Moon World Girlfriend Comes Knocking

A gloomy world appeared before him, filled with ghostly blue hues. A few scattered cages lay by his feet, glowing with blue flames in the darkness.

Other than that, there was nothing.

Why was Absolute Demonic Front so gloomy? Or was this some kind of PV animation?

"Has another soul appeared in the Underworld...? Human, tell me, what is your name?"

At that moment, an unpleasant sound like rusty gears turning came from behind him. Coupled with the demonic howling winds that blew from time to time, it sent a chill down his spine.

Lan Ze turned around and froze.

Then disbelief filled his eyes.

A gigantic skeletal monster stood before him, its eyes glowing red. Just one look at it made his heart pound.

Yet Lan Ze did not look away. He merely studied the skeletal monster before him in confusion, as though contemplating something.

The skeletal monster made that grating sound again. The deathly aura around them suddenly spread outward, and the red glow in its eyes intensified.

"Answer me, human. What is your name, and where did you come from?"

"Are you Ereshkigal?" Lan Ze suddenly asked.

"Huh?!"

The synthesized voice abruptly vanished, replaced by a tiny cry from a girl.

Then, in an instant, the enormous skeletal monster disappeared. Standing before him was no longer that terrifying creature, but a blonde girl wearing a crown.

"Who are you?" The girl stared at Lan Ze in shock, apparently never expecting her identity to be exposed in a single second.

"So it really is Ereshkigal." Lan Ze had expected as much.

That was right. The girl before him was Ereshkigal, the Goddess of the Underworld, a character from the mobile game he had once played.

"How strange... The starting location at the beginning of the game shouldn't be here, right? Starting players off in an Underworld dungeon would be way too difficult... Could this be a bug? But it would be strange for a single-player game to have a bug right after entering it..." Lan Ze muttered as he looked around.

But if he remembered correctly, this place was indeed the Underworld, wasn't it?

"What have you been muttering to yourself about this whole time?" The icy voice sounded again, pulling Lan Ze back to reality.

To maintain her image as a cool and aloof goddess, the girl's voice had once again turned cold and merciless—despite the tiny girlish shriek she had let out just moments ago.

"You know me?" Ereshkigal asked coldly, a faint blush spreading across her fair cheeks.

Girl, your face needs to stop turning so red before you try acting aloof... Lan Ze silently mocked her in his heart.

As for whether he knew her... of course he did. After all, he had watched the anime.

Naturally, he could not possibly say that aloud. He shook his head and said, "No... I just thought you looked familiar. I have a friend named Ereshkigal who looks a lot like you."

A bug was a bug. Besides, it might be some hidden side quest or something. Even if it was not, familiarizing himself with a late-game dungeon environment in advance would only benefit him.

It was a single-player game anyway. If he died, he would probably just respawn at the starting point.

"Hah, you have a friend whose name is similar to mine?"

As if she had heard something unbelievable, Ereshkigal could not help but laugh. "What an outdated pickup line. Don't tell me you've never dated anyone before?"

"Have you?" Lan Ze asked instinctively.

"..."

A silent pause followed.

Their gazes met for a moment. Ereshkigal's face turned red as she shouted, "Where exactly did you come from? If you don't explain yourself properly, your soul will not be settled!"

"Hmm..." After pondering for a moment, Lan Ze looked up and asked, "So does that mean I'm dead now?"

How strange. I had only just logged in and... kicked the bucket?

Was that part of the game's setting? Or a bug?

"Isn't that obvious? Before you died, because—" Ereshkigal's voice suddenly stopped.

Strange... How had he died?

She could not detect the cause of his death.

Finding this unbelievable, Ereshkigal set down the cage-shaped spear in her hand and reached out to pinch Lan Ze's cheeks, kneading them like dough.

"Ere... shki... gal?" Lan Ze's speech became garbled from being pinched, his gaze fixed straight on the Goddess of the Underworld before him.

"Call me Lady Goddess!" Ereshkigal released him. "And stop staring at me like that. Do you want to die again?"

She was furious. How could there be such a rude, naughty child?

She was a goddess! Even if mortals could not sincerely respect her, they should at least pretend to!

"Mm, I understand. By the way, Ereshkigal, what did you say I died from?"

"I told you to call me Lady Goddess... Forget it." Ereshkigal sighed from the bottom of her heart. "I don't know how you died. All I know is that your soul is in the Underworld now, so you fall under my jurisdiction."

Although she had always wanted to be a good child, Lan Ze had truly angered her so much that she had completely forgotten her "good child principles."

"Mm-hm. So how can I leave the Underworld now?" Lan Ze asked.

"Eh~ There's such a beautiful young girl in the Underworld, and you don't plan to stay here with her?" Ereshkigal asked teasingly.

"Hmm..." Lan Ze pondered for a moment. "To be honest, I am a little tempted."

"Wha—"

After a brief daze, Ereshkigal's face flushed bright red. "Do you know who you're talking to?!"

"Ereshkigal," Lan Ze said.

After stammering for quite some time, Ereshkigal finally said unhappily, "You... How many times do I have to tell you? Call me Lady Goddess!"

"But Ereshkigal sounds more intimate," Lan Ze said.

"..."

"By the way, do you know how to leave this place?"

"What exactly have you been talking to yourself about this entire time?!"

