Little Pink Starfish

Eagle held the ring. The moment he touched it, he could sense an unsettling, mysterious aura emanating from it.

In fact, even the original owner of the Secret Sigil Ring typically wouldn’t wear it on their finger—probably for that exact reason.

This was a magical item, unlike the ring Pei Sen had given him. The magic contained within it was far more powerful, and the sigil itself was a form of occult magic that had a certain influence on the human body.

However, if someone whose name wasn’t listed in the sigil tried to use it, they wouldn’t feel a thing—it would seem like a completely ordinary ring.

Because of this, sigil rings were actually quite easy to hide.

Soon, a letter appeared in Eagle’s hand. It seemed the ring really did contain a lot of items, and this letter was clearly marked as the top-priority item—left specifically for him by the person who bequeathed the ring.

“Who wrote it?” Pei Sen asked curiously.

Eagle opened the rather thin letter. After a quick glance, he let out a cold chuckle. “So secretive… they didn’t even bother to tell me who they were.”

The letter didn’t reveal the sender’s identity either. The first part instructed Kesso to give the ring to Eagle on his fifteenth birthday. Since Eagle was now reading the letter, it meant Kesso had kept that promise. The rest of the letter was mostly filled with warm encouragement.

Pei Sen leaned in to take a look and found the previous owner of the ring to be quite an odd character. The first half of the letter criticized Kesso, saying he might not keep his promise, while the latter half was full of saccharine encouragement. Clearly, Eagle had no interest in any of it.

After tossing the letter aside, Eagle continued exploring the other contents of the sigil ring. He flipped his hand and pulled out a blue-covered magic book. “No wonder Kesso was so obsessed with getting this thing,” he muttered. Kesso claimed it would be useful for Eagle, but he had no idea that Eagle had already started studying magic. Unlike Kesso’s so-called genius apprentice Bersa, who remained a novice after years of study, Eagle had already reached the novice level in a very short time.

Of course, the magic crystal illusion realm Pei Sen took him to had been incredibly helpful. Without the pure magical energy he absorbed there, he wouldn’t have advanced so quickly.

Learning magic is a long and tedious process. If advancing were easy, high-ranking mages wouldn’t be held in such high regard.

“A magic book?” Pei Sen was surprised. “Even nobles like collecting these?”

“Most nobles might collect a few, or other magical items,” Eagle said, pausing. “But this ring is different. There are probably thousands of magic books in here.”

Pei Sen: “!!!”

He had regretted killing Kesso so hastily, and now Eagle told him the ring held thousands of magic books—thousands!

“Most noble-owned sigil rings are filled with gold and jewels. This one, barely any. I scanned the contents—nearly all of it is magic books, with a few magical items, several magic wands, and some magic crystals. That’s it.”

As a high-level mage, Kesso didn’t lack money. While magic is an expensive profession, once you’re at the intermediate level or higher, money usually isn’t a problem. Mages can get rich quickly.

For most people, a sigil ring symbolizes wealth.

No wonder Kesso went to such lengths to get this particular sigil ring from the Burfield family—it held a terrifyingly deep magical legacy. Any mage who knew what it represented would be unable to resist it.

“No wonder… even the Mage Association is involved,” Pei Sen murmured. Knowing what’s inside, no mage could possibly ignore it.

Eagle looked at the ring a bit longer, then casually took it off. Sigil rings must be worn to access their contents, but unlike the Ring of a Thousand Illusions, this one didn’t resize automatically. Its band was too large, even on Eagle’s index finger. It also didn’t feel comfortable to wear.

“Pei Sen, you hold onto this ring for now,” he said, tossing it to him without hesitation.

Pei Sen caught it, stunned for a moment, then nodded. “Alright, I’ll take care of it for you, Young Master.”

The moment he touched it, though, he felt that eerie sensation from before—a chill and depth that seemed to sink into his skin. “Young Master, what is this…”

Earlier, he had examined the ring thoroughly and felt nothing. Now it was ice-cold to the touch, with a creeping, mysterious aura.

“Because I added your name to the sigil,” Eagle said, propping his chin in his hand as he looked at Pei Sen. “Now, only you and I are recorded in the ring’s sigil, Pei Sen.”

