Chapter 138: Aberrant 28

The six-man team formed by the Judgers and the Association never got the chance to carry out their hunting plan—instead, they became the hunted.

Beneath the blood-red setting sun, under yet another approaching night, they watched as the corpses of fallen comrades sprouted fangs. They had no choice but to burn them.

The enemy hid in the darkness, and whenever they moved to a new location, the faint flutter of wings tugged at their already frayed nerves.

“I’ve never heard of a Monster Domain with this kind of anomaly. It’s very likely a creature from the Blood Castle,” said Shu Hang from the Association.

The makeshift six-person team split into two factions even within their protective barrier, wary of their enemies—and, to some degree, of each other.

“We’re still going to Tianzi Building tonight to deal with Aberrant?”

“No way. Our teammates were killed without a clue. We need to find and kill whatever did it first.”

The freshly-formed alliance almost disbanded on the spot due to disagreement.

In the end, Vice President Cui compromised.

“With just the six of us, we don’t stand much of a chance against Aberrant. If we can find someone from Li Dashao’s group—especially Liu Zhi—and get her to join us, we’ll have a much better shot.”

“So how does Vice President Cui plan to convince her to cooperate?”

Cui had already thought this through: “When we escaped from Aberrant, we saw Li Dashao get captured. If Liu Zhi wants to save him, she’ll have no choice but to team up with us!”

Watching his confidence, Angel asked, “You saw Li Dashao get caught? If he’s been captured, doesn’t that mean the people with him are probably dead already?”

“Impossible!” Vice President Cui answered without hesitation. “That woman is strong—she’s not going down that easily.”

“Well, if we can find her, great. Just don’t be too disappointed if we don’t,” Angel said dismissively.

Suddenly, the sound of rapid footsteps echoed from the intersection ahead. Three small shadows dashed past, instantly putting the team on high alert.

“Hurry up!”

Harriet and Muriel waved, and Qian chased after them.

“Are they following us?”

“They are!”

“Run faster! Hahaha!”

“They’re getting close!”

The twins turned into a swarm of bats and flew toward a nearby building window. Realizing they’d left Qian behind, they swooped back down, scooped her up into the swarm, and carried her with them through the dark window.

From above, the three of them watched the team pass by below. Two small bats peeled off and followed them.

“What are we doing?” Qian asked.

Harriet: “What’s Qian saying again?”

Muriel: “She’s probably asking which one we’re going to kill next.”

Harriet: “That one! He shot arrows at our bats. I don’t like him!”

Before dawn, the six-person team was down another two—Magpie from the Association and a quiet middle-aged man from the Judgers. Both were bitten by the vampire bats and collapsed unconscious. Angel managed to use her powers in time to save their lives.

Harriet and Muriel sighed in disappointment. “They didn’t die after all!”

They were clearly tougher than regular Players. Now that they were on guard, it would be harder to mess with them.

The trio had been running around for ages. Qian was now tired, sleepy, and a little hungry. She rubbed her eyes and kept yawning.

Seeing her yawn, Harriet yawned too.

They hadn’t slept much last time before being rudely awakened, and they’d been playing for hours since—no wonder they were sleepy.

Muriel yawned as well, and the three of them decided it was time to go home and sleep.

The team, left battered and frustrated by the surprise attacks, was like a half-played-with toy abandoned by children who had suddenly lost interest.

The sleepy twins didn’t want to go back to their coffins in the castle. They wanted to sleep at their new friend’s house.

After a lot of gesturing and awkward communication, Qian finally figured out that they wanted to sleep at her place.

And specifically, in a box with a lid.

Back at the Tianzi Building, the three of them searched room after room, looking for a proper replacement for a coffin. None of the wardrobes in the building satisfied the twins. In the end, they chose a large bathtub.

They dragged blankets into the tub, tossed in several pillows, and draped a mosquito net over the top to create a sleeping space.

Though this makeshift bed wasn’t nearly as ancient or ornate as their coffins, it was novel and fun—and most importantly, made by their own hands. Nestled inside, the three children found a second wind despite their earlier exhaustion.

Before sleeping, Qian shared snacks with them.

She had taken the snacks from the small supermarket on the seventh floor. Most of the packaging was too difficult for her to open, so she cleverly handed them all to her two companions to rip open for her.

The twins, who rarely tasted food properly, were amazed to find that they could actually taste most of these snacks!

Especially the spicy ones—spicy sticks, spicy chips—those completely won over the two little blond devils.

They’d never eaten anything like this before.

The three of them lined up at the edge of the bathtub-bed, lying on their stomachs, snacking and sipping drinks between bites.

It was an utterly blissful feast.

“When we wake up, let’s go play with those people again!”

“No, I don’t want to play with them. Let’s go pick flowers!”

“I don’t want to pick flowers. Or maybe… let’s take Qian back to our home to play some more.”

The twins whispered back and forth between bites.

“Do you think Qian will still be here when we wake up?”

“Who knows? Our house won’t stay like this forever, will it?”

“I still want to play with Qian. Let’s not sleep too long this time—we need to wake up early!”

They reached an agreement.

“If our home really splits again, can we make Qian stay with us forever?”

“Let’s try! Let’s take her home and keep her with us forever!”

“Ssshh—ssshh—” Qian sucked in a sharp breath from the spice, unaware that her two little friends had just had a very dangerous conversation.

