The No. 1 Hunfen King in the Entire Server [Interstellar] Chapter 61

After the intense golden light subsided, Lin Jing’s vision was momentarily engulfed in darkness. Once the turbulence around him settled, he slowly opened his eyes and looked around, realizing he was still on the second floor of the wooden house. But now, the illusion had vanished, revealing reality.

The wooden structure looked brand new, radiating the fresh scent of the forest.

The ground was completely empty—no bloodstains, no corpses.

The rat, still dizzy, lay slumped on Lin Jing’s shoulder for a while before weakly asking, “Where are we now?”

Lin Jing steadied himself and said, “This must be the real Black Forest.”

He walked downstairs. The wooden house no longer had a fireplace or firelight. Towering trees cast long shadows, while warm sunlight streamed through the gaps in the windows. Outside, the crisp chirping of birds could faintly be heard.

As he stepped out of the house with the rat, both of them froze.

The biting winter cold had vanished in an instant, replaced by a lush and vibrant spring. The wind stirred the forest into waves of green, fresh and glistening. The wooden house stood atop a small hill, covered in wild grass, with yellow wildflowers scattered across it like an ornate green carpet.

The world was teeming with life, bursting with vitality.

The rat stared in awe and sighed, “Fairy tale worlds sure are magical.”

Lin Jing took out the ancient parchment scroll, deep in thought. “Now I understand why the wooden house was marked on the map. The formation had to be triggered for us to proceed. If I remember correctly, the western path was completely buried under snow when we arrived, but according to the map, we’re supposed to head west.”

A white butterfly fluttered around the rat, who waved his paw to shoo it away.

Lin Jing put the map away and said, “Let’s go find the witch.”

With that, he started walking westward.

The forest was filled with fallen branches, broken trees, and thorny vines. For the first time, Lin Jing found his dress to be a nuisance. He grabbed a stick and used it to clear obstacles as he moved forward. Deeper into the woods, the undergrowth thinned out, while mist thickened, and swamps of varying sizes began to appear.

The surface of the swamps bubbled ominously. Giant frogs crouched within, their harsh croaks echoing as their murky yellow eyes remained fixed on Lin Jing.

The trees twisted into eerie, distorted shapes, their shadows crawling with phantoms. Bats hung upside down, and owls sat motionless. The sky darkened, and the moon emerged—an eerie yellow-green disc, its edges tinged with a faint, unsettling red mist.

Lin Jing used his stick to startle away a venomous snake.

A few caterpillars dropped from a pine tree onto his shoulder. Without changing his expression, he plucked them off.

Dressed in a flowing white gown adorned with lace, with long, slightly wavy black hair, Christine (Lin Jing’s in-game character) looked like a fairy who had accidentally wandered into the human realm.

Only this fairy was getting increasingly irritated.

Thankfully, the wilderness trek didn’t last too long. As they continued west, he finally spotted the eerie and mysterious castle hidden deep within the forest.

The castle was tall, its pointed spires seemingly reaching for the moon.

The walls were crumbling, overgrown with thick ivy, forming an expanse of deep green.

The narrow path leading up to the castle was tangled with thorns, with venomous snakes coiled within.

Lin Jing took a deep breath and stepped forward, only to find that the castle’s doors weren’t even closed.

The rat clung tightly to his hair, shivering slightly. “Why does it suddenly feel so cold?”

The castle doors were massive, and beyond them lay utter darkness.

Lin Jing suggested, “Want me to turn on the chat overlay for some moral support?”

The rat: “?”

A small blue holographic screen instantly popped up beside them, visible only to the two of them.

The chat was instantly flooded with question marks.

【?????】
【What do you take us for???】
【Chat overlay: Don’t use me as a shield, I’m scared too.】
【Unbelievable! I was just complimenting how cool you looked, and now you do this to us?】
【Aaaahhh, finally, you turned on the chat overlay, beauty!】
【Where’s your boyfriend? Let me see!】

Ever since his identity got exposed, the livestream titled “Don’t Bother Me, Let a Handsome Guy Play in Peace” had skyrocketed to the homepage of the platform.

