After The Charismatic Beauty Was Coveted By A Gloomy Monster - Chapter 1

Blackwater Island. The wild wind swept through the beachfront screw pines, swirling grains of sand into the vortex as black water, resembling petroleum, crashed against the shore reefs, splashing white seafoam.

In stark contrast to the gloomy weather, the solitary European-style classical castle by the sea was brilliantly illuminated with blazing lights. Seated on the main seat of a classical sofa in a lazy and casual posture, Yu Ying touched her game interface with her fingertips.

Yu Ying was one of the four major guests on this romance reality show, and she was also a newly rising starlet in the entertainment industry.

Infrared cameras were installed everywhere around the castle’s interior, and a multi-functional camera sat directly in front of Yu Ying. Every single one of her movements would be synchronized in real-time to the official live stream room of the romance show.

In the lens, Yu Ying wore a dark black qipao. A golden chrysanthemum was embroidered with gold thread at the collar across her chest. Her legs were crossed, and her feet were clad in a pair of red-bottomed high heels.

Her face possessed the standard structural beauty of the “Earth Mother” archetype. Her eyebrows were distinct and rooted with a touch of wildness, her nose bridge was high and straight, and a black mole sat on her cheekbone. Her nude-toned lipstick accentuated her facial features.

Anyone who saw Yu Ying would feel that she belonged to the Eastern Earth Mother aesthetic—not flaunting or revealing too much, yet possessing the unique stability and tolerance of Mother Earth herself.

The camera blinked with a red light, and the romance show’s live stream officially commenced. Quite a few viewers had been looking forward to this romance show for a long time, and they rushed into the live stream room at the first possible second after it went online.

This romance show was the first domestically produced reality show to be filmed in a closed environment, and the recording would take place exclusively on Blackwater Island.

Furthermore, the production team had invited four celebrities with the highest trending hot topics, namely: the newly rising starlet Yu Ying, the aloof Movie Queen Sui Lin, the sweet idol Yu Mianmian, and the sexy voice actor teacher Si Lu.

The comments in the live stream room discussed Yu Ying frantically.

【Does a beauty with this kind of face shape still exist nowadays? Mommy, let’s cuddle!】

【I’ll directly drop to my knees and beg Mommy to slap me!!】

【The person upstairs shouldn’t be too crazy. How come I’ve never seen this beloved concubine before?】

【Replying to the third floor: You can go watch “The Return of Spring” starring Yu Ying. It’s small-town dual-female-lead literature. In it, she plays the stepmother of the other female lead. This “going down to sea” drama relied on Yu Ying’s acting skills to break through the ranks. I don’t know if it can win an award this year.】

【I’m laughing till I fly. To think I’d encounter someone helping to whitewash Yu Ying even here. She’s just a straight girl pretending to be queer, going down to sea to shoot a girls’ love drama. Is there really that much to praise!】

【I just finished watching the edited clips online, and I’m directly calling her Mommy!!】

The bullet comments in the romance show’s live stream scrolled continuously, with many netizens calling Yu Ying “Mommy.”

Yu Ying could not see the live bullet comments. On her left index finger, she wore a silver snake-shaped ring, the snake’s eyeballs inlaid with a green gemstone.

Her slender fingers passed through her hair, and a small silver-white snake crawled out from the back of her neck, flicking its red snake tongue toward the camera.

“Xiao Xue, you must not be impolite.” Yu Ying knew that snakes disliked cameras, so she covered the small silver-white snake with her hair.

She had become obsessed with raising snakes after playing games. This Blizzard corn snake was the “child” she raised by her side. Fearing that her assistant wouldn’t be able to take care of it, she could only bring it along to participate in the romance show.

The small silver-white snake crawled onto Yu Ying’s collarbone and extended its slender snake head to look at Yu Ying’s game interface. An image of a silver python was on the loading screen. Xiao Xue automatically assumed that the snake in the game was going to snatch its mother away.

It slithered down from Yu Ying’s arm and crawled onto Yu Ying’s wrist. Its slender, icy-cold snake tail coiled around Yu Ying’s wrist, and its snake head nuzzled Yu Ying’s finger, wanting Yu Ying to put down the glowing object and stroke it.

“Don’t cause trouble.” Yu Ying’s attention was entirely on the game. While the other guests hadn’t arrived yet, she could still play a round of the game to see if she could clear the final level of the dungeon.

The small silver-white snake coiled obediently around Yu Ying’s wrist like a piece of jewelry, not daring to make a sound to disturb its mother while she played the game.

The audience outside the camera also noticed that obedient and gentle small silver-white snake.

