Chapter Fourteen: Five-Star Review

Inside the assessment room, the atmosphere was somewhat strange.

The young woman in professional attire was extremely nervous. She had only recently started her job, and now she was evaluating a legendary figure who possessed the fabled infinite dream spirit? Across the entire country, how many Dreamwalkers with infinite dream spirit were there? Probably less than ten. Which meant… the handsome young man before her might one day stand at the very pinnacle of the nation.

His future was limitless, his youth promising, and most importantly… he was very good-looking! This was exactly the high-quality man she had been searching for but never found.

“Shall we continue the assessment?” The girl’s increasingly fervent gaze made Du Fang quite uncomfortable. Though he already had his daughter, Luo Luo, he couldn’t deny that he was still a shy young man, still treasuring his first experience.

“Let’s continue.”

“Alright, next, let’s get to know you better—no, I mean, let’s proceed with a deeper assessment.” The girl in the professional skirt was now exceedingly attentive. She personally fetched a chair for Du Fang and placed it at the test station.

“The second part of the assessment is proficiency with forbidden artifacts. Please take out your forbidden artifact now.” She spoke with a smile.

Du Fang calmly sat down and produced the portrait cards gifted to him by the aunties.

The young woman took them and returned to the machine, placing the cards on the device and pressing the test button.

Beep, beep, beep—

Wisps of black smoke drifted out. Warning symbols flashed on the device’s screen.

“As expected, this is a forbidden artifact. Grade Three, Wraith-level—meets the assessment standard.” She smiled brightly.

Forbidden artifacts were by no means cheap. Even a Grade One Wraith-level artifact would fetch no less than fifty thousand on the market! Yet Du Fang’s artifact was already Grade Three. That deck of cards alone was worth hundreds of thousands!

Granted, that was less than the price of one of the cars in her garage, but money was not what she cared about most; it was merely icing on the cake.

What she truly prized was a man of Du Fang’s caliber! Good-looking, capable—her standards were not high at all!

“Um…” Her smile became radiant. “Once the assessment is over, do you have any free time?”

Du Fang’s response was serious and earnest. “No, I have to go home and cook for my daughter.”

Feeding Luo Luo was very important. If she went hungry, her affection level would drop, and bad things might happen.

The girl’s smile remained. Go home to cook for his daughter? What a family man, so loving—wait, what? Daughter?!

Her smile slowly faded. He already had a daughter? Didn’t that mean this sought-after bachelor was already taken?

A wave of endless disappointment and gloom washed over her. In an instant, everything felt dull and tasteless.

In keeping with her socialist values, there was no way she would ever become the other woman. Taken men were off-limits!

“Let’s begin, then.” She regained her professional composure, though a hint of disappointment lingered in her voice.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door. Zhang Changlin, Chen Xi, and Lin Liuli entered the assessment room, gazing at Du Fang from afar with keen interest.

The young woman, feeling dejected, glanced at them and couldn’t be bothered to shoo them away. After all, she knew Zhang Changlin—captain of Jiangling City’s Silver Dreamwalker Squad—who was entitled to watch the assessment. Besides, this was only an intern Dreamwalker evaluation—nothing that needed to be concealed. Some lesser teams wouldn’t even accept interns, let alone a silver-ranked squad.

“Sir, please prepare yourself. I’ll calibrate the simulated dream disaster, and then we can begin.” Her temporary heartbreak had dulled her previous enthusiasm; she now addressed him as “sir” instead of “young man.”

Du Fang didn’t mind the change in address. He grew solemn, clutching the portrait cards in one hand and holding Luo Luo’s hand with the other.

This would be his first time experiencing the simulated dream disaster assessment. He turned to Luo Luo.

“Luo Luo, Daddy’s proficiency test for the forbidden artifact is all up to you! Do well, and I’ll make braised pork for you tonight!”

His eyes were full of encouragement. Bringing Luo Luo to the assessment was his trump card! To earn money, buy a big house, reach the pinnacle of life… it all depended on his little girl.

Daddy’s job was just to cheer her on!

