Refusing the Spectacle

Lu Yao leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and sipped an Ice Cola as he looked down at the pixel world on his computer screen.

From the Salt Pool Tribe in the western Mountains to the East River Tribe by the eastern river, north to the deepest dangers of the Forest, and south to the Ghost City of Sanilo—his reputation was known to all, without exception.

He could be considered a locally famous god.

Having taken control of Sanilo, Lu Yao had instantly traded his slingshot for a cannon, with both population and faith exploding in growth.

He was already considering his next opponent.

Should he annex the East River Tribe first?

Or directly impose sustainable Lightning and Earthquake sanctions on the Salt Pool Tribe?

He rubbed his chin.

Just as he was thinking, a new prompt appeared on the screen.

[Population is the vessel; faith is the power.]

[You already possess a considerable number of believers and have gained abundant faith in this region. Your might spreads far and wide, and your Miracle is further revealed.]

[Please construct your Wonder. This will be the staircase for you to break free from being a Novice God and step into the Pantheon.]

Wonder?

Lu Yao was no stranger to that word.

When Isabelle subdued Lisa, she had mentioned it too.

"I once rose to the Crawling Zone, but a bastard destroyed my Wonder, so I fell back to the Safe Zone."

In other words, where he was now was called the Safe Zone. Only by building a Wonder could he enter the next stage and ascend to the so-called Crawling Zone.

Just as the prompt described—breaking free from being a Novice God.

Lu Yao opened the Pantheon and found something new in the [Miracle] tab.

There was a new usable Miracle: [Wonder].

The icon for the new Miracle was a blurry building. [Wonder] required 5,000 faith to consume.

Like [Lightning] and [Earthquake], [Wonder] had no detailed description after it either.

Lu Yao pondered. No wonder Lisa was so anxious.

5,000 faith was a huge expense. Developing step by step would require at least a tribe of a thousand people to have that kind of reserve. Considering the need to deal with sudden incidents and harsh environments, it would take a considerable amount of time to accumulate.

Lisa didn't have that patience, so she went around robbing faith from other god players, all to build a Wonder and return to that Crawling Zone.

Now Lu Yao had to consider: should he directly activate [Wonder]?

After thinking it over for a while, he made a decision.

[Wonder] would be put on hold.

For now, he was in the god Safe Zone, which was probably like a newbie village, so it was relatively safe. But once he activated [Wonder], he might end up like Lisa, facing war with other god players, and the pressure could be immense.

Anyone who had played old games knew that before leaving the newbie village, you had to grind levels and monsters as much as possible and strip the village of all its gear.

Stability was Lu Yao's gaming style.

Without being sure, he wasn't leaving the newbie village!

Decision made!

First goal: dominate the nearby Safe Zone!

After making the key decision, Lu Yao's mood lightened.

"Little Fire. Cook me a bowl of noodles, with two cloves of garlic and a fried egg."

"Yes, Master."

The Cactus rose from its pot, shook the mud off its spines, jumped off the table, and went outside to cook the noodles.

Lu Yao stood up and stretched.

Suddenly, a shout came from outside.

"Holy shit! A cactus turned into a spirit! What the hell is going on!"

Lu Yao thought, Damn it. He pushed open the door and saw a young man with a flat-top haircut and heavy dark circles standing at the entrance. A cigarette was stuck to his lower lip, and his eyes were wide with shock, staring at the ground.

On the floor, the Cactus Follower had already turned back into a cactus, motionless.

"What brings you here, Old Zhou?" Lu Yao greeted with a smile.

"No, Lu Yao, that cactus on the ground—it had arms and legs before! It turned into a spirit! Holy shit, that's just insane!" Zhou Qiang kept staring at the cactus on the floor.

"You must be seeing things. This rolled out of my flowerpot inside." Lu Yao picked up Little Fire from the ground and handed it to him. "Look for yourself. It's just an ordinary cactus."

Zhou Qiang cautiously examined the cactus, then poked it with his finger, a puzzled expression on his face.

"I swear I saw it—it had arms and legs, like matchsticks... Maybe I've just been too tired lately."

Zhou Qiang rubbed his face with both hands.

"By the way, why did you come over tonight?" Lu Yao changed the subject. "And didn't I lock the door from inside? How did you get in?"

"Locked? No, I didn't."

Zhou Qiang and Lu Yao checked the front door and found that the lock cylinder on this old security door was faulty. Whether locked from inside or not, the bolt wouldn't pop out—it was purely decorative.

"Old houses have these kinds of problems. I'll mention it to the landlord later, but I doubt they'll fix it. We'll just have to make do."

Zhou Qiang stubbed out his cigarette and said, "I came to find you today."

"I really can't keep my online shop going anymore, so I shut it down."

Lu Yao was taken aback. "You've been running it since college—a five-year-old shop, just closed like that? That's a real shame."

"Small-time business is getting harder and harder."

Zhou Qiang gave a bitter laugh. He pointed at his forehead. "See this? My hairline keeps creeping back. I'm losing hair every day—grab a handful and it's gone."

"Back in college, I was still Gongda Shun Oguri. Now I've turned into Online Shop Pan Changjiang."

From Zhou Qiang's dark circles and haggard look, Lu Yao could tell he was under a lot of pressure.

When they first graduated, Zhou Qiang had been riding high, talking big at gatherings about growing the business and making it big... Now life had beaten him down—thin, dark, always smoking, his brows perpetually furrowed.

"I'm planning to close the shop and take a temp job at the community center."

Zhou Qiang stubbed out his cigarette and smiled. "Two thousand eight a month. Less money, but way less stress. I want to rest a bit first, then figure out my next move."

"Bro, I'm moving in today, but I'm not alone."

Zhou Qiang called out toward the door, "Come on up, what are you hiding for?"

A woman then stepped inside from the doorway.

She looked to be in her early twenties, with delicate features, wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and black straight-leg pants. Her hair was casually tied back, and her gaze was a bit distant—like she was lost in thought, or maybe just distracted.

Lu Yao noticed that the lines of her shoulders and waist were very good, almost no extra fat, showing signs of regular exercise.

"My girlfriend, Yu Yao." Zhou Qiang introduced them. "This is my college roommate, Lu Yao."

Lu Yao smiled politely and nodded. Yu Yao seemed a bit shy and nodded back.

"We'll be here for at most a month or so," Zhou Qiang explained. "Once we find a suitable place, we'll move."

Lu Yao nodded.

He also breathed a small sigh of relief.

If you guys didn't move, I'd have to.

Because of the Simulator, it was really not good to have other people in this house.

Now that Zhou Qiang and Yu Yao had moved into the next room, he had to be even more careful not to let Little Fire be exposed in front of them.

That night, Lu Yao kept hearing someone humming and groaning from next door. At first, he thought it was just a couple's nighttime activities, but the sound grew stranger.

Was someone... humming a song?

But whether the sound came from next door or upstairs, Lu Yao couldn't tell.

In the middle of the night, he was jolted awake again by the duo duo duo sound of chopping vegetables.

Who in their right mind cooks in the kitchen in the dead of night?