Little Pink Starfish

Of course, no matter how much players “crave chaos,” actively triggering quests wasn’t that easy. There were still plenty of restrictions—especially the fact that any developments had to follow logical narrative rules. Most importantly, players couldn’t be the main characters of such events.

In other words, for an actively triggered quest, the central figure had to be an NPC.

This was something someone summarized on the forums before Pei Sen crossed into this world. But that was after the game had already been open for a long time. In the early years after the server launched, players couldn’t even dream of triggering quests themselves—they were already struggling just to complete the difficult main storyline missions.

Eagle’s eyes fell on Pei Sen. “You…”

Pei Sen smiled. “Apologies, young master. I should have told you earlier—I carry Bix blood.” He sighed. “Originally, I didn’t plan to reveal this to anyone, but for your safety, I had no choice.”

Eagle frowned, then looked down below. The white-bone soldiers that had charged into the city were now being held back by the frenzied Bix people. While the bone soldiers greatly outnumbered the Bix, and as undead could rise again shortly after being struck down due to the lich’s power, these Bix fighters displayed a chilling level of madness.

Pei Sen also looked down at the players. Naturally, players weren’t afraid of dying—who plays an MMO and is scared of death?

That said, this was still a fully immersive VR game, and their enemies were literal skeletons. Some players were intimidated at first—pure psychological fear—but once they blindly used some skills and realized that even if killed by skeletons the pain wasn’t much, and they could quickly respawn, the fear faded. After dying once, they stopped worrying entirely.

Some players hadn’t been afraid at all from the start.

Coincidentally, the lich’s undead army had emerged from outside the city, while the very first respawn point in Bix Magic Cube’s beta test version was located just outside the city walls of Casey City. So while the undead army was technically immortal, the players were also endless in number. The skeletons were strong but slow. Players, though they needed time to respawn, could return to battle even faster.

Moreover, this newly ascended lich wasn’t particularly skilled at commanding undead. The skeletons moved sluggishly, whereas the players quickly formed into squads. Some even stepped up to organize and lead. For a while, the battle reached a strange deadlock—neither side could overpower the other.

Pei Sen raised an eyebrow. Just 200 players managing to hold off a lich’s assault—that’d definitely be a brag-worthy battle a year or two from now. Still, this was only possible because of the very specific setting.

The undead were attacking near the players’ respawn point, and Casey City had high walls and only one gate, giving the players a terrain and resurrection advantage. This let them barely hold the line against the white-bone army.

Eagle clearly hadn’t expected that. He couldn’t quite understand why the Bix people would fight for him with such reckless abandon.

“Are Bix people just born this crazy?” he asked, baffled.

Pei Sen smiled. “You could see them as born warriors, young master.”

The guards of the Golden Rose Manor held off the other assassins, the players stood strong against the lich’s undead army, and Pei Sen and Eagle stood atop the tower, momentarily untouched by enemy attacks.

In the air, frost sparkled. Under the sunlight, a rainbow shimmered dreamlike. Cloaked assassins clashed with true knights on the streets below, massive sword strikes leaving deep scars in the stone roads.

From Pei Sen’s point of view, the entire scene was like a dazzling fantasy film—intense and exhilarating.

Eagle stood beside him, his expression growing colder. When the lich first appeared, he assumed Atwell’s group would implement a contingency plan to evacuate him—after all, the “lure the snake out” phase had already been completed. But now that the lich had been held back, the tide of the battle was unexpectedly turning in their favor. Eagle no longer rushed to leave. He waited… and sure enough, realized something else.

He sneered. “Well now. Not a single guard from Casey City has shown up. None from Walis either.”

Pei Sen knew who Walis was—the Lord of Casey City, whom players had encountered in past quests.

As the ruler of Casey City, Walis was technically Eagle’s subordinate. Years ago, Walis had sworn fealty to the Lanno family. In fact, Eagle didn’t just own Casey City—he ruled over three border towns, including the desolate Starfall Plains.

Eagle had just survived an assassination attempt. Even if Walis had been slow to react, by now he should have made a move. If not mobilizing the city guard, at least sending his own elite Dragon Star Knights. Yet none of them had appeared—they acted as if the battle never happened.

Eagle, already quick-tempered, pressed his lips together. His ice-green eyes were now full of killing intent.

Pei Sen thought it over and agreed—Walis really was pushing it. He couldn’t even pretend to care? Then again, during all their time in-game, none of the players had realized that Casey City was part of Eagle’s domain. Walis had always acted like the city’s true master. Given that, today’s events weren’t entirely surprising.

“Young master…” Pei Sen, though thinking these things, still wanted to comfort the furious boy beside him.

