The Awakening and the Canyon’s Call

“Sister, you’re awake.”

The young girl greeted the other girl seated at the table, setting down the plate she carried as she spoke.

“Breakfast will be ready soon. Just wait a little while longer.”

“Thank you for your trouble.”

Xiang Qi replied politely, a hint of gentle indulgence in her dark crimson eyes. Her demeanor was utterly impeccable.

She blinked, and when Xiang Ran wasn’t looking, she discreetly affixed something she held to the underside of the table.

‘Was it just my imagination?’ Xiang Ran tilted her head, feeling that her sister seemed subtly different today compared to yesterday.

Yet, a sister was still a sister, a fact that would never change. After much earnest persuasion yesterday, her sister had finally agreed to stay at home, though she had asked Xiang Ran not to reveal her presence to anyone.

Though uncertain of the reason, Xiang Ran naturally committed it to memory. She had been lonely for far too long.

At this thought, a smile bloomed on the young girl’s face. How wonderful it was to have a sister!

‘Today will be another day full of vitality. I must strive to live well!’

****

Had the game begun again? It was truly unexpected.

Xiang Qi surveyed the empty clearing. The previous night, before sleeping, she had received a new mission from the system.

[Dungeon Name: Sea Gaze Canyon

Type: Small

Hint: This game will commence in three hours. Players, please prepare.]

The mission had suddenly popped up precisely when she was dealing with Xiang Ran’s affairs, almost as if timed to be suspicious.

Triggering a game system mission required a medium. Judging by its name, this mission seemed related to the coast, yet she couldn’t recall having encountered anything sea-related recently.

‘How vexing… I had planned to test the mission trigger mechanism, but it appeared on its own before I could even try.’

Four days had passed since her last game. After resolving her lingering online issues, she had set out to find Xiang Ran, then began to address her own identity problems.

Unfortunately, her interactions with Xiang Ran were not yet fully settled. She didn’t truly trust the girl, maintaining a certain level of vigilance. Regardless of the reason, Xiang Qi admitted she couldn’t be overly magnanimous towards someone who had acted quite unfriendlily upon their first meeting, leading her to harbor some doubts about the girl’s motives.

Her subsequent plans had not yet been implemented, but if Xiang Qi’s earlier suspicions were correct, she wouldn’t need to worry about future issues for now. That person would handle the remaining matters for her, albeit through rather unconventional means.

She only hoped that the situation wouldn’t become irreconcilable upon her return. Xiang Qi felt a headache brewing. While she completely trusted Poppy’s abilities—at least, she knew she couldn’t compare to them in various aspects—Poppy’s methods were equally difficult for Xiang Qi to condone.

‘Never mind. I’ll take it one step at a time. Overthinking is useless; it’s better to deal with the current problem first.’ In the game, one couldn’t interfere with reality, so excessive contemplation was pointless.

Moreover, this game was no joke. Xiang Qi silently observed the “bodies” strewn across the ground. In the last round, if she hadn’t thought a little more deeply, she probably wouldn’t have survived to the end of the game, crushed to dust by the pursuing hunter that descended from the sky.

One careless mistake could genuinely lead to death.

The sea breeze ruffled the girl’s hair, and the expression in Xiang Qi’s pale purple eyes gradually turned cold. To ensure her survival, she had steeled herself adequately.

‘No veterans this time?’ Six people lay on the ground. At present, Xiang Qi was the only one still conscious. She pondered, her gaze drifting over them.

‘It seems it won’t be too difficult. Generally, the more experienced a player, the more likely they are to encounter high-difficulty games. Without veterans, the game difficulty will undoubtedly decrease.’

This information hadn’t been included in the basic intelligence collected by the team. It was also a legacy left by Xiang Ke, who had died in the previous round. Under the cover of her inexplicable veteran status, Xiang Qi had extracted quite a few interesting tidbits from that woman.

In a sense, Xiang Ke could almost be considered the protagonist’s cheat code.

Returning to the main point, while it appeared there were no veterans, it was entirely possible an old schemer was hidden among them. Having almost suffered a loss in the previous round, Xiang Qi was especially mindful of this. Tripping twice in the same place would be inexcusable.

Not far away was the coast, where the tides rose and fell. Moonlight spread across the water, forming scales on the sea. The dark blue water shimmered with a mysterious allure.

“Calculating the time, they should be waking up soon…” Xiang Qi murmured to herself. Some time had passed since entering the game. Without any surprises, the game system would soon issue the mission for this round.

Truthfully, Xiang Qi hadn’t yet decided how to treat these newcomers. After all, she was still a novice who had only just experienced one game. There were certainly many aspects of the game she didn’t fully understand, such as knowing only the names of several major game modes without a practical grasp of their meaning.

Continuing to gather information, Xiang Qi sat on a rock, quietly awaiting the game mission’s announcement. This time, there was ample time for her to make some preparations.

Unfortunately, her preparations proved useless. Those items still hadn’t been brought in; even the things tucked into her sock band were mercilessly filtered out.

Despite this, Xiang Qi had formed some conjectures about the game’s item admission list. Next time, by swapping out some items, she should be able to bring a few things in.

“Ugh…”

Almost simultaneously, the few people on the ground began to stir. About two of them were still disoriented, while the others instinctively adopted defensive postures.

One woman and five men. Xiang Qi nodded to them, remaining silent.

Xiang Qi decided to maintain the status quo, choosing not to interact excessively with these newcomers. Given that a rookie’s first game was almost always a pursuit mode, there was a high probability that this game would also be a pursuit.

It was better to act alone.

The hidden rules of the previous round had given Xiang Qi some understanding of the game’s capacity for twists. However, that level of game rules was quite rare. Normal pursuit modes wouldn’t be like that, and acting alone offered a considerable advantage.

However, events rarely unfolded according to one’s wishes. Although Xiang Qi had no intention of engaging with these people, some of the newcomers didn’t share her sentiment and began to strike up familiar conversations.