Little Pink Starfish

Bix Magic Cube – Chapter 17

The group who went to Starfall Plains to “fight monsters” ended up getting beaten instead, while the demolition crew got back to work right on time the next day. Maybe thanks to yesterday’s experience, their efficiency had actually improved.

In the city lord’s manor, Varys was furious. Understandably so—he saw Casey City as his private property, and he simply couldn’t accept that it was being destroyed.

“Any word from the manor?”

Standing in front of him was a plain-looking middle-aged man who sighed and replied, “Yes, my lord. Word is, he’s furious about what you did the other day and wants Casey City torn down because of it.”

Varys’s face turned an angry shade of green. “And Sadin is just letting him run wild?”

“As long as he doesn’t return to the capital, even if he ruins his whole territory, I doubt Sadin will care.”

Varys fell silent. He truly hadn’t expected that the young master who had always hidden away in the manor would go this far once truly provoked.

“Any news from the capital?”

“My lord, I’m afraid we may have gotten everything wrong.”

“What?”

“The person who ordered the assassination attempt on the young master… might not have been His Majesty.”

Now Varys really jumped up. “What did you say?”

He had ignored the assassination attempt on Eagle because, as far as he was concerned, if Leiser wanted him dead, then that was reason enough. The man speaking now, Fel, was commander of the Dragon Star Knights and had once served as a guard for the king—he had ways of getting information from the capital. Varys knew well that Leiser wanted Eagle dead.

“His Majesty is getting more and more paranoid. It’s said the capital is now basically controlled by Duke Burke Angre,” Fel said calmly.

Varys paced anxiously. That news had clearly unsettled him. “That Lanno family really is…”

He’d sworn loyalty to the Lanno family long ago, and he knew them well. They were a bizarre clan, their fortunes rising and falling many times. At their worst, they’d been exiled to this barren fief, nearly disappearing from the noble circle altogether—but they always managed to bounce back. The reason was simple: the Lannos produced beautiful people.

Eagle’s unnaturally stunning appearance wasn’t from his royal mother. The royal family of the Kingdom of Esmia wasn’t bad-looking, but they weren’t striking either. What truly stunned people was the Lanno family’s hereditary beauty. Compared to that, Eagle was still just a kid. And unlike this brat, Burke Angre had received top-tier noble education since childhood. His looks and aura were so overwhelming that even Varys, a man with zero interest in other men, dared not look at him too long.

“In the end, the young master is Duke Burke Angre’s only son. My lord, we should’ve shown at least a little bit of support,” Fel admitted, clearly regretting their earlier indifference.

Varys’s voice turned dark. “Then who was it that insisted on having the young master killed?”

Fel spoke softly. “His Majesty has become so obsessed with the duke that he still hasn’t named a queen. Most of his siblings are already dead. The former queen only had two children: King Leiser and Princess Carolina, and she’s now the queen of Bonfrese.”

Varys rubbed his bald head, a little slow to catch on.

Fel explained directly, “The young master isn’t just the duke’s only son. He also has royal blood. And as things stand, he might even be in line for the throne.”

Varys flinched.

Now he understood why someone wanted Eagle dead so badly. Not long ago, Leiser had fallen ill. He hadn’t recovered yet. While it didn’t seem too serious this time and Leiser was still young, who could say what might happen? Leiser didn’t have the robust health of a swordsman, and he certainly wouldn’t outlive a greatsword-wielding noble like Duke Burke Angre.

And with the duke holding all the power right now, it wasn’t far-fetched that his son might one day inherit the throne.

Even if Leiser wanted Eagle dead, as long as the boy stayed hidden out here in the hinterlands, the future was still uncertain.

Suddenly, Varys thought of the terrifyingly powerful guards at Golden Rose Manor and the utterly airtight protection around the young master.

In that moment, he made up his mind. “Tell the city guards to stand down.”

He’d originally planned to find a way to drive the Bixians away today and stop them from destroying Casey City. But now…

Fel hesitated. “Why not let Kui Wolf try talking to them? It doesn’t look like the manor guards are acting as supervisors.”

Compared to being forced to work under surveillance, those Bixians really did seem like they were volunteering for this crazy job.

After what happened on day one in Starfall Plains, even more players opted to join the “demolition crew” in the city the next day. Pei Sen checked the forums and saw that only about twenty players remained in Starfall Plains—the rest had returned to Casey City.

That was actually great. Compared to exploring Starfall Plains, Pei Sen was far more eager to speed up development in the territory.

Eagle, for his part, didn’t care whether the Bixians went to the plains or the city. What he really enjoyed was seeing Casey City destroyed.

“I had a mage install a magic eye in the city. But since we’re kind of far away, I’ll need a bigger magic circle to get a clear image,” Eagle said, clearly in a great mood. “In a few days, we’ll be able to watch Casey City get wrecked right from here.”

Pei Sen: “…”

He seriously thought there might be something wrong with the kid.