Ereshkigal's cheeks were slightly red as she adjusted her bangs. Then she crossed her arms and snorted. "You entered the Underworld, and you still want to leave?"

This human was acting far too strangely. He showed none of the fear of death he should have had. Instead, he looked curiously around the Underworld. Only now did he finally seem a little afraid...

His current behavior was probably fear, right?

However, just as Ereshkigal reached that point, she heard the boy in front of her mutter strange things like, "So it really is a hidden quest."

Then she saw Lan Ze turn around, seemingly preparing to leave.

"Where are you going? I told you, this is the Underworld. You cannot leave." Ereshkigal instinctively called out to stop him.

"Ordinarily, entering the Underworld requires passing through Seven Gates of the Underworld. So conversely, if I pass through the Seven Gates, I should be able to return, right?" Lan Ze said.

"What are you thinking? You actually want to use your fragile soul to pass through the Seven Gates and leave this place?" Ereshkigal wore an incredulous expression.

"I can't help it. Since there's no quest on your side, I can only explore on my own," Lan Ze said helplessly.

"Then, Ereshkigal, see you another time."

After saying that, Lan Ze strode toward the gates of the Underworld.

But the moment he took his first step, an overwhelming pressure swept over him, and his body lost control as he collapsed facedown on the ground.

At the same time, a system prompt appeared:

[The area ahead will be available for exploration later.]

What was going on?

Why did it feel like he could not exert any strength at all?

Even with one hundred percent full-dive immersion, this was too exaggerated, wasn't it?!

This was definitely a bug!

"That's what I've been telling you. It is impossible to pass through the Seven Gates of the Underworld with a fragile soul. Don't you understand what a land of no return means? Even I cannot easily leave this place."

Ereshkigal quickly pulled Lan Ze back.

Still shaken, Lan Ze let out a breath of relief. He took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and steadied himself.

Then he looked at the girl before him and said sincerely, "Thank you."

"Even if it's a bug, I think I understand now that the NPCs here are incredibly intelligent. I'll definitely come back to win you over later."

"What exactly have you been saying this whole time?" Ereshkigal looked at Lan Ze with a puzzled expression.

"Hmm... It's a little complicated to explain. Just think of me as someone from another world. For now, I need to go back and figure out how to resolve this bug." After saying that, Lan Ze swiped a finger through the air.

"I hope you'll still remember me the next time we meet."

As he said the last part, Lan Ze looked up, unable to stop himself from feeling a little sad.

If he restarted the game, it would mean Ereshkigal would lose the memories of the time they had spent together. That was rather hard to part with.

But it was fine. The next time he came here, he would win Ereshkigal over too!

With that thought, Lan Ze raised his hand and drew a menu in the air.

However, the moment he opened it, he heard a piercing beep beside his ear.

Then a red interface popped up:

[The menu cannot be used in the current scene. Please change scenes and try again.]

"What the hell is going on?"

Lan Ze was a little dumbfounded.

He could not open the menu... Did that mean he could not save his progress or access his inventory?

Games these days did sometimes prevent players from saving in dungeons, but refusing to even let him open the menu was going too far, wasn't it?!

Still, Lan Ze was not too worried.

Although he could not open the menu, he did not need to worry about being unable to log out.

The logout option was not only available in the menu. So long as a player had the intention to leave, they could exit the game. This was a second safeguard designed to prevent malicious people from trapping players inside a game.

These days, hardly anyone dared buy a VR game without safety features.

Was this a bug, or part of the game's story...?

Lan Ze fell into brief contemplation.

He did not want to log out immediately, because this could be an opportunity.

"Hey, did you hear me? Spacing out in front of the Goddess of the Underworld? You're incredibly rude!"

At that moment, Ereshkigal's voice pulled Lan Ze back to reality. His eyes briefly lost focus before settling on her again.

The girl stood with her arms crossed, looking displeased. "I'm asking you a question. What did you mean by 'game'? Don't tell me you made some game-related agreement with the gods, which is why you appeared in the Underworld?"

"Ah... Could it be that you're here just to make a fool of me?!"

At that possibility, Ereshkigal felt an inexplicable sense of loss. To hide the sadness in her heart, she reached out and pinched Lan Ze's cheek again. "Did you hear what I said?"

She was particularly unhappy now.

This human, who knew where he had come from, was like an idiot. Ever since he had first seen her, he had spaced out every now and then. Even if he was captivated by a goddess's beautiful face, there was no need to go this far.

And perhaps he was not captivated by a goddess's beauty at all, but merely a tool sent by the gods to toy with her.

After all, Lan Ze had just mentioned words like "game" and "quest."

The more she considered that possibility, the more obvious the hostility in Ereshkigal's eyes became.

Only then did Lan Ze emerge from his thoughts. Feeling the girl's cool palm against his cheek, he looked once more at Ereshkigal's exquisite face and could not help freezing for a moment.

The soft, warm sensation of her fingers felt just like the real thing.

"Come to think of it... If you're willing, you can send the souls of the dead back to the surface, right?" As Lan Ze spoke, his gaze fell on the cage-spear in Ereshkigal's hand.

Ereshkigal was the mistress of the Underworld, the ruler of death and the departed. Logically speaking, if she wished to, she should be able to send him back to the surface.

Ereshkigal immediately shook her head and flatly rejected him. "That's impossible. How could I casually allow the dead to return to the surface?"