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At that moment, in Dan Xingyu’s eyes, Qiyu seemed to be glowing. He was so dazzling that Dan Xingyu could see nothing else.

He desperately wanted to do something without a second thought, but in the end, he merely raised his hand with restraint and gently ran his fingers through Qiyu’s soft hair.

“I know,” he said casually. “You had to come all the way over just to mention such a small thing?” 

It’s one thing that my teacher likes to ruffle my hair, but Dan Xingyu is even younger than me—why does he love doing this too? Qiyu countered, “Your situation isn’t a small thing.”

Feeling he’d said all he needed to, and that his purpose for coming had been served, he said, “Well, I’m going to head back now, Dan Xingyu. There’s a ‘Serendipity Exploration’ event today, and I want to collect as many adventure fragments as I can.”

The scene from last time had been hazy and unclear; hopefully, he’d find more clues this time. He rushed over from the teleportation array, exchanged a few words, and then rushed off again.

Dan Xingyu was left standing there alone; it took him quite a while for his agitated emotions to gradually subside.

In the Server 01 regional chat, players who were still grateful for the Safe Days just last month are now complaining.

They said it was really inconvenient that the Safe Days had reverted to the normal forest… He’d just earned a magic sled through the Ice and Snow Boss event, but now he couldn’t use it at all.

Exploring the forest and searching for adventure fragments would be so much easier if he had the magic sled. Qiyu thought to himself that if the Safe Days were actually canceled, the people complaining now would probably just find something new to complain about. He didn’t waste any time.

Compared to the last Safe Day, the Star Forest—awakened from its icy slumber—brought Qiyu a completely new sensation this time. This wasn’t because the Star Forest had changed in any way since last month; the change came from within Qiyu himself.

Ever since his elven bloodline began to awaken, his connection to the earth, nature, and the forest had naturally grown much stronger.

It hadn’t been so obvious when the forest was blanketed in snow, but at this very moment, Qiyu could easily sense the direction of every breeze and the mood of every tree.

The creatures of the forest were all welcoming his arrival.

Knowing that he seemed to be searching for some kind of shimmering object, Qiyu could even pick up messages about them from the wind. The winds playfully circled around him, ruffling his elven hair, and then told him that this message had been entrusted to them by a laurel tree.

With the forest’s help, Qiyu’s search for the shards became much more efficient.

During last month’s exploration event, he found a total of 46 adventure fragments over the course of the day. That number already put him far ahead of everyone else in the region channel.

And today, that number nearly doubled. By the time it was getting dark, Qiyu already had 80 adventure fragments in his possession.

That was enough for eight spins on the wheel.

Qiyu glanced at the items in his backpack as he hurried back to his territory.

He felt a twinge of regret: If only he had four more shards—he’d had six left over from last month, and four more would have meant one extra spin. But as Survival Game had mentioned, this was a long-term event. No need to rush; he’d take it slow.

He’d become increasingly precise with his timing; by the time he returned to his territory, there were exactly five minutes left before dark. He tapped the Adventure event page and opened the prize wheel.

Having spun it before, he was very familiar with the process, so Qiyu didn’t waste any time.

Select “Draw.”

【Obtained treasure map fragment x1.】

Qiyu glanced at his inventory; the treasure map progress was at 2/100. 

Qiyu: “……”

This treasure map is so expensive.

Survival Game, do you really want players to get this treasure map? He continued drawing.

He wasn’t sure what was going on this time—or maybe the survival game had heard his silent inner rant—but next, he drew 5 treasure map fragments in a row.

His progress jumped to an astonishing 7/100.

On the seventh draw, Qiyu finally saw the golden light he’d been longing for. It was still a series of images.

At first, it was the familiar, beautiful Star Forest, where all the major races lived happily together. The next moment, the scene shifted, and a gray mist began to encroach upon the land.

Trees and flowers withered; sunlight was obscured by thick, dark clouds; the temperature dropped—until… the first snowflake fell. The scene came to an abrupt halt.

Qiyu snapped his eyes open.

He was filled with bewilderment and doubt: What was that gray mist? Was what he had seen the Star Forest’s past?

Was it because of the gray mist that spring in the Star Forest had become what it is today? Even in spring, everything was frozen solid? All life withered?

He could draw again.

Qiyu silently prayed: Please, let there be some golden light again.

He selected “Draw,” and his heart leapt with joy as the familiar golden light appeared once more.

But this time, the scene wasn’t the Star Forest. He saw Chairman Sean.

Dressed in his finest, he stood in a magnificent hall, speaking with such passion that it seemed he was delivering a speech.

The camera slowly zoomed out, revealing both sides of the hall filled with people in lavish attire. And standing beside President Sean was a very familiar figure… Peach?

The scene ended.

Qiyu pondered carefully: That peach was an emerald crystal peach, so this scene… must be something that happened in the past. In that case, this must be the auction Chairman Sean held back then in the capital of the Ora Empire?

This seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the Star Forest. Well, perhaps it’s not entirely unrelated—after all, the theme of this auction appears to be…

The “Star Forest.”

It was getting dark.

