New Year Goods Summoning?

For the first time in a long time, Huai Shi had a dream.

He dreamt that he had finally achieved his lifelong ambition, walking proudly into Vienna's Golden Hall amidst the audience's fervent applause.

As the host's voice, choked with emotion, nearly brought him to tears, everyone gazed fanatically at the greatest musician of the century.

Then Huai Shi stood on stage, looking down at them with arrogance, nodding slightly, and raising his hand to signal for silence.

Silence fell.

Everyone held their breath, suppressing tears of emotion, the female audience members with expectant expressions and gazes so fervent they seemed to want to bear his children.

Huai Shi glanced at them indifferently, flashed a devilish smile, took out a handkerchief to wipe his hands, then tossed it aside, picked up his cello, and took a deep breath…

He played a mournful rendition of "The Little Widow's Grave Visit."

And before the enraged audience could beat him to death, he finally woke up from the dream, startled.

Lying in bed, Huai Shi panted, unsure if it had been a nightmare or a good dream, only feeling a complex mix of emotions.

Then he began to self-reflect.

Why did he go to the Golden Hall only to play such a terrible piece!

And what was with that devilish smile!

He stared blankly for a long time before coming to his senses. He got out of bed, looked at the sunlight outside the window, drank a vial, and then, with nothing to do, wandered into the garden to continue spacing out.

Until he realized that spacing out wasn't going to cut it, so he decided to take advantage of his day off, changed his clothes, grabbed a bucket, mop, and rags, and started a thorough cleaning.

Of course, while he called it a thorough cleaning, it was actually just routine tidying.

Stone Marrow Hall was so large, even without considering the two annexes that hadn't been lived in for a long time, the four floors of the main building alone would take him a month to clean.

He just tidied up the main entrance, front yard, hall, and a few rooms he used frequently, pulled out some weeds, and carried a bucket of water to the entrance to polish the dusty sign of Stone Marrow Hall until it gleamed again.

Around noon, the table, chairs, and glass he had ordered online arrived.

However, the delivery guy absolutely refused to bring the items inside. After leaving the goods at the door, he ran off faster than a wild dog. Huai Shi was so angry he left a scathing review. The local furniture store didn't even say anything and directly refunded him 300 yuan for the delivery fee.

It just goes to show, people nowadays will do anything to slack off.

After putting the items away, he replaced all the broken window panes, and the house finally looked a bit more lived-in.

At least it didn't look like the haunted house of legend anymore.

After resting for a while, Huai Shi finally sighed, picked up the broom and mop, and went up to the fourth floor to tidy up the master bedroom again, sweeping away dust, opening windows for ventilation, and washing and hanging out the quilt and sheets.

"The room on the fourth floor isn't bad, and the bed isn't small either."

Crow, who had come to watch, landed on the cabinet, surveying the room that could be described as elegant and cozy. "Why have you been staying on the third floor? Look, your bed is about to fall apart."

"..."

Huai Shi remained silent for a moment before replying, "This is my parents' bedroom."

"..." Crow didn't know what to say. "Do you still think they'll come back?"

"I don't know, maybe not. Maybe they're still wandering around some place abroad, or if they're feeling adventurous, maybe they've even had new children."

Huai Shi sat on a chair, scratching his head, and after a long, awkward pause, said with some helplessness, "But what if? What if they do come back? They can't exactly not have a place to stay, right?"

"Have you considered one possibility, Huai Shi?"

Crow looked at him with pity. "Your parents might have already..."

"Hmm?"

Huai Shi looked confused.

"No, it's nothing."

Crow glared at him for a long time, full of disappointment, but ultimately said nothing, flapping its wings and flying away.

Huai Shi shrugged, finished tidying up, closed the door, and went downstairs.

Then he lay on the sofa playing on his phone, engrossed in mobile games, short videos, and the company of silly netizens, until the afternoon. When he looked down, he noticed… his chin seemed to have gained some flesh.

"Shocking."

Huai Shi jumped up from the sofa in alarm, feeling his whole body. It was true, he had gained some weight?

"The essence of Completion Potions is high-calorie compounds. Their purpose is to allow people to absorb calories without burden, which leads to… weight gain."

Crow was very calm about it. "You lie around doing nothing every day, isn't it normal to gain weight? If you ask me, you need to get out more."

"And get mugged?"

Huai Shi's eyes widened. "I had someone send a bomb to my school, if I go out on the street, won't there be a truckload of RPGs waiting for me!"

"Sounds like you're in for it?" Crow cawed with laughter. "So? Are you planning to run? There are always ways to transfer schools, right?"

"Why should I!"

Huai Shi rolled his eyes and glared at Crow. "This is my school, why should I run!"

"So, do you have any countermeasures?"

Crow tilted its head, examining Huai Shi's face with apparent curiosity. "Have you had any epiphanies? Made any decisions? How about we buy a sniper rifle and stake out a high spot tonight to take him out with a sneak attack?"

"Can you still do that?" Huai Shi's eyes widened.

"Yep," Crow nodded. "But you don't look like someone whose uncle secretly placed an order on his deathbed so you could start the game fully equipped."

"Stop reading on Qidian! It's all fake!"

