– HWHIFG | Volume 1 – Chapter 8

For a moment, the room fell silent. Only the little demons continued wriggling their plump bodies and letting out shrill cries.

The person holding one of them, however, was utterly hard-hearted. Wearing a warm, harmless smile, he pried open its mouth and, with almost elegant grace, forcibly stuffed the remaining chunk of angel flesh from the floor down its throat.

The ugly meatball, physically silenced: “...”

To be fair, the scene wasn't that cruel. No one was saintly enough to pity a monster that used human heads as incubation chambers. Besides, Fu Guang was just feeding it.

The disturbing part was how completely disconnected his gentle, holy expression was from what he was doing.

As if sensing everyone's speechless stares, Fu Guang tilted his head slightly. His gaze swept over Wu Wang—whose expression couldn't be read—and settled on the dumbfounded Zhou Mo.

“Need help?”

Zhou Mo shuddered under that smile.

“N-no, no...” I don't dare.

Fu Guang raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Is that so?”

Zhou Mo: “...”

Help me, help me.

“Y-yes, yes, yes, yes...”

Trading away a monster in exchange for peace felt worth it. Especially since Fu Guang really seemed willing to help. He even thoughtfully started feeding Zhou Mo's demon first.

“...Brother Tao.”

After holding it in for a long time, Zhou Mo finally whispered through clenched teeth:

“Why do I feel like I have absolutely no sense of security right now? Earlier Fu Guang wanted to kill us, then he used a zombie head to prank Brother Husky. Why is he suddenly helping now?”

Some people said a person's heart was as deep as the ocean.

Zhou Mo felt Fu Guang's thoughts were harder to understand than needles at the bottom of the sea.

Xiao Tao rubbed the red beauty mark at the corner of his lips and rolled his eyes.

“I'm a normal person. How would I know what he's thinking?”

He'd met people like this before—unpredictable lunatics who acted on whatever whim struck them.

He used to waste time trying to understand them.

Now he'd made peace with it.

Why bother figuring out why crazy people were crazy?

He wasn't their father.

As long as he handled his own business and survived the game, that was enough.

For example, right now he should be persuading Brother Husky to continue opening—

“—Brother Husky?”

Xiao Tao stared in astonishment as Wu Wang carried a cross necklace in his mouth and placed it before Fu Guang.

Then came a lily brooch.

Several relatively clean pieces of clothing.

A few packets of compressed biscuits.

“...”

Even Fu Guang froze.

A trace of confusion appeared in his usually detached honey-gold eyes.

“This is...?”

Zhou Mo: “...”

An offering.

It had to be an offering.

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The first time he'd cosplayed at a convention, he'd fallen asleep in a corner from exhaustion.

When he woke up, people had left piles of merchandise and paper flowers in front of him arranged exactly like this.

Someone had even left a white funeral wreath beside him.

════════

Wu Wang lowered the final item and placed a paw on Fuguang's pant leg.

A clear paw print immediately appeared on the neat fabric.

Poor human.

So he's dying.

“...”

Fu Guang might not understand anime convention culture, but he could definitely recognize the look of pity reserved for the dead.

After staring at Wu Wang for a while, he couldn't help asking:

“What about me makes me look like I'm about to die?”

“Woof.”

Wu Wang met his gaze calmly.

In his mind flashed a local specialty from Siliken City:

Mentally ill homeless people.

Because they couldn't afford proper neural chips, defective chips often short-circuited and damaged their brains.

Sometimes lucid.

Sometimes insane.

Sometimes friendly.

Sometimes unstable.

Exactly like this handsy two-legged creature.

If left untreated for ten days or so, there was only one ending:

The chip exploded.

Boom.

Their skulls shattered into hundreds of pieces.

Thinking about it made Fu Guang seem even more pitiful.

Wu Wang switched paws and pressed the other pant leg, leaving a matching paw print.

“...”

Fu Guang strongly suspected the dog was simply using this as an excuse to wipe his paws.

As for the evidence...:

The moment he bent down to pick him up, Wu Wang darted away.

His hind paw stepped precisely on Fu Guang's shin for leverage, leaving yet another pair of paw prints.

Fu Guang stared at the four complete paw marks for several seconds.

Then he laughed in exasperation.

Zhou Mo: “...”

Brother Husky, what exactly are you doing?!

Earlier you'd avoided this guy like the plague.

Now you're provoking him yourself?

Look at that gaze!

The killing intent is practically leaking out!

Unfortunately, Brother Husky completely failed to pick up on the tension.

He happily backed up a few steps, admired his handiwork, then lifted his head.

“Awooooo—”

“...”

Fu Guang genuinely couldn't decide whether the dog's howl was worse, or the ugly demon's wailing.

