During the interval while easing her mental power, Luo Zhao already combined it with this body’s memories to understand the assessment before her.
The directed object-simulation assessment was the basic assessment of the Dream-Making Livestream Battle, and was also the next screening competition after one’s mental power met the standard.
Basic object-simulation, this was the most basic ability of a Dream Maker.
Only by meeting the standard and passing this assessment could one be considered to have passed the “open selection” and obtained an entry ticket to the Dream-Making Livestream Battle.
This assessment was directed object-simulation. In other words, an assigned-topic composition.
The directed object-simulation for Luo Zhao’s assessment was “flying fish,” so she had to dream-make a species belonging to the flying-fish genus to complete the assessment.
The reason a specific kind of flying fish was not designated was naturally because the sea of stars was vast, and there were even countless kinds of flying fish.
What contestants chose to manifest through dream-making was often the kind they understood best.
That was to say, a Dream Maker had to possess an extremely thorough understanding and knowledge of the thing they dream-made.
The urgent system notification and the countdown ahead were like demands for her life.
Luo Zhao had no time to think about anything else. There was a strong consciousness within this body telling her,
She had to pass this assessment!
In the final three minutes, she had to complete this dream-making with the prompt “flying fish.”
Countdown: 2 minutes 58 seconds. Luo Zhao moved.
A brush suddenly appeared in her palm!
The livestream room, silent for a long time, suddenly stirred. Quite a few of the people who stayed were clearly sitting there waiting to see Luo Zhao make a fool of herself.
【What is she doing??? Whatever she does now, it’s already too late ya.】
【This is laughing this bug to death. She didn’t make a flying fish and instead made some furry thing. She couldn’t be trying to fool the Sea of Stars System, right?】
【Feels like it’s her auxiliary intermediary object? The assessment doesn’t allow contestants to bring intermediary objects, so she made one according to her own habits.】
【You guys, look! She moved!】
A bullet comment that rapidly flashed past immediately drew the gazes of all the remaining viewers over.
Luo Zhao held the brush in hand, completely focused. Her mental power linked through the brush and poured out.
Flying fish, a fish that could fly.
She did not understand the flying fish of the interstellar era, but she understood another kind of flying fish.
The first things to appear were the smooth curves of a fish’s body, as well as a huge white fish head.
【Sea of Stars above, she really only started dream-making during the inspection stage. What enormous dream is she dreaming? How could she possibly finish it!】
【A white fish head. Does anyone remember this flying-fish species? It isn’t among the ten most common flying fish on our Flying Fish Planet.】
【The only rare species I know, the white-headed flying fish, doesn’t have this form either. From the curved structure of this flying fish, it feels like an ancient species ah.】
【Ah ah ah, it’s too late to find an expert now. Garbage StarNet! It can’t be found in the Sea of Stars Public Encyclopedia!】
Luo Zhao’s movements instantly made all the viewers’ hearts rise into their throats. She really did not give up on the assessment.
Only, what kind of flying fish was this exactly?
There was actually such an oddball who only started dream-making when the assessment was about to end. This could practically be selected for this year’s Dream-Making Livestream Battle Oddball Awards.
For a time, some viewers spread the news everywhere, calling friends and summoning companions to quickly come see this fool, while others stared fixedly at the scene, afraid they might miss even the slightest bit of content.
At this time, nearly ninety percent of the contestants already completed their object-simulation dream-making, or were carrying out their final inspections and detailed adjustments. Not to mention that many contestants finished dream-making long ago, “turned in their papers” early, and even completed the dream-making showcase segment.
“The contestant with S-rank mental power only started dream-making with three minutes left on the countdown.” As soon as this message was sent out, it immediately attracted quite a few netizens who came to watch the fun.
Countdown: 2 minutes,
Under Luo Zhao’s brush appeared a bright-red fish beak, as well as strange azure patterns among the scales on the fish’s body.
The fish’s back was slightly flat. The white fish head and bright-red fish mouth reflected against each other, while the azure patterns that seemed naturally formed from its scales made it appear even more inexplicably mystical.
A viewer in the livestream room immediately burst into curses,
【What an ugly flying fish. She’s clearly from Flying Fish Planet, with so many common kinds of flying fish she could make, yet she just had to make such an ugly flying fish. It really dirtied my prosthetic eye.】
【What race are you from? What species-hating nonsense are you pulling! I think this flying fish is very beautiful.】
【Um… don’t you guys feel like this flying fish is a little… indescribably special ah? It’s just, it’s just, not an ordinary fish.】
【There are more species characteristics now, but it still can’t be found through the free StarNet search.】
Countdown: 1 minute 20 seconds,
The brush in Luo Zhao’s hand swept freely and unrestrainedly. She lifted the brush and dotted in the eyes.
