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Dan Xingyu released the little golden dragon that had been nagging him.

The little golden dragon’s true form was already quite large, but it deliberately shrank its size to make itself about the same size as the two of them. Whether it was this vast garden territory or the rich aura of life here, everything excited the little dragon immensely.

It flew joyfully back and forth around the territory, even trying to perch on the ancient war tree to let out a long, roaring cry.

Qiyu had been a little worried that it might fly away, but Dan Xingyu reassured him: “It knows its limits. When it comes to sensing danger, these magical creatures are even more perceptive than I am.”

Qiyu looked at the proud little golden dragon and thought of his own unicorn egg. He took the snow-white egg out of his backpack.

“Awoo–”

The little golden dragon, which had been frolicking in the sky just a moment ago, instantly swooped down.

Its big golden eyes stared curiously at the snow-white egg. It stretched out its snout, looking as if it really wanted to nudge it a couple of times, but held back, its big eyes glancing over at Qiyu.

“This is my unicorn,” Qiyu explained. “It shouldn’t be long before it hatches.”

The little dragon let out two anxious cries, looking first at Dan Xingyu, then back at the egg.

Dan Xingyu: “…That’s not my egg.”

The little golden dragon was a smart one; it immediately turned around, made itself a little smaller, snuggled up next to Qiyu, and let out a soft “woof”, its wings gently fluttering against Qiyu’s arm.

“Are you trying to get my attention?” Qiyu’s eyes lit up; he really did love this little guy, who was perfectly tailored to his aesthetic sensibilities from head to toe.

The little dragon let out a low cry and waved its other wing toward the egg on the ground.

Seeing it like this, Dan Xingyu pressed his hand to her forehead: “It’s never seen another egg since it was born—it thinks this unicorn on the ground is one of its own kind.” Actually, it wasn’t that it had never seen other eggs; it was just that the little golden dragon had never seen an egg from a magical creature with such pure and powerful energy.

To put it simply: it’s picky—it doesn’t even give the eggs of ordinary creatures a second glance, so naturally it wouldn’t consider them to be of its own kind.

So it was a case of mistaken identity.

Qiyu couldn’t communicate with it directly, so after thinking for a moment, he used the “Whisper of Nature” spell.

Combined with the elf’s innate affinity, the magic allowed him to convey his meaning precisely: “This is a unicorn egg, not a dragon.”

The little golden dragon didn’t know whether it understood or not.

But it was thrilled that Qiyu could communicate with it!

“Ooh-ooh—” it let out two cheerful cries.

“Play… play together… I like it!”

Qiyu thought for a moment, then said earnestly, “You can touch it, but you can’t pick it up and fly away with it. It’s still a tiny baby that hasn’t even been born yet—it’s very fragile. If you accidentally drop it, it’ll get hurt.”

After all, a unicorn isn’t an ordinary creature—its egg wouldn’t shatter from a simple fall—but that doesn’t mean it should be exposed to any risks. The little golden dragon understood.

Right in front of the two of them, it shrank its body a little more, then lay down and wrapped its long tail completely around the unicorn egg.

It was a thoroughly domineering and possessive gesture.

Qiyu watched the scene and felt, for some reason, that it looked familiar.

He said, “The way you were holding me just now looked just like this!”

Dan Xingyu:“……”

His face flushed bright red again!

H-how can you be so tactless!

However, the little elf had only spoken offhand; he still had serious business to attend to.

There was only one diamond chest left. He chose to open it.

For the third time, a golden light burst forth—though this time it wasn’t quite as dazzling as before.

【Obtained Territory Upgrade Scroll x1.】

Huh? It’s actually a Territory Upgrade Scroll.

Qiyu looked at the thin, golden sheet of paper in his hand.

No wonder, when he had previously upgraded to a Level 3 Shelter and entered the Elf Treehouse, the conditions for upgrading the shelter didn’t appear again.

Trusting the survival game, he didn’t think it was a bug; instead, he assumed there were special requirements for upgrading to a Level 4 Shelter. After all, the leap from a Level 2 Shelter to a Level 3 Shelter had been a complete qualitative leap.

If there were special conditions for upgrading to a Level 4 Shelter, that would seem perfectly normal.

He just didn’t expect that, instead of just upgrading the shelter, the entire territory would advance together. The item description for the Territory Advancement Scroll is just a single line:

【Territory Advancement Scroll: An essential item for territory advancement.】

Qiyu sent the scroll’s information to Dan Xingyu to look at.

Dan Xingyu: “Territory advancement? Try using it on your own territory to see if any specific advancement requirements appear.”

Qiyu selected “Use.”

【The current territory does not meet the requirements. When half of the territory upgrade conditions are met, all upgrade conditions will be revealed.】

Both: “……”

“There’s still a trial-and-error phase,” Dan Xingyu couldn’t help but complain. “Great. Now we’ll have to think twice about everything we do—whether it might help the territory advance or not.”

