Chapter 69: A Pleasant Dinner
Before the Nighttime Activity began, Lin Ye specially prepared himself an exceptionally lavish dinner.
He always kept his promises.
"I don't like vegetables."
The little girl naturally appeared on the opposite side of the dining table, picked up Lin Ye's bowl and chopsticks, and started eating.
Lin Ye had no choice but to serve himself another bowl of rice and sat across from the girl to eat together. However, the usually delicious dinner suddenly didn't taste as good.
"How did you get here?"
After hesitating for a while, Lin Ye finally asked.
"Didn't you invite me? Lin Ye."
Her condition was clearly much better than last time—at least she wasn't falling asleep while talking.
"...I invited Lin Ye." Lin Ye said.
"How do you know I'm not called Lin Ye? Names are sometimes important, and sometimes meaningless. If you want someone's help, the ritual naturally points to that person. Once the deal is made, I can naturally come to your shelter—you agreed to this."
The girl stared seriously at Lin Ye and took the dish he was about to pick up for herself.
Even if the girl hadn't been so serious, Lin Ye would have realized the gravity of the situation. His understanding of ritualistic power was too shallow, and he lacked reverence for unknown forces.
This was the consequence of casually wielding power he didn't fully comprehend.
"What price do I need to pay for this ritual?"
"Price? Isn't this the price?"
The girl said matter-of-factly.
"...There's no more severe price?"
Lin Ye didn't think so.
"Actually, it's nothing much. It's just that your transaction partner isn't me—I'm just a middleman. That one isn't as easygoing as I am."
The girl said with ill intent.
"...Are you two separate entities?"
Lin Ye asked curiously.
"That one is an Abyssal Evil God, while I'm just a remnant of the past. But you can freely make deals with that one—as long as that one doesn't mind, it's fine."
The girl handed her empty bowl to Lin Ye, signaling him to refill it.
"How is that fine?"
Lin Ye refilled the bowl and handed it back to her.
"In the end, we're already connected by the divine seat. Either we get dragged into the Abyss by that one, or we pull that one out of the Abyss. There's no third option. I'm just a middleman—I can't do anything else. It's all up to you now."
The girl took the bowl and continued eating.
"What should I do?"
Lin Ye didn't complain. This was his own choice, and he would bear the consequences.
"Ensure your shelter remains under the system's protection. As long as you're within the system's protective range, the Abyss can't touch you."
"Improve your strength quickly, but don't rely on others' power."
"Study mutation knowledge, but don't use that one's mutation organs on your main body—otherwise, things will get very troublesome later."
The girl put down her bowl—the meat dishes on the table had already been completely eaten.
"Understood. By the way, how should I address you?"
Lin Ye ate the remaining vegetables and asked.
"My past memories have all been erased, so I don't have a name either. You can call me... Little Red."
The girl touched her pink hair and answered.
With that, she put down her bowl and chopsticks and disappeared.
Lin Ye finished the leftovers just as the system notification appeared.
[Nighttime Activity Begins]
[Tonight's Activity: Maze Exploration]
[Will you join?]
[09:59]
"Join."
With a little time left, Lin Ye opened the group chat to check on his fellow survivors.
(535,799/1,000,000)
"Great, finally time to scavenge in the red maze!"
"Yeah, I still have a few red keys left unused."
"Boring. The station mission is way better—you can bring back a batch of supplies."
"Surprisingly, no one died today."
"Those who've survived this long aren't easy to kill. But that Yu Feng is still alive..."
"Old Feng, are you going this time?"
Yu Feng: Of course. My shelter might not even be as safe as the red maze... and I can't hold it in anymore.
"Haha, try going to the toilet. What if the sewer worms don't notice you?"
Yu Feng: You're telling me to go die.
"What about Boss Lin? Any cheap spiritual energy items today?"
Lin Ye: Yes, just posted... already sold out.
"Damn it! You guys weren't even chatting in the group—just lurking in the trading section to snatch items!"
"Hehe, I guessed the boss would post stuff at night, so I kept refreshing the trading interface. Sadly, I only got one thing."
"Hehehe, same here."
"Same."
"You all deserve to die!"
...
[00:01]
[00:00]
...
[Nighttime Activity Begins]
[3:59:59]
Lin Ye woke up in the center of the hall, lying on a red trapdoor leading underground. Aside from the trapdoor, the rest of the hall looked the same as before.
[Will you enter the maze's deeper levels?]
"No."
Lin Ye got up from the ground. The system had teleported him here, clearly hoping he'd enter the deeper levels. Even if the system hadn't, he would have looked for a way down or simply returned to his shelter.
He had little reason to stay in the first layer of the red maze—wasting time here was worse than going back to study runes.
But before descending, he decided to loot the nearby item room. Since he was already here, he might as well take everything.
Using a special key to open the door, he found a pair of black leather gloves on the platform.
After storing them in his backpack, Lin Ye approached the trapdoor and chose to enter the maze's deeper levels.
His vision went black, and when he regained consciousness, he was lying on deep-red flooring.
At first glance, the deeper levels only seemed slightly darker in color than the upper layers—still the same style of corridors and red doors.
Lin Ye approached an unlocked red door and tried sensing the room's interior with his spiritual energy, only to find the materials here blocked such detection.
Using the old method, he knocked on the door. Soon, rustling sounds came from inside.
Prepared, Lin Ye opened the door—only for a swarm of blood-red tentacles covered in crimson spikes to lunge out.
They looked extremely dangerous.
Lin Ye immediately retreated from the doorway. The tentacles had limited reach, swaying in the corridor for a while before retracting into the room.
He quickly closed the door and began searching for a locked room instead.
He could handle those tentacles, but there was no need.
The room only contained junk—dealing with the tentacles wouldn't yield any benefits. It wasn't like he could take them back and turn them into grilled squid tentacles to sell to his group members, right?
After traversing just a few corridors, Lin Ye found a locked room. He knocked, and the sound of something slamming against the door came from inside.
Ready, he used a red key to open the door. A burly, beast-like Tier 1 creature charged out—only to be instantly cleaved in half by Lin Ye's blade.
In this world, mutation creatures came in two types: those with brains and those without.
Against brainless creatures with obvious mutation organs and limited regenerative abilities, Lin Ye never needed a second strike.