I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 17

Mo Ling looked at Li Luo.

She too was staring at the newly formed Oscillation Beast in shock.

The Oscillation Beast’s metal limbs grew harder, and its head formed a spherical metal mesh to dampen the flesh’s vibrations.

This newly emerged Oscillation Beast looked exactly like the one they’d seen when entering the valley, just bigger.

This sky-high Oscillation Beast slowly advanced toward its goal.

Each step shook the ground like an earthquake.

Li Luo drove after it, soon arriving at a clearing.

In the center was a clear lake.

A pure black, horse-shaped creature was grazing by the water.

It was the Dream Qilin, now in reality.

After Mo Ling killed it via teleportation, it turned black and appeared here.

With the Red Rope Worm’s healing, it had come back to life.

Now it lived in reality in this form.

Success!

The moment he saw the pure black Dream Qilin, Mo Ling breathed a sigh of relief.

“Now the Red Rope Worm should be able to complete its mission.”

Faced with the gigantic Oscillation Beast, the Dream Qilin didn’t run but stood dumbly, lifting its head.

Though its eyes were hard to see, Mo Ling knew it was looking at the approaching beast.

The huge Oscillation Beast, previously moving wildly, now approached the Dream Qilin with care.

But its massive body still made the Qilin wobble.

The Oscillation Beast reached the Dream Qilin, collapsed, and its head’s flesh left the metal mesh, coming to rest beside the Qilin.

The once-surging red tide was now just a trickle.

Mo Ling couldn’t help but sigh.

The flesh slime came to the black Dream Qilin and slowly covered it.

The Qilin didn’t dodge, letting the flesh engulf it.

Li Luo drove closer, letting Mo Ling see inside the flesh.

The pulsing flesh wrapped the pure black skin, making the Qilin tremble.

At that moment, Mo Ling saw black holes sliding across the black skin.

The black holes absorbed the vibration, the flesh’s pulsing slowed, then stopped.

The slime’s red faded, the flesh broke apart, dissolving into a faint mist that soaked into the earth.

As the flesh slime melted, the Dream Qilin’s form reappeared.

It was curled on the ground, looking exhausted.

“It should be over now.”

Mo Ling stared blankly.

Finally, it was ending-the Red Rope Worm’s mission complete, both sides should vanish.

The Oscillation Beast anomaly should be over.

Mo Ling peered into the curled-up Dream Qilin; the Red Rope Worm was gone.

“But why wasn’t the Qilin dead?”

In the endless blackness, a flicker of color pulsed.

“What was that?”

Mo Ling looked closer.

A tiny light slowly brightened, white at first, then spreading into color.

As it spread, the darkness was lit up.

The faint color grew richer, expanding, painting a band of light inside the Qilin.

Like a meteor streaking through the night.

The night was illuminated.

A surge of color burst from the Dream Qilin’s skin, transforming its appearance back to that glitched, rainbow look.

The Qilin slowly stood, shook its head, and shone even more brilliantly.

It moved more nimbly, began walking by the lake.

Soon, it picked up speed and ran.

At the water’s edge, it leapt, tracing a dazzling rainbow across the lake before vanishing.

The liquid from the melted slime drifted down like stardust.

Mo Ling watched, spellbound.

Only when the rainbow faded did he snap out of it.

“Did it survive?”

The Dream Qilin hadn’t died, but turned colorful again and returned to the dream?

So that’s what kind of creature it was.

Maybe, when it revived before, it wasn’t the Red Rope Worm’s doing.

When the Dream Qilin dies in a dream, it turns black and revives in reality.

When it dies in reality, it turns colorful and returns to the dream.

“Too strange.”

Not only that, but in the revived Qilin’s belly, Mo Ling saw a chunk of pure black flesh pulsing.

Because of the color change, he could see it clearly.

“What was that?”

Mo Ling couldn’t figure it out.

Anyway, it was finally over.

Li Luo put away her recorder and leaned back to rest.

This must have been a huge shock for her too.

Suddenly, Li Luo turned and asked the cube, “Are all the Oscillation Beasts dead?”

Mo Ling reflexively wanted to answer, then realized he wasn’t in the dream.

He teleported a can out, three times, making three noises.

Li Luo understood and replied, “I don’t know either.”

The valley was dead silent; Mo Ling guessed the Oscillation Beasts really might be gone.

But there’s always uncertainty-after this, Mo Ling admired these unique creatures.

He didn’t want them to go extinct.

Li Luo opened the rear storage box and put a lot of food on the metal cube.

“Thank you.”

Li Luo looked at the cube and said seriously, “Thank you for going into the dream to save me. You can understand me, right?”

Mo Ling made a can clatter.

Getting a response, Li Luo smiled and started eating.

Mo Ling knew that after the dream, Li Luo surely understood the cube had its own consciousness.

That was a good thing-now, trapped as he was, at least he had food and drink.

He even had a car to ride in, and could slowly learn about this world.

Mo Ling really wanted to know why he was trapped in the cube.

But for now, he had to solve the problem of hunger.

The food on the cube disappeared one by one.

But as the two rested, a black hole appeared out of nowhere beside the car.

Li Luo instantly grabbed her weapon and slashed at the black hole.

A black limb reached out, knocked the weapon away.

Then the limb softened, turning into a black tentacle, reaching into the rear storage box.

When it withdrew, it had two cans of food.

Li Luo tried to attack again, but the tentacle quickly retracted into the black hole and vanished.

Li Luo watched warily, but the black hole didn’t reappear.

She quickly checked the storage box, her face growing grim, and turned to Mo Ling.

“We’re missing two jars of 500-gram Korean kimchi. The kimchi’s gone, but the jars are still here.”