Little Pink Starfish

The veteran players were called outside, and the new players received a main quest precondition that left them utterly baffled.

But once they noticed that even their experience bars were sealed, whether or not the quest made sense ceased to matter.

“Oh my God, the EXP bar is sealed too?”
“Then what’s the point of playing?”
“This kind of seal must be temporary, right? Maybe the quest will lift it?”
“Probably. I mean, games don’t usually give you impossible tasks.”
“Yeah, that sounds right.”

Even a bunch of new domestic players who had just entered the game wore thoroughly confused expressions.

“I mean, it makes sense that the foreigners are mistaken for monsters, but why do we have to do this ‘I’m a good person’ quest? No one thinks we’re monsters.”

On this point, not just domestic players, but also Korean and Japanese players felt a bit irritated. As fellow Easterners, they didn’t look much different from the NPCs.

Especially 空—he felt like he’d almost gotten a quest earlier!

A player who had previously been lurking on the forums as a “cloud gamer” casually said, “At this point, there’s no such thing as domestic vs foreign players. In the game, we’re all members of the Bix tribe. Everything—rewards, consequences—is tied to that.”

That’s right. The game didn’t divide players by country. They were all “Bix tribe” members.
That’s why even non-foreign players received that weird “good person” precondition quest.

“Don’t worry. That ‘good person’ quest isn’t that hard. Look below your EXP bar—there’s a ‘Goodness Value’ now.”

Actually, everyone had already seen that. Not only was there a Goodness Value, there was an explanation beside it. Doing good deeds would earn between 1–5 points, while doing bad deeds would cost 10–50 points. The imbalance was rather extreme.

“What the hell, one good deed gets me 1 point, but a minor bad deed could cost me 10?”
“So to unlock classes and the real main quest on this server, we’ve got to become absolute paragons of virtue?”
“…Is this game really that morally upright? Kinda feels like it’s overcompensating for something.”
“Hahaha, definitely a rare kind of purity in the gaming world.”
“Actually, it’s not that hard. Just don’t do bad things, and find small good deeds—like helping an old lady cross the street or giving up your seat… Does picking up trash count?”
“…”

After all, it was a game. Not many people were hung up on the fact that they “had to be good people.” Most started discussing how to quickly accumulate Goodness Value.

As for the veterans who had come for a “sightseeing tour,” they saw the familiar “NPC” Pei Sen standing outside. He looked the same as he did on the Arly Continent—only the strikingly beautiful young master was no longer at his side.

A female player sighed, “Pei Sen came here, but what about the young count?”
“Yeah, was that deep relationship just thrown away?”
“Ugh, I really shouldn’t have caught feelings for an NPC. But I can’t accept that Pei Sen and the young count will now be on separate servers and can’t see each other. That setup is so cruel.”
“Wait a sec—are you sure this is the same Pei Sen from the Arly Continent? What if the devs just reused the name for a different NPC?”
“Come on, look at the quest—it says ‘old friend’ Pei Sen.”
“Besides, players from Frost Maple Territory said that Pei Sen hasn’t been seen there lately.”
“So this really is that Pei Sen… He and the young count being separated is just too sad.”
“That’s the magic of Bix Magic Cube. Every NPC and every server is unique. You’ll never find duplicate servers or duplicate NPCs.”
“…”

Pei Sen pretended not to hear their whispering and smiled as he issued the first quest.

Timed Quest: During this special time-space journey, I must be a law-abiding good citizen. (Duration: One month)
Era of Azure Souls is a server with its own order and relative stability. We welcome all time-space travelers. You may enjoy the colorful life this server offers, but according to local laws, all transcendent individuals must register with the Azure Soul Affairs Management Association. Please report there as soon as possible.
Special Note: As an employee of the Azure Soul Affairs Management Association, Pei Sen may provide some guidance.

Everyone quickly understood what this task meant and turned to Pei Sen. Pei Sen then issued another quest.

Ding.
Mission: A Bix Tribe member has been arrested by the South District Police Bureau. Please try to…
Reward: Location of the Azure Soul Affairs Management Association.

BraisedSpicySnack frowned. “…” The mission text was vague.

These veterans weren’t new players. They had a decent understanding of how Bix Magic Cube’s quest system worked. This quest… was highly open-ended. The game wouldn’t give you a step-by-step guide on how to proceed once you approached the cops. The system was designed to let players think for themselves.

With many veterans present—well-versed in open-ended tasks—it didn’t take long before a female player stepped forward, said a few words to the officer, and led them in a different direction. Another player who was great at reading the room slipped the cops a few silver coins, and just like that, the problem was solved.

Pei Sen nodded with satisfaction. He wanted the players to understand how the South District government and the warlords operated in the Era of Azure Souls.

Many of the people who could afford to come here had pretty good financial backgrounds. Some were even businesspeople themselves. Reading a room wasn’t hard for them. Sure enough, as soon as they talked to the police, they picked up on how things worked.

The South District government was corrupt to the core. Pei Sen could’ve paid them off himself, but this was about letting the players experience how to handle such people.

After returning to the Association, Pei Sen left the players with the address, but they weren’t in a hurry to head there. Instead, they wandered around to get a feel for this new server.

To any player, a new server was a totally different world. The unique setting was fascinating, and they wanted to explore. After all, they’d spent quite a bit of money—just “sightseeing” felt like a waste.

“Once we hit level 60, we’ll be able to travel back and forth freely, so it’s good to prepare. Even now, we can scope out what this server has to offer and bring some interesting things back to Arly Continent.”
“Exactly. I’m planning to stock up my general store with exotic goods,” said a player who ran a shop in Frost Maple Territory with a grin.

