"A Familiar?"
After meeting Cola, Mu You had learned that in the Star Spirit World, a Familiar was essentially a "pet."
Since this toad had volunteered to become his pet, Mu You had no reason to hesitate.
"Accept."
[You accepted the Pocket Toad's contract request. You bit your finger and dripped blood onto its body. The contract runes formed automatically.] [Contract successful!] [Congratulations! As a Fool, you finally have your first Familiar in the Star Spirit World!]
Mu You opened the panel for a look.
Sure enough, a new line had appeared below the original "Owned items" section.
"Contracted Familiar: Pocket Toad." Available actions included recalling, releasing, training, and feeding.
Mu You hurriedly tapped the words "Pocket Toad," hoping to see whether he could take it out.
A notification popped up instead: [Due to the influence of the "Wall," living possessions currently cannot be deposited or withdrawn through the game.]
"So it doesn't work after all..."
Mu You gave a wry smile. It seemed only inanimate objects could pass freely between the two worlds.
However, he also noticed that the text said "currently cannot be deposited or withdrawn through the game." Since it was only temporary, did that mean living creatures might eventually be able to travel between the two worlds?
He had no idea. That was a little too far beyond him for now. Mu You shook his head and returned to the game.
[Pocket Toads are free-spirited creatures by nature and enjoy traveling alone through mountains and forests. Only by letting yours leave to hunt for treasure freely can you realize its true value.] [The Pocket Toad requests that you release it into the mountains and forests. It promises to return every few days and give you the treasures it finds. Release it now?]
"Isn't this just Travel Frog?"
Mu You found it amusing. He wasn't so inflexible that he had to keep his little frog son around when it served no purpose. He might as well let it go.
[You released the Pocket Toad and reminded it to come home often.] [The toad waved a tearful goodbye to you, then hopped into the mountain forest and disappeared. Look forward to good news from it!]
After releasing the toad, Mu You immediately tapped the Phoenix Feather to take it out and examine it.
The Phoenix Feather was a long, slender tail feather, somewhat like a peacock feather, except it was fiery red all over and gave off a faint warmth. At its center was a golden flame pattern that seemed to stare at him like an eye.
Mu You held the feather and examined it carefully, but found nothing unusual.
This thing only took effect when he died, so all he could do for now was keep it on him whenever possible.
Delighted, he tucked the feather into his shirt pocket alongside the Time Pocket Watch. Feeling the warm feather in his pocket gave him a tremendous sense of security.
He had gained a pretty good Familiar first thing in the morning, with a resurrection feather thrown in as a bonus. Mu You was in an excellent mood, and an irrepressible smile still lingered on his face as he went downstairs.
"Boss, did you find some money?"
At the front desk, Xiao Ya had been idly fiddling with the computer. She paused when she saw Mu You coming downstairs.
"Heh, it's something even better than finding money." Mu You smiled.
"Oh? What is it, then? Did you win the lottery?"
"It's... never mind. You wouldn't understand even if I told you."
Mu You did want someone to share his joy with. Unfortunately, he was the only player in the shop, so he could only celebrate by himself.
Xiao Ya studied his face, then suddenly said, "I don't understand, but boss, you should really go back and get some rest. You look awful. Going without sleep for too long can damage your health!"
"Huh? I look awful?"
Startled, Mu You hurriedly found a mirror in the front desk drawer and checked his reflection.
"Is it that bad? I look fine..."
Mu You looked at his face in the mirror and thought, Apart from the darker circles under my eyes, my paler complexion, and a few more bloodshot veins in my eyes... everything looks perfectly normal...
Wait!
His own train of thought brought him up short.
He finally realized why his complexion looked a little off: he was starting to look more and more like the Night Watchman...
Could wearing a skin for too long gradually make a person take on its appearance?
The thought suddenly sprang into Mu You's mind.
But he hadn't used the Night Watchman's Skin more than a few times. If even he was starting to resemble his skin, what about the Werewolf and the little girl, who had become players before him?
Especially the Werewolf. A werewolf's face was completely different from a human's, with a protruding muzzle and deeply sunken eyes. Features like those should be quite obvious, shouldn't they?
Could this give me a lead on finding the Werewolf...?
All sorts of ideas instantly began swirling through Mu You's mind.
"Boss, are you sure you don't need some rest?"
Only then did Xiao Ya pull him back to reality.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. Oh, Xiao Ya, could you make me a cup of coffee?"
"Oh, sure."
Mu You sat at the front desk, took out his phone, and searched for yesterday's news.
Last night's battle had caused such a commotion that many nearby residents had heard it. There had to be news coverage.
His search did turn up reports, but none mentioned a werewolf at all. They merely stated that a murderer had exchanged gunfire with police at an apartment building the previous night and was now in police custody.
The claim that the suspect was in custody had to be false. Although Mu You hadn't stayed to see the end, he knew a handful of ordinary police officers could never have stopped that Werewolf from escaping.
But they had definitely seen the Werewolf's true form with their own eyes. Yet no uproar had followed. Instead, they had covered the incident up with an excuse, with remarkably practiced ease...
In other words, the authorities most likely already knew about the players. They might even have established a special department to handle incidents like this, but had simply kept it secret.
Still, they couldn't keep something like this hidden forever, could they?
That was what Mu You thought.
As the number of players grew, the disturbances they caused would only increase. Sooner or later, the game that manifested things in reality, and the players themselves, would come to public attention.
If the authorities already know about all this, surely they must be making preparations...
"Boss, your coffee's ready!"
"Oh, thanks."
Mu You took the coffee and sipped it, then casually opened his phone's browser and searched for "Fool."
"Pfft!"
The results made his hand jerk, and he spat coffee a good distance across the room.
Because the very first search result read:
"The all-new open-world RPG text adventure mobile game Fool will launch its next large-scale closed beta on July 10. Everyone can enter their personal information on the official website in advance to apply for access. Ten million game activation codes will be distributed randomly worldwide."
"Boss, are you okay? Did I make it too hot?" Xiao Ya exclaimed beside him, hurriedly handing him some tissues.
"Cough, I'm fine, I'm fine..."
Mu You wiped himself off hastily, his eyes fixed on the date listed on the webpage. Then he switched out of the browser to check the current date.
July 2...
July 10-that was only a week away, wasn't it?
Before you continue