The Cub Raised in a Horror Game - Chapter 11 - Bad Brother!

Before the age of three or four, an infant’s memory is relatively weak, even more so for a baby like Inia, who had not yet reached her first birthday.

Simply put, the baby currently had the memory of a fish. Not only did she forget everything that happened in her dreams each time she woke up, but even inside the dream itself, if no person or object guided her, everything would still feel unfamiliar no matter how many times she visited.

What infants needed most was always interaction with adults, and in this respect, the Ocean was far inferior to the Vampire Lord Dreist.

If Dreist were to fetch Inia to play every few days, she would definitely remember the vampire by now and be so familiar with him that she would reach out for a hug the moment she saw him.

The Ocean never showed itself, and the baby would never develop a sense of familiarity with an empty space. Therefore, It could only buy various children’s furniture for her, guiding her to play with the same toys in the dream so that Inia would gradually become used to the dream environment and wouldn’t start looking for her brother so quickly each time.

Inia began waking up in a low-legged children’s bed every time she visited the dream, though she did not know when this started.

The bed’s edges were soft, sloping ramps made of sofa-like material, making it easy for her to crawl down onto the rug and play with the dozens of bright toys scattered there.

The Ocean’s strategy was quite effective. Ever since she had her own little bed and toys, the baby had a sixty percent chance of happily playing through the entire night. A small portion of the time, she would abruptly drop her toys in the middle of play and begin searching everywhere for her brother.

More than ten days later, when Inia opened her eyes on the small bed again, she did not repeat the infinite dream loop of —looks familiar—Wow! Toys!

She stretched her arms on the bed and let out a yawn, and although her amber eyes drifted toward the toys on the rug, she did not immediately crawl over as before. Instead, she rolled over on the bed.

The baby lay on the soft mattress. Having been nourished by the energy of the two Lords for the past two months, her tiny face was finally plump with baby fat, making one instinctively want to pinch her cheeks.

Her tiny black curls were still too short to be tied up. Paired with her beautiful amber eyes and rosy lips, she looked exactly like a newborn princess from a fairytale.

Inia lay on the small bed for a long time that night, showing no intention of playing with the toys.

It wasn’t until a small bear doll floated over to her that the baby reached out and caught it. She blinked her big eyes as she looked around.

“Brother.”

After a pause, and hearing no one respond, the baby called again in a soft, sweet voice, “Sister.”

To Inia, the person she was closest to was Chu Wang. The young man had been the first person she ever saw, and he was the one who cared for her the most. Though his dark power was scarce, it quietly entered her tummy every day.

So, when faced with an unfamiliar environment or an urgent situation, the only person the baby sought for help was him.

Now that Inia was familiar with the territory in the dream, viewing it as a secure home, the emergency state vanished, and she naturally remembered to call out for her other brothers and sisters.

The sign that she accepted the new dream home was precisely that the baby no longer rushed immediately toward the novelty of the toys upon entering the dream.

In her tiny world, home was peaceful and safe, a place where love was abundant enough to allow the baby to be confident and relaxed, without worrying that her toys would be snatched away, so she could take her time playing. Whenever she wanted something, her brothers and sisters would fulfill it.

This was the home the six children had built for her in the junkyard world—perhaps shabby, but unique.

The Ocean could not understand this. It had slowly built a paradise exclusively for her based on Inia’s habits and preferences. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, so why had this effective, repeatedly verified method suddenly failed?

It did not know that this was precisely because its plan had been executed too successfully. The Ocean could only summon more novel toys and even cartoons, hoping she would continue to play happily.

In the Ocean’s paradise, everything was fun and dazzling—things the junkyard children could never give Inia.

At first, this approach worked somewhat, but the Ocean soon realized that as the dream lasted longer, even the toys could no longer distract the baby; she kept calling for her brother and sister.

—It was a paradise built entirely around her needs, so why was this still happening?

Even with its vast knowledge, as immense as mountains and seas, it struggled to understand what this tiny, barely-speaking baby truly wanted.

Humans were always so difficult to understand.

Inia’s clean, pure eyes reflected the small paradise beneath the clear blue sky. Countless toys lay scattered on the rug before her. The baby blinked, as though all she saw in her eyes was the same empty space from before.

