Chapter 25: The Last Little Bit of Trivial Matters Before Setting Off
Early the next morning, Easter stood at the village entrance to see people off. A group of little fire people watched from the side, their eyes filled with curiosity and excitement, eager to try their hand at it.
“I hope you won’t regret your decision today,” Ion said.
East waved his hand. "Let's go. You should be more worried about yourselves."
"How should I notify you when I'm done?" Ion asked, seething with resentment towards the stubborn Ist.
“I’ll know as long as you do a good job,” Easter said. “If you have no other options by then, you can stay and work for me. What difference does it make who you work for?”
“No one would willingly choose a monarch destined for a short life,” Ion scoffed.
East: "We'll see."
Later, young Ion will regret not taking the olive branch offered by Ist today. But the interesting things to come will be left for later. In the present, we should walk the path that we should walk now.
After everyone had left, Meimei asked, "Your Majesty, are we too few in number?" From that brief exchange, it was clear that they were about to leave.
Easter said in a low voice, "Quality over quantity, you are enough."
"Do we need to prepare in advance?" Matsukami Yuki asked.
Does mental preparation count?
A group of attentive little fire people rolled their eyes at the same time. "Baby, do you think your performance is extremely funny?" Yunmu asked, which was no different from telling a lame joke.
Easter's eyes darted around unnaturally. Was the atmosphere too serious, and he was trying to ease it? It seemed his attempt wasn't very successful.
"It's up to you. We'll be leaving here in three days at most." He was no longer as frivolous as before.
"Your Majesty, what are your plans?" Meimei asked, feeling uncertain. As players, they could die and be resurrected, but the king was different. He was like an ordinary human being with only one life.
“I do need your help,” Esther said, taking out a map. “Let’s talk slowly.” Esther unfolded the map, a hand-drawn one, with little fire figures crowding around to roughly mark the locations. “Even if everything goes smoothly, it will take us at least two days to get out of this forest. And from here to here, the route from where we left to the royal city of Esther will take us through some small villages and the territories of other minor lords. It’s hard to say how long that will take, but it will definitely take five or six days.”
East drew another line with his fingertip. "This line is the route to the royal city of Ramon. It will take at least fifteen days to get there from where we are now."
Each pair of beady eyes held a thoughtful expression. Esther continued, "The current situation is chaotic. With the Ramon Kingdom's clone magic, if things get even more chaotic and there aren't enough people, there will definitely be loopholes in our defenses against Esther."
"Plus those who were released, they could easily storm the capital and make things a breeze," Meimei chimed in.
East nodded. "More or less."
"Is there any other arrangement?" Ruo Kao Digua asked, but his tone was very certain.
East nodded again. "Of those who stayed behind, not many are truly devoted, but there are still two or three who would like to search for him." Those two or three might pretend to be deaf and dumb for the rest of their lives if he didn't go looking for them, completely ignoring his existence. But if he sent someone to deliver a message, they wouldn't dare to gamble. He was also gambling; this whole scheme was a gamble. If there was even the slightest mistake, they might die without a burial place.
East didn't want to rush things, but for some reason, something in the dark was urging him on, forcing him to speed up his actions.
————
[Ding! Little Fireman Warriors, the prerequisites have been met. Please complete the main quest phase as soon as possible.]
Ding! Real-time minimap trial version, available 24/7 while main quests are in progress.
Ding! The main quest is in progress. You can adjust your login location to a maximum of two points. You can use the Fireman yourself as the coordinate point. Fireman warriors, please make your decision carefully.
Important reminder: The main quest is in progress. If the King suffers any loss, the rewards will be reduced; if the King dies, the quest will fail and the game will end.
Fellow little fire warriors, fight bravely for our king!
————
After hearing the system notification, the players went from complete silence to a cacophony of chirping birds in an instant.
"The game's over isn't what I thought, is it?"
"I think it's exactly what you think."
"Holy crap, is this game really this serious?"
"I think I was just saying it casually, and besides, how could the most important NPCs die so easily?"
"That's not necessarily true. He dared to make such a statement because he wasn't waiting to be proven wrong. Don't forget the system notification from a while ago."
"Could it be that some bigwig got bored and made this game so we'd have to play along? Otherwise, what game company would dare to be so audacious?"
"Don't think about whether the king will die yet. Don't predict the worst-case scenario before the mission is even started."
...
Does he mean we should split into two teams?
"Were you not listening to the king? Of course, we should split into two teams, one to cause trouble and the other to escort the king."
"This game is a bit too hardcore. Crossing through mountains and forests feels really dangerous."
"Do you even know what the main point is? The main point is, whose game is this, where it takes so much time to get around? That's completely abnormal!"
"It's definitely for the sake of having a good experience. You know, there are eighty-one tribulations. If you don't, it's okay. You'll know soon enough."
"I hope they release a 'useless' version; I, being useless, desperately need it."
...
They each had their own topics of conversation, but in the end, they all focused on the task.
East stood quietly to the side, the noisy discussions of the players filling his ears, but his mind was blank, unable to find a stable foothold. It had been like this before, it was like this now, and it might be like this in the future. He was like a lonely soul wandering between heaven and earth, with nowhere to return.
The sun rose, casting its warm rays. The sun rises and sets, an eternal cycle that will never change or linger for anyone, indifferently observing the vicissitudes of life and the changing times.
"King, King?"
East snapped back to reality and met Meimei's worried, beady eyes. "I'm fine, what's wrong?"
Meimei suppressed her worries and said, "Your Majesty, we are saying that we would like the little fireman who is going to the royal city of Ramon to set off first. Do you think that's alright?"
“You can decide these things yourselves; there’s no need to ask me,” Easter said.
“You are our King, so naturally we must consult you before making any decisions.” Matsushita Yuki’s tone was full of disapproval of what Ister had said.
"Matsugami Yuki is right." Perhaps roasted sweet potatoes would be a better response.
“Okay~ I’ll do as you say.” Easter smiled helplessly.
"Are we leaving in two days from tomorrow morning?" Meimei asked.
"no problem."
And so, the departure time for East's team was set, while the team going to the royal city of Ramon set off immediately after the number of members was allocated.
The team was led by Meimei Bumei, Guaguagua, and Liangjingjing, a total of sixty little firemen. The scene was spectacular, with a touch of fun and humor.
"Little King, take good care of yourself and wait for our triumphant return," said Guagua.
"Your Majesty, please be careful on the journey. Don't act rashly if you encounter danger. We won't really die, so don't worry about too many of us dying." Meimei said with concern.
"Your Majesty, I told you, we won't let you lose. Get ready for our victory celebration!" It was Erha.
Ist listened to the concern in his ears, half-squatting down to look each of the little firemen in the eye. "Good luck will be with each and every one of you warriors," Ist said, not understanding why he suddenly said such a thing. He paused for a moment, "You must also be careful. I will be waiting for your triumphant return in the royal city."
A large group of little firemen set off in a grand procession. Easter stood up and watched them walk away, hoping for a safe journey.
"Baby, don't worry, everything will be alright." It was Yunmu who spoke.
East lowered her eyes and smiled faintly, giving a soft "hmm." The beauty mark under her eye was so dazzling that it made one dizzy; even breathtaking words could not adequately describe that fleeting moment of beauty.
"With such a beautiful king, of course he'd give him whatever he wants!" Someone blurted out this in a daze, and not only that, but it was also agreed upon by countless little firemen.
East straightened his sleeves. "Then I thank you all for your kindness." He didn't say any more empty pleasantries and readily agreed.
A group of young men started yelling and shouting like ghosts; where was there even a trace of sadness at parting?
Easter beamed with joy, and it was hard to find even a trace of melancholy on his face.
"Your Majesty, is there anything you need to bring?" Matsushita Yuki asked. They had mostly put their things in the system's inventory, and she didn't know if the king had a backpack or anything like that.
The smile on Esther's face hadn't faded. "Just pack what you need to take. I don't need to take anything." She came alone, so why would she leave with lots of bags?
...
Back in the basement that evening, East stared at the bookshelves full of books and resignedly asked the system if he could take them with him. In this era, books were precious items, especially magic books. Although all the books here were about dark magicians, who knew when he might need them?
The system replied with the words "No problem." The players' spaces were all created based on it, so wanting to create one for the system was no problem. However, without more energy coming in, many of the players' functions would probably become unusable. This was only achieved after consulting with the host, obtaining the host's permission, and using most of the power of faith.
As Easter packed up his belongings, he heard the system's concerns and smiled, saying, "Open up live streaming authorization! Aren't there game streamers? As players, we should be very willing to come and play in such a novel world."
The system, calculating its meager energy reserves, decided to proceed. [The host is indeed clever.]
East, “…” Such praise is unnecessary; it just doesn’t sound right.
East collected some important items, such as books and items that looked valuable. Most importantly, he collected the alchemy equipment. This kind of high-end equipment was obviously priceless and unavailable. In case he needed money urgently in the future, he could sell it.
Ister ransacked the entire basement. It was late at night. After taking a shower, he changed into a clean mage's robe, dried his hair halfway, and held a piece of silk in his hand. The jewels on it had not dimmed at all and were still shining brightly.
[Host, what use is a piece of silk if he leaves no gold or silver?] The system's voice was filled with resentment.
East gripped the silk tightly, then slowly released it to the side. "If he left behind gold and silver, what do you take your host for? Besides, this silk is quite valuable." Just by looking at the gold and silver threads, one can tell it's made of jade and jewels.
"Sell it for money." The system said. It didn't understand what was wrong with itself, but it just couldn't stand seeing its host so obsessed. It was just a tattered piece of silk, yet it cherished and caressed it every day, and even wrapped it around its arm all the time. That man was clearly a scumbag, a deadbeat who took advantage of its owner and then abandoned it. What kind of person didn't the host deserve? Why would it keep such a scumbag on its mind?
“You didn’t examine this silk closely, did you?” East lay down on the bed, pulled the covers up, and the light dimmed.
How could the system possibly scan the belongings of a scumbag so carefully? Only after the host reminded it did it scan them carefully. [Host, this is just an ordinary piece of silk.] Apart from being a bit fancy, it's very ordinary, with no trace of magic, and it's not an alchemical item.
"Didn't you notice the markings? Those are probably things like Jia Hui's, things with specific markings. Why don't you try selling one?" East's voice was vague. Did he really think he was looking at it so closely just because it was rare? This was at least a clue to finding someone. What the devil said was one thing, but he couldn't believe everything. Although whether they would actually search for him was still uncertain, it wasn't a bad thing to be prepared.
"What a scoundrel!" the system cursed angrily.
East couldn't understand what was wrong with the system. "They didn't provoke you, so why are you cursing at them?"
system,【……】
system,【……】
Who exactly was he cursing for? The host just doesn't understand.
"Stop messing around, I want to sleep." Easter was too lazy to listen to the system's answer. The system was already stupid, and it had been working hard lately. It was just making a few jokes, and it wasn't about to get to the bottom of things. If it wanted to curse, it could curse, but it was only in his mind, not in front of the person involved.
System, [Good night, host. Sweet dreams.]
…………
On Blue Star, Meimei and nine others created a group chat, and after learning that the live stream would be open, they all actively participated in the discussion.
Quack Quack Quack: [This is great! I'm going to show my fans the scenery of this other world.]
Sparkling: [It would be more fitting to see how disheveled you look.]
Quack quack: [Can't you think of something good for you every day?]
Liang Jingjing: [She's not pretty, but she has pretty dreams.]
...
After arguing pointlessly for more than ten minutes, looking at all of this, Yuan Luomei really wanted to create a new group chat.
Meimei is not unlucky: [First decide how you want to broadcast it? There are only two spots available, and you might not even get one, so why are you in such a hurry?]
Whatever: [I guess they'll assign someone to one of the teams, just like the same coordinates as the online location.]
Yunmu: [I don't care about anything else, I just want to show everyone the king's stunning good looks.]
Butterfly: [I guess more players will be logging in soon.]
Meimei is not unlucky: [It's not impossible; the date will likely be after His Majesty's coronation.]
CaiCai: [Does this mean we're sure to win?]
Yunmu: [This doesn't need to be implied; we were destined to win.]
Matsugami Yuki: [Don't be too optimistic yet; the outcome is uncertain until the very end.]
Why not roast sweet potatoes? [Just as the king said, things will go smoothly.]
The group was quiet for a while, because of that sentence, because of that person.
Quack Quack Quack: [Whether I stream or not depends on the schedule. Let's talk about how we're going to fight first. This isn't some small-scale skirmish with monsters.]
Meimei is not unlucky: [What are everyone's thoughts on the online coordinate point issue?]
Why not roast sweet potatoes? [This certainly doesn't mean that you can only go online from a certain point.]
Quack quack quack: [Doesn't this mean we can jump between two sides?!]
Whatever: [Why can't we set the coordinates to the destination we're going to?] That's enlightening!
Matsuue Yuki: [That's not necessarily true. Even if we can pinpoint the coordinates to our destination, going to the Kingdom of Ramon would be easy, but going to the King's side...] She used an ellipsis, but the meaning was quite clear.
Quack Quack Quack: [The king can't log in from the same point as us, and besides, I don't think there's such a shortcut in this game.]
Yunmu: [What if? I'll ask when I log on tomorrow, it's no trouble.]
…………
As the conversation went on, it veered off course from the initial topic and started discussing tactics and the like.
However, something disappointed them. When they logged in the next day and asked about the coordinates, they were told that it was impossible. So they had no choice but to patiently continue their arduous journey of fighting monsters and traversing the dense forest.
It's not that the system doesn't want to do it, it's that the system can't. It can't set coordinates for places it hasn't been to before. That's why it can use players as coordinates for location, but can't directly set the destination as a coordinate point.
Doesn't the system understand that this is more time-saving, labor-saving, and easier? This isn't a real game where players have to overcome many difficulties to complete tasks. The problem is, it's just not possible now. Maybe it will be possible in the future, but don't even think about it now.
Then, the two live stream slots were decided: one for Meimei Bu Mei and one for Chun Ye, which was fair.
A note from the author:
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