Little Pink Starfish

“So I came to seek refuge with you, and you just tossed me aside like I didn’t exist.” Aiken said resentfully.

After learning that Eagle had returned to the manor, Aiken instructed the guards to relax a bit, then ran over to find Eagle himself.

He still understood proper etiquette—since Eagle had just come back yesterday, Aiken didn’t show up then. He waited until Eagle had fully rested before coming at what he deemed the proper time.

In fact, Aiken was quite frustrated. He had just come to rely on Eagle, only for Eagle to leave right away. Thankfully, he came back quickly, otherwise Aiken really wouldn’t know what to do.

His situation was awkward. As a count with real power, he couldn’t even return to his own fief. He was only allowed to stay at Golden Rose Manor because he was Eagle’s friend.

If Eagle wasn’t around, Aiken wouldn’t be able to stay here either.

In a kingdom as vast as the Kingdom of Esmia, there was no longer a place for Aiken. He had the title of count but had lost everything else. Who would bother with him now?

Eagle scrutinized Aiken for a moment, making Aiken uneasy. “What?” Aiken asked.

“Are you… bored?” Eagle suddenly said.

Aiken scratched his head awkwardly. “Kind of. I mean, I’ve got nothing else to do right now.”

He truly was an unusual noble. Most nobles had large families with sprawling households and distant relatives aplenty.

But Aiken had only recently been ennobled, and nearly his entire family had died in the war. He was the only one left.

Now his lands had been seized, and even the old territory had long since fallen into other hands.

He was utterly alone, with no backup and nowhere else to go.

“So, what are your plans now?” Eagle sighed.

Aiken thought for a moment. “I’ll just tag along with you for now.” Maybe if he stuck around, something good would eventually come of it?

Back in the day, they’d only been minor nobles, and it was their clever alliances that got them to where they were now.

Eagle chuckled bitterly. “You’ve seen what kind of situation I’m in.”

Pei Sen couldn’t help but glance at the two of them. Eagle was only fifteen this year, and Aiken wasn’t even eighteen yet—he was still technically seventeen and a half. Compared to kids of the same age on Earth, these two were definitely far more mature.

After thinking for a moment, Eagle said, “I’m planning to rebuild the Lanno Territory. I’ve finally got manpower and a plan. If you’re really that bored, you can help me get started on it.”

“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Aiken smiled. “I used to think you were just useless. Even if you were exiled here, it didn’t mean you couldn’t do anything. Besides, this place is really close to the Duchy of Balst, and if you actually build something here… you probably can’t rely on the capital.”

Eagle grew thoughtful. “You mean—”

“You know what I mean.” Aiken said vaguely.

Pei Sen was baffled. What are these two little brats even talking about? Could it really be what I think it is…?

He had almost mistaken them for Balstians before. In fact, during the previous dealings with Wallis and Kui Wolf, many of the people sold into slavery were Balstians.

The Duchy of Balst bordered the Kingdom of Esmia. In fact, if you traveled east from Casey City for half a day, you’d already be in Balstian territory.

But the duchy had been mired in civil war for years. It used to be a kingdom, but the Grand Duke of Balst took over all the land and turned it into a duchy. After his death, the power struggle between the top nobles plunged the entire region into endless warfare.

That’s why there were often Balstian refugees arriving in Casey City, which eventually led to the rampant slave trade in Lanno Territory.

Aiken smiled as he sipped his tea, his words making Pei Sen stare at them with increasing curiosity.

Nobles, huh?

To be honest, Pei Sen didn’t have a strong concept of what nobles were, even after living in their manor for so long.

It only now struck him: nobles here had military power.

“We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Eagle said casually, putting down his bone-white porcelain teacup. “Let’s focus on rebuilding Casey City first. Autumn’s almost here.”

Pei Sen thought of the commoners still camped outside the city. “Young master, we could let them join the construction. And if more refugees arrive in Casey City, we can take them in and have them help build as well.”

“Mhm.” Eagle nodded.

Aiken couldn’t help but glance at Pei Sen again. He’d always been a little curious about him, and now it was clear—this polite young man seemed to have quite a good relationship with Eagle.

“Oh, and about razing Arzi Town…” Pei Sen hesitated. If they razed the place, they probably wouldn’t be able to rebuild it before winter.

Eagle sneered. “Only a few hundred people in Arzi were actually born and raised there. Look at it now—it’s full of adventurers and merchant caravans. The original villagers are probably sitting on fat wallets by now. Don’t worry about them; they won’t freeze. As for the caravans and adventurers, they’re not my people.”

Pei Sen figured that even if there were a few homeless commoners, the new Casey City should be able to accommodate them.

—

The next morning, looking at the city that had been completely razed, Pei Sen couldn’t help but admire Eagle’s decisiveness.

Even powerful nobles rarely resorted to full-on urban demolition—there were always entanglements and political blowback. And leaving commoners homeless? That was a mess no lord would usually risk.