And together they sounded suspiciously like a wolf mourning a fallen companion.

Wu Wang barked twice.

“Woof! Woof!”

After finishing his "eulogy," he licked the back of his paw and lay down with dignified composure, eyes half-closed.

He completely ignored Xiao Tao's efforts to coax him into opening more hidden rooms.

Zhou Mo hesitated.

“...Brother Tao, I've heard huskies actually aren't stupid. If they don't listen, it's probably because they don't want to listen. They have their own ideas.”

Xiao Tao, whose throat was dry from persuasion: “...”

As if he didn't know that.

But if Brother Husky stopped opening rooms, he'd have to use his own items.

They hadn't progressed far into the dungeon.

There was also an unpredictable ticking time bomb standing nearby.

Consumable power-up items should be saved whenever possible.

What if they encountered danger later and someone died simply because they were short one or two items?

At that moment Fu Guang's refined voice spoke up.

“It's fine.”

“I brought some leftovers from what they didn't finish eating earlier. It's enough to feed these two little demons.”

Zhou Mo: “...”

This wasn't paranoia.

What normal person carried around severed monster remains?

Hadn't he clearly anticipated this situation from the beginning?

Had he been collecting body parts the entire way here on purpose?

And another thing—

One second ago he'd looked ready to murder someone.

The next second he was kindly helping them complete quests.

How was anyone supposed to feel safe around that?!

Naturally, Zhou Mo only dared to think about those things.

Meanwhile Fu Guang continued force-feeding the demons.

Their cries were drowned beneath endless waves of food being shoved mercilessly down their throats.

Ten minutes later:

[Ding! Quest Complete.]

A cold electronic voice sounded from Zhou Mo's pocket watch.

[Quest Reward: Cradle]

[Exit dungeon? Yes / No]

Without hesitation, Zhoumo selected No.

“?”

Wu Wang and Fu Guang turned toward him in perfect sync.

Even Xiao Tao was stunned.

“What the hell is wrong with you?! If you can leave, why not leave?!”

Zhou Mo choked.

“You guys haven't finished your quests yet! I have some sense of loyalty, okay?”

After a pause, he dragged Xiao Tao aside and whispered:

“Also... I think Fu Guang's being too friendly.”

“Whether he's genuinely helping or plotting something, I can't tell.”

“But if he's plotting something, doing the opposite of what he wants should be right, shouldn't it?”

Xiao Tao opened his mouth.

Then closed it.

Then finally sighed.

“Do whatever you want.”

Perhaps he hadn't expected Zhou Mo to be this sincere.

He awkwardly turned his head away—

Only to find a pair of blue eyes and a pair of gold eyes staring unblinkingly at them.

They looked uncannily alike.

“Holy—”

He barely swallowed the curse.

Looking closer:

In Wu Wang's blue eyes he saw:

30% hunger

10% unusually handsome-for-a-husky

60% desire to destroy property

The last part expressed through vigorous pawing at the floor.

Wu Wang was indeed growing impatient.

For a husky, staying still for ten whole minutes exceeded the limits of the species.

He casually flicked his tail and stood up.

Just as he turned to leave—

“Wait.”

His ears immediately flattened backward.

Fu Guang had one hand on the now room-sized demon.

His smile practically screamed:

"I'm absolutely taking this chance to get revenge."

“It's a bit small,” he said.

“But meat is meat.”

“You—”

Wu Wang shot out of the room like a startled rabbit.

As long as he ran fast enough, perhaps the all-you-can-eat maggot buffet couldn't catch him.

Unfortunately, Fu Guang wasn't normal either.

And he had no intention of giving up.

Dragging the struggling demon behind him, he floated after Wu Wang using some unknown item.

“Wasting food is a bad habit.”

“Don't like bugs?”

“Then I'll process the ingredients for you.”

“If it's clean enough, there shouldn't be a problem, right?”

“...WOOF!”

An ice wall suddenly rose before Wu Wang, blocking his path.

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Fu Guang stopped leisurely and withdrew the pocket watch in his hand.

Under the complicated stares of Xiao Tao and Zhou Mo, he fed his own demon ten times as well.

Then knocked it unconscious and tossed it aside for later slaughter.

[Ding! Quest Complete.]

[Reward: Wishing Meteor]

[Exit dungeon? Yes / No]

Without hesitation:

[No]

Wu Wang: “...”

Then another prompt appeared.

[Use item? Yes / No]

Fuguang selected Yes instantly.

“I wish for a mobile kitchen.”

Wu Wang: “...”

Xiao Tao & Zhou Mo: “...”

Nobody understood why Fu Guang was so obsessed with feeding the dog.

Earlier he'd been desperate to complete his Hell quest.

Now that he'd finished it—

He immediately spent the reward on a completely unrelated mobile kitchen.