Then, as if remembering something, he looked at Luo Luo rather awkwardly. “Luo Luo, um… try to use it sparingly. There’s not much to go around.”

He was talking about dream spirit—he only had just enough for one unit, barely enough!

Luo Luo giggled, squeezing her little pink pig plush tighter and tighter as if it were about to let out a desperate squeal.

For braised pork—no, for Daddy! Luo Luo, charge! The little girl was full of fighting spirit.

“Okay! Don’t worry, Daddy, Luo Luo understands!”

At a distance, the young woman, now calibrating the simulation, looked over at Du Fang with a gentle smile and gestured.

“Sir, I’ll count down from three before starting the simulated dream disaster. The simulation will be a Grade One Wraith-level dream. If you use your forbidden artifact to conquer it, you’ll have passed the proficiency assessment. I’ll also enter the simulation as an observer to grade your performance, from one to five stars. Three stars or above is a passing mark.”

She attached metal contacts to her temples, looking at Du Fang as she spoke.

He nodded solemnly.

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

Beep—

…

…

The young woman slowly opened her eyes.

Looking around, she found herself inside a traditional Chinese teahouse, surrounded by ornate pavilions. The sound of boiling water from kettles filled the air.

She knew she was now inside the simulated dream disaster.

This wasn’t her first time here. Even as a newcomer, she had already guided several candidates through the assessment over the past few days. She was no stranger to the simulated dream disaster.

Overhead, the sky was blood red, thick and oppressive as if it might bleed. This was the typical color and style of dream disaster realms.

A Grade One Wraith-level simulation wasn’t difficult and posed no real danger.

“This simulated disaster is codenamed ‘The Haunted Teahouse.’ Originally a Grade Four Wraith-level disaster, its difficulty has been reduced to Grade One for this test. All you have to do is evade pursuit by a single wraith and escape the teahouse to succeed.”

She murmured, surveying her surroundings.

Under the crimson sky stood a teahouse in a ruined cityscape. High-rise buildings flanked either side, their lights flickering. Black ivy crawled across the walls. Tattered newspapers, rolling cans, and sparking neon tubes—all contributed to a bleak, terrifying atmosphere.

Shivering reflexively, she pressed her knees together, feeling an inexplicable coldness.

Something was off. The atmosphere didn’t match the usual Grade One Wraith-level disaster. Had she forgotten to adjust the difficulty?

The more she thought about it, the more she doubted herself. It was like leaving home, locking the door, but then being told you might have left it unlocked—uncertainty creeping in.

The pavilion was bustling. Dozens of tea tables filled the room, each set with trays and cups. Guests sat at every table.

Across from each guest sat a woman in a cheongsam, with heavy makeup and blood-red blush, their eyes half-closed, heads tilted, lips curved in a fixed smile. These were the teahouse hostesses.

All the guests sat with their backs to her, quietly waiting for their kettles to boil.

“Where’s Du Fang?” The young woman tried to ignore the strange environment, standing up to search for him. She needed to evaluate his proficiency with the forbidden artifact, so she had to find his position.

He should be here, seated at one of the tables as a guest.

“Sir, your tea is ready. Please have a seat and enjoy.” A melodious female voice sounded nearby.

She turned her head to find one of the hostesses, caked in makeup and blood-red blush, smiling at her.

Ignoring her, she gritted her teeth and looked away, continuing her search.

Soon, her face lit up—she had found him!

There, at the main table, she saw Du Fang’s back. But there was something odd: standing beside him was a little girl clutching a pink pig plush. The girl wore a headband, her long black hair cascading down her back, looking for all the world like a fairytale princess.

Around her, cards floated one after another.

Perhaps sensing the young woman’s gaze, the little girl—still facing away—suddenly twisted her head a full 180 degrees with a “crack,” fixing her in place with a tilt, a grin, a long, barbed tongue, and a mouthful of razor-sharp fangs.

The sight was grotesque in the extreme.

“Heheheh… Looks like Luo Luo’s arrival has awakened them all.”

“Perfect—I can show Auntie how well Daddy controls his forbidden artifact…”

“Hope Auntie gives Daddy… a five-star rating!”