Chapter 53
Lin Ran regretted not wearing a mask. Carrying the large egg made him the center of attention, his handsome features only amplifying the effect. He was used to some attention, but this was excessive. Even on the S University campus, people were taking pictures. He couldn’t hide.
“Little one, can you hear me? Can you become smaller?” he whispered to the egg in a restroom during a subway transfer. “You’re heavy…” His cubs were usually considerate.
[The egg is silenced and cannot use its magic. It is sad.]
Lin Ran: ? Silenced? He remembered the interviewer, Shao Mian. Did he have some kind of power? Like Snowball?
Tao Shu messaged him:
[Your paperwork is done! Come anytime! We have a welcome gift! Don’t be shy! [Hamster holding a flower]]
Tao Shu was so nice. He replied, thanking him, then asked about Shao Mian.
[Is that interviewer our direct supervisor? Is he in charge of the game?]
Tao Shu’s eyes widened.
[No no no! He’s just visiting! He’s usually traveling! Don’t be scared of him!] He thought Lin Ran had been intimidated by Shao Mian’s cold demeanor during the interview.
[Thank you.] Lin Ran was surprised. So, he wasn’t a regular employee. He remembered a clingy student from his tutoring days who had invited him to a birthday party abroad, crying when he refused. He had eventually quit that job, and the child had stopped contacting him. Perhaps he had forgotten him. Relationships were strange sometimes.
“Ouch…”
“Sorry!” Someone bumped into him on the subway, and he clutched his shoulder, protecting the egg. The person was tall and solid.
“Sorry, are you okay?” a young man in a mask and cap asked.
“I’m fine,” Lin Ran said, wanting to leave.
But the man followed him. “Are you going to S University?”
Lin Ran frowned, uncomfortable with the man’s intense gaze. He walked faster.
“I saw you on the subway this morning. I couldn’t forget you. Were you at the interview too?” the man persisted.
This was creepy. He had been approached before, but this felt different, the man’s gaze too intense.
The egg trembled. The man’s aura was… licking A-Ran. It was disgusting! It remembered the morning’s warning. It was attracting bad things. But why were these mutated humans so much more… distorted than the ones in “Demon World”? Like ticking time bombs, filled with a foul, chaotic energy. It didn’t even want to absorb their miasma.
“Don’t run! Am I that scary?” the man said, reaching out, and his hand was instantly burned by a golden aura.
Lin Ran, hearing the strange sizzling sound, ran, clutching the egg. After a while, he stopped, the man gone. He was almost back at the university; he should be safe now. What was wrong with people? Or had he really attracted something dangerous? He remembered Shao Mian’s warning.
“Lin-zai—!”
“Barbecue time!”
“You’re back!” His roommates were waiting for him, waving excitedly.
He smiled, relieved, and ran towards them.
“What’s that?” Zhu Yao, the oldest, pointed at the egg.
“Late-night snack? Can you grill that?” Luo Xiao asked.
“No! It’s not for eating! Let’s go back to the dorm,” Lin Ran said, embarrassed by the attention they were attracting. He was quite well-known on campus.
As they walked, he heard whispers: “Is that an egg? It’s huge!” “A Halloween costume? Cool!” He wanted to strangle Shao Mian. The earring had been less conspicuous.
“That’s going to be on the forum tomorrow. What’s with the egg? A gift from Morson?” his roommates chuckled.
“Sort of,” Lin Ran said, placing the egg carefully on his bed.
“Can it hatch?” “Need a heater?” they asked, intrigued.
“Maybe. It should be cute,” Lin Ran said, petting the shell, his arm aching from carrying it. And he had encountered a creep; that had been scary.
[Beep—3+ hours of close contact. Incubation: +10%.]
[Increased hatching speed by 10%.] He received two notifications as they went out for celebratory barbecue. It would hatch soon.
The egg, alone, pushed open the wardrobe door and sat down, dejected. It had to become stronger to protect A-Ran. It just hoped A-Ran would like its appearance.