【Aren’t snakes cold-blooded animals? Why is that one so obedient?!】

【Pet snakes are all very obedient. The one on Sister Yu Ying’s hand is called a Blizzard; it’s suitable for beginners to raise.】

【I love watching Mommy train snakes! It looks good, I love to watch it!】

Yu Ying extended her finger to stroke the small silver-white snake’s head, and the little snake lay flat on the back of Yu Ying’s hand. Having pacified the little snake’s emotions, Yu Ying reloaded the game.

The signal on the island was so poor; her phone signal dropped by two bars.

Yu Ying was playing an internal beta cultivation game where players could choose different damp, dark monsters to nurture, clearing the dungeon once intimacy reached 100%.

In the game, sea snakes, jellyfish, and octopuses were all her children. Currently, Yu Ying had already cleared three dungeons, successfully lighting up three medals of honor: the Abyssal Python, the Divine Jellyfish, and the Damp Tentacles.

The greatest thrill of this game was that players could don alternative personas to nurture the monsters. Therefore, the several NPC tentacle monsters did not know that the mother they respected and worshiped was the exact same person.

The final stage’s game map loaded to 9%, and a clump of black fog emerged on the game interface, making it impossible to see clearly what species It was.

The dungeon name was “Mysterious Siren.” Yu Ying recalled the monster she had once nurtured and then abandoned. It was damp, dark, paranoid, and crazed; It had made Yu Ying feel afraid.

Paying real money in this game allowed one to choose dungeons at will. After spending money, Yu Ying had cleared the three relatively easy dungeons first. Later, when she opened the Siren dungeon again, she discovered that no matter what strategy she followed to complete the intimacy level, she would fail at the very last moment of the mission.

Yu Ying held her phone and waited for the game to load. The game had loaded to 18%, 43%, 56%, 78%, 99%…

Just as she was about to enter the game, Yu Ying’s phone background received a message.

The game’s official account had sent a message, the content of which was as follows:

Dear game player, hello. Thank you for your support of this game. Due to a bug appearing in the game system, which has led to the awakening of some dungeon NPCs, the game will completely shut down its servers starting from April 1, ****.

Yu Ying was glitched out of the game interface. She logged onto Weibo, saw the game’s hashtag topping the hot search list, and complained about the game along with all the other internal beta players.

【NPC awakening? If they really awakened, remember to come find Mommy. Boohoo, Mommy will continue to raise them in the real world!】

After venting her emotions, Yu Ying deleted the game software. A pink tentacle appeared on the phone screen, touching Yu Ying’s fingertip across the icy-cold screen. The slimy and soft tactile sensation made Yu Ying snap awake instantly.

“Why can’t it be deleted? Is there really a bug?” Yu Ying blinked. The pink octopus tentacle that had just appeared vanished, and only the game software remained on the phone interface.

Hiss! The small snake on Yu Ying’s wrist suddenly launched an attack, emitting a hissing sound toward the window. There was some kind of indescribable monster outside the window.

“Xiao Xue.” Yu Ying pacified the snake. Holding her phone, she walked slowly toward the castle window, the floorboards emitting a creaking sound with every step she took.

The filaments of the crystal chandelier overhead flickered and abruptly went out, plunging the entire castle into darkness. Protecting the snake, Yu Ying looked out of the castle through the window.

The sky looked like a spilled paint palette where all the colors blended together. A deep abyss vortex formed in the middle of the sky, and the world was ripped open into a slit, out of which a massive, silver-white snake tail extended from the vortex.

Raindrops slammed against the window, pitter-patter, and cracks were smashed into the glass. The fierce wind and torrential rain swept across the entire coast, and the churning waves were capable of swallowing the entire island.

“Don’t be afraid,” Yu Ying said gently to the small snake.

The small snake sensed an unknown terror. It did not seek Yu Ying’s protection immediately; instead, its snake tail curved, ready to launch an attack at any moment.

Yu Ying raised her head to look at the roof of the castle. The soft underbelly of a giant python pressed against the red roof tiles, causing the tiles to fall and shatter. The python’s snake body coiled around the entire castle, treating the castle like a toy that could be crushed into pieces.

Inside the castle, the oil paintings on the walls fell, and red wine bottles collided, allowing a fragrant wine aroma to spread out from the wine cabinet. The howling wind blew the window wide open. Yu Ying fetched wooden planks, a iron hammer, and nails; she had to repair the window.

Yu Ying did not know what the situation outside was, what had happened on the island, or whether she could contact the outside world. At this moment, the only certainty was that the cold air made her feel freezing.

She moved a chair over, and the small snake crawled onto her shoulder. She took off her high heels, stood on the chair, positioned a wooden plank, and raised the iron hammer high.

Clang, Yu Ying struck with the iron hammer.

That deep abyss python appeared right before her eyes. The python’s sclera was pure white, without any variegated color just like its snake tail, and a split red line sat in the middle of its pupil, that was the snake’s eyeball.

