Chapter 28: The Little Vampire in the Ancient Castle

Yu Deng began with a sense of guilty trepidation, but after a bout of rambling self-aggrandizement, he gradually gained confidence, speaking with such conviction that he painted himself as a peerless powerhouse.

Perfect. These people would certainly never suspect him now!

Zhou Ji was completely hoodwinked, even going so far as to pull out a notebook to take notes. As he wrote, he sighed in admiration. "This Yu Deng is definitely going places; I bet it won't be long before he makes it to the central district."

"The central district?"

"Yeah. This is the outermost ring of the residential area. As a player’s level and strength increase, they can move into accommodations closer to the center, and the houses get bigger and better."

Yu Deng only cared about one thing: "Does the rent go up?"

Zhou Ji: "...Oh, well, it does get a bit pricier."

Yu Deng immediately lost interest in the new house.

Zhou Ji looked at the little rookie with amusement. Although the newcomer was cloaked and masked, covered from head to toe, it didn't stop Zhou Ji from finding him obedient and adorable.

He offered, "Let me tell you about how instances work."

"Yes, please." Yu Deng listened intently.

Zhou Ji cleared his throat. "First, let's talk about instance types. So far, players have categorized them into Battle Royale, Mystery/Puzzle, Plot/Task-based, and a few others that are hard to classify. What was your starter instance about?"

Yu Deng summarized, "It was just finding the murderer."

"Oh, that would be a deduction-type," Zhou Ji scratched his head. "Well, these are just rough classifications everyone came up with after experiencing various instances; there are surely types we haven't discovered yet... In the Infinite World, it’s no surprise to see any kind of instance. In any case, you have to be ready to adapt whenever you enter one."

"Instances are divided into five grades, from D to S. Beginners are usually low-level players, and the instances they draw are between D and B, which are of medium difficulty."

Yu Deng nodded. He knew this; he had checked his personal information earlier. He was currently a low-level player. It seemed that anyone with under one million points was considered a low-level player.

As they talked, Zhou Ji led Yu Deng to a small park, found a bench, and continued.

"No matter the type or difficulty of the instance, when a player enters, they are always assigned a role that they must play. As for how well you have to play it... the system won't tell you; you have to figure it out through experience."

Yu Deng thought about it. That seemed accurate. Instances were quite malicious.

"Instances are usually multiplayer, but there is often cooperation or competition between players."

Zhou Ji’s smile faded, and he said seriously, "Every time I guide a newcomer, I give them one warning: never let your guard down around other players."

In this Infinite World, the malice of human nature is amplified infinitely, and there are no shortage of people who would strike at their own kind.

Yu Deng took note of this earnestly and then quietly shifted a little further away, putting some distance between himself and Zhou Ji.

Zhou Ji: "..." That wasn't strictly necessary.

After chatting for a while, Zhou Ji took his leave. Before departing, he asked if he could add Yu Deng as a contact.

Yu Deng was puzzled: "?"

Huh? You can add contacts?

[Yes. Every player has a unique identification code used for contact between players, and it can also be used to log into the player forum.]

"Oh..."

Yu Deng felt that Zhou Ji seemed like a good person, so he exchanged contact information with him. Five minutes later, Yu Deng received a message.

[Zhou Ji]: By the way, little rookie, I forgot to ask your name. Do you mind telling me?

Yu Deng answered honestly: I mind.

Zhou Ji felt regretful but didn't press the issue.

Yu Deng closed his contact list, bought a matcha cone from a street vendor, and carefully lifted a corner of his mask to eat it with great satisfaction.

***

Suddenly, the voice of the Main System echoed in his mind.

[Ding. The "Cheng Mansion" instance has been completely cleared. The instance suffered severe damage and is expected to be permanently shut down.]

[Player Yu Deng will be deducted 100,000 points as a penalty.]

Yu Deng was stunned by the Main System's ugly behavior, disbelieving. "You already finished the settlement, and the system rating even said my task completion rate was one hundred percent! Why are you deducting my points?"

[You did complete the task, but the vengeful spirit boss did indeed cause irreversible damage to the instance. Based on a comprehensive assessment, we have decided to penalize you.] The Main System vanished immediately after speaking.

System 01 hadn't expected the Main System to pull such a stunt, and its electronic voice crackled with static.

Having lost 100,000 points for nothing, Yu Deng said indignantly, "Tongtong, how could the Main System be like this?"

System 01 smoothed things over for Yu Deng, chiming in to scold it: [Yes, the Main System is not a good thing.]

[I will file an appeal for you, Host, to have the penalty overturned.]

Yu Deng blinked. "Tongtong, other people's auxiliary systems definitely aren't as good as you!"

System 01 paused for a moment: [Host, only you have an exclusive auxiliary system. Other players do not; all transactions and information inquiries are handled through a unified customer service system.]

Yu Deng: "That's how it is??"

[Yes. So, Host, please don't reveal this to other players easily.]

"Okay, I know."

Yu Deng walked slowly toward his residence, still brooding over the 100,000 points that had been confiscated.

