Magic Farm 97

Chapter 97: Instant Noodles and Chilled Fizzy Drinks

Region Channel 01.

[CockroachFlavorIsWeird: It’s started, it’s started, that man is at it again. Everyone, take a guess—how many points will the game boss rack up this time before he stops?]

[GrindKing: Damn, look at that points increase—what kind of massacre mode is this? Did Survival Game release a new mode without telling me?]

[JiangnanMistRain: Maybe it’s a special massacre mode just for the game boss. (lights cigarette jpg)]

[ByTheRoad: My reasonable guess is that it’s something from the diamond chest you get for upgrading to Level 3 Shelter. He must have drawn some powerful equipment or item, so his kill speed is skyrocketing.]

[DawnSongAtDusk: That’s not entirely reasonable… Even with the strongest item, there still needs to be that many swifts for him to kill, right?]

[JiangnanMistRain: I’d like to know too. I’ve stuffed my territory full of items and potions that attract mutant creatures. Since you can’t go out to hunt at night, all you can do is wait for the swifts to come to you. Did the game boss plant some new mutant plant that’s a special treat for swifts or something?]

The numbers jumping on the points leaderboard with each refresh could only be described as “terrifying.”

Some of the sour comments from earlier in the day had now completely vanished.

Especially those who’d been using “he’s just a life-skills class” to comfort themselves—now it seemed they’d finally realized something: So what if he’s a life-skills class? If I ever go up against him, would I be any harder to kill than hundreds of thousands of swifts?

No one could go into the Star Forest to hunt swifts at night; everyone was stuck in their shelters.

For the tens of thousands of players on the regional channel, the biggest entertainment now was to stare at the points leaderboard and watch how long it would take for the top player’s points to finally slow down.

As one of the top players put it:

[No matter if it’s a potion or some special item effect, it can’t last forever, right?]

[Even if the effect could last forever, the boss isn’t made of iron—he’s got to get tired eventually, right?]

Qi Yu was certainly not made of iron.

But his energy towers might as well be.

However, energy towers had one major drawback: they consumed magic crystals.

He’d mined 11,900 Level 1 magic crystals from the resource zone, but sold 10,000 of them to buy those three outrageously expensive books.

The remaining Level 1 magic crystals, after filling up the 200 energy towers in his territory, were already almost gone.

A fully charged energy tower could only fire 100 times.

The farmer, who had just finished tidying up his territory and was thinking he could finally rest, looked at the endless stream of points flying toward him and gripped his staff tightly.

Forget it—his own magic could recover.

But every bit of energy used by the towers was one less in reserve.

Conclusion: it seemed he was still more economical than the towers.

Besides, from another perspective, he couldn’t let the “Inspired State” from the Screaming Lily of the Valley go to waste.

Having thus convinced himself, Qi Yu swung his staff, and when the next wave of swifts entered the towers’ range, he struck them down in time.

After killing for a while, Qi Yu belatedly realized: as a self-sufficient lord, in some ways, was he really any different from the Demon Vine?

The good news was, although swifts were mutant magical creatures born in the rainy season, they weren’t truly flesh-and-blood beings. But just like in the black ancient forest, as long as they became living creatures, they could feel “fear.”

Once they realized that this mysterious, alluring territory was already piled high with the “corpses” of countless kin, the swifts’ relentless assault finally came to a halt.

Qi Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked over at the Demon Vine, which was now coiled in a single area.

The blood-red main vine had grown as thick as an adult’s arm, its color a deep, vivid crimson, the thorns along it sharper than blades, glinting with a cold, menacing light.

Beneath the main vine, countless tendrils writhed like sentient tentacles, bristling with excitement now that they’d finally eaten their fill.

Tonight, it had grown a lot.

At last, the Demon Vine’s appearance was starting to live up to its name.

Qi Yu felt a bit conflicted, quietly turning his head away: the Demon Vine in this form reminded him of some of the mutant plants from the apocalypse.

A shadow.

Fortunately, after a moment of excitement, the Demon Vine realized there were no more “swallows” coming.

With nothing tasty left, it exited battle mode.

The vines rapidly shrank back, the thick tendrils thinning, thorns retracting, blade-like leaves turning into chubby, adorable shapes…

It was like witnessing a stunning magic trick—Qi Yu watched as the vine, which had just been a killing machine, transformed in less than half a minute into something weak, pitiful, and helpless.

Now it looked even more fragile and harmless than before; its tender green leaves and pure white flowers seemed unable to withstand the pounding rain and wind, shivering as if they might be crushed and scattered into the mud at any moment.

Qi Yu: …

A marvel to behold.

He opened his survival panel and was startled by his own points.

First place, “ILoveSurvivalGame,” points: 244,688.

Second place, “ReachForTheMoon,” points: 56,331.

Third place, “MyFateMyself,” points: 40,001.

…

He remembered last time he checked the leaderboard, it was just after he’d returned to his shelter, and he’d had a bit over 160,000 points then.

He’d even lost a few hours upgrading the shelter.

So, in just this evening, he’d gained seventy or eighty thousand points?

Qi Yu, only now realizing it as he looked at his panel, saw that it was already past midnight.

His body felt limp and weak, but perhaps thanks to several rounds of inspiration from the Screaming Lily of the Valley, his mind was still sharp.

He picked up all the drops from his territory, made sure the swifts wouldn’t be launching another large-scale attack anytime soon, and finally ambled back to the treehouse.

He took a hot shower and changed into the new four-piece set he’d drawn from the treasure chest.

The new set was a pale green, embroidered with unfamiliar plant patterns, matching the style of the treehouse perfectly.

