Hope Town

Hope Town

Cheng Xubo, who had been hiding under the hospital bed, saw Chi Lian disappear and immediately lunged out, searching frantically around the spot where she had vanished.

As a fellow player, Cheng Xubo recalled what Chi Lian had done before disappearing and understood at once. "Chi Lian logged out?! Does that mean we can log out now?"

Excited, he called up his System panel, but there was still no "Exit Game" button.

The hope that had flared up in Cheng Xubo was doused with cold water. He sat blankly on the floor and murmured, "Why can't I log out?"

At that moment, everything in the sanatorium seemed to have had its stop button pressed. Whether it was the Feather-Eyed Apostle or Yao Wangping, none of them could move. Even Big Eye's power could not seep inside.

Even if Cheng Xubo sat on the floor and cried his heart out, he would not be contaminated by his negative emotions, much less run into danger.

For a moment, it was hard to tell whether Cheng Xubo was grieving or venting his feelings because the surroundings had become safe.

The instant the Self Totem was applied, Mu Sichen's body returned to normal.

The contaminated blister-eyes vanished, and the frog eyes also shrank back into their sockets. He became a clean-cut, handsome young university student again.

Mu Sichen glanced at him, then opened his System panel as well. The "Exit Game" button had appeared on it too.

So the first ten minutes of the Novice Protection Period after entering the game really had been a chance for the player to exit the game. But what player would actually choose to log out? Everyone would treat those ten minutes as a free pass against death and use that time to familiarize themselves with the game as much as possible.

Unlike Chi Lian, Mu Sichen was not in a hurry to log out. Instead, while he was safe, he explored this Pillar that now belonged to him.

He raised his head and looked through the large hole the Feather-Eyed Apostle had smashed in the ceiling earlier, gazing at the totem in the air.

If he had guessed correctly, this was his Pillar. But the Pillar's original power was not his. It was something he had "dug" from Big Eye.

The Undermine skill could dig out a far richer variety of "foundations" than he had imagined.

Followers, abilities, Pillars... Rather than calling this ability Undermine, it might be more accurate to call it seizure, theft... or transfer.

Yes, transfer was more fitting than theft.

Because when he had undermined Followers earlier, he had not dug Big Eye's followers over to his side. He had dug them over to Qin Zhou, then turned those who had just become Qin Zhou's followers back into Big Eye's. That was a kind of transfer.

Thinking of this, Mu Sichen squeezed his name badge and thought of Chi Lian's skill.

On closer thought, Chi Lian's skill also seemed to fall into this category.

Cut and Paste. Wasn't that a kind of transfer too?

The skill built into Cheng Xubo's pushcart was to stuff items together with the surrounding space into the cart, then transport them to another location.

At present, the three players' skills all manifested in different forms, but their essence was the same: transfer.

This did not fit the basic principles of a game.

Mu Sichen was a game booster and had studied many games.

A qualified game had to accommodate all kinds of abilities: attack, support, treatment, defense...

But the game My Ideal Town, from what he could see so far, had only given players one ability: transfer.

Why was that?

Mu Sichen could not figure it out for the moment, so he pressed the question down for now.

He vaguely had a feeling that even if he left the game this time, he would definitely return in the future.

He had only completed the novice mission and temporarily won himself a chance to breathe.

Mu Sichen looked up at the sky and remembered something. Big Eye's "Pillar" had been hidden inside the sanatorium, making it very hard to find.

Clearly, once the "Pillar" was found, other god-class monsters could easily destroy or seize that Pillar.

His totem was just hanging over the sanatorium like this. When Big Eye woke up, with Its power, It should be able to take the "Pillar" back in an instant, right?

Should he hide the "Pillar" inside the sanatorium too, the way Big Eye had?

That way, even if Big Eye wanted to take this Pillar back, It would have to send people into the sanatorium, do as Mu Sichen had done before, figure out the sanatorium's rules, and think of a way to draw out the "Pillar."

He wondered whether the System would give him a hint.

Mu Sichen tapped around on the System panel a few times, then suddenly saw a red exclamation mark on the quest tab icon.

That was the marker for an unfinished quest.

Mu Sichen tapped into the quest tab.

[Congratulations, player. You have obtained your first Pillar. Please find a spiritual anchor for your Pillar to help protect the "Pillar" and hide the "Pillar."]

Mu Sichen: "...If I hadn't noticed this quest and had just logged out, what would have happened?"

[A newborn Pillar is extremely fragile and can easily be taken back by a god-class monster. If the player logs out directly, by the next time the player logs in, the Pillar will already have been taken away. The moment the player logs in, the player will be devoured by a god-class monster for losing the only Pillar.]

Mu Sichen: "...Then why didn't you remind me?"

This time, the System did not answer him.

Mu Sichen did not know what to say. This lousy System made it impossible to tell, for a while, whether it was acting out of goodwill or malice.

If one said it was goodwill, it had brought everyone to this awful place, where pitfalls were everywhere, and given no prompts at all. Even the chance to exit had been hidden away, leaving players to fend for themselves in this strange world. If players wanted to obtain information, they had to actively explore and discover it themselves before the System would give the corresponding prompt. If a player failed to think of something, the System would absolutely never take the initiative to remind them.

