Chapter 23: The Gu Village 22

Her cheeks were actually quite soft to the touch.

Ke Zhi had not intended for this to happen—pinching the face of a strange girl so presumptuously. This behavior was entirely out of character for someone who ranked first on the Newcomers' Leaderboard. Saving others had never been a part of his agenda, either. He was not a particularly kind-hearted person, yet here he was, violating his own principles.

Ke Zhi felt as though his state of mind was deeply abnormal. How on earth had things devolved into this?

As the top-ranked newcomer, his approach to clearing dungeons had always been brutal; he would simply slay the dungeon boss to force a completion. This time was no different. It was supposed to be a simple C-rank dungeon. He had intended to locate the Gu God and kill it, but upon entering the lair, he realized it wasn't that straightforward. He had been parasitized by a Gu insect. Those infected would become bloodthirsty and irritable, and within a few weeks, they would meet a miserable end.

Ke Zhi lowered his eyes. He didn't want to die yet.

Seeing the girl remain silent for so long, he gazed at her stunned, pale face and spoke, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

He knelt on one knee beside her. "I saw it just now. You’ve been infected too... you’ll be dead in a few weeks."

"This is the lair of the Gu God. The insects here are far stronger than ordinary ones."

"If you don't feed on blood soon, you won't even have a few weeks. You’ll be consumed by the insects and die right here."

"But I can help you. I will give you my blood."

The man spoke in a raspy voice, offering his suggestion. "Let’s help each other... If you’re uncomfortable with more, just cut your fingertip and squeeze some blood for me. That way, neither of us has to die."

Infected... the lair of the Gu God?

The girl shivered, struck by a dark premonition. She recalled the eerie, gray-pink butterfly from moments ago. No ordinary butterfly would melt into human flesh; this must be the Gu the man spoke of. She touched her knee in silence, where a dense, throbbing pain was radiating once more. Zhou Zhou clenched her hands tight.

But if she just drank blood... she would be fine.

It was just like a vampire. Wouldn't this turn an infected person into a monster? As an ordinary student from the real world, the girl didn't understand the concept of Gu very well. She had never encountered such things until arriving in this dungeon, where she had only gained a superficial understanding of them. To her, they were nothing more than disgusting and ugly.

Thinking of such a repulsive thing inside her body, cold sweat began to trickle down Zhou Zhou’s back. "System... what kind of Gu have I been infected with?"

The system hesitated, unsure of how to begin. This was known as the Butterfly Gu. Guided by the consciousness of the mother Gu, it sought out its favorite living host within the dungeon, inducing bloodlust and irritability. Without consuming blood, the host would die within weeks. It was also known as the Bloodthirsty Gu. It was terrifying, and the system didn't want to frighten the girl.

After a moment of thought, it pieced together a response, trying its best not to alarm its poor host. "It’s nothing, just an ordinary Gu insect. You might feel a bit irritable or moody, and perhaps unusually attached to others..."

"But don't worry, it won't hurt you."

Zhou Zhou, never suspecting the system would lie to her, believed it without hesitation. "Is that so..."

The girl felt slightly relieved, though she still felt uncomfortable. After all, it was a Gu insect; no one would be happy knowing there was a bug inside their body.

"Is there any way to get it out?" Zhou Zhou gripped the back of her hand. "He said blood... could cure the Gu..."

That was neither fully true nor false; it could alleviate the symptoms, but it would not eradicate the root. The system instinctively felt it shouldn't answer that way. "He’s lying to you."

Zhou Zhou replied with an "Oh," not particularly surprised. Suddenly, she thought of something. "Wait... isn't this all a dream?"

A Gu planted in a dream shouldn't affect reality, so whether it was cured or not hardly mattered. "It’s just a dream... System brother, a dream shouldn't affect reality, right?"

The system remained silent.

The Forbidden Dungeons would never allow players to escape the harm of a dream, but since the girl had already comforted herself this way, it didn't want to interrupt. Zhou Zhou took its silence for agreement. The conversation between human and system occurred entirely within her mind; in reality, only a fleeting moment had passed.

"Have you considered...?"

The man’s long eyes were lowered, gazing at her with intense longing.

Con-consider what?

Zhou Zhou snapped back to reality.

"Fresh blood... you don't want to die, do you?"

The man smiled faintly, a smile tinged with an indescribable nuance that felt inexplicably dangerous. He sliced his fingertip, and fresh blood welled up.

The girl’s teeth suddenly began to itch.

No, this can't be happening...

Zhou Zhou turned her head away in near-terror, clenching her hands tightly to avoid looking at the smear of bright red blood. She couldn't become a monster.

"Are you going to try and hold back your bloodlust and act like a normal person?"

Ke Zhi found it somewhat amusing. "But you don't know—if you don't drink blood, you will die. The Gu insects will consume every drop of your blood, your flesh, and your marrow, until you die a truly miserable death."

What was all this talk of blood and more blood? Her heart raced, and her mind went blank.

Would she really die? It felt like a cliché horror dungeon. Her ears felt as if they were stuffed with dense cotton, and all she could smell was a cold, faint scent.