Originally, Eagle had been first in the sigil hierarchy. The previous owner’s name, now that they were dead, would appear below his. Eagle glanced at it once, then deleted both names—he found them annoying.

Even his mother, Princess Carolina—Eagle suspected that when she insisted on giving birth to him, she already knew…

In any case, Eagle had no interest in the role of “family.” Having grown to fifteen, he no longer had illusions about familial love.

He looked down at the ring and saw it now fit perfectly on his middle finger. As expected, once worn, the sigil showed that only two names remained—his and Pei Sen’s.

Because Eagle had added Pei Sen to the sigil, Pei Sen now had full access to everything in the ring.

Eagle smiled as he watched Pei Sen inspect the contents. He looked at his own middle finger, where the plain silver ring Pei Sen had given him was. Pei Sen, in turn, now wore a golden ring that Eagle had just given him—more or less. For some reason, Eagle thought the image looked quite pleasing.

Hmm, sigil rings aren’t suitable for long-term wear. Maybe he should give Pei Sen a new one to wear all the time?

Rings might not hold any special meaning on the continent of Yali, but Eagle still thought it looked quite nice.

“If I’m going to give Pei Sen a ring, it can’t be something ordinary,” Eagle mused. “After all, the one he gave me is pretty powerful.”

“I’ll check the inventory later. If there isn’t one, I’ll have to find a way to get one. And I need to figure out Pei Sen’s ring size. If it doesn’t fit his middle finger, it won’t look good.”

They had to wear it on the same finger to look like a matching pair—visually pleasing, after all.

Pei Sen had no idea what Eagle was thinking. He was still exploring the ring’s contents, more and more shocked. The books were neatly categorized and covered nearly every type of magic in the Yali continent!

As a mage player, Pei Sen understood the immense value of these books. Any one of them would be priceless to a player—and they were rare. Even real-world mages might not own any.

A high-level mage like Kesso might only have a few. The book he gave Pei Sen before only listed about ten spells in total.

But the books in this sigil ring were not only abundant—they were ridiculously high-quality!

Pei Sen prided himself on being a knowledgeable mage player, but he had never seen a magic collection so vast and profound.

“Young Master, I think the previous owner of this ring must have been a legendary mage.” Pei Sen wasn’t just guessing—some books in the collection made him dizzy just looking at their covers. Even advanced mages might not be able to handle them.

What’s more, legendary mages on the Yali continent typically didn’t record their magic into books. Even beloved students wouldn’t be granted that privilege.

Mages preferred to leave behind cryptic, disorganized notes, not carefully compiled books meant to be passed on.

So although there were many mages, actual magic books were rare. That’s one reason Kesso believed Pei Sen wouldn’t be willing to damage one.

Let alone players—magic books were high-end items. For native mages, they were precious treasures.

“So many books… truly a priceless inheritance.”

Eagle thought for a moment. “Everyone knows Esmia only has one legendary mage”—the head of the Royal Mage Corps.

But had he died? Surely that kind of news would’ve made waves.

“There hasn’t been any word of his death,” Pei Sen said. “But that’s just Esmia’s known legendary mage. Who knows if there are others…”

Eagle smiled. “Or maybe someone from the Burfield family looted the collections of many mages—perhaps even a legendary one.”

Pei Sen: “…”

Honestly… that was a possibility.

“We’ll just have to take our time digesting everything in this ring,” Pei Sen sighed. “Let’s hope the Mage Association doesn’t get too obsessed with it.”

This thing would be invaluable to any mage. Pei Sen doubted the association would let it go so easily.

Eagle nodded nonchalantly. “Just hold onto it.”

With Eagle’s current level, he could only understand a few of the books. Pei Sen remained his teacher when it came to magic.

Pei Sen stashed the ring in his backpack—easily the most valuable thing in his entire “storage character” inventory.

How tragic. He came here as a transmigrated protagonist, equipped with a backpack full of loot and an NPC panel. But now he was just someone’s butler. And a single inherited item from his Young Master utterly dwarfed everything he owned.

“Who’s really the protagonist here…” Pei Sen couldn’t help but think Eagle looked more like the true chosen one.

