Chapter 10: Players Log In - My baby is the gentlest~

A burst of light gathered, and round, plump things rolled out, making a "hissing" sound, like flames burning.

East's eyes widened slightly. So cute! He was no more than a meter tall, with short arms and legs, a large, fiery body, black eyes that looked like little beans, and red lips.

There was a basic orange-yellow, and then there were blue, white, black, pink, purple... all rolled together in a colorful mess, with various IDs on their heads, but because of the current situation, it was difficult to tell who was who.

Who kicked me in the face?

"Don't push, don't push, you'll get flattened."

"Aaaaaah! What on earth is going on?"

"My arm, my arm, it's going to break, it's going to break."

...

Listening to the chaotic sounds, Easter snapped out of his daze and said reassuringly, "Slow down, slow down, you'll be able to separate them gradually."

"Who's speaking? Who's speaking? It sounds so nice, so heartwarming."

"Stop being a fangirl, stand up first."

...

After a long period of noise and chaos, the group of colorful little firemen finally separated.

"Hahahaha~" After sizing each other up, they burst into laughter in unison.

"Sizzle~ sizzle~ sizzle~" The flame tip flickered, looking very cute.

Easter suppressed his urge to touch the fire and smiled as he looked at the group of little firemen huddled together.

"Hello~ Warriors from another world, welcome~" Esther's gaze swept over the IDs above their heads one by one, artistic, funny, everyday, chuunibyou... they were all quite interesting.

"Wow! Wow! Wow!" Each exclamation grew louder than the last. A little pink firecracker with a [glittery] (female) hat appeared before East. "So beautiful, even more beautiful than I imagined! What a magnificent face!"

East stepped back to avoid [Sparkling]'s outstretched hand. "My lord, please have some self-respect."

"Wow!" [Sparkling] turned to face the others, "Everyone," she shouted, drawing the attention of all the little fire people, and then said excitedly, "It's so realistic~"

“Indeed,” said the little fire-man with the ID [Pure Wild] (male), standing up while holding a handful of grass. “It’s very damp and humid, just like in the real world, even more realistic than other holographic online games.” And don’t be fooled by their appearance; it’s only their appearance, and it doesn’t really affect their movements much.

More young men gathered around, looking and studying everything, and a few even crowded around East.

"Little Firebird, no, no, no, little king, don't you have the etiquette of kissing on the cheek and hand?" Still sparkling.

East nodded, before anyone could be happy, “This kind of etiquette is for specific people and on specific occasions. This gesture also shows that one is willing to submit to the other person’s status and expresses one’s humility.”

Liang Jingjing was completely bewildered and looked around.

"What he meant was, first, your status isn't high enough; second, this isn't the right occasion." She was a small, snow-white fire-faced figure with a chilling aura, and her ID happened to be [Matsuue Yuki] (female).

"Haha~ Haha~" The little fireman with the ID [Guaguagua] (male) East laughed out loud without any politeness. "Your Majesty, is there a mission?" He squeezed past the other firemen and stood in front of East.

East looked down at the little fire-man, whose color resembled that of someone poisoned, and smiled. "You can familiarize yourselves with the surroundings first, but be careful. As for the mission..."

Upon hearing the mission, all the little fire people gathered around. This is a game, after all. If the game isn't important, why should the mission be?

"Hurry up and tell me!" the quack urged.

Ester said somewhat embarrassedly, "You need to build shelter first. It's not safe at night; monsters could attack at any time. You need a sanctuary, and you also need to prepare food."

[Ding! My little fire warriors, you have received a mission from our King. Mission 1: Clean up the village environment. You can go on an adventure!]

Task Two: Prepare delicious food to offer to our esteemed King. Please be careful during the process.

Task 3: Build a suitable shelter for yourself, preferably for the King first.

Each completed task will grant one to one hundred experience points. Completing the entire task chain will add one hundred experience points and also grant a basic magic tutorial.

Fellow little fire warriors, fight for our King!

"Have you received the mission? Have you received the mission?" the quack asked urgently.

"Received." Most of the Little Fire people answered his question.

"Looks like this is a group mission." It was a dark little fireman with the ID [Colorful Butterfly] (male) on its head. It turned to look at another little fireman, with a basic orange-yellow appearance and the ID [Meimei Not Unlucky] (female) on its head.

Meimei, with her short legs, walked up to Ister. "Greetings, Your Majesty, King Phoenix." She bowed respectfully, her flame head bobbing back and forth like a little chirp.

Easter curled his fingers. "Warrior, is there anything you need?"

“We need some tools,” Meimei said earnestly. “Don’t worry, what we do will be worthwhile.”

Easter breathed a sigh of relief. "Just do your best. Come with me. We don't have many good tools, but you can pick and choose which ones you can use."

"Isn't this NPC a bit too nice? Isn't he a king?" Guagua whispered to someone at random.

