8 Oh No
Not Enough Relatives
On the grassy training ground, the little dragon maidens sat on the ground.
Noia and Little Light exchanged silent glances, and the air seemed thick with an unusual seriousness not typical among children.
Muen looked at her older sister, then at her little sister, blinked her eyes, shook her little perky hair, and asked seriously, “Are we playing a game today called ‘Just Open Your Eyes and Don’t Say a Word’?”
Little Light raised her hand, interrupting her second sister’s question, her eyes still glued to their eldest sister.
“I just saved you,” Little Pink-Hair said slowly and earnestly.
“What do you mean, Little Light?”
“I’m not talking to you, I’m talking to the ghost hiding inside you!”
“Ah~ not again with the ghost stuff. Little Light, your recent sleep-talking has been all about ghost-hunting.” Muen flopped back onto the grass, her little tail splayed out beneath her.
She had developed some PTSD regarding the term ‘ghost’ at this point—every time Little Light dragged her into ghost-hunting, they ended up with nothing but a wasted effort.
Over time, Muen seriously suspected that her little sister had been too bored at home over the summer, resulting in her going a bit bonkers.
Noia facepalmed in exasperation. “There are no ghosts, Little Light. You’ve been hunting for a whole month. If you keep this up, the summer vacation will be over! Why don’t we spend the remaining time playing some games or practicing magic for next semester instead?”
Having a little sister who was a fun-seeker was not terrifying; what was terrifying was that this fun-seeker was both clever and stubborn.
Little Pink-Hair would only believe what she saw, heard, or analyzed herself. No amount of convincing would change her mind unless someone brought solid evidence.
If Noia inherited Dad’s talent and diligence, and Muen inherited Mom’s occasional clumsiness, then their little sister Aurora definitely inherited all the stubbornness from both parents!
Such a personality was indeed suited for scientific research, but please, not on me!
Little Pink-Hair squinted her eyes slightly, then waved her hand dismissively. “Hmph, I don’t know what your motive was for spying on Mom at work, but the next time, don’t expect me to save you again.”
Noia shook her head with a smile. “So is that statement directed at me or that ghost or whatever?”
Whoosh—
Little Light suddenly stood up, hurried over to Noia, and cupped her little face in both hands.
“Elder sister, trust Little Light! I will save you!”
“…… Fine, I’m sure that was directed at me.”
Muen straightened up, raised her small hand. “Ahem, ahem~ What game are we playing today, then?”
“What do you want to play?” Noia asked.
“Um……”
Muen rarely pondered—she only did that when she was torn between what game to play or what to eat for dinner.
But after thinking hard, she realized they had already played all the games available this summer, and playing them again would offer no new thrills.
So, she gave up on brainstorming.
“Uh, I don’t know…”
Just as the three little ones were in a dilemma, two maids passed by the training ground.
One of them seemed to be holding a promotional poster for some event.
“Oh, what a novel game, I’ve never heard of it before.”
“I heard it’s a game brought in from another species. It’s thrilling, exciting, and really brainy!”
The two dragon maids discussed animatedly while holding one end of the poster.
Muen heard the chatter and immediately stood up, sprinting towards them.
“Miss Miss, Sister Elyria, what game are you chatting about?”
Miss bent down and handed the promotional poster to Muen. “Your Highness, we’re talking about a real-life interactive game that’s all the rage in Sky City. Here, look.”
Muen caught the poster with both hands, the central image featuring a massive ancient castle shrouded in mystery under the night sky.
Beside it were a few graffiti-style bats that didn’t look scary at all.
Muen read the text on the poster aloud.
“Sky City’s latest large-scale real-life interactive game: Explore the mysterious castle and help the princess find the murderer hidden in the crowd…”
“Yes indeed, Your Highness, if you’re interested, you might ask His Majesty and His Royal Highness to take you to check it out.” Maid Elyria said.
Muen’s eyes lit up. She’d never heard of this new game, and just that poster was enough to pique her interest.
