Chapter 243: Digging Graves
Chapter 243: Digging Graves
The peaceful days weren’t suddenly shattered. In reality, people didn’t immediately rush to the protagonist’s doorstep the moment he got involved.
As time passed, Ye Chen grew acquainted with the little girl and learned her name was An Lier.
An Lier’s father was a Count on Emperor Star—a noble title preserved even in this interstellar era. The lingering existence of such ancient families hinted at their immense power and tangled influence. Yet this also exposed Emperor Star’s hidden turmoil: conflicts between emerging and old factions brewed beneath its calm surface.
The new power, spearheaded by the Interstellar Executor, clashed with the old nobility represented by the Star Lord.
Ye Chen hadn’t cared about these matters before, and even now, they hardly concerned him. From his current standpoint, old nobles and new elites were irrelevant. If he grew strong enough, he could crush them all with a single slap. His priority remained uncovering who had severed that head floating in outer space. Only then could he gauge the enemy’s strength and decide whether to emerge from hiding.
Being a hundred times stronger than his foes would suffice.
This mindset suited Ye Chen. After avenging himself in the Fighting World, his true nature had gradually surfaced.
Playing it safe was his motto.
In the following days, Ye Chen began teaching the little girl extraordinary powers—not the methods from the Fighting World, but techniques he’d devised himself. As Emperor Star’s top-ranked big shot and a strong individual who’d broken free from worlds, he had plenty of tricks to share.
+1000 experience points.
+1001 experience points.
+10086 experience points.
After dismissing the Players as usual, Ye Chen yawned lazily.
NPCs earned experience points far more easily than Players. But for NPCs, levels required actual training—experience alone couldn’t do it. Only by using the golden finger gifted by his master and Old Ancestor Ku could Ye Chen share NPC experience to level up Players.
This was essentially exploiting the world’s bug.
“Experience pool’s full again. Can’t level up anymore.”
Ye Chen tapped the upgrade button pointlessly, stuck with useless skill points and nowhere to spend his overflowing experience.
After waiting a while, he sat up.
An Lier hadn’t come as she always did. Over their days together, Ye Chen had learned her personality: timid but diligent. She’d never skipped training or arrived late without reason.
“Trouble?”
Trouble meant complications. Having decided to act, Ye Chen wouldn’t abandon her.
But handling it personally? Impossible.
He thought briefly, then swiftly drew his finger through the air. A mission prompt materialized, marked by a glaring exclamation point in the Players’ vision. After long practice, Ye Chen could now create tasks as easily as breathing.
Soon, the nearest Player appeared in the cemetery.
“Big shot, got a quest?”
Little Flying Fish charged in first. As guild leader and the highest-level Player, he moved fastest. After countless quests with Ye Chen, the Players all recognized this “Hidden Big Shot.” Every item Ye Chen casually tossed out became prized loot. Spotting the new quest marker, Little Flying Fish raced over instantly.
“I need you to handle something.”
Ye Chen sent the freshly crafted quest, attaching its completion reward. Unsure of the enemy’s identity, he’d designed it as a team mission—more bodies meant better chances to probe the foe.
“Speed matters.”
“On it!”
Little Flying Fish straightened up, thrilled to receive such a quest for the first time.
There was a time-limited team mission!
“Dog, come quick! Get Big Cousin and the others. I grabbed a team quest,” Little Flying Fish typed rapidly in the guild channel.
Soon, the guild’s top players gathered.
Within twenty minutes, these grinders stood outside An Lier’s family estate. The exiled An Lier family lived in this Interstellar Executor-assigned mansion that doubled as surveillance post. Players gaped at the monastery-like Count’s mansion before them.
“This is a dungeon run?”
Though they’d seen monastery-themed dungeons before, none matched this one’s dread-inducing atmosphere. The skull-marked guards at the gates alone revealed their base levels.
“Timed rescue mission? Too hardcore.”
Some players wavered just from scouting the entrance.
“Scaredy-cats can bail,” Little Flying Fish said. He knew everyone cherished their hard-earned levels and expensive gear. Since Star Sea merged with the real world, the brutal death penalty – losing all equipment upon death – made players extra cautious.
“I’m staying. Gonna max out that legendary big shot’s Favorability. Might get my next job upgrade from him.”
Big Cousin didn’t flinch. His Mechanic class had the toughest survival stats, perfect for risky plays.
“Count me in. Gear’s replaceable anyway.”
“What tier is this Realm Master anyway? Dying to know.”
Two more survival-specialist players joined Big Cousin’s stance.
“Sorry Fish Bro, I’ll stick to farming space mobs. Can’t handle dungeons.”
“This gear’s my whole savings. My bad.”
The departing players opted for safer routes, their fragile builds too risky for this.
“Four of us left.”
Big Cousin, One Leaf Knows Autumn, Dog, and Little Flying Fish remained.
“High risk, high reward. Let’s move.”
“I’ll deploy a sensor cloak.”
Big Cousin activated his Mechanic-class barrier, slipping the group past the guards into…
The cemetery.
After dismissing the players, Ye Chen entered alone. Days earlier, he’d discovered a new glitch from overlapping Player and NPC panels – likely caused by the deepening merge between real world and game. Though sensing higher powers’ game (power struggle) beyond his reach, his priority remained escaping this reality.
Stopping before a tombstone, he read its Player panel description:
‘Grave of Emperor Star’s Third Executor.’
Normal Players saw cemeteries as static scenery. Game maps stayed fixed, like how MOBA players can’t alter terrain. But Ye Chen was different.
Player and NPC combined, he patted the tombstone and produced a shovel.
“Your turn.”