Chapter 5: Succubus

“As expected…”

Lin Ran sighed inwardly.

Even though he had already guessed it, even though he had prepared himself mentally.

Still, the anger and sorrow in his heart inevitably surged.

His left hand clenched into a fist, while his right hand closed the eyes of the corpse.

“Rest in peace, buddy.”

Just as he deduced, this was indeed the boys’ dormitory—the environment hadn’t changed, only that it had been overtaken by Xia Li.

The deceased was his neighbor from the adjacent dorm, named Zhang Wei.

He didn’t have much presence in class—a shut-in who liked to hole up in the dorm playing games.

He and Lin Ran got along fairly well. Whenever a new game released, the two would sneak into each other’s dorms to team up and discuss it.

Two or three days ago, they had even ranked up to Golden Rank and went to Haidi Lao to celebrate.

But he would never have had anything to do with Xia Li.

Xia Li looked down on this kind of game-obsessed shut-in the most.

And Zhang Wei had also once told Lin Ran that even if he stayed single for life, starved, or died on the streets, he would never be interested in those bizarre women Lin Ran encountered.

Yet the disgusting and chaotic scene on the bed, and the fact that Zhang Wei was naked—

Clearly, something had happened between him and Xia Li.

The whole matter reeked of strangeness.

Two people who should never have had any relation, and a frail girl killing a healthy adult male in such a short time.

There had to be a hidden story behind it.

But Lin Ran didn’t forget the reason he came.

“Lim, don’t just stand there—find some food we can take back.”

Resource gathering was the top priority.

As long as the air wall remained and the portal hadn’t upgraded, if Lin Ran wanted resources, he could only collect them from other dorms.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t be long before he had to gnaw on weeds with the other slimes.

However, when Lim heard the order, she only tilted her non-existent head.

Then, she stretched out a tiny mimic tentacle and pointed at the corpse lying on the bed.

It was like a naïve child asking, “Does this count as food…?”

Lin Ran felt a mixture of tears and laughter—the little one’s actions cooled his anger by half.

Come to think of it, slimes were omnivores, so technically, this did count as food for them.

But he couldn’t overcome the psychological barrier, especially since the other was his friend in life.

Lin Ran shook his head and quickly refused.

“Go find things with [Convenient Noodles]or [Sausage]written on the packaging. Those things last a long time. We’re not at the point of eating corpses yet.”

Hearing this, Lim nodded with a half-understood look and led the other slimes to rummage through the cabinets.

Along the way, they even found a few slimes that had remained in the room.

When those little ones saw Lin Ran, they immediately tried to launch a sneak attack, but Lim discovered and stopped them in an instant.

Lim turned deep purple in anger, puffing up like a pufferfish.

Like a strict Sage scolding students, Lim fiercely lectured the newcomers for a good while.

But Lin Ran didn’t bother with them much.

Because he found a phone in the nightstand.

As expected, it should be Zhang Wei’s.

Using his fingerprint to unlock it, Lin Ran quickly found the chat log with Xia Li.

[Xia Li, finally added you. Why have you been hanging around Lin Ran’s dorm door these past days? Still not giving up on him?]

[What’s it to you? Dead shut-in, why’d you add me? Trying to flirt? For the record, I’m not interested in your kind.]

[I know why Mike went back home. The guys in the class have been talking—he caught that disease, right? Did you give it to him or did he give it to you? And now you have the disease and still want to get close to Lin Ran? I’m reporting this to the Dean of Discipline!]

[What the hell are you saying! Wait for me, I’m coming to your dorm right now! If you dare tell Lin Ran, I’ll kill you!]

Lin Ran’s pupils contracted sharply at these messages.

[Disease]—it was obvious what that meant!

The time of the conversation was 7:30 today, just before Lin Ran woke up.

The key was—what had Xia Li done to a man hostile to her in such a short period?

“Knowing the other person was sick, how could Zhang Wei still…? Was he throwing his life away?”

Moreover, Xia Li knew she was sick yet still tried to get close to him? Wasn’t that murder?

Lin Ran pinched his chin, his thoughts racing.

He began connecting the previous dots in his mind.

A thought also emerged from his mind.

“Lim,” he suddenly spoke.

“When that woman appeared, why didn’t you all attack? You all turned black—that’s your angry color, right?”

The slimes still retained their instinct to attack humans, which meant they didn’t attack him because he was special, able to coexist peacefully with them.

But Xia Li was different.

She had clearly killed many slimes here, and even killed one after entering.

Slimes would instinctively attack humans, just like they almost attacked him earlier.

It could be said that if not for Lim, any slime seeing him would have attacked immediately.

But the fact was, even to the end, the slimes never swarmed Xia Li.

In fact, the murderous intent in him was inexplicably halved the moment he saw Xia Li’s face.

Though it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it allowed him to calm down and prioritize saving the dying slimes.

This was too abnormal.

Lim’s surface suddenly formed several folds, as if mimicking a human frown.

She thought for a long, long time, but in the end couldn’t come up with an answer.

She seemed a bit dejected, flattening herself on the ground to show she didn’t know either.

Yes, even Lim herself didn’t know why they hadn’t attacked Xia Li.

But Lin Ran smiled.

[Don’t know]—this was actually the answer he most wanted.

Because now, the world of sword and magic, demon kings and heroes, had descended upon reality.

But—

No one ever said only monsters would descend, right?

If monsters kept descending and humans didn’t grow stronger, it would be one-sided slaughter.

If the intention was only to exterminate or torment humans, there would be no need for this wave-based, rest-period Game Mode.

In other words, humans also received some kind of descent effect.

Based on the countless games he played and stories he read in this life and the last…

To make hostile races give up attacking…

To charm someone who hates you in a short time…

Even to weaken the killing intent of someone who wants to murder you…

This mind-twisting charm ability…

There could only be one answer.

“—Succubus!”

Lin Ran blurted it out.

“Lim, and all the other slimes, listen to me!”

“Xia Li’s constitution has now turned into that of a Succubus due to the world’s descent, and her physical abilities have greatly increased.”

“So, if she suddenly comes back, we must…”

Before he could finish, Lim, perched on his shoulder, seemed to notice something and abruptly “stood” up.

Her once round, cute form turned sharp, with the core in her center flickering.

Though slimes had no lungs or trachea and couldn’t truly hiss like a cat, she clearly expressed hostility in her own way—

“Pujuu——!”

Like a sneeze, a rapid bubbling sound burst from Lim’s body.

At the same time, her color deepened to black, her whole body leaning forward into a threatening stance.

She looked just like a tiny, protective kitten baring its fangs at an intruder.

Following the direction of Lim’s hiss, Lin Ran looked over.

Sure enough, the dormitory door had already been pushed open.

“Ahhh~ So tired, I didn’t get any rest at all!”

A charming yet weary female voice rang out.