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Qiyu didn’t ask what kind of special effect it was, because he’d seen it too. 

A mysterious mage clad in a cloak stood suspended in midair, staff in hand, with a pair of magnificent blue wings spread behind him. The waves surged and roared in response to his call. 

It lasted for several full seconds before this spectacular scene finally faded. 

Meanwhile, in the Team 01 chat group, his ID had turned gold, and on either side of it were a pair of tiny wings with hands that kept dropping gold nuggets. 

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: Wow, are you that cool guy in the cloak? I saw someone in the chat channel mention your performance.】

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: That’s the gaming pro. Did the survival game turn the pro’s highlight moments into an entrance effect? And a personal ID effect, too?】

【Civil Engineering Brother: Could this be what that host with the rabbit hands was talking about—the popularity reward?】 Qiyu thought for a moment, left the group chat, and opened the friend page for “God Has No Form.”

【I Love Survival Game: .】

The cool effects appeared again.

It wasn’t until the effects faded that the other person replied.

【God Has No Form: You noticed that too?】 

As his message arrived, a dragon’s roar echoed from the Survival Panel.

A warrior in black rode atop a giant golden dragon, soaring freely through the sky. 

Just like Qiyu’s, his ID had turned golden and was adorned with a pair of tiny wings from which golden specks fell. 

【God Has No Form: What the heck is this, hahahaha? I’ll admit I’m usually a bit of a show-off, but isn’t this a little too flashy?】

Even as he said this, he had already casually posted several times in his friends’ small group and the zone channel for Server 88.

The more people there were, the more eye-catching his gleaming golden ID became.

Plus, whenever he posted in the region channel now, his messages came with special effects and were automatically pinned to the top. It was even more convenient than the highlighted megaphone others paid for.

Nice. 

【I Love Survival Game: This must be that live-stream viewership reward.】

【I Love Survival Game: That’s nice.】

He opened the Server 01 regional channel.

Sure enough, just as Monehad said, the entire channel was now buzzing about the Speed Racing Carnival event. And the person being mentioned most frequently was none other than him.

Perhaps after a month of grueling survival challenges, the sudden three-day break sparked this recreational activity, and everyone found themselves talking about the same relaxing topic.

【I Love Survival Game: .】 

The cool entrance effect silenced the entire region chat for several seconds.

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: He’s here! He is so cool!】

【Be A Good Person: Special effects ID, auto-pinning, entrance speech effects—Survival Game, haven’t you really come to the Earth streaming platform to learn a thing or two?】

【Irritable Brother: That’s really true, haha. Compared to those other streaming platforms, this one has way better technical capabilities—the effects are seriously impressive.】

【Liver Emperor: Big shot! @I Love Survival Game, it really breaks my heart that I didn’t get to see your stream.】

【Traveler in the Misty Rain of Jiangnan: Is the gaming pro a dual-class player?】

Most of the familiar top-ranked players in Server 01—especially those in combat classes—regardless of their exact ranking, have mostly managed to survive until the late stages of their respective competitive advantages.

As a result, they completely missed the chance to observe Qiyu. 

As a result, when they emerged from the event and saw the regional chat buzzing with excitement, they felt as if the sky was about to fall.

In survival games, players can’t record their screens while watching live streams. All they could do was listen to players who’d watched the stream go on and on about it—talking about magic, dragons, and some incredibly cool flying gadgets.

A mistake of one hundred million!

It was broadcast live to the entire region, so there’s nothing to hide.

【I Love Survival Game: Yeah.】

【Traveler in the Misty Rain of Jiangnan: That’s awesome, that’s awesome.】

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: What I’m really envious of is something else. Gaming Pro, that top player in Server88—is he a friend you knew before you even started playing the game? That’s so great—good friends who can still meet up after joining Survival Game.】

As soon as the two entered the arena, they hugged. 

Although the match hadn’t started yet, and the other players couldn’t hear what they were saying, their close bond was plain to see—they definitely weren’t strangers who’d just met.

However, no one could have guessed that Qiyu would actually possess such a game-breaking item as the drifting bottle, let alone that it would bring him a friend from another region during his beginner phase. 

At most, people speculated that the two had been real-life friends back on Earth. Judging by their similar ages, they might have been classmates or childhood friends. 

After all, Server 01 already had that ready-made example: “Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens” and “Traveler in the Misty Rain of Jiangnan.” If you really think about it, this brother-sister duo was the one with truly incredible luck. 

A message popped up on Qiyu’s survival panel.

【The “Holiday Surprise Mystery Box” racing event has been released. Please check your in-game mail.】 

【You have received 2 “Holiday Surprise Mystery Boxes.”】

【Do you want to open the mystery box?】

Select “Open.”

【Received “Glein’s Holiday Gift” and “Ambner’s Holiday Gift.”】

They were two beautiful gift boxes tied with bows. 

The gift box from Glein is blue. Upon opening it, he found a string of very pretty little seashell wind chimes inside. Qiyu fell in love with them almost instantly. 

He looked up at it for a moment, then hung the little seashell wind chimes by the window.

When the breeze gently stirred them, he could hear the sound of the sea breeze rustling the waves. It was truly beautiful. 

The gift box from Ambner was light yellow.

