Li Xunsi moved her face away from the sniper scope and replied to Aiya’s message.
[Little Li Li (screen name): “There’s a new game every day, what’s there to be so curious about?”]
[Guinea Pig Aiya (screen name): “But this new game isn’t ordinary! It just launched and already has over a million players online!”]
[Little Li Li: “Back when I started playing Frontline, the server had three million people online.”]
But even as she said that, Battlefront Formation was an old game, released during the golden age of virtual games, and it was the classic king of gunfight games.
Now, the virtual game industry isn’t doing so well.
Who knows how many Dream World games shut down every day?
But another question arose.
Li Xunsi had the habit of checking the latest Dream World news every day, but she had never even heard of this so-called manor game launching.
In other words, this was probably just a poor man’s little game, not some big-budget production, and it had barely any promotion.
If that was the case, then it really was an ultimate dark horse hit.
Actually, Li Xunsi was quite interested, but her mouth stayed stubborn.
[Guinea Pig Aiya: “Who still plays those old-fashioned games of yours? This Summer Manor is a casual farming game. Every player gets their own plot of land, can build a house and grow vegetables, enjoy private time, and the main feature is your own personal space.”]
[Little Li Li: “What’s the point of a virtual game if you don’t play in a big world? If there’s no competitive PVP, what’s the point of a virtual game even existing?”]
[Guinea Pig Aiya: “It’s exactly because of competitive maniacs like you that newbies like us can’t survive! Summer Manor is designed for newbies like us to play, so we don’t have to be stuck with violent types like you.”]
[Little Li Li: “You know me, I have no interest in this kind of game.”]
[Guinea Pig Aiya: “But Miss Feng wants us all to try it, since this game has multiplayer. If anything comes up, we can chat in the manor.”]
[Little Li Li: “Why didn’t you say so earlier? I’m coming.”]
She closed the chat window, put away her sniper rifle, and logged off, leaving the battlefield.
Arriving at the Dream Realm rest lobby, she opened the latest Dream World game and found the so-called [Summer Manor] right on the top row of popular games.
Li Xunsi downloaded it right away and queued up to log in.
“You even have to queue up?” Li Xunsi touched her nose.
It seemed a lot of people really were logging in, crashing the servers.
After waiting nearly ten minutes, Li Xunsi finally logged in successfully and entered the Dream World of Summer Manor.
She heard a gentle background music play, soothing to the soul.
Li Xunsi stood on the edge of a little grassland, with sunny skies and a soft breeze caressing her face.
Unfortunately, her Dreamscape Mechanical Eyemask was too lousy, so the experience was just average.
Still, she could feel the taste of nature.
“Real.” The moment she entered, Li Xunsi understood why this Dream World could have a million people online.
She found herself holding a letter.
She opened it and saw it was the game introduction.
The gameplay was simple: this plot of land belonged to the player.
Players could build houses, farm the land, and raise some small pets.
She turned her head and saw a Little Wooden House and a fenced area in front of the woods—that was her starter home.
Li Xunsi walked into the Little Wooden House to look around and found the decor was exactly the same as her own tiny Rental Room, downright shabby.
But she felt very comfortable.
She lay down on the wooden bed to rest and felt it was even more comfortable than the bed in her own Rental Room.
Li Xunsi lay there for a long, long time…
Until she was jolted back by a bombardment of messages from Aiya—she sounded urgent!
[Guinea Pig Aiya: “Why didn’t you call me when you logged in? Let’s play multiplayer!”]
[Little Li Li: “Wasn’t this supposed to be all about private space?”]
[Guinea Pig Aiya: “Do you even know how to play? I’ll teach you!”]
Very soon, Guinea Pig Aiya’s multiplayer request popped up.
It was actually a bit strange, since most Dream World games were big open-world multiplayer games, and you never needed to apply to join.
This was something new.
Li Xunsi clicked accept.
“Rumble rumble! Rumble rumble!”
A thunderous noise sounded outside, startling Li Xunsi.
She got up at once to check.
Next to her Little Wooden House, another Little Wooden House had suddenly appeared out of nowhere—she’d gotten a neighbor.
“Xunsi, what kind of character did you make? Why are you pretending to be a man? Are you a crossplayer?”
Out from the neighbor’s Little Wooden House came a curvy bombshell in a cute guinea pig onesie—it was Aiya.
“Crossplayer…” That word made the always-calm Li Xunsi feel uncomfortable.
“Are you okay, Xunsi? You should change your avatar, or Miss Feng will come over soon and she’ll start nagging.”
Even Aiya hadn’t expected her words to work so well.
They always joked and teased each other, but Li Xunsi had never gotten flustered—usually it was Aiya who got teased until she was red-faced.
“What’s there to nag about? Can’t I even choose my own virtual avatar?” Li Xunsi muttered under her breath, but obediently changed her virtual appearance anyway.
In an instant, the burly man from a moment ago became a cute girl.
The new avatar looked almost identical to her real face—it was scanned directly, after all—but it lacked makeup, so she didn’t look as rebellious or dark.
“Ohoho~” Aiya let out a weird laugh.
She pulled Li Xunsi over to show off her little manor.
Compared to Li Xunsi’s brand new plot, Aiya’s manor had a lot more stuff around the fence—two fields full of Carrots, and an apple tree.
There were also lots of farming tools outside her house, and a lazy little cat napping in the sun.
The space was about the same size, but Aiya’s place was fully equipped, while Li Xunsi’s was completely empty.
“I’ll teach you how to make things. If you want to craft tools, we need to go into the woods to chop trees for wood, and pick up some stones. Then we can use the workbench to craft items.”
Aiya pointed and explained everything.
“Illegal logging is a crime.” Li Xunsi retorted.
“Can you not tell the difference between a game and real life?” Aiya shot back.
The two of them picked up axes and went into the nearby woods to chop trees and collect stones.
They worked hard through the night and gathered a lot of materials.
Although Li Xunsi looked cold and indifferent, she actually really enjoyed playing games with her friend.
At least when it came to relieving stress, this little Dream World was just as good as Battlefront Formation.
It really did help her relax.
It was perfect for office workers who felt stifled at work—easy to pick up, no need for a team, no need to talk to strangers.
You could just play with people you knew, or enjoy your own private farming time.