Non-Combat Zones

Bai Gujing actually knew a-yo moss and golden teak poelem from his studies as Valnr. He spent less than half an hour searching the 10 kilometer Area Two before finding what he needed. He found out how large the space was during his exploration. There wasn't anything on the edges like a fog to stop him. Instead, the north was connected to the south and the east to the west. It was all connected as if it were a magical trapping array or a small planet.

Bai Gujing only needed to mash the herbs together and add some water. Of course, drying the herbs first would have a stronger effect, but he wanted to get through all non-combat areas today.

Area Three was a small pond. He laid down on the ground of a groove where the water was deep and he was closest to the edge. Then he submerged his hand in for a while to get it to the temperature of the water. Once his arm was sufficiently cold he wiggled his finger to tempt a fish over. Once one came close enough he grabbed it by the gill and pulled it out. The system informed him the area was complete. He put the fish back first. Then he accepted for the system to move him to the next area. He blinked and when he opened his eyes he was in a forest with tall trees.

This continued on until he had a lizard covered in an herb cooking over the fire with a stack of berries at his side. When the lizard was beginning to spread its aroma, the system informed him the area was complete again.

[Area Ten completed. Area Eleven unlocked.]

There was another one following this one.

[Non-combat Section completed. Rewarded 1k points. Safe Zone unlocked. Messaging function unlocked. Translate function unlocked. Store level 3 unlocked. Platform Runner Bonus Game available. Demon Killer Bonus Game available. Bonus Game rewards unlocked.]

"Whoa, that's a lot of unlocks." He slowly sorted through everything.

The Bonus Games had already been unlocked through points by Xiao Bai earlier, and many of the Bonus Game rewards had been auto-unlocked according to his progress. Xiao Bai had already unlocked almost all of the rewards from the beginner combat section and was working his way through the intermediate section now. He didn't get this through clearing areas like Bai Gujing had just been informed he had opened, instead he got it through getting higher and higher scores in the game that even his non-combat rewards weren't enough to reward him anymore.

He hadn't heard of the Messaging system, but who could he message through the system? Would other people get a popup like he did? Or maybe it would speak to their mind? Was he to pass off telepathy as one of his new abilities?

[Messaging system only compatible with Users.]

Bai Gujing frowned. He only knew one other User. The maid who bullied Xiao Bai. However, that certainly wasn't someone he wanted to be in regular contact with. If possible, he didn't want any contact with her.

He looked at the store. Level 3 was beginner weapons and equipment items. He already had hundreds of these stacked in his inventory from the games, but now he could pick and choose instead of the random rewards. It was also bought with points directly, which was useful.

"What's the Safe Zone?" Bai Gujing plucked the lizard out of the ground and used a knife to cut off some meat. He tasted it. The herb really helped the game like taste and brought it up a notch. The skin was crispy, but the meat's texture was a little odd. Bai Gujing nibbled at it while eating washed berries from the bowl of water in between. After carefully eating soup for half a day, he could eat a snack of solid foods.

[The Safe Zone is an area for Users to rest and socialize. There is direct access to the Dueling function, Portals, and the Store, as well as several shops for Users to rent out.]

"Like a User City? Wait, so that's what the messaging function is for? How many Users are there?"

[There are currently 37 thousand human Users.]

It wasn't a lot. Considering the help the system gives to adventurers, he hoped there would be more of them. That way humanity would have a higher rate of survival.

Bai Gujing ate a few bites of meat and a handful of berries and set the rest aside. His stomach was still in a delicate situation. He was careful to eat small amounts of soup while clearing the areas as regular intervals, but he still had some time before he could eat properly again. He hoped next time he came he could eat the kung pao chicken in his inventory. The system said it was Xiao Bai's favorite. He also wanted to try some of the many candies and snacks for himself. He felt it was so sad if he only gave rock candies away without having any himself.

[Many Users have significant status on Earth. Users are able to use the system's support techniques to teach others.]

Bai Gujing finally understood. If a human general taught his soldiers like this--actually, they probably already did to some extent. He thought it was a good system. The system was the grandmaster, the Users were the masters and the humans without systems were disciples.

He wanted to quickly go to the Safe Zone to check it out, but hesitated. "What time is it outside?"

[13:40:17 Month 3 Day 12]

Bai Gujing quickly decided to return first. He'd 'slept' for too long. He didn't even eat dinner yesterday, his Earth body was probably starving. He went back and pretended to have just woken. It wasn't difficult because this body had been sleeping. Only his mind hasn't rested properly. Due to resting for too long, he felt a little sick. He would have to handle his time better in the future.

Du Dong was still patiently waiting in the room. He saw Bai Gujing get up and hurried over. "I was going to wake you if you slept for much longer, fourth young master. It isn't healthy to sleep for so long. The madam told me to let you sleep this morning. She said your body needs rest after awakening. How are you feeling, fourth young master?"

As the old man spoke, Bai Gujing's stomach rumbled. He looked down in embarrassment.

"It's just past lunch, I will get your meal. Yesterday Mr Tao was cooking, but today I saw Mrs Hui had remade your sandwich and left you a surprise! I'll fetch it for you, fourth young master. You should really like it. I heard she baked it especially for you. You usually don't have much interest in food. I think she's trying to urge you to eat more-" It took ten minutes for him to leave. Bai Gujing's bed hair was gone from his fussing.

The old man was the type that didn't like to sit still, it seemed. Or sit in silence. It made him wonder how the old man sat quietly with a book for so long while Bai Gujing slept. As it was, it felt like the old man chattered non stop even in his sleep.