Upon opening it, he found it filled entirely with food: a small box of flower-shaped pastries, each about the size of a palm, four in total; a glistening, braised rabbit paw, carefully wrapped in a double layer of paper bags and securely tied with twine; and a bottle of a beautiful amber-colored drink.

Qiyu had never considered the concept of “local specialties,” but at that moment, he realized for some reason: these two items might be representative products of Glein and Ambner, respectively. 

He opened Regional Channel: 

【Liver Emperor: Hey everyone, have you received your holiday surprise mystery box yet? I got a gift item from a place called Reindeer Town.】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: Mine is a gift seed from the Royal City of Kayla—a very exquisite dagger. There was a note inside the box saying that the Kayla Empire boasts the most advanced forging technology on the entire continent.】

【Traveler in the Misty Rain of Jiangnan: My mystery box gift is from a place called Wasteland City—it’s a bottle of wine.】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: It seems like everyone’s holiday surprise mystery box contains a specialty from a specific region. Can I take this to mean: Is this world welcoming our arrival?】

This comment caused the flood of posts in the regional chat channel to slow down. 

【 Be A Good Person: Actually, while watching the livestream—especially during that hot-air balloon segment—I’d already been pondering the meaning behind the survival game hosting this event. At first, I thought the game’s purpose was simply to drag us in for endless slaughter until only one survivor remained. But with the sudden appearance of the reputation leaderboard and this holiday event, I’m not so sure anymore.】

【Irritable Brother: You know what? When I opened this little holiday gift, I actually felt a bit envious for some reason. What the heck is this crappy game trying to do?】 

【Liver Emperor: No idea. But since it’s called a survival game, just treat it like a game! If it were pure survival, my goal would be to grind until the endgame to see where the survival experience leads. Now that the open world is available, it feels like there’s an even bigger map to grind and more stuff to grind for. What a blast!】

【Traveler in the Misty Rain of Jiangnan: I agree. I’ve seen a lot of new things in this event. It feels like this survival game suddenly has a lot more to look forward to.】

【Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens: Magic, dragons, summoners, sea nymphs… Guys, doesn’t this just get your blood pumping?】

【Sakura Grass: Quite the opposite—the bigger and more realistic this world gets, the more pessimistic I become. Because I want to go home, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to return.】

Qiyu watched for a moment, then silently left the chat channel. He was different from the Earth people.

He would never even consider coming back; he’d be more than happy to spend the rest of his life in the survival game. In his heart, his sanctuary—this territory—or, indeed, the entire Star Forest—this was his home. 

It was getting dark. 

Tonight was the first night of the Safe Days.

Because it was a Safe Day, the rain had stopped, the temperature had returned to a comfortable level, and even the mental pollution that had been ever-present since nightfall had vanished.

On such a peaceful night, the players actually found it hard to sleep. Stirred by the emotions sparked by this little holiday treat, they were all pouring out their hearts in the zone chat.

Qiyu had nothing to share.

Taking advantage of these few days of peace, he was finally able to get some things done.

He took out the single drop of “Primordial Power of Ice and Snow” he’d obtained from the Winter Ice Plains. 

According to the Survival Panel, it was edible, but the effects were unknown and varied from person to person.

An ordinary Ice Demon, after swallowing it, gained “wisdom” and even learned the human language. So, what would happen if he swallowed it?

He’d find out once he swallowed it.

Qiyu deliberately sat beneath the Tree of Life, tilted his head back, and swallowed the drop of Ice and Snow Primordial Power, which radiated powerful energy fluctuations. In an instant, endless ice and snow enveloped him.

If there had been any outsiders in the domain at that moment, they would have witnessed a startling sight: a layer of ice spreading from the inside out, completely encasing the mage sitting cross-legged beneath the tree and turning him into an ice sculpture.

Meanwhile, the once-serene Tree of Life began to rustle, and a powerful life force flowed ceaselessly into Qiyu’s body beneath it. Qiyu felt as though he had become a drifting breeze—or perhaps a wandering spirit. 

He drifted aimlessly into the frigid winter ice fields, swept about by blizzards as he wandered, encountering many of the things mentioned in the survival game: snow sprites, ice demons, ice crystals… He even saw a caravan pulled by snow beasts.

At one point, he was swept up by a gale, passed through a thick layer of ice, and plunged headfirst into the lake. His consciousness slipped into slumber.

8:00 a.m. 

Daylight replaced the darkness in an instant, and the entire realm was bathed in a pale glow.

The Tree of Life, which had been quiet all night, began to rustle once more, as droplets—seemingly dew left over from the previous night—fell from its branches. Drip. The light fell upon the mage’s head, still encased in ice. This jolt roused the sleeper. 

The ice melted just as abruptly as it had formed, without even wetting the hem of the mage’s robe. Qiyu slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of icy air.

He lifted his head and glanced at the Tree of Life above him: “Tree of Life, thank you for waking me.” If not for that single drop of dew, he didn’t know how much longer he would have slept.

He raised his hand; an ice crystal spread out from his fingertip, slowly growing until a snowdrop appeared in the palm of his hand. 【Congratulations to player “I Love Survival Game” for mastering the power of ice and snow.】

【Unlocked Water Magic Variant Form: Ice Magic.】