Many viewers had originally joined just to throw insults, but after seeing Lin Jing’s current feminine disguise, they’d all gone eerily silent for a moment—before realizing that, actually, his reasoning kind of made sense.

His battle with Evelyn last night—especially the way he’d shot his gun so effortlessly—had drawn in a new wave of fangirls. As a result, the chat had now become a chaotic mix of different styles.

Most viewers were just casual fans watching for fun, but as soon as Lin Jing turned on the chat, a few theory-heavy messages analyzing the storyline were instantly drowned out by the flood of gossip.

Lin Jing continued walking into the castle while chatting with the chat. “Don’t ask about a boyfriend. The answer is: there isn’t one.”

【I don’t believe you. You literally told The rat earlier that your ‘boyfriend’ keeps annoying you.】

 【Yeah, yeah, I heard it too. Tsk, what a troublesome boyfriend.】

Lin Jing: “…”

With memories that sharp, aren’t you all wasting your talents watching livestreams?

Lin Jing clarified, “That was just a figure of speech about getting annoyed. Did I ever explicitly confirm the word ‘boyfriend’?”

【Yeah, yeah, keep denying it.】

 【You can’t fool us, babe. You didn’t outright reject the term, which means you subconsciously accept it. And considering how easily you get annoyed, that just proves you care about that person’s attention. Which means—you two like each other! Even if you’re not together yet, you will be soon.】

At that moment, Lin Jing was stepping onto a spiral stone staircase.

Reading that message, he nearly missed a step, stumbling slightly.

He steadied himself against the wall, utterly exasperated. Looking up, his brown eyes were filled with helpless disbelief as he shot back: “What the h*ll do you know about men?”

The chat, naturally, wasn’t about to take that lying down.

【What do you know about love?】

Lin Jing: “…” 666.

【The mod said you had a breakup. Did you confess to someone IRL and get rejected, babe?】
【For real? I’ve seen so many failed ‘meet-ups’ on forums this month. [Cigarette emoji]】
【How could he fail? If our streamer showed up in person, he’d be the campus heartthrob anywhere! Who would reject such a beauty?!】
【Am I the only one who wants to know how his ‘boyfriend’ annoys him?】

Lin Jing scoffed. What failure? Shut up and stop jinxing me.

On the surface, he rolled his eyes. “Why do you all care so much?”

Then a bold chat message floated by.

【Because we want to teach you how to do things.】

Lin Jing: “?”

Laughter erupted in the chat.

【Hahahaha, absolutely. We want to teach you.】
【We want to teach you how to love. [Dog emoji]】
【I don’t trust you to date alone.】

From the moment he started streaming, Lin Jing felt like he had been at war with the chat.

If he wasn’t roasting them, they were roasting him.

Who needed them to teach him how to date?!

Lin Jing: “Lu Xingyu, note their usernames.”

The chat immediately became wary.

【What are you doing??】

Lin Jing’s gaze was cold. “I don’t trust you being alive.”

【????????】
【How dare you threaten us, the Love Gurus?! You’re asking for it!】
【This stream is too funny.】

The barrage of comments ranged from calling him a “romantic guru” to labeling him a “2000-point pro,” with plenty of unsolicited advice thrown in. Lin Jing ignored them all.

He had only turned on the comments to give the rat some comfort—he himself didn’t care. Once he reached his destination, he shut them off.

The castle was towering, with staircases winding upward endlessly, vanishing into the heights of the tallest tower.

Night pearls hung on the walls, casting a faint glow. At the end of the corridor was a window, through which cold moonlight streamed in, illuminating a tightly shut door. The door was adorned with deer antlers, and an ominous purple light seeped out from the gap beneath it.

The only one living at the top of the castle was the witch.

Lin Jing hesitated for a moment before raising his hand and knocking.

