Alternate Dimension Game: Happiness is all that matters!
Chapter 255 - 235 Dragon and the Young Man

Chapter 255: Chapter 235 Dragon and the Young Man

The special organization, could it be referring to the Abnormal Foundation?

"Are there clues even in this little game?"

Wang Hao’s brows slightly furrowed.

Of course, it probably wasn’t anything too important, at most just some Easter eggs, or supplementary worldviews.

At that moment, the mission bar refreshed with a line of text: [Find his mother], followed by a set of coordinates.

On closer inspection, it wasn’t too far away; with the Dragon’s ability, it was a mere two-minute flight.

Humans who came to the Etheric Abyss each had their unique skills; some were Dream Constructors, seeking to trap some peculiar aberrations through "Dreams" to gain immense spiritual power; there were also national level expedition teams; and those lost to power and the unknown, who ventured here in search of fortune.

Those who came here had, more or less, prepared themselves for death.

But this little boy could be considered a "perfect victim," his purpose pure, searching for his missing mother. Could it really just be a less cruel subplot?

Two minutes later, they arrived at their destination.

The coordinates led to a strange nest.

The "Dragon" swiped with its claws, all were the weak aberrations "climbers," which it cleared away in a few swipes.

The Dragon fiddled with its claws, searching through the nest, shiny stones, some unidentified plants, fragments of blue, red, and green glass — everything was there.

Eventually, it found a piece of red cloth and a thoroughly gnawed thigh bone.

...

Wang Hao sighed, as a man of no particular taste, he did not appreciate tragedies.

But after all, it was a mission, and he brought these two items back.

"This is..."

The little boy stood there, stunned, taking the red fabric and the white bone, shivering, silent, standing motionless like a delicate and pitiful wax figure, not even able to shed tears.

He absentmindedly kicked a protruding stone nearby; his fine leather shoes got dirty.

"Thank you, thank you," he said hoarsely, then bowed deeply.

"Thank you."

The Dragon remained indifferent, having been scolded before, it no longer needed to wrestle with its instincts.

It just didn’t quite understand what this ant was talking about.

"If you want to eat me, you can do it now, this is my payment to you..." the little boy said again, hoarsely, "I have nothing else to offer you. Even if you eat me, I won’t bear any grudges."

The Dragon remained indifferent, looking at him and then grimacing, possibly showing that its teeth were wider than his head.

Silence for a few seconds.

The boy’s face crumpled, his eyes filled with tears.

"Don’t you want to eat me?"

"Then... then I’ll go back now... I still have some things to do."

"If you’re not going to eat me, then forget it."

The little boy activated the crystal ball in his hand, and a bright light started to flicker.

As the light engulfed him, the Dragon turned its head away, its cold eyes reflecting a hidden scene: the little boy covering his face, crying out loud.

...

Mission [Find his mother]completed!

No significant rewards.

But in the Dragon’s attribute bar, a new entry appeared: [Compassion +1022][Wisdom +10].

...

This was just a short story from the "Dragon’s" juvenile life journey.

Wang Hao sighed, not dwelling on it too much, and plunged back into the slaughtering, treasure hunting, and evolving.

The deeper into the Etheric Abyss he went, the greater the pressure he felt, and just below was the Gutenberg Interface, as if a vibrant black layer enveloped the area.

Below the Gutenberg Interface hid the true colossal entities – in human terminology, this was the "Demon God Domain."

Million-level spiritual and physical strength were mere specks in the Gutenberg Interface.

The Dragon wanted to challenge more powerful life forms, dying several times in the process.

Immortal Level Fire Sparks here became commonplace. Wars between Demon Gods were no longer just physical or superpowered battles; they resembled more a clash of rules.

There were many "species" without physical bodies, moving at speeds comparable to light.

With one strike, they immediately vanished, their appearances unknown.

After spending a considerable amount on revival fees, Wang Hao couldn’t help but complain: "This fighting style is so cheeky. It’s like the light-speed flying in the Dark Forest; if it’s at light speed, it’s almost invincible."

Of course, the infinite Etheric Abyss, if you can’t provoke it, you can avoid it.

As long as there was enough time, a similarly powerful species dedicated to physical cultivation could always be found.

Finally, Wang Hao found an octopus monster and, after an hour of fierce combat, ultimately killed it, completely devouring its power.