If one said it was malice, it really had given players life-saving skills and methods.

Mu Sichen knew very well that with his own strength, there was no way he could occupy this Pillar.

The reason he had been able to seize the "Pillar" was because the System's power had supported him from behind.

It was like possessing a martial-arts secret manual powerful enough to dominate the world, but with no one to teach him. He had to feel his own way through the manual's contents. If he trained correctly, he could unleash tremendous power. If he cultivated the wrong way and died, then he died. Plenty of people had this martial-arts manual anyway; the next person could simply take his place and cultivate it.

The System was neither goodwill nor malice. It was selecting suitable people from on high.

Mu Sichen temporarily set aside his prejudice against the System and considered how he should protect his Pillar.

He walked over to Cheng Xubo, who was sobbing loudly, and comforted him. "Stop crying."

Cheng Xubo sobbed as he said, "Chi Lian logged out. Why can't I log out? You haven't left either. Is it because you can't? Does this game have gender discrimination?"

"I don't think it's gender discrimination. It's faith discrimination," Mu Sichen said.

"What?" Cheng Xubo asked, completely baffled.

"This is the safe house I established after completing the novice mission. I think maybe only people who have faith in me can leave the game," Mu Sichen said.

"I do! I believe!" Cheng Xubo said without hesitation. "You saved me before, so I already trusted you a lot! And as long as I can leave the game, I'll believe in anyone! Then how am I supposed to have faith in you?"

Mu Sichen searched himself and awkwardly discovered that, in order to seize the Pillar just now, he had used up all his Self Stickers.

At the time, he had almost no Rationality left. Apart from throwing out Self Stickers all at once, he had not had the spare capacity to think about anything else.

Now that he had no Self Stickers, how was he supposed to turn Cheng Xubo into his Follower?

Cheng Xubo was looking at Mu Sichen with expectant eyes. Mu Sichen guiltily shifted his gaze away.

"To become my follower, you need to apply a Self Sticker," Mu Sichen said. "The stickers are a by-product of my skill. I don't have any Self Stickers left now."

"Can't you use your skill?" Cheng Xubo pointed at the people Mu Sichen had turned into volunteers. "Can't you use your skill on these people?"

After Mu Sichen had risen to level 10, his Energy Value had already reached five thousand, worlds apart from the value he had before.

If Chi Lian borrowed his Energy Value again now, a mere cost of 120 would not make Mu Sichen feel too distressed.

Earlier, when he had borrowed Qin Zhou's energy to turn volunteers into Qin Zhou's followers, the average cost per person had been around 3,000. His current energy was enough for him to convert one volunteer.

"I don't think I can do that," Mu Sichen said.

It was a very strange feeling.

This time, what would be consumed was his own energy. Once he used Undermine on a certain volunteer or patient, that person would become his Follower.

But Mu Sichen kept feeling that these people were not from his world. If they voluntarily had faith in him, that was one thing. But if he used a skill to forcefully turn someone into his Follower, something bad would happen.

He could not say what bad thing would happen, only that he had that instinctive sense.

He could use his skill to free these people from Big Eye's mental contamination, and he could turn them into Qin Zhou's followers, but he could not force them to become his own Followers.

It had to be voluntary.

Mu Sichen frowned in thought.

Cheng Xubo watched him eagerly.

Mu Sichen raised his head and looked at the Self Totem in the air. Thinking of the System's prompt, he needed to find a spiritual anchor in order to hide the Pillar.

Just as Big Eye's Pillar had been attracted by despair.

His stickers were called Self Stickers, and his totem was called the Self Totem. From the very beginning, the System had named them for him.

Was it because his power was called "Self" that he could not force the people of this world to believe in him?

Players like Chi Lian and Cheng Xubo, on the other hand, could apply the stickers because they were from the same world as him.

Mu Sichen looked at the Self Totem. It had been released from his palm, and he kept feeling that he could use the Pillar's power.

"How about we try that? That's a sticker too, right?" Mu Sichen pointed at the ceiling.

"How are we supposed to try?" Cheng Xubo's expression was full of doubt.

"Climb up and see!" Mu Sichen said.

There seemed to be no other way at the moment. Fortunately, the ceiling had been smashed through by the Feather-Eyed Apostle, and both young men were nimble. Climbing up would not be too difficult.

Cheng Xubo stacked several hospital beds together. Using the beds for support, the two of them climbed onto the rooftop.

Standing on the rooftop, Mu Sichen discovered that the Self Totem was positioned very low. It seemed to be affected by Big Eye's power and could not fly higher into the sky, so it could only cling low over the roof of the sanatorium.

Moreover, the Self Totem seemed to still be descending. In a while, it would drop below the ceiling.

If Mu Sichen ignored everything and logged out like this, there would probably be no need to wait for Big Eye to awaken. The Self Totem would fall underground on its own.

"Whoa, it's coming down so fast," Cheng Xubo said. "I can touch it if I jump."

He really did jump. His fingertips touched the Self Totem's fingers.

