Chapter 114: Activating the Earth Village Chat Channel

After finishing their business, the two didn’t linger in the mission hall. Gudong Gudong finished off his Danmu fruit tea in one gulp, and the two of them walked out side by side.

“Are you going monster hunting later?” Wu Xingyu asked, his face expressionless. He glanced over cautiously, then quietly scooted a little closer to Yun Qimu.

A little closer, and then a little closer.

Yun Qimu ignored his little movements, smiling as she glanced at the bright sky outside. “It’s a nice day today—perfect for hunting monsters.”

“Yeah, I also want to go back to that cave from yesterday and dig up some more green jelly stones. You can take them out and sell them later. They really do taste pretty good.”

For the first time, Wu Xingyu hesitated about selling something. He looked even more miserable and said, “But once they’re in my hands, they’re not sweet anymore.”

Yun Qimu paused mid-step. That was true.

She stroked her chin seriously, a bit conflicted. “Yeah, with your luck, these things really aren’t easy to sell if you’re the one handling them.”

Wu Xingyu: Even more miserable now!

Then, for some reason, he suddenly invited Yun Qimu, “Why don’t you come with me? If you’re there, they’ll all be sweet.”

“Uh—” Yun Qimu was caught off guard.

At that moment, the system’s quirky notification sounded in her ear: [Ding dong—System is now issuing a mandatory quest. Host, please represent the Earth Village chief to visit the Exile Star’s main city and learn how to be an outstanding village chief. Gain experience in city management in advance. Quest failure penalty: Thunder and Divine Strike, physical stats halved, Yun-Flow Physique revoked.]

The smile froze on Yun Qimu’s face and gradually darkened.

She narrowed her eyes in annoyance. “Main Brain, you’re pulling this trick again? Can’t you come up with some new punishments?”

The Main Brain snorted, [Old tricks are fine as long as they work.]

Yun Qimu gritted her teeth. That was actually true—she really did care about her body, and she really did care about her Yun-Flow Physique.

Especially after coughing up blood twice before, only to recover after a short rest and feel even better than before—bouncing back to hunt monsters in top form. That really made her appreciate how great this physique was.

There was no way she’d let it be taken away, so this trip was as good as decided.

[Host, will you accept this quest?] The Main Brain asked cheerfully.

Yun Qimu ground out her answer, one word at a time, “Yes. I’ll do it.”

“What about the reward? I want the Earth Village chat channel unlocked. If I’m going far away, I need to be able to keep up with what’s happening in the village. I can’t take my little brother and dad with me on adventures, but I also can’t just leave them behind without knowing how they’re doing. I have to be able to check in with them every day before I can go.”

This time, the Main Brain agreed readily. [Sure, I can unlock the Earth Village chat channel, but it will only support text, and only one-on-one chats.]

Yun Qimu frowned slightly. No video, no voice, no group chat, no global announcement—this wasn’t a full-featured chat channel.

But the Main Brain was unusually firm, insisting that this was already a special exception. Yun Qimu had no choice but to compromise. “Fine, then let’s start with a one-on-one text chat channel. But it needs to be activated in advance. And when I’m out there, I need to be able to contact people in Earth Village—don’t give me any of that local network or no-signal nonsense.”

[Don’t worry, Host. As long as you’re from Earth Village, you can contact each other from anywhere on Exile Star. My chat channel isn’t like those junky light-brains out there that lose connection every time the magnetic field acts up.]

Little Matchstick lifted its head proudly.

Yun Qimu was satisfied too, and deadpanned, “Excellent. I knew anything made by the game would be top quality.”

Encouraged, the Main Brain lifted its head even higher. [I’ll activate it right now.]

The next second, a village-wide broadcast sounded.

[Ding dong—Attention all Earth Village residents! The basic chat channel is about to be activated. The chat channel only supports text and one-on-one conversations. You can now contact friends one-on-one from anywhere on Exile Star, not just within Earth Village. Confetti~]

[Ding dong—Attention all Earth Village residents! The basic chat channel is about to be activated. The chat channel only supports text and one-on-one conversations. You can now contact friends one-on-one from anywhere on Exile Star, not just within Earth Village. Confetti~]

[Ding dong—Attention all Earth Village residents!]

The announcement repeated three times. Wu Xingyu, who had been pouting after Yun Qimu froze at his invitation, subconsciously looked up, his dark eyes a bit dazed. “The chat channel is open now. That’ll make it a lot easier to keep in touch with Earth Village.”

He lowered his head and opened the game interface. Sure enough, there was a new retro telephone icon at the bottom.

He tapped it open. The list was empty, but there was a “+” sign in the upper left corner to add friends.

He pursed his lips, a hint of a smile escaping, then looked seriously at Yun Qimu. “Should we add each other as friends?”

Yun Qimu snapped out of it and turned to him with a smile. “Sure, sure! That’ll make it much easier to talk business in the future—we won’t even have to meet up, and there’ll be a written record. The only problem is for people who can’t read or write.”

Wu Xingyu stared at the first friend he’d just added to his list. Why did this chat channel suddenly feel less appealing?

Meanwhile, the villagers of Earth Village had mixed reactions.

Delise’s eyes lit up with joy as she grabbed Agulai’s hand. “This is great! Now, even when you’re out hunting monsters, I can always know how you’re doing. I won’t have to worry anymore. And you can message me when you’re coming back, so I can get the kitchen ready in advance.”

But Agulai’s dark face was stiff and awkward. “I—I never learned to read. I can’t…”

Delise was taken aback, then her eyes curved into a bright smile. “That’s okay! I can teach you. Even if you can’t read, you can still send me messages. You can send this letter, and I’ll know you’re coming back. Or send that letter, and I’ll know you’re happy. And here are the numbers—if you kill a few monsters, you can just send me the number.”

She chattered on, pulling Agulai over to the input screen, pointing out each letter one by one.

Agulai, who had been feeling awkward and inferior, earnestly followed along, carefully memorizing every letter she showed him. Gradually, a smile appeared on his face.

Turns out, learning to read isn’t that hard after all. Delise is a great teacher."