Toys, cartoons, and swimming were certainly fun, but they were only interesting the first time she saw them. Once the nights—once capable of resetting her memory like dreams—began to flow continuously, Inia’s enthusiasm for them naturally faded.

For the baby, the most important thing was always love.

Inia loved the warmth of the arms that held her, loved the children’s smiles, and loved the soft voices that spoke gently to her.

She didn’t need so many toys; she needed lots and lots of love.

The baby ignored the dolls piled on her bed. She tilted her head back and looked toward the sky. At that moment, another doll descended from mid-air and landed neatly in her arms.

Inia tossed it aside. She reached out her small hand toward the empty air.

“Brother, hug.”

The air fell silent.

The next second, the world before her suddenly went dark.

The Ocean exited her dream.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw the somewhat old, corrugated iron ceiling. Morning light slanted through the tiny holes of the container, and she heard the low rustling of the children who were already awake.

In the familiar surroundings, the baby blinked—then burst into loud cries.

Even though she didn’t yet understand dreams or the difference between dreaming and waking, and even though her memories of dream events always faded, her emotions were clear and continuous.

She didn’t remember what had happened, but a bad guy had kept ignoring her, making her very lonely.

Chu Wang, who had been preparing to go out, rushed back at the sound of her crying.
He immediately picked her up, bewildered. “What’s wrong?”

Fortunately, Inia still hadn’t formed memories. If she were two or three years old now, Chu Wang would have taken all the blame for the Ocean’s neglect in the dream.

After all, the baby didn’t know who the Ocean was. She had called for Chu Wang every time—and Chu Wang had failed to appear every time.

Bad Brother!

All morning, Inia clung to him. If he even tried to put her down, she would look at him with tearful, wronged eyes that shattered his heart. Naturally, Chu Wang couldn’t bear to see her so upset, so he coaxed her gently until noon, when she finally calmed down.

The children were distressed as well and tried to guess the reason.

“Did a bug bite the baby?”

“Maybe she had a nightmare.”

“Or maybe she’s hungry, sick, or cold?”

“The baby loves Brother Chu the most. Did Brother Chu go out too much recently and not spend enough time with her?”

Everyone’s eyes involuntarily turned toward their pillar of strength.

Chu Wang, busy coaxing the child while enduring the stares of his younger siblings: …

It had to be that awful person from her dream!

First, he made the baby catch a chill, and now he made her cry. If Chu Wang ever found him, he would definitely settle this score.

He clearly needed to sharpen his dagger again.

That night, before bed, Chu Wang held the baby in his arms and earnestly negotiated with her.
“Inia, can you please stop dreaming about that bad guy? We need to stay away from bad people. Anyone who bullies the baby is a bad person.”

Inia looked at him blankly, blinking.

“Wuu… bad?” She was just starting to learn single words. Under Chu Wang’s encouraging gaze, the baby freely combined the few words she knew, her voice soft yet clear, “Brother, bad.”

Chu Wang: …

That’s not what I meant, baby!!

Although his approach tonight cost him quite a bit of self-esteem, if the young man knew that the Ocean’s authority had indeed been revoked by Inia, it might cheer him up slightly.

Because she was too young, Inia’s mental link was open; anyone could connect.

But the crying baby was unhappy because of the dream; she didn’t want to go to a place without her brother and sister. This instinctive minor resistance caused her power to accidentally shut down the Ocean’s summoning authority.

The Ocean wanted to leave its little black room, but it had to wait for Inia to let it out. But here was the problem: the baby was too small and had no control over her power.

If they were lucky, and the baby’s spirit became hungry again, then as long as she vaguely craved the taste of ice cream, or even briefly thought about playing with the Ocean World toys, this faint lack of resistance and quiet desire could reopen the two-way connection with the Ocean.

If they were unlucky, things would become troublesome—how many people remember their dreams from infancy? To reconnect with Inia, the Ocean might have to wait until she grew up, learned to control her power, and rediscovered the forgotten mental link.

Fortunately, the first possibility was quite likely, because the month was almost over. The baby had finished absorbing the Ocean’s power and was about to enter the next phase of nutrient intake.

And on this crucial night—after two long months—the Vampire Grand Duke Dreist finally succeeded in linking with the baby, pulling her into his dungeon world.