Chapter 1: Ancient Castle
Inside the exclusive room, Su Xiao waited for the free time before entering the Demon Castle, beginning to check his supplies.
Recovery items were sufficiently stocked, weapons and armor were in good condition, and his personal state was decent—Health Points at 100%, Mana Points at 3279/3326, nearly full.
After a moment of hesitation, Su Xiao took out a mana-recovery gum, placed it in his mouth, and chewed to speed up his mana recovery.
[Time limit reached. Teleportation commencing.]
Su Xiao chewed the gum as his body instinctively tensed.
Bam!
His vision went pitch black, and he could faintly sense flashes of light and shadow around him.
After an unknown period, Su Xiao’s consciousness returned. The moment he woke, he felt a binding sensation. Looking up and around, he heard the clatter of chains.
Su Xiao was in a pitch-black space. Judging by touch and sound, he was bound to an iron pillar by layers of chains.
He gradually exerted force, trying to break free from the chains, but they were extremely sturdy. Even when he used all his strength, causing the chains to creak and groan, he still couldn’t escape. More precisely, it wasn’t the chains themselves that were strong, but that he was being restrained by spatial force.
[Entering World: Demon Castle Game]
World Difficulty: Lv.1～??? (Sealed World)
World Source: 0% (World Source cannot be obtained in this world.)
World Introduction: Alice and her Demon Castle have existed for countless ages, hosting many game participants. This process has repeated for far too long, yet Alice remains tireless, delighting in the participants’ joys and sorrows. As thanks, Alice scatters the treasures she creates throughout the Demon Castle.
Alice: The queen within the Demon Castle, the ruler of everything inside.
Wolf Butler: The impartial arbiter (Alice’s creation)
Castle Demon Servant: The original owner of the castle, whose one-third of the brain was taken by Alice, now unable to speak (Alice’s slave, castle laborer).
Demon Castle: ??? (Alice’s possession)
Main Quest: (None)
Side Quests: 147 (Require activation)
Note: No violators in this world.
Note: Detected that the hunter does not know this world’s language; it has been automatically mastered for free.
…
[Note: The hunter has entered Alice’s Demon Castle.]
[Note: The Demon Castle is an absolute sealed zone; the hunter cannot leave this area by any means.]
[Note: Alice is an unopposable plot character.]
[Note: Wolf Butler is an unopposable plot character.]
[Note: Castle Demon Servant is an unopposable plot character.]
[Note: Aside from Alice, Wolf Butler and the Demon Servant are neutral characters.]
[Note: During the Demon Game, there is no main quest.]
[Note: Successfully completing the Demon Castle Game will grant the hunter the Proof of the Strong from Reincarnation Paradise.]
[Game… begins!]
…
After reading Reincarnation Paradise’s prompts, Su Xiao roughly understood the situation. Alice, Wolf Butler, and the Castle Demon Servant were all beings he couldn’t oppose. Strangely, the introduction for the Demon Castle was marked as ???, and the castle had an extremely large number of side quests, indicating that, in some sense, the castle was not small.
Click.
A magic lamp lit up above. The lamp didn’t illuminate the room but rather dispelled the darkness within it. Yes, it dispelled the darkness—as if the darkness itself were a living creature, ready to devour at any moment.
Su Xiao looked around. He was in a square room of about 200 square meters. Nine iron pillars stood in a row inside the room, each binding a person. Including Su Xiao, there were nine people in total. The pillar he was on was at the center of the nine pillars.
Su Xiao observed the other eight. These eight were contractors participating in the Demon Castle Game with him, all seeking the Proof of the Strong. Whether they were in competition remained unknown.
“Push harder, almost there, come on.”
“Keep it up, big brother!”
“Big brother is mighty!”
“I’m already pushing hard! Ah!! Explode, little universe!”
Pfft~ (Sound of flatulence from excessive force)
“Hahaha, big brother, you farted!”
“Shut up!”
“Third brother, don’t talk. Just us two brothers heard it. Let’s save big brother some face, hahaha.”
“Hahaha~ What a loud fart.”
Hearing this unrestrained laughter, Su Xiao’s mouth twitched. He already had an image of three people in his mind—similar in appearance, with bodybuilder-like physiques, wearing matching armor, and having the same profession: three paladins.
Su Xiao turned to look. Sure enough, it was the Three Brothers of National Football, also known as the Three Fools of National Football.
“Woof.”
Bubu Wang barked. This goofball wasn’t bound by chains; he was just squatting beside Su Xiao.
Hearing Bubu Wang’s bark, the eldest of the Three Brothers of National Football, tied to the pillar on Su Xiao’s left, was startled. After glancing at Bubu Wang, he immediately looked at Su Xiao.
The two locked eyes. The eldest brother’s scalp tingled. He had encountered Su Xiao twice before—once getting beaten half to death, and another time cooperating. Although they had cooperated, seeing Su Xiao still made him uneasy; Su Xiao’s abilities were too counter to theirs.
Though the Three Brothers of National Football were wary of Su Xiao, they had a good relationship with Bubu Wang. In the previous Hunter World, the Three Fools of National Football met the king of goofballs, Bubu Wang—one could imagine the sparks that flew between them.
The eldest brother cleared his throat and nodded toward the second and third brothers. They were puzzled, but upon seeing Su Xiao, their unrestrained laughter abruptly stopped.
“Isn’t that…”
“Third brother, focus on breaking the chains!”
The third brother’s words were cut off by the eldest. The third brother was too straightforward; in this situation, it was best to pretend not to know each other. Though straightforward, he wasn’t stupid and quickly caught on.
Because Su Xiao was tied to the central pillar, there were four pillars to his left and four to his right. The Three Brothers of National Football were on his left. Besides their three pillars, there was one more, binding a golden-haired, big-chested mature lady. Two cat ears poked out from her golden hair. Moreover, the lady’s hands were almost identical to cat paws, with chubby pads—definitely not equipment, but natural.
“Interesting, meow~”
The golden-haired catwoman’s eyes narrowed. Her sclera were sky-blue, and her pupils were pitch black, resembling some kind of cat’s eyes.
The catwoman noticed Su Xiao and the Three Brothers of National Football knew each other. She said nothing, only staying alert to her surroundings. As for the chains on her, she didn’t care at all.
“This stupid dog.”
The catwoman muttered, glancing at Bubu Wang. She seemed to have met him before. More precisely, in the Naruto World, she was in cat form and was carried by Bubu Wang to Su Xiao. However, her abilities were too covert for Su Xiao to realize she was a contractor.
Besides these four on Su Xiao’s left, there were four on his right: a fat man weighing over 200 pounds, a little girl dressed like a detective, a man with gold-rimmed glasses, and a gloomy man who looked like everyone owed him billions.
The fat man was yawning, his stomach growling with hunger.
The little girl in detective attire was sneaking glances around, as if spying on everyone.
The gold-rimmed glasses man was very calm, smiling politely at anyone who looked at him.
The gloomy man was desperately trying to break free from the chains, a hint of anxiety in his expression.