When Cheng Xubo touched the Self Totem, Mu Sichen heard the System prompt.

[Congratulations, player. You have obtained your second Follower. The player's current number of Followers is too low, so the new gameplay mode cannot yet be unlocked. Start-up phase. Please work hard to increase your Followers.]

Mu Sichen looked up at the totem, raised his hand, and touched the totem's hand with his fingertips.

A power spread through his entire body. Mu Sichen felt that he could use this power.

He closed his eyes, quietly felt that power, and softly said, "Purification."

The Self Totem emitted a faint glow. With the help of his left eye, Mu Sichen saw that inside the sanatorium, whether patients or family members, the blister-eyes on their bodies had all disappeared.

Shen Jiyue became even more handsome.

Yao Wangping's contaminated half also returned to normal.

Even some faint black mist inside Cheng Xubo dissipated.

"Check your System panel again," Mu Sichen said.

A strange feeling of trust toward Mu Sichen rose in Cheng Xubo's heart. He opened his System panel and saw that the "Exit Game" button had lit up.

"Great! I'm logging out!" Cheng Xubo waved at Mu Sichen and said, "I hope none of us ever comes back to this awful place!"

After saying this, he vanished from the rooftop.

Mu Sichen did not leave. Through the Self Totem, he could sense that some contamination still could not disappear.

Some mutations on the volunteers had not changed. Their changes were different from the blister-eyes; they were already physical deformities and were very hard to change.

Mu Sichen could feel that the faith many volunteers had held in Big Eye, which had not been particularly firm to begin with, had disappeared.

But for those like the Feather-Eyed Apostle, who possessed a portion of Big Eye's power, their bodies had not changed in the slightest.

With the help of the Self Totem's power, Mu Sichen faintly sensed the Feather-Eyed Apostle's location. It was like a mass of filth that was very hard to clean away. If he allowed him to remain in the sanatorium, he would corrode the Self Totem's power.

"Expulsion," Mu Sichen said softly.

A power "swept" the Feather-Eyed Apostle, Yao Wangping, Shen Jiyue, and over a dozen other people out. Mu Sichen threw them out of the sanatorium.

These people should be the ones who had been heavily contaminated by Big Eye, or spies from other towns.

He had swept out over a dozen people all at once. Unexpectedly, quite a few people from other powers had been hidden inside this sanatorium.

He did not know whether they were all Qin Zhou's subordinates, or whether there were people from other powers too. For example, that Lord of Night Splendor from Chimei Town.

Using the Self Totem's power, Mu Sichen cleaned out all the powers in the sanatorium that did not belong to him. At the same time, he sensed that the Self Totem's power was gradually dissipating.

Like the sanatorium's Pillar, without a steady stream of energy from a spiritual anchor to support it, the "Pillar" could not be maintained for long.

The System wanted him to find a spiritual anchor for the Pillar, and the spiritual anchors produced by the people currently inside the sanatorium would become sustenance for the Pillar.

"What kind of spiritual anchor should I find?" Mu Sichen murmured to himself.

[If the player were a god-class monster, what kind of town would the player want?]

The System, for once, took the initiative to give him a prompt.

"I want to leave this world and never come back," Mu Sichen said. "It's a fantasy, but people still need hope, don't they?"

After thinking for a moment, he said, "I'm not a god-class monster. Even if I were, I couldn't carry this many people's emotions. I'm just an ordinary university student myself. I don't even know whether I'll be able to find a job after graduation, or when I'll ever be able to buy a home.

"But people still need hope, don't they?"

Hope that life could get better. Hope that they could find wonderful love. Hope that they could become outstanding people.

When Mu Sichen said those words, the Self Totem transformed into motes of light and sank into the hearts of everyone inside the sanatorium.

[The player has named the town Hope Town. Please keep working hard to establish Hope Town.]

Sure enough, he still had to keep playing. Mu Sichen shook his head helplessly.

He sensed that the sanatorium and his Pillar had been carefully protected, and there should be no problems for the time being. He could leave for now.

Mu Sichen felt exhausted. He wanted to rest.

He tapped "Exit Game." The next second, he appeared inside his dorm room.

The game pod had disappeared. Mu Sichen found himself lying on the cold floor, as if everything he had just experienced had only been a dream.

Mu Sichen glanced at his phone. The time was the same as when he had entered the game. During all the time he had spent in the game, no time had passed in reality.

Only the mechanical wristwatch, whose time differed from his phone's by several hours, told Mu Sichen that everything he had experienced was not a dream.

He tried to summon the System in his mind, but no System panel appeared before him.

It seemed that even the medium for entering the game again was gone.

"Did I really come back just like that? I don't have to go back?" Mu Sichen murmured, full of hope.

He braced one hand against the floor and stood, but suddenly felt something was wrong.

When he sat up, it seemed as though something had fallen off him.

Mu Sichen looked at the floor and saw that in the place where he had been lying just now, at some point, there was now a chibi octopus doll.

--------------------

Author's Note:

Qin Zhou: Yay! Mu Sichen brought me home!

Mu Sichen: Why did this thing follow me back?