The turret fired two more shots.
The Nightmare Demon's health dropped to its final sliver. It let out a roar and chose to retreat, its dark silhouette vanishing into the corridor.
Silence fell.
Only the buzzing of the flickering fluorescent lights remained in the corridor.
Xue Qinghe still had his hand clenched around Qin Chuan's sleeve. It took him quite a while to let go.
He realized that most of his body was leaning against Qin Chuan and hurriedly shifted aside, clearing his throat.
Qin Chuan pretended not to notice anything.
He watched the gold balance on the panel, mentally planning how to handle the next wave.
Another two hours passed.
The thirty-thousand-year Nightmare Demon arrived.
This time, it was fiercer than in either of the previous two attacks. Its attack power had doubled again. One hit could knock 300 health off the door.
By now, Qin Chuan had raised the door's health to 800, upgraded the turret to level 5, and upgraded the Repair Station twice.
But it was still a close call.
The thirty-thousand-year Nightmare Demon battered the door faster than in the previous two waves, striking almost once every two breaths. The door's health plummeted, and the repairs simply could not keep up.
When the door's health dropped to 50, Qin Chuan's gold ran dry too.
He stared at the panel, his mind racing.
"Xue Qinghe, watch the door's health for me. Shout when it hits 20."
"All right."
Qin Chuan freed one hand to operate the turret, manually aiming at the Nightmare Demon's head. Manual fire dealt double damage.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three blue bolts of light struck their target dead-on.
The Nightmare Demon's health bar dropped by a large chunk.
"It's at 20!" Xue Qinghe shouted.
Qin Chuan switched back to repairing the door. Its health jumped from 20 to 70.
The instant the repair finished, another blow landed. 70 dropped to 0.
This time, Qin Chuan was too late.
The door shattered.
Wood splinters flew all over the room.
The Nightmare Demon stooped and squeezed through the doorway. Its thirty-foot-tall body felt overwhelmingly oppressive in the cramped room, two patches of red light staring at the two people on the bed.
Xue Qinghe instinctively grabbed Qin Chuan's arm.
Qin Chuan's other hand was already on the turret's manual control console.
Point-blank range.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
All five bolts of light struck the Nightmare Demon's chest.
The Nightmare Demon's health bar emptied.
It opened its mouth and let out a piercing, wretched howl. Its body fractured from the chest outward, black mist scattering and turning into flakes of ash that drifted to the floor.
The ashes dissipated.
A shaft of light streamed through the window at the end of the corridor.
Dawn had broken.
The Clown Dwarf's voice rang out: "Congratulations, players! You successfully survived until dawn! Haunted Dormitory cleared!"
"Distributing rewards..."
"Player Qin Chuan, level +2. Current level: 60."
"Player Xue Qinghe, level +2. Current level: 74."
Qin Chuan let out a long breath.
Level sixty. Finally, level sixty.
The [God of Drama] rule martial soul automatically acquired the Sixth Soul Ring... and the sixth Soul Skill-"One, Two, Three, Red Light."
Absolute crowd control.
Qin Chuan's level rose from 60 to 61. Soul Emperor!
Xue Qinghe also felt the change in the soul power within him. Level seventy-four. The two-level increase had come so easily that it was hard to believe.
The two left the Game Domain and returned to the ordinary room.
Twelve hours in the game had amounted to only two hours in reality.
It was still deep into the night. Moonlight streamed through the second-floor corridor windows, spilling across the floor.
Xue Qinghe stepped out of the room and stood in the corridor, rubbing his temples. He had been wound tight for too long in the game, and his nerves were still strained.
Qin Chuan came out too.
They stood in the corridor for a while, both still shaken.
Xue Qinghe relaxed, a faint warmth in his eyes as he took the initiative to break the silence. "Tonight was far too dangerous. I'm mentally exhausted, and I can't be bothered to head back to my residence. There are empty rooms on the second floor. Could I stay here for the night?"
Qin Chuan nodded. "Of course."
Xue Qinghe hesitated, then quietly added, "That game was terrifying. I'm still a little scared, and staying in a room alone makes me uneasy. Tonight... could we share a room? We'll each sleep on our own and won't bother each other."
Qin Chuan knew he had been badly frightened earlier. He dispensed with the empty formalities and simply nodded in agreement.
They entered an unused guest room on the second floor together, tidied it up a little, then each lay down to rest.
The night deepened, and the entire Douluo Game Hall was silent, without the slightest sound.
In the middle of the night, moonlight shone into the room through the window.
Sound asleep, Xue Qinghe let his guard down. The disguise on his body could no longer hold and quietly faded away.
Dazzling golden hair spilled loose, fully revealing the young woman's slender, breathtaking figure. The unique, sacred soul power of the Six-Winged Angel leaked out unconsciously, exposing her true identity outright.
Qin Chuan had been sleeping lightly to begin with. He immediately sensed the change in the aura beside him, slowly opened his eyes to take in the situation, and understood at once.
He did not make a sound to disturb her. Quietly closing his eyes, he continued resting and pretended to know nothing.
A day later, dawn was only just beginning to break.
Qian Renxue woke first, her legs still a little unsteady.
She deftly straightened her clothes and dressed properly again, returning to Xue Qinghe's youthful appearance and restoring every part of her disguise.
She turned to look at Qin Chuan, who was still sleeping beside her, complicated emotions in her eyes. There was gratitude, affection, and a trace of tenderness she could not hide.
Just then, Qin Chuan woke and looked up at her.
Qian Renxue stopped keeping up the pretense and spoke frankly. "Qin Chuan, my real name is Qian Renxue. I'm not the Heaven Dou Crown Prince at all. My true identity is someone from Spirit Hall."
Her expression was solemn as she earnestly cautioned him, "You must keep what happened last night and my true identity a secret."
Qin Chuan remained calm and nodded lightly. "Don't worry. I'm Spirit Hall's Saint Son. I understand the rules and where to draw the line. I won't breathe a word of anything I shouldn't."
"All right. I'll come see you again in a few days."
They looked at each other without speaking, sharing a perfect understanding.
The danger and excitement of last night's game, the quiet atmosphere of sharing a room late at night, and the tremendous surprise of breaking through and leveling up had all become a secret bond belonging to the two of them alone.
"Otherworld Survival... I want to play again next time."
Qin Chuan smiled. "You're welcome anytime."
Xue Qinghe pushed open the door and walked out.
The sunlight outside was bright, shining on his white brocade robe as he walked away into the distance.
Qin Chuan got up and checked his condition.
Yesterday, he had maxed out level 60. Today, he was already level 61.
He raised his left hand. His sixth Soul Skill had already been unlocked.
[One, Two, Three, Red Light.]
He silently repeated the name, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
Once he used this skill, never mind Tang San and his group-even a Titled Douluo would have to stand obediently in place, unable to move.
But it still was not enough.
Level 61 was still considered weak in this world. The true heavyweights were all Titled Douluo above level 90. Although his rule martial soul could ignore level differences, there was one prerequisite-he had to activate his domain.
If his opponent attacked him from range outside the domain, he still would not be able to withstand it.
The thought left Qin Chuan a little worried.
But now was not the time to think about that.
It was getting late. Time to open the shop.
Before you continue