Qiyu, however, took it in stride: “We’ll take it slow. Since we were able to open the scroll, we’ll eventually meet the requirements.”

Ever since he realized he was an elf and that his life would be very, very long, his outlook had become much more relaxed. With the treasure chest opened, there wasn’t much else to do tonight.

The garden fell silent once more, broken only by the occasional low grumble from the little dragon’s throat.

It was probably talking to its new friend, the unicorn egg, which was penned off nearby—though not even Dan Xingyu had any idea what it was mumbling about.

The brand-new couple exchanged glances, looking at each other.

It was an experience Qiyu had never had before. For the first time, Qiyu realized that even doing absolutely nothing—just standing there wasting time—didn’t actually feel boring.

But his common sense still prompted him to urge Dan Xingyu to go back and rest: “Tomorrow marks the start of a new month—I wonder if the survival game will have any new events.—you should go back to sleep, boyfriend.”

Dan Xingyu was currently at a stage where he wanted nothing more than to stick by his boyfriend’s side every moment—just gazing at him made him feel incredibly happy. But he was very obedient: “Okay, sure.”

He wanted to leave, but he was a little reluctant, so he asked, “Will I get a goodnight kiss?” 

“A goodnight kiss?”

Dan Xingyu: “Couples are supposed to kiss each other and say goodnight before going to sleep.”

Qiyu looked thoughtful: “A kiss is fine, but, Dan Xingyu.”  

“Hmm?”

A mischievous glint shone in the little elf’s eyes: “If I kiss you, will you really be able to sleep tonight?” 

Just a moment ago, when he’d kissed him, his face had turned bright red, and his heart had been pounding so hard he could hear it himself. Dan Xingyu took a deep breath, thinking to herself that this little elf was truly terrifying.

He clearly didn’t understand a thing—he didn’t even know how to say “good night.” Yet such flirtatious words just rolled off his tongue effortlessly. He must really be a little devil, right? He stepped forward on his own, bent down slightly, and gazed silently at his boyfriend.

Qiyu smiled as he wrapped his arm around his neck and planted a kiss on the tip of his nose.

His gaze drifted downward, and he quickly planted another kiss on his lips.

The person in his arms suddenly shuddered violently; a pair of hands wrapped around his waist, pulling the other person tightly against him, and their bodies fit together seamlessly.

“I was really wrong. When I used to watch TV dramas, I shouldn’t have made fun of some of those scenes for being so cheesy,” Dan Xingyu whispered in his ear, his breath hot against his skin, speaking words the post-apocalyptic country bumpkin couldn’t understand.

“I truly feel my life is complete now. I’d be willing to die.”

Qiyu:？

The person who had been quietly nestled in his arms suddenly pushed him away.

Qiyu’s expression turned serious: “Dan Xingyu, if you say things like that again, I’ll get angry.” Anyone who’s died knows that’s not a good thing—and it’s certainly no laughing matter.

He said earnestly, “When you said you liked me, you said you’d stay by my side for a long, long time. That’s a promise, isn’t it?” 

“I don’t like dying; I like being alive.”

“Dan Xingyu, you should say that you’ll live with me for a very, very long time, and that you’ll always be by my side.” 

“That’s exactly what I want to hear.”

“……”

Dan Xingyu stared at him blankly, his expression suddenly turning sorrowful, as if he were about to cry.

Qiyu felt a pang of sympathy, yet he was also puzzled: Did I say something too harsh? But I wasn’t even angry yet. While he was still puzzling over this, the person across from him seemed to snap out of it suddenly.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his expression returning to normal—as if his earlier look had been nothing more than an illusion. Dan Xingyu said solemnly, “I’ll never say things like that again.”

“Qiyu, I’ll definitely train hard, become really strong, and always stay by your side.”

He walked over, and Qiyu thought he was going to kiss him again.

But Dan Xingyu merely raised his hand and gently brushed the corner of Qi Yu’s eye—a movement so tender it was as if he were touching a fragile, priceless treasure.

“Good night, My Lord.”

On the way back, a little mishap occurred: a certain little dragon—who had unilaterally “made a new friend”—was stubbornly sprawled on the ground, refusing outright to go home.

Finally, Dan Xingyu sighed in exasperation: “It doesn’t have to sleep in its golden nest every day anymore. Since it refuses to budge, I’ll have to trouble Your Lordship to keep an eye on it tonight.”

Qiyu cheerfully agreed, “No problem!”

As he turned to leave, the forced smile on Dan Xingyu’s face faded. 

Qiyu, why do you react so strongly to the word “death”?

Is it because he’s experienced too many separations and deaths, or… He dared not consider the other possibility.

He couldn’t fathom why an elf from the survival game world would end up somewhere else, or under what circumstances it had been brought back to the survival game.