Cen Yao listened and said nothing.
Standing in her familiar little room, her heart felt as if it had been gently touched by something warm.
It was a warm, cozy feeling.
She couldn't tell if it was because of the shock points or the orb's words.
After a moment, she suddenly smiled.
Before the orb could react, Cen Yao scooped it up with lightning speed.
And then she began kissing it frantically.
“Mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah!”
“How are you so good with words, orb!”
“Why are you so cute!”
“My darling little System!”
“Host!!!”
The orb's temperature spiked instantly.
The entire ball turned as red as a monkey's bottom.
It flapped around frantically in Cen Yao's arms, but it didn't actually try to break free.
“Host! Host, calm down!”
“Stop kissing me!”
“I-I'm going to blush!”
Cen Yao gave it another good squeeze and rub.
The human and the system fooled around in the room for a while, and the lingering heaviness Cen Yao had brought back from the dungeon finally faded away.
She let go of the orb and immediately grabbed her phone.
The screen lit up.
Sure enough, there was a pile of missed calls and messages.
Cen Yao's heart skipped a beat.
She didn't have time to look at the details; she just dashed downstairs in her slippers.
Her home was a two-story house in an urban village, with a hundred square meters on each floor.
The house wasn't large, but her mother kept it spotless.
Her parents lived on the first floor, while the second floor was Cen Yao's own little world.
Ever since the Horror Game descended, Cen Yao had stopped her parents from going out to work.
They were past the age range for selection by the Horror Game, so theoretically, they wouldn't be pulled into dungeons.
But the outside world wasn't safe either.
The horror's descent had changed not just the game itself, but also human order and mindset.
Some people became rich overnight.
Some suddenly acquired items.
Some died in dungeons.
Some returned alive, but were no longer human.
All kinds of chaos had occurred in reality.
Although Cen Yao didn't make a huge amount of money, combined with her parents' savings, they could last a long time if they spent carefully.
She preferred that her parents stayed home.
And because she was afraid the bloody and violent scenes in the dungeons would scare her parents, she barely let them watch the live streams, unless they were edited by her.
Safety first.
Now that she was back, she had to add a few more layers of Protection Spells to the house.
As she hurried downstairs, the light in the first-floor living room was on.
Her mother, Lu Xiuying, was sitting on the sofa, clutching her phone tightly, her eyes red.
Her father, Cen Qihang, was pacing back and forth in the living room, his hair messy, clearly having been unable to sit still all day.
Hearing the sound of the stairs, both of them looked up at the same time.
Lu Xiuying froze for a moment.
In the next second, she sprang up.
“Yao Yao!”
Cen Yao felt a lump in her throat and rushed over immediately.
“Mom!”
Lu Xiuying wrapped her arms around her.
She held her very tightly.
So tightly, as if she would disappear if she let go.
This was her precious baby, whom she had painstakingly raised and cherished in the palm of her hand!
“You're finally back! You scared Mom to death!”
Lu Xiuying's voice was trembling.
Cen Qihang stood nearby, his eyes also red.
Usually a man of few words, he merely reached out and patted Cen Yao's shoulder.
After patting her, as if still worried, he looked her up and down.
“Are you hurt?”
“It's good that you're back. It's good that you're back.”
Held by her mother, Cen Yao almost shed tears.
She hadn't cried in the dungeon.
But now, being hugged by her mother, a sharp pang of emotion hit her nose.
She tried hard to hold it in, her voice sounding muffled.
“I'm fine.”
“Aren't I back safe and sound?”
Cen Yao held her mother's hand, trying to keep her tone as light as possible.
“I'm fine, I'm fine. I've already come out, safe and sound!” Her voice trailed up at the end, carrying a hint of pride.
Cen Qihang stared at her intently. “Are you really not hurt?”
Cen Yao immediately spun around in a circle.
“See? I'm perfectly fine. Arms and legs are all here, not a single scratch.”
Lu Xiuying patted her with red eyes.
“Still joking at a time like this!”
Cen Yao immediately shut her mouth obediently.
Cen Qihang was still worried.
“Did you encounter any danger in the dungeon?”
“I did, but they were all resolved by your heroic daughter!” Cen Yao struck a pose, showing off to put her parents at ease.
“My luck was actually quite good. The identity I drew was decent, and I found some useful items too.”
She didn't dare tell them all the bloody details.
Like the King eating the Queen, the ghost babies chasing players to bite them, or the dark wizard polluting the Little Princess.
Telling her parents these things would only give them nightmares.
She only picked the parts she could share.
“Anyway, it was just a fairy-tale-themed dungeon. I played a witch, and my quest was to retrieve a lost treasure.”
“In the end, the quest was completed, and I even got a pretty good rating.”
Upon hearing “witch,” Lu Xiuying's face turned even paler.
“A witch? Aren't they bad guys?”
Cen Yao quickly explained, “No, no, no, the witch in this dungeon wasn't a bad person.”
