Light burst around Lin as he stepped through the portal.
He squeezed his eyes shut, expecting fire, claws, or molten blood. Instead, the smell of sugar and vanilla smacked him in the face.
He blinked.
He was standing on a path made of bright pink marshmallow bricks. Cotton candy trees swayed in a breeze that smelled like caramel. Chocolate rivers gurgled on either side, their surfaces glossy and thick. Gumdrop hills sparkled like jewels in the distance.
Lin's jaw dropped. "Wait… is this… Candy Land oh my god?"
Crystal's voice was unusually calm. "Biome recognized: Sugaria Plains. Hazard level… unknown."
Lin twirled around, laughing nervously. "Unknown? C'mon, this is great! No spikes, no grinders, no fire—just sugar waiting for me to devour!"
He reached out and plucked a glowing red gummy from a branch. It was warm in his hand, pulsing faintly. "Huh. That's weird."
He popped it into his mouth.
It wriggled.
He froze. "Wait—why is it—"
The gummy candy expanded, tentacles sprouting out, wrapping around his throat from the inside.
"Mmmmphhh!!" he choked, eyes bulging.
Crystal's voice: "Host is being digested alive. Please eject the candy."
Lin clawed at his mouth. "Mfffhh!!" He gagged, bent over, and coughed violently. The gummy shot out of his mouth like a slime, landed on the marshmallow road, hissed, and scuttled away on jelly legs.
Lin dropped to his knees, gasping. "I almost… got killed… by a gummy bear."
Crystal's voice, deadpan: "Correction. Gummy leech."
He sat back on the marshmallow bricks, hair sticking to his sweaty face. "I'm done. I'm so done. Who designed this biome, Willy Wonka's evil twin?"
---
Candy Attack
A soft rustle behind him.
Lin turned slowly.
Every candy tree nearby was bending toward him. Gumdrops were rolling down the hills like living beetles. Licorice vines twitched, slowly rising from the chocolate river.
"Oh no…" he whispered. "They're all alive."
A massive jaw-shaped lollipop snapped out of a bush, biting the air where Lin had been sitting. He yelped and rolled sideways.
"Crystal, tell me this is a nightmare!"
"No. It's a tutorial on sugar-based combat."
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
---
Death by Donut
A donut the size of a truck hopped toward him, frosting dripping. It opened a circular mouth lined with candy-cane teeth and inhaled sharply.
Lin felt himself being dragged toward it by a gust of sugar-scented wind. "No no no—don't you dare!"
The donut lunged. Lin Wind Stepped to the side at the last second, but a licorice vine whipped around his ankle, yanking him back.
"Let go!" he screamed, hacking at it with his shard.
The donut lunged again, swallowing him whole.
[Respawn]
He appeared back on the marshmallow path, sticky and trembling. "I just got eaten by a donut. A DONUT."
---
More Surprises
A cupcake with wings buzzed overhead, spitting boiling caramel at him. He dodged, slipping on a jelly blob. Licorice snakes slithered toward him from the chocolate river, hissing like cobras.
Lin jumped back, panting. "This is the worst cheat code ever. First fire beasts. Then earth beasts. Now sugar beasts. What's next, sentient broccoli?!"
Crystal's voice was oddly cheerful. "Biome progress: 0.5%. Survive for one hour to unlock exit portal."
Lin stared at the sugar army surrounding him. "One hour? I can barely survive one minute
The ground rumbled. The chocolate river split open, revealing a massive shape rising from its depths and a gigantic jelly dragon made of molten caramel and gumdrops. Its eyes glowed like molten sugar.
It roared, spraying scalding caramel mist into the air.
Lin's jaw dropped. "Oh come on. I'm going to die of diabetes and dragon fire."
He gripped his shard. "Alright. Bring it, sugar beast. But if I respawn one more time, I'm suing the game creator."
To be continued…