Bubu's Blind Boxes Go on Sale

The entertainment company knew it could no longer keep things under wraps and could only release a statement admitting that Ao Lin had indeed entered the tower.

The photos it had posted before had all been taken and saved in advance. The fan groups were in an uproar, too. Some expressed understanding, while others felt deceived.

But even more were worried about how Ao Lin was faring inside the tower.

In just a few minutes, the number of viewers in Ao Lin's livestream surged from a few hundred thousand to over seven million.

Meanwhile, Sang Yi had also dealt with the Human-Faced Tree in her instance.

Her magic attribute was fire, and she burned the Human-Faced Tree straight to ashes.

[You're so badass, sis!]

[Go, Dabao! You'll definitely take first place this round!]

Over the next few days, Xin Jiu wandered through the maze with Bubu.

The human and dragon killed quite a few hostile NPCs, accumulating plenty of points and skill cards, only two of which were usable.

[Skill: Baa Baa's Warm Home (B-rank)]

[Skill description: Summons one hundred lambs to surround the enemy when used.]

[Tip: The lambs' bleating can also interfere with the enemy's ability to think, helping you make your escape.]

The other was:

[Skill: Good and Evil Will Ultimately Be Repaid (A-rank)]

[Skill description: When an enemy uses a magic skill on you, there is a 45% chance of reflecting it back at them with twice the effect.]

[Tip: The odds may be a little low, but what if it works? (Soybean smiley face)]

What she didn't know was that Bubu had gone viral during this time.

He had become a sensation in the most literal sense.

A little dragon who could breathe lightning and was super cute after transforming had instantly captured the hearts of the people of the Nine Provinces.

The largest plush toy manufacturer in the Nine Provinces had smelled a business opportunity the moment Bubu first appeared. It registered a trademark overnight, and its factories worked overtime through the night to produce little dragon plushies modeled after Bubu.

The investors who were a step too late slapped their thighs in frustration.

The first release consisted of only thirty thousand units, sold as blind boxes.

The blind boxes came in regular and secret editions.

The regular editions featured Bubu in various little dragon poses, such as flying, lying down, acting cute, and getting angry.

The secret edition was Bubu's human form with dragon horns. The craftsmanship went without saying. How bad could something made by the largest plush toy manufacturer in the Nine Provinces possibly be? Even the embroidery on his clothes had been reproduced exactly.

They sold out within ten seconds of going on sale.

The original price was only 228, but on a certain secondhand marketplace, the price had already been driven up to over a thousand and was still trending upward.

As for the secret edition, that went without saying-it was being auctioned.

Some people said Bubu looked like a Western dragon and urged everyone not to go so crazy, but most people said that as long as he was born in the Nine Provinces, he had Nine Provinces household registration, which made him a dragon of the Nine Provinces!

Bubu and Xin Jiu knew nothing about any of this, and just like that, the final day of the maze instance arrived.

"You ate fruits of six different attributes. Did you get any skills?"

Bubu nodded. "I can get bigger."

"..." Xin Jiu choked for a moment. "How big?"

Bubu took a deep breath, and his body began to glow. A second later, a huge dragon appeared before Xin Jiu.

How huge?

About three stories tall. The purple scales covering him gleamed in the sunlight. He flapped his wings a few times, and if Xin Jiu hadn't reacted quickly and grabbed a tree trunk, the gusts from his wings would have sent her flying.

Bubu lowered his head and blinked his purple eyes. "Big enough?"

"...Yes. Now it's time for us to get out of here."

Fruits of six different attributes, all for a skill that only made him bigger. What a colossal loss!

Xin Jiu used the [Navigation Card], then jumped onto Bubu's back. With a beat of his wings, Bubu shot into the sky.

Wind howled past her ears. Xin Jiu looked down, taking in the forest and little lakes below. If she hadn't had to leave the instance, she really would have liked to stay a few more days. This place was practically a natural oxygen bar.

An eagle flying nearby was so startled by the appearance of a dragon that its wings shook, and it nearly fell out of the sky.

Its comical reaction made Xin Jiu rock back and forth with laughter.

After flying for a while, they spotted a golden wall of light in the distance. That was the exit to this floor's maze instance.

Just then, however, Xin Jiu spotted a strange structure on the ground that looked like an altar.

A lot of people had gathered around it.

"Bubu, fly a little lower."

Xin Jiu shouted, only to get a huge mouthful of wind as soon as she opened her mouth.

Bubu lowered his altitude, allowing Xin Jiu to see what was happening below.

She hadn't been mistaken. It really was an altar, built entirely out of black stone, with four large pillars standing around it, intricate totems carved into them.

A creature lay asleep in the middle of the altar. It looked like a wolf, but it had wings.

There were... probably over a hundred players.

They seemed to be trapped. Some were crying, while others were trying to attack.

But Xin Jiu saw their skills strike an invisible wall before bouncing away. Was it a barrier?

"Do you know what that wolf-looking thing is?"

Bubu took a look. "No."

"Let's go down and have a look."

"But the exit's right up ahead."

She glanced at the gray wolf's panel. All its attributes were a few points higher than hers, but she had plenty of skills, so she should be able to kill it.

"This is the last NPC we can earn points from, and it looks pretty strong, too. It'd be a shame to miss it."

Even the Human-Faced Tree, which barely had any attack power, had earned her twenty thousand points. This one had wings, so surely it had to be worth at least fifty thousand.

"All right, then."

Bubu changed direction and began to dive.

On the ground, the trapped players were suffering in despair.

"We're done for. Today's the last day, but it won't open the barrier until tomorrow. What do we do..."

"If we hadn't sacrificed those people and had attacked together instead, we might still have had a chance to live."

"I don't want to die! I don't want to die..."

"Ah! What a strong wind!"

Bubu's descent stirred up violent gusts that left the players unable to open their eyes. Then they heard a dragon's roar.

"A dragon..."

"It's a dragon!"

The players' eyes widened as they stared at the sight before them in disbelief.

A girl in a red jacket sat on the dragon, her calm gaze sweeping over them.

Xin Jiu jumped off Bubu's back, landing steadily in the clearing in front of the altar.

The winged gray wolf woke with a start.

It rose from the altar, shook out its gray fur, and bared its vicious fangs, which still bore traces of blood. "A player actually came to my doorstep of her own accord." Its voice sounded like a horribly cracked gong.

Xin Jiu frowned.

Not only was this thing ugly, it stank, too.

The moment it opened its mouth, the smell was enough to make little animals hundreds of meters away roll their eyes back.

The gray wolf narrowed its eyes and stared at Xin Jiu. "My instincts tell me you're strong."

"If I weren't, how would I dare come kill you?"

The gray wolf froze for a moment, then threw its head back and laughed, its laughter harsh and grating. "Such arrogance. Do you know who I am? I am..."

Xin Jiu really couldn't stand the smell. She first threw a [Bubble Cage] onto it, then restrained it with [Branch and Vine Entanglement], before charging in with her bayonet.

The gray wolf sneered. "Quite a few skills you've got there."

Even with two debuffs stacked on it, the gray wolf reacted quickly, sidestepping the bayonet and swiping out with a claw.

Xin Jiu retreated, leaping two meters back.

The gray wolf's strength and speed were far beyond what she had imagined.

Xin Jiu smiled bitterly. She had been hasty.

She adjusted her strategy, no longer clashing with it head-on. Instead, she darted and leaped around it, looking for an opening. But the gray wolf was simply too smart. After several exchanges, it struck her in the back with a claw, sending her flying.

A metallic sweetness rose in her throat, and she spat out a mouthful of blood.