After returning, Pei Sen quickly found Chairman Chen Qingxu and explained the situation about the “Bix tribe.”

“You’re saying there are other transcendent individuals like you?” Chen Qingxu latched onto a different point.

Pei Sen sighed. “Chairman, what I’m trying to say is that although these people look a bit strange—blond hair, white hair, green or blue eyes—they’re not monsters. They’re my tribespeople.”
“Didn’t you just say many of them are transcendent like you?”
“Yes, but not too many will come here. At least not in the short term.”
Chen Qingxu’s expression darkened. “What do you mean, ‘not too many’?”
Pei Sen paused. “The first batch… is probably about a thousand people.”
Chen Qingxu stared at him. “First batch?”
“There’ll probably be more later, in waves.”
Chen Qingxu: “………………”

That’s ‘not too many’? Do we even have the same definition of ‘not too many’?
Do you know how many Azure Soul Hunters we have in the entire country?!

“Don’t worry. Most of them will only stay for about a month before going back. Very few will remain long-term.”

Chen Qingxu didn’t look comforted. A sudden influx of transcendent beings would bring many unpredictable variables.

“Also, I’ll have them all report to the Association for centralized management,” Pei Sen continued. “Rest assured, they may not be Hunters, but they’re all good people.” He added, “Our Bix tribe is exceptionally kind. They’re not like the complicated people around here. They won’t be exploited by the South District government or warlords to do evil.”

Chen Qingxu glanced at him curiously. “Can you really keep your people in line?”
“More or less.” Pei Sen smiled. “Don’t worry. You’ll see—some of them may look a bit strange, but they’re truly good people.”

Due to system limitations, players who stayed on this server—whether veterans or newbies—were forced to be good people.

On other servers, players could let loose. On the Arly Continent, some spawn points were full of people doing whatever they wanted, barely constrained by game mechanics.

But on the Era of Azure Souls server, being good was the only choice.

That was what the new server announcement had meant by “following the rules of the Era of Azure Souls.” New players who wanted to become Soulcleaver Blade or Soulhunter Spear class members—Azure Soul Hunters—might not have the ideals or beliefs of the native Hunters, but that was fine. As long as they were good people.

Chen Qingxu was still skeptical about Pei Sen’s claims, but soon, quite a few transcendent newcomers showed up to report.

Some stationed Azure Soul Hunters even sparred with them and found that while they weren’t as strong as Pei Sen, many had solid combat experience.

And just as Pei Sen had said, they were extremely well-behaved. Even though they were transcendent, they didn’t cause any trouble in Mengnan City.

In fact, with so many strange-looking people flooding in, the atmosphere of Mengnan and other South District cities subtly began to change.

Chen Qingxu read the telegrams sent back by Hunters across the country and couldn’t suppress the odd look on his face.

“Could there really be a race in this world made entirely of kind, righteous people—with no villains at all?”

In theory, that should be impossible.

But in places Chen Qingxu didn’t know about, the name of the Bix tribe had already become something used to scare children.

On the Arly Continent, regardless of the truth, the Church of Light was still a massive force. The new lord of Frost Maple had used the Bix tribe to conquer vast territories of the Barsht Principality and even destroyed the Holy City, annexing the entire Tulip Principality. Once the news spread, the Bix tribe’s name grew even louder—along with tales of their savagery.

The more outrageous the rumor, the faster it spread.

The Church of Light had originally tried to label the Bix tribe as abyssal outsiders. But after their own annihilation, the Bix tribe was portrayed as monstrous beings from the abyss, barely distinguishable from demons.

Their name was infamous—more infamy than fame.

Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Esmia, King Leiser appeared to have recovered. He directly elevated Eagle Lanno to the rank of Grand Duke of Thorned Rose.

Originally, Eagle should have inherited the Burke Angre duchy, but for reasons unknown, Leiser did not grant him that title. Instead, he promoted the Lanno family’s countship to a duchy.

No one in Esmia questioned this decision—not just due to Leiser’s authority, but also because Eagle already ruled far more land than most dukes.

The Barsht and Tulip principalities were no more. In their place stood the Duchy of Thorned Rose—also known as the Lanno Duchy.

Now, Eagle Lanno was no longer just a count, but a true duke with a title and vast lands.

Furthermore, he had granted a large area near the Holy City to Aiken, who rebuilt his fief around the ruins of the city.

Aiken remained a count. Leiser had never stripped him of his title.

“I’ll take back what was taken from me,” said Aiken firmly, just shy of his twentieth birthday.

Sitting by the fireplace in Red Maple Castle, Eagle casually waved his hand. “Mm.”

Lately, he seemed to have lost interest in everything. Even though he held strength and status most people could only dream of, Eagle remained listless.

All because one person still hadn’t returned.

Nearby, Peks lay on a cushion, cautiously tucking its paws under itself, trying not to attract its master’s attention.

The sensitive cat had realized that its master had become increasingly terrifying. It didn’t dare make any trouble anymore.

Poor Peks—its figure had even slimmed down in this short time…

“If you don’t come back soon, Pei Sen…” Eagle rested his chin on his hand, gazing into the flames.

The flickering light cast shadows across his face, and in that moment, his expression looked unusually dark.

Peks shuddered and quickly buried its face.

I can’t watch anymore.

Too terrifying. Just too terrifying!

Master, if you don’t come back soon… it’ll be the end!