Qiyu sat beneath the Tree of Wisdom and began to ponder the connections between these images.

He had first heard of the Star Forest from outsiders; to the indigenous people, it was a fantastical place from their stories.

The Star Forest he first saw on the prize wheel was completely different from reality—a beautiful, bountiful spring. In the previous scene, a mysterious gray mist appeared, and the Star Forest began to wither; it snowed in the spring.

So, let’s make a tentative guess: The Star Forest wasn’t always the way it is now; its spring was originally supposed to be just like in the vision—beautiful, warm, and like a fairyland. But due to the invasion of the gray mist, it gradually transformed into the state the players now see.

If that’s the case, what is the purpose of the survival game bringing humans from Earth into it?

And why did they specifically include the scene of Chairman Sean’s auction? Also, why did the Star Forest become the setting for the story?

He remembered that during their first expedition, Leslie and his group initially had absolutely no recollection of the Star Forest; it was only after he mentioned it that they gradually began to realize what it was.

Suppose the Gray Mist is some kind of mysterious force—or a curse. Its effect might not be limited to withering the Star Forest; it might even cause the outside world to forget it entirely.

That’s why people on the outside don’t remember this place at all.

The same logic applies to the Golden Desert—it might be slightly more powerful than the Star Forest, having become a setting in a wildly popular adventure novel. And Chairman Sean’s auction…

Wait a minute.

Qiyu seemed to have stumbled upon a clue: reputation points.

The survival game encourages players to go out and explore to earn reputation points.

The first time he unlocked the reputation leaderboard, the entire 01 server received resource point rewards. And Chairman Sean’s auction happened to be the very first event that made Star Forest “famous.”

Qiyu couldn’t help but wonder: Could reputation points be the key? The more people outside the game knew about Star Forest, the weaker the influence of the “Gray Mist” might become?

Combining this with players’ previous speculations in the regional chat, it seems the Survival Game aims to help players integrate into this world—and in the process of integration, Star Forest would inevitably come into the view of the world’s native inhabitants.

It’s hard to say whether Star Forest actually exists at this point.

Every time players venture out to explore, they must use a scroll or—like Qiyu—accept a commission from a drifting bottle and ride a mysterious wilderness carriage.

The most obvious example is the Dawson Chamber of Commerce.

The Gareth siblings have mentioned this guild and even quoted its motto: “Wherever there are gold coins, the Dawson Chamber of Commerce’s caravans will go.”

And they’ve certainly lived up to that: even in a place as bitterly cold as the Winter Ice Plains, the Dawson Chamber of Commerce sends caravans there regularly to conduct trade. However, the Dawson Chamber of Commerce has not yet reached any player-controlled territory.

Qiyu couldn’t help but wonder: As the Star Forest gained more and more reputation points, perhaps one day in the future, he would actually appear on this continent.

The more he thought about it, the more energized he became, and all sorts of ideas began to pop into his head. He couldn’t verify anything in the survival game, but he still had his teacher.

He opened the course materials left by Teacher Aegnor and entered the mental space.

Teacher Aegnor was becoming increasingly blunt. No sooner had Qiyu begun speaking than he told him to shut up. 

Qiyu: “……”

The elf teacher said coldly, “If you don’t shut up, you won’t need me to throw you out—your best friend will do it for you.” 

Qiyu:!

Teacher, it seems like you didn’t say anything, yet you said everything. Who else could my best friend be, other than the Survival Game? His eyes sparkled, and he immediately said, “Then I won’t ask about that.”  

“But Teacher Aegnor, I have other questions.”

“Ask.”

“Can I share my guesses with the others?”

The elf replied calmly, “As you said, those are just your guesses.” Qiyu understood.

He was about to ask his next question, but the elf interrupted him: “You’ve thought about this enough. Lately, you seem to have been slacking off in your studies. You’ve been studying a magical barrier for so long—haven’t you mastered it yet?”

Qiyu’s attention was immediately diverted.

He felt a bit shocked and a little wronged: “Teacher, have I really been slacking off?”

It’s not like I’ve ever been anything but eager to learn—but you’ve always made me eat and read other books instead, saying there’s no rush. Still, he kept those complaints to himself.

Since Teacher Aegnor had finally relented—a rare occurrence—he quickly seized the opportunity to master the magical barrier.

He held up his teacup, took a satisfied sip, and discovered it was actually sweet. It was flower nectar water!

Qiyu couldn’t help but glance at the elven teacher sitting across from him.

Who would’ve thought—a teacher who seemed so aloof would actually enjoy drinking sweet, sugary nectar water in private. He was currently protected by a mental barrier; even a magic saint couldn’t easily peer into his thoughts.

But this little brat’s gaze was just too obvious. The elven magic saint could no longer tolerate it.

Without moving a muscle, she caused something to appear out of thin air and tap Qiyu gently on the head.

“Don’t let your mind wander—that was prepared especially for you.”

Qiyu rubbed the spot where he’d been tapped—the sensation felt so familiar.

His eyes widened suddenly: “Teacher! Did you hit me back in Gold Hole City?”