Thump.
The water in the glass next to the bed spilled out with a splash.
Thump.
The bed trembled. Lucien's body was jolted a few centimetres in the air.
Thump.
"Ughhh..."
Why is it so shaky? Earthquake?
Lucien's eyes twitched.
When he opened his mouth, a surge of white mist burst out of his mouth and Lucien subconsciously sneezed.
"Achoo!"
Cold. So cold! What the hell— did he die?
Thump.
A low rumble sounded from afar, vague and faint, yet persistent.
Thump.
The heavy thumping noise, like something was smashing a hard surface, sounded even closer than before, as if right next to the ear.
"Huhh...is someone building a house..."
Lucien groggily opened his eyes, his vision blurry.
The moonlight shone through the window half a man's height, but a stronger pink light pierced through the vision.
"What...pink..." Lucien grumbled, "Who is using such a tacky light..."
His teeth chattered and the blanket around him slowly wrapped around his body, as if to provide warmth—
But the blanket kept shaking.
"Ugh...stay still..."
Lucien gripped the shaking blanket tightly, and was about to dive back to sleep when the room filled with moonlight suddenly darkened.
Huh?
In Lucien's blurry vision, a dark shadow slowly approached from the left, its huge silhouette blocked the moonlight.
Thumpppp.
The sound was right outside of the window.
Shrkkk.
Something rubbed against the wall.
Strangely, Lucien could feel a cold, coarse scale rubbing against his own skin, just like the sound outside.
Shrkkkk...
Lucien's coward— animal instinct instantly pierced his mind with a loud alarm!
Haha...what...what...
Lucien's scalp tightened.
He subconsciously held his breath.
Shrkkkk...
The shadow moved slowly and then—
Thump!
A crimson thing suddenly slammed the window and the glass instantly rattled.
Creak!
"Gah!"
Lucien felt a force hit his chest and when his head jerked up in reflex—
The crimson thing suddenly zoomed in.
The golden slit at the center shrank to the size of a needle.
Slick.
The crimson thing suddenly rolled down, the chilling golden slit stared straight at Lucien's figure!
"Hic!"
Lucien hiccuped, but he quickly covered his mouth with his trembling hands, his face paled at the speed of light.
Eye.
An eye bigger than half of his height.
The eye slowly zoomed out, its gaze still locked onto Lucien before it suddenly slammed straight at the window.
Bang!
The entire house shook and Lucien's body was instantly thrown out of the bed, landing his b*tt on the ground.
But the aching on his b*tt couldn't compare to the force hitting his body, shaking his inner organs like crazy.
"Cough!"
Blood trickled down Lucien's lips and the sweet, iron smell wafted in the air.
Still covering his bloody mouth, Lucien subconsciously scooted away from the window, his soaked t-shirt clung tightly to his back.
What— what is that thing outside??
As if to respond to Lucien's subconscious thought, his vision suddenly shifted.
The sight zoomed out to a hundred meter radius around the house.
The white fog around the house disappeared and outside of the range, eerie crimson fog covered half of the area, giving a glimpse of ruined buildings—
And that familiar pink neon heart sign.
Lucien's 360° vision caught vague gigantic silhouettes moving behind the red fog, but his eyes were immediately drawn into the thing clinging right next to his house.
A long, elongated pale body, as thick as three men's arms.
Familiar ring lines and that suction head—
It was a worm.
A worm so towering his house looked like a miniature next to it.
Glint.
The dark, scaled shell covered the worm's entire body, perfectly blending the massive body in the dark.
Swish. Swish.
Two flesh whiskers danced wildly in the air and a row of sharp, needle-like things peeked out of its mouth.
Yellowish saliva trickled down, creating a puddle on the ground.
...yeah.
There's no way that's a worm!
Lucien's soul flew out of his body and entered a coffin, but he yanked back his soul out of the coffin while frantically calling the system guide.
[System! System! Ahhh! What the hell! What the hell! Did I come to another world?? Is this hell??]
The always-late system guide finally opened a red panel in front of Lucien.
Zzzt! Zzzt! [An unstable space is detected!]
Zzzt! Zzzt! [Scanning the main dungeon ••• ]
[Warning! Warning! Due to the error in the awakening, the main dungeon's dimension is unstable!]
[Landlord, you may experience space rift, sudden teleportation and many other disturbances.]
[To prevent further disturbance, the main dungeon is planting a second anchor to the current coordinate.]
[First anchor: Civil City, Gey Street, Coordinate XXYY]
[Second anchor: ??]
[Warning! Please don't move the house while it's anchoring!]
[Anchoring in progress ••• ]
[Estimated anchoring time: 09:59]
The system still didn't say where this is, but what the hell!!
So he came here because of the near-failed awakening that wasn't even his fault??
Lucien felt like crying, but his mental tentacles still subconsciously reached out—
Nothing moved.
Throb!
A sharp pain pierced through Lucien's head.
The familiar energy drain was back.
Lucien instantly cut off his control.
Stop, stop.
That's dangerous.
Sweat trickled down Lucien's head as he gave up on using his house's exterior to sneak attack the worm outside.
'It's okay, at least I can still run— return to my previous place.'
'I just have to survive for ten minutes, right? As long as I'm calm, my Land Conqueror aura might be able to scare that thing away.'
And the house—
It crumbled with a single touch back then, but now, it's holding on quite well!
There's no way it could collapse in ten minutes—
Crack.
Fine lines grazed the glass window.
Crack.
A zigzag gash climbed down the wall.
Tak. Tak.
Tiny debris fell with a thud, followed by a cloud of dust.
"..."
Lucien's soul twisted into a screaming worm.
Ahhhh! His beautiful house!!
Wait for ten minutes?
No, he had to deal with that bastard outside— now!
Lucien immediately rushed into the bathroom while tripping over his own legs every few steps, his finger rapidly clicked the [Summon Natives] button on Slime Dungeon's management panel.
"Slimes! Come— "
Lucien burst open the door— and he froze.
The sight of the mini dungeon made him gasp in awe for a split second before he snapped out and immediately rushed towards his bathtub.
Still out of breath, Lucien called the slime king and queen with a single thought, his voice deliberately suppressed to sound calm and composed.
"Slime king...and queen, hu...hu...come out."
Shaaaa....
The void above Lucien's bathtub distorted for a split second, a blue glow enveloped the entire bathtub, and then—
Plop!
Two slimes the size of a basketball, one wearing a golden crown and the other a flower crown jumped out of the bathtub.
"Glurg! My lord! What's your command?"
"Glurg....my lord, my child..."
"Listen. We have an emergency— "
Lucien's 360° vision suddenly caught sight of the shelled worm's body moving away from his bedroom's window.
!
Lucien's face instantly brightened up by a degree.
Did his aura finally scare it away?
Or did that bastard give up because the house is too tough??
Heh. As expected of his house—
Wait.
Lucien's eyes popped out of its socket as he watched the shelled worm's huge body crossed right above his house, squirming towards—
The basketball-sized hole in the wall, the one the slime gnawed and was still regenerating slowly.
Wait, wait, time out!
Time out!!
Lucien's heart jumped out of his chest as the worm lowered its body—
And rammed its head into the hole.
BANG!