At least, her witch wasn't.
“I even saved people.”
Cen Yao's father caught the key point. “How good is a 'pretty good' rating?”
Cen Yao blinked.
“Just... an S-rank?”
The living room fell silent once again.
Lu Xiuying didn't know exactly how difficult an S-rank evaluation was, but she knew it must be a good thing.
Cen Qihang usually read the news and forums, so he was clearly a bit more knowledgeable.
His expression suddenly became very complex.
“An S-rank evaluation in a rookie dungeon?”
Cen Yao nodded obediently.
Her father took a deep breath.
“Sit down first.”
Cen Yao said, “Oh.”
She sat down on the sofa.
Her mother immediately went to the kitchen and brought out a bowl of soup for her.
The soup had been kept warm.
She didn't know how many times they had reheated it while waiting for her.
Cen Yao took the bowl and smiled sweetly, her heart aching yet warm.
“Thank you, Mom~”
Lu Xiuying sat beside her, staring at her as she drank the soup.
It was as if she wanted to confirm that she was truly back.
Cen Qihang frowned and said in a low voice, “An S-rank evaluation is a good thing, but it's also trouble.”
Cen Yao looked up.
Her father said, “If your live stream was public, someone has definitely noticed you by now.”
Cen Yao was taken aback.
She had only cared about returning home to let them know she was safe, and hadn't really thought about this.
Cen Qihang continued, “The relationships among Horror Game players are not peaceful right now. Some recruit rookies, some target high-evaluation players, and some organizations play dirty.”
“Since you're out now, you must be careful from here on.”
Cen Yao swallowed the soup in her mouth and nodded.
“I know.”
She did need to be careful.
However, she wasn't too panicked.
She had already survived the dungeon, and in reality, there were still laws and official organizations keeping things in check.
Besides, she wasn't completely defenseless now.
Lu Xiuying listened with a racing heart.
“What should we do then? Should we move?”
Cen Yao quickly comforted her.
“No rush, let's see how things go first.”
“I just got back, so people outside might not know my real identity yet.”
Her live stream displayed her player nickname “Bling Bling,” and her face was obscured. As long as the System didn't release her real-world information, it wouldn't be easy for others to find her.
Of course, she couldn't let her guard down completely either.
Cen Yao finished her soup, set down the bowl, and looked at her parents seriously.
“Dad, Mom, don't just open the door for anyone from now on.”
“If someone comes looking for me, no matter who they claim to be, don't let them in.”
“Don't go out alone either. I'll figure out the rest.”
Lu Xiuying nodded rapidly.
“Okay, okay, we won't go out.”
Cen Qihang nodded as well.
“Go get some rest first. We'll talk about the rest tomorrow.”
Cen Yao was indeed exhausted.
From rushing to finish everything on the final day of the dungeon until now, her mind had been tightly wound.
Yet she still stayed and talked with her parents for quite a while.
Telling them she was really fine.
Telling them the food in the dungeon was actually decent.
Telling them she had a very capable little helper.
As she finished her last sentence, the orb quietly peeked out half of its spherical body from behind her shoulder.
Lu Xiuying spotted it immediately.
She froze.
“What is this?”
The orb stiffened instantly.
Cen Yao gave a dry laugh and pulled it forward.
“Its name is the orb.”
“It's my... well, partner.”
The orb did its best to act cute and well-behaved.
“Hello, Uncle and Auntie!”
Cen Yao's mother: “!”
Cen Yao's father: “!”
Cen Yao quickly added, “It's not dangerous! It's very obedient and helped me a lot.”
The orb immediately puffed out its non-existent chest.
“I will protect the Host!”
Lu Xiuying stared at it for a while, her expression shifting from shock to confusion, and finally to hesitation.
In the end, she cautiously reached out and patted the orb.
The orb stayed perfectly still.
Lu Xiuying after touching it, suddenly murmured softly, “It's actually quite soft.”
The orb blushed red-hot again.
Cen Yao couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Cen Qihang also let out a sigh of relief.
The tense atmosphere in the living room softened slightly because of the orb's appearance.
Later, Lu Xiuying asked it, “Do you eat fruit?”
The orb felt overwhelmed by the favor. “C-Can I eat?”
“Of course you can.”
Lu Xiuying got up to slice some fruit in the kitchen.
The orb was so moved that its eyes would have been watery, even though it didn't actually have eyes or tears.
Leaning back on the sofa, Cen Yao watched her parents, watched the orb, and looked around the familiar little living room.
She didn't bother to remind them that the orb couldn't eat human food, simply watching them fuss about.
At this moment, the warmth of home enveloped her, filling her with a sense of relaxation and peace.
Cen Yao looked down at her player panel.
The dungeon cooldown was counting down.
The next time she would enter a dungeon would probably be in half a month.
She let out a soft breath and closed the panel.
Whatever.
She would think about it tomorrow.
Today, she would just eat fruit with her parents.
Rate on N.U.
