197 Signs of Death
[Descent Completed]
Welcome back to Star Abyss
Neural Network intrusion, visual link synchronization, and the Caramel Snail crawls out of its home in Trustworthy Village.
"I don't know why, but I suddenly felt like logging into the game today."
Caramel Snail is the type who can't fall back asleep once he wakes up, especially today he's particularly excited and just wants to play games.
—Most of them played Star Abyss.
He tidied his equipment and dressed neatly. Now, as a renowned "Martial Artist" in the national server, Caramel Snail is no longer limited to being an ordinary amateur player. Many merchants, large guilds, and professional teams have sent him invitations. Caramel Snail is honing his skills and upgrading his equipment while thinking about his goals.
After hanging out with professional players like Cumin Powder for a long time, he realized that professional competitions weren't all that special. They were no different from other full-time athletes, who also had to train, study, practice matches, and review their performances. It wasn't as fun as outsiders thought, like playing games all day.
It doesn't matter if I go into a career, since my university enrollment is for life and I can go back to study whenever I want.
But which team should they join? That's the question that Caramel Snail is struggling with.
With a thoughtful expression, he came to his courtyard—a two-story self-built house with a yard that he had bought from Li Aoz. The scenery was beautiful, with a river and flower fields next to it, and a windmill in the distance. Caramel Snail loved the scenery, which made him feel very relaxed.
Caramel Snail went to the fields to water the plants and loosen the soil. The animal pen in Trustworthy Village wasn't finished yet; otherwise, he planned to buy a Star Dew Cat, a specialty of White Candle Star, and a hunting dog to liven up the house.
Judging from the in-game timeline, these players have been on White Candle Star for a full nine months. If we include the time before the establishment of Trustworthy Village and the initial development during the open beta, it has been a year. The character ' Saga Akira ' recruited by Caramel Snail speaks Tanas Language with Blue Chrysanthemum Village accent and gets along very well with the people in the nearby local villages.
This is actually due to many factors.
The Crystal Tower Civilization is a materialistic Magic Civilization with a high degree of inclusiveness, featuring multiple ethnic groups and cultural systems. The locals are not prejudiced against players and other foreign races.
Secondly, the players are very weak. In the eyes of the local Tower Clan, the players are more like a group of big Lalafells. The common people of White Candle Star, who are all of the Gamma-rank, naturally have no ill will towards such weak creatures.
On the contrary, because the players are quite intelligent, hardworking, and simple-minded (except for their love of rummaging through drawers, touching corpses, and bullying small animals), the villagers often ask the players to run errands or do tasks for them.
Compared to the players, some of the space refugees that Li Aoz took in for the Trustworthy Village were actually harder to integrate into the local community. For example, the aliens from the Vanlenkov Autonomous State were powerful and were a warrior race that was good at fighting. Their appearance was also more likely to make children cry at night, so they were not very popular with the locals. However, they were stronger, and some important tasks still had to be handled by the refugees.
The players and the refugees weren't that unfamiliar with each other. They were all undocumented and relied on Li Aoz's protection to survive here. The refugees also knew that these undead invaders had a close relationship with the lord, so they didn't dare to neglect them.
Although it was still the dead of night in reality, it was already broad daylight in Trustworthy Village. Caramel Snail leisurely strolled around its own little plot of land, collected some materials, closed the door, and headed straight into the village.
His teammates hadn't arrived yet, and it was obvious that one person couldn't clear the dungeon alone. Caramel Snail didn't want to go to Valenkov to run the knife.
He didn't know what was wrong with him, but that sudden urge he had earlier hadn't subsided.
So, Caramel Snail closed his game interface and walked along the village streets, looking at the crisscrossing paths, the neat houses, the breeze carrying the fragrance of flowers, the magical light emanating from the workshop, and the Biochemical Pool humming, seemingly carrying out some order from Li Aoz.
Young and middle-aged villagers toiled in the fields, sweating profusely. Several children laughed and played, kicking a ball around. The sound of reading aloud came from the village primary school. Several workers stood at the entrance of the tavern, their fingers holding Magic Cigarette, discussing solemnly how to build the flying carpet docking area.