Passing a player shop that had a banner hanging for a promotion, Yu Deng had a sudden thought: "Can I hang a banner at the leaderboard?"

[Yes, you can.]

And so, half an hour later, two little paper figures snuck over to the area near the leaderboard screen, unfurled a banner, hung it up, and flew away at lightning speed.

The banner read:

[Garbage system, unreasonable, it’s doomed sooner or later! Garbage instance, return my hard-earned money!]

...

Yu Deng didn't know that the banner he hung had become a hit on the player forum.

Players were dragged into the Infinite World for no reason, and all of them were filled with resentment, but no one had ever thought that they could curse the system and the instances in such a way.

With Yu Deng leading the way, the other players' ideas were unlocked.

In an instant, the player center was covered in banners cursing the system. When the Main System saw them, it suffered a massive influx of chaotic code that nearly crashed it.

Yu Deng didn't care about any of that. After returning, under the guidance of his system, he briefly reviewed his first instance.

The players he encountered in that instance weren't very good at deduction; they had all been cluelessly following the instance's plot, and Yu Deng had been the same.

After the review, Yu Deng hadn't really concluded anything, except for tallying up exactly how many times he had been kissed by that bad man.

"..."

For the next few days, Yu Deng stayed in his residence, occasionally going out for a stroll, but spending the rest of his time sleeping and browsing the forum.

He procrastinated until the seventh day before he finally braced himself to enter the second instance.

He followed the system's advice and made some purchases in the system shop, buying basic healing medicines and practical tools, storing them in his personal space.

*Sob*, he had spent 100,000 points in one go. Fortunately, he still had enough points left... Thanks to the viewers in his livestream.

What about those newcomers who didn't have enough points? Wouldn't they have to go back to clear instances without even a few days of rest, unable to prepare any tools or supplies?

Yu Deng cursed the Infinite World a few more times in his heart, and his stay time in the Player Center hit zero.

The next second, Yu Deng’s vision went black, and he was teleported to a new instance.

***

"So dizzy..."

The teleportation left Yu Deng lightheaded. The lighting here was particularly dim, and he only realized he was sitting on something uneven.

Before he could observe his surroundings, he heard the system announcement.

[Ding. Welcome, players, to the C-grade instance "Ancient Castle Blood Feast."]

[In the town of Skatar, there is an ancient, hidden castle. It is inhabited by a mysterious race; they are powerful, eccentric, and they—are not human.]

[Every three years, the master of the castle invites many non-humans to participate in the castle's grand celebration. But every time, humans disguise themselves as non-humans to sneak in...]

Yu Deng struggled to decipher what the system announcement was saying, slowly piecing the sentences together.

According to this, the players' identities this time were supposed to be... ordinary humans disguised as non-humans?

[Please reach the interior of the castle within one hour. Players who fail to arrive will be considered eliminated.]

[The instance will officially begin in one hour.]

Yu Deng set off to find the castle in a daze.

He shook his head, focused his vision, and finally saw where he was.

Before him was a dark forest, each tree towering and twisted. The ground was covered in thickets of thorns, and a blood-red moon hung overhead, casting an ominous glow on the dark woods. On the edge of the forest, the spires of the castle were vaguely visible.

And he was currently perched on the branch of one of the massive black trees, with a patch of thorns directly below him.

Yu Deng, who was at least ten meters above the ground: "!!?"

He hugged the tree trunk tightly, trembling involuntarily, his eyes rimmed with red. "Tongtong, I'm afraid of heights..."

[Don't worry.]

[Host, after entering this instance, your special identity and corresponding abilities have been activated.]

Yu Deng was surprised. "Already activated?! What is my identity this time?"

[You are a high-ranking Blood Clan member, having just awakened for the first time since being turned, so your power is relatively weak. You are of a high rank, a willful and bad-tempered vampire. Please remember your character setting, Host.]

Yu Deng stared blankly for a few seconds. "Okay."

Wow, a vampire... did that mean he didn't have to use his brain to disguise himself?

[You can switch between human form and vampire form, but because your power is currently unstable, the changes between these two forms might be uncontrollable.]

Yu Deng reached up to touch his teeth, then touched his back, finding no fangs or wings—oh, he was in human form right now.

So, the question was: how on earth was he supposed to get down?!

Yu Deng felt his vision go dark. "Am I going to have to stay here for an hour and then get eliminated..."

I don't want that to happen!!

Just then, a black shadow suddenly appeared in front of him, darting past quickly before stopping in front of him.

Yu Deng was startled, clinging to the tree trunk and trying to scoot backward. He lifted his eyes to see what had flown toward him.

It was a young man with black hair and rare emerald-colored eyes. The man wore a tailcoat and white gloves, with bat-like wings fluttering gently behind him.

The man bowed his head slightly. "Young Master, so this is where you are."

Yu Deng stared at him blankly. "Huh?" What Young Master?

[Host, he is your butler.]

The man continued, "His Highness the Prince instructed me to take good care of you before he awakened. Young Master, are you...?"