The atmosphere was unusually silent, the wand suspended in the air dared not move. After a while, unable to resist, it spoke, “Should I save the projection?”
The large black tail swayed, and the wand, well aware of the situation, issued the command, “The projection has been saved to the private space.”
The shattered perception board reflected a tragic light, and a figure was projected in front of the office door.
“You have a new visitor.”
The wand quickly retracted the projection, flying behind its owner. Lie Beishuang adjusted his breath and slowly retracted his tail and ears.
“Allow entry.”
With Lie Beishuang’s voice command, the office door opened, and a man in a black uniform, carrying a brand-new perception board, strode in.
Lie Beishuang leaned back in his chair, sliding back half a meter, leaving space for the man to change the perception board.
“Boss, it’s not me, but this is already the seventh perception board this month.” The man muttered as he changed, “These specially made perception boards cost tens of thousands of credits each. The Finance Department’s old parrot is almost plucking its feathers in worry.”
The culprit remained calm.
“Boss, if you can’t suppress your beastly nature, you can find a human in the Second World for comfort. I heard there’s a good one in the survival and management zone’s milk bar these days. You can give it a try?” The man turned to look at the boss, his hands not stopping.
“Finished changing?” Lie Beishuang remained unaffected.
“Yes.” The man thumped the perception board, and the central blue light flashed, connecting successfully.
“If you want to challenge me in the arena, feel free to stay.” Lie Beishuang remained expressionless.
The man’s face changed dramatically, as if recalling some extremely cruel past event. He quickly rushed towards the door in three steps combined into one.
Just before closing the door, the man boldly stuck his head out. “Boss, I sincerely request you to consider my proposal. I’ll send you videos and pictures in a while. Wand, remember to show them to the Boss!”
After uttering the last sentence, the man quickly retracted his head, closed the door, and let out a long sigh. If an unchecked big cat without human comfort was dangerous, this one was equivalent to an antimatter bomb capable of destroying a planet with just a few grams.
After the man left, the wand floated hesitantly behind Lie Beishuang, swaying like an impatient young lad.
“Does he think I’m old, so he called me uncle?”
“A book full of nonsense like ‘Marriage and Freedom,’ who would read that?”
“He’s so cute, but he doesn’t like me. What should I do?”
“Should I…”
Lie Beishuang turned his head, giving the golden ball a warning look.
The wand calmed down, floating in front of Lie Beishuang, sincerely apologizing, “I’m sorry for getting empathetic when you lost control just now.”
Lie Beishuang remained cold-faced, lowered his head, and continued to read the unfinished documents.
“Master, you must see this.” The wand floated in front of Lie Beishuang, playing a video.
In the clear footage, the young man from the previous projection was gently caressing a plush cat on the bar, scratching its chin, and lightly rubbing the cat’s ears, eliciting extremely comfortable purring. Finally, the young man lowered his head, burying his face in the soft fur of the plush cat, looking thoroughly content.
In the next photo, the young man was affectionately petting a long-haired Angora rabbit, with more than a dozen fluffy creatures lined up behind, eagerly waiting for their turn to be touched.
Lie Beishuang silently watched the photos, almost losing focus. A sound of unbearable strain came from below, and when Lie Beishuang and the machine both looked down, the brand-new perception board showed a network of cracks, looking tragically shattered.
“Ah ah ah! I’m ruined!” The bald parrot from the Finance Department cried, rushing toward the window. A white cat tightly hugged the parrot. “Minister, calm down. Your feathers have already fallen off. You’ll die if you jump!”
“Let me jump! This is not the life of a bird!” The bald parrot wept bitterly. “I hate the old cheetah. I hate it!”
—
On a new day, before having breakfast, Bo Ge counted the star coins earned yesterday. There were more than 5,600 star coins, plus the ones from before, enough to exchange for six hundred credits—twice the Alliance subsidy!
Bo Ge lay flat on the bed, as if seeing a tidal wave of small coins rushing towards him.
Is there a better job in the world than this?
Every day, just cuddle a dozen or so fluffy creatures, delight your body and mind, and earning tens of thousands a month is not a dream!
With credits in hand, Gugu felt like he could breathe easier, and his back didn’t ache anymore. He could climb eighteen floors in one breath!
For breakfast, he chose a 500ml free milk and then spent 5 credits on an egg and toast combo. Bo Ge enjoyed his meal, facing the morning sun. Gugu did a set of radio calisthenics, put on his holographic helmet, and lay down in the sleep pod, feeling refreshed.
After cashing out the star coins, Bo Ge noticed a red dot next to the loudspeaker on the information panel. As a compulsive late-stage patient, without hesitation, he tapped the loudspeaker, revealing a string of friend requests.
