In a flash, half a month had passed, and the Summer Manor co-owned by Aiya and Li Xunsi had grown into a modest little estate.
Aiya’s house had already become a spacious three-story villa, but Li Xunsi’s small wooden cabin only upgraded once before stopping, never continuing to expand her residence.
Upgrading once just meant repairing the original drafty, run-down shack; it didn’t make it much bigger.
Of course, it wasn’t that Aiya refused to build a house for Li Xunsi—Li Xunsi did it on purpose.
She hated big houses, only wanting to curl up inside a small one.
If the house was too big and empty, she’d feel uncomfortable all over, as if the suffocating emptiness would swallow her whole.
But there was also a practical reason for not expanding the small wooden cabin: Li Xunsi could build more [Warehouses].
In this Dream World, warehouses were truly amazing things.
If you put materials inside, by the next day, the warehouse would automatically produce five percent more materials.
In other words, if you stockpiled a lot in the warehouse, you could get more materials without lifting a finger.
It was practically sorcery!
Alright, to put it bluntly, it was just like putting money in the bank to earn interest.
Li Xunsi was a pragmatist.
Rather than making useless decorations, she preferred to build more warehouses.
Aside from warehouses, what they had the most of was fields.
After all, it was a farming mini-game—how could there not be fields?
They already owned several plots, all planted with Carrots, only needing to be watered every day to grow—just waiting for harvest.
Li Xunsi liked to sit in her rocking chair, watching the little carrots grow, fiddling with her Mobile Phone, and watching strategy videos.
Hiding inside a virtual Dream Game and playing on her phone—one could only say that modern people’s mental state was becoming more and more incomprehensible.
Li Xunsi felt there was nothing much left to do in this little Dream World.
She’d fallen into a kind of electronic sheep malaise, feeling like she’d soon have to return to the frontlines of battle and keep shooting.
These casual mini-games still lacked depth—offering only a brief peace, perfect for fast-paced office workers to relax.
‘But I, Li Xunsi, am just a seventeen-year-old beauty. Life hasn’t gotten that stifling yet. I’m still better suited to playing PVP Games and savoring the thrill of hunting other players.’
“Little Li, Little Li, Miss Feng says she wants to team up with us. She says there’s something important to discuss.”
Aiya was pacing the fields, busy harvesting vegetables, when her Mobile Phone suddenly buzzed.
She checked the message and immediately came over to report to Li Xunsi.
“Let her come quickly, I’m about to go moldy from boredom.” Li Xunsi said.
Aiya sent a team-up request to Miss Feng.
“Rumble! Rumble!”
Very soon, the space began to twist and warp, and a wooden cabin materialized out of thin air beside their shared manor.
“Hey, kids, long time no see.”
A youthful Miss Feng, dressed in a pure white dress, appeared outside the fence and waved to the two of them.
Her virtual avatar had clearly turned beauty filters up to ten, her looks rivaling the youthful Li Xunsi and Aiya—maybe even seeming younger than the two high school girls.
After all, it was the Dream World.
Players could customize their appearance however they liked.
Miss Feng was already showing restraint by not making herself a loli.
“Miss Feng, please have a seat.” Li Xunsi summoned a set of wooden furniture.
“Kids, listen to me.” Miss Feng sat down next to them, her face full of mystery.
But after saying just one line, she paused, leaving them hanging.
Li Xunsi furrowed her brows, waiting quietly for her to continue her “high theory.”
“Our company’s Dream World engineers have been working overtime for half a month, building a brand new, massive, strange, and powerful combined Dream World. By making good use of the map resources, we can greatly reduce server load and run multiple services at once. The Dream World designers have also fixed a bunch of bugs and made the game settings much more reasonable. From now on, each Virtual Service can last even longer.” Miss Feng launched into a long speech.
“Uh? Hm? Uh?” Aiya’s face was blank at all the technical jargon.
“Flourishing.” Li Xunsi understood.
“That’s right, our registered members have soared, so we have to expand our services. Everyone’s bonuses will go way up, and we all have a bright future ahead.” Miss Feng smiled.
“Yay!” Hearing about bigger bonuses, Aiya finally understood and clapped her hands.
Li Xunsi joined in the applause.
“One last thing—about the suggestion you made, Little Li. The company has accepted it. After evaluating your abilities, we’re ready to give you a brand new, high-level identity that surpasses the ordinary chicks: [Shell Hunter]. You’ll get unique, tailor-made abilities, and your job won’t be to go in and get hunted by customers anymore, but to enter the game and hunt the customers yourself.” Miss Feng’s tone suddenly grew serious.
“If Aiya doesn’t come with me, I’m not playing. She’s my benefactor. If anyone gets promoted, it should be her first.” Li Xunsi replied.
“That… It’s not that I don’t want to bring her, but Aiya doesn’t have your incredible Dream Infiltration Technique. And it’s not like she can’t play with you—you can bring her along on adventures.” Miss Feng sounded a little embarrassed.
“Little Li, thank you, but it’s fine. I really don’t have your miraculous Dream Infiltration Technique.” Aiya was moved to tears.
“Well, since you put it that way, alright then.” Li Xunsi reluctantly agreed.
Though deep down, she wasn’t really thinking of Aiya at all—it was all an act, all for show.
Aiya had already brought her into the business, but now she was useless to her, just a burden she could abandon at any time.
Alright, that’s what she said, but Li Xunsi still had something called a sense of duty in her heart, so she absolutely wouldn’t abandon Aiya.
Of course, leaving someone to die in the Dream World didn’t count—that was called a strategic retreat.
She’d never abandon a friend in real life.
“So, what exactly is this Shell Hunter class? And why is it called ‘Shell’? Is there some kind of metaphor?” Li Xunsi asked.
“Those who know, know.” Miss Feng gave a sly smile.
“……” Li Xunsi didn’t get it at all.
But to act like she was in the loop, she kept quiet, tacitly pretending to understand.
“You don’t need to spend your own money. We’ll tailor some exclusive skills and a brand new avatar for you. You’ll become our company’s superstar.” Miss Feng said.
“Thank you for your support, Miss Feng. It’s all thanks to you.” Li Xunsi expressed her gratitude.
“We’re all sisters here—let’s make money together.” Miss Feng hugged them both, laughing heartily.
“So, when does the next competition start?” Li Xunsi asked.
“No rush, the servers will be back up very soon. We need to run tests tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow we should be officially back online.” Miss Feng explained.
“Great! My Sword Finger is already itching for action.” Li Xunsi flashed a beastly smile.