“Lost Child, have you died and arrived on this land once again…?”
In the familiar wooden cabin, the familiar “Lim” held Lin Ran’s hand, speaking words he couldn’t understand.
“What are you babbling about this time, trying to trick me again? Hurry up and explain what the crystal core is for.”
Lin Ran spoke.
The “Lim” in front of him gave an awkward smile and quickly transformed—
Her figure grew to about 1.65 meters, turning into an absolutely beautiful woman who looked a few years older than Lin Ran, with a gentle yet enchanting aura.
Beneath her light blue, naturally wavy long hair, sharp and short ears quivered slightly.
A pink tail swayed slowly behind her, its tip shaped like a cloud.
Those drooping pink-violet eyes, patterned with pink clouds, swept over Lin Ran’s whole body.
“Ah~ I’ve been seen through, huh.”
“In that case, handsome boy, would you like to have a sweeter dream?”
She laughed softly, stretching out her arms as a hot breath brushed past Lin Ran’s ear.
A refreshing fragrance filled the air as her hands and embrace approached.
Lin Ran instinctively reached out his hand—
But not for a hug.
Instead, he formed his five fingers into a claw and grabbed the woman’s head before him.
After dealing with the two at home—one a mimic succubus, the other a natural-born succubus—Lin Ran’s resistance to this level of attack had long been maxed out.
“Miss Dream Eater, you’ve really caused me a lot of trouble. Shouldn’t you compensate me?”
A vein twitched on Lin Ran’s forehead as he forced a kind smile.
The hand gripping the Dream Eater’s head began to tighten.
“Ow ow ow ow ow—!!!”
“I’m sorry, bro! Let go! My head’s gonna crack! Spare me, bro!”
“I’ll tell you what the crystal core is right now! You can have whatever you want!!”
“The dream attack was all arranged from above, I just followed orders, I’m just a wage earner!!”
It wasn’t hard to see that this person was a Dream Eater.
When checking the messages, Lin Ran had already reviewed the history and learned that, besides the puppets, there was also a Dream Eater invasion.
And in the dream world, the only one who could be a Dream Eater was the fake Lim in the wooden cabin, who served as the [Guide].
Most importantly…
The system revealed it all—
[Target: An Mengyue (Dream Eater) (After absorbing a large amount of dreams, transformed into human form)]
[Romance Potential: 76 (There is some possibility, but her nature may prevent you from liking her)]
This name truly fit the nature of a Dream Eater…
But—
“Nature?”
Lin Ran just felt a hint of caution.
But in the next moment, that so-called nature was laid bare.
Upon seeing Lin Ran’s crystal core, An Mengyue snatched it from his hand at lightning speed.
The movement was so fast, the eye couldn’t even follow it.
After grabbing the crystal core, she clutched it tightly, rubbing her cheek against it with such force that drool nearly dripped onto the core. Her eyes held nothing but the little purple stone.
“Hehehe… my crystal core… hehehe…”
She spoke in a daze, caressing the core, her words unclear:
“This is your [Dream Wooden Cabin], with the crystal core… just come to the cabin to buy things from us.”
“A single crystal core can exchange for about a day’s worth of food. Other items are also traded at equivalent value. Whatever you want… just say it, hehehe… my crystal core…”
While speaking, her eyes never left the crystal core.
She almost licked it with her tongue, never sparing Lin Ran a glance.
“I don’t think I ever said I wanted to sell it to you…”
Lin Ran’s face darkened.
So that’s what “nature” meant.
A total miser!
But at least now he understood what kind of place this was.
The wooden cabin was similar to a Shop, where people could use crystal cores to trade.
Thus, solving issues with food, medical supplies, and other needs caused by the air wall.
And the Dream Eater lady An Mengyue, residing here, acted as a merchant in charge of crystal core transactions.
Only…
Lin Ran didn’t kill monsters.
At least, he definitely wouldn’t kill monsters that could be recruited.
Didn’t that mean he was destined to be a pauper in the future?
Anyway, since this was now a rest period, he brought over Lim and the group of puppets.
Since this place was designated as a Shop and would be a permanent fixture, Lin Ran decided to settle here for a while.
Especially since the little puppets and Little Slimes had poor combat abilities and large numbers, taking up too much dormitory space.
Lin Ran brought over grass and soil from home, letting them live here permanently and do some farming.
An Mengyue didn’t refuse.
She was only responsible for crystal core transactions—accommodation in the wooden cabin was free.
In fact, An Mengyue even mentioned that the ownership of this cabin didn’t belong to her, but to Lin Ran.
She was just a merchant residing in the cabin.
Besides, with more little puppets living here, she’d have more people to keep her company.
She had no reason to refuse.
When battle began, or if necessary, he could always call the little puppets back to the dormitory.
Watching the slimes, puppets, and Dream Eater happily chatting together, Lin Ran found a room on the second floor, lay down, and opened the system.
He still had a pile of system rewards left unclaimed.
“System, receive rewards.”
—
A string of [Ding ding ding] sounds echoed in his mind.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for starting the strategy of the Autonomous Puppet. You have received 3 freely distributed attribute points and 150 Romance King experience!]
[Ding! The Host greatly increased the Autonomous Puppet’s favorability, raising it to (Like) level. You have gained 350 Romance King experience!]
[Ding! Favorability reached 75, “Reliable Partner” achieved! You have obtained the Autonomous Puppet’s “Heart-Reading” and “Control” abilities!]
[Ding! Your adventurous actions deeply moved the Autonomous Puppet! Favorability reached 99 (MAX)! You have received 300 Romance King experience!]
[Congratulations! Romance King level increased to 2, Portal level increased to 2!]
[Key Item Distributed: Affection Gun (Fill your feelings into bullets, aim at the one you love, and fire—your feelings will be delivered!)]
[Affection Gun (LV.2): Current firing limit—2 shots/day (Please increase Romance King level. For each level up, you gain one more firing opportunity for the Affection Gun!)]
Hmm…the other rewards weren’t bad.
Especially the portal level up—that meant he could go to the convenience store now.
But this Affection Gun…
What the heck was the use of this?
Lin Ran complained again.
Besides, there were no bullets in the gun.
Did he have to supply his own bullets?
If I have bullets, why not just use an ordinary handgun?
Lin Ran took a deep breath to calm himself.
If this method didn’t work either, he’d just scam that miser Dream Eater downstairs into buying this thing as a collectible.
He transformed his right hand into slime form, sliced off his index finger, and molded it into a bullet.
He loaded it into the Affection Gun and made the slime bullet secrete corrosive fluid.
“At the very least, let me shoot corrosive liquid from a distance!”
As long as it fired, that was enough!
This was Lin Ran’s minimum expectation!
If even this didn’t work, he really would sell this broken gun!
Aiming at the wooden cabin’s ceiling, he fired the bullet!
“If I must express my feelings, then let them become corrosive!”
With a “pop” sound, the bullet shot out, bursting mid-air.
But it successfully hit the target!
Lin Ran knew the ceiling of this wooden cabin was very thick.
If it was his own corrosive liquid, it would corrode the little puppets in the same way.
It would only blacken the surface of the wood.
Even so, he was satisfied.
What he didn’t expect was, what appeared before him was not a blackened ceiling or a small hole corroded through.
Instead, the entire ceiling where the corrosive liquid touched formed a single point.
Then, from that point, it began to spread outward, expanding into larger holes.
The spread didn’t show any signs of stopping!