Magic Farm 179

Chapter 179: Some People Are Getting Anxious

Six o’clock in the evening.

Qi Yu returned to his territory almost exactly on time.

His harvest for the afternoon was astonishing—his backpack now held 168 Ice Gemstones.

At this rate, he would be able to gather enough for all the event shop items in less than four days.

Oh, wait—most items were limited to one purchase, but the Snowball Launcher had no such restriction.

Fifty Ice Gemstones for one; he’d see how effective it was when the time came.

He opened the survival panel.

Staring at the shop’s offerings, Qi Yu found himself torn.

He was debating whether to save up his Ice Gemstones for the 500-gem Territory Appearance, or to exchange for some other items first.

Still caught in indecision, a new message popped up on the survival panel:

[Shenben Wuxiang: Come over for dinner.]

[ILoveSurvivalGames: Coming!]

He expertly grabbed the fruit that had frozen outside his territory that afternoon, stepped through the portal, and arrived in the Golden Sand Desert.

Shan Xingyu was wearing pajamas, his hair still wet—clearly just out of the shower.

As soon as he saw Qi Yu, he asked, “You haven’t exchanged the tokens you got this afternoon yet, have you?”

Qi Yu shook his head. “Not yet.”

He shared his dilemma with Shan Xingyu.

Shan Xingyu said, “I was just about to mention that. You should try exchanging for your event shop’s limited outfit. I suspect it’s designed specifically for this event.”

“Or rather, it’s meant for the current extreme weather.”

All day, the entire 88th District had been envious of the Forest of Stars.

Even though everyone knew the weather there wasn’t good either—the Golden Sand Desert was in a heatwave, the neighboring region was in a deep freeze.

But it was still different.

Players in the Forest of Stars could simply wear more clothes to keep warm. Qi Yu had even sold things like the Fire Dragon Thermal Set, a magical item for resisting the cold.

There was always some solution.

But what about the players in District 88?

Hot. Incredibly hot.

And in this heat, they still had to wear clothes—not just wear them, but cover up as much as possible to avoid sunburn.

It was sheer torture.

Before the event, some players could at least control how long they spent exploring outside—an hour or two a day, then back home once they found a chest or resource.

But now, with the new event, the tokens had to be found by searching for “Lost Copper Coins,” which forced them to go out.

What, you say you could just stay home and skip the event shop rewards?

Come on, with so many limited items, who wouldn’t be tempted?

Compared to others in the region, Shan Xingyu was already doing well—he had the ice silkworm robe Qi Yu had given him, which kept him cool.

But even so, the last time Qi Yu saw him, he’d described him as “a little black-faced.”

Even though he’d been careful not to get any darker lately, constant sun exposure was unavoidable.

Just after returning to his territory, Shan Xingyu had exchanged for the Golden Sand Desert event’s limited outfit, “Desert Walker.”

A very stylish set.

All black, the look of a wandering swordsman, covering the whole body, with a wide-brimmed hat that shielded from both sun and sand.

It had the air of a wandering hero straight out of a wuxia drama!

Shan Xingyu’s main reason for exchanging for it was exactly this—he had no reason to refuse such a cool outfit.

But after getting it, he read the set’s description.

[Desert Walker: Golden Sand Desert “Lost Treasure” event limited outfit. Wearing it allows you to quickly adapt to the desert climate, helping you complete tasks more easily.]

He realized something and put the handsome outfit on. Just before nightfall, he stepped outside his territory.

The sunlight and air instantly stopped burning him.

The fabric seemed to perfectly block out the heat and high temperatures.

It was simply a desert artifact!

No wonder it cost 50 tokens.

Qi Yu’s eyes lit up as he listened, but since it was already night, he couldn’t test it himself. He could only say, “I’ll exchange for a set and try it tomorrow morning.”

He definitely had enough Ice Gemstones—it was just a matter of exchanging sooner or later.

If, as Shan Xingyu said, the event outfit could ward off the cold, then it was clearly a higher priority than the other items.

After dinner, Qi Yu announced the Magic Sleigh in the regional channel:

[ILoveSurvivalGames: I exchanged for the Magic Sleigh.]

He pulled off a rapid maneuver—taking the Magic Sleigh out of his backpack, snapping a photo, and returning it to the backpack in a second.

The elemental sprites sleeping next to the sleigh hadn’t even woken up, so they weren’t affected by the environment.

[ILoveSurvivalGames: Here’s what it looks like (picture)]

[RoachTastesWeird: Damn, that’s so cool!]

[GrindKing: The game pro got this first? I haven’t decided what to exchange for yet. How’s the experience?]

[BeAGoodPerson: Have all the pros already gotten 100 Ice Gemstones? Incredible!]

[ILoveSurvivalGames: It’s great. The Magic Sleigh can slide on snow, has a flight mode, and is very fast. Sitting in the sleigh, you’re shielded from the blizzard.]

[ILoveSurvivalGames: It really boosts exploration efficiency.]

