The Cub Raised in a Horror Game - Chapter 15 - The Baby's Third Dream Journey

Chu Wang carefully cleaned the messy baby and changed her into fresh clothes.

He noticed she smelled unusually sweet today, almost like… milk. Judging from the stained onesie, whoever she met in the other world must have fed her something delicious last night — perhaps even milk.

After changing her clothes and washing her face with water poured into his palms, the baby finally earned her freedom. She immediately crawled away, reached her favorite box, and pulled herself up to stand.

Thinking she had escaped quickly enough, she turned around and grinned proudly at Chu Wang — only to lose her balance and plop back down onto the floor.

Chu Wang couldn’t help but laugh. Keeping half an eye on her as she played, he spread out the cloth bundle she brought back the night before.

Once unfolded, it revealed a rectangular satin cloth. Its dark red — nearly black — background was embroidered with shifting moon phases in gold thread, while hidden, intricate patterns glimmered faintly beneath the moonlight, forming complex, mysterious symbols.

The craftsmanship was exquisite, carrying a solemn, almost religious weight, yet the combination of moons and cryptic sigils also gave it a faintly eerie feel.

Such an expensive and delicate fabric being used simply to wrap fruit, combined with the ruby from the night before… even if Chu Wang hadn’t been certain earlier, he now believed she had visited the same world on both nights.

That person must be extremely wealthy and hold a very high status. Judging from the symbols, it was unlikely to be a player — it was most likely a Dungeon Lord with a religious or ceremonial worldview.

Chu Wang found the ironies of life amusing. The Dungeon Lords had once been the enemies he was determined to defeat, but now, he was co-parenting a cub with one of them.

He put the cloth away and kept the oranges hidden outside. When he went out to search for supplies that afternoon, Chu Wang brought the oranges back, pretending he had found them.

The children stared curiously at the unfamiliar, orange-colored fruits.

“Brother Chu, what is this? It looks so strange.”

Inia was their most important baby, and even she had never eaten fruit. Naturally, none of the others had either. Only Chu Wang, born to players from another layer and trained from the age of three or four, had encountered more things.

“These are oranges, a kind of fruit,” he explained, peeling one and separating the segments. “Try it. It’s very delicious.”

Inia was, of course, the first to be offered a piece. Having already tasted the delicacy in her dream, she immediately tried to grab it in delight the moment she saw it. But to her surprise, Chu Wang lifted his hand out of reach, continuing to carefully peel away the thin membrane from the orange segment.

“Ah-ah, Brother.”

The baby grew impatient. Luckily, Chu Wang quickly lifted her into his arms and fed her the peeled pieces little by little. It was far easier than biting it herself, and so she finally waited obediently.

The other children cautiously placed the orange in their mouths to taste it. The sweet flavor instantly made their eyes light up.

“It’s so good! It’s so sweet!”

Older children, like Charlie and Lina—already past ten—had far better control. Precisely because it was an unfamiliar delicacy, they would chew slowly, savoring it just to make the enjoyment last as long as possible.

But Xiao Shi, Sugar Bean, and Tiny One couldn’t restrain themselves. The moment they tasted that first drop of sweet juice, they swallowed it all at once. And when they noticed that their second sister and third brother were only halfway through their own segments, the three little ones exchanged a glance, each looking a bit regretful.

Chu Wang chuckled warmly. “It’s alright—there are still a few left. Just take your time with this one.”

He peeled the second orange and shared it among his younger siblings, then peeled another segment for the baby, feeding it to her slowly.

Watching her eat with such delight—even pausing now and then to look up and smile at him—Chu Wang couldn’t help gently rubbing Inia’s curly hair.

A wave of emotion welled up in him. The baby was so small, yet she was already going out to “hunt,” bringing back something wonderful the moment she returned.

To them, oranges were far more precious than any ruby.

Chu Wang didn’t think that just because the oranges had been given to the baby by someone else, the others shouldn’t eat them. A group of underage children trying to survive in a brutal world could only live by working together.

Just as everyone saved their most precious biscuits for the baby, it was only natural for the baby to share the food she had “hunted” with them. This was how the children kept each other alive.

His only regret was not being able to tell them the truth of it all—just how extraordinary the baby truly was.

He put away the remaining oranges and, meeting their lingering, hopeful gazes, said helplessly, “Save some for tomorrow. It’d be a waste to finish everything today.”

Sugar Bean licked his lips, savoring the aftertaste. “Oranges are so good. I think they’re the best fruit in the world!”

“You’re not thinking of changing your name to ‘Orange’ again, are you?”

“Hahahaha!”

Laughter from the children echoed warmly through the container.

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The moon shone brightly, the stars scattered sparsely across the sky, and a thin veil of mist gathered along the horizon.

In the Eternal Night dungeon [Nightmare Castle], Dreist sat by the window, examining the fabric in his hand.

As the ruler of all lands in this world, his authority surpassed that of any ordinary king. Blessed with eternal life and unmatched power, the people naturally came to revere their Lord of Darkness, bestowing upon Dreist the dual honor of both His Majesty and Pope.

