Chapter 1
The summer night along the Lu Province riverbank showcased the vibrant and prosperous cityscape, illuminated by technologically advanced lights. Lin Ran, having just finished a semester-end dinner with his classmates, was waiting at a red light on his bicycle.
Suddenly, a sleek, black luxury sports car pulled up beside them, also waiting for the light to change. Unexpectedly, a proud, imposing black Doberman poked its head out of the window, locking eyes with Lin Ran.
This furry creature was incredibly cool, with a muscular physique and well-defined lines, making quite a visual impact.
“Hi, dog?” Lin Ran blinked, staring at the dog for a moment before speaking.
“Woof?” What’s up, human?
Just as the Doberman responded with a “woof,” the car’s owner, alerted by the noise, abruptly rolled up the black window with a sharp “Louis, come back!”, ruthlessly cutting off the visual exchange between the man and the dog. A second later, with a roar, the sports car, carrying the Doberman, vanished down the road like a phantom. The owner seemed overly protective, as if afraid his beloved pet would be snatched away by some poor kid on the street.
Lin Ran, left dumbfounded, hadn’t even reacted to his failed attempt to chat with the dog. “Wow, they wouldn’t even let us look…”
His classmates, who had also been curiously observing the cool-looking dog, were surprised by the owner’s abruptness.
“That dog looked like a Doberman. Its monthly food bill must be incredibly expensive,” one of them remarked enviously.
For a group of university students who traveled on shared bikes, ordered budget meals, used phone cases bought for next to nothing online, and only bought affordable milk tea… “I suspect our living expenses couldn’t even cover that Doberman’s monthly meat consumption.” Someone’s comment caused a wave of coughing to mask the shared awkwardness.
As a secret fluff enthusiast, Lin Ran had always wanted a furry companion, but his circumstances didn’t allow it.
Fortunately, if he couldn’t have a pet in reality, he could have one virtually. Back in his dorm room, after washing up, Lin Ran opened a game app called “Demon World.”
The light from the phone screen illuminated his raven-black eyelashes, which fluttered like tiny fans. His eyes, dappled with light and shadow, were tranquil as a pool, his skin flawless. This striking appearance had garnered him considerable attention since he started at S University. The university’s confession wall was filled with posts asking for information about him.
However, contrary to popular belief, Lin Ran’s family background was quite ordinary. His parents had passed away when he was young, and his grandparents raised him in a small town, running a fruit and vegetable business. He was a rare case of a student from a small town who got into the computer science department of S University based purely on his exam scores.
Even more peculiar was Lin Ran’s almost supernatural bad luck. He once used his impressive S University credentials to get a tutoring job. After months of hard work, he finally received his payment, only to be hit by a falling sign on his way home, landing him in the hospital. The medical expenses, not a penny more or less, precisely wiped out his tutoring earnings, leaving him with only a few hundred yuan.
No matter how handsome, such bad luck was truly unfortunate, causing many admirers at S University to sigh in sympathy. Fortunately, Lin Ran himself maintained a remarkably peaceful attitude. Rich or poor, life went on.
His few sources of entertainment included playing free-to-play fluffy creature games, like the recently discovered “Demon World.” It was a pre-installed app on his phone, with a strangely dark art style. However, the fluffy creatures on the cover icon stopped him from uninstalling it. After carefully confirming the absence of in-app purchases, Lin Ran started playing casually, completing daily tasks in the starting area to accumulate gold coins. 500 coins would allow him to draw a low-level Fluffy Encounter Card.
After several days of daily tasks, he now had exactly 500 gold coins in his game wallet. Recalling the images of the fluffy creatures, Lin Ran felt a rare surge of anticipation. Which one would he get?
As he exchanged and activated the Encounter Card, a bright, reddish-black light flashed on the screen. The phone vibrated intensely, startling Lin Ran, who gripped it tightly. When the light subsided, a never-before-seen, pitch-black fluffy ball tumbled onto the central grassy area of the screen. Like a snow-skin mooncake coated in black coconut flakes, it let out a soft, hurried “Cheep!” before rolling over and collapsing onto the lawn.
Just hearing the sound effect through his earphones, Lin Ran felt a strange, heartwarming sensation. He had an irresistible urge to grab and cuddle the creature, to make the little black dandelion cheep some more. Though the thought was admittedly a bit evil.