"A gentle gentleman." The color is sky blue, clear and soft, and his ID is [CaiCai] (male).

"It's not a guy, that's a man," Guagua reminded him.

“Raising babies doesn’t discriminate based on gender or age,” Cai Cai said.

“So we’re kindred spirits,” another young man joined the conversation, his fiery red color like a burning flame. [Yun Mu] (female), “I only accepted the invitation because I thought the little king was so handsome.”

“I’m pretty much the same. When I got close to him, he was such a gentle little guy.” Cai Cai walked over to Yun Mu and started talking about her experience raising a baby.

The one who started the conversation, Guagua, looked around blankly, his gaze settling on a little fireman who had never spoken before. It was entirely blue, with a dark blue tip to its flame. Its ID was [Better Than Roasted Sweet Potato] (male). "Hey, Sweet Potato Bro, what are you thinking about?"

"So true." It wasn't like roasting sweet potatoes who spoke calmly; the moment he opened his mouth, he exuded the aura of a big shot.

Guagua was respectful for half a second, then grinned again, "Brother Digua probably hasn't played the first full-immersion online game. It was about cultivating immortality, flying on swords, and the changes in every blade of grass and tree. It was all very realistic. What a pity."

Instead of roasting sweet potatoes, he tilted his head and asked, "What?" In his mind, that game still held a transcendent status.

"The gaming environment has been bad these past two years, there's been too much hostility, otherwise I'd be a loyal player too~" said Guaguagua. "Why does it seem like Sweet Potato Bro hasn't played many games?"

"Hmm," replied RuBuKaoDiGua, "I don't know why I received the invitation, but I couldn't refuse my sister's request, so I went."

"Don't worry, I'll guide you. I'm a huge gamer, there's no game I can't play." Guagua reached out to pat his chest, but when he stretched out his short arm, he realized there was no chest to pat. "Everything else is fine, so why is this my outfit?" he complained dejectedly.

"Felix, Phoenix, isn't it normal for you to summon fire creatures? You can't just summon a bunch of people, that's illogical." Another little fire spirit spoke up after listening for a while. The little fire spirit's body had a misty texture, both transparent and white, hard to describe. ID: [Whatever].

"Dude, how did you do that? I thought I was pretty good at mixing up a dark purple color, but you..." Guagua circled around Suibianla, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"Actually, it's just white. Just adjust the other proportions, and it'll be fine. I originally wanted to make it transparent, but I didn't get one parameter right and accidentally clicked 'enter.' But whatever, it's fine." The little guy took a few quick steps to the orange-yellow fireman and followed along without doing anything.

Meimei looked at him with a puzzled expression, and was also surprised by his appearance.

"Trying to get some good luck," said Suibianla, "I'm just unlucky, so I can only take it easy."

Meimei couldn't even imagine what kind of experience it must have taken to say something so Buddhist-like. She nodded, but actually, it was just that little wagging hair that nodded down.

Ignoring the chatter of the group of young players, Ister led the way, walking at a leisurely pace. He deliberately slowed down because the group of little firemen barely reached his thighs, and if he walked too fast, he was afraid he would leave them behind.

“If you were king, you would be a very good king.” Matsushita Yuki’s voice carried a hint of coldness, and her words were extremely certain.

East reached out and touched the soft little tuft of hair; it was very bouncy and tender. "Thank you."

Matsukami Yuki awkwardly avoided the question, saying, "No, I'm telling the truth." Even though they knew in their hearts that this might be the character's personality as designed by the game company, there was no doubt that such a personality was likable, gentle, humble, and polite.

"Don't be afraid, little one~ Our early development will be a bit difficult, but it will get better later." Yun Mu walked to the other side of East, looking at him earnestly with her black beady eyes.

East's eyes and brows were filled with smiles, like a gentle ray of sunlight and a warm breeze, harmless and tender, yet exceptionally dazzling.

"Ah~ Bao is so beautiful~!" Yun Mu stretched out her chubby little hands and was about to fall to the ground.

Cai Cai, who was standing nearby, immediately patted him on the back, saying, "Calm down, calm down. Don't let the late emperor die before he has even finished building his empire."

"I can still do it. I must make my baby crowned king and ascend the throne as emperor." Yun Mu steadied herself.

"In the West, it seems they only have a coronation ceremony, not an imperial coronation," said Roasted Sweet Potato.

"So what? He's the greatest emperor of all time, a legend for generations to come, the first person to create a new world. If my baby's going to do something, he'll be the best!" Yunmu waved her little hand, speaking with great enthusiasm, eager to make a big splash right away.

East touched Yunmu's little tuft of hair. "Thank you." It was so cute, and the words felt strangely familiar, as did the tone... System. Thinking of this, his smile deepened.

"My baby is the gentlest~" Yunmu said a little shyly.

A note from the author:

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

①Source: Baidu search.

② "Memorial on Dispatching the Troops" by Zhuge Liang (Three Kingdoms period)