Only Zuo Cheng'an had yet to introduce himself. He concealed some information as he said:
"Zuo Cheng'an. My strength is full, and my spirit is a bit lower. Above sixty."
He had picked up on the pattern that each of the other four had at least one stat at full points.
Then he played a little word game to make the others think his spirit was only in the sixties.
If the other four showed no reaction, that would mean it was safe even if his spirit dropped that low.
If they did react, that would suit him perfectly: he could learn something about the spirit stat.
But before the other four players could react, the bullet comments exploded.
[Holy shit! This guy's spirit is down to the sixties!! Isn't he right on the edge of danger?]
[He might undergo aberration in this instance. I'm guessing he'll grow rabbit ears like Red-Eyes. This is his territory, after all.]
[Not necessarily. Fear has a bigger influence on aberration. He might turn into a monster he encountered before that left a deep impression on him.]
[The players in his instance have it rough. If his self-control is poor, one wrong move could leave them with an enemy in their midst.]
The bullet comments were vague. After all, they weren't some search engine with nothing better to do than post explanations.
That would look as though they were writing specifically for someone to read.
So Zuo Cheng'an could only make a note of the word "aberration" and observe the players' reactions.
Fu Yu frowned slightly and looked at her younger sister, Fu You, with concern.
The latter shook her head gently.
Only then did Fu Yu ask Zuo Cheng'an, "Have you been running intense instances back-to-back? Once you finish this ladder ascent and get out, you'd better rest for a couple of days. Otherwise, your body won't be able to take it."
The young couple quietly moved two steps away from Zuo Cheng'an without drawing attention, as though afraid of getting caught up in trouble.
Was aberration that frightening?
Zuo Cheng'an suddenly became intensely interested in it.
"Heeheehee~ Dear players, I've been waiting so long for you~"
At some point, a white rabbit taller than a person had appeared beside the bus stop sign. It walked upright and wore a black evening suit with a matching top hat.
Now, the big white rabbit smiled and greeted the players in a child's clear, high-pitched voice.
With that outfit and its size, even a rabbit speaking human language didn't seem quite so incongruous.
As it spoke, the rabbit's blood-red eyes stared straight at the players.
Everyone understood. No wonder it was called Red-Eye Farm. White rabbits did have red eyes, didn't they?
But the rabbit's clothes didn't match the farm's style, and neither did its voice.
It clearly sounded like a child, yet the instance was called "Uncle Red-Eyes' Farm."
Rather than a farmer, it looked more like a noble child who had just left an aristocratic banquet.
Zuo Cheng'an, meanwhile, stared above the rabbit's head in disbelief.
A health bar reading 94.88% was actually floating there!!
It was a hostile monster!! He could kill it!!
As though it hadn't noticed the confusion in the players' eyes, Red-Eyed Uncle carried on reciting its lines:
"You've arrived just in time. There's so much work on the farm: picking ripe tomatoes, herding the little sheep home after they've run off to play, collecting eggs. I can't possibly manage it all alone... Thank you so much."
Despite its words, there wasn't a trace of gratitude on Red-Eyed Uncle's face. If anything, it looked more impatient.
It looked ready to pound the players flat, one by one, to vent its anger.
"Since opportunities to work on the farm are so rare, you'll have to pay for this precious chance.
"But you don't have any Sky Ladder coins, so you can owe me for now. Once you get some, make sure you pay me the one hundred Sky Ladder coins."
Red-Eyes swayed its head as it spoke, without the slightest shame. Only something involving money could spark a little interest in it.
The trend of paying to work had finally reached the instances.
Zuo Cheng'an focused his attention on Red-Eyes and the evening suit it was wearing.
[Red-Eyes: A deranged rabbit-**'s message: Actually quite cute.] [Bloodstained evening suit: From the dressing room in the level-three instance "Nowhere to Escape." Having once been almost completely soaked in blood, it will soon become stiff.]
Gold lettering again.
After ##, **'s code was gold too.