She added wings to the fish’s body, its pair of wings spreading outward, and all of a sudden, this “flying fish” already took shape.
And at this moment, only 30 seconds remained on the countdown at the scene.
The viewers looked at the “flying fish” before them.
It possessed long, slender feathered wings, and those long wings reached all the way to the level of its fish tail.
Its fish body was elongated and flat, its back slightly raised, and it was more than one chi[1]尺 (chǐ) – A traditional Chinese unit of length. Its exact measurement varied historically; one modern chi is approximately 33.3 centimeters. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3683100_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3683100_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); long.
A white fish head, a red fish mouth, and azure patterns faintly appearing over its body.
Judging by its form, this should indeed be a flying fish, but it was beyond the range of recognition of every single viewer. They did not understand it, were not familiar with it, and did not know it.
Viewers already began guessing one after another that this might be a rare or endangered species of flying fish. The tick-tock of the countdown at the scene already lingered by their ears, yet Luo Zhao in the livestream room still did not stop her hand.
Watching the countdown continuously count down the seconds, the anxious viewers were already starting to go crazy.
【There’s no time left. She still hasn’t finished?】
【I’m dying of anxiety, I’m dying of anxiety. Is she still not submitting the assessment?】
【What kind of thing could possibly be made in three minutes ah? Tch, I don’t believe it can pass.】
When the time entered the final ten seconds, the system’s cold countdown already sounded at the assessment site.
“Countdown 3, 2, 1. Contestant Luo Zhao, your directed object-simulation assessment has ended. You will automatically enter the dream-making showcase segment in ten seconds.”
【It’s the showcase segment. I bought the immersive sensory experience service, so I’d like to see exactly what kind of flying fish this contestant made and whether it’s fierce or not.】
The brush Luo Zhao dream-made in her hand already disappeared. At the same time, the assessment countdown hanging high before her also vanished.
Her expression was calm, her gaze bright and intense.
The next moment, the viewers in the livestream room were already dumbfounded.
The night sky was like ink, moonlight shone down, and the dark seawater surged and rolled toward them.
It was as though far at the edge of the heavens, violent winds swept through amid terrifying waves and raging billows.
No one knew where the great wind arose from, and wave after wave surged without end.
Coming with the wind, whistling toward them, were also pair after pair of outspread wings. They flew over the dark sea surface and all the way forward, allowing people to see them clearly: azure-patterned, white-headed, and red-beaked. At times they lightly touched the sea waves and glided over the surface; at times they flapped both wings and once again spread them to fly high, stirring up wave after wave.
Those “flying fish” came riding the wind and breaking through the waves. Their bright eyes seemed to meet the gazes of the viewers in the void, their not-sharp red beaks let out clear and pleasant cries, and the patterns on their bodies carried a strange beauty, extraordinarily vivid and lively.
A smile rested in Luo Zhao’s eyes. This was the flying fish she was familiar with.
The Wenyao Fish, from 《Classic of Mountains and Seas · Classic of the Western Mountains》.[2]文鳐鱼 (wényáo yú) – The Wenyao Fish is a mythical creature recorded in the ancient Chinese text 《山海经》 (Classic of Mountains and Seas). It is described as having a fish’s body … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3683100_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3683100_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
“Contestant Luo Zhao, your dream-making showcase has ended. You have passed this directed object-simulation dream-making assessment.”
“Your dream-making rating is—S.”
With the assessment over, Luo Zhao was automatically transported back to her personal space by the StarNet system.
In order not to affect the contestants’ on-site performance, and also to prevent cheating and similar behavior, although the contestants’ entire assessments and competitions were livestreamed on StarNet, while the contestants were inside the dream-making realm, they could not see these comments and bullet comments at all and were completely isolated from the outside world.
What she did not know was that the instant the dream-making showcase ended, her personal livestream room already became a sea of “WTF.”[3]卧槽 (wòcáo) – A common Chinese Internet exclamation expressing shock or disbelief. It is a softened homophone of a vulgar expression and is similar in effect to “WTF,” “damn,” or … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3683100_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3683100_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
【Mother Empress above, my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me, right? Just now, that was dynamic object-simulation???】
【You didn’t see wrong. It wasn’t just dynamic object-simulation, there was scenery creation too. My entire bird head has gone stupid.】
【You guys, don’t forget, Contestant Luo Zhao only started dream-making in the final three minutes…】
【Hiss, three minutes for dynamic object-simulation and scenery creation, an S-rank score. Then look at the other contestants. Those who also received an S got it because their object-simulation works reached S-rank, but Contestant Luo Zhao got this because the highest possible rating is only S-rank.】
【Quick, quick, the livestream room is about to disband. Go into the Flying Fish Planet dream-making realm lobby. Let’s hurry and make a public channel.】
As Luo Zhao left, the livestream room also automatically disbanded, but the StarNet viewers stunned by Luo Zhao’s dream-making showcase just now completely could not suppress the feelings in their hearts.