The giant python’s snake head presented a triangular shape, sunken in the middle and protruding on both sides, and the scales on its snake body stood up like sharp thorns. Yu Ying was startled by the snake and fell from the chair. A nail pierced into her left palm; the wound wasn’t deep, but a few drops of blood dripped down.

The small snake slithered to Yu Ying’s side to protect her, flicking its blood-red snake tongue and continuously emitting hiss-hiss-hiss sounds. It wasn’t even as large as the tip of the giant python’s tail, yet it dared to provoke the opponent.

Yu Ying scrambled up, scooped up the small snake in one go, coiled it around her neck, and blocked it with her hair. She picked out a handy axe, weighing its heft in her hand. Standing at the entrance hallway, she heard a crashing sound outside the door, as if something was imitating a human’s knock.

The heavy wooden door was pushed open from the outside by an unknown species. The cold air rushed over her face and blew Yu Ying’s hair. She gripped the axe tightly, her heart thumping and leaping wildly.

The door opened. Yu Ying did not rush to swing the axe; she raised her eyes to look at Sui Lin, who was standing outside the door.

Movie Queen Sui Lin had become famous throughout China in her early years relying on the movie Snake Demon, consecutively winning multiple awards.

Sui Lin wore a red Gothic-style hat on her head. The lace and bead curtains fell together, concealing the majority of her face. The red eyes hidden beneath the hat brim opened, her silver eyelashes trembling, and her lips looked as though they were smeared with animal blood.

Her skin was closer to porcelain white, lacking any trace of color. Her swan neck wore a string of red coral necklaces, and her Gothic red dress was intricate and magnificent, the layers of her skirt hem shifting. Yu Ying stepped aside to let Teacher Sui Lin enter the castle.

“Teacher Sui Lin, haven’t the other team members arrived?” Yu Ying raised her question.

The show she was participating in was the first unmanned recording reality show in the country. The production team communicated with the guests through electronic equipment, and all recording was conducted by drones and robots.

The notice sent by the production team stated that all the guests participating in the recording would enter the island today. Why hadn’t she seen Yu Mianmian and Si Lu?

The red lace of the hat brim fluttered, and Sui Lin’s gaze swept coldly over Yu Ying. She walked into the living room, her high heels stepping on the floorboards to produce a hair-raising sound. She walked to the mirror and swayed her bright red skirt hem, admiring her appearance after turning into a human.

Yu Ying looked down and saw a snake tail beneath Sui Lin’s skirt hem. The exposed snake tail was probably more than ten meters long. The scales on the snake tail were hard, while the scales on the underbelly were relatively soft, scraping against the wooden floorboards as that hair-raising sound echoed in the living room once more.

How could Teacher Sui Lin be a python? Yu Ying rubbed her eyes, but the snake tail beneath Sui Lin’s skirt hem still hadn’t disappeared. The tip of the tail brushed across the top of Yu Ying’s foot, provoking a shudder throughout Yu Ying’s body.

Yu Ying’s body blocked the wind and rain as she closed the heavy wooden door. After Sui Lin came inside, the temperature in the living room dropped, and the chilly air penetrated the wooden floorboards, rising slowly from the ground.

She must not have rested well recently, and her highly strained nerves were producing hallucinations. She decided to take a hot bath and get a good night’s sleep. Hopefully, once she woke up, everything would return to normal…

Yu Ying picked up a silk handkerchief to wipe the blood from her hand, threw it into the trash can, and returned to Room 202 with the small snake. She wanted to find a place with a strong signal to look up what illness her symptoms corresponded to.

She walked up the spiral staircase and turned her head to meet Sui Lin’s gaze. She saw the pair of eyes beneath the bead curtain, a pair of red, bloody eyes. Sui Lin was smiling, pulling the corners of her lips to reveal white, sharp teeth. Teeth like that were something Yu Ying had only ever seen in the mouths of snakes.

Sui Lin smelled the bloody scent in the air, as well as the sweet aura on Mother’s body. Those auras enveloped her, allowing her to return to her mother’s embrace once more.

That octopus, who caused all snakes to feel annoyance, hadn’t lied to her. Mother was indeed in the human world. As for why the other two “guests” hadn’t arrived?

She had merely played a little trick to trap those two eerie entities.

Sui Lin glanced contemptuously at the tissue in the trash can, which still retained the blood of a human. She raised her eyes to stare at Yu Ying’s retreating figure, her snake tail slithering rapidly as the underbelly scales scraped against the steps.

Yu Ying’s spine felt chilled. Carrying the small silver snake, she walked quickly back to her room, not daring to turn around to take another look at Sui Lin’s snake tail.

Bang! Yu Ying closed the room door. She was temporarily safe, leaving her with time to stop and ponder exactly what was going on.