As for Eagle writing his name into the sigil—Pei Sen didn’t think much of it. He wasn’t a noble.

If someone like Aiken heard about it, they’d probably react oddly. A family’s sigil ring usually only contained names from the family itself—except in cases of marriage. A spouse, even from another family, would be allowed.

A personal butler—even a trusted one—normally wouldn’t have this privilege.

But Eagle went ahead and did it anyway.

In the days that followed, the entire manor quieted down. Pei Sen quickly noticed that more and more people were keeping an eye on him and the Young Master. But since Pei Sen now also held the position of steward, even if Sadin had instructed the staff to monitor them, Pei Sen could still use his authority to redirect their attention elsewhere—or simply transfer them away.

He knew Sadin was trying to prevent another runaway attempt. However, the Young Master clearly hadn’t given up on that idea, so Pei Sen frequently had to deal with Sadin’s spies.

“Before crossing over to this world, I was never good at this sort of thing,” Pei Sen sighed. “But now I’m getting better at it by the day.”

People grow when they’re pushed. After Pei Sen crossed into this world, many people began changing under his influence. The most obvious was Eagle, and the players whose questlines had shifted drastically because of him.

At the same time, Pei Sen himself was being shaped by this world. He wasn’t outside of it anymore.

He looked at his player panel, then at the still-blue NPC panel, and murmured, “Maybe one day, I’ll really become an NPC with a player interface…”

Right now, he saw himself as a player with an NPC panel—but people are inevitably shaped by their environment. One day, he might truly integrate into this world.

Pei Sen looked up quietly. Could this be what Bix Magic Cube wanted all along?
To this day, he still didn’t know why he had been chosen as a transmigrator.

—

Meanwhile, Casey City remained bustling. It had become a player hub, as no one had managed to clear the dungeon yet. With progression stuck, and leveling up still the top priority, the number of “grind” players in Casey City had skyrocketed.

Even combat players like BraisedSpicySnack had started taking on construction quests. The players’ logic was simple: If I can’t clear the dungeon yet, I’ll just level up more until I can.

The further along the city construction quests progressed, the better the rewards became. Pei Sen wanted the city completed before winter—at least before the first snowfall—so the native residents could have shelter.

Unlike players, native residents couldn’t survive freezing temperatures so easily. Players might suffer a cold debuff, but that was easy to fix: a swig of cheap booze, or a fur coat crafted through a life skill, and they’d be fine. Worst case? They’d freeze to death—but to players, that wasn’t a big deal.

But for the locals, it was a matter of life and death.

So to speed up the building of Casey City, the reward rates for quests had been significantly raised, drawing in more players.

Only a few outlier players who cared more about exploring and finding easter eggs remained in Arzi Town or near Adrien City. The rest were either laboring in Casey City or attempting the dungeon near Arzi.

Every seven in-game days, the dungeon would reset. Players wouldn’t waste that cooldown, even if it meant suffering brutal defeats.

“This house is really well-built,” said Claude. Over time, he and BraisedSpicySnack had become familiar, even though Claude’s teammate no longer brought him into dungeons.

Still, games were games. They’d become acquainted through repetition, even if BraisedSpicySnack had killed Claude a few times in the past. Claude still felt a little guilty about that dungeon incident—but they didn’t hold grudges.

“Feels kinda like a vacation cabin from modern-day foreign countries,” Claude commented.

He knew his limits and didn’t push for dungeons—he focused on construction and leveling up. Even with his rewards reduced by 20%, his level kept pace with other second-wave players. He no longer risked his life in places like the Starfall Plains, where players often lost levels due to deaths.

BraisedSpicySnack added, “It’s got a fireplace inside. Should be nice and warm in the winter.”

“Since we’re building a whole city, I wonder if we’ll be able to buy houses or land in Casey?” Claude mused.

His family ran a real estate business, so naturally he’d think that way.

In most games, if property purchases were possible, there’d be a clear tutorial or guide. But with Bix Magic Cube, you couldn’t count on that—everything had to be discovered by the players themselves.

Hearing Claude, BraisedSpicySnack paused—then got excited. “Hey, you might be onto something. Let’s ask Pei Sen tomorrow!”

