A huge thanks to GreenKiTea and Empires for the kofis, enjoy the bonus chapters!

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Alchemy Puppet Butler? 

As Qiyu prepared to summon it, a long list of prompts popped up before his eyes.

【Please select the butler’s gender.】 

【Please select the butler’s race.】

【Please select the butler’s age.】

【Please select the butler’s appearance.】

【Please select the butler’s attire.】

His eyes widened.

The country bumpkin, who had never played a game before, was instantly captivated and hooked. 

Selected male for gender.

Race: Human. 

Age: 20, I guess—right in the prime of life. 

In terms of appearance, the Dawson Trading Company offers hundreds of the most popular templates on the market.

However, Qiyu had already become obsessed with customizing his alchemy puppet: he chose his favorite golden hair and golden eyes for the butler, while picking the nose, mouth, and eyebrows at random. 

For the build, he wanted something tall and sturdy, so Qiyu slid the slider all the way to the maximum and, finding that the butler’s height was already set to 2 meters, confirmed the selection. 

Finally, the butler’s outfit.

The first few options were a tailcoat suit, a business suit, and a gentleman’s vest set. 

There’s also a long list of options behind them, and custom designs are available as well.

Qiyu glanced over the first few options and felt that the vest set looked best for getting work done, so he clicked to select it. 

The waistcoat set came as a complete default outfit, leaving Qiyu no room for customization. 

【Do you confirm the creation of your exclusive Alchemy Butler?】

“Confirm.”

A wisp of white mist rose from the ground, and a towering figure emerged from the mist.

Standing two meters tall with a muscular build, the tall man with blond hair and golden eyes wore a black suit vest. As he gave a slight bow toward Qiyu, his entire

His bulging muscles couldn’t be hidden at all: “Hello, Master. I am your personal smart butler.” 

The voice boomed like a great bell. 

Qiyu was very pleased with what he saw, though he felt a twinge of regret: the butler looked like he could really hold his own in a fight—it would be great if he could join the physical training class. 

If he and the butler worked together, they might just be able to take down that Earth Guardian. 

“What can you do?”

Butler: “My mind is imprinted with a wealth of knowledge—basic image management, hospitality, household management, asset coordination… I’ve covered it all.You may simply make your requests directly to me.” 3

Qiyu nodded and asked directly, “Can you cook?”

Butler: “Yes, I can.” 

“So, can you fight?”

Butler: “I know forty-nine standard martial arts techniques. Additionally, my body is forged from a mixture of seven metals, ensuring I can handle ordinary bodyguard duties.”

Qiyu’s eyes lit up: What a great butler.

Qiyu: “As you can see, I have a fiefdom. From now on, you may call me ‘Lord.’” 

The butler bowed slightly: “Yes, my Lord.”

Qiyu asked him, “If I have to go out often, will you be able to manage the people of the domain while I’m away?”

The butler replied, “I’ll do my best. But just to be on the safe side, please imprint me with a mental mark so you can keep track of my movements at any time.”

Qiyu did as he was told and imprinted the mental mark. The butler said, “Please, my Lord, give me a name.” 

Qiyu was suddenly at a loss.

He had never named anyone—not a person, an animal, or even an object.

Perhaps it was because he had never truly owned anything for very long. 

He thought for a moment: “This territory is located in the Star Forest, so you shall be called ‘Xing.’” 

“Butler Xing, I’m done here. You can go explore the domain on your own.” 

“Yes, My Lord.”

Qiyu continued opening the treasure chests. Six fine iron chests.

【Obtained 2 Premium Long-Pile Bedding Sets, obtained a Furniture Alchemy Stove, obtained a Cold-Resistant Protective Wall Blueprint, obtained 2 Mage Robe Sets.】 

Six fine iron chests—each one yielded a single item.

Qiyu had initially thought his luck wasn’t very good this time, but upon closer inspection, he realized that wasn’t the case. 

【Premium Long-Pile Bedding Set: Made with carefully selected down from the Tail-Feathered Bird of the Winter Ice Fields, it provides long-lasting warmth to ward off the bitter cold. Comes with a self-cleaning feature to save you the trouble.】

Qiyu reached out to touch it; his fingertips instantly sank into the long fibers, enveloped by ultimate softness and warmth. It feels so comfortable—and it even cleans itself automatically. 

What a great product.

The Alchemical Heater is a one-meter-tall silver stove shaped like a vase, with openwork patterns carved into its body.

【Alchemical Heater: A standard alchemical product. When connected to an energy crystal card, it provides long-lasting warmth without causing dryness—the ideal choice for bitterly cold weather.】 

【Cold-Proof Reinforced Wall Blueprint: Reinforces walls to ward off the bitter cold.】

When he read this far, Qiyu’s expression turned serious.

He opened the “01 Survival Squad” group chat and posted the information on these three items. 

【I Love Survival Game: I’ve rolled three of these items in a row. I think this is a hint from the survival game. After Safe Day passes, next month, what awaits us might be even colder weather than that of the Rainy Season.】 

【Civil Engineering Brother: The gaming pro beat me to it. I was just about to say that I’ve also unlocked a few items—not as good as yours, but they’re also related to staying warm.】

When Qiyu saw his message, he felt more confident.

He left the group chat to check the last item he’d looted from the fine iron chest. It was two sets of mage robes.

The sets were very complete—from the outer robes to the close-fitting undergarments, pants, and even socks and boots—a full, complete set.