It was rare for him to say so much, but his love for the Magic Sleigh was obvious.

However, the replies that followed were all:

[GrindKing: Wait, it can fly?]

[ReachForTheMoon: Wait, it can fly?]

[CrankyOldBro: Wait, it can fly?]

[MoreGrindMorePain: Wait, it can fly?]

……

Qi Yu: …

[ILoveSurvivalGames: But there’s a big drawback—the Magic Sleigh is pulled by elemental sprites and can only be used in snowy or icy weather.]

[GrindKing: Elemental sprites too? I’m sold.]

[ReachForTheMoon: A flying item with no drawbacks would be too cheap at this price.]

[RoachTastesWeird: Ahhh flying item! I’m going to work hard to save up Ice Gemstones—I want one too!]

Amid the lively chatter, one player’s messages stood out.

[Hualushui: Wait a minute? This Magic Sleigh… why does it look familiar?]

[Hualushui: !!!]

[Hualushui: @ILoveSurvivalGames, pro, were you flying in the sky this afternoon, around three o’clock?]

That string of messages instantly silenced the regional channel.

[GrindKing: What do you mean? You saw the game pro?]

[Hualushui: I was exploring this afternoon and happened to look up. I saw something sparkling flying in the sky. It disappeared in a flash—I thought I was seeing things.]

[Hualushui: Now that I see the pro’s picture, I’m sure what I saw this afternoon was this!]

[Hualushui: Has anyone else in our regional channel exchanged for the Magic Sleigh?]

No one replied.

[ILoveSurvivalGames: That was probably me. I saw you.]

He’d meant to mention this anyway.

[ILoveSurvivalGames: That’s the second thing I was going to say tonight. I also saw your shelter—a wooden house surrounded by a fence, with a smaller wooden house next to it, and sheep inside. Is that yours?]

[Hualushui: Holy crap!]

[Hualushui: That’s me! If I’d known it wasn’t a hallucination, I would’ve waved and tried to get a photo with you!]

Qi Yu: …

He’d thought this person would be scared after hearing what he said.

Unexpectedly, not only was he not scared, he was actually quite happy?

[GrindKing: If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time in the survival game that someone has discovered another player’s shelter, right?]

[ReachForTheMoon: Yeah, people have said before they ran into other players, but never a shelter. This is a first.]

[RoachTastesWeird: Given the survival game’s “if it happens once, it’ll happen again” logic, does this mean we’re not playing single-player anymore?]

[BeAGoodPerson: Jealous, @Hualushui. Sounds like you’re pretty close to the game pro.]

[Hualushui: Hehe, yeah. It’s weirdly reassuring to have a pro living next door.]

[ILoveSurvivalGames: You should be cautious. If I can find your shelter, it might mean the survival game’s protection for player shelters is over. If I wanted to harm you, you’d be in real danger.]

From what he’d seen, this player “Hualushui” only had a sturdy wooden house—not even a two-story building yet.

[Hualushui: But if we’re really entering the multiplayer era, having you as a neighbor is way better than anyone else.]

He was just a rookie—anyone in the top ten, top hundred, or even top thousand could crush him.

Rather than worry about unknown, possibly murderous neighbors, living near the famous top player was already a stroke of luck.

He might not know the pro well, but he was sure he wasn’t the type to kill for loot. That was enough.

Qi Yu’s words dampened some of the excitement the Magic Sleigh had ignited.

Some felt pessimistic, others hopeful. After all, in such a harsh environment, if they could trade and combine resources, maybe life would improve.

District 01 Survival Team:

[OldBrotherCivil: Damn, pro, you just dropped another bombshell.]

[OldBrotherCivil: You really saw another player’s shelter?]

OldBrotherCivil knew the pro wouldn’t lie—if he said he saw it, he saw it.

It was just such a sudden revelation, he was still processing it.

[ILoveSurvivalGames: Mm.]

[NeedSomeCash: Suddenly occurred to me—now that we have the Magic Sleigh and locator cards, can we visit each other’s places?]

[AfraidToOpenMyEyes: That’s true.]

That night, quite a few players in District 01 lay awake, minds racing.

Those with friends were already hoping their territories weren’t too far apart, dreaming of visiting each other someday.

Of course, there were more who were feeling guilty.

IMakeMyOwnFate had been uneasy ever since seeing Qi Yu’s message in the regional channel.

He knew better than anyone what he’d done.

Now that ILoveSurvivalGames had the Magic Sleigh, his speed was much higher—what if he found him?

He’d always talked tough, relying on the fact that player territories couldn’t connect.

Now he was truly panicking.

He didn’t know that two other people were just as anxious.

LittleOldMe and IAmVeryBossy.

After breaking with their former boss, they’d gone out of their way to insult and badmouth him, wishing IMakeMyOwnFate would just drop dead.

They’d dared to be so brazen only because no one could find each other; all anyone could do was argue in the regional channel.

Now, with territories possibly becoming interconnected…

What if they ended up near IMake’s place?

[Author’s Note]

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