As Yu Yu prepared to log into the game that evening, a rapid tap-tap-tap interrupted her. She walked to the window to check. A herd of horned animals strutted by brazenly.
"Roar!"
The big cat sprang to life, its tiger-like bellow echoing across the asphalt. The deer—or maybe horned sheep?—scattered in panic.
Embarrassingly, Yu Yu knew little about animals. With one glance, she returned inside.
This place was bizarre. She couldn't fathom why all sorts of random creatures kept showing up. The river suburbs were desolate, with a patch of wild forest, but could that small area sustain so many animals?
It shouldn't even support one big cat. She'd even seen the cat fishing by the river. Yet it refused to leave. Thinking of fish, Yu Yu peeked out the kitchen window. The giant sea turtle was gone.
She'd checked the zoo's public account earlier and found they'd lost nearly all their animals. Even the aquarium and polar exhibits were closed—can you believe it?
Yu Yu was genuinely worried that penguins or polar bears might waddle past her house soon, or great white sharks might appear in the river. Theoretically impossible, since rivers aren't oceans.
But…
Theoretically, zoos aren't air-walled. So how'd the big cat escape?
Fine, the cat escaped, but how did the aquarium critters break out? Did they fly?
Yu Yu couldn't wrap her head around it.
Incomprehensible.
The game hadn't started yet, so Yu Yu opened the forum, brewed a cup of milk, and sipped it happily while browsing. She'd bought plenty of grain seeds. Once she had money, she'd get a bigger freezer…
If that didn't work, she could learn Ice Flow and make an ice cellar herself. 2nd-level elemental spells often involved terrain manipulation. Yu Yu saw a bright future. She'd dig basements out back—one for an ice cellar, one for grain, one for miscellany. Then use [Stone Wall] to build pens: one for chickens, one for pigs, and if possible, Yu Yu wanted cows.
Even if the world went to hell, she'd have veggies, eggs, pork, beef…
Imagining it, Yu Yu couldn't help but grin. Ahh, spells are perfect for farming. So comfy~
Sipping her milk, she entered the forum. Oh? Someone replied to her post. It was about translating Allen Peninsula's language and script.
Yu Yu clicked in eagerly.
Seeing the avatar, she paused. An orchid avatar, ID: [TomorrowWillBeBetter].
Yu Yu hadn't seen such a plain avatar and name in ages.
Her own avatar was a meme, "Doesn'tYourConscienceHurt.jpg," ID: [Boss].
After reading, Yu Yu found the reply insightful, though some terms went over her head. Probably an academic bigshot. A linguistics major, maybe?
Whatever, she didn't get it. Free help was always a joy. The incantations were getting longer, and translating alone was exhausting. If not for fear of benefiting Shang Wei, Yu Yu would've recruited forum helpers ages ago.
May the anomalies defeat Shang Wei soon. Amen.
After chatting with the bigshot, it was game time.
Yu Yu: [Boss, I'm logging in.]
TomorrowWillBeBetter: [Go, go.]
Yu Yu raised an eyebrow at the tone…
Not a player?
Oddly, chatting with him gave her a strange sense of déjà vu…
He seemed older, his speech totally unlike younger folks. As she closed the webpage, Yu Yu noticed a line of small text during the forum refresh.
[Restricted Dissemination, Restricted Description, A1]
Red text.
It instantly triggered a memory. Mysterious Girl Phantom B19, this…
As expected. Yu Yu knew the game would eventually draw attention. The player forum only getting noticed now felt late. But their approach was cautious, hiding the label in tiny text on the refresh dropdown background.
So careful…
Yu Yu pondered, then shut off her computer and went upstairs.
She recalled B19 was Prohibited Dissemination, while Eternal Darkness used Restricted Dissemination.
Both had Restricted Description but not Restricted Audiovisual.
A? B?
Their classification system?
With things like this, why hadn't they gone public?
She'd heard they'd expanded recruitment at universities, so maybe staffing issues were easing?
No clue. Whatever.
Yu Yu shifted to wondering how long until she could afford a cow. Maybe a dairy cow, if possible. Gotta have dreams, right?
Yu Yu's blueprint was ready—just missing money. Today, she'd tackle Senior Felix's quest, then find a team for the assessment quest. Logging in, Yu Yu first claimed her rewards. Unlike Shu Tu's group, Yu Yu got two waves: one real-world, one in-game. Checking her character panel, her Intelligence was indeed 14, with an extra Skill Point and Passive Point.