The scar-covered "Dragon", contentedly returned once again to a certain canyon in the Moho Interface.

The battles in the "Demon God Domain" granted it significant evolution, not just in terms of physical growth but also wisdom.

Without wisdom, it couldn’t survive there for long.

With its stomach digesting the recently hunted "big octopus," the delicious heart core burst forth with energy like volcanic magma, releasing endless power. Its stomach felt warm and cozy, leaving it extraordinarily satisfied.

As its body size continually increased, the etheric abyss’s Idealist Buoyancy upon it was decreasing, while gravity was actually increasing.

The "Dragon" needed to continuously consume its own power to resist this gravity. Fortunately, as a not-yet-mature species, it still enjoyed some minor privilege, and thus the Idealist gravity imposed on it was still not too significant.

The "Dragon" was confident it was a top predator; in the Moho Interface’s canyon, no creature could threaten its survival.

Suddenly, it saw it!

A familiar figure was fumbling around in the canyon...

This fellow... seemed somewhat familiar.

The "Dragon" compared their size difference and silently sneered with a grin.

The young man, fully armed, held a special metal knife, cautiously inspecting his surroundings, while also holding a compass-like navigation device.

Time passed, and he was no longer the ignorant little boy.

Spotty memories flicked through his mind like photographs, from the warm smile of his mother when he was a child, to her disappearance, and then to his father’s overnight graying.

Then to him finding a piece of his mother’s clothing left behind in the etheric abyss...

That day he returned home, crying heart-wrenchingly; the pain of his mother’s death was too much for a boy not yet seven to bear.

Moreover, his mother’s death was connected to a huge secret.

This secret fell upon him, bringing overwhelming pressure from a crisis threatening the existence of the world.

He vaguely knew some of it and felt suffocating pain.

Those old photographs, like fallen maple leaves, withered piece by piece, mottled and aged, blurry and indecipherable.

But what stuck in his memory the most was that huge figure that helped him find the piece of cloth...

Not all creatures in the etheric abyss were mad, murderous beasts.

As his mother had said, there would always be a glimmer of hope in despair, and to give up would be to truly have no hope.

The thirteen or fourteen-year-old youth sighed deeply; he had come here because... his father had also disappeared.

In recent years, his father’s health had been poor, constantly locking himself in the library searching for the answer to a question, deteriorating physically and mentally.

His father claimed he was going to the etheric abyss to seal the "Key," then... he never returned.

"In ancient mythology, there’s a legend called Heavenly Dog devouring the Moon. You must always remember the origin of this tale; there is something capable of completely swallowing the Moon, it could be a Heavenly Dog, or some other name, or even, perhaps, some intangible entity. This entity, once it appears in the world, will devour many things from us."

"The appearance of the Moon is also not a coincidence, but an inevitability. Someday if humans manage to dig through the 10-kilometer thick layer of rocks on the Moon’s surface, we might see some terrifying things... a spaceship, or maybe, the Heavenly Dog?" Occasionally, his father would tell him some terrifying mythological stories.

"Of course, with our current level of technology, it might never be possible to dig through the Earth," his father ended with a gentle smile.

As if something like a giant eye emerging on the Moon; the Moon itself is actually a giant spaceship, containing something terrible; or maybe that humans are actually refugees who fled from the Moon.

Someday, that terrifying entity would break free from the spaceship’s confines.

It was just unknown how far away that day was.

"Your mother was looking for a way... there are more secrets, falling into the etheric abyss... finding the secrets will lead to a solution."

He kept these stories deep in his heart, never forgetting them.

Sighing, as he aged, he could never return to that carefree, bold state of the past.

His reverence for the etheric abyss grew with each passing day.

Suddenly, his pupils dilated, spotting a huge shadow falling from the sky.

A mountain-like colossal creature landed on the ground with a loud "boom," stirring up a level twelve typhoon.

The young man couldn’t keep his balance and was blown away by the fierce winds.

Fortunately, being among the most talented humans, he had dared to come here, naturally possessing considerable abilities. A minor disaster truly couldn’t stop him.

The young man performed a roll in the air, landing smoothly on the ground.

However, during the roll, he saw the Dragon, and in that moment, his heart nearly stopped beating—the thunderous breath, the dark golden pupils, and the ferocious black scales reminded him of the gigantic creature he had encountered in his childhood.

The one that had helped him find his mother’s remains.

Only this time, it was even bigger.