Volume 3, Chapter 1 – Playing games, what’s important is—

On the forums.

And on a certain somewhat well-known media site.

“No game has ever matched Night of the Stars in realism!”

“When it comes to NPC design, it’s hard to find another game as obsessed with fine details as Night of the Stars!”

“Even for unknown bit characters, even for irrelevant NPCs you’ll probably never meet, the developers still put in an incredible amount of effort!”

“You’re asking whether I have any examples?”

“The truth is, the examples are all around you. You just haven’t seriously observed them or thought about it.”

“Take her, for instance…”

Next, the outlet released an edited video clip and included the repost source link.

“This footage was captured in Twinmoon City by one lucky player. Who would have thought that, in the middle of a massive war, a little episode like this would happen?”

“Every NPC has their own unique behavioral patterns. They make choices on their own, and they also change in response to the environment around them.”

“This is a starry sky that breathes!” (XD)

…

“We’ll continue our NPC observation diary for Night of the Stars, so everyone is welcome to send in submissions!”

Completely absorbed in machinery, Anran had no idea that she had already become a minor celebrity among part of the player base.

The players only found her side profile a little familiar.

But that did nothing to stop some players from thinking she was cool as hell.

And it certainly did not stop some of them from wondering whether it was time to switch to a new “waifu.”

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[Huge bounty! Tell me the name and coordinates of the cute girl in the video!]

[I hate that I wasn’t born on No. 1886!]

[The sea of stars is so vast. There’s definitely an NPC out there for me.]

[Wake up and stop dreaming. You’re single in real life, and you’ll still be single in the game. The NPCs here are sharp.]

[I’ve got ten times as much time here. I refuse to believe I’d still be single after putting in ten times the effort.]

[Don’t try to stop me. I’m going to grind favorability with that pretty young lady.]

…

“Beep beep!”

A game notification informed Zhou Jieyu that she had received a private message from a stranger.

Sitting by the train window, Zhou Jieyu immediately opened it.

It was the same person who had bought the reposting rights to her post last time.

But after reading the message, Zhou Jieyu directly closed the private chat window.

“You want Anran’s name and coordinates? In your dreams!”

Zhou Jieyu curled her lip.

She had discovered that ever since meeting Anran, her path through the game had become much smoother. With an NPC this good, why would she share?

She had decided to stick to Anran’s side and squeeze every last bit of value out of her, little by little!

Heh heh heh, heh heh heh. Zhou Jieyu laughed.

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As she watched the wilderness speeding backward outside the window, Zhou Jieyu’s mood was excellent.

…

On the same train, in a different carriage.

Nai Knight looked at his companions with quite a headache.

One of the boys was currently bickering with Qingshuang.

“We almost missed this train. Qingshuang, next time can you please stop wandering off to roadside food stalls while we’re walking?”

Qingshuang puffed out her cheeks. “Okay, okay. I already apologized, didn’t I?”

“Ugh, this is seriously giving me a headache. This is already the fifth time you’ve apologized because you got greedy over food. I’m starting to lose hope!”

“What’s wrong with liking food?” Qingshuang turned her head away.

“This is a game. What’s the point of eating so much? You’d be better off saving the money to buy equipment. Even if you’d saved half of it, you wouldn’t be in such a miserable state.”

Qingshuang let out a dismissive snort. “You don’t get it. It’s precisely because this is a game that I should eat as much as I want! No matter how much I eat, I won’t get fat. A world like this is absolutely wonderful!”

The boy’s mouth twitched. He suddenly felt that Qingshuang made a lot of sense, and all he wanted to say back was, “Keep it up, you’ll be the fattest!”

Nai Knight turned his gaze toward the window, his face bitter.

Leading around these boys and girls who had barely seen the world, he always felt his future was bleak.

Just yesterday, they had all shouted together, “We’re definitely going to make something of ourselves in Twinmoon City!”

But with companions this unreliable shouting along with him, suddenly everything they wanted to do felt unreliable too.

…

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“Up ahead is Yeyan Station, the final stop of this train. Due to an unexpected incident, passengers wishing to continue to Twinmoon City, please take a car from the station entrance!”

The train announcement rang out. The slowly rolling wheels finally came to a stop, and the passengers immediately surged out in a swarm.

“Claim my reward, claim my reward. I’m going to claim my reward.” Humming some random tune, Zhou Jieyu got off the train.

On the other side, Qingshuang hummed to herself and said, “This time, I’m definitely going to pick a good profession!”

“Don’t bite off more than you can chew!” Nai Knight hurriedly warned her.

“If I don’t level up, then…” Qingshuang immediately gave a little huff. “Ow!”

A girl wearing the classic trash newbie three-piece starter set for players rushed excitedly past her and accidentally slammed into Qingshuang’s waist.

“Ah, I’m really sorry, but I’m in a hurry right now. Sorry!” The girl turned and ran off again.

Nai Knight’s expression turned odd. Just now, he had noticed an unusual flush on the female player’s face. Her name was Monster Mountain Dweller.

Emmm…

What the hell was that?

He began to speculate.

If humankind were to lose the power of association, what would become of the world?

That was why one of Nai Knight’s favorite things to do was speculate.

“Move, move! Don’t block the way.”

The sudden shout interrupted Nai Knight’s train of thought. He looked up and saw a group of people getting off the train. At a glance, there were four of them, and their names floated above their heads. They were definitely players.

But in the middle of the crowd, those four stood out in particular.

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Unlike ordinary players, their outfits were flashy as hell. Compared to the standard newbie three-piece set, it was like heaven and earth. One look was enough to tell they weren’t ordinary goods.

“Damn, where did these rich guys come from?”

“Those clothes can’t be cheap. I remember seeing them in the clothing shop.”

“Are they brain-dead? Spending such important early-game money on clothes that don’t even give stats?”

“The hell do you know? When you’re playing a game, for men, the most important thing is being handsome, and for women, the most important thing is obviously looking pretty. Besides, who said they don’t give stats? Those clothes clearly add Charm, okay?”

“What’s the use of Charm?”

“Heh. You’ll know whether it’s useful or not once you run into certain special NPCs.”

When it comes to playing games…

Nai Knight glanced at their IDs.

Things like “I Am the Most Handsome in the World,” “I Am the Most Beautiful in the World,” plus “Tall-Rich-Handsome? That’s Me” and “Diamond-Tier Old Wang.”

What kind of garbage names were those? So vulgar.

Now my name, that’s got depth.

Nai, a kind of apple, the fruit of a bountiful harvest!

When you’re playing a game, what’s important is finding yourself a loli-type waifu first.

That’s not illegal.

Only with a solid support at your back do you have the motivation to keep climbing.