Real-world rewards carried into the game. What if she brought Senior Felix out one day?
Uh… Felix specialized in negative energy and enchantments—human-killers.
All control spells.
Summoning seemed cool too. Could a 3rd-level Summon Mana Servant make the servant farm?
Or feed pigs!
Yu Yu's thoughts wandered as she took a rickshaw to Silver Moon.
After buying spells, her funds tanked again.
Points: -1210
Money: 0.202.140
Barely two gold left. Yu Yu tightened her belt, vowing to walk if she didn't earn more—no more rickshaws. She'd hitch a ride with Feng Ran. She hadn't focused much on the game lately, but she knew the influx of players had the city guards, including Feng Ran, swamped.
They'd even expanded, hiring players to maintain order. But players' antics… well, NPCs were tearing their hair out. Busy day: quests, plus a visit to the plantation. Tail's group had a farming issue—crops were poisoned. Baren, instead of helping, was laughing on the sidelines.
Time for Boss Yu Yu to step in. Yu Yu patted her inventory, pulling out her orange.
…Still there.
Hmm…
Could she plant it directly?
Holding the orange, she entered the city. Along the way, NPCs stared at it, intrigued. Yu Yu, mourning her lost 5 silver, snapped at the rickshaw driver, "Why're you staring at my orange?"
"What's that fruit? Looks amazing," he said, full of praise.
"Orange. Heard of it?"
The driver looked quite young, about twenty years old, shook his head honestly. "Nope. A new breed from the Pioneer Camp?"
"No idea if it's pricey," he said, eyeing the vibrant orange eagerly. "Bet it tastes great."
Yu Yu stashed it, urging, "Watch the road."
"Oh."
Eternal Darkness seemed to lack normal food; their ingredients were odd. If Yu Yu grew oranges in-game, she'd be an orange tycoon!
Felix pinched the orange, puzzled. "What's this?"
"Fruit. Orange!"
"Fruit?" Felix mused. "So it's a fruit."
"That's indeed rare. You giving it to me?"
Yu Yu saw her squeezing it. "Yeah, but keep the seeds. I wanna try planting them."
Felix smiled. "Thanks, then."
Yu Yu showed her how to peel it, betting Felix's affinity meter just ticked up +1. If she could bug more items in, she'd bribe Felix with tons.
Max affinity, here we come.jpg
Felix: "If you can grow it…"
She shook her head. "Unlikely."
"The Pioneer Team brought fruits from the mainland, but they were all corrupted. None grew, and they caused big trouble."
Recalling those snapping, clawing plants, Felix glanced at the orange.
Moments later, she resumed peeling. "Do your best."
"Your quest's done. Here's your reward."
As she spoke, Yu Yu got the prompt.
[Gained: +2000 EXP, +5 Gold, +3000 Academy Points, 'Falling Rock']
[Gained: +2000 EXP, +5 Gold, Guardian Hall Store Access, 'Strength Blessing', 'Guardian Belt']
What's overnight riches?
This is overnight riches!
One quest, three reward waves!
Jackpot!
Level: 5 (4000/20,000)
Money: 10.197.140
Points: 1790
Two new spells: Falling Rock, Strength Blessing.
[Guardian Belt]
[Quality: Superior
Weight: 5
Durability: 100/100
Stats: +1 Strength
*Trait: Toughness
Description: Standard belt for Beginner Guardians]
Yu Yu's jaw dropped. What a heavy iron belt. Her carry weight was only 20, and this belt took 5. Was this really for her?
Felix, calm: "Guardian gear's like that. Get used to it."
[Toughness]: Pain Tolerance +50%, Grants 'Resilient Will' status, Armor +1
Yu Yu gave up completely. A spellcaster needing pain tolerance? Was she supposed to tank hits?
She'd considered multiclassing—some forum folks tried it, only to find leveling EXP doubled…
She nixed the idea instantly. Double EXP per level? Level 5 was 20,000; doubled, 40,000. She couldn't imagine later levels. Learning skills without multiclassing was fine. But skills depended on stats.
A warrior's Power Stance versus Yu Yu's? Their Strength would crush her, one-shot KO.
Abandoning her Intelligence advantage to boost her weak Strength? Pure insanity.
Same for rogue Stealth—it needed Perception and Dexterity, or she'd lag behind same-level rogues.
Without multiclassing, class passives were off-limits. Like the warrior passive Robust, a flat +1 Constitution. How could Yu Yu compete?
Rogues had tons: Balance, Agility, Listening, Climbing, Shadow Affinity. What could she do?
