Chapter 61: A Brand New Day

The burning of daylight grows ever weaker, the curtain of night slowly falling. Blue Snowflake leads you toward your dwelling. You advance... It is an outer tower of the Tower of Medicine. You gaze at the structure—about twenty rooms, yet only five bear nameplates. One room’s door displays a black-clad figure; that is your room. You possess no proper name, only a simple number. Rather than calling you the new herbalist, she still prefers to address you as Night Watcher.

Morning Dawn rubs his chin. It seems most of the herbalists in the Tower of Medicine have perished. And so, I don’t have a name? Now that I think of it, this game doesn’t have a naming function, and the Kennel Master and others call me Night Watcher.

You follow Blue Snowflake into your new room—a private space. There is a small bookshelf, a bedside table, a soft pillow and blanket stuffed with flowers, a bright night-flower lamp, and a carefully prepared fruit meal for you. You press your foot against the wooden floor; it is comfortable, and you needn’t worry about rats or cockroaches. Having dwelled too long in a cold, damp prison, you are stunned, lost in thought—this is a brand new place.

“This is your room. Welcome to the Tower of Medicine, Night Watcher of the Lamp. May you dream well, may you reach the homeland in your dreams.” Blue Snowflake bows in farewell; she has many tasks awaiting her.

After Blue Snowflake departs, you look around your new abode. You will not linger long, but you truly need to rest. You feel weary—will you slip into the soft blankets and sleep comfortably?

Yes.

Taking advantage of solitude, you gently touch the furry Lamp-Shadow Fox hidden beneath your clothes and begin to rest.

Resting...

Morning Dawn rubs his hands and takes a moment of respite. After the battle with the Shadow of the Body, his stamina has also been utterly spent.

...

The next morning.

Morning Dawn leans by the window, responding one by one to messages on his phone. Though he defeated the Shadow of the Body, others have not been so fortunate. Before he was attacked, many armed security personnel had already been ambushed by the Shadow of the Body. The Calamity Messenger, meanwhile, was targeted by the Crow-Grass Man, pecked by a flock of crows for a full minute, and now lies in a hospital bed. Yet Lin Yuxing, the Calamity Messenger, also dealt a heavy blow to the Crow-Grass Man, though her method was rather peculiar!

While the Crow-Grass Man tormented Lin Yuxing with his flock of crows, at the moment of life and death, a sudden bolt of lightning struck, transforming the Crow-Grass Man into roast crow!

Thunder God aided her!

Surely this is no coincidence, Morning Dawn muses, resting his chin in his hand. This must be related to Lin Yuxing’s talent, Child of the Weather. Despite Lin Yuxing keeping her abilities secret, out of reverence for Luo Qing, her talent truly seems tied to the weather.

He checks the next message.

Old Yu: “Night Wanderer, we got lured away last night. Did you encounter any strange phenomena?”

Regarding the “Shadow of the Body” falling incident, while searching for the Heart-Shadow Stone, he also cleaned up the traces of battle. Most people believe the Shadow of the Body went mad, realized its physical form couldn’t escape, and, to avoid discovery by Seabird and Old Yu, abandoned its body and fled as a shadow.

This explanation is somewhat forced, but it’s more plausible than Morning Dawn defeating the Shadow of the Body, so few suspect him. Still, the nervous Captain Chen Shi and Old Yu repeatedly confirm with him, suspecting he was involved. Even Lin Yuxing, bedridden, subtly probes him about the incident!

Calamity Messenger (Lin Yuxing): “Defeating high-level players gives so much experience... Night Wanderer, did you see that flock of crows? What’s your level now?”

As players who started together