In this lineup of friend requests, Bo Ge saw a familiar name.
Agreeing to the friend request “Haven’t Eaten Enough Today,” almost the next second, the orange-yellow cat ball appeared in front of him, a familiar roundness.
“Benefactor!” The orange cat ball instantly clung to the youth’s trouser leg, its big round eyes filled with cuteness.
“Hello.” Bo Ge picked up the orange cat, a good weight.
“Benefactor, you made it to the rankings! As soon as I saw the nickname, I knew it was you!” The orange cat eagerly opened the racial strength ranking, and Bo Ge saw his “Player Unnamed” appear on the first page.
“Human Comprehensive Strength Ranking, fifth place! Benefactor, you’re amazing!” The round-faced orange cat was full of admiration. “Surely many powerful beastmen are adding you, wanting to recruit you into their teams!”
“Just fifth place.” Bo Ge didn’t feel particularly impressive.
“But the top four are all veteran players. They’ve been playing for so many years, and yet, you’re ahead of them. If you play for a few more years, no, a few months, you might just surge to first place on the Human Comprehensive Strength Ranking!”
“Does the comprehensive strength continue to rise in the future?” Bo Ge scratched his head, “What’s the benefit of reaching first place?”
“Of course, it continues to rise! The first completion of dungeons or challenges, achievements, all these increase your comprehensive strength rating. If you reach first place, stronger teams will try to recruit you. In a team, you get a share of the rewards, and the stronger the team, the higher the share!”
“A share?” Bo Ge tilted his head in confusion.
“You may not know, but Wanxiang has another name, called the Second World. Not only because it’s the League’s entertainment and communication center, but also because many people upload their consciousness here before dying. For them, this is another real world! A world where they can accumulate wealth and prolong their lives!”
Bo Ge stood still, somewhat incredulous. “Are you saying we might encounter dead people here?”
“You can’t call them dead people; their form of existence is just different.” The orange cat stared at the youth seriously. “This is a kind of alternative immortality.”
Bo Ge had once believed that humans could extend their lives, but he had never imagined achieving eternal life through this method.
Are those who enter the Second World still themselves?
“So the resources here can be exploited for profit, items obtained in battles can be traded. Just like the real world, everything here has value.”
The orange cat patted the bell around its neck. “My dad works in the Second World as an auctioneer, earning forty thousand star coins per month. He really enjoys this job.”
Forty thousand star coins, equivalent to four thousand credits. Bo Ge thought of the online games in his previous life, where many people earned money through them, much like people here earning star coins through the Second World.
But the Second World was more realistic than online games, with living beings present, truly deserving of its name as the “Second World.”
“The part about joining strong teams and then getting a share, how does that work?” Bo Ge felt like he had caught onto a big project.
“There are various tasks, sometimes released by the system, sometimes by players. These tasks sometimes can’t be completed by one person alone, so teamwork is needed. After the team completes a task and receives rewards, the system or team leader distributes a share to team members. For more challenging tasks, aside from the equipment rewards, just the bonus could be over a million star coins!”
“Over a million!” Bo Ge’s eyes lit up. How many big cats could he raise with that!
“How about I take you to try a simple task?” The orange cat waved its paw. “Team up with me, and I’ll guide you!’
The orange cat took Bo Ge to a hall, jumped onto a machine, and cleared its throat. “Xiao Ai, I want to receive a task!”
Xiao Ai? Bo Ge seemed to hear the name of another AI with a disability.
“Okay, please let me know what difficulty level of task you want to receive?” A projection of a maid-dressed girl appeared above the machine, pure and cute.
“Cough, I’m bringing a newcomer, so let’s go with D-rank.” The orange cat acted like a big shot.
“Alright, I’ll show you all the D-rank tasks for today. If there’s a suitable task, please accept it as soon as possible to avoid being preempted by other players.” A screen appeared in front of Xiao Ai, displaying all the white D-rank tasks.
The orange cat straightened up, sliding on the screen with its paw. “Hunting the Bloan Moth? Too dangerous. Collecting the teeth of the decay-eating rat? Too dirty. Gathering Misy flowers? This one will do!”
The orange cat quickly accepted the task, and Bo Ge heard a system prompt.
“Your team has accepted the time-limited task of gathering Misy flowers (0/100). Please complete it within three hours and submit the task items at Life and Leisure Area No. 3 Star, Mrs. Luo’s Sweet Cake Shop.
Task Rewards: Star Coins +68, one portion of Crystal Flavored Sweet Cake (?).”