But Zuo Cheng'an focused more on the other information.
Red-Eyes could appear in both the farm instance and the Nowhere to Escape instance.
Could the game's NPCs move freely between instances?
Were they that short-staffed?
Also, **, weren't those rose-tinted glasses of yours a little too thick?
The moment that inward jab formed, Zuo Cheng'an realized something was wrong and braced himself for the oppressive sensation that might appear at any moment.
But after a long wait, ** hadn't proved like the previous ##, where even a mere thought had been unbearable.
Zuo Cheng'an tentatively thought about ** again and ventured a curse at it in his mind.
Still no reaction?
After the brief introductions and opening remarks, Red-Eyes led the players toward the farm on a nearby earthen slope.
Along the way, it also introduced the farm's history to them.
"This farm's most famous product is tomato sauce. We have countless loyal major clients: Happy Apartment, Sky Ladder Department Store, Rose Hotel... Every tomato harvest season, they order huge batches of tomato sauce..."
When it spoke of the farm's achievements, Red-Eyes finally stopped reciting its lines lifelessly, and some inflection entered its voice.
It even produced a jar of finished tomato sauce from thin air like a magic trick, showing everyone the words "Red-Eye Farm Tomato Sauce" on it.
The players listened attentively and watched without blinking, afraid of missing any quest information.
But throughout the walk, Red-Eyes either boasted about the farm's glory or reminded the players not to forget to pay for their job opportunity.
It didn't reveal a single piece of information related to their quest.
This left the players somewhat disappointed.
"Look, dear players! We're passing the farm's tomato fields now. Spectacular, aren't they?"
Hearing Red-Eyes' words, everyone looked toward the tomato fields beside the road.
Tomatoes bearing vivid facial features that resembled panda-man memes turned of their own accord to look at the players with their "eyes."
Perhaps it was an illusion, but if they stared long enough, they could even see the tomatoes smiling at them.
Panda-man memes smiling at them?
What a sight.
Urgh~~
All the players present were at the Not Yet on the Ladder level and had only experienced a few instances. When had they ever seen anything like this?
Their eyes felt assaulted. They looked away and didn't dare stare at the tomatoes again.
But in Zuo Cheng'an's eyes, the annotations beside these tomatoes with their bizarre panda-man meme faces were actually rather cute.
[Wailing Tomatoes: An extremely sensitive, timid variety, and extremely delicious. Handle them with utmost gentleness when picking them. If frightened, they will rapidly spoil as they wail. (P.S. Red-Eyes dearly loves these money-making tomatoes, but hates having them called "love apples." Absolutely hates it! Utterly despises it!!!)]
After reading the last sentence, Zuo Cheng'an decided to give it a try:
"These tomatoes are growing so well. They must have received very meticulous care."
Red-Eyes certainly appreciated that. "Of course~ At least you've got a bit of an eye, player."
Zuo Cheng'an: ???
That was it?
Shouldn't it offer some sort of token?
Damn! What a stingy rabbit!
Just then, Youyou seemed to want to get friendly with Red-Eyes too, and chimed in, "Yes, yes! These little love apples are so pretty!"
To humans, tomatoes and love apples were the same thing.
Because the latter term was one character shorter in Chinese and rolled off the tongue more easily, people were even more accustomed to calling tomatoes love apples.
It was a perfectly normal, harmless compliment, made all the sweeter and more charming by the young woman's voice.
But Red-Eyes' expression froze. It slowly turned to stare at Youyou and enunciated each word:
"What... did you just call pretty?"
Youyou hadn't realized she'd done anything wrong and hadn't noticed the air freeze for an instant.
She continued finding different ways to praise how fucking adorable and fucking lovable the little love apples in the field were.
The twin sisters, Fu Yu and Fu You, exchanged a glance, also wanting to follow suit with some praise.
But faced with all those tomatoes sporting panda-man meme faces...
They simply couldn't bring themselves to say it.
Before you continue