It all feels so real.
He went to the restaurant and ordered a bowl of fried rice and a glass of lime juice. The proprietress was in a good mood today and gave him two chicken wings as a gift.
Caramel Snail has eaten many dishes with added bonuses made by the professional chef, Garryton, such as the "Living Dead Curry Shrimp" which increases "Strength" and the "Satan's Lament Cream Pie" which restores full health.
Caramel Snail was carefully savoring each spoonful of this fried rice, which was meant to only fill her stomach, enjoying the smooth texture of the rice and egg mixture. The restaurant's cooking wasn't particularly refined, but the portion was generous, clearly intended to fill her stomach so she would have more energy to work.
The bards in the restaurant played music and sang, creating an incredibly joyful atmosphere.
The lime juice has a refreshing, sweet and sour taste with a slight astringency. When you take a sip, Caramel Snail can clearly feel its salivary glands secreting saliva, making the whole process and sensation incredibly realistic.
Without a system interface, it looks just like a real world.
"No wonder they're implementing Electronic Immigrants..."
Caramel Snail understand perfectly at this moment.
Amidst the comings and goings of diners, clinking glasses, fresh fruits and vegetables, simple meals, and lively music and dance, this rich atmosphere of life suddenly gave Caramel Snail a thought: 'When I die, I want to upload my consciousness here too.'
Star Abyss is their second home.
As this thought arose, he was gazing at the distant fields, looking at his two-story cottage by the river, and Caramel Snail naturally assumed:
'If anyone dares to do anything bad to Star Abyss, I will absolutely not let them get away with it.'
After the wandering bard finished his song, he saw a Caramel Snail eating alone, recognized him as an intruder, and immediately approached him, saying in a friendly manner:
"Hey buddy, I've written a new piece of music. Why don't you listen to it for me and tell me if there's anything I can't improve?"
The bard ' Mais ' has given you Side Quest – ' Audition Track '.
The system interface that suddenly popped up brought Caramel Snail back to player mode. The task wasn't difficult; it was just about listening to music. He was happy to have some free time, so he nodded and accepted the task.
"No problem."
"Thank you so much."
The bard Mais smiled, then picked up his lyre and sang a ballad: The seamstress holds the thread in her hand, through fate and time, she weaves death into pieces, history unfolds page after page, and calamities come in droves, destruction is ever-present.
A Saintess arrives seeking danger, only to witness the tailor's atrocities.
She hurled her bronze sword, severing the endless silk threads.
The poet sang a ballad, but the more Caramel Snail listened, the stranger it seemed. He unconsciously gripped his cup, sometimes sipping his drink in silence, sometimes gazing into the distance with a sorrowful expression.
"Tailor... [Tailor]".
The poet sang unremarkable lyrics and performed the song with clumsy technique, but for some reason, the story he described resonated with Caramel Snail —or rather, Jiao Ziniu— and evoked a sense of sorrow.
One hundred and twenty years ago, Witch who called herself "The Tailor" fell from the stars and descended upon the human world. She could easily connect mountains, manipulate people's lives and destinies, and act recklessly without restraint, stirring up bloodshed and wreaking havoc on humanity.
Just then, Saintess, also from the stars and fond of adventure, could no longer stand by and watch the Tailor's atrocities. She came to the mortal realm, and although she had lost her magic powers, she was determined to fight for mortals. She cut the Tailor's threads and raised the banner of resistance.
In the end, the Tailor was defeated, and the Saintess was also seriously injured. Her body was buried in the mountains and guarded by the heroic spirits of Falicia.
It's strange, really.
In this story, Jiao Ziniu is completely unaware of the historical background and the relationships between the characters.
But he could clearly sense that whenever the word "tailor" came up, whenever he heard that "tailors" were harming the world and committing atrocities, Jiao Ziniu could not remain calm.
It was as if... he was also a victim of that calamity.