◎ Unscrupulous game, pay-to-win right off the bat. ◎
The system had been waiting for a long time.
"Information Drift" was a method of long-distance information exchange between systems, but the feedback was highly random. Based on this planet's time, it could only be used once every seven natural days.
It had encoded some information into a voiceprint and sent it out. Now, it had finally received a fragment of feedback.
Perhaps this could help it locate the missing main database—
[You have randomly intercepted a video clip "Charge into the Star Sea!", duration 108 seconds.]
System: "?"
Why was the "main database" opening a Federation recruitment promo instead of scanning for its location?
-
"Wow!!!"
Lin Fuque wriggled on her bed, hugging a panda plushie.
This game CG was a mecha battle!
And it looked better than any sci-fi movie she had ever seen. Resting her chin on the panda's belly, she played it for the third time. The first time, she had only paid attention to the flashy combat special effects. The second time, she tried to observe the characters in it, only to realize, "There's no one there."
The entire CG was probably rendered with special effects. The mechas looked incredibly handsome and realistic, but adding human character models might have ruined the immersion. So, they simply scrapped the parts where human faces would appear. The entire animation was told from a first-person perspective, narrating the story of a soldier joining the army, traveling through the stars on a spaceship, and exploring different planets.
By her third viewing, Lin Fuque finally discerned that four professions had appeared in sequence during the game CG: Mecha Warrior, Mechanic, Combat Medic, and Army Commander... It was obvious that this was an introduction to the available playable classes.
"Then of course I have to pilot a mecha!"
Piloting a mecha was so cool! Once school started, she could drive her mecha to class!
After the third playthrough ended, Lin Fuque closed the video and noticed that the translation progress had reached 52%. New tasks had also appeared on her quest panel. Although there was still some garbled text, she could guess the objectives based on the context.
[Basic Task 1: Establish a Safe Camp]
[On a dangerous and unfamiliar planet, you urgently need a safe camp.]
[Please note: The camp will be your long-term living space. Choosing a suitable camp requires meeting three major criteria: food, water, and safety.]
[Maximum Reward: 100 points, unlock class selection: Mechanic, Combat Medic.]
[Basic Task 2: Clear and Monitor Camp Surroundings]
[Upon placing the camp, clear or drive away all hostile targets with a threat level of lv5 or higher within a one-kilometer radius, and establish surveillance over the camp's surroundings!]
[Maximum Reward: 150 points, unlock class selection: Mecha Warrior, Army Commander.]
[Players may choose multiple classes.]
Lin Fuque also noticed that the line of text at the very bottom of her personal profile had been translated—
[Current Level: lv1]
[(Personal comprehensive level, which can be upgraded through continuous combat and acquiring equipment.)]
The requirements... didn't seem too high?
The game didn't seem to impose too many restrictions on the prerequisite quests to unlock classes. However, to complete Task 2, she had to finish Task 1 first.
Wasn't her home a "camp"?
But when she poked at the quest, she found she couldn't submit it: because when initially placing a camp, she had to strictly define its boundaries, and the system needed to verify if the three criteria of "water access", "food access", and "safety" were met.
So she had to draw the boundaries of her home on the virtual map and designate it as her camp.
But Lin Fuque didn't do that immediately. Her initially casual expression slowly turned serious. "Could it not be that simple?"
The reward specified was the "maximum reward." If she only got a passing grade, would she be locked out of choosing a class?
She slid off the bed and opened her door.
"Mom, I need to ask you a very serious question!"
Lin Shiyao, who was staring at a screen, replied, "Hmm? How serious?"
"It determines whether I can pilot a mecha, so please take it seriously."
Lin Shiyao coughed, shifted her gaze away from the screen, and sat up straight on the sofa. "Alright, but you have to answer a question of mine first—what do you want to eat for dinner?"
"Chicken wings stuffed with rice," Lin Fuque replied quickly, then asked, "Are there any dangerous individuals within a one-kilometer radius of our house?"
Lin Shiyao: "Uh?"
Well, this...
Lin Shiyao was an associate professor in the Physics Department at Yuntai University. The house she bought was very close to both the university and Lecheng Experimental School, where Lin Fuque was going to study; it was essentially a prime school-district property. The residential compound wasn't too large, the environment was quiet, the facilities were convenient, and some of Lin Shiyao's colleagues lived there too. The property management was also excellent... but as for whether there were any dangerous individuals within a one-kilometer radius—
"Mom doesn't know either!"
The two stared at each other in silence for a moment. Lin Shiyao pushed her laptop aside and started searching the city map. She said, "While I don't know the exact answer to this, we can try the process of elimination first. For example, let's see if there are any prisons or police stations within a one-kilometer radius?"
If there were prisons or police stations, the inmates in the cells should count as dangerous individuals, right?
Lin Fuque wore a solemn expression, looking entirely like a Mecha Warrior ready to take the surrounding one-kilometer radius under her protection. She nodded reservedly. "Makes sense."
Her mom had given her inspiration. She ran into the storage room and pushed out a rolling whiteboard. "Then I'll draw all the buildings within a one-kilometer radius first."
Lin Shiyao watched her draw for a while. Seeing that she was doing a pretty decent job, she went back to her own work (and conveniently ordered the chicken wings stuffed with rice from a nearby restaurant). Soon, the only sounds left in the living room were the clacking of the keyboard and the squeak of the marker against the whiteboard.
Although Lin Fuque had the map open on her phone, she was actually referencing the much more accurate and clear game panel. She used a black marker for normal buildings and switched to a red one for suspicious ones. Eventually, a somewhat circular map appeared on the whiteboard.
—It wasn't a perfect circle because Lin Fuque's drawing skills were lacking.
