Volume 3, Chapter 38 – An Opportunity to Join Nine Songs

“Aila’s favorability +3.”

“Aila’s favorability +2.”

“Aila’s…”

Before she knew it, Anran realized that her favorability with Aila had risen to 76.

After reaching 76, it stopped going up.

But that number was already ridiculous.

If you judged it by normal male-female favorability standards, anything above 80 meant a romantic relationship, while 76 was that stage of being more than friends, but not quite lovers.

Aila stayed in Anran’s arms for quite a while before shifting a little uneasily.

Anran cooperatively loosened her arms.

It would be strange to keep standing in the ruins forever, after all.

“Let’s find a place to stay first,” Anran said.

“Mm.”

Aila had already come to regard Anran as her pillar of support. As long as there was no major disagreement, she would not object to what Anran said.

Anran herself did not realize this, and even if she had, she would not have been all that happy.

After all, it had been bought with Colin’s life.

Strictly speaking, Colin’s death had still been indirectly caused by her.

And yet, not only did Aila not blame her, she trusted her all the more.

That made Anran feel an overwhelming amount of pressure.

“From now on, destroying the Morningstar Resistance will count as my main quest!” Anran clenched her fist.

Not every boss was a villain, and not every villain was evil.

In the boundless sea of stars, there were countless ideals and positions.

Any difference could give rise to countless forms of “evil.”

Anran felt that no matter how far she fell now, she would never become a bloodthirsty demon.

Because she had already begun to feel the warmth of Night of the Stars.

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Anran took Aila’s hand and walked out of the ruins.

Countless things had turned to ashes in the fire.

Including some money Anran had saved up, and the things she had made before.

Only a very few had managed to remain intact through the blaze.

Anran stood at the street corner, with Aila beside her.

At that moment, her feelings were hard to put into words.

She had worked hard for nearly a month to save up a bit of property, and now it was all gone just like that.

She had become a pauper again.

All she had left on her was the little over 1,000 Bilu that Aila had passed on to her that morning.

Along with a backpack full of “weapons.”

And a mechanical little girl.

That was the sum total of Anran’s possessions.

One fire had doused the flame in her heart.

One fire had sent her right back to square one.

“Let’s go.” Anran led Aila away from the place.

It was one in the morning. If they wanted to find somewhere to stay, a hotel or an inn was their only option.

There was no way Anran could make Aila camp out in the open with her.

…

“Are we still going to sell pastries today?”

While Anran was packing up, Aila suddenly asked.

“If you’re willing to,” Anran said as she shouldered her backpack.

Lowering her head, Aila said, “If it can help Anran, then I have no problem with it.”

“…”

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Anran, who was sitting on the edge of the bed tying her shoelaces, froze.

She merely nodded in silence.

Aila seemed to be becoming more and more human.

What exactly was that second reward from the quest, Aila’s Heart?

Even the quest itself was called Aila’s Heart.

Did it mean that helping Aila wipe out the Morningstar Resistance would max out her favorability? Anran felt things would not be that simple.

Bringing Aila with her, Anran checked out and headed for Qiuyang Road.

The inn she had stayed at that night was not far from Qiuyang Road, so Anran quickly arrived near the Research Center.

She had originally been worried that Zhou Jieyu and Leading the Charge might not have made any pastries.

But things did not seem to have changed much.

It was still the same as always: pastries in one hand, EXP in the other.

Then Aila stood across from Nine Songs and sold pastries.

Anran walked into the Research Center.

Aside from the events happening far away, nothing had changed.

Anran put down her backpack in the workshop, stayed there for an hour, and after earning more than 1,000 EXP, she went out again, traveling light, and swiftly left the Research Center.

As she passed through the first-floor corridor, Gray caught sight of Anran’s back and was just about to call out to her, but Anran had already gone out.

9:30 a.m.

Anran stood at the entrance to Nine Songs.

There were still quite a few players gathered outside Nine Songs, though far fewer than before.

And amid the idle chatter of the players, Anran heard two pieces of major news.

…

“The mayor of Twinmoon City died in his own bed.”

“What, some kind of steamy story?”

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“No, apparently he was shot to death in his sleep.”

“Holy shit, that’s huge. Is another new story event about to start?”

…

“I heard from a friend in the neighboring district that a city called Wutong City got bombed by Morningstar. Since the signal tower on Twinmoon City’s side still hasn’t been fully repaired, and Wutong City’s network was hacked too, the whole city’s communications have collapsed.”

“Damn. Information is one of the most important factors in modern warfare. If communications are totally screwed, how the hell are they supposed to fight?”

“Yeah, Wutong City is finished. But what’s even scarier is that apparently there’s a massive hydroelectric power station near Wutong City.”

“Uh…”

“The Morningstar faction really is strong. I knew it, the devs wouldn’t be dumb enough to make two factions with lopsided strength.”

“But this still feels off. Wasn’t Morningstar always getting beaten by the imperial government before? How did they suddenly rise up?”

“Who knows. I’m still choosing the Empire side.”

…

Two very important pieces of information.

If taking Wutong City was the continuation of the war in Twinmoon City, then what was the point of assassinating the mayor?

Was it really done by the people from Morningstar?

She had only gone less than a day without checking the forums, and the outside world had already been turned upside down.

It looked like factional conflict was about to be put on the agenda.

While Anran was still lost in thought, someone suddenly patted her on the shoulder.

She took a swift step back, and only after turning around did she see that it was Zhou Jieyu.

“It’s already 9:40. Let’s go in.” Zhou Jieyu’s face was full of smiles. She had already started imagining her game life after joining Nine Songs.

“Mm.”

And so, under the puzzled gazes of the surrounding players, Anran, Zhou Jieyu, and Leading the Charge walked into Nine Songs together.

“Welcome!”

The guiding NPC young woman they had met yesterday spotted the three of them at once.

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She quickly walked over and said, “There are still fifteen minutes before the meeting starts. I’ll take you to the reception room first.”

“Mm, thank you.” Anran nodded.

As long as there were no special restrictions, Anran was full of confidence right now.

Leading the Charge was much calmer.

As for Zhou Jieyu, she had already sunk into her own world and could no longer tell east from west.

The reception room for the meeting was farther inside.

It was obviously not on the same level as those assessment rooms outside.

The guide NPC pushed the door open and went in first, and Anran followed right after her.

Anran looked around the room, examining it. When her gaze shifted to the right, she suddenly discovered that there was already a girl sitting there.

Wearing a plaid skirt and a white long-sleeved top, she sat quietly on the sofa.

A head of glossy black hair fell naturally over her shoulders.

She was reading, and the book covered her face.

This was a textbook literary girl!

Was this the deputy minister of Nine Songs?

The moment that thought surfaced, Anran cut it off. No, that wasn’t right.

Because there was an ID above her head.

ID: Monster Mountain Hermit.

That player who solo cleared the dungeon?

Anran froze.

Zhou Jieyu and Leading the Charge froze too when they realized it.

A literary girl?

You’ve got to be kidding me.