Tempting Him: The Ultimate Reversal!

Cradled in his arms, Yu Qing looked tiny, his nose bright red and tears still lingering at the corners of his eyes.

Yet it was precisely that pitiful appearance that stirred an unprecedented desire for control in the BOSS.

Right before him, Yu Qing's long lashes fluttered twice. Slowly, his thin lips parted. "Mmph!"

Only after a long while did he finally release him, letting him lean into his embrace as he stroked his back and coaxed him with a touch of tenderness. "Being like this with you feels wonderful."

"You look lovely when you're obedient."

"...Even lovelier than when you're dying."

His breath trembled. Yu Qing thought it was cruel, but he still lowered his eyes toward the man before him and asked quietly, "Do I?"

"Yes. That's why I've decided to give you one last chance."

Yu Qing's expression paused slightly as he heard him say, "You want to find the director, don't you?"

His wrists were gradually released. Yu Qing rallied himself and gazed into those fearsome red eyes before him.

"I only carved half a flower." The BOSS lowered his hand, his icy fingertips brushing Yu Qing's cheek. "Darling, I promise I won't appear again before the game ends."

"If you find the key, call for me before you leave, and I'll remove the mark for you. If you don't..."

His voice trailed off. The man lowered his head and pressed a light kiss to Yu Qing's temple.

His meaning could not have been clearer.

Yu Qing did not answer. His heartbeat trembled in his chest. When he could stand again, he gripped the doorknob with one hand and replied, "All right."

Then, click-

The door opened. The slender young man walked out step by step, only to find Qian Lai so frantic that he had summoned every corpse in the Dungeon to help. For a moment, Yu Qing's nose stung, and he did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Their eyes met. Yu Qing's fingers trembled slightly, and the corners of his lips curved instinctively. Before long, even his eyes reddened.

He hurried forward and clasped Qian Lai's shoulder, his voice slightly hoarse. "Let's go."

"Yu Qing..." Beside him, the young man stared at the back of his neck. "You've lost so much blood..."

"I'm fine." The young man stepped forward without looking back once and insisted, "Let's go!"

He had to leave. He had to become the top-ranked streamer here. Nothing could stand in his way.

Nothing deserved to stand in his way!

The young man's footsteps receded. No one noticed the scarlet eyes behind him staring at the hand resting on Qian Lai's shoulder, their gaze dark and unreadable.

He needed to find the director.

But...

The BOSS seemed to have hidden the director away.

He was so well hidden that Yu Qing questioned every NPC here, including Xu Han, without obtaining a single concrete lead.

Soon, [Ding-]

[Daily friendly system reminder: 3 hours remain until the Dungeon ends. Keep up the good work, streamer~]

When the system notification sounded, Yu Qing had just blasted apart the stone pillar beneath the Angel Statue in the lobby.

Beneath the pillar lay a heavy black coffin, sealed with yellow talismans. It was the symbolic grave the director had made for his mother.

...It was rather ironic.

That madman had built his mother into the stone statue, yet placed the clothes she had worn in life inside the coffin!

Creak, creak-

The coffin lid shifted slightly. Qian Lai and Yu Qing strained together to lift it, and then-clang!

The heavy coffin lid hit the floor, stirring a thin cloud of dust.

After searching for days, they finally found the director curled inside the coffin, shivering.

His mental illness seemed to have flared up again. He had shrunk into a tiny ball, clutching his head with both hands, his eyes brimming with tears. "Don't yell at me... sob... don't hit me... I'm not crazy... I'm not... sob..."

"My mom said... I'll get better after taking my medicine a few times..."

"I... I only picked up bottles to sell for scrap. I didn't want Mom to have such a hard life. Don't hit me, don't hit me... sob..."

He wept in despair, as though he had returned to the days when everyone surrounded him and called him "crazy."

His world was gray. Only his mother had brought any color into his bleak life.

So he instinctively bit his finger until it bled, wanting to find his diary.

Whenever he had been frightened before, he would bite his finger and write "Mom" in his diary, using his blood.

It reassured him and reminded him never to forget to be good to his mother.

But... now, even his notebook was gone.

The director could only write "Mom, Mom, Mom..." inside the pitch-black coffin with his trembling right hand.

But the blood ran down and fell onto the black coffin, where its color could not be seen at all.

Unable to see it, he stubbornly wrote it over and over again!

He and his mother had depended on each other to survive. Even if he died, he did not want to forget her.

But...

Qian Lai grabbed him by the back of his collar and roughly hauled him out.

Looking at the shattered statue and the empty coffin, he finally realized-

Mom was gone...

"Sob... sob... aaah..."

His devastated cries echoed throughout the lobby. But Qian Lai pinned the director down and searched his entire body, even buying an item to scan inside him. After searching him inside and out, he still found no key.

