Magic Farm 143

Chapter 143: So the Game Boss Is Just a Kid After All

“All of them?” Duoju repeated his words.

When she received Qi Yu’s affirmative reply, she let out a cheer.

“Although, seeing your territory, I guessed you probably aren’t short on gold coins anymore, it still surprised me a little,” Duoju exclaimed. “None of the other territories I’ve visited have changed this much. Mr. Game, you really are amazing.”

Praise always lifts the spirits, especially when it comes from a good friend.

Qi Yu, thoroughly satisfied, asked Duoju, “You keep mentioning gold coins, so I thought the items would be bought with coins. Why is it beast crystal stones this time?”

Duoju tucked her paws in and smiled at him. “It doesn’t matter if it’s jade crystals or beast crystal stones—they’re all the same. As long as it’s currency that can be exchanged for gold coins, Duoju will take it.”

Qi Yu recalled that the wandering merchant seemed to be a part of the survival game from the beginning, so Duoju must have her own channels and must know that players now all have beast crystal stones on hand.

There were six items in total, and aside from the Energy Crystal Card, which could be bought five times, the rest could only be bought once.

Altogether, it required 14,250 level-1 beast crystal stones.

For Qi Yu, who now had a six-figure stash of level-1 beast crystal stones in his backpack, this was nothing at all.

It was a rare moment when he actually felt wealthy.

With great generosity, he took out the beast crystal stones, but Duoju’s soft, fluffy paw pressed down on his hand.

“Even when you have money, you shouldn’t spend recklessly, Mr. Game,” she said seriously. “Did you forget? You get a 20% discount.”

Qi Yu: “…Oh, right.”

With the discount, he only needed to pay 12,250 level-1 beast crystal stones.

Qi Yu handed the stones to Duoju.

Duoju happily stowed them away in her little satchel and smiled. “This time, Mr. Game doesn’t have to scrape things together to sell to Duoju for crystal coins, right?”

Qi Yu really didn’t have anything he needed to sell to Duoju anymore.

All the odds and ends he had were too scattered to fetch more than a few beast crystal stones, and who knew when they might come in handy.

As for his plants, the other players in the region probably needed them more than Duoju did.

All things considered, only wood was worth selling to Duoju.

But when he mentioned wood, Duoju shook her head slightly. “Spring in the Forest of Stars is really long. I won’t be collecting firewood for now.”

Qi Yu quietly made a note of this.

He said, “In that case, I don’t have anything else to sell you.”

On Duoju’s round, chubby face, there appeared a very human-like trace of reluctance. “Then, Mr. Game, this transaction is at an end. I have to leave now and continue my wandering.”

“Wait a moment.”

Qi Yu said, “Duoju, close your eyes.”

“Hmm?” Duoju looked at him in confusion, but obediently closed her eyes.

After a moment, she heard Qi Yu’s voice: “Alright, you can open them now.”

The little cat opened her eyes and was immediately enveloped in a faint silver mist.

It was a fully mature, thriving Mist Star Flower, placed in a very classical carved wooden pot.

“Oh!” The little cat cried out in delight.

She heard Qi Yu’s voice:

“There’s nothing left for me to sell you, but I still have a gift I want to give you.”

.

After sending the little cat off, Qi Yu didn’t feel too sad. He knew there would always be a next time.

He carefully examined the items he’d bought from Duoju.

Compared to the first month, when the goods were more miscellaneous and their purpose unclear, this time their direction was much more obvious.

No—on second thought, that wasn’t quite true.

The six items Duoju had sold the first time—the Staff of Felix, Advanced Farmland, Shelter Shield, Energy Crystal Card, and Magic Potion—on closer inspection, were all things he desperately needed and perfectly suited to his class.

Clearly, the wandering merchant was a kind of “external support” provided by the survival game for the players.

And this time, aside from the essential Energy Crystal Card, the Resource Zone Card, Team Scroll, Location Teleportation Scroll, and Random Regional Exploration Blueprint… each one seemed to encourage players to step out of the Forest of Stars.

And… wood?

Although the temperature in the Forest of Stars was indeed very low now, and everything was covered in snow, the survival game was different from the world he’d lived in. Chopping trees wasn’t as troublesome as in reality—once felled, they automatically became wood you could pick up.

For players, this wasn’t a difficult task.

So why wouldn’t Duoju collect it?

Did this mean there would be some change in the future?

He opened the 01 Survival Squad chat and shared the goods Duoju had brought, along with his speculations.

[Need a Little Money to Save Me: Wow, the wandering merchant came so early this month?]

[Serenity: Spring is long, and you need wood for warmth. My guess is that for the next two months, the temperature in the Forest of Stars won’t rise—maybe it’ll even keep dropping.]

[Serenity: Maybe even more extreme weather will make it very hard to go out and chop wood?]

[I Love Survival Game: Maybe it’ll just get harder to obtain wood.]

[Old Civil Engineer: All possible.]

[Don’t Dare Open My Eyes: Guys, after a few all-nighters, I finally finished a new product. Info—All-Nighter Potion. Info—Warming Potion.]