By now, players all knew that Pei Sen, the man by the Faction Leader’s side, was also a “Bix tribe” member. But they didn’t consider him a player. How could such an obvious NPC be a player?

They saw him as a specially coded guide NPC—one who treated players with unusual friendliness, spoke to them as equals, and taught them life skills.

Not just a faction merchant—he felt more like their racial leader.

The game never officially confirmed this, but many players believed it. When in doubt, asking a GM rarely got a good answer—but asking Pei Sen? He usually gave thoughtful, clear responses.

So when Claude suggested buying property, BraisedSpicySnack’s first thought was to ask Pei Sen.

“No need to wait until tomorrow—we should go now,” said Claude excitedly. If they acted first, they might get a leg up over other players.

“But Pei Sen probably isn’t in the main hall right now,” BraisedSpicySnack frowned. “He’s probably with the young earl. No point rushing.”

Pei Sen usually showed up in the main hall at set times, but he spent most of his time by the young earl’s side.

…In fact, the forum was full of fangirls who screamed whenever those two appeared together. Even casual viewers—“cloud players”—had produced tons of fanart and fanfiction. Some male players even teased each other about the “relationship” between the faction leader and his butler.

Good looks made you a popular NPC. And now, the most popular NPCs in Bix Magic Cube were clearly the young earl and Pei Sen.

So Claude agreed—they’d ask tomorrow. For now, the two went back to the City Lord’s Mansion in Casey to accept more tasks. They weren’t crafting specialists, so they didn’t gather materials—they just focused on construction.

Good thing the game only had stamina limits and didn’t cause real fatigue.

Someone like Claude, pampered in real life, would never do this kind of hard labor otherwise.

They were helping build a new house along a main road in Casey City. Nearby, an old man with a wrinkled face smiled, wiping his rough hands clean as he prepared to offer some water and bread to the Bix tribe players.

This was his house they were building. He and his shy little grandson were all that was left of their family. He never expected that after their run-down shack was demolished, the lord would gift them a brand-new home.

“The lord truly is a great man,” said the elderly man simply. He wasn’t well-educated, so his vocabulary was limited. He looked at his grandson and added, “When you grow up, remember to serve our lord loyally. Like these brave Bix tribe folk—even if it costs your life, never betray him.”
“Yes, Grandpa.”

The attitude of Casey’s common folk had undergone a massive shift.

They used to only know City Lord Wallis. Now, they knew the lord—and they genuinely, wholeheartedly pledged allegiance to him.

Some young people had even started asking about becoming his personal guards—something unimaginable in the past.

As the sun set, players kept working without pause, pushing the construction forward at incredible speed.

Suddenly, a horse galloped through the city gates. Everyone turned to look.

It came from the direction of Barst.

On the horse was a knight—or what was left of one. His armor was battered, and blood seeped through the cracks.

A wounded knight!

Damn—was this a new special quest?

Players surged toward him. The knight shouted for them to move, but it was no use. He was barely holding on. As his vision blurred, he collapsed from his horse.

“Quick, catch him!”
“Crap, is he dead?”
“If he is, can we still get a quest from the corpse?”
“Maybe.”

A few quick-thinking players managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

Players were starting to get used to how different Bix Magic Cube was. Early on, they might’ve just let him fall and then checked the body for quests.

But now, they were trying to save him.

The more they understood that these “NPCs” were unique individuals, the more they began to value their lives—even if just a little.

Without Pei Sen’s influence, it might have taken players a long time to change this mindset.

In the original timeline—before Pei Sen’s arrival—they probably wouldn’t have even tried to help.

“Move!” shouted BraisedSpicySnack. “I’m a doctor, let me through!”
“There’s no doctor class in this game,” someone scoffed.
“He’s a doctor in real life, idiots!” Claude shouted as he helped part the crowd.

“Ohhhh!” the others quickly stepped aside, letting BraisedSpicySnack get to the wounded knight.

In other games, this would’ve been impossible—BraisedSpicySnack would be seen as trying to steal a quest. No one would’ve let him through.

But now, players’ attitudes had subtly begun to change.

Saving a life came first.

In the past, players never valued “NPC” lives.
They didn’t even care about their own.

But Bix Magic Cube…
was different.