[Ji Luo] was bombarded so fiercely by the group that his face flushed red.
He couldn’t exactly announce that he was actually quite young in real life and had been playing on his older sister’s account this whole time, could he?
“Get lost!
Stop talking nonsense!
I look exactly like this in real life—forever eighteen!”
[Ji Luo] rolled his eyes and quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, where’s Jiahao?
It’s already ten past seven.
Why hasn’t that guy logged on yet?”
At the mention of his name, the other three looked around, but there was still no sign of that aloof figure who had spent all of yesterday trying to force his hands into the pockets of his boxer shorts.
“Did he oversleep?” Bigshot asked in confusion.
“Oversleep?”
[Passing Pure Love God of War] sneered, his face filled with disdain.
He looked like a famous detective who had just uncovered a major clue.
“Judging from the way he was talking in the game yesterday…”
He paused dramatically before delivering his verdict.
“That guy is definitely a middle schooler in real life.
Maybe even a primary schooler who just started summer vacation!”
Maluo slapped his thigh in realization.
“Right!
That deeply marinated chuunibyou flavor—there’s no way you can fake that without at least three years of experience!”
[Ji Luo] chuckled and picked up the conversation.
“Then why isn’t he online right now?
Could he be doing his summer homework?”
“Homework my foot.”
Maluo gave a sly laugh.
“I bet our Young Master Jiahao, who claims to see straight through Wall Street’s underlying logic, is currently being dragged around by the ear by his mother, whipped with a Seven Wolves leather belt, and hauled off to a Little Genius summer Olympiad math cram class!”
“Hahahahaha!”
A burst of gleeful laughter erupted inside the church.
Four grown men stood in the middle of an empty, ruined temple, mercilessly mocking their absent teammate to their hearts’ content.
It was a surprisingly harmonious scene.
Just as the four players were chatting away, the native little nun, Sivier, who had been hiding in the corner of the ruins, cautiously peeked through her fingers.
She stared at the four descending believers with awe-filled eyes, as though she were witnessing a divine miracle.
Her limited vocabulary could no longer describe the shock she was experiencing.
Yesterday, these Scourges had all been completely hairless, identical-looking bald heads.
Yet after only one night, the Great Deity had actually granted them completely different appearances!
Some had hair as white as snow.
Some looked fierce and imposing.
And some…
Well, some actually looked even more like villains than the Cultists outside!
But this was clearly the supreme authority of the Creator!
Trembling with excitement, Sivier once again bowed toward the broken statue on the altar, pressing her forehead against the cold stone floor.
Meanwhile, Lynn, sitting inside the stone statue, stared at the four uniquely customized players chatting animatedly below.
He held his nonexistent forehead, black lines practically covering his face.
A non-mainstream Berserker.
A middle-aged neighborhood committee uncle.
An e-bike battery thief.
And a fair-faced handsome boy.
“I spent thirty Faith Points with great difficulty to create a dark, epic atmosphere for you guys, and you’ve turned it into a patient support group!”
Lynn ranted inwardly.
Then again, there were five alpha testers in total, and only four were online right now.
So where was [I Am Not Jiahao], the guy who kept talking about “underlying logic” and whom everyone was convinced had been dragged off to a Little Genius math cram class?
Lynn casually opened the system’s backend and took a look.
Good grief.
He wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t checked, but the moment he did, his blood pressure shot through the roof.
According to the backend data, [I Am Not Jiahao] had actually logged in punctually at seven in the morning.
He wasn’t lagging or disconnected, either.
Instead, he had been completely immersed in the character customization system for more than half an hour!
Looking at the screenshot synchronized from the system, Lynn was rendered utterly speechless.
That guy was currently zoomed in on the character’s facial model, painstakingly fine-tuning the curl of the character’s left eyelash!
“Damn it!
Do you think you’re playing a dress-up game or running a plastic surgery clinic?”
“The Evil God outside is practically about to break down our door, and you’re sitting there customizing eyelashes?!”
Lynn couldn’t be bothered to wait for this hopeless chuunibyou patient anymore.
If he waited any longer, the food would be cold.
With a thought, he directly packaged the “Underlying Economic Plan” he had worked on all night and threw it into the system update patch.
“Ding-dong!”
A crisp system notification suddenly rang out inside the church, startling the four players who had been boasting.
Immediately afterward, a translucent scroll radiating a dark golden glow slowly unfurled in the center of the four players’ vision.
[Server-wide System Announcement: A Brand-New Journey Has Begun!]
[The underlying economic system has been fully loaded and implemented!]
[From now on, when players slay wilderness anomalies or complete tasks issued by NPCs, they will receive the game’s basic currency: Ash Coins.]
[Hotfix Supplementary Note: To ensure a better player experience, the “three deaths and you’re banned” mechanism has been canceled.
Each player currently has one free resurrection opportunity.
Once the free resurrection opportunity has been exhausted, reshaping the body will cost 10 Ash Coins each time.]
[Wishing all Ash Apostles a happy hunt!]
The moment the announcement appeared, the entire church fell silent.
Then—
The place instantly erupted with earth-shaking cheers!
“Holy crap!!
Brothers, stop chatting!
Killing monsters drops money now!
The currency system is finally here!!!”
[Passing Pure Love God of War] was so excited that he nearly did a backflip on the spot, his spiky silver-white hair bouncing wildly.
“I knew this game wouldn’t be stupid enough to use permanent death!”
“Paying money to buy another life—now that’s the authentic online gaming experience!”
“Awesome!
We finally don’t have to worry about our accounts getting deleted!” Bigshot rubbed his hands excitedly, letting out a huge sigh of relief.
Maluo’s eyes shone even brighter.
He was practically drooling, looking exactly like a miser who had just seen the God of Wealth.
“Killing monsters gives money, completing quests gives money…”
“Brothers, my motivation right now is greater than a production team’s donkey!
I’m going to farm the monsters outside until I wipe them off the map!”
Now that the wage slaves’ enthusiasm had been fully ignited, it was time for a qualified capitalist to assign their KPIs.
Lynn controlled the stone statue, causing its eyes to once again blaze with a majestic blue light.
Two brand-new quest windows immediately appeared on the right side of the four players’ vision.
[Daily Quest 1: Divine Shelter]
[Quest Description: The great Lord of Ashes requires the offerings of His believers, yet the poor little nun Sivier doesn’t even have a place to shelter from the wind and rain.
Please build a simple wooden house for her in the open space outside the church.]
[Quest Reward: EXP +20, Ash Coins ×10.]
[Daily Quest 2: Believers’ Rations]
[Quest Description: Nun Sivier hasn’t had a full meal in two days, and the Deity cannot bear to watch her starve.
Enter the wilderness and find edible meat or wild fruits.]
[Quest Requirement: Submit edible supplies.]
[Quest Reward: 2–5 Ash Coins per submission, depending on quality.
(Repeatable)]
With that, the four players could no longer sit still.
There was a main storyline, daily quests, and an in-game currency system.
This was a complete online gaming ecosystem!
“Brothers, don’t rush outside just yet.
We need to discuss this.”
Just as [Passing Pure Love God of War] was preparing to charge outside and start fighting monsters, [Ji Luo]—currently sporting the face of a sunny-looking top student—stepped forward and raised a hand to stop everyone.
He pointed toward the somewhat gloomy sky outside and began analyzing the situation.
“Anyone who’s played survival or sandbox games knows an ironclad rule: the danger level during the day is always lower than at night.”
“This game focuses on dark, Cthulhu-style survival.
Once night falls, all kinds of terrifying monsters will definitely spawn outside, and visibility will be severely reduced.”