The Five-Minute Gamble

Although Ye Shengge had previously harbored suspicions that the resentful puppets were split fragments of the previous dungeon’s boss, the sheer magnitude of the shock when this terrifying conjecture was confirmed remained incredibly immense.

But shock aside, looking back closely, one could actually find clues pointing toward the dungeon bosses being one and the same person in many different aspects.

No wonder the Puppet Boss of this dungeon could summon a black mist identical to that of the previous dungeon boss, and could even break free from the plot’s control to shatter the seal restrictions ahead of schedule.

No wonder the intensely jealous Puppet Bosses obeyed the instructions of the previous dungeon boss.

No wonder the previous dungeon boss didn’t display any anger when the Puppet Bosses held him.

It turned out they were all the same individual.

Under the crushing weight of absolute power, the Puppet Bosses, in order to gain an opportunity to interact with the beautiful Dollmaker, would undoubtedly choose to compromise with the Evil God and act exactly as he commanded.

With the Puppet Bosses and the Evil God forming a powerful alliance, it was no exaggeration to say they could easily obliterate any golden thigh in this dungeon.

Originally, Ye Shengge had wanted to pull a clever trick, triggering the jealousy of the previous dungeon boss to make him fight the Puppet Bosses—ideally to the point where both sides suffered heavy losses—allowing him to reap the rewards as a bystander.

But now that the Evil God had actively confessed to him that the Puppet Bosses were his split fragments…

The little calculations Ye Shengge had been making in his heart fell entirely flat.

Though he wasn’t incredibly intelligent, he wasn’t a complete fool either. He knew that even if the Puppet Bosses possessed immense jealousy and wished nothing more than to slaughter their true main body, the Evil God, they wouldn’t strike rashly without absolute certainty, lest they ended up letting someone else benefit for nothing.

After all, no matter how much they envied the Evil God, the Puppet Bosses knew they were part of a single entity. When facing an external threat, they would still choose to present a united front against the outsider.

This point could easily be seen from the way the big dummy Heavenly Master had been handled by the combined forces of the Puppet Bosses and the Evil God possessing the childhood friend.

Thinking of this, the hearts of both Ye Shengge and the system instantly turned piercingly cold.

“Be good, come over.” Seeing the exquisitely beautiful youth’s face filled with absolute resistance—shuffling forward slowly only because he was being pushed by the resentful puppets behind him—the Evil God felt a bit displeased.

The beautiful youth didn’t display this kind of complete resistance and refusal to take a single step closer even when facing Peng Biao, that brainless, useless Heavenly Master. Why did everything completely change when it came to him? He wasn’t some sort of terrifying monster.

But this cold, pressing sentence, laced with personal emotion, sounded even more frightening to Ye Shengge than any terrifying monster.

“Don’t yell at me!” Ye Shengge suddenly spoke up, deliberately making a scene out of nothing as he glared fiercely at the man seated in the chair.

He hoped this behavior would make the Evil God dislike him, thereby abandoning the decision to make him come over.

However, Ye Shengge, who considered himself incredibly unreasonable and annoying, had no idea that every single one of his movements appeared unimaginably cute in the eyes of the Evil God, completely soothing the slight displeasure in the Evil God’s heart instead.

His voice was simply too soft, sounding exactly as if he were acting spoiled. No matter how much he threw a tantrum, the words he uttered could hardly generate any feeling of disgust in a person; instead, one would instinctively want to apologize and reflect on whether they had truly done something wrong.

The Evil God was exactly like this.

Hearing the beautiful youth’s deeply aggrieved accusation, he only reacted after the fact, realizing that his speaking tone just now had indeed been far too icy.

Realizing this point, the Evil God instantly abandoned his previous leisurely front of sitting grandly in the chair, waiting for the beautiful youth to approach voluntarily. He hurriedly softened his tone to apologize: “I didn’t mean to frighten you, I merely wanted you to come over a bit faster.”

Having said that, he seriously added another sentence: “I truly harbor no wicked intentions. Look, I haven’t done anything, nor have I forced you or harmed anyone else. Do you still refuse to believe me?”

It was precisely as the Evil God stated. As long as he wished it, he could completely disregard anyone’s volition and directly abduct Ye Shengge.