One set was light green, and the other was a warm yellow. At first glance, they appeared to be solid colors, but upon closer inspection, the fabric was embroidered with subtle patterns in matching shades, giving them a very refined look. 

Qiyu glanced out the window and felt that these two sets of mage robes would blend perfectly into the gardens of his domain. 

He happily put them away: “Next time I wear these to see Teacher Aegnor, I probably won’t get scolded anymore.”

There are 14 wooden chests left. 

Open them all!

【Obtained: Wood x30, Milk 500ml x10, Steamed Buns x5, Instant Rice Sets x2, Dessert Platter x1, Ice Cream Combo Set x1, Crafting Blueprint for Wood, Snow Boots x1, Windproof Lantern x1, Cotton x60.】

The items dropped from the wooden chests are mostly basic survival supplies. 

When Qiyu saw the steamed bun, he actually felt as if he were seeing an old friend after what seemed like an eternity.

He remembered that the first food he’d obtained after entering the survival game was a plain steamed bun. Back then, he’d been too reluctant to eat it; even when he was starving, he’d only dare to eat half, afraid that if he finished it, there wouldn’t be any left for later.

It had only been a month, yet he had already eaten more delicious food than he had in the previous nineteen years combined. Qiyu washed his hands and picked up a steamed bun. 

It was still warm, as if it had just been taken out of the steamer. He took a bite—a faint sweetness and a soft, fluffy texture. This one still tastes the best. 

He finished the steamed bun and put the rest of the food away. 

When he opened the ice cream assortment set, he found twenty boxes of various ice cream flavors inside. Another thing he’d never seen before. 

Since they seemed to be items that needed to be frozen, Qiyu put them in his own refrigerator.

The dessert platter was a large assortment of about ten different desserts, presented in a pretty little bamboo basket. Qiyu took a look—he didn’t recognize a single one, but each one looked fragrant, sweet, and beautiful. 1 He put them all in the fridge. 

Now for the remaining items:

【Composite Wood: Made by combining two or more pieces of ordinary wood; this composite wood burns longer.】 

【Windproof Lantern: A handheld lantern with a very classical design—an essential item for traveling on windy days.】 

Qiyu curiously picked up the windproof lantern and examined it; it looked more like an exquisite work of art or a decorative item. When he tapped into Squad 01 again, there were already plenty of chat logs there. 

A quick scan revealed that the conversation was mostly about next month’s weather. Opening the regional channel, he found that players were discussing the same topic.

Originally, the regional leaderboard had been everyone’s top concern for the night. But once most players opened the treasure chests they’d found during their evening explorations, the conversation shifted immediately.

After all, no matter how impressive the leaderboard is, it only affects the top 100 players. But the survival content following the end of the Safe Days is closely tied to the more than 70,000 players currently surviving in Region 01.

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: So it’s pretty much confirmed that we’ll be facing a major cold snap next month?】 

【Liver Emperor: It’s pretty much a sure thing. The lowest temperature this month has already hit the low teens below zero—who knows how low it’ll drop next month.】

【Pistachio Dark Chocolate: Hehe, I got a whole-house heating system from a treasure chest. Let the cold snap come—I’m not afraid at all!】

【Traveler in the Misty Rain of Jiangnan: In any case, everyone should prepare in advance. The “safe period” ends after midnight, and temperatures could drop suddenly—make sure to take precautions to stay warm ahead of time.】

Qiyu saw that players in the regional channel were all discussing this and that some had already issued warnings, so he didn’t say anything. Not a single player went to sleep during the first half of the night.

Needless to say, the top 100 players—with their rankings directly tied to their rewards—couldn’t rest easy until they’d watched every second of the event with their own eyes.

Just like regular players, once the Safe Days end, no one knows if a horde of mutants might invade in the middle of the night, so everyone lies awake, counting down the minutes. 

11:50 p.m.

Qiyu checked the temperature-regulating magic array.

Butler Xing had stopped by that evening, and only then did Qiyu realize he hadn’t prepared a place for him to stay.

Butterfly Butler explained that, as an alchemy puppet—a type of being that doesn’t require flesh and blood to sleep—he

could patrol the refuge.

11:58. 

Qiyu opened the leaderboard and found that the top 100 rankings were rapidly fluctuating up and down.

???

He opened the zone chat and found everyone was gossiping about melons:

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: Hahaha, I knew someone would go out of their way to stockpile treasure chests just to try and get a top ranking. I asked just to see this ranking—I didn’t expect so many people to be doing this.】

【Irritable Brother: This is so thrilling. The top players aren’t just strong—they’re way more cunning than us, too.】 

Qiyu, who was completely caught off guard: …

You Earth folks aren’t honest at all. 12:00 sharp.

Survival Announcement pops up:

【This month’s regional leaderboard final rankings have been confirmed. Reward chests will be distributed to the backpacks of players on the leaderboard shortly.】

【Safe Days has ended. Spring in the Star Forest is about to give way to the harshest cold season. All players, please do your best to survive.】

Qiyu took a special look at the leaderboard to confirm that all three golden “No. 1” IDs belonged to him. 

The next moment, a few new items appeared in his backpack. He glanced over and saw three dazzling diamond chests. Qiyu took them out of his backpack and placed them on the ground.

At the same time, he sensed the constant-temperature magic array begin to run at full speed, and the rate at which it consumed magic crystals increased. Sensing something was amiss, Qiyu opened his personal panel. 

【Current Location: Star Forest.】

【Today’s Weather: Heavy Snow, -17°C to -22°C, Strong Winds (Level 7).】