When Digging Princess locked her camera onto Bai Fu and An Ya standing beneath the orange-yellow lights, her livestream, which had been rather quiet just moments ago, was instantly flooded with a dense barrage of comments, as if a typhoon had swept through.
[Holy crap, Fu Fu? For real? Am I seeing things?]
[Waaah, thank goodness. Fu Fu really looks completely fine.]
[Ah!!! My dream of being the first to find Fu Fu is shattered!]
[Hahahahaha]
[It's been so hard, seriously, so hard. This is the perfect moment for my favorite line: "I searched for her a thousand times in the crowd; when I turned around, there she was, where the lantern light was dim!"]
[What can I say?]
It had all happened so suddenly that no one had seen it coming.
At that moment, Digging Princess's thoughts were almost identical to those in the comments.
What could she even say?
An overwhelming burst of joy exploded in her heart. She pressed one hand to her chest, unable to utter a word. She was afraid—afraid this was an illusion, and that if she moved, everything before her would vanish like a reflection in water.
Seeing her act that way, the players in the livestream grew anxious. They'd finally found Bai Fu, finally confirmed she was safe. How could Digging Princess chicken out now?
[Digging Treasure, what are you waiting for? Get over there!]
[I wish I could take Digging Princess's place.]
[Wait, Fu Fu's coming over!]
That was right. Bai Fu made the first move.
Bai Fu had noticed Digging Princess before she even reached Lynn. She'd deliberately kept her waiting for ages before coming out to meet her, all to make their reunion feel more hard-won and dramatic.
Just like in an animated series—
After a long, moving story, the two characters with a deep bond would suddenly reunite amid a vast sea of people in the finale, accompanied by a beautiful BGM. And then, the end credits would roll!
Of course, this wasn't the end of the story. For Bai Fu, this reunion was a new beginning.
She'd glanced at the livestream earlier. The steady stream of comments showed that half her plan had worked. The rest depended on how she interacted with Digging Princess next.
Bai Fu was confident she could pull it off.
On the way here, she'd rehearsed the scene dozens of times in her head.
Step one: the instant Digging Princess's gaze met hers, her body would jolt. Her expression wouldn't change much, but her eyes would tremble like a lake disturbed by a pebble.
Step two: while Digging Princess stood there dumbfounded, Bai Fu would release the hand holding An Ya's, then slowly walk toward Digging Princess.
Step three: when she finally reached Digging Princess, she'd raise her right hand as though she wanted to do something, but let it hang awkwardly in midair.
"You're..." Bai Fu paused. "You remind me of someone I once knew. She should have died in the Insect Tide at the Abandoned Cooling Plant a few days ago, but..."
After that flawless sequence, every player watching the livestream saw a girl who looked shocked and full of hope, yet afraid that her hopes would be dashed.
The scene immediately set off a chorus of wails.
[Seeing our Fu Bao like this breaks Mom's heart.]
[No more mommies who are men.]
[This is the first time I've seen Fu Fu look so delicate. Adorable.]
[Fu Bao, my Fu Bao!]
As Bai Fu approached, Digging Princess finally snapped out of it.
"Fu Fu, it's me! Digging Princess!" She raised both hands to her chest, overcome with excitement.
Before Bai Fu could answer, An Ya suddenly peeked out from behind her. Her eyes were full of suspicion. "You... you're really not dead? You're not lying, are you? So many people said you were dead. Boss even had a memorial erected for you."
Digging Princess hurriedly held out her right hand. "It's true. I'm not dead. If you don't believe me, pinch me."
Like a little chick pecking at grain, An Ya reached out and pinched Digging Princess's right hand. Then she turned to Bai Fu. "It's warm."
"Okay."
Bai Fu affectionately rubbed An Ya's head.
After the interruption, she let go of her shocked expression and turned to face Digging Princess.
"Even though you kept telling me you wouldn't die, and Holy Word said you were Undying, I waited at the Abandoned Cooling Plant for two days and you still didn't come back. I thought you really were dead, and that you'd only said those things to keep me from worrying."
As she explained, Digging Princess nodded along.
I understand. I totally understand. How could an NPC know that the game had gone offline for an update?
"Welcome back!"
Bai Fu held out her right hand, her smile as warm as the spring sunshine.
Digging Princess stared at the hand right in front of her, stunned.
Something stirred inside her. This was the NPC she'd known at a glance was extraordinary! So much respect, such warmth—the game was just too amazing!
At that moment, Digging Princess was completely won over by Bai Fu.
She reached out too, gently clasping the porcelain-white hand.
"Sorry for making you worry."
[Fu Fu's smile—ahhh, it's so warm, my heart's melting!]
[They're holding hands, they're holding hands! Digging Treasure, you're so damn lucky!]
[You can never wash that hand again.]