Huai Shi rolled his eyes, finally understanding what she meant. "That author doesn't even want to write anymore, yet he has the nerve to call it a 'phase completion,' heh. He's leeching off people on Weibo all day, and his writing is so pretentious, he doesn't seem like a decent person!"

After dissing a washed-up author, Huai Shi pushed himself up from the chair. He took a few deep breaths and finally regained a bit of energy to cooperate with Crow's physical examination for the day.

"It seems the border materials have a certain stimulating effect on your growth rate."

Crow nodded with satisfaction. "If things continue like this, your development period can be shortened by at least half. And if we adjust your constitution attribute now, your compatibility with the Holy Mark will also increase significantly later on."

"However, to avoid any accidents, I still need to ask one more time—does your family have any history of hereditary diseases?"

"No," Huai Shi shook his head. "Why do you ask?"

"Very good. Ascendants subconsciously adjust their development period by referencing the 'archetypes' in the Silver Sea. If there are any latent diseases or hereditary conditions, the process of completing them can be quite painful."

"Starting today, I'll begin adjusting the formula for your potions. It might have some effects on your body. If you experience symptoms like a high fever, dizziness, or palpitations, you need to tell me as soon as possible."

Crow said something seemingly casual but incredibly significant, then handed over a vial of potion. The color of today's potion seemed a bit darker; if it was pale green before, it now looked as if it were shrouded in shadow.

After a moment of hesitation, Huai Shi downed it in one gulp.

—I've been on this sinking ship for so long, what's the point of regretting it now.

"Very good, Huai Shi, very good—you have a bright future, probably."

Crow nodded with satisfaction and cheerfully flipped open the Book of Destiny. "Next, would you like to engage in a thrilling post-meal activity?"

Huai Shi gave her a sideways glance, sighed, and slumped back onto the chair, closing his eyes. "Bring it on! Don't go easy on me just because I'm a delicate flower..."

"Heh heh."

Crow smiled mysteriously. "Sister likes you bold ones. Seeing how well you've performed, I'll let you have a taste of the real deal today."

Under the Event Branch.

Huai Shi's vision went black again.

"Kill them all. Leave no one alive."

First, he heard the instructor's voice in his headset, then felt the heavy weapon in his hands, and the yellow sand blowing in the wind.

Outside the open car window, the dry land flowed backward incessantly. Dust in the air surged in with the singing from the radio.

It was almost suffocating.

Yet, there were no coughs inside the car; it was as silent as a tomb.

Huai Shi felt as if he were playing a VR infiltration game, just like the ones streamers often played. Except, the expensive game pods were unaffordable for ordinary people.

This was a fragment of the Red Glove's memory, a broken excerpt selected from shattered records. It was all just his past memories. Huai Shi had merely transformed himself from an observer into the protagonist, like in an incredibly realistic, single-threaded RPG.

He saw over a dozen people wearing the same unmarked uniform as him sitting on both sides of the carriage, their faces expressionless as they were battered by the wind and sand like machines.

Only the instructor's commands kept coming through the headset.

"We'll begin operations in ten minutes. Teams A and B will encircle from both sides. No targets left alive—do you hear me?"

In response, the soldiers inside the car let out shouts of affirmation.

The car stopped at the end of the road. In the distance, the outline of a village could be vaguely seen.

After so many simulation trainings, Huai Shi could at least keep up with their pace and distinguish their hand signals and commands.

The evaluations for these guys were too harsh. If they felt their performance was too poor, even if they passed the test, they would ultimately be destroyed as substandard products.

He really wondered where that bastard Red Glove served—

Judging by the surrounding scenery, it looked like some desolate plateau. The architectural outlines hinted at the style of desert countries. Combined with the ruins of oil drilling sites seen along the road, Huai Shi could identify this area as the southeastern region of the Sea of Earth, Western Asia, most likely the narrow desert territory between Rome and the Russian Union.

Due to its incredibly rich oil resources, this land had been plagued by continuous warfare. Dozens of kingdoms, large and small, had been fighting under the interference of the Five Powers, and it seemed there was no sign of it stopping even now.

So, this mission's target should be a Russian Union stronghold, right?

Rome and the Russian Union had been clashing for more than a year or two. Calling it an irreconcilable hatred or a deep-seated blood feud might be an exaggeration, but if there was an opportunity to trip each other up or cause sabotage, neither side would hold back.

Looks like this mission can be treated like a New Year's Goods Summon—just blast through it.

Having cleared the video simulation so many times, what was there to fear!

Huai Shi gradually relaxed, following the main force and lying in hiding, waiting for orders.

Soon, gunshots rang out from the village not far away. Team A had already engaged. Not long after, the instructor's command came: "Team B, advance."

There was no need to shout slogans. The soldiers who had been lying in wait rose from their prone positions, in groups of two or three, charging into the village from all directions.

Huai Shi mingled in, deliberately falling a step behind, wanting his comrades to take the bullets for him first. But the expected hail of gunfire never came. Even the occasional return fire was sporadic.

It was as if they had already been stunned into submission.

Instantly, his mood became even more relaxed.

He fired a few random shots into the front while mixed in with the team, then charged into the village in a chaotic manner. Under orders, he kicked open a broken courtyard door and raised his gun to aim inside.

Then, he froze.

Where were the enemies?

Just remembered, it's too hard to get on the new book list, maybe I should try one update of two thousand words?