The one-kilometer radius completely enveloped the residential compound where Lin Fuque lived, covered the kindergarten next door, and encompassed 37 shops across three streets. What Lin Fuque specifically highlighted were a bar and a park.
"Wow, there are quite a lot of shops within a kilometer of our house," Lin Shiyao remarked. "Is there something wrong with these two places?"
The bar was a quiet lounge that she had visited before, and the park was very small, usually only frequented by people dancing or taking strolls.
"Hmm..." As she drew, Lin Fuque looked at the game's quest description and slowly began to understand. "I don't know what's wrong with them, but I want to find a time period when there are the fewest people within a kilometer of our house!"
She understood the hidden message of the quest: Task 2 required her to clear the threats around the camp upon placement. Therefore, the fewer people there were around when the camp was placed, the lower the probability of bad guys appearing—this wasn't just a test of her combat ability, but also a test of her information-gathering skills.
It was assessing whether she had the capability to find a safe camp.
So, tonight was definitely a no-go!
"So, do you have any ideas yet?" Lin Shiyao asked.
"Tomorrow morning?" Lin Fuque pointed at their residential complex. "The most populated area on the map is our neighborhood. Everyone comes home at night, but during the day, they leave for work, so there will be fewer people. Should we do nine or ten o'clock?"
"Let's go with ten o'clock," Lin Shiyao said. "Kindergarten drop-offs last until nine, and the roads can still be congested."
She downloaded a navigation app for Lin Fuque and taught her how to check the local traffic conditions. Once Lin Fuque got the hang of it, she decided to wait until ten o'clock the next morning.
At eight thirty the next morning, Lin Shiyao left for work.
Perhaps because of the map her daughter had drawn the night before, she found herself observing her surroundings, something she rarely did on normal days. There were quite a few people at the breakfast stalls, though the traffic wasn't too bad. Half the shops hadn't even opened yet. By ten o'clock, the crowds should thin out significantly, right?
Meanwhile, after finishing her breakfast, Lin Fuque dug out the bottled water from the storage room and counted them. She then opened the refrigerator to check how many cupcakes were left. Finally, after double-checking that the front door was deadbolted, she mapped out the location of her Camp and hit submit.
[Uploading...]
A blue screen of light expanded outward, rapidly fading as it spread.
Then, Lin Fuque noticed blue Average ratings popping up over the food and water in the house, while a red Passable rating appeared on the door lock.
The system panel indicated that these were safety ratings. This meant the food and water were up to standard, but the security of the front door was highly questionable. Still, even though it was merely a pass...
[Basic Quest 1 Completed]
[You have received: 50 points (Upgrade the camp safety rating to Excellent to receive the remaining points)]
[Available Classes: Mechanic, Military Doctor]
The next second, the scan of the Camp perimeter was also complete!
This would determine whether Lin Fuque could submit Quest 2!
Soon, the panel rapidly listed the names of all entities within a one-kilometer radius that had a threat level of Lv.5 or higher. Then, these names faded away one by one, ultimately leaving only a single name:
[Little Yellow]
[Level: Lv.6]
[Hostile]
...Who was this?
It was one thing to be Level 6, and another to not be at work at ten in the morning, but what Lin Fuque truly could not figure out was this: she hadn't even been in this city for very long, so how had she already managed to make an enemy?
To complete Quest 2, having high-level individuals near the camp wasn't actually an issue. It was the Hostile status that was incredibly rare.
The system map didn't pinpoint Little Yellow's exact location. Lin Fuque tinkered with it for a bit, but only a single line of text popped up:
[Complete surveillance of the camp perimeter to unlock further map functions]
At noon, when Lin Shiyao arrived at the faculty cafeteria, she found Lin Fuque slowly picking at her food.
Since commuting back and forth was too much of a hassle, she had given Lin Fuque her meal card, having her take a two-stop bus ride to the university cafeteria for lunch every day.
She noticed that her daughter was currently scooping thin air with her spoon.
"What's wrong?" Lin Shiyao asked. "Have you still not solved that problem?"
She really didn't understand what clearing out dangerous individuals within a one-kilometer radius of the house had to do with piloting mechas. Perhaps the former was just a child's wild imagination, and the latter was some sort of video game?
"I already got the answer," Lin Fuque shook her head, signaling that she was done with the topic. "Oh, right, Mom. I want to buy something using my allowance."
On her way over today, she had kept her eyes peeled for Little Yellow but hadn't spotted anything. Thus, she decided to follow the game's hint: find a way to set up surveillance around the camp!
Since she now had 50 points, Lin Fuque browsed through the Points Store module. She found an item called the Butterfly-Ring Autonomous Recharging Miniature Camp Monitor. However, a single unit cost 100 points. Fortunately, after digging a little deeper, she found its crafting blueprint, which cost exactly 50 points. Furthermore, crafting items would increase her Mechanic experience points. Lin Fuque had just activated the Mechanic class, which had also rewarded her with a blueprint for some sort of cannon and a portable folding workbench. For now, though, she decided to purchase the crafting materials for the monitor first.
Lin Shiyao nodded.
She had never been one to micromanage her daughter's spending. Lin Fuque received a generous monthly allowance, with several older relatives sending her money, so she was more than capable of managing her own finances.
Bringing it up was simply her way of giving her mother a heads-up, implying that she might be spending quite a large sum this time.
She asked casually, "What are you planning to buy?"
"Uh..." Lin Fuque thought about it. They were all miscellaneous odds and ends that would be hard to explain, so she simply summarized, "I'm putting money into my game."
"?" Lin Shiyao stared at her.
That mecha game of yours makes you spend money right off the bat?
Are minors really allowed to play this game?