[This is incredible. Fu Fu's got me totally immersed. I played this other trash game before, and I adventured with an NPC for years. When we reunited later, she couldn't even be bothered to say hello. What a joke.]
[Digging Treasure, tell us what Fu Fu's hand feels like!]
As the comments flew by, Digging Princess noticed An Ya glaring viciously at the hand she was holding with Bai Fu.
Heh. I'm holding it, and I'm not letting go!
Digging Princess ignored the comments. This was her moment to enjoy!
Seeing her silly grin, Bai Fu secretly laughed too. That meant three-quarters of her plan for the day had succeeded. Now she only had one last step—
She'd make Digging Princess, who had followed her all the way from the Abandoned Cooling Plant to Lynn, into a role model, and encourage other players to admire her just as much!
Before, she'd helped players earn experience by fighting monsters with them, and won their tears by sacrificing herself. Today, on this exciting day of reunion, it was time to try a new tactic and offer the players a different kind of emotional experience.
"The trip from the Abandoned Cooling Plant to here must have been tiring, right?" Bai Fu suddenly asked.
Digging Princess waved her hand. "It was fine. I rode in a vehicle the whole way, and nothing dangerous happened."
As she spoke, her stomach suddenly growled a few times.
"I..."
Digging Princess's face flushed with embarrassment.
She'd just said she was fine, and now her hunger meter had betrayed her. Sometimes, a game being too realistic wasn't necessarily a good thing.
Fortunately, Bai Fu's smile only grew warmer.
"I'll take you to get something to eat."
"No, really, you don't have to." Digging Princess hurriedly protested.
Bai Fu pulled her along without giving her a choice. "Don't be nervous. An Ya and I came out to have dinner anyway."
Faced with Bai Fu's "firm stance," Digging Princess had no choice but to follow.
She'd meant to show off her best side and earn some Favorability with Bai Fu, but instead she'd embarrassed herself at every turn.
Still, despite her embarrassment, Digging Princess was feeling incredibly smug. Especially when she saw all the wailing and envious comments in the livestream. She was so thrilled she felt like she could fly.
Thinking back to when she'd first posted in the community praising Bai Fu, a whole bunch of people had questioned her. The few who supported her had mostly just been there for the laughs.
Look at things now. This was what you called a complete reversal!
All she could say was that true sages were lonely!
Digging Princess had already decided that once she and Bai Fu parted ways for the night, she'd make a new post in the community.
It wasn't because she wanted to torment the players who'd mocked her. A sage's brilliance didn't come from playing tricks on fools.
She mainly wanted to show off. She'd describe in detail how she'd decided to search for Bai Fu, and everything she'd felt along the way until they reunited. Oh, and she'd make sure to vividly describe what it felt like to hold Bai Fu's hand. How could she not write hundreds of words about such excellent material?
With that in mind, Digging Princess followed behind Bai Fu. Before long, she—and all the players watching the livestream—realized that tonight's trip was giving her far more writing material than she could ever use.
19:03. Arrived at the Red Sailboat Restaurant with Fu Fu and An Ya. Fu Fu treated them to dinner, and they enjoyed delicious cuisine with a distinct wasteland flavor.
19:52. Left the restaurant with Fu Fu and An Ya, then took a stroll along a walkway lined with metal pipes. Found out by chance that Fu Fu loved sweets. She munched as she walked, and she was unexpectedly adorable.
20:26. Arrived at an amusement park called "Mechanical Power" with Fu Fu and An Ya. They toured a scrapped suit of Power Armor. When colored lights spilled down from the pillars, Digging Princess found herself envying how close Fu Fu and An Ya were.
21:28. Climbed Lynn's tallest Radio Tower with Fu Fu and An Ya. The wind was strong up there, but standing beside Fu Fu made her feel warm all over.
Standing on the Radio Tower's observation deck and gazing out at Lynn sleeping beneath the night sky, Digging Princess's thoughts drifted.
While she and Bai Fu had been out having fun, Star Travel Society had nearly exploded. Activity was through the roof everywhere, from the Abandoned Cooling Plant section to the main forum.
[This is bad, this is bad! Something huge has happened!]
[What happened?]
[Did they start fighting again?]
[Digging Princess's livestream. Go look for yourself.]
When they heard the news, many players rushed over. By the time they reached Digging Princess's livestream, they were all dumbfounded.
Holy crap, it could be like this?
The strange atmosphere, the strange livestream content—if they didn't know better, they'd think they were watching an anime!
[Ah, my eyes! My eyes are going to be blinded!]
[Kill Digging Treasure and steal Fu Fu!]
[Why isn't it me standing beside Fu Fu?!]
[Dammit, she's rubbing it in my face! So this is what it's like when your Favorability with an NPC gets high? Can anyone tell me how much Favorability Bai Fu has toward Digging Princess? I need a baseline.]