But Eagle did exactly that. He even executed the former lord Wallis, scattered or killed Kui Wolf’s shadowy gang, and let the Bix clan rebuild without giving face to anyone. The commoners hadn’t even reacted yet before the whole city had become rubble.

Commoners of this era were tough. They had a strong ability to adapt and no real means to rebel against nobles. Once they saw their new lord starting to rebuild, they quickly adjusted.

“Guess the old lord messed with the wrong person. Nothing we can do.”

“Yeah, at least we still have our stuff. I hear in Balst entire villages are sometimes burned to the ground.”

“Losing our homes is one thing, we can rebuild.”

“Yeah, but the new lord’s demands are kinda high…”

Having seen many displaced Balstians, the people of Casey City accepted the loss of their homes surprisingly calmly. As the Bix clan helped rebuild, they even began rebuilding their own homes spontaneously.

When Aiken visited, he was surprised to see the previously disliked Bix people working well with the commoners. Some even brought them food and water while they helped build.

Yes, the players had flattened the entire city. But every household had been registered by Kemis and assigned a number. The new residential zones all had matching house numbers.

To the locals, these were their new homes—larger, cleaner, and more comfortable than before.

The wealthy families had mostly left after the city was destroyed. Their fortunes allowed them to resettle elsewhere, and many had ties to the slave trade. In such a poor border city, where else would all that money come from?

The ones who remained were the relatively clean, poorer folks—those unable to leave.

Even those who’d once resented the Bix clan now softened once they had better homes.

Of course, not everyone was happy. Families that were better off before felt their housing should be better than those who used to be destitute. But since all homes were built to the same standard, and the knights didn’t care for complaints, they had no choice but to accept reality.

Still, the remaining population wasn’t enough to fill the city. Even after rebuilding, much of Casey City would remain empty.

Aiken looked at the vibrant new Casey City and off into the wastelands of Balst, a small smile tugging at his lips.

He had once governed a decent fief. Though some called him a playboy, unlike Eagle—who had been confined to the manor—Aiken had truly managed a domain.

“This city is impressive. I hear Eagle’s steward designed it himself.”

His steward, Vido, nodded. “That Mr. Pei Sen does seem to have a natural talent for this.”

“To plan a city this large, with such detailed and feasible blueprints—this isn’t something talent alone can explain.” Aiken smiled. “The Bix clan is fascinating. Look how fast they’re building—it’s unbelievable.”

Normal people couldn’t turn a tree trunk into usable timber in seconds, or produce a pile of cement with basic materials, or hammer iron into nails like master blacksmiths in the blink of an eye.

It defied logic. No one knew how they did it.

Players couldn’t explain the concept of “life skills” to NPCs. They didn’t need real-world knowledge—just materials and a learned skill. As long as they waited for the progress bar to finish, they could naturally complete all sorts of impossible tasks, even process materials into perfectly identical components—so exact that even the most precise measuring tools couldn’t find a difference.

Aiken watched the Bix clan from afar for half a day, using only his Magic Eye to observe them without getting close. The more he saw, the more shocked he became.

Some things, not even the greatest artisans in the world could accomplish.

These Bix clan members had gone far beyond the realm of craftsmen. They had speed, efficiency, and an astonishing level of precision and perfection.

“They’re incredible. Where in the world did Eagle find this group…”

Compared to the fear the players had originally inspired, now they brought a different kind of shock and awe.

Under normal circumstances, with the technological level of the Yali Continent, standardized production was impossible. Sure, there was magic—some mages could accomplish things that regular people couldn’t—but no mage would bother with craftsmen’s work. City construction was almost entirely reliant on commoners and artisans.

Let alone material standardization—that was something only modern machines could achieve. Even with magic, it was beyond reach here.

But the players, with their life skills, had found an alternative route to achieve “standardized production.” They could produce all kinds of building materials at lightning speed, and every player’s output was exactly the same and interchangeable for any construction project.

Without that, Pei Sen’s blueprints couldn’t have been realized—material consistency would’ve been the biggest obstacle.

From Aiken’s perspective, this ability might not be shocking in other fields, but when applied to construction, it produced downright miraculous results.

“People say the Bix clan are madmen. But to me, they’re born builders.”

Unfortunately, not all Bix clan members were participating in the reconstruction. Rumor had it that many were still scattered across the Starfall Plains.

“They should really put their talents to better use instead of wasting it on fighting,” Aiken said with regret.

Vido nodded. “But I hear they’re a strange bunch. They don’t care much about rewards. Even if you offer them more, they won’t change what they want to do.”

In the faction’s main storyline, construction missions now gave a 20% bonus. Even so, players who loved fighting wouldn’t give that up just for the extra reward. They’d only show up to build when they’d died so much on the Starfall Plains that all their gear was gone.

Players didn’t really care that much about rewards anyway. They were here to play a game, not just grind tasks.

That said, the bonus experience and rewards weren’t entirely useless. In the first and second beta tests, there were still quite a few players who obediently focused on building. Since it was early in the game, many players believed in early investment. Fighting monsters? That could come later.

