Unedited chapter
45. Pa.s.sing Through the Inner Demon Tribulation
Shu Shu followed Edgar back to the Imperial palace with practically a heavy load on his mind.
Edgar actually liked him . . . . Inexplicably, he was a bit happy but also felt that it was not right. He was different from the sub-beastmen after all.
Edgar saw Shu Shu not talking and fell silent as well. He liked Shu Shu who twittered incessantly at his side. Now that Shu Shu didn"t talk, he always felt weird. Alas, he also didn"t know what to say to Shu Shu . . . .
For a moment, he kind of regretted confessing so hurriedly.
"What do you want to eat for dinner?" Edgar finally asked as they got down from the aircraft.
"Whatever." Shu Shu replied. The food in the Imperial palace was all very delicious. Undoubtedly, those spare ribs he had eaten before were the most interesting to gnaw on . . . . Attention diverted once again, Shu Shu added, "I want to eat those deep-fried spare ribs too. "
“I’ll let the chef cook them for you." Edgar said.
Shu Shu nodded happily, "Good." After that, he said: "I want a virtual game machine with virtual s.p.a.ce."
"Alright." Edgar nodded and immediately ordered the latest model of luxurious game cabin from the star network, nonchalantly paying more to make people deliver it as soon as possible. "We’ll eat first. Let 006 install the game machine, and then you can play after you eat."
"So fast?" Shu Shu was both surprised and pleased. After he came to the dining table and found that the deep-fried spare ribs had already been put on the table, he was even more pleasantly surprised.
It was impossible that these spare ribs only took a few words from him to be done. He guessed Edgar had already ordered the chef to cook the dish for him in advance?
If truth be told, Edgar was really, really good to him. In the beginning, he sent him preys and then saved him. Afterwards, he took him out of the forest and even sent him to school . . . .
Therefore, he definitely couldn’t let Edgar misunderstand!
He absolutely had to let Edgar know beforehand that he was a beastman, not a sub-beastman!
Thinking this way, Shu Shu very fiercely chewed a mouthful of spare ribs in front of him. The meat used for these deep-fried spare ribs was very fragrant but also quite difficult to chew. This kind of meat was actually not suitable for sub-beastmen to chew, but Shu Shu’s teeth were good, and he liked to gnaw on tough food.
Grabbing a strip of spare rib, Shu Shu started to gnaw on it ferociously.
Everyone said that it was not good for the body if a sub-beastman ate too much, but so long as Edgar thought of how they had nothing to eat in the forest, he was very reluctant to stop Shu Shu and could only urge him to eat more vegetables. Fortunately, Shu Shu also liked to eat vegetables and fruits. He likewise ate them happily, and the two men would not get into a dispute.
After dinner, Shu Shu hurriedly went to see the game machine and discovered that it was actually a single person-sized egg-shaped object. It looked very beautiful and also gave the feeling of a very high-tech product.
"What game do you want to play? I’ll help you download it." Edgar asked. He usually did not play games, but he once used such a virtual device to learn to pilot aircrafts and mech, so he did know how it worked.
"Help me make a lot of snakes." Shu Shu replied. "I want to train myself to be unafraid of snake."
Edgar stared blankly, and then his eyes flashed with wonder as he looked at Shu Shu. He always knew that Shu Shu was afraid of snake, and now, after he had just confessed, Shu Shu was going to find a way to overcome his fear . . . .
Edgar’s heart suddenly jumped a little faster.
"This latest model of game machine has the function of helping people overcome their fears. I’ll help you to do it." Edgar said. Nowadays, there were quite many sub-beastmen who were afraid of all kinds of things. There were also sub-beastmen who were afraid of their own partners’ beast forms because they had been accidentally frightened by said beasts. As a result, some game companies developed computer programs that help people to overcome their fears.
It’s actually like this. Shu Shu was quite amazed. He trusted Edgar very much, so he let Edgar handle all the works of setting up the game machine. Afterwards, he entered the virtual cabin, lay down, and closed his eyes as per Edgar"s bidding.
Not long after closing his eyes, Shu Shu sensed himself appear in a vast expanse of whiteness.
His body slowly took shape within the void, and then a voice spoke, "h.e.l.lo, respected customer. Welcome to the self-experienced journey of overcoming your fears developed by our x.x.x company."
It had started? So fast! Shu Shu sighed ruefully and then heard the voice spoke once again, "Snake has been selected as the terror object. The terror level will be detected next. Please look at the picture."
That speaking voice barely fell when a picture instantly appeared in front of Shu Shu. What’s more, there was a snake on the picture.
Shu Shu really didn’t like snake and subconsciously turned his head, but the picture was still in front of him, and on top of said snake, there were still many more snakes.
Shu Shu"s heartbeat sped up, but the fact was, it was unlikely for him to flee from the snakes since they were just a picture after all . . . . Right at this moment, the snakes on the picture actually raised their heads and emerged from the picture!
Shu Shu almost unconsciously wanted to run away, but then, the picture in front of him suddenly disappeared.
Shu Shu breathed a sigh of relief, and next, he heard the voice saying, "The user’s fear level towards snake is SS. Begin treatment."
Shu Shu did not know whether this SS level was high or low; he only knew that he switched to another place in no time. This place looked like the background of a Chinese-made animated film in the Nineties. The plants and animals around him all looked very, very fake, which made people know at a glance that this was not the real world. Shu Shu then saw a bunch of very cartoonish paper snakes move in front of him.
