Famine 53: Survive

53
Survive

“In its early stage, the farm feeds on cursed objects and tears of the fallen, wracked constantly by hunger.”
“It scours the remains of the dead, hunting or appeasing the blood and tears of those departed, living off such sustenance.”

“A farm that survives to the mid-stage can basically keep those sheltered beneath its wings well-fed, granting them temporary peace.”
“No doubt, you too have saved countless lives.”

“But sir, there is one thing you cannot overlook.”
Bian Xu smiled radiantly, his tone verging on chant:

“The Main God is watching every human.”

Si Zhiyan leaned against the headboard, pouring himself a cup of coffee, raising an eyebrow.

Bian Xu spoke in a strikingly unique style—bright, intimate, with a hint of cheerfulness. Yet, if you listened closely, it was incomprehensible, impossible to read his true mood:

“The more people you influence, the greater the chance the Main God notices you.”
“Once the Main God discovers many are living on your farm, He will do everything in His power to destroy you.”
“In other words, conversely, as long as you keep a low profile, you might be able to go on living peacefully.”

“This is a warning, sir. Please believe me, I mean you no harm. More than anyone, I wish to see you safe.”
“To see you live a happy, fulfilled, and complete life—this is my life’s greatest wish.”

“Thus, the farm’s completeness metric was born.”

With a snap of his fingers, Bian Xu brought up an overhead map before Si Zhiyan.

The total area of the farm was about fifty hectares, the main body a vast, lush meadow.
To the far north lay a dense forest, stretching deep into the central region, occupying nearly a quarter of the land.
At the center, the Pond of Imagination had grown with the farm, now a wide lake of rippling blue. The forest bordered it to the north, while to the south it reached out onto the meadow.
The farmer’s cabin sat at the edge of the lake’s northern bank, at the meeting point of forest, meadow, and water—a peaceful, beautiful place affording a view of the entire estate.

South, atop the main meadow, was the settlement of the support players. Little people bustled about tents, their lively noises carrying from afar.
The lakeside dining hall lay closer to the settlement, along the southern shore, across the water from the farmer’s cabin.

Floating atop the map was a succinct caption: [Current Farm Completeness: 51%]

Si Zhiyan gazed at the image, suddenly struck by the realization that it looked like a small fragment cut from somewhere on Earth.
People lived here freely, flourishing endlessly.

Bian Xu’s clear voice continued: “The more complete the farm, the better it is able to blend into the world and withstand the Main God’s incursion.”
“You need to conceal yourself, even as you keep increasing the farm’s completeness.”

With a wave of his hand, two system options appeared in the air.

“Next, you have two mainline tasks to choose from.”

“The first: from now on, expel all outsiders from the farm. Shut the gates tight and allow nothing produced on the farm to leave.”
“If you do this, simply maintaining completeness at its current 51% will suffice. You need take no more risks—preserve the status quo, and all will be well.”

“Second: you may continue supporting the people already here.”
“Remain prudent to the outside, but let life go on within. Doing this, over the next hundred days in this world, you must increase the farm’s completeness by 10%, just enough to ensure the farm’s survival. There is some challenge, but it’s not impossible.”

“So, Farm Master, what will you choose?”

Si Zhiyan propped himself up, intently studying the map.

The farm’s map was live; he zoomed in on the tiny, jumping avatars.
They had grown so familiar—across all this distance, Si Zhiyan could easily tell who was who.

Li Yutong, still brimming with energy, tumbled down the grassy slope with Yun Shengsheng, both laughing wildly; the Skeletal Ferry seemed to have dealt with the encroaching fog, Tang Qinghuai now opening rifts and trading goods on the other side; Li Xuan had already begun dinner prep, a huge cauldron of bone soup bubbling outside the kitchen, fragrant steam rising to entice the air…

Lin Qiushui, holding knives in both hands, appeared to be teaching the support players self-defense basics, with Wang Meng explaining at her side. The young students stood in a line before them, wooden swords in hand, faces serious as they practiced.

Every so often, a student stole a glance toward the dining hall by the lakeside.
Wang Meng would rap them on the head, chide them with a laugh, and let it go.

After all, everyone has been a student, waiting for class to end, eager to eat. It’s only natural.

They were immature, but under Si Zhiyan’s lead, all were healthy and vibrant, living with hope.

He watched them, and the memory of their first meeting suddenly flashed before his eyes—Tang Qinghuai emaciated, unable to walk straight; Wang Meng, bloodied and sobbing in despair and terror; Yun Shengsheng, starving to death, skin and bones, curled lifeless in her brother’s basket…

Si Zhiyan lowered his gaze.

Bian Xu’s image, seemingly an instinctive FAQ, answered: “What’s on your mind?”

“I ask, why doesn’t the Main God want humans to feel full?”

Slowly, Si Zhiyan looked up.

“The world of Fantasy was destroyed by fantasy; the Hunger Game is founded on hunger… Some powerful being transformed our drive to evolve into a trial, craving our progress while forbidding me from leading more to advance.”

“A being’s hostility toward something can only come from three sources—disgust, greed, or fear.”
“Humanity has nothing the Main God desires; we are strangers—He has no reason to hate us.”

“Therefore, only one answer remains.”

Si Zhiyan opened his lips, and softly, word by word, asked: “What is He afraid of?”

“Why does He fear more people coming under the farm’s protection?”