At that moment, he caught a glimpse of a figure creeping toward Eagle.

It was Wago’s servant, Visi—the butler who’d come with them in the carriage. But something was clearly off.

“Young master, look out!” Pei Sen didn’t hesitate and threw himself in front of Eagle. After all, his mission’s top priority was to protect Eagle Lanno. If anything happened to him, not only would Pei Sen fail his quest—all the players’ missions would instantly fail.

Shhk! The sharp dagger tore through Pei Sen’s clothes and stabbed into his abdomen. He watched as a large chunk of his HP dropped.

No hesitation—Pei Sen’s PvP instincts kicked in. He immediately cast a basic Ice Blade. The razor-thin blade sliced Visi’s throat in an instant. Blood sprayed out, staining Pei Sen’s clothes.

…Except the censored visual effect made it less gruesome. The “blood” wasn’t deep red—it was a pale pink. Pei Sen found this mildly ridiculous.

If blood splatter was rendered with the same realism as everything else, the game would be way too intense for players used to peaceful lives back on Earth.

Pei Sen had many thoughts in that brief moment. He sighed internally—no matter how immersive it gets, for most players, a game is still just a game.

“Pei Sen!” Eagle caught him. Pei Sen clutched his waist. Honestly, it didn’t hurt much—his character’s pain setting was only at 10%. In Bix Magic Cube, pain could be adjusted. The max was 50%; the minimum was zero. Although full suppression wasn’t recommended, since in real life, lacking pain perception meant injuries could go unnoticed. This was still a full-immersion game, after all.

Most players on the battlefield below had also set their pain to the lowest setting. Even if they got killed, it barely felt like anything.

Eagle frowned as he looked at Pei Sen’s bleeding abdomen. Normally a clean freak, the fact that he even touched Pei Sen, covered in blood, showed how far he’d pushed past his own limits.

“I’m fine,” Pei Sen said. He had half his HP left. The dagger inflicted a bleeding status effect, causing constant HP loss. His low level meant he couldn’t tank much damage. He cast an Ice Seal spell to freeze the wound and stop the bleeding. Sure enough, the HP drop stopped.

Bix Magic Cube was a game with immense freedom. As long as your logic was sound, anything you could think of in real life was worth trying in-game.

Besides, Pei Sen was starting to feel like this wasn’t just a game world at all.

Seeing that Pei Sen was okay, Eagle looked down at Visi’s corpse in disgust. He shouted, “Jekko!”

“Yes, young master.” A figure emerged from the shadows.

Eagle’s eyes were icy. “This was your failure.”

Jekko looked like he wanted to explain, but held his tongue. His job was to protect young master Eagle—not the personal servant. When he saw Visi strike, Pei Sen had already taken the hit. So Jekko hesitated and didn’t step in.

Eagle was already in a foul mood. “And Atwell too! He’s still relying on those foreigners to stop the lich. Where are his people? Where are the priests from the Church of Light?” His voice grew sharp. “What—do they want me dead too?!”

“Young master.” A man slowly descended from the sky, his presence calm and elegant.

Pei Sen looked over. He’d never seen this silver-haired man before—not in all his time at the manor.

Unlike Kesso, who wore a flashy mage robe, this man’s clothes were plain. But his aura far surpassed Kesso’s. Even if he were dressed like a beggar, he’d still exude nobility.

“Sadin,” Eagle addressed the newcomer. “You saw everything today.” His emerald eyes burned like twin flames. “I won’t let this go. Get ready—we’re going to the royal capital.”

“Young master—”

Eagle sneered. “Don’t bother trying to stop me. No one can.” In that moment, he was no longer the petulant boy under fifteen. “He wants me dead? Then I’ll die in the capital.”

Pei Sen shrank quietly into a corner, curious if a new storyline was about to unfold—when he heard a ding.

“Ding! Timed quest complete. Gained 2000 XP and an A-Rank Story Chest.”
“Ding! Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 7.”

Looking back, light burst across the battlefield—the lich had retreated. The players cheered, and white level-up auras lit up across the crowd.

Of course, only players could see this glow. Like their usernames, Pei Sen had chosen to hide his own effects. Most players didn’t yet have that setting.

For now, he didn’t want to reveal he was also a player.

Pei Sen thought: Guess I shouldn’t be in a rush to leave the Golden Rose Manor. Given my current status, I might be in the perfect position to trigger more quests.

Eagle Lanno… seems like a whole can of trouble.
And in a game world like this, troublesome NPCs were worth their weight in gold.

Pei Sen glanced at Eagle again, eyes softening.

Like he was looking at an untouched gold mine.