These cartoon snakes were quite cute. Even if Shu Shu was afraid of snake, these ones did not give rise to too much fear in him. Of course, he didn"t like them either.
Looking for an opportunity, Shu Shu tore up a cartoon snake . . . .
One and then two; Shu Shu quickly tore up all the cartoonish paper snakes around him.
After the cartoon snakes went past, an animated film scene that was a little bit better appeared before Shu Shu. This time, the snakes were not like the previous ones but did not resemble real snakes too.
Shu Shu once again tore them up . . . .
The cartoonish paper snakes came round several times, and then, the toy snakes appeared . . . . Shu Shu honestly wasn’t afraid of these things and sometimes felt that they were a little peculiar. After the toy snakes were smashed by him, the loud voice that was either crying or singing disappeared.
Shu Shu still wanted to keep playing, but in the end, after having fun with a bunch of cartoon snakes, the voice reappeared: "The game has been saved. You can safely go offline."
The mechanical voice rang out, and Shu Shu sensed the scene before his eyes changed completely. He was back to the real world. Shortly, the virtual cabin was opened, and then Edgar"s face showed up. "It’s enough for today."
Shu Shu nodded and climbed out of the virtual cabin.
“Do you feel uncomfortable? Do you want to adjust the pace?” Edgar asked.
"No need, it’s fine! If I keep this pace, I’ll surely be unafraid of snake in a few days. At that time, I’ll prove it to you that I’m really a beastman." Shu Shu said.
Looking at Shu Shu’s firmly clenched fists and face that was full of excitement, Edgar was actually a bit dazzled and couldn’t help but want to go over and kiss that mouth . . . .
In the following days, during the day, Shu Shu went to the bridal cla.s.s every day and found the time to read the textbooks and the extracurricular books. At night, after he came home, he lay down in the virtual cabin and tried to overcome his fear.
He and Edgar were quite close before, but these days, he tried to avoid Edgar as much as possible, putting all his thoughts on studying. As it happened, this behavior of his was actually quite effective.
He already recognized the whole letters. When writing, he occasionally had to think about it because of his unfamiliarity with the letters, but there was no such obstacle when reading. More importantly, in the virtual cabin, he had gradually begun to touch the real snakes.
Tonight, after lying down in the virtual cabin, a vivid and realistic snake that was no different than a real snake appeared in front of Shu Shu.
Suddenly seeing a real snake, Shu Shu was a little scared. He didn’t expect the snake to be even more afraid of him. After seeing him, it turned round and ran away.
What a sham . . . Shu Shu inwardly remarked. Believe it or not, he actually wasn’t afraid of this snake, so he chased after it. And the more he chased, the more the snake ran with all its might. He ran into other snakes on the road, and they were the same as the first snake, running forwards with all their might. He ended up chasing after a group of fleeing snakes.
Seeing this scene, Shu Shu felt a little funny, and he was getting more and more happy giving chase to the snakes. Later on, he even stepped on them.
The snake that was stepped on by him immediately disappeared. From start to finish, their appearance did not engender the slightest amount of terror. Once Shu Shu got rid of all the snakes, he pa.s.sed this round. At the same time, Shu Shu entered the next round.
A snake suddenly sprang from the underbrush on the side and bit into Shu Shu.
These days, Shu Shu saw snakes in the virtual reality every day. He had also seen all kinds of snakes covered by the popular science and watched a good deal of snake anatomy videos. Furthermore, he had caught a lot of snakes and would not be scared anymore . . . . When this snake sprang at him, he swiftly reached out, grabbed the nine-inch snake, smashed it onto the ground very savagely, and then stamped on it repeatedly until it died.
This time, the game took a really big step and actually made him confront the snake directly . . . . Shu Shu curled his lip, honestly a little disheartened. Then, a very, very big snake unexpectedly appeared in front of him, and it was Edgar or, to be more exact, Edgar in his former snake form.
That was a stolen design! This game actually used the crown prince’s prototype; weren’t they afraid of being investigated? Shu Shu became furious.
He was extremely angry; that big snake, however, advanced and snapped at him . . . . Its appearance was Edgar"s, so Shu Shu wasn’t particularly afraid. Thinking that all of this was fake, he was even less afraid. Right at this moment, the snake unexpectedly swallowed his head whole and started to constrict the rest of him.
That tactile sensation was really too real, and he even felt the pain. Obviously, all of this was fake, so how could it be like this?
Shu Shu was somewhat dazed, and then, he abruptly went offline.
Opening his eyes, Shu Shu found himself lying in the virtual cabin, and this time, he finally got scared.
The scene just now was really very dreadful! All the air in his lungs was almost squeezed out after the snake tightened up its constriction. Also, his head already entered the snake’s stomach! That big snake was really going to eat him, ah!
Shu Shu was stiff all over and for a moment, practically breathless. That was to say, he suddenly realized one thing this time—he had pa.s.sed through the inner demon tribulation.
The last scene in which he ran into two snakes was actually the inner demon tribulation!
The feeling of fear had still not receded, and truthfully, it made Shu Shu less joyful.
"What happened with you?" Edgar found Shu Shu abruptly and forcibly disconnecting from the game machine. Quite worried, after the game machine showed Shu Shu’s rapid heartbeat, he promptly opened the virtual cabin to check.
"I"m fine." Shu Shu said and then sat up and touched his ear in pa.s.sing.
His hamster ears were finally gone.