The effects of the overdose of healing hadn't lasted long. Half-conscious, Xiao Yang was jolted awake by a knock at the door. He thought he heard someone shouting.
"Call the police!"
The words made Xiao Yang jerk upright. He sprang off the floor like a carp leaping from water.
"Wait!"
He shouted without thinking. Only after he'd jumped up did Xiao Yang finally have a chance to see what was going on.
Outside the house his grandfather had built, several elderly neighbors had gathered. A young woman holding her phone high was directing them, while leading the charge with a small hammer, apparently about to pry open Xiao Yang's door.
Xiao Yang flew to the door and yanked it open before she could get started.
After a chaotic flurry of activity, things finally calmed down.
A little later, in his living room, Xiao Yang dutifully poured tea for the neighbors.
Truth be told, it had all been a misunderstanding. One of the women passing by had seen Xiao Yang lying motionless on the floor, and that was what had led to them pounding on the door to rescue him.
Luckily, Xiao Yang had woken up in time. Otherwise, he couldn't imagine how bad things might have gotten.
After playing host for a while and repeatedly explaining that he'd only had a bit of low blood sugar, he finally managed to smooth things over.
Waving goodbye to the last neighbor, who was still scolding him, Xiao Yang finally dropped his trademark fake smile. He clutched his lower back and sighed helplessly. Somehow, all that had been more exhausting than three straight days and nights grinding in the Skeleton Dungeon.
Still, he couldn't complain. Those neighbors really did care about him. In this little town, most people were distantly related, though he hadn't been back in years because of school.
At least it was over.
The moment he'd woken up, he'd instinctively closed the basement door.
When it came to the Skeleton Dungeon, Xiao Yang had instinctively chosen to keep it secret. Maybe he couldn't explain how it existed. Or maybe he simply cared too much about it.
He opened the Skeleton Dungeon's entrance, and the deep, dim corridor appeared before him once more. After confirming that the passage leading to the Skeleton Dungeon hadn't vanished, Xiao Yang nodded.
Now it was time to reap the rewards: the items dropped by the Dungeon Guardian, and the gift box brought by the Dungeon Delver.
Both were cause for celebration, but for some reason, Xiao Yang still felt uneasy.
He'd never thought about it before, but now that he considered it, if the passage to the Skeleton Dungeon really was fixed to the basement door, that could be troublesome. Not just when he was home—what if someone barged in while he was inside the Skeleton Dungeon, clearing it?
Would he have to put a lock on the door?
The thought came to Xiao Yang out of nowhere.
But the question seemed to have an answer almost immediately.
A clear voice sounded behind him. It was the young woman with the phone. Xiao Yang vaguely remembered her as Uncle Lin's daughter, his neighbor. They might have played together when they were little.
But that had been years ago. Now, they were practically strangers.
"Why are you staring at the cellar, Xiao Yang?"
The moment she said it, Xiao Yang turned around. Compared to how quiet and flustered he'd been in front of the whole crowd of relatives and neighbors, he now looked much sharper and more dangerous—especially with his big secret just discovered.
Xiao Yang was no pushover. He'd spent nearly a month struggling through the Skeleton Dungeon and had killed countless monsters.
Just one look from him stirred a strange fear in the young woman. She shrank back several steps, her heart pounding faster.
Of course, that only lasted until Xiao Yang realized something was off about what she'd said—and remembered his current appearance: skin so pink it was almost absurd, and a messy head of hair dyed a pale pink.
It was hard to describe the combination. It was just weird. All of it did a lot to dull the cold, dangerous edge he'd developed over the past month of fighting his way through the dungeon.
Wait, the cellar?
Xiao Yang fell silent for a moment, then tried asking,
"By the way, could you do me a favor? I can't really tell the sweet potatoes and potatoes apart down in the cellar. Could you get some potatoes for me?"
Xiao Yang asked the young woman in front of him as if pleading, making an utterly nonsensical request. Confused and speechless, she glanced at him, then agreed.
She walked into the basement right in front of him.
Yes, she really did walk into the basement. Before Xiao Yang's eyes, she disappeared behind the basement door. She never touched the cold passage stretching downward.
A little later, Xiao Yang found himself holding several sprouted sweet potatoes.
"That's all there was. No potatoes!"
Well, maybe Xiao Yang didn't have to worry about the Skeleton Dungeon being exposed just yet. Still, he'd better put a lock on the door.
So Xiao Yang took the sweet potatoes from the young woman, then promptly ushered her out.
She stood there, dumbfounded.
To be fair, she was pretty, and apparently a streamer. They even seemed to have the kind of childhood bond people called childhood sweethearts. But how to put it?
Women would only slow down his dungeon runs. As a man bearing the title Dungeon Delver, he wouldn't lose—but he still had a hundred floors to clear!
Calling Xiao Yang a typical clueless guy didn't even begin to cover it.
Huangzhu Village. At sunset, a girl who seemed out of place in the rural surroundings strolled along the path between the fields.
A flurry of comments popped up on the phone she held aloft.
Streamer, looks like your crush didn't work out!
It's okay, it's okay! That wild man isn't good enough for our Zhen!
Faced with the comments, Lin Yingzhen instinctively started explaining.
"No, no! He was actually my childhood playmate!"
So, childhood sweethearts?
"We weren't that close!"
"And I wasn't crushing on him!"
As Lin Yingzhen explained, she grumbled to herself. She'd only wanted to ask Xiao Yang how he took care of his skin. Its smooth, flawless look had made her pretty envious.
As for falling for him? Looking like that, how could she? She admitted that the childhood friend she hadn't seen in years now had a certain unusual air about him. But with his unkempt appearance and bizarre outfit, there was no way he'd make her heart flutter!
Of course! That was a good thing. After all, the Dungeon King wouldn't let himself get tangled up with women!
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