The countdown to the Dungeon's end kept drawing closer. Finally, the young man lost his temper. Thud!

He kicked the sobbing director back into the coffin and sealed the lid again.

[Ding-]

[Daily friendly system reminder: 2 hours remain until the Dungeon ends. Keep up the good work, streamer~]

It was almost over...

In two more hours, the seven-day clearance period would end, yet they still had not found the key.

Now even their last hope, the director, had fallen through.

Darkness spread. This night seemed colder than any other night in the Dungeon.

Blood seeped from the eerie Sanatorium's walls, and female ghosts darted about.

[Beep, beep, beep-]

Along with the sound of the Dungeon countdown, the half-carved Red Spider Lily on the back of his neck began to ache faintly, as though it too were urging him to stay.

"Darling, you can't leave."

"You can't leave."

The BOSS's threats intruded into his mind again at the worst possible moment, but Yu Qing did not even have time to be nervous or afraid now!

His mind raced, searching through every clue recorded in the system.

What had he missed?

What else hadn't he thought of?!

He would not stop here, nor would he let Qian Lai die with him!

His hand clenched, his palm slick with sweat. Suddenly, he thought of something!

His eyes lit up abruptly. "I know where the key is!"

[Beep, beep, beep-]

Amid the death-knell of the system countdown, Qian Lai raised his eyes and looked toward him in disbelief.

Only two hours remained. There was no time to waste!

Yu Qing sent Qian Lai away and returned to his ward alone. Then he slammed the door shut with a bang, lay down on the bed with an air of resignation, and slowly raised his hand.

"Master."

In the darkness, the sounds of tentacles occasionally brushed past his ears. The surrounding temperature gradually dropped. Yu Qing gazed at the ceiling and murmured devoutly, "Master, I've thought it through. I haven't found the key. I don't want to die."

"I want to stay and become your lover."

Long after his words faded, the BOSS still had not appeared. Everything around him was utterly silent, yet the temperature dropped several more degrees.

Meanwhile, in the Livestream Room, the viewers who had watched the whole way began to lose their composure at the young man's sudden surrender.

[Seriously? Seriously? It's almost over, and instead of looking for the key, what's he doing? Giving in to the BOSS and leaving his teammate to die?]

[I think that's exactly it. Human nature doesn't stand up to the test when life and death are on the line.]

[God, I don't want to be his fan anymore. Seeing him wag his tail and beg the BOSS for mercy makes me... puke!!!]

The mood in the comments abruptly shifted. The few viewers who defended Yu Qing were quickly drowned out, while some even kicked him when he was down, laughing gleefully.

[The streamer is an absolute idiot. Doesn't he know the BOSS likes him defiant? Acting like this, he's just waiting for the BOSS to kill him!]

[I'm leaving after I watch him get killed! Fuck! Such a spineless coward. What a waste of all the points I tipped him!]

The comments scrolled one after another, while Yu Qing offered one plea after another.

Cries of "Master" echoed through the room until he lifted his shirt himself and held it between his teeth, revealing the suggestive finger marks around his waist...

Only then did the BOSS, who had vanished for days, finally appear.

The man planted both hands beside his pillow and looked down at him, asking with a faint smile, "Darling, what did you just say?"

Yu Qing took the opportunity to reach up around the man's shoulders, staying obediently beneath him. As his thin lips parted, the shirt held between his teeth slipped down.

The young man's long white hair spilled loosely as he leaned beside the BOSS's ear and repeated what he had just said. "Master, I missed you so much. I want to ********** with you."

The BOSS listened closely, a flicker crossing his eyes. Like the victor of this game, he reached without hesitation to claim his prize, but the young man slapped his hand away.

Yu Qing brushed his hand aside, pressed one hand against his shoulder, and sat up. He undid a few buttons himself, then slowly knelt before him, guiding him patiently. "Not like that."

His fingers tapped the man's belt twice. His voice was soft, laced with desire and an enticing hook. "In the human understanding of things, we should..."

He said a few things. The BOSS blinked twice, only half understanding.

But soon, Yu Qing pulled the blanket over them both and slowly leaned toward the BOSS, pressing a kiss to his icy lips. "I'll. Teach. You."

As the words fell, the atmosphere wavered, thick with intimacy.

The young man rested one hand on the BOSS's shoulder and bit his lip, as though struggling terribly. Before long, unmistakable tears pooled in his reddened eyes.

[Oh my, oh my, oh my!] The Livestream Room's viewer count surged wildly.

But... no matter what happened, the blanket remained piled around Yu Qing's waist. The excited viewers could see only his expression and his arms.

The young man's eyes narrowed, his expression gradually growing hazy. He took the initiative to embrace the BOSS before him, when suddenly!

The Livestream Room:

[Aaaaaaaaaah! Qingqing, my darling wife, I love you! What an ultimate reversal! Aaaaaaaaaah!!!]