Silently chiding himself, Lin Ran instinctively reached out to touch the screen, only to have his fingertip stopped by the cool glass. “…I forgot it’s just a game. The graphics are so realistic.” He snapped back to reality, realizing it was just a game. No matter how smooth and lifelike the animation, a screen separated him from the fluffy creatures within.
What a pity.
As if sensing his thoughts, the game displayed a new message:
[Congratulations, player, on achieving the “Newbie Sets Sail” achievement for drawing your first cub!]
[Current game exploration progress: 0.1%. The cubs cannot yet see you, and you cannot touch them.]
[More interactive functions are yet to be unlocked. Please be patient and explore.]
This implied the possibility of more interaction, even touching? Although Lin Ran couldn’t fathom how a mobile game could allow him to feel the fluffy texture of the cubs, it sounded incredibly tempting. The game wasn’t large, but the developers sure knew how to create anticipation.
While Lin Ran pondered the game message, the little creature on the screen seemed to be regaining its senses. It wobbled unsteadily, shaking its black fur, before slowly opening a pair of large, watery eyes, meeting Lin Ran’s gaze through the screen. The creature’s eyes were round and moist, with pupils so dark they were almost black, surrounded by a beautiful reddish-brown iris. It resembled a big-eyed, soot-sprite from a Miyazaki film. He couldn’t imagine how wonderful it would be to hold the fluffy, warm bundle in his hands.
“Cheep!” Before Lin Ran could click the interaction button, something unexpected happened. The fluffy black ball, which seemed too clumsy to walk properly, suddenly sprouted a pair of small, Q-version wings and fluttered away, its round body wobbling in the air.
Lin Ran’s first reaction was astonishment: You have such cute little wings? His second reaction was distress: Why are you running away? You’re the precious baby I painstakingly summoned with 500 coins!
He instinctively tapped the screen, trying to stop his fluffy soot-sprite, but received a series of failure messages.
[Touch interaction failed!][Touch interaction failed!]
[Current cub’s wariness level: 80! Unable to initiate any interaction.]
[Please reduce the cub’s wariness as soon as possible, or the cub will disappear completely within seven days.]
Disappear completely? Lin Ran reread the red system message. No, little one, I won’t let you disappear—
Then, the familiar game notification sound popped up again.
[Newbie mission activated: Eliminate the demon’s wariness within seven days and build initial trust.]
[Mission reward: Unknown]
[Countdown has begun!]
However, with no interaction options unlocked and the cub hidden from view, how could he reduce its wariness? Lin Ran, staring at the small forest on the screen, fell into deep thought.
Despite his contemplation, his hands kept moving, habitually completing another round of daily tasks, earning another 50 coins. With money in hand, he opened the in-game shop. Besides the 500-coin Encounter Card, only basic items remained. The cheapest was a bowl of milk, costing 30 coins.
Perhaps food could lure the little creature out? Most cubs loved sweet milk, right? Lin Ran finally decided to buy a bowl of milk and place it on the screen’s grassy area.
However, after a long wait, nothing happened. The little creature was incredibly wary. Perhaps he needed to be more patient.
Having waited until bedtime without any activity, Lin Ran reluctantly closed the game. Unbeknownst to him, as the night grew quiet, the small forest in the game stirred. Between the shadows of two bushes, a black, fluffy ball cautiously poked its head out from under a large green leaf.
It blinked a few times, sniffed the air, and finally stared longingly at the bowl of milk Lin Ran had left. The milk from the system shop emitted a sweet, milky scent that was just perceptible to the cub.
A “grumble” came from its stomach.
“Cheep…” The little creature whimpered pitifully, its eyes like watery poached eggs. Hungry.
Its small wings twitched strangely. A closer look through the soft fur revealed a disturbing number of fleas crawling on them. A small chunk had even been gnawed off one wing.
Meanwhile, in the conference hall of the Human Supreme Monitoring Bureau, located in Continent L…
“What? We’ve lost the monitoring data for a critically endangered demon offspring today!”
“Yes, Director Zou. As you know, with our current methods, we can’t bypass the firewall and log into ‘Demon World’ using human identities. Once we lose monitoring data, there’s no way to track it…” A younger staff member reported anxiously to the podium, holding a file in his hands.