Thus, he naturally possessed subordinates specifically for tailoring his clothes, though they were dark creatures: a group of wood-element sprites born from flower buds, roughly the size of a human palm.

They were genderless, naturally loved to tailor beautiful and luxurious clothing, and usually drank mead. Otherwise, they cared about nothing.

After Dreist conveyed his wish to have clothes made for the cub, the leading sprite, utterly unconcerned with the Lord’s whim, flew away upon receiving the order.

The man’s only requirements were that the clothes be comfortable and soft, with no embroidered patterns that might poke the baby. About a few hours later, the wood sprites returned with ten baby outfits of varying styles.

Perhaps finding the task too simple, the sprites couldn’t resist adding some flourishes: they chose a special fabric that was soft and thin, using two layers. The outside was embroidered with pretty patterns, and an inner layer was added to ensure it wouldn’t poke the wearer. They then used magic to combine the two layers, making the garments both beautiful and comfortable.

Furthermore, all ten small outfits were tailored and sewn in different ways, ensuring no duplicates.

Dreist was very satisfied, but he worried that the entire estate might refresh at any time, at which point the sprites would lose their memories, and he would have to explain everything again. It was too much trouble.

So, he simply ordered them to make more of various small outfits, just in case, and also requested the sprites to teach him personally.

The wood sprite, entrusted with this serious task, slowly flew over holding the fabric, giving Dreist a very mournful look. But it was cowardly and dared not say anything, dutifully serving as the temporary teacher.

Most dark creatures held this kind of awe and fear toward Dreist.

The vampire spent an entire day learning the basics of sewing. Intelligent people with perseverance learn quickly, and his progress was excellent. He could already mimic the process of sewing simple small dresses and trousers, although, in the sprite’s eyes, this was merely a crude and unesthetic stitching of two pieces of cloth. Still, it praised its ultimate Lord against its own better judgment.

Just as it approached Inia’s bedtime, Dreist put down everything else and focused entirely on inviting her early.

Perhaps the half-month of consecutive failures had left a deep psychological scar on the Vampire Lord, causing him to start inviting her long in advance, just to secure the first invitation slot.

Just then, a pop-up appeared in his view.

[The Master is out playing. Please come back tomorrow night.]

Dreist: …

A sudden realization struck.

There was nothing to be done. Inia was simply a baby who loved to eat.

Chocolate cake was delicious, yet after having it so often, she had grown a little tired of it.
Here was where the Ocean’s lack of a physical form worked against it.

At this age, Inia was beginning to recognize people. She could miss her brother, her sister, and even the vampire. But how was she supposed to remember something abstract and shapeless?

Memories of toys and tasty treats were easily replaced. Warm arms were not.
So the Ocean remained on her mental blacklist for the day, entirely forgotten.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inia opened her eyes and found herself once again in a completely unfamiliar place.

The white, fluorescent light above her flickered incessantly, making a buzzing sound.

In the dimming light, the endless corridor was eerily quiet, the pale three walls seemingly crushing the air.

If any adults who had seen the movie were here, their hearts would surely skip a beat.

What kind of horror movie scene was this?! It felt as though the silence could shatter at any moment, with some monster bursting out of nowhere to devour people, accompanied by terrifying sound effects.

But as always, Inia paid no attention to the eerie atmosphere. If she had once been nervous when she first wandered through strange dream worlds, she had now become quite used to them.

The floor, however, was far too cold. Feeling uncomfortable, she raised her hands and crawled forward more quickly.

The place resembled the underground interior of a laboratory. The air was cold and damp.
The farther she crawled, the dirtier the walls and floor became. Dried and unidentifiable stains were scattered everywhere, and a deep claw mark cut across the ceiling.

The drag marks on the ground curved around the corner ahead. Perhaps bothered by the cold, the baby placed her hands on the wall and pushed herself upright.

She wobbled forward a few steps, her large eyes drifting around with curiosity.

By now, Inia had reached the corner. The lights along the main corridor were mostly on, although several flickered while the rest shone steadily.

The side corridor beyond the corner, however, was completely dark. Only the first few meters were faintly visible, while everything past that was swallowed by what looked like thick black fog, a darkness that felt alive.

The baby could not stand for long. She sat back down, leaned against the corner wall, and let out a small, testing “Waaah.”

Her tiny voice echoed through the quiet corridor, then silence returned just as quickly.

Inia grew a little bored. Her tiny hands restlessly picked at the wall. Her eyes traced the filthy drag marks on the floor, as if she were curious enough to follow them.

Fortunately, that notion, the very one that would have made Chu Wang collapse on the spot, never took shape, for the baby’s attention had been entirely captured by the darkness.

If one looked closely at the entrance to the dark hallway, dense white strands could be seen clinging to the walls and floor, like clusters of fungal threads stretching into the unseen depths. And from within that darkness drifted a scent that instantly lifted the baby’s spirits.

It was a fragrance made of pain, hatred, and terror twisted together.

To Inia, it was a strangely delightful smell.