When that time came, Ye Shengge wouldn’t even possess an opportunity to resist, let alone find faults with the Evil God to procrastinate and stall for time like he was doing right now.

However, choosing not to do so did not mean the Evil God hadn’t considered it. Rather, traversing through so many different dungeon worlds had caused him significant damage, and the restrictions he faced within the dungeons were growing increasingly numerous.

Were it not for this, why would he choose to compromise and utilize methods of coaxing just to get his sweetheart to stand a bit closer to him?

But Ye Shengge knew nothing of these matters. After listening to the previous dungeon boss’s explanation, he felt not only somewhat astonished but also rather hesitant.

If he kept dragging his feet and refused to go over, would he enrage the previous dungeon boss? Or worse, would his small calculation of stalling for time be discovered, resulting in him being forcefully dragged over?

What on earth should he do?

Ye Shengge couldn’t make up his mind, yet he didn’t dare disturb the system either. He could only steal a glance at the bullet screen, attempting to find a solution from it. However, there wasn’t a single comment in the bullet screen area capable of resolving the current crisis; everyone was clamoring to report the main system and the game company.

[This is driving me insane! What is wrong with this dungeon? It’s completely different from the original plotline. Why hasn’t the main system pulled our wife out yet?]

[Given the main system’s usual track record, it highly likely failed to make any emergency preparations. But better safe than sorry, and now that we’ve truly run into a crisis…]

[The person above definitely just fell into the wife’s fandom during this dungeon. We old fans all know that the wife already encountered a dungeon collapse situation in the last world. Who would have thought the main system of this game could truly be this unreliable, completely failing to take it as a warning…]

[Say no more, I’m going to file a report and a complaint right away to see if their company gives this any importance.]

[…]

Ye Shengge’s emotions were incredibly complex.

Reporting and complaining were indeed useful and could certainly make the higher-ups take this matter seriously, but the problem was that he couldn’t survive until that time arrived.

God only knew what this wicked fellow would do to him once he walked over to the previous dungeon boss’s side.

Even though this was merely a livestream game, it felt incomparably real.

Once something truly happened to him, even if the higher-ups took it seriously and immediately set about fixing the problems and bugs, they wouldn’t be able to bring him back to life.

Fortunately, at this critical juncture of widespread panic, the system successfully investigated the cause of the dungeon’s collapse and received a reply from the main system, rapidly running over to report the situation to Ye Shengge.

The system’s speaking speed was incredibly fast, its peaceful mechanical voice even carrying a few fractions of urgency: ‘Just received a message from the main system, confirming that this dungeon has experienced a collapse. An array will be activated in ten minutes to forcefully pull us out, and they will set about clearing the bug. We don’t need to worry anymore.’

Hearing these words, Ye Shengge felt a strong urge to speak but hesitated, asking: ‘Ten minutes… if we encounter some unexpected situation and an issue arises within these ten minutes, what do we do?’

The previous dungeon boss pulled off far too many wild maneuvers. It was highly possible he would immediately shove his finger into Ye Shengge’s mouth to force him to consume a drop of heart blood, ensuring he could never leave this dungeon again…

Ye Shengge still possessed the self-awareness of being a weakling, failing to believe he could smoothly endure for ten minutes.

The system offered words of comfort: ‘Rest assured, if something truly happens within these ten minutes, the main system will risk violating regulations to rescue us from the bug’s hands.’

Ye Shengge remained silent, allowing the Puppet Bosses behind him to gently push him forward, his mind constantly questioning the exact reliability score of the main system.

Unaware of what its host was thinking, the system continued to dutifully offer counsel and strategies: ‘Do your best to preserve yourself during these ten minutes. As for the mission… if it can’t be completed, then let it go.’

Staying alive was the most important thing; missions and the like all ranked second.

Ye Shengge nodded: ‘Okay.’

Though he said this, in reality, once Ye Shengge learned that the main system would back them up no matter what, his desire to complete the mission and accumulate points flared up again.

Since he possessed such a powerful life-saving talisman like the main system, he no longer needed to look ahead and behind with anxiety; he could simply unleash his hands and go for it.

The shift in his mentality caused the resistance and fear on Ye Shengge’s face to entirely dissipate. Not only did he stop retreating, but he actually synchronized with the Puppet Bosses’ steps to walk forward, his speed significantly faster than before.