Everyone thought:

Why?

Seriously, why?

No human or dog present could understand his thought process.

The only thing everyone agreed on was:

His feeding definitely had ulterior motives.

Maybe...

He was poisoning the dog?

Zhou Mo felt he'd finally figured it out.

After all, Fu Guang had tried to kill them before—

“If you're worried the dog food I prepare won't be clean enough,” Fu Guang said while humming in the newly materializing kitchen,

“I can taste-test it for you first.”

Everyone: “...”

Okay.

So it wasn't poison either.

Then what the hell was his reason?!

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Later...

When a sane person tries to understand a madman's logic, they've already gone wrong.

Xiao Tao remembered this lesson as a rich, mouthwatering aroma drifted from the mobile kitchen.

Beside him, Zhou Mo swallowed repeatedly.

“Smells amazing...”

“I suddenly want the fried chicken from outside my school.”

And cumin skewers.

And fried crab sticks.

Unable to resist, he crept closer.

Inside, Fu Guang was faithfully keeping his promise and tasting everything first.

The crisp bread crackled between his teeth.

Fragrant oil filled the air.

Wu Wang maintained his dignity for less than half a second.

Then he plunged his entire head into the enormous bowl of food.

He ate so enthusiastically that he pushed the bowl across the floor as he went.

Zhou Mo stared numbly.

“If Fu Guang isn't trying to give Brother Husky pancreatitis by feeding him too much grease...”

“Then maybe he wants a side job as a chef.”

Fu Guang's heart was deeper than the sea.

Zhou Mo had tried diving for answers.

He hadn't even caught a single hair.

Fu Guang himself raised an eyebrow.

“Could it not simply be that I'm sincerely doing a good deed?”

He crouched beside Wu Wang and extended a hand.

“Shake.”

What husky would shake hands while eating?

Wu Wang shoved the bowl farther away.

Fu Guang wasn't angry.

Instead, he naturally shifted topics.

“To find the little angel, we'll probably need more journal pages.”

“But this platform is enormous. There are countless hidden doors.”

“If we search room by room, how long will that take?”

Xiao Tao was pondering exactly that.

Then something bumped his leg.

Wu Wang sat beside the now-empty bowl and barked.

[Finished.]

[More.]

Fu Guang: “...? Wasn't I the one who cooked?”

Nobody paid attention to him.

Xiao Tao suppressed the urge to remind him how thoroughly he'd annoyed Brother Husky earlier.

Instead he reached out.

“Brother Husky, shake!”

“Woof?”

Wu Wang tilted his head and obediently offered a paw.

Then dropped something he'd just dug out of his fur into Xiao Tao's palm.

“...”

Silence.

Xiao Tao stared.

In his hand was:

[Lucky Dice]

After several frozen seconds, he grabbed Wu Wang.

“Items aren't things you just throw around! You—”

He tried stuffing the Lucky Dice back into the dog's fur.

The instant it touched the fur, however, it lit up like a disco ball.

[Ptooey! Stay away from me, you unlucky disaster!]

[Even 100% bonus luck can't save you!]

[This lifeform's luck stat is too low. Not qualified to possess Lucky Dice.]

The dice sprang away like two matching magnetic poles repelling each other.

It landed neatly on Fu Guang's silver-haired shoulder.

[Oh, my dear. How unfortunate.]

[You were once lucky. But your glory has faded.]

In the melodramatic tone of a soap-opera heroine rejecting a suitor:

[If I had one song's worth of time, I'd loudly tell you that you are unworthy.]

[This lifeform's luck stat is too low. Not qualified to possess Lucky Dice.]

Fu Guang, who had been laughing and enjoying Wu Wang's humiliation:

“...”

The dice launched itself again and crashed into Xiao Tao's hand.

A moment later it wailed dramatically:

[WHO IS IT?! WHO HAS SUPPRESSED YOUR GREAT FORTUNE?!]

[OH, MY POOR CHILD! YOU WERE MEANT TO BE DESTINY'S FAVORITE!]

“...”

Before it could continue, Xiao Tao shoved it into Zhou Mo's hands.

“Take it.”

“Wait, what—”

Then the dice abruptly switched personalities.

Its voice became a deep, magnetic male whisper.

[Hello, my beloved.]

Everyone froze.

[It is now 18:00 Black Tower Time.]

[London remains cloudy with rain.]

[■■ continues to favor you as always.]

[No one can take that favor away.]

[Not even death.]

[Please, use me as much as you like, Child of Fortune.]

[Let me personally witness just how ridiculously hard your fate is to kill~]

Zhou Mo stood there, utterly stunned.

The dice had just sexually harassed him.

And somehow that wasn't even the strangest thing that had happened today.