Qi Yu also took out the woven floral carpet.

It was a huge white rug, large enough to cover almost the entire bedroom floor.

He took off his shoes and tentatively stepped onto it—the plush, soft texture made the floor feel like a second bed.

He sat down, finding it even more comfortable than the chair.

Cross-legged by the bed, he began sorting the supplies in his backpack, while also checking the messages on his survival panel.

At the moment, he had Swift Meat x103,000, Swift Feathers x110,000.

He’d noticed before that killing a Level 1 swift dropped meat and feathers at almost a 2:1 ratio.

The only difference between Level 2 and Level 1 swifts seemed to be the grade of beast crystal they dropped.

Aside from those two materials, the more valuable beast crystals: Level 1 beast crystals, 36,032; Level 2 beast crystals, 2,650.

The drop rate for beast crystals from swifts was about 5:1.

Each Level 1 swift killed gave 1 point; each Level 2 swift, 5 points.

So, of these 240,000 points, roughly 180,000 came from Level 1 swifts, and over 10,000 from Level 2 swifts.

Qi Yu did the math and was startled by the numbers.

No wonder there had been almost no sign of other mutant creatures in the Star Forest lately.

Such a massive number—and this was just what he alone had killed, not to mention all the other players on the leaderboard.

Even if swifts were generally low-level and not very strong, in the forest, sheer numbers could wear down any other mutant creature.

Yet, aside from the first time he’d met a Swift Commander at the black ancient tree, Qi Yu hadn’t seen another in the past two days.

By rights, with such numbers, there should have been higher-level Swift Commanders evolving.

He thought about it—maybe the event was designed to give other players in the region a chance? Maybe it limited the swifts’ evolution?

He opened the points shop.

After buying a Level 3 Shelter blueprint, he still had over 120,000 points left.

Originally, aside from the shelter blueprint, farmland had been his top priority.

But now, with the “Farmer’s Domain” skill unlocked, he could save those points.

The rest of the goods: basic building upgrade blueprints, basic plant seed packs, random furniture blind boxes…

They all seemed interesting.

Qi Yu bought one of each that caught his eye.

[Received: Basic Building Upgrade Blueprint x1, Basic Plant Seed Pack x1, Random Furniture Blind Box x1, Basic Food Blind Box x1.]

The most expensive, the building upgrade blueprint, cost 1,000 points; the seed pack, 500; the furniture and food blind boxes, 50 each. Total: 1,600 points.

He opened the basic plant seed pack first.

[Received: Pack of Common Sunflower Seeds, Pack of Common Soybean Seeds, Pack of Moonlight Grass Seeds.]

[Sunflower Seeds: Plant to obtain the common plant Sunflower.]

[Soybean Seeds: Plant to obtain the common plant Soybean.]

[Moonlight Grass Seeds: Plant to obtain the magic plant Moonlight Grass. Moonlight Grass, a magical plant, emits a silvery-white glow. Long-term cultivation can improve soil quality. High economic value, commonly grown as an ornamental in major cities.]

Qi Yu’s eyes sparkled. This pack might be so-so for others, but for him, it was a treasure.

He bought another.

[Received: Pack of Common Strawberry Seeds, Pack of Common Cherry Seeds, Pack of Honeycrystal Flower Seeds.]

[Strawberry Seeds: Plant to obtain the common plant Strawberry.]

[Cherry Seeds: Plant to obtain the common plant Cherry.]

There was no need to mention Honeycrystal Flower; he already had a patch of it in his territory.

So, the basic plant seed pack always contained two kinds of common plants and one kind of magic plant. No wonder it cost 500 points.

He stowed the seeds in his backpack and opened the furniture blind box.

[Received: Floor Lamp x1, style selectable.]

What was this?

Qi Yu looked at the string of unfamiliar terms on the survival panel—“princess style,” “forest style,” “anime,” and so on—and cautiously selected “minimalist.”

A lamp about as tall as he was appeared out of thin air.

It looked like a column, with a pale yellow gauze oval lampshade on top, and could be connected to the shelter’s energy crystal card.

Qi Yu found the switch.

Click.

A soft light spilled from overhead.

He instinctively figured out how to use it: now he could read magic books under the lamp.

A good thing.

Next, he opened the basic food blind box.

[Received: Braised Beef Instant Noodles x1, Pickled Mustard Beef Instant Noodles x1, Spicy Sticks x1, Potato Chips x2, Chilled Carbonated Drink x2.]

A colorful pile of snacks appeared before him.

Qi Yu cradled the food, examining it for a while—they all looked delicious.

Oh, he finally realized—he hadn’t eaten dinner yet.

He thought for a moment, then opened the survival panel and poked his meal buddy.

[ILoveSurvivalGame: .]

He didn’t know if Shen Ben Wuxiang was asleep yet.

[ShenBenWuxiang: Finished inspecting your new territory at last, my lord?]

[ILoveSurvivalGame: You’re still up—come on, let me treat you to something good.]

[ILoveSurvivalGame: (pic) (pic) (pic)]

[ShenBenWuxiang: Wow, chilled fizzy drinks! Instant noodles! I want the pickled mustard beef flavor!]

Qi Yu generously sent over a chilled carbonated drink and the pickled mustard beef instant noodles, with a bonus box of potato chips.

Shen Ben Wuxiang immediately sent a communication orb request.

Qi Yu accepted.

He heard a “pop” sound.

Dan Xingyu’s cheerful voice came through: “Half a month ago, I never would have imagined that one day I’d be staying up late in Survival Game, eating junk food.”