Meanwhile, Shao Mian, talking to Anvers, saw his protective mark on Lin Ran’s backpack activate, its golden aura flaring briefly. Something had attacked him, despite the seal. He should have sent Abyss with him.
“These mutated humans are becoming bolder,” Anvers said, also sensing Shao Mian’s aura. “Demon World,” weakened, had almost merged with the human world, which would have been disastrous for humans. And exposure wouldn’t have been good for demons either. The ancient clans had helped stabilize “Demon World,” slowing the merge, but some miasma had still leaked into the human world, corrupting those who consumed it, creating twisted, dangerous beings.
“It’s their own greed!” an elder behind Anvers exclaimed. They should have known the chaotic energy was dangerous. Humans were worse than demons!
“That’s not helpful, Elder Gu Li. We need to decide what to do about this egg…” Anvers said, calming the anti-human elder. Shao Mian had given them a copy of the egg’s damaged runes, causing a stir in the Feather Clan. It was a “dead egg” they had forgotten about, abandoned decades ago.
“A dead egg?” Shao Mian asked, skeptical.
“Yes. Its parents were… Rhine Man En and Yin Er,” Anvers said, revealing the names of the infamous couple who had caused chaos decades ago, even creating the Snow Birds as a failed experiment, a cute little bird that had become a vicious predator. They had been pioneers in applying human science to demon world phenomena, their research initially supported, until a catastrophic accident. They had created countless monstrous creatures and even experimented with miasma, stealing a strand from the River of Demon Energy, but their power hadn’t been enough to control their creations, leading to their deaths. Even their unborn child, corrupted by the explosion, had been deemed lifeless, a “cursed egg,” banished to a desolate, uninhabited area.
“A cursed egg?” Shao Mian asked, intrigued.
“Yes, it attracts dark miasma and creatures,” Anvers explained.
Shao Mian understood the source of the strong aura now, and the strange attraction. The earring was the egg’s transformed state. It had followed Lin Ran to the human world.
“This egg is dangerous, especially near humans,” Elder Gu Li said, regretting not destroying it.
“It’s too late. It’s already with him,” Shao Mian said calmly.
“But I’ll handle it. You can’t take it back; it’s attached to a human,” he added, and Anvers’s eyes widened.
“It’s with… that human?!” So, their chosen cub was the cursed egg?!
“What will it look like when it hatches?” Shao Mian asked, curious.
“Quite beautiful, if it hasn’t mutated…” Rhine and Yin had been considered among the most beautiful of their clan.
“I mean its beast form,” Shao Mian clarified, sensing Lin Ran’s aesthetic preferences.
“Like a… Silver-throated Tit?” Anvers said. “But our young can choose their human forms from birth.” The beast form only determined the color of their wings.
Shao Mian searched for images of the bird and fell silent. If the cub looked like that, the other fluffballs would be neglected for a while.
Back in the dorm, Lin Ran and his roommates were getting ready for bed. They watched as he carefully washed and dried the egg, then placed it on his bed.
“You’re really hatching it?” they asked, surprised. Lin Ran had always been a bit of a clean freak.
“It’s afraid of the dark,” he explained, having received a notification about the egg’s aversion to enclosed spaces. Interaction increased its incubation rate.
“An egg? Afraid of the dark??” They looked at the egg, strangely captivated.
“Why are you touching it?” Luo Xiao asked Zhu Yao.
“It’s… cute,” Zhu Yao admitted, surprised. “It’s like it’s calling out to be petted.”
“It’s already famous on the forum. People think it’s a local delicacy from your village,” another roommate said. “We can help you hatch it, Lin-zai!” They offered to share their beds with the egg.
But before Lin Ran could reply, a notification appeared:
[The egg refuses. You’re smelly!]
Lin Ran chuckled. His roommates were quite clean, compared to most guys. But the egg had already rolled closer to him, preferring his soapy scent. He poked it gently, asking it to leave him some space, and it rolled to the side, settling on the pillow. A-Ran is pretty. I like him.
