CH 18

Ji Ning had accepted Lai as his disciple, but the chapter still didn’t end and the game continued.

He ordered the beautiful undead girls to escort Lai’s companions out of the rune circle and into the dungeon. They were still hostages and he wouldn’t release them until Lai officially became a black mage. 

“Teacher, do you have any other instructions?”

The blond boy stood beside him, speaking with a gentle tone. There was no hint of resistance as he naturally entered the role of a disciple.

Ji Ning glanced at him and waved his hand casually, “Don’t wear clothes of the temple anymore, change them.”

“Yes.” 

Lai agreed, and followed the remaining undead girl away to a different room. Ji Ning wasn’t worried he would escape, his companions were still trapped within the dungeon that could only be opened with a Necromancer’s power.

Ji Ning was left alone in the room. He stood and contemplated for a while. The more he thought about it, the more he felt the game was weird.

Although he already knew that the origins of the game were suspicious, it was far stranger than he had anticipated. The ridiculous options and Lai’s unusually submissive attitude made him feel very uncomfortable.

This couldn’t be a game that Lai made himself, right?

After experiencing several protagonists appearing one by one, Ji Ning couldn’t help but have such suspicions, but he couldn’t understand what the purpose of this game was. With Lai’s god-like power, he could have directly found Ji Ning.

Was this world limited by its ‘game setting’, did the game need to be completed for Lai to reach Ji Ning in Gu Chen’s world?

Ji Ning pondered several theories, when another line of text appeared in front of his eyes.

【If players have any questions about the game, they can look for help in the ‘FAQs’ section】 

The words changed, and a number of options appeared in the air, circling Ji Ning. Glancing around, he saw the question ‘What kind of game is this?’ and selected it.

【‘Dark Kingdom of Heaven’ is a pure love romance game designed with a Western fantasy setting. In the game, the player acts as the Necromancer ‘Eidolon’ and enters a taboo dreamy love affair with his disciple Lai Senger. The ultimate goal of the game is to achieve an ‘eternal’ ending…】

Ji Ning closed the textbox.

To actually introduce itself as a pure love game, no wonder those options were so outrageous…did all pure love games have such casual intimacy? 

Ji Ning had seduced many protagonists, but he had never genuinely been in pure love, nor was he interested. At this time, he understood nothing of the game’s introduction and could only vaguely guess its meaning.

Next he chose the ‘Chapter Description’ option.

The description explained that the lengths of each chapter varied between a few hours, days, or months, but that the time flow of the game differed from the real world, so players don’t have to worry about taking up too much time in real life.

After reading through several more questions, Ji Ning had a basic understanding of the game and shut down the FAQ options. 

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Even if Lai was connected to the game, there was nothing he could do about it. Whether he had one more protagonist or one less, it essentially made no difference to him now...

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The two undead girls who lived with Ji Ning liked extravagant clothing, and the outfit they found for Lai was equally gorgeous. The slim fitting deep blue robe he wore emphasised his tall and powerful figure, while the gemstone cufflinks on his sleeves shimmered like stars. 

Wearing this outfit, Lai lost the pure and honourable temperament the knights uniform provided him, and appeared more like a noble young master. But Ji Ning found this style also suited him well. Good-looking people looked good in anything.

However, Ji Ning’s original intention had not been for Lai to change into such formal clothes. It was already late at night and he wanted Lai to go to bed.

Just as Ji Ning was about to order Lai to rest, a line of text once again appeared in front of him.

【Lai has become your disciple. Before resting tonight you must make Lai take the first step in washing away the light element in his body and injecting dark element.】 

As a knight of the Temple of Light, Lai solely used light magic. If he wanted to be able to use undead magic, he would have to remove all light elements and begin absorbing dark elements.

Although the process of changing elements wouldn’t kill him, it was extremely painful. The transformation method Lai Senger suffered in the original novel, ‘Ye Ling’ was even more brutal and cruel. When the transition was finally complete, he had burned up more than half of his lifeforce.

【Washing away an element is painful, but you know that as long as you help Lai to transform his element, there are two ways to effectively relieve the pain. You decide:】

【One: Take Lai to your bedroom, sit on the bed and wash away the element through intimate contact.】 

【Two: Take Lai to your bedroom, lie down on the bed and wash away the element through very intimate contact.】

…

What was the difference between the two?

【The first method exchanges aura through kissing to help complete the elemental change, and reduces pain by a third.】 

【The second method helps complete the elemental change through ■■■■■■■■, which prevents any pain.】

【It is recommended that players choose the second method.】

Ji Ning resolutely ignored the recommendation and immediately chose the kissing method. The second method was too scary, why were there so many censured blocks in place?