“So good.” Catching this subtle change, a satisfied smile surfaced on the Evil God’s face, fully believing the words he had just spoken had taken effect.

Just as the Evil God finished speaking this sentence, Ye Shengge halted in place once more, presenting a highly disobedient and demanding condition: “Although what you said earlier makes some sense, I still find it a bit difficult to believe.”

The Evil God wearing Wen Jinshi’s skin raised an eyebrow.

“Unless you release him.” Ye Shengge cast a glance at Peng Biao, then looked back at the previous dungeon boss, speaking with utmost seriousness: “Otherwise, I don’t dare trust you.”

He was gambling—gambling that the previous dungeon boss wouldn’t force him.

Sure enough, upon hearing this sentence, the previous dungeon boss did not grow angry, let alone offer a refusal. Instead, he retracted the satisfied smile on his face, forcefully maintaining his gentle mask as he asked: “If I release him, will you come over voluntarily?”

Ye Shengge nodded without the slightest hesitation: “Of course.”

“The deal is struck. I release him, and you come over.” The Evil God smiled, curling his finger.

In the next second, the ropes of black mist tightly wound around Peng Biao’s body immediately reverted to their previous state as a mass of black mist. Leaving Peng Biao’s body with an air of disdain, they flew over to Ye Shengge’s side in a flash, intimately and lightly rubbing against his pale, tender neck.

The exact moment the black mist departed from Peng Biao’s surroundings, a loud voice suddenly resonated through the room.

“Do not go over!”

Ye Shengge turned his gaze sideways.

As expected, it was Peng Biao.

Even as he spoke, Peng Biao rushed toward the direction where Ye Shengge stood, looking as though he intended to block Ye Shengge from moving forward.

Although he had no idea what had transpired, and although he couldn’t comprehend what his partner—whose temperament had suddenly transformed—was saying to the beautiful youth, Peng Biao’s first instinct was still to prevent the beautiful youth from stepping into danger.

However, Ye Shengge did not stand still as Peng Biao had commanded, nor did he grant him the time to rush over, accelerating his pace to walk toward the side of the previous dungeon boss.

Seeing his sweetheart choose not to go to the loathsome Heavenly Master, the smile re-emerged at the corners of the Evil God’s lips.

Yes, exactly like this.

But right after that, the Evil God discovered to his astonishment that the partner he had chosen for life suddenly crouched down, picking up a highly simple-looking wooden hair stick and swiftly tossing it toward that loathsome Heavenly Master.

“Quick!” The exact moment he tossed out the wooden hair stick meant to seal the Puppet Bosses’ array, Ye Shengge shouted loudly at the big dummy Heavenly Master.

He still remembered the words he had overheard at the entrance of the study not long ago.

As long as this final object was placed where it belonged, the Puppet Bosses could be sealed away.

Although the Puppet Bosses were split fragments of the previous dungeon boss, they had ultimately substituted for the roles and been recognized by the dungeon plotline as the Puppet Bosses.

The outcome would be exactly the same.

As long as this wooden hair stick could be smoothly placed where it belonged.

…

The Evil God and the Puppet Bosses were momentarily stunned by this sudden turn of events.

Peng Biao seized this opportunity, swiftly throwing out numerous freezing talismans stained with the blood from his finger, freezing the dungeon bosses who hadn’t managed to react in time squarely in place. Then, catching the wooden hair stick thrown his way, he immediately turned around, intending to position the wooden hair stick at the very center of the study.

Just as the heavy stone inside Ye Shengge’s heart lowered by a fraction, the previous dungeon boss, who was frozen in place and unable to move, suddenly spoke up: “As long as you put it down, the person you like will depart entirely.”

Peng Biao’s hand froze in place, his brow furrowing as he looked toward “Wen Jinshi”: “Why do you say that?”

Ye Shengge’s eyelids twitched violently, the ominous premonition inside his heart thoroughly reaching its absolute peak.

However, he didn’t have enough time to stop the previous dungeon boss from speaking further.

“Naturally, because he is no longer a person of this world.”

The frozen Evil God continued to speak at an unhurried pace, his voice filled with an immense power of seduction: “Even so, do you still wish to help him?”