[Holy crap, so this is how you can play this game?]
[I feel like if you raise an NPC's Favorability high enough, you might really be able to marry them!]
After going wild in the livestream, those players went back to the community and kept going wild. Their excitement swept up even the players who hadn't been interested in the topic before, and they all dropped what they were doing and flooded into Digging Princess's livestream.
Fortunately, Above the Stars' servers were absurdly stable. Otherwise, the livestream might have been overwhelmed.
That night, Bai Fu's popularity soared in a completely new way. This wave was different from the previous ones.
Before, her name had only spread within the game. But this time, many players who hadn't paid attention to her at all—and some who didn't even use the community—had joined the livestream. They shared Digging Princess's stream on social media outside the game, turning Bai Fu into a small promotional icon for Above the Stars.
<Shocking! This Streamer Is Playing a Dating Simulator in Above the Stars!>
<Still Looking for a Virtual Friend Who Truly Cares? Above the Stars Is the Game for You!>
<Look, This Woman Is Called Xiaomei, and the Woman Beside Her Is...>
One absurdly titled article after another popped up, bringing a surprising number of new players to Above the Stars in a short time.
Even Bai Fu, the mastermind behind it all, hadn't expected her plan to be this effective.
She suddenly felt excited. If she could become Above the Stars' poster girl, wouldn't the developers give her a full upgrade to make sure she didn't die?
All right, all right! A new hope had appeared!
22:06. Bai Fu came down from the Radio Tower with Digging Princess and An Ya.
Seeing how late it had gotten, she booked Digging Princess a room nearby so she'd have somewhere to stay for the time being.
"I paid for five nights. You don't have to worry about finding a place to stay for now. If anything urgent comes up, you can come find me. I live at..."
Bai Fu gave her Xia Shi's address.
"Here, take this."
Bai Fu pulled out another 500 Credit Coins and stuffed them all into Digging Princess's hands.
Digging Princess was stunned. The players in the livestream were stunned too.
Bai Fu had treated Digging Princess to dinner, shown her around Lynn, and paid for her room. That had already gone beyond what they'd expected. But now, as they parted, Bai Fu had shoved another 500 bucks into Digging Princess's hands.
What kind of spirit was this?
"Wow, Boss, you've never even given me this much pocket money!" An Ya popped out.
Bai Fu immediately put a stop to her. "No more talking."
An Ya obediently ducked her head back.
"I..."
Seeing this, Digging Princess wanted to say something, but Bai Fu cut her off.
"Keep it. I got a bonus from the Gene Primordial Intelligence Division. I wouldn't have gotten it without you all. Oh, and I found a few Profession Knowledge Books in the Wildfire Gang's library. I remember you need things like that. I have no use for them, so I'll bring them next time we meet."
This time, even if nobody had interrupted her, Digging Princess wouldn't have been able to get a word out.
[She gives her money and Profession Knowledge Books? Is there any NPC in this game better than Fu Fu?]
[What are you waiting for? Come join me in the Fu Sect and praise Fu Fu!]
[Dammit, now I have to grind Bai Fu's Favorability. Even if she doesn't have a hidden quest, it's absolutely worth it!]
Looking at the screen full of envious comments, Digging Princess almost wanted to dab at her eyes. This was the first time she'd been moved for a reason that had nothing to do with the game's story.
"Fu Fu, you've been so good to me. In the world I used to live in, even my parents haven't cared about me this much in a long time."
Hmm?
Bai Fu froze.
Digging Princess gave a bitter smile but didn't elaborate. With so many people watching the livestream, she didn't feel comfortable saying that her parents had divorced when she was young, and that she'd hit one setback after another at school and at work. It would have seemed like she was trying to gain sympathy.
There was no need. She could live a good life now without playing for pity.
She was just a little emotional. The person who'd shown her care, something she hadn't felt in a long time, was a game NPC.
"Fu Fu, can you tell me about yourself? I'm still weak, so I might not be able to help you fulfill your wish yet, but I'll do everything I can. Even if I can only help a little, I want to!"
Digging Princess gathered her courage and said it.
Afterward, she held her breath, and the players in the livestream fell silent too.
Would Bai Fu reveal her true identity this time and give her a hidden quest?
Bai Fu stared intently at Digging Princess.
Her original plan had been to wait a while before sharing the story she'd just made up. But Digging Princess had brought it up herself, and the livestream's chat was buzzing. No time like the present.
"Can I come in and sit for a while?"
Digging Princess's eyes lit up. It worked! Hahaha, it worked!
She hurriedly invited Bai Fu and An Ya inside.
After handing Bai Fu and An Ya some cool boiled water, Digging Princess sat nervously on the guest-room sofa. Together with thousands upon thousands of players, she waited for Bai Fu to lift the thin veil covering her face.
Before you continue