[All-Nighter Potion: Drink it and you’ll be full of energy deep into the night—the later it gets, the more awake you’ll feel.]

[Warming Potion: After taking it, you’ll be immune to the cold for two hours.]

[Need a Little Money to Save Me: Wow, I admit the Warming Potion looks awesome, but what the hell is the All-Nighter Potion for?]

Players couldn’t go out at night, and the survival game didn’t have novels, games, or short videos to tempt them into staying up.

Most people, since entering the survival game, had lived the healthiest schedule of their lives.

[Don’t Dare Open My Eyes: It’s for me, of course. I only managed to brew the Warming Potion after several all-nighters with it.]

Everyone else: …

[Old Civil Engineer: You researchers are really hard on yourselves.]

[Don’t Dare Open My Eyes: Hehe, my personal panel shows no change in health. The feeling of being able to pull all-nighters without fear of sudden death is truly addictive.]

[Old Civil Engineer: Game boss, do you think we should share this info in the regional channel?]

[I Love Survival Game: Mm, I’ll mention it.]

.

District 01 Regional Channel:

[I Love Survival Game: .]

Qi Yu habitually typed a period first, waiting for his dazzling exclusive special effect to play out.

By the time his entrance effect finished, most people in the channel had been drawn over.

[I Love Survival Game: Sharing a bit of speculation from me and my friends: for the rest of spring, the severe cold may continue. If possible, stock up on wood.]

[Liver Emperor: OK, got it!]

[Cockroach Tastes Weird: I really can’t beat your hand speed! @Liver Emperor, damn, I haven’t beaten you once lately.]

[Liver Emperor: @I Love Survival Game, boss, I practiced the combat technique you gave us all day and night, and it’s really useful! My attack stat actually increased by two points.]

With that, players who’d wanted to ask about wood suddenly switched topics.

[Jiangnan Rain Guest: All day and night? You really are the Liver Emperor.]

[I Am Lily: You can really gain stat points?]

[Be a Good Person: Damn, I tried practicing a few times yesterday, but my coordination was so bad I gave up. But if you say it can raise stats, I’m not sleepy anymore.]

[Liver Emperor: It really works, I have no reason to lie. As for coordination, back on Blue Star none of us were very active—just practice more. And I found that once your stats go up, you really do get better at everything.]

[Little Old Me: Boss, did you discover something? Is there some special use for wood?]

[I Love Survival Game: Just a guess, I can’t guarantee it’s right. If you believe me, chop some wood when you have time. If not, just ignore me.]

[The More You Grind, the Harder Life Gets: Got it. I just want to say, I hope everyone cherishes those who share information, whether they’re top players or ordinary ones. Even if it’s wrong, it’s kind of them to take the risk and share.]

[To Pluck the Moon from the Sky: I agree, because no one is obliged to say anything.]

[Little Old Me: I trust the boss! I’m just greedy for more news.]

[Little Old Me: @I Love Survival Game, boss, can you take me off your blacklist?]

Qi Yu ignored him with practiced ease.

This guy’s attitude toward him had swung wildly from one extreme to the other.

Qi Yu had no interest in analyzing why—because it didn’t matter.

If you don’t like someone, there’s no need to pay them any mind.

[I Love Survival Game: Does anyone need to buy sunflowers or Screaming Lilies of the Valley?]

He asked because both had matured and could stay alive in the fields for a long time, but once picked, they only lasted fifteen days.

The past couple of days, aside from the constant snow and cold, the territory had been very quiet, with no mutant creature attacks.

[I Love Survival Game: There haven’t been any mutant attacks lately, so I don’t need to collect them for now. You don’t need to rush to buy either.]

Screaming Lilies of the Valley, when not screaming, were actually quite beautiful.

A whole field in bloom looked stunning from afar.

Suddenly, someone in the channel remarked:

[Cockroach Tastes Weird: Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like the boss talks a bit more now than before.]

[Be a Good Person: Haha, the boss is still just a kid, and a cool kid at that—so much fun.]

Maybe it was because Qi Yu had shown up in the channel a bit more lately, or maybe the combat technique had made everyone feel more warmly toward him.

Or maybe it was the recent racing event, where many players had seen Qi Yu’s face and age for the first time.

Whatever the reason, the players in the region now seemed a little bolder with the “game boss,” even daring to joke around a bit.

Qi Yu was taken aback.

He thought about it carefully.

A month ago, he probably wouldn’t have bothered to go into the regional channel just to share his guesses.

Back then, he’d come in alone, convinced that compared to the others in the region, he was an alien, wary of everything.

Even now, his perception hadn’t really changed.

It was just that, after exploring several areas and meeting many people in the survival game world, he’d made a few friends.

He didn’t feel quite so alien anymore—after all, the Blue Star players and he were both outsiders in this world.

And, seeing the same familiar and unfamiliar IDs chatting in the regional channel every day, he’d started to remember a few of them.

Saying a word or two—maybe it could help someone, and if not, there was no harm done.

He finished thinking it through.

Conclusion: It felt pretty good.

No need to change a thing.