They immediately began contacting one another, rushed into the public channel, and started shouting and yelling. The dream-making showcase they just saw made their scalps tingle. They had to spread the word far and wide and find a few more people to vent their shocked emotions to.
Oubu was one of these viewers.
He hurriedly entered Flying Fish Planet’s public channel, found the newly created channel made by the netizens, and entered it.
Looking at the discussions rising one after another in the channel, that scene from just now continued to linger in Oubu’s mind.
Oubu was one of the only netizens in Luo Zhao’s livestream room who spent one thousand star coins to purchase the dream-making realm’s “Immersive Sensory Link” service.
The so-called “Immersive Sensory Link” meant being personally immersed in the scene and linking the five senses. Netizens who purchased this service could place themselves within the experience and personally sense a Dream Maker’s work.
The price of “Immersive Sensory Link” was not considered cheap. Of course, the specific price was also automatically set by StarNet according to its reference calculations. The higher-ranking the Dream Maker and the higher-level the dream, the more expensive this service naturally became.
In each century’s Dream-Making Livestream Battle, it was often only by the middle and later stages, or even the finals, when viewers gained dreams they especially cherished and competitors they wanted to support, that they would gradually become willing to purchase the 【Immersive Sensory Link】 service.
As for now, this was merely the Dream Makers’ basic assessment. The true Dream-Making Livestream Battle had not even begun, and the contestants’ abilities differed like heaven and earth. In other people’s eyes, anyone buying this service now was purely a sucker with star coins and nowhere to spend them.
At this moment, Oubu only felt that his one thousand star coins were worth spending, far too worth it!
In that pitch-black night, his entire person seemed to wander within the seawater, rising and falling along with the tide as the salty, damp sea breeze blew over his body.
He saw a round star in the canopy of the sky, cold and carrying a feeling he could neither explain nor describe.
He saw that flying fish. No, more than one flying fish flew past in front of him.
Their plump fish bodies skimmed through the cold seawater. Their pure-white fish heads looked somewhat silly and simple, their red fish mouths slightly upturned, and the instant they touched the sea surface, they blew bubbles.
Oubu tried reaching out. In that instant, he poked the flying fish’s big head and stroked the long, slender wing feathers on its fish body. They were actually fluffy. The texture felt super good ah!
They skimmed across the surface of the sea, lightly touching the water, swept past Oubu’s side, and let out clear, resonant cries. Oubu could not describe that sound, yet he felt it was very pleasant to hear.
The flying fish spread their wings and flew high, rising upon the wind. A single sweep of their fish tails stirred surging white waves in the dark night. The star’s light shone upon their bodies, and their innate azure patterns reflected in the sea: shimmering reflections upon the waves, a vast procession of flying fish.
Oubu’s eyes looked at the messages in the channel, but his mind still lingered on that scene, mystical and beautiful, enough to intoxicate a person.
【Who knows, what kind of flying fish was that exactly?】
A new message appeared, and Oubu’s spirits also lifted.
Right, this was also the answer Oubu wanted to know. Just what kind of flying fish did Contestant Luo Zhao dream-make? It could not even be found in the Sea of Stars Encyclopedia.
Their Flying Fish Planet was the place that raised the greatest number of different kinds of flying fish in the entire interstellar world. Every person from Flying Fish Planet could more or less recognize dozens of common flying-fish species.
Yet among so many viewers, not a single one could recognize the species of flying fish Contestant Luo Zhao dream-made.
Thinking of the soft texture of that unknown flying fish’s wing feathers, Oubu’s hands already felt a little itchy.
What kind of flying fish was that exactly?
If possible, he really wanted to raise one too. He wanted to RUA[4]RUA – Chinese Internet slang for enthusiastically petting, rubbing, squishing, or cuddling something soft and cute. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3683100_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3683100_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); it!
The author has something to say: 【Reference material for this chapter】:
The Wenyao Fish comes from 《Classic of Mountains and Seas · Classic of the Western Mountains》: “Another one hundred and eighty li[5]里 (lǐ) – A traditional Chinese unit of distance. Its exact length varied historically, but in modern usage one li is approximately 500 meters. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3683100_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3683100_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); west is Mount Taiqi. The Guan River emerges from there and flows west into the Moving Sands. There are many Wenyao Fish there. They are shaped like carp, with fish bodies and bird wings, azure markings and white heads, and red beaks. They commonly travel in the Western Sea, swim in the Eastern Sea, and fly at night.”
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