena.”
Helena’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really? Brother likes me like this?”
When Luo Wei nodded, her tentacles swayed excitedly, as if delighted.
All this time, she’d been ashamed of these strange growths… Who knew someone would actually like tentacles?
“Uh…” Luo Wei felt like she might be misunderstanding. “I mean… yeah, I like it. Just don’t hate yourself for it, okay? No matter what Helena looks like, I’ll always like her.”
“Brother’s the absolute best!” Helena’s tentacles coiled around Luo Wei again. “If brother likes tentacles, I’ll show them to you every day!”
“W-Wait, hold on—??”
…
When Helena—half-human, half-tentacled—finally dragged Luo Wei to where Evelyn and the others were gathered, a chorus of gasps erupted around them.
“Helena! What happened to you?!” Emily’s eyes widened in shock.
“Um…” Helena, suddenly aware of the crowd, quickly set Luo Wei down, looking embarrassed.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you… Huh? Emily, what are you doing here?”
“Scare me? No way!” Emily dashed toward Helena, eyes sparkling. “Helena, you look so cool!”
“Huh?” Helena blinked at her, baffled as Emily eagerly examined her tentacles, even reaching out to touch one. She grew even more confused.
Why were so many people suddenly saying they liked her tentacles? Was this some new fashion trend?
Once Luo Wei was back on his feet, he frowned, scanning the dim, abandoned warehouse. Aside from Evelyn and Headmaster Danton, Monica, Emily, and an elderly vampire had joined them.
He immediately turned to Evelyn, who quietly explained, “We ran into a few more vampire elders on the way here, but Uncle Joe drove them off. He led us to this place.”
Luo Wei’s gaze shifted to the old vampire—the same one he’d seen in the drawing room after the Duke’s death. Back then, he’d been the only one who seemed genuinely sorrowful about it.
“The castle’s underground passages are a maze,” Joe said as he helped Danton decipher a hidden mechanism in the warehouse. He glanced back at Luo Wei. “I was here when Danton first modified the castle. We might run into more vampires along the way—I’ll cover you.”
“We’ll help too!” Emily, after admiring Helena’s tentacles, scurried back to Monica’s side like an eager puppy. “I snuck out from under Mother’s nose! Pretty impressive, right?”
Monica gave Luo Wei a small nod before smiling at Evelyn. “You were right before. Someone in the family had to take a stand. Though I’m not sure how much help I’ll be—my skills are limited.”
“I only said those things in the heat of the moment,” Evelyn replied, her opinion of Monica rising. “But the fact that you stepped up at all is commendable.”
Listening to their exchange, Luo Wei studied the young vampire more closely.
She’d always been part of the successor quartet alongside the twins and Mike, but unlike them, she’d kept a low profile. This was the first time he’d actually spoken to her.
However, the more he thought about it, the more he found Monica and the others' appearance at this moment to be somewhat peculiar.
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