People’s lives here had only just begun to improve—farm and humanity both had only just found a way to adapt to the Game, just started to eat their fill…
What are you so afraid of?

Bian Xu sat atop the table, his image flickering faintly at the edges, wearing his perennial, gentle smile as he silently watched Si Zhiyan.
He did not answer.

In that moment, a wild thought leaped into Si Zhiyan’s mind.

His heartbeat thundered, nearly bursting from his throat; foreign as the sensation was, he could not name what feeling roiled in his chest—only that two things were painfully clear:

First, the Main God resists, even fears human survival.
Second, outside the farm, countless others exist. Just as a year ago Lin Qiushui and those from the Skeletal Ferry struggled in the hell of hunger; as Nie Du, Zhong Manwen and the rest fight for survival—bloody, desperate, and unyielding.

If he were to suddenly hide away and close his doors from this day forth…

What would become of them?

How long could they last?

Si Zhiyan crossed his legs and met Bian Xu’s eyes, smiling slowly.

“Neither path. I want a third quest.”

“From this moment, I will expand the farm and save more people. I’ll bring ever more here, deliver them from hunger and into plenty and happiness.”
“What I did for the Skeletal Ferry, I will do for thousands, using all the strength I possess.”

“I don’t know what the Main God fears, but I know this much: if my enemy fears what I do, then I must be doing the right thing.”

Bian Xu met Si Zhiyan’s gaze, lips parting, and slowly recited those familiar words, matching the memory in Si Zhiyan’s heart down to the very syllable:

“…To save others is to walk a path steeped in blood and pain, from which there is no return.”
“You must crush bones to hills, tear through tangles of thorns, trek unaccompanied across endless waste, just for a glimpse of light beyond the clouds.”

“And even so—will you still go on?”

The mist in his mind dispersed.

Si Zhiyan raised his glowing red gaze, as if fire was burning within.
His answer fit perfectly with Bian Xu’s remembered voice—four decisive words, clear and unflinching:

“Death before regret.”

“—Give me my main quest, guide.”

Boom—!

A violent roar crashed overhead.

Night fell.

No, not night—rather, something blocked out the sky, blotting out the sun.

Si Zhiyan looked up and crashed into a colossal eye.

The roof shattered; wood and rubble rained down as, amid the tumult and panicked screams, an enormous, malevolent eye hovered in the sky above. A golden, vertical pupil slit like a serpent’s, gazing at Si Zhiyan with a mockery of a smile.

So close, so close, as if it could touch his very face.

—[The Main God’s Eye] had descended.

How had He detected this place?!

In an instant, Si Zhiyan’s body went cold as if dropped in ice. Terror squeezed his frail human heart; every drop of blood screamed: Unassailable. Do not tempt fate. This was a being beyond human comprehension—run, hide, let instinct take over.

Yet, confronting that primal fear, Si Zhiyan slowly lifted his head, pressed down his trembling palm…
And threw his coffee into the eye.

Splash!

The coffee splattered over the colossal eye, seemingly melting into it.

An act as futile as a mantis challenging a chariot, as reckless as smashing an egg on a rock—and yet, an indomitable will that would never regret its sacrifice.

Beneath that monstrous gaze, Bian Xu sat cross-legged, seemingly oblivious. It was as if he had grasped some critical clue, and amid the debris and ruin, he lounged with ease, smiling: “As expected of you.”

He looked at Si Zhiyan with the utmost tenderness, as though gazing at his whole world.

Si Zhiyan stared back into Bian Xu’s golden eyes, his own blood quickening, feeling that this moment was uncannily familiar.

The Main God’s Eye hung close, the two of them facing each other, their world set apart from the rest.

Who knew how many years ago Bian Xu had recorded this scene. Whatever the case, as Si Zhiyan met his eyes, he saw in them precisely the same resolve he felt within himself.

“Then—”

Bian Xu’s smile deepened.
He rose, straightened his collar, and bowed deeply to Si Zhiyan.

“Since your mind is made up—”

Boom!

Before he finished, brilliant golden light erupted behind him. Blinding platinum rays swept down like a waterfall, their heat surging forward, in an instant engulfing the colossal eye.

Like the dawn rising, glorious and radiant.

The firmament writhed, the titanic pupil contracting to a deadly pinprick, its sclera cracking in charred, spiderweb lines. It jerked violently, shrieking in silent agony.

In the light of that dazzling dawn, Bian Xu stood with the sun at his back, golden hair flying as, smiling, he lifted Si Zhiyan’s hand and pressed a phantom kiss to it.

“…We all will swear to follow and give everything with our lives.”

Behind him, the monster eye quaked, eyelids twitching madly, contracting like the receding tide. Bloodstained shards of iris streamed upward, withdrawing into the sky, leaving a red haze behind.

[Ding!]
[Invasive enemy repelled. Remaining farm weeder energy: 60%.]

[Ding! Your new main quest has been unlocked.]

[Main Quest (4): Survive]
[Quest Objectives:]
[1. Gather 2,000 new starving electors for the farm.]
[2. Collect at least one new terrain bait, unlock a new terrain, and raise farm completeness to 61%.]
[3. Survive the Main God’s next wave of retaliatory attacks. Countdown: 15 days.]
[Quest duration: 15 days]
[Failure penalty: Total eradication]

[Quest note: Whatever the outcome, I will always be with you.]