Little Pink Starfish

The thieves’ screams finally alarmed the town’s guards. But since Pei Sen and Eagle’s goods hadn’t been stolen, the matter was ultimately left unresolved. After all, the terrified thieves had long since fled, not even leaving a trace behind.

Pei Sen felt they must have learned a harsh lesson. Judging by their reaction, there probably wouldn’t be any more trouble along the way.

As expected, on the road from the Anser Empire to Xia, aside from a few more startled would-be robbers, they didn’t suffer any losses. Instead, Eagle had to fill out several incident reports. Surprisingly, the Merchant Alliance caravan that had a necromancer as a guard gained some reputation.

This was a good thing for Pei Sen. Once they arrived in the Xia Dynasty, he’d need to quickly establish the framework of a new trade caravan. The only headache was that Eagle could no longer convincingly pass for a servant. No matter the situation, this man always carried himself with the pride and grace of a prince.

Pei Sen was quite troubled by this and tried to limit Eagle’s outings to avoid drawing unnecessary attention. On the other hand, his Eastern appearance actually made it more convenient to move around in Xia compared to the Anser Empire.

Once Gate of Eternity launched, the facial customization system would officially go online. Most players entering this server wouldn’t have purely Eastern or Western facial features. Even domestic players liked giving their avatars golden or white hair with blue eyes. This, in fact, helped when operating within the server.

Although the Anser Empire and the Xia Dynasty had long been at war, they also frequently traded slaves and prisoners of war. This resulted in a considerable number of mixed-blood individuals within both territories. Though these people were often discriminated against, they didn’t generally arouse hostility among commoners, which was enough.

Even Pei Sen’s main character, despite having an Eastern appearance, had some Western traits in its features, which allowed him to move freely within the Anser Empire. His alternate character, however, was born on the Yali Continent, where appearance didn’t matter, so he had no such concerns.

Having rented another shop, Pei Sen was hurrying back under the cover of night, glancing at the forum while walking.

These days, he could only check the forum during spare moments, just in case something major happened on the other two servers that he’d miss. Honestly, Bix Magic Cube was giving him a serious headache.

One glance—and his steps halted.

Just as Gate of Eternity was about to go live, something had indeed gone wrong.

He didn’t know if something like this had occurred in the original timeline. Perhaps not. After all, the Qinghun Era hadn’t featured test missions so early back then. The sudden emergence of these tests was a result of Pei Sen’s own meddling.

He had initially skipped over the thread because the title screamed nonsense.

“Crazy for love, but why? Vengeance only for you.”

…That was a title even the most clickbait-ridden sites would reject.

But for some reason, Pei Sen felt compelled to open it. The post was very simple—a player had posted a screenshot of the front page of a Southern Government newspaper, with a brief comment underneath.

“Everyone used to talk about how lucky 控 was to be the first player to unlock a sealed profession. Becoming a Qinghun Scythe—what a legend. Turns out, picking the gold-tier test mission really is badass… Then today, I saw this headline in the Southern Government’s newspaper. Bro… turns out you’re a real troublemaker!”

Pei Sen knew 控. This Korean player had received the gold-tier test mission from him. At the time, the entire community had sympathized with him because the mission was truly abominable.

But the gold-tier test mission wasn’t entirely without benefits. Though much harder than others, and offering no special rewards, it had the rare chance to shorten the two-month task cooldown. Pei Sen hadn’t expected players to figure that out so soon. Yet 控 was surprisingly talented, impressing Boss Yu enough to settle the task early.

He hadn’t expected there to be more to the story.

“That Boss Yu was really pitiful. The Jade Butterfly Theater was pretty famous in Mengnan City, right? But now it’s gone. That bastard was apparently the younger brother-in-law of a Northern warlord, and had a relative who was a high-ranking Southern Government official. This whole negotiation between the government and the warlord faction was being led by that guy. How could someone like Boss Yu hope to resist with that kind of background…”

“Seriously, why is this game made to feel so real? And Boss Yu was gorgeous, I saw him once.”

“Sigh, did that brother 控 receive some kind of revenge mission after the guy died?”

“Doesn’t seem like it. Someone asked him and he said no. Boss Yu apparently told him not to take revenge, to just return to the Qinghun Affairs Management Society.”

“Dude is hardcore. Unlocks his profession and immediately pulls something like this. Tsk, this is a first.”

“……”

Pei Sen looked at the newspaper. Rather than news, it read more like an exposé. 控 had not only killed the man named Yang—likely Yang Yuqi’s sister, the warlord’s concubine—but also a vice officer and a distant cousin of the Yang siblings who was connected to the Southern Government.

