How to Cultivate a Game

"He already saved me once. I am already indebted to him." Xiang Ya said in a calm voice, taking her chances that... Nee Chen just might see it on her way. "I wished to repay him, and since he saved me, then I am his property from now on."

'But I saved you too.' Nee Chen didn't know what to say. Rather, he was reluctant to say it. Xiang Ya was hellbent on meeting the old man. It was her choice to make. Nee Chen then raised Elder Fu's sword still in its sheathe and pushed it to Xiang Ya. "Take it."

"Please… I couldn't." Xiang Ya without a second thought declined Nee Chen's gesture. It was just too painful for her. Though she wanted vengeance, she didn't want to be reminded of her grandfather this way.

"Brother Chen, Sister Ya… me too." Lu Gao also expressed his intention… a new reason to live filled his being.

With a helpless sigh, Nee Chen acquiesced to their wishes, "Fine, we'll start our journey tomorrow morning at the first ray of sunlight."

It was the middle of the night, and the moon above shone with luminous white. The fiery bonfire used to cook their fish was reduced to cinders just enough to warm them. Nee Chen turned around and lay on the grass. He felt as if he failed them. 'Xiang Ya, Lu Gao... Don't die before me...' He prayed in his sleep.

~~~

[Name: Fu Shi

Quintessence: 109

Players: 1/1]

Hmmm… It was not my habit to spy on people. It just happened that I wanted to check on them. It was all a coincidence that I overheard their quarreling. They were in an emotional state, and they must be on the verge of succumbing to despair. It was scary. A whole village was eradicated, and all of its people were massacred. 

But I didn't exactly eavesdrop on their conversation. That was too much of an exaggeration. It was more like I read their lips while using Mind's Eye, and interpreted their body language while talking. It was a little bit difficult since it was dark during the night, but I got the gist of the situation.

"It was time for a massive upgrade."

Ping! -100 quintessence.

Ping! Upgrading the Game Master's System!

[UPDATES!

*Daily Quintessence Points now depended on how many players you have

*Players could now earn Quintessence Points for the Game Master

*Pings on the deaths of players were now possible

*Player Level Cap: 2nd Stage— Mind Enlightenment (Max Level: 40)

*Maximum Players: 1/10

Remarks: Congratulations on discovering the Upgrade function!]

Not bad, not bad at all! It was a hunch at first, but it worked.

"Yuan'er, I have a mission for you."

[Ping! Giving Quest... Escort!]

~~~

"Kyu-kyu-KYU!"

"U-uck, don't! Ouch, who did that?" Nee Chen woke up at the sight of a little bunny prodding his forehead with a fork. The bunny stopped when it noticed that Nee Chen was already awake.

'What the hell?' Nee Chen was highly confused.

The little bunny continued to do the said prodding to his two other companions.

"A-ack!" Xiang Ya.

"Uwuuu, I still want to sleep! OUCH!" Lu Gao.

 Xiang Ya's and Lu Gao's foreheads were quite red. Nee Chen's forehead was already healed, maybe thanks to his Martial Tempering realm constitution, he was thankful for being a 1st stage cultivator. Nee Chen eyed the bunny suspiciously.

The little bunny was a topic of curiosity. Just what in the world was it doing here?

"Was this a demonic beast?" Lu Gao complained.

"No way, it was too cute!" Xiang Ya defended.

"It looked like it wanted to lead us somewhere," Nee Chen being the most objective of the three carefully scrutinized the little bunny. "Let's follow it; I think I know where it would lead us." He added, confident of his own deductions. "Let's go..."

They traversed the Butterberry forest, Nee Chen, not even breaking a sweat despite the uneven terrain. However, the other two became tired too easily from the journey, which could not be helped. As a result, there was plenty of resting in between.

Thanks to their bunny bodyguard, they had been safe so far, maybe because the bunny was leading them. So far, there have been no accidents from pitfalls, falling debris, etcetera. If there were a beast that dared bar their way, the bunny would deal with it giving Nee Chen no chance to fight.

The three of them were very surprised when the bunny one-shotted a giant snake.

The terrain was rough, but they persevered. Nee Chen even alternated between carrying Xiang Ya and Lu Gao which was the only hard work that was needed from him. 

"Brother Chen, what did you think of the bunny?" Little Gao couldn't suppress his curiosity anymore, so he asked. But instead of Nee Chen, it was Xiang Ya that answered.