Not long after, Qian was the first to succumb to sleepiness. With a piece of food still in her mouth, her head lolled to the side and she passed out.

Harriet saw her chin sink to her chest, opened her mouth to tease her, but ended up murmuring twice before falling asleep too.

Muriel reluctantly finished the food in her mouth, then daintily wiped her lips, lay down, and pulled the two who had fallen asleep before her over to her side.

The three quickly curled up together again.

Aberrant was still hunting her prey. She came down this hallway, passing by the room where Qian was sleeping. Her head tilted slightly toward the door, and the growling in her throat suddenly stopped. Her pace quickened, and only when she had moved away from the room did the growling resume.

Qian slept for a long time, and she dreamed—many messy dreams, full of different but familiar faces.

They appeared one by one, then disappeared one by one.

Qian grew anxious. She wanted to catch up to them, but her legs were short and she couldn’t run fast enough. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t reach them. Not a single one. In her panic, she let out small whimpers, flailing her limbs in frustration.

She was terrified—afraid that in the end, no one would wait for her, that no one would be willing to take her home.

In the blur of the dream, a soft hand grabbed her flailing arms and legs, lifting her up.

Her head rested against something warm and soft. The fragrant embrace gave Qian a deep sense of peace, as though she had been running forever in her dream, exhausted, until someone finally picked her up and gently rocked her—turning her into a little boat, swaying on the sea, rocked gently by the waves.

Before she fell asleep, she had been eating snacks with her little friends. When she woke up, she found herself lying in Aberrant Mama’s arms.

“Huh?” Qian sat up and saw she was back home, surrounded by her little brothers and sisters all sleeping around her.

Aberrant Mama, holding her close, had black hair that looked like it had been cut shorter and curled, with fewer arms on her back now—two of them ending only in stumps. Half of her body was fused into the soft floor, just like the last time she was injured.

Sleeping Qian didn’t know that while she napped, the team formed by Judgers and the Association had indeed come to Tianzi Building—only to be completely wiped out.

Her Aberrant Mama killed all the Players who entered the Monster Domain. After clearing the domain, the fused domain restored itself ahead of schedule.

When the domain fusion was undone, Harriet and Muriel were taken home by their parents. The two had only just woken up and were still clinging tightly to the soundly sleeping Qian, refusing to let go and causing a scene, shouting that they wanted to bring someone else’s kid home—but Qian didn’t hear any of it.

Now, Qian ran to the door, opened it, and peeked outside, finding that Tianzi Building had returned to its former quiet state. The red-spired castle that had fused with it was gone.

Naturally, so were her friends.

But Qian was already used to people she played with suddenly disappearing—just like Sister Cailing and Black Rabbit before them. They had all vanished without warning.

Still a bit groggy, she closed the door and ran back inside, burrowing affectionately into her mama’s body. She pulled up Mama’s dress like a blanket and draped it over herself, then reached out to touch her hair, which looked like it had been curled by fire.

Aberrant Mama had her eyes closed, but one of the arms resting nearby pulled her into a hug and gave her a gentle pat.

With their task completed ahead of time, the Aberrant family was sound asleep. Meanwhile, the Monster Domain—now boasting a 100% Player death rate—sparked massive discussion on the real-world game forums.

An Association vice president and his team had died in the Monster Domain. News followed that a Judgers team had perished there as well.

A rough tally showed that at least fifteen high-level Players had died in the domain during this mission week.

While Players panicked and speculated, the System updated the Monster Domain’s status.

【S-rank Monster Domain officially upgraded to SS-grade Domain】

【Domain Boss Monster evolving. New ability: Unknown (to be discovered by Players)】

【New Domain Mini-Boss “Qian” (growth stage). Identity: Aberrant’s child】

……

Since the game’s arrival, Domains had only ever been downgraded—there had never been a case of one being upgraded. For a time, all major organizations turned their attention to the Monster Domain.

Rumors of Domain Fusion also quietly spread among these groups.

Nearly twenty high-level Players, with a 100% fatality rate. Add to that the upgraded domain, the strengthened Aberrant, and the newly introduced mini-boss Qian—all of it led Players to treat the Monster Domain as a deadly forbidden zone, no longer daring to act recklessly.

Thus, during the next mission cycle, the Monster Domain was unusually calm. All Players were pulled in by the System—none entered voluntarily with a ticket.

And every single one of them immediately fled to the farthest edge from Tianzi Building, not daring to get even a step closer.

Aberrant was finally able to sleep peacefully for several days. She followed her old routine and didn’t awaken until the third night—instead of being disturbed on the first.

Now that she didn’t have to work early, Aberrant showed no more signs of injury. Her arms and hair had all returned to normal.

Qian had already woken up. After waking, she crouched beside her mama and watched her for a long time, noticing that Mama seemed bigger than before—just lying there took up half the room. Even the surrounding brothers and sisters, with their big heads and small bodies, seemed less tiny now.

Unable to wait for Mama to wake, Qian—having slept enough—ran out again to find something fun to do.

She found a pen and began drawing on the hallway walls—drawings of Mama and her siblings, of her two vanished beautiful friends, of their castle, and, of course, all sorts of things from her memory.

By the time Aberrant awoke, six walls were already covered in children’s doodles.