This had caused an uproar on the Qinghun Era server, as if the sky had been torn open.

That warlord had sent his beloved concubine, a top officer, and his diplomat—Yang Yuqi—to Southern territory for an important semi-secret negotiation. It was a key exchange of interests.

No one expected them to end up dead. Not just them—Southern Government lost a highly capable asset too.

“This time… even the Qinghun Affairs Management Society got dragged in,” Pei Sen sighed. “This brother really plays the game with his heart and soul. No mission, and he still did this. Maybe he planned to abandon the account from the start.”

He’d clearly invested a lot into this character. He’d diligently completed goodwill missions, tackled the notorious gold-tier test mission that others ridiculed, and earned Boss Yu’s recognition.

And then… he committed this massive act for the sake of an NPC who had already died.

“Looks like I’ll have to make a trip back to the Qinghun Era server.”

President Chen Qingxu was likely having a headache too. The paper had come very close to directly blaming the Qinghun Affairs Management Society—an organization of supernaturals. If 控 hadn’t been a supernatural, he never could’ve done it. He’d used the Scythe’s signature weapon—a soul-destroying gun—to blow the heads off those high-profile targets with surgical precision.

…It was brutal. Their bodyguards never even had time to react.

On the forum, most players focused on 控 being “awesome” and “hardcore for killing NPCs.” To them, Boss Yu or the other “important characters” were just NPCs.

They were just watching the drama. 控 was now famous. Some even suggested murdering prominent NPCs to gain fame. But that was nearly impossible on the Yali Continent, where all major characters were guarded by supernaturals.

But in Qinghun Era, things were different. Almost all the supernaturals were in the Qinghun Affairs Management Society, whose high morals and ghost-hunting duties made them unlikely to protect corrupt Southern officials or Northern warlords.

Of course, behind those “important people,” there might’ve been traces of former rogue Qinghun Scythes.

But players didn’t know that. The chaos-loving comments urging others to kill major NPCs showed how chaotic and evil many players could be.

“Give it a rest. 控’s account is basically done after this. His goodwill points are in the negatives. His entire character interface is red. If you want to be famous like him, you better be ready to throw everything away too.”

“Just saying. Qinghun Scythe has way too many rules. Thank God it’s limited to this server. Once I hit level 60, I’m switching servers. I’m sick of being forced to play the good guy.”

“Did 控 delete his account?”

“Not yet, I think. But he’s no longer in Mengnan City. The Police Bureau is gunning for him.”

“Enough already. Even normal Qinghun Scythes are under fire. 控’s way too hardcore. Just hope it doesn’t affect my quests.”

“It hasn’t—yet.”

“……”

Pei Sen closed the forum with a frown. The players didn’t truly understand why 控 had done what he did.

It was just… an NPC who had died.

Pei Sen didn’t know what exactly had happened between Boss Yu and 控. Why would 控, originally just doing a quest, go that far after Boss Yu died?

Even if he no longer wanted the character, even if Boss Yu had told him not to seek revenge, 控 still did it.

Of course, to a player, abandoning a character wasn’t a big deal. But Pei Sen sensed a kind of sorrow in 控’s actions that no other player had noticed.

It wasn’t impulsive, or for fame, or just stubbornness.

After Boss Yu’s death, 控 appeared unaffected. He received his task reward early, returned to the Qinghun Affairs Management Society to submit it, completed his test mission, unlocked his class, and even diligently underwent ten days of class training. He completed the ghost-hunting assignments, familiarized himself with his new skills and stats.

Then, calmly and methodically, he waited for the day of the meeting, found the perfect moment, and killed every last person he intended to.

He wasn’t acting on impulse—he had planned and calculated everything long in advance, and carried it out decisively.

“He’s the kind of player who’s truly immersed in the game,” Pei Sen whispered with a sigh.

When he returned to the temporary residence he shared with Eagle, he pushed open the courtyard gate and saw Eagle standing under the eaves, playing with a dimly lit lantern. Sensing movement, Eagle looked up, his eyes lighting up with a soft, reserved smile. “Why are you back so late?”

The young master seemed ready to show a bit of temper.

Pei Sen’s heart, however, felt warm and soft.

Sometimes, some people simply aren’t NPCs.

Eagle wasn’t. And neither was Boss Yu.

---

Pinky says: Victory is yours! I submit! 控 will be Kong from now on. I don’t have enough drive for this.