Seizing the reward boost to do missions had become the mainstream mentality.

Of course, there were also players who genuinely loved city-building.

“Lilith, you still haven’t done any dungeons, have you?”

“Nope.”

“Wanna try one?”

“Nope. I’m staying right here to build this city for my little earl and his handsome steward!”

“…”

With that kind of passion, Casey City’s construction sped up like crazy. Aiken came to check every day, and each day the city looked different. The Bix clan’s speed at producing materials was insane, and with the commoners’ cooperation, it felt like a new section of the city popped up every single day.

“At this rate, we might just make it before winter.” Aiken reported to Eagle.

Pei Sen smiled. “We’ll definitely make it.”

Because tomorrow, the third beta test for Bix Magic Cube was going live.

After the first two closed tests and months of hype, Bix Magic Cube was now well-known. It was the first and only full-immersion game in the world—and not only that, its realism was off the charts, far beyond what current technology should be capable of.

Naturally, it attracted the attention of not only players, but also countless tech developers.

There were only 10,000 slots in the third test, and accounts were now selling for even more than they had during the second test.

As more people heard about the game, demand skyrocketed.

Pei Sen glanced at the forums, which were in absolute chaos. All the previous posts were buried—every page was filled with account resale threads, and occasionally a few people complaining about being drowned out. But overall, the forum had grown unusually quiet—for Pei Sen at least—since he couldn’t see any content besides account-related spam.

“Once the third test players get in tomorrow, the forum will be full of screenshots and short videos again. That’ll give me a few more peaceful days.”

Ever since his return journey with Eagle had been uploaded in full 360-degree video, Pei Sen had been cautious on the forums.

But he didn’t blame players for getting carried away. To them, this was just a game—whether it was him or Eagle, they were just NPCs, virtual data. No matter how wild their fanfics got, Pei Sen understood.

They weren’t real people anyway. So what if they were treated like characters in a story?

“But… with more players entering the game, this world is going to face even bigger changes.”

In fact, the beta wasn’t even the real shake-up. Pei Sen vaguely remembered a news article from before he transmigrated: on launch day, over a million players logged into Bix Magic Cube at once. Within a month, the number reached tens of millions—and it kept rising rapidly, soon breaking 100 million.

And that was with the game pods being expensive and access not easy.

Pei Sen hadn’t been part of the first batch of players and didn’t know what kind of chaos that many people caused in-game. But just imagining it made his scalp tingle.

“Casey City can’t hold that many players. Neither can the Lanno Territory.”

He knew Bix Magic Cube didn’t have multiple servers. “By then, I guess players will spawn in different cities depending on resurrection points.”

Even though this area was far from the capital, the entire Kingdom of Esmia didn’t have a population over 100 million. If Bix clan players started flooding in, half the kingdom would be swarming with them.

And the Duchy of Balst nearby wouldn’t be spared either.

The region had been in chaos for years, which would no doubt appeal to PK-hungry players. The Kingdom of Esmia, on the other hand, was relatively peaceful—apart from the recent Leiser incident. Compared to Balst, it was practically a haven.

Pei Sen figured Bix Magic Cube probably didn’t choose Casey City as a spawn point at random. This place really was perfect for gameplay development: chaos on one side, peace on the other. One side offered constant battles, the other—political intrigue and quests.

…Though from what Pei Sen knew about the original timeline, players had barely scratched the surface of Esmian politics. They had trouble even getting close to the nobles.

Modern-day players didn’t understand the nobles of Yali Continent, nor were they willing to bow their heads and work under them. That made quests hard to come by.

The nobles didn’t trust these foreign outsiders, and the players couldn’t get close enough to earn their trust.

That wasn’t the game’s fault—it just took time to adjust.

But this time, Eagle had Pei Sen. And thanks to Pei Sen’s guidance, both Eagle’s faction and the players were gaining tremendous benefits.

Their level progression and quest advancement were way ahead of the original timeline. Pei Sen had basically dragged the entire progress bar forward by sheer force.

He even felt like the system itself had become more lenient lately. Tasks were easier to trigger, he could invent life skills on the fly…

“This game clearly wants players to engage deeply with the world of Yali Continent. But in my original timeline, they just couldn’t manage it.”

This time would be different.

—

The third beta test launched at exactly 9 a.m.

Casey City was halfway rebuilt. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the wind crisp with fallen leaves—it was now fully autumn.

Ten thousand players flooded in. Standing in this unbelievably realistic world for the first time, most of them were left stunned.

They knew it was a game—but they couldn’t believe it felt so real.

“Seeing it in person is completely different from screenshots or videos…”

Pei Sen was still excitedly imagining how much faster construction would go with all these new players, when Atwell brought some startling news to Eagle.

“Young master, Lord Kesso has gone missing.”

Pei Sen: “???”

Kesso’s missing? No wonder… he hadn’t come to ask about his magic book.

So—does that mean the magic book doesn’t need to be returned?