Chapter 54: Mom’s Call
Xu Xiaofeng recapped the situation in Blue Moon City that she had heard from the villagers.
After listening, Steven furrowed his brow tightly. “Is that really the case?”
“I had already caught wind of something similar before, and now I’ve got confirmation from the source. Of course, it’s real!”
“Alright, miss. I understand. Leave this matter to me; Blue Moon City will be restored to normal soon.”
Ah, the perks of nobility! What’s a monumental task for commoners can simply be a one-liner for the aristocrats.
“As for the resettlement of those villagers, that’s a bit trickier. It’s not easy to arrange for hundreds of people in such a short time.”
“I can think of some solutions too! Uncle Steven, focus on the Blue Moon City issue first.”
“Got it.”
After settling the situation, the two of them headed straight to the eastern gate of Emerald City.
On the way, Xu Xiaofeng continued to brainstorm.
Deep down, she felt a little guilty towards the NPCs in Blue Moon City.
After the events of the past few days, she could no longer see this place simply as a game.
These NPCs are living, breathing beings!
No matter how you slice it, the calamity’s early arrival was on her shoulders.
If she hadn’t intervened, the players in Blue Moon City might have had the strength to take down the BOSS, which could have prevented the d*ath of the city lord and the takeover by the nasty players.
“Sister Tong, do you think things would have been better in Blue Moon City without my interference?”
“No.”
The system responded quickly.
For some reason, although it still sounded mechanical, this time it felt particularly gentle to Xu Xiaofeng.
“Things are destined to happen. The calamity is brewing and will only grow stronger.”
“You mean that if the calamity hadn’t come early, it would be even stronger when it did come? Maybe not just at level 15?”
“Exactly.”
Well, that’s just great!
So both the players and the BOSS would be getting stronger. But the NPCs wouldn’t!
Or rather, the NPCs would only get stronger very slowly.
If things delayed, the damage to each city would just be greater.
Because Xu Xiaofeng knew full well that there were cities where players and NPCs had to cooperate valiantly to defeat the BOSS when it showed up.
Xu Xiaofeng asked uncertainly, “So you’re saying I might have actually done a good thing?”
“You could say that.”
Hearing this, Xu Xiaofeng’s smile returned, and her heart felt lighter.
But what she didn’t know was that although the calamity became stronger faster than NPCs, it still couldn’t match the players. So if it hadn’t been for Xu Xiaofeng’s intervention, things wouldn’t have been as bad as they seemed—just about average.
In strict terms, her actions had ended up making life tougher for the players while benefiting the NPCs.
Moreover, the issues in Blue Moon City fundamentally boiled down to the players lacking a real core leader, which led to them failing to put up effective resistance against the BOSS, allowing it to storm right in.
Of course, in the end, the BOSS was slaughtered, but the players of Blue Moon City got hardly any rewards.
The system didn’t bother to tell Xu Xiaofeng all this.
Because with this little girl’s sensitive personality, knowing too much would just lead to more wild thoughts, and who knows what bizarre outcome she’d create.
Sigh, even the system has to babysit…
When Xu Xiaofeng returned home to the royal city, it was completely dark.
She had thought through many ideas on the way, but not a single one fit the bill.
After pondering for a moment, she decided to log off.
Maybe she’d come up with a solution by tomorrow morning!
Back in reality, she… well, he stood up immediately to check his body.
He was afraid of experiencing the issues from the morning all over again.
After a few minutes of waiting, everything seemed fine. This time he could confirm that his body had really recovered.
However, while checking his body, he discovered something different.
“Did my hair grow this fast? It’s already past my shoulders. The blonde tips are pretty obvious now, and there are a few strands of gold hair.”
“Wait a minute!” When he opened his mouth to speak, he caught on to something, “Am I really catching a cold? My throat and voice sound a bit off.”
“Looks like I really am sick; staying up all night didn’t help…”
Thinking this, he glanced toward Xu Xiaoyue’s room.
Sure enough, there was light seeping through the door crack. That girl is seriously pulling an all-nighter!
Xu Xiaofeng shook his head and let her be. We’re all adults; we can make our own plans.
He turned back and dove into bed, ready to sleep.
…
Xu Xiaofeng naturally woke up at around six o’clock.
Honestly, he wasn’t even tired. Though there were some unusual things about his body, he felt mentally sharp and in good shape overall.
He figured he might as well get up and prepare breakfast, sneaking it into Xu Xiaoyue’s room before quietly slipping out.
After dawdling for a bit, he tied his hair up, covered it with a hat, and set off to school alone.
Today was lucky—Fat Wang didn’t block his path.
On the way, he scrolled through some updates and saw that around four in the morning, “Fiery Conflict Across the Sky” had successfully leveled up to level 10 and posted a celebration thread, only to be bombarded by a bunch of haters.
The trolls really are terrifying…
He also noticed the overnight activity his little sister had mentioned, and it was generating quite the buzz.
But naturally, most of the participants couldn’t handle it and collapsed on their journey of cultivation.
His own sister had indeed held out, as he noticed when he delivered breakfast this morning.
With a target in mind, life just makes sense. There’s comfort in having support, but a new life awaits beyond the prison walls. Quite a thought!
Oh dear, there’s still more to this chapter; please click the next page to continue reading. It gets even more exciting!
Xu Xiaofeng chuckled helplessly.
The morning only had the first two classes, which he breezed through with ease.
When faced with a few of his roommates’ occasional chit-chat, he just engaged in aimless banter.
He couldn’t exactly say he was already at level 10, nor could he mention how the Imperial Capital wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be. You guys just went there and got wrecked, right?
Plus, he knew his voice wasn’t quite right, so he tried to keep talking to a minimum.
Sick people should not be disturbed.
After class, while heading home, Xu Xiaofeng’s phone suddenly rang.
Upon checking, he nearly dropped it! It was a call from Mom!
He hurriedly pressed the answer button.
“Hello? Mom?”
“Ah, Little Wind! How are you and Little Moon doing lately? I just called her and she seems to still be asleep?”
“Uh… Oh! Little Moon is sick, so I helped her take a day off.”
“Huh? Sick? Wait a minute, Little Wind, why does your voice sound off?”
“Actually, I just got over being sick. The climate in Magic City, you know how it is. Flu seasons happen often here.”
Perfect excuse, perfect logic!
Sleeping equals sick, sick equals cold, cold equals flu, I have no idea what this all-nighter gaming stuff is!
“Just take care of each other, alright? Your dad and I aren’t around.”
“Sure, sure, don’t worry, Mom! I’ll take care of Little Moon.”
“The reason I called was to check in with you two. School has started, and I haven’t seen you both asking for tuition or living expenses or anything.”
Uh-oh… that is indeed something she forgot. With money in hand, she hadn’t even thought of asking home for any.
If it were before, at midnight on the dot, Xu Xiaofeng would’ve made sure to ask for his living expenses at the right time.
“Haha, actually, Little Moon and I found part-time jobs over the summer and made a bit of money.”
“Oh? Not bad! Your dad and I thought you two were purposely avoiding coming back all summer, just out playing.”
“…”
You really are my mom, always able to guess everything with a snap of your fingers.
“Just keep what you earn for yourself. I’ll transfer your tuition and living expenses over. Let me know when you get it. That’s it—hang up!”