Multiclassing was a no-go unless the skill was low-requirement and super practical. Training skill proficiency was costly. Yu Yu preferred honing her caster skills. Why would an elite spellcaster like her compete with small-fry players?
Rogues had Stealth? Spellcasters got 3rd-level Fade into Shadows. Rogues had shadow leaps? Spellcasters had Thunder Leap.
Spellcasters' spell lists were far more versatile, though chanting made ambushes tricky. But given time to prep the battlefield? Tsk.
Yu Yu eyed Falling Rock, thoughtful.
Her only 2nd-level spells weren't offensive: Stone Wall, Featherfall.
But Falling Rock was offensive. Maybe not as strong as ice, fire, or lightning, but…
Could it shape terrain?
Yu Yu's mind raced, then she smiled. The Academy basically gave her another 2nd-level quest reward.
Perfect.
"Can I use Strength Blessing?"
Felix: "Your Will's enough. You can use it."
"How's it different from Brute Force?"
Felix: "No mental cost."
Yu Yu got it. It used stamina instead, saving mental points.
Felix, eyeing the orange seeds, mused, "The Academy has test fields. Plant there."
"And hurry up with the assessment," she reminded.
Yu Yu: "Got it!"
She bought another spell: 2nd-level Tremor.
Under Felix's gaze, Yu Yu felt a twinge of guilt. Her attack spells were scarce; her collection was a chaotic mess.
But…
Tremor was for farming! (emphatic)
Who doesn't love farming?!
With Tremor, Stone Wall, and Falling Rock, Yu Yu was a one-woman construction crew, ready to reshape the land!
Decided: add Vine Growth and Thorn Wall to the cart. Stone Wall persisted. Grown thorns should last too, right?
Plant a thorn perimeter around the complex, and that pesky cat—plus random critters—would be locked out.
Security: acquired.
Yu Yu pushed Lightning Bolt and Explosive Fireball back again.
Just a bit longer.
1st-level quests gave 800 points, 50 silver; 2nd-level gave 3000 points, 1 gold. But 1st-level spells cost 300 points, 20 silver; 2nd-level needed 1500 points, 1 gold.
Gold was getting tight.
Yu Yu clutched her wallet, bid Felix farewell, and set off for quests. Spells to buy, oranges to plant, pigs to raise.
All needed money!
Money.
Delivering Felix's response to the Lord's Manor, Yu Yu logged off. Checking the time: 6 a.m.
She visited the players' fields and saw their crops, speckled with black spots, like they were poisoned. Yu Yu decided to hit the Academy library after the assessment quest. Baren's smug look suggested this was common, but he didn't fix it—just dug up and tossed the crops.
Opening her phone, Yu Yu asked in the Penguin group, "Anyone up for a team quest?"
7788: "What quest?"
"Academy assessment," Yu Yu said. "You'll get rewards too. The Academy's never stingy with gold or EXP."
Other players could use points at the Academy store for things like caster scrolls. Yu Yu hadn't bought any since Yunlun tipped her off: joining the Magic Circle gave discounts, and she was about to do the assessment. Buying early would make her a sucker.
Shu Tu: "I'm in."
Yu Yu grinned. "You guys?"
7788: "Count me in. I'm broke, and rogue skills are pricey."
After a pause, Zi Shu asked, "What's the quest?"
Yu Yu sent the description.
Zi Shu: "Add me."
Yu Yu: "Happy teamwork."
Saved money. She'd worried about hiring protection if no one joined. This quest wasn't solo-friendly. Back at Woodheart Camp, enemies came in squads. Without teammates, she'd have hired NPCs, bleeding her wallet dry. Good thing small-fry players were so helpful.
She was pleased with Zi Shu and 7788. They were first-tier, Beginner-rank, and had real-world teamwork experience, so Yu Yu trusted them. After some chat, Yu Yu stretched and headed downstairs. Soon, she was at her desk, browsing the forum.
Huh? Big bounty?
Solve the crop withering disaster, reward… one, two, three, four…
Wow, a million!
Sadly, she sucked at farming. This was for agriculture pros. Yu Yu sighed regretfully. Checking her phone, she glanced at Changyu's location. Yu Yu's casual expression froze. She's awake?
Why'd she go to a private hospital?
Puzzled but unconcerned, Yu Yu figured her parents were back. After a moment, she texted Shu Tu: [If you're free this afternoon, check on Changyu at #Location#.]
After a brief explanation, Yu Yu let it go.
She had a cat to catch.