Bountiful Harvest

A stream of information flooded the window before Cynthia's eyes. At the same time, a deep-blue ball of light materialized directly in front of her.

She instinctively took half a step back. Even after what had happened yesterday had prepared her mentally, watching something suddenly appear right before her eyes was still quite shocking.

But the ball of light merely hovered silently in front of her.

Cynthia reached out and touched it. The glow immediately dispersed, and something blue dropped into her palm.

Looking closely, it seemed to be a piece of candy wrapped in pale-blue paper, just like the candies children usually ate.

[Blue Blind Box opened.]

[Congratulations, player. You have obtained: Rare Candy x1 (C)]

[Description: A sweet candy. Both Pokémon and humans seem to enjoy eating it.]

So she had opened... a piece of candy from that blind box?

Holding the candy, Cynthia was momentarily unable to process it.

She had thought that what she received after finishing her time online today would be something on the same level as yesterday's ability to read ancient text.

But thinking about it carefully, that possibility truly was not very likely. Perhaps rewards of this level were the norm.

As for this candy...

Cynthia simply put it into her bag. She did not like sweets, especially this kind of candy.

Garchomp did not seem to like them either, but Roserade seemed to have a preference for sweets, so she would bring it back for him.

After putting away the candy, Cynthia spent some more time carefully examining every piece of information in the notification window, and could not help frowning slightly.

Her livestream rating today seemed to have improved compared to yesterday, yet her total online time had only increased by fifteen minutes?

On her first day online, her time had gone from one hour to two hours after she finished. This time, however, the increase seemed much smaller.

She could not help frowning. The amount of time she could spend online each day determined how much progress she could make in that game, and when she would finally witness the secret she wanted to uncover. Naturally, the more time she had, the better.

Her gaze settled on the "C."

The key to increasing her time seemed to lie in the rating she received after going online...

So what was this rating based on?

As Cynthia stared at it, another notification suddenly appeared beside the rating.

[Online session rating is determined by the player's progress within the game, gifts sent by livestream viewers, and the number of comments posted. Among these factors, livestream viewers carry greater overall weight.]

[To further increase your rating, your livestream must gain more viewers and see greater interaction. Please actively interact with viewers in your livestream.]

Seeing this, Cynthia nodded.

Come to think of it, there truly were noticeably more people in her livestream than yesterday. However, it was clearly still far from enough to rise to a higher rating.

At first, she had not paid much attention to these viewers from other regions.

But upon thinking about it now, they had given her quite a bit of help throughout the game. Without them, she would not have progressed so smoothly. She would probably still have been wandering around Granite Cave on the second day...

In that case, perhaps she should communicate with them more... and build better relationships?

Honestly, as the Champion, there was certainly nothing wrong with her social skills in the real world.

No matter how fanatical a fan was, she could handle them.

But communicating with so many people in a livestream through a screen... she truly was not used to it.

The key was that these people still did not believe she was Cynthia...

Cynthia rubbed her forehead.

Come to think of it, this kind of behavior... she felt like she had seen it somewhere before.

Right, streamers. That was what they called them.

It seemed to be a profession.

Once she got back today, she would see whether there were any academic papers related to this profession. She definitely had to find an opportunity to study it.

As Cynthia pondered seriously, another new notification popped up on the computer screen.

[Today's online performance has improved. An additional reward has been triggered.]

[Obtained: Damaged Treasure Map Fragment x1 (Special)]

The next moment, she discovered that something like a piece of tattered cloth had suddenly appeared on the table in front of her.

Another notification appeared.

[Collect three Damaged Treasure Map Fragments to combine them into a Treasure Map. The Treasure Map will mark the location of a treasure.]

Looking at the notification, Cynthia picked up the fragment and examined it in her hand. It was mottled and worn, seemingly quite old, with intricate patterns etched across its surface.

Her ability had not activated. These patterns were probably not some form of writing, but markings that indicated a certain location.

"Two more pieces to go..."

She murmured to herself.

To be honest, Cynthia had visited many ruins and personally seen many hidden treasures in her life.

But this was the first time she had looked forward to a treasure so much.

Because this Treasure Map came from this mysterious internet café, and anything that could be called a treasure here was certainly no ordinary item.

After obtaining the Treasure Map, today's settlement was completely over. The computer screen went dark. Cynthia carefully put away the Treasure Map, then turned around and paused.

Because Garchomp was not behind her, but over by the counter.

Luo Chen was using a plastic comb to groom Garchomp's scales while saying something to him.

The sight before her truly took her by surprise.

Although it was not obvious from his appearance, as a Dragon-type Pokémon, Garchomp's skin was actually covered in dense scales, and maintaining them was extremely troublesome.

That was because anyone other than Cynthia who touched Garchomp's scales would make him very angry.

She had even hired professional Pokémon breeders to care for them, but Garchomp had refused to accept it...

Unable to do anything else, Cynthia had always had to clean his scales herself.

Cynthia did not find it troublesome, of course. After all, he was her most precious partner.

But now... Garchomp had his eyes narrowed, his body leaning against the counter as he let the owner groom his scales, looking... extremely comfortable.

And the owner was even using an ordinary plastic comb...

Whenever those high-level breeders touched Garchomp with specialized scale-care tools, Garchomp would roar three times and bare his claws...

Cynthia truly wanted to ask Luo Chen how he had done it, but since it was rare to see Garchomp so relaxed, she said nothing. She merely stood quietly to the side with a complicated expression.

But Garchomp seemed to sense something. Turning his head, he immediately met his Trainer's gaze.

Garchomp: ...