“Thank you, Miss Miss, Sister Elyria.” Muen said politely.
“You’re welcome, Your Highness.”
Muen dashed back to join Noia and Little Light, spreading the poster out in front of them.
Noia and Little Light leaned in to look.
“A real-life interactive game?…… Sounds pretty fun!” Little Light seemed quite interested in this game.
As everyone knows, the combination of “real” and “interactive” equals—FUN!
And as the first deity of joy among the Silver Dragon Race, Aurora certainly didn’t want to miss such a good opportunity for fun.
“Right? Right? Little Light wants to go! What about you, sister?” Muen asked excitedly.
Noia continued reading the content on the poster.
“The game duration is at least seventy-two hours, perfect for class gatherings and friendly get-togethers… The ideal number of players is eight…”
Noia quietly counted the number of relatives in their home.
“Dad, Mom, Muen, Little Light, me, and that counts Aunt Isar—we only have six people! We don’t have enough, Muen.”
Besides the keywords ‘real’ and ‘interactive,’ the keyword ‘large-scale’ also applies here.
Alongside the substantial seventy-two-hour gameplay duration, there was certainly a requirement for the number of players.
Given Melkway family’s personality, they probably wouldn’t want to ‘carpool’ with anyone else to play the game.
Muen pouted, thinking hard again. “Then… we can invite Sister Sherry!”
“Sister Sherry is on a mission outside and hasn’t been home for a while.”
“Hmm… what about Sister Milan and Aunt Anna?”
“Sister Milan has a lot of daily work and can’t find the time; as for Aunt Anna… she doesn’t seem to be a big fan of this kind of game.”
The perky dragon maiden felt like the sky had caved in and flopped back onto the grass once more.
Little Light also looked a bit disappointed, fiddling with the tip of her light pink tail and falling silent.
Noia lowered her gaze to the poster, which still showed the championship mechanism and prizes for the real-life interactive game at the top.
“Whether in the Good team or the Werewolf team, as long as you complete all the tasks triggered in the game, you will be the winners of this session.”
“The winners will receive the hidden ultimate artifact of the castle—the Black Holy Stone.”
There was also a note in parentheses explaining the ‘ultimate artifact.’
“The game prop ‘Black Holy Stone’ is made from the absolutely safe material ‘Night Spirit Crystal.'”
“Night Spirit Crystal… I remember the teacher mentioning in class; it’s a not-so-common, but basically useless magic material…. It can only be used to make pretty decorations.”
But thinking about it, most people participating in this game were probably just in it for the novelty and fun; as for the final prize, it didn’t seem too important.
“Hey, kid, that’s not just ‘a useless magic material.’”
At that moment, the ‘ghost,’ which had been quiet for a while, finally spoke up.
Drip—
Water droplets fell from the dark golden ceiling, landing in the water beneath Noia’s feet, sending ripples spreading outwards, finally settling before the great white dragon.
“What is the Night Spirit Crystal?” Noia asked.
“In ancient times, the dragon race used Night Spirit Crystals to enhance the magical circuits within young warriors’ bodies, allowing them to unleash more intense magic without harming themselves,” the Ancestor explained in detail. “Additionally, it can also improve the efficiency of magical refinement.”
Upon hearing this, Noia raised her eyebrows. “If the Night Spirit Crystal has such good effects, why is no one using it now?”
“Because it requires special magical energy to activate the Night Spirit Crystal.”
Special magical energy.
Noia instantly understood what the Ancestor meant.
“Only Primal Power can bring out the true effects of the Night Spirit Crystal, right?”
“Hmph, smart little kid.”
The Ancestor said, “So, Noia, our opportunity has come.”
Noia blinked. “What opportunity?”
“Since you don’t want me to borrow your mother’s wedding gift, the Night Spirit Crystal is its equivalent. We need it to help us gather Primal Power more quickly.”
“So… you have to participate in this game, and you must become the winner.”
