Chapter 33: Chapter 28: Refusing the Wonder
Luh Yao leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs and sipping an ice-cold coke as he gazed down at the Pixel World on his computer screen.
From the Salt Pool Tribe in the western mountains to the East River Tribe by the eastern river, north to the most dangerous depths of the forest and south to the Ghost City Saniluo, his name and power were known to all.
He was, one might say, a local celebrity among the Gods.
By taking control of Saniluo, Luh Yao had gone through a massive upgrade. Both his Faith and his population had grown explosively.
He was already considering his next opponent.
Should he annex the East River Tribe first?
Or should he just go ahead and impose sustainable lightning and earthquake sanctions on the Salt Pool Tribe?
He stroked his chin.
As he was pondering this, a new notification appeared on the screen.
[Population is the vessel, Faith is the power.]
[You have amassed a considerable number of Believers and gained a great deal of Faith in this region. Your great power extends all around, and your Miracles are further manifested.]
[Please construct your Wonder. This will be your stepping stone to move beyond the Apprentice Deities and enter the Divine Hall of the Gods.]
A Wonder?
Luh Yao was familiar with the term.
Isabel had mentioned it when she subdued Lisa.
"I had advanced to the Crawling Area, but some bastard destroyed my Wonder, so I was demoted back to the Safety Zone."
’So that means the place I’m in now is called the Safety Zone. Only after building a Wonder can I enter the next stage, the so-called Crawling Area.’
’Just as the notification described, to move beyond the Apprentice Deities.’
Luh Yao opened the Divine Hall and made a new discovery in the [Miracle] tab.
There was a brand new, available Miracle: [Wonder].
The icon for the new Miracle was a blurry building. [Wonder] required 5,000 Faith to cast.
Just like [Lightning] and [Earthquake], [Wonder] had no detailed description after its name.
’No wonder Lisa was in such a hurry,’ Luh Yao mused.
’5,000 Faith is a huge expense. Developing step-by-step, you’d need a tribe of at least a thousand people to have that kind of reserve. And considering the need to deal with sudden emergencies and harsh environments, it would take a long time to save up that much.’
’Lisa didn’t have the Patience for that, so she went around robbing other Divine Players of their Faith, all to build her Wonder and get back to the Crawling Area.’
Now Luh Yao had to consider: should he activate [Wonder] right away?
After thinking for a moment, he made his decision.
He decided to put building the [Wonder] on hold.
’Right now I’m in the divine Safety Zone, which should be something like a Newbie Village, so it’s relatively safe. But once I activate the [Wonder], I might end up like Lisa, facing wars with other Divine Players. The pressure would be immense.’
’Players of old-school games all know that before you leave the Newbie Village, you should grind as many levels and kill as many monsters as possible, looting every piece of equipment in sight.’
’Playing it safe was Luh Yao’s style.’
’Until I’m absolutely sure, I’m not leaving this Newbie Village!’
It was decided!
His first goal: dominate the nearby Safety Zone!
Having made this crucial decision, Luh Yao’s mood lightened.
"Xiaohuo. Make me a bowl of noodles, with two cloves of garlic and a fried egg."
"Yes, Sir."
The Cactus Ball rose from its pot, shook the dirt from its spines, hopped off the table, and went outside to make the noodles.
Luh Yao stood up and stretched.
Suddenly, an exclamation of shock came from outside.
"Holy shit! The cactus is alive! What the hell is going on?!"
’Shit,’ Luh Yao thought. He threw the door open and saw a young man with a crew cut and heavy dark circles under his eyes standing in the doorway. A cigarette was stuck to the man’s lower lip, his eyes wide with astonishment as he stared at the ground.
On the floor, the Cactus Ball Attendant had already reverted to its Cactus Ball form, completely motionless.
"What are you doing here, Old Zhou?"
Luh Yao greeted him with a smile.
"No, Luh Yao, that cactus on the floor... it had arms and legs before, it was alive! Holy shit, this is just fucking insane!" Zhou Qiang couldn’t take his eyes off the Cactus Ball on the ground.
"You must be seeing things. This just rolled out of the flowerpot in my room." Luh Yao picked up Xiaohuo from the floor and held it out to him. "See for yourself if you don’t believe me. It’s just a normal Cactus Ball."
Zhou Qiang cautiously observed the Cactus Ball, then poked it with a finger, a look of confusion on his face.
"But I swear I saw it... it had arms and legs, like matchsticks... Maybe I’ve just been too tired lately."
Zhou Qiang rubbed his face with both hands.
"Anyway, why’d you come over tonight?" Luh Yao changed the subject. "And didn’t I deadbolt the door? How did you get in?"
"Deadbolted? No, you didn’t."
Zhou Qiang and Luh Yao checked the front door and discovered that the lock cylinder on the old security door was broken. Whether it was deadbolted or not, the bolt wouldn’t engage. It was purely for show.
"Old houses are always a pain with these kinds of problems. I’ll report it to the landlord later, but I doubt they’ll fix it. We’ll just have to make do."
Zhou Qiang put out his cigarette and said, "I came looking for you today."
"I just couldn’t keep my online store running anymore, so I shut it down."
Luh Yao was taken aback. "You’ve been running that since college. You just closed a five-year-old business like that? What a shame."
"It’s getting harder and harder for small businesses."
Zhou Qiang gave a bitter smile and pointed to his forehead. "See this? My hairline keeps receding, and I’m losing hair every day. It comes out in handfuls."
"Back in college, I was the Brad Pitt of Gongda. Now I’m the Danny DeVito of online retail."
From Zhou Qiang’s dark circles and haggard appearance, Luh Yao could tell that he was indeed under a lot of stress.
Right after graduation, Zhou Qiang had been full of confidence, talking at gatherings about making it big and achieving great things... Now, life had beaten him down. He was tan and thin, always smoking, with his brow constantly furrowed.
"I’m planning to close the shop and get a temp job at the community center."
Zhou Qiang put out his cigarette and said with a smile, "It’s 2,800 a month. Less money, but not as much pressure. I’m planning to take a break first, then figure out my next move."
"I’m actually moving in today. But I’m not alone."
Zhou Qiang shouted toward the hallway, "Come on up! What are you hiding for?"
Only then did a woman walk in from outside the door.
She looked to be in her early twenties, with delicate features, and was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and black straight-leg pants. Her hair was casually tied back, and her eyes seemed to drift, as if she were lost in thought or simply absent-minded.
Luh Yao noticed that she had a good figure, with well-defined shoulders and a trim waist, showing almost no excess fat—the clear signs of someone who worked out.
"My girlfriend, Yuyao," Zhou Qiang introduced them. "This is my college roommate, Luh Yao."
Luh Yao gave a polite smile and a nod. Yuyao seemed a bit reserved and nodded back.
"We’ll be here for a month at most," Zhou Qiang explained. "As soon as we find a suitable place, we’ll move out."
Luh Yao nodded.
He inwardly breathed a small sigh of relief.
’If you guys don’t move out, then I’ll have to.’
’With the simulator here, it’s really not a good idea to have other people in this house.’
’Now that Zhou Qiang and Yuyao had moved in next door, he would have to be even more careful not to let them see Xiaohuo.’
...
That night, Luh Yao kept hearing a humming and mumbling sound from next door. At first, he thought it was just the usual nightly activities of a young couple, but the sound grew stranger and stranger.
Was someone... humming a song?
But Luh Yao couldn’t be sure if the sound was coming from next door or from upstairs.
Later in the night, he was startled awake by the sound of chopping—TAK, TAK, TAK.
’Who in their right mind cooks in the kitchen in the middle of the night?’