Bo Ge tapped the question mark, revealing the specific information of the D-rank Crystal Flavored Sweet Cake.
(D-rank Crystal Flavored Sweet Cake: (Food)
Attributes: After consumption, +10 Stamina, +2 Mental Power.)
“Three hours should be enough; it’s just that the star coins given are too few.” The orange cat licked its paw and stood on the machine, blinking its big eyes at Bo Ge. “Benefactor, Misy flowers in survival mode are not dangerous to collect. It’s just that my legs are short, and walking too much makes my paws ache.”
Actually, just saying “Need a hug” works too.
Bo Ge picked up the orange cat, entered survival mode, opened the map, and the dense red dots on it marked the location of Misy flowers, not far away.
On the way, petting the cat as they walked, they quickly arrived near the Misy flower field. Bo Ge, looking at the delicate flowers with their threads of petals, placed the orange cat down and started picking.
One hundred flowers weren’t many, and Bo Ge reached out to the flower stems. A gentle pinch, but it seemed like there was nothing on his fingers—his hand was empty.
Is it a bug?
Bo Ge tried again, but still got nothing. Bo Ge’s palm easily passed through the flower cluster, touching nothing.
What’s going on?
Bo Ge went to find the orange cat, only to see the cat holding the flowers with its paws, pulling them up. One flower was acquired, and the task progress increased by +1.
“I’ve got a bug; I can’t touch Misy flowers.” Bo Ge, in front of the orange cat, demonstrated the issue.
“That’s strange; it shouldn’t be like that.” The orange cat came over, holding Bo Ge’s hand, and did several experiments in the flower cluster. Bo Ge’s hand could always pass through the flowers.
“Is my game helmet broken?” Bo Ge frowned with concern. After all, the helmet was a found item, left behind by the previous owner, and it might have some issues.
“H-helmet?” The orange cat widened its eyes. “You’re using a helmet?”
“Is there a problem?” Bo Ge looked confused.
“Holographic helmets were phased out a long time ago. Now, everyone uses gaming pods!” The orange cat looked at Bo Ge in disbelief. “Where did you get this ancient relic?”
Bo Ge was a bit confused. “But I can touch other things with the helmet. Why can’t I touch Misy flowers?”
“It’s not just Misy flowers.” The orange cat led Bo Ge to a nearby orange mushroom. “Try touching the Orange Mushroom.”
Following its advice, Bo Ge squatted down but found he couldn’t touch the mushroom at all.
“That’s the problem.” The orange cat shook its paw. “Holographic helmets use outdated connectors with many shortcomings. They’re fine for dealing with species that existed before, but for new species like Misy flowers and Orange Mushrooms, you can’t touch them with the helmet.”
“So… do I need to switch to a gaming pod?” Bo Ge suddenly realized. No wonder this gaming helmet wasn’t taken away; it was already outdated.
“You must switch.” The orange cat stretched out its paws. “If you use this in competitive and story modes, it’s considered a malfunction, and your performance will be invalid.”
Bo Ge’s little face drooped. A gaming pod must be expensive, and he wasn’t sure if his credits were enough.
Seemingly sensing Bo Ge’s distress, the orange cat puffed up its fluffy chest. “Benefactor, do whatever you want. Leave these 100 Misy flowers to me!”
Feeling useless here, Bo Ge nodded, scratched the orange cat’s head, turned around, and left the current map, heading to the milk bar entrance.
To Bo Ge’s astonishment, the milk bar entrance was guarded by many fluffy creatures, and inside, it was full of little cuties everywhere. Bo Ge almost had no place to step.
The moment Bo Ge sat in his old spot, all the fluffy creatures looked over, limbs tensed, their eyes shining like small light bulbs.
“You guys…” Bo Ge nervously swallowed his saliva. “Who’s coming first?”
In the next moment, a sky-covering swarm of fluffiness pounced, instantly overwhelming the young man.
At the same time, in the dark corner of the milk bar, a pair of golden leopard eyes anxiously watched everything in front of them.
—–
Author’s note: Wishing all little angels a joyful Qixi Festival! Leave a comment on the new chapter to receive a peach blossom red envelope!
(Today’s update is a bit late, please be gentle with the peach buttocks. Tearful.jpg)
Thanks to the little angels who dropped landmines: 乂鄭 1 person;
Thanks to the little angels irrigating with nutrient solution: 一轮明月照西厢 30 bottles; 流画清泷 1 bottle;
Today’s rewards: Three little angels, please rescue Gu Gu from the fluffy pile and assist Gu Gu in completing today’s Shalu fluffy mission!
1TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you ❤️”
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