"It could only be the immortal cultivator that arrived in our village. After all, it was only he who could have known where we were staying. He arrived at our village unannounced and even exacted vengeance on that abominable demon… He was certainly a legendary figure. With this line of thought, it could only be him who sent us this… little bunny."

Nee Chen nodded in agreement with Xiang Ya's words. Moreover, the little bunny was friendly throughout their journey. It even hunted for them! The most shocking spectacle they saw other than the bunny taking down a giant snake in one blow was the little bunny dragging an enormous boar the size of a horse.

"Kyu!" The bunny boasted, its meaning was unclear, but Nee Chen thought the bunny meant 'Boars are dumb,' or something.

They watched the little bunny carve its way into these forests, safely escorting its charge forward.

After two consecutive weeks of travel, they finally reached their destination. At the peak of Desolate Mountain, a cave carved with dragons on its edges majestically welcomed them.

"You all have come,"

[Ping! Used 3 quintessence. Acquired 3 players]

"From now on, you three were members of the System Providence Sect!"

~~~

A little while back before the trio: Nee Chen, Xiang Ya, and Lu Gao arrived... I was making apt preparations.

After two weeks and some extracurricular activities since killing a certain demonic cultivator, I was left with 102 quintessence! Upgrading the system had cost me a hundred quintessence! Now, I was a poor man with only two quintessence. I could not work with that.

I was making my apt preparations for expanding my player base. At the prospect of recruiting Nee Chen and possibly the other survivors, I should be able to make progress finally! But I lack the quintessence to for example create classes.

The most important was increasing my quintessence resource.

At my immediate return, I helped the little bunny in its class advancement as I had her land the last hits on some stronger beasts. This didn't earn me an extra quintessence! If it did, it was only worth two quintessence which was stupidly small. But because I helped Bi Yuan, I now had a good lay of the land making my personal hunting easier.

After increasing Bi Yuan's levels, I had her escort the trio of Nee Chen, Xiang Ya, and Lu Gao. I should finalize my work before they arrive.

The beasts that Bi Yuan killed in the midst of her bodyguarding duties allowed me to earn extra income, which also helped a lot. I didn't slack off either, as I progressively hunted for stronger beasts in my spare time. 

Since then, the bunny could decimate 1st stage beasts quite easily. It was honestly cheating for me to still help her. I swore that this would be the last time I would spoil her! As my player empire grew, it was crucial for me not to play favorites. Bi Yuan's advancement was simply her early-game advantage, and it would stop at just that!

[Name: Bi Yuan | Class: Paladin | Level 22 (2nd stage—Mind Enlightenment)]

I should really stop spoiling that little bunny. No preferential treatment anymore!

The level system that I developed started from Level 0 (Zero). Once a player had passed Level 10, they would be eligible for a class advancement and enter the Martial Tempering realm. From thereon, the level cap would double from every major increase in stages.

Two weeks later when a certain trio arrived at my place, I had a total of 52 quintessence from my idle hunting, and Bi Yuan's contribution on top of that! I then excitedly squandered what little bit of wealth I had left as I intended.

~~~

[Name: Fu Shi

Quintessence: 52

Players: 4/10]

Back to the present, I was enjoying the looks of surprise and wonder from the trio. They were awed by my appearance, sure. But I reckoned, they were more concerned of the mysterious system interface which appeared on their faces.

[Ping! Used 3 quintessence. Acquired 3 players]

Nee Chen, Xiang Ya, and Lu Gao were dumbfounded as they stared at the system interface in front of them, trying to make sense of what was happening.

[Name: Nee Chen | (Class Advancement Available) | Level 10 (1st stage—Martial Tempering)]

[Name: Xiang Ya | Level 0]

[Name: Lu Gao | Level 0]

The interface in front of them was illusory in nature derived from old Fu Shi's memories of the Illusion Arts and Mental Arts. This system interface could not be touched, however, it was still possible to interact with them through mental input.

Nee Chen, who had a 'Class Advancement' tag available to him 'thought' what was this 'tag' about? Exactly at that 'thought', an explanation was then offered to him by the system.

[Class Advancement- It meant that you were qualified to choose a 'class' in exchange for fulfilling certain prerequisites. Obtaining a class would allow you to gain special powers, arts, and stats.]

Nee Chen was speechless at the interface in front of him. He heard it 'talk' inside his head, with corresponding 'subtitles' written in his system interface under the 'logs' component.

To 'master' this system interface, the three of them must explore its functions!