He didn’t seem to care much about actual construction—but he was very into the destruction that came before it.

Meanwhile, players were still happily smashing away at walls.

“This is surprisingly therapeutic.”
“Yeah, way better than bricklaying. Swinging a hammer like this is actually kinda fun.”
“Haha, and there are tons of building quests later… sigh, we’re just too few right now.”
“Can’t wait for the second closed beta. Just imagine—we’re gonna build an entire city ourselves!”
“Weirdly enough, this full-immersion game feels off somehow.”
“Yeah, the combat’s insanely hard, and now everyone’s on demolition duty prepping for building missions. Doesn’t feel like a normal RPG.”
“Isn’t it usually the other way around? Monster hunting as the main content, and building skills as side quests? This game flipped that.”
“Whatever, it’s the only full-immersion game out there. Works for me.”
“I love building stuff. It’s always my favorite part in any game. This time, we’re building a whole city!”

That thought alone made a lot of them genuinely excited.

As they chatted and worked, both male and female players were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

“Just a few more days and I’ll have enough points to get a weapon. Then I’ll head back to Starfall Plains.”
“Not me. I’m sticking to construction quests.”

Player goals were already diverging.

Right then, Kui Wolf arrived with a group of people. He actually didn’t want to come. Last time he’d tried to capture a few Bixians, it had backfired hard. Just thinking about it gave him a headache. Honestly, Kui Wolf didn’t want to mess with these people again—especially since he now knew that someone he once tried to catch had ended up close to that person. Lately, he hadn’t dared show his face and was even considering skipping town.

But Varys’s orders couldn’t be ignored.

Kui Wolf only had the guts to run his human trafficking business in the city because the city lord had his back. It was a dirty, high-profit trade. Casey City was on the border, and refugees from neighboring countries—especially from Barst—often fled here. Kui Wolf caught them; someone else handled the sales. Half the profits went into Varys’s pocket.

Looking at the dusty, ragged group of Bixians and the nearby manor guards, Kui Wolf hesitated. When he saw the guards didn’t stop him, he relaxed a bit and walked over to one of the players.

He pulled out a cloth pouch. “Hey, you! Leave Blumer Street alone, and this bag of money is yours!”

By chance, the player he picked happened to be Claude.

Claude blinked in surprise, then heard a familiar ding. He quickly opened his quest panel—he’d triggered a new quest.

Side Quest: Accept Kui Wolf’s request. Do not destroy Blumer Street.
Reward: 50 gold bina, 30 EXP.

Compared to the meager EXP, 50 gold bina was a massive reward! So far, players had only been getting copper bina from quests. In the Kingdom of Esmia, bina was the standard currency—one gold bina was worth a thousand copper.

Claude’s eyes lit up. Without hesitation, he accepted the quest. “Alright, deal!”

Quest complete.
+50 gold bina
+30 EXP

Before he could even celebrate, he heard another ding.

“You have accepted a quest from the enemy of the Thorned Rose faction. You have been automatically removed from the Thorned Rose faction. Favorability and contribution points reset to zero.”

Claude’s eyes widened. “No!”

At that exact moment, the other players who had been eyeing the moneybag heard a ding too.

“Player ‘Claude’ has betrayed the Thorned Rose faction. Eliminate the traitor.
Reward: +20 favorability, +100 contribution points, +100 EXP.”

“Hahahaha, what a fool! Accepting that quest kicks you from the faction!”
“Only got some money out of it—nothing else! What a loss!”
“Dude, 100 contribution points for killing him!”
“Plus favorability and EXP!”
“Kill him!”
“KILL HIM!”
“…”

Ding! Player ‘Claude’ has been killed by BraisedSpicySnack.
Ding! ‘Bag of gold bina’ lost. -50 gold bina.

The last thing Claude saw was the bag of coins falling from his hands as Kui Wolf snatched it and ran.

Claude died under the hammers of the other players.

From a distance, Camis had already noticed something off. He stood up quickly and saw Kui Wolf speaking to one of the Bixians while holding a bag of gold. He instantly understood what was going on.

It wasn’t a secret that these Casey City rats were tied to Varys. The city lord clearly didn’t want the young master to tear down Casey City and was now trying dirty tricks.

Using money as bait—Camis figured it might actually work. After all, the manor was giving these Bixians barely anything.

So little, in fact, that even Camis, who was fiercely loyal to the manor, found it a bit hard to watch.

And then, the Bixian actually took the gold. Camis was still wondering how to handle it when the next moment made his blood run cold.

The rest of the Bixians picked up their hammers and surrounded the traitor.

And beat him to death.

The sheer madness and brutality of it made Camis shudder.

Even though he was strong enough to kill every Bixian present, he still felt afraid.

“This job… I can’t do it. I’m putting in a request tonight.”

“I don’t want to be around these Bixians ever again.”

After just two days, he was already mentally exhausted.