It watched Lin Ran sleep, hoping to be as handsome as him when it hatched. It had been reluctant to hatch before, but now, it couldn’t wait.
The next morning, Lin Ran had an 8 am class.
“Lin-zai! Time for class!”
“Let’s go save seats!”
“Stay here, okay? I’ll be back soon,” he said, petting the egg. A-Ran’s bed smelled nice. It didn’t mind staying, except for that annoying seal preventing it from using its magic. It had tried all night to break it, but it couldn’t hatch without breaking the seal first! Then, it could have gone to class with A-Ran!
Even Shao Mian hadn’t anticipated his simple seal would accelerate the egg’s incubation, forcing its magic to condense.
As the egg tried to break the seal again, it heard a noise outside. …A-Ran? It wobbled excitedly, but it wasn’t him.
It was the creepy man from the subway. He picked the lock and entered, searching for something, then, finding a book with “Jiang Lin Ran” written on it, seemed satisfied. He had been looking for the earring, its demonic aura tempting, a potential source of power to suppress his own chaotic energy. But he had seen Lin Ran on the subway without the earring, only feeling a strange urge to approach him, like being drawn to a trap. He had to find the earring.
The egg watched as he rummaged through the room, even taking some of A-Ran’s clothes. He was stealing! It had to hatch and stop him! It tried to break the seal, but it couldn’t! So close!
“That egg again,” the man muttered, seeing the large egg under the blanket. He reached for it, and the egg, disgusted, rolled away.
“What the…?!” Annoyed, he grabbed the egg and threw it on the floor.
“Crack…” The egg hit the floor, cracks appearing on its shell, and the man felt a sudden surge of terror, like prey facing a predator.
The egg was furious. Its lotion scent was now mixed with dust.
A small, white fluffball, resembling a baby Snow Bird, emerged from the cracked shell, half of its body and face covered in black, burnt feathers.
“What the… a bird?” the man said, grabbing a chair, but as the fluffball turned, he saw its burnt side and froze in terror. A bird, burnt like that, should be dead. But it was alive, moving.
“I don’t care what you are…” He swung the chair, but as it touched the fluffball, his black aura was absorbed by the cub. He panicked, feeling his power drain away.
“You…” What are you?!
Before he could finish, his body withered and turned to dust, his stolen power absorbed by the egg, which glowed, transforming into a half-human form, small wings unfolding, revealing a tiny figure. It used its magic to cut a piece of Luo Xiao’s blanket and clumsily made itself a robe. It chose Luo Xiao’s blanket because he had suggested grilling the egg. It was a vengeful egg.
Then, looking at the mess, it started cleaning, putting books back on the shelves, closing drawers, and folding clothes.
“Whew…” It was tired. As it carried the dirty bedding to the bathroom, it glanced at the mirror and dropped the blanket.
It… wasn’t pretty. Its reflection showed its burnt side, a horrifying contrast to its angelic left side. Tears rolled down its cheeks. It wanted to hide, not wanting A-Ran to see it like this.
Just then, the door clicked open. Lin Ran, worried about the egg, had returned early. The game had notified him the incubation rate was at 99%.
He noticed the open door and the rearranged furniture.
“A thief?” He didn’t have anything valuable. But his roommates did. Then, he noticed only his things had been touched. This thief had bad taste.
Wait, the egg! He rushed to his bed and saw the broken shell. His heart stopped.
“The egg is gone!” But there was no yolk… Had it hatched? He examined the clean shell; it hadn’t been smashed.
“Little one, are you here?” he called out, but there was no response. Had it been taken? Or had it run away? He gathered the eggshells, ready to report it to security.
“Ee…” Just then, a soft sound came from behind the curtains. The little creature, hiding, hadn’t wanted to see A-Ran worry.
Lin Ran stopped, turning towards the curtains. A small wing peeked out. Was it playing hide-and-seek?