“Come with me.” 

Ji Ning beckoned to the boy and led him to his bedroom, saying, “I want to help you transform the core elements of your body. This is essential in creating a foundation for you to become a black mage. Be prepared, it will be painful.”

As he spoke, he removed his jacket. Wearing only a thin shirt, he sat on the bed and turned toward the boy.

“…Yes, teacher.”

Lai stumbled in his movements for a moment and his expression changed slightly, but he quickly followed suit and took off his clothes. Once he had removed his jacket, he moved as if to continue taking off clothes. 

“Enough.” Ji Ning saw Lai had started unbuttoning his shirt and hurried to stop him, “I just didn’t want to dirty my clothes. Come here and sit down.”

Lai nodded and buttoned his shirt back up, sitting next to Ji Ning.

“What do you need me to do?”

“Close your eyes.” 

Ji Ning instructed succinctly. Lai obediently closed his eyes as Ji Ning leaned over and kissed his lips. Through their exchange of aura, he injected his dark element into Lai little by little, crushing the light element inside of him.

The vicious dark element invaded his body and destroyed the indigenous light element. Lai’s face paled and cold sweat dripped down his forehead. His breathing laboured, but he accepted the changes brought about by the dark element without saying a word about the pain.

Ji Ning deliberately slowed the speed of the conversion so the pain wouldn’t be too intense. About halfway through, he stopped and asked Lai to rest for a while, but Lai rejected his suggestion.

“It’s okay teacher, I can take it.” 

Lai panted slightly, smiling at Ji Ning as he pulled Ji Ning in closer by the waist, locking his arms around him as he eagerly asked him for a kiss.

Why did he seem to be enjoying himself…

The thought flashed through Ji Ning’s head as he concentrated on transforming the light elements into dark by exchanging aura with Lai. When the change was complete, Ji Ning was sweating and felt like his lungs were about to collapse.

“Thank you very much, teacher.” 

The blond teenager collapsed on the bed, his handsome face drained of blood. His chest heaved violently and he forced a smile at Ji Ning, but it was obvious that it would take a while to recover the energy taken for the conversion.

Ji Ning wanted to take a shower, but considering this was just a holographic game, it wouldn’t be a good idea to remove his clothes. There might even be more frightening game options, like ‘Take a bath with Lai’, if he went anywhere near a bathtub, so he simply cast a cleaning spell on himself and Lai, instantly cleaning and refreshing their whole bodies.

He plucked a potion from a rack of coloured bottles and threw it towards Lai, “Drink it. You can leave after, my servant will take you to your room.”

It was a simple potion used to restore physical strength. Once Lai drank it, his complexion visibly improved. 

He sat up from the bed and stared at the beautiful Necromancer, but didn’t leave. Instead, he gently pulled at the hem of the mage’s shirt and said softly, “Teacher, can I give you a hug?”

Ji Ning nearly choked, his eyes widening in surprise. This kid was a little too aggressive, didn’t he understand there was an extremely dangerous black mage in front of him?

“I know that teacher is actually a very gentle person.”

As if he didn’t understand how vicious his teacher really was, he smiled and said. 

“You used my friends to threaten me, but didn’t actually hurt them. You caused all kinds of incidents in the village yet no one was injured or killed. You’ve also been kind to me, you didn’t have to give me a recovery potion just now.”

“…” Ji Ning said, “I just don’t do worthless things.”

“But isn’t hugging your disciple a worthwhile thing?” Asked Lai.

【Lai asks for a hug, you choose:】 

【One: Hold him tenderly and stroke his head.】

【Two: Comfort him sensually with your body.】

…

After a moment’s silence, the blond boy was gently hugged. A cold hand stroked his hair and a soft voice spoke into his ear. 

“Go to sleep, Lai.”

“Okay teacher. Good night.”

Under the guidance of the undead girls, the teenager walked out of the Necromancer’s bedroom.

The two beautiful undead travelled to the top of the tower, but the young man went in the opposite direction. He walked slowly down to the bottom of the tower and into the dungeon that should only be accessible to Necromancers. 

Inside the empty dungeon, every small noise reverberated continually across the stone walls. The three imprisoned teenagers soon heard the boy coming.

“Lai! Quickly, let’s escape from this evil mage!”

“How could he force you to be his disciple!”

Lai leaned against a wall, watching the three figures in the cell. With a careless flick of his hand, the three figures shattered into smoke, leaving the cell in dead silence. 

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall for a long time. As if remembering something pleasant, a faint smile spread across his face and he murmured in a soft croon.

“No one will separate us this time, teacher.”

Every time I think one of Ji Ning’s men is going to be reasonable, this happens – at least my Gu Chen is innocent…