Knock, knock, knock.

In the vine-and-thorn-covered castle, the sound echoed softly in the night.

“Who?” A voice came from inside the room—strange and grating, like someone who hadn’t spoken in ages, with a throat filled with nails.

Lin Jing planned to trick her into opening the door. Speaking softly, he said, “Greetings, Your Excellency, Witch. I come from the city of Eberon—”

But before he could finish, he was interrupted.

“Eberon?” The witch repeated the name slowly. Then her voice turned cold as ice. “Get out.”

Lin Jing was stunned for a moment before realizing that the witch was the one responsible for both the queen’s and the princess’s deaths. She must have harbored a deep hatred for everything related to Eberon—though he had no idea why.

But that wasn’t his concern. He only needed to know how to break the curse.

Taking a deep breath, he knocked again.

The witch’s voice was filled with impatience. “Didn’t you hear me? I told you to get out.”

Lin Jing replied gently, “Apologies, I didn’t make myself clear. I’m not actually from Eberon.”

There was a brief silence on the other side of the door.

Through the door, he could almost hear her sneering. “Not from Eberon? Then how did you even find this place?”

Lin Jing thought to himself, Because the king has called for your execution across the land.

Of course, he couldn’t say that out loud. Instead, he lied smoothly, “I snuck in. I heard from the people of Eberon that there’s a powerful witch in the forest, and I wanted to make a deal with you.”

The witch remained wary. “And why should I believe you?”

Lin Jing thought for a moment, then smiled as he offered, “You can use your magic to test whether I’m telling the truth.”

The witch fell silent, as if considering his words.

A moment later, he heard footsteps inside the room. Soon, a piece of paper was slipped under the deer antlers hanging on the door.

The witch spoke. “Write your name in your own blood.”

The rat on Lin Jing’s shoulder tensed up, whispering anxiously, “D*mn, be careful! A name is the strongest medium for casting real magic!”

Lin Jing raised an eyebrow. He took the paper, bit his fingertip, and wrote the characters “林镜” (Lin Jing) in blood. Then, for good measure, he added the pinyin spelling, “linjing,” next to it.

Right now, his identity in the game was “Christine,” so using “Lin Jing” wouldn’t affect him. Besides, he was indeed not from Eberon, so he hadn’t lied.

The witch took the paper and muttered the name under her breath—but she stumbled over the pronunciation of “Jing,” her voice awkward and unsure.

She asked in a strange tone, “What is this?”

Lin Jing explained, “It’s the written form of my homeland’s language.”

The witch tried to pronounce it again, fumbling over “Jing.”

Lin Jing patiently clarified, “It means ‘mirror’—the kind that reflects people. If it’s too difficult, you can just call me Lin.”

The witch didn’t respond.

Inside the room, he heard the sound of paper being folded.

Lin Jing waited a few seconds before cautiously asking, “So, will you grant my request?”

The witch was silent.

Lin Jing spoke again, his voice calm and measured. “My name is now in your hands. You can decide my fate at any time.”

At last, the witch said, “What do you want?”

Lin Jing replied, “I want to know how to break the Sleeping Curse. Don’t misunderstand—I’m not trying to save the princess. In my distant homeland, I have a younger sister who was afflicted with the same curse. I’ve traveled far and wide to seek your guidance, all for her sake.”

He had prepared an entire backstory to make his words more convincing.

But to his surprise, the witch didn’t press him with difficult questions. Instead, her hoarse, eerie voice simply asked, “Then, what will you offer in exchange?”

Lin Jing was only trying to gain her trust for now, so he tested the waters by saying, “My soul? Or perhaps my life?”

The witch let out a short, mocking laugh, but it quickly disappeared, followed by a violent coughing fit. Each cough made Lin Jing worry she might just cough her throat out. After a moment, as if losing interest, the witch spoke impatiently, “I don’t want your soul or your life. I lost a glass bead in the forest. If you want to prove your sincerity, find it for me first.”