Volume 3, Chapter 74 – Preferably Unwashed

Anran was not the only one who received the game announcement. At that moment, every player in Night of the Stars got the same notification.

There was a pinned notice on the forum.

Just like any ordinary player, Anran quickly opened the forum.

Game maintenance and updates were important not only to players, but to Anran as well.

Every version had its god-tier class. Even as an NPC, there was nothing wrong with following the version meta.

Fortunately, Mechanic was not particularly strong at this stage, so Anran did not need to worry about some infuriating update that nerfed Mechanics. Otherwise, she really would have been left wanting to cry without tears.

What Anran opened was the [Night of the Stars General Chat Section].

The official notice thread had already been pinned in red.

By the time Anran clicked in, the number of replies had already reached several thousand floors.

As soon as she opened it, the place was full of messages like “666,” “checking in,” “just passing by,” “I’m gonna die if I can’t play Night of the Stars,” and “Official Account-chan is so cute.”

Anran gave it a rough glance, then started reading the main content.

This maintenance was mainly intended to deal with more players being online at the same time.

The game update was only an extra.

The original plan had been to roll out the first update in around two months. This time, part of the update content was being released early instead.

Night of the Stars was officially moving from Version 1.01 into the era of Version 1.02.

The maintenance and update details were as follows:

1. Improved game stability.

1. The online trading system has been updated. An assets tab has been added. After the update, online trading will be supported, including one-on-one trades and auction trades. At present, online trading only supports transactions involving “virtual items.” Click for details.

1. Brand-new newbie planets have been added. Click for details.

An online trading system, huh. I wonder if I can use that myself.

If real-name registration was required, then it would definitely be like the forum. She could only be a bystander.

“Official Account-chan is here to serve you wholeheartedly. If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below.”

Official Account-chan was the game sprite of Night of the Stars. She possessed a very high degree of intelligence and was responsible for handling player suggestions and complaints, as well as maintaining the official forum.

She was a beautiful winged girl.

The developers really were putting effort into building the character setup.

Let’s just hope they do not eventually start making the game with their feet.

After closing the game forum, Anran finally noticed that Feilian was calling her name.

“What is it? Do you need something?” Anran asked in confusion.

“No, no, nothing major.” Feilian shook his head. “It’s just that you looked like you were spacing out. We were talking about whether we should go out for a meal together tonight.”

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A group meal?

Well, fair enough.

Having a meal together really was a good way for a small team to build camaraderie.

But Anran did not want to waste time, nor had she ever planned to build a close relationship with Feilian and the others.

After all, she would not be staying on No. 1886 for very long. At the shortest, only a few months. Rather than leaving behind sadness when it came time to part, it was better to keep things at the most basic coworker level from the very beginning.

“Though it’s a bit of a pity, I still have to go home and take care of my little sister…”

Without hesitation, Anran used Aila as a shield.

“Huh? Anran, you have a little sister too?” Anna asked in surprise.

Chu Yuan also looked over curiously. This mild-tempered logistics staffer was a very good listener.

“Mm.”

“What does she look like? Is she as strong as you?” Anna asked excitedly.

This topic has gone off the rails.

“No.”

Anran felt that she was not lying. Because even if she equipped her mechanical footgear and mechanical armguard, she still would not be Aila’s match.

Her advantage was speed, but in terms of strength and endurance she was still inferior to Aila, and even that came with limitations.

Aila’s absurdly strong defense let her slowly wear Anran down.

Anna looked disappointed.

Feilian could not help saying, “Anran’s little sister is definitely still very young. Anna, what is going on in that head of yours?”

“Since Anran still has to go home and take care of her little sister, we won’t force it. We can always do the group meal another time.”

“Actually, you don’t have to do that. You can all just go by yourselves.”

Feilian waved a hand. “A group meal is only interesting if everyone goes. Next time, let’s bring Zhuying too.”

“Fine.”

Anran could not argue past Feilian.

After leaving the base, she headed straight home.

During maintenance, would time completely stop, or would things continue to run like they had before players first descended?

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Anran waited with curiosity.

…

“The game is going into maintenance in two hours?”

After finishing her training quest, Zhou Jieyu asked Leading the Charge in surprise.

“Come to think of it, other than those ten-odd minutes when you went off to steal your allowance, you’ve been in the game pod for almost three days straight.” Leading the Charge’s eyes suddenly narrowed.

“Have I?” Zhou Jieyu played dumb.

The game pod had life-support functions, so in practice there was no real problem with staying in it continuously for ten days.

But as her elder brother, Leading the Charge could not just watch Zhou Jieyu behave so willfully.

“This maintenance is perfect timing. Get offline already!” he barked.

“Tch.”

Zhou Jieyu curled her lips. No, this wouldn’t do. Being around her big brother all the time really did make the game a lot less fun. Next time, she definitely had to find a way to shake him off again.

“I’m logging off.”

Zhou Jieyu’s figure quickly disappeared from the game.

It was only one day in reality. She could just sleep through it.

Logging off early meant a little less suffering while waiting.

…

On the other side, Li Zhuying, holed up in the tiny room she rented, was nothing like Zhou Jieyu.

After all, she lived alone in real life too.

“Aaaah!” Li Zhuying irritably raked at her somewhat messy hair.

In front of her were paper and pen, along with two photographs.

One was the old photo of Anran firing a gun. The other was a photo of Anran sleeping, which she had taken yesterday.

“I can’t write the feeling at all! This is driving me insane!” Li Zhuying was so frustrated she was about to explode.

Sure enough, just looking at photos was not enough.

And on top of that, the game was about to go into maintenance.

Why did it have to go into maintenance at a time like this?!

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Game maintenance was the absolute worst.

There were less than two hours left.

If she wanted to produce a truly satisfying work, she was still lacking something that could spark inspiration.

Thinking of this, Li Zhuying stood up.

Her eyes were full of determination.

A great creator feared nothing.

Thus, on her way home, Anran ran into a travel-worn Li Zhuying halfway there.

This place was very close to Anran’s home.

“Did you need something from me?” Anran asked in surprise as she looked at the suddenly appearing pervert.

“Um…” Li Zhuying hesitated for a moment, then said, “This is a little hard to say, but could you give me a pair of your panties? Preferably unwashed.”

“…”

What?

Anran froze in shock.

What kind of move was that?

Out of reflex, Anran used Scout on Li Zhuying.

Gender: Female.

It was written there in black and white.

Even if they were the same sex, this still counted as sexual harassment, didn’t it?

“I refuse!” Anran said.

Li Zhuying immediately said anxiously, “As long as you agree to my request, you can make me do anything!”

Oh.

Anything?

Anran sized Li Zhuying up.

She really did need a player who would not betray her to help her do things.

But a player like that would be very hard to find.

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As for Li Zhuying…

“Don’t worry. I absolutely won’t use your panties to do anything weird.”

Seeing that Anran did not believe her, Li Zhuying hurried to add, “Actually, I’ve run into a creative bottleneck and I need something that can stimulate my inspiration.”

“The novel I write absolutely won’t be passed around! After all, you’re my idol! Protecting one’s idol is every fan’s duty!”

The more Anran listened, the stranger it sounded.

“Our relationship isn’t close enough for that yet,” Anran said, politely declining.

Their relationship wasn’t close enough for that yet.

Li Zhuying froze for a moment.

Being clever, she immediately understood.

So if their relationship did reach a certain level, then it would be possible?

That had to be it!

I’m so stupid.

Li Zhuying knocked herself on the head. Hadn’t the official side already explained it? Once your favorability with an NPC reached a certain level, even marrying an NPC was not impossible.

If she married her idol…

Li Zhuying immediately cut off her train of thought, or she would start drooling.

But how was she supposed to increase her favorability with Anran?

Li Zhuying used Scout.

Preferred item: Money.

That simple and direct?

Still, it saved a lot of trouble.

Li Zhuying had found her target.

“I’ll work hard.”

So she first offered up the 2,100 Bilu she had painstakingly saved.

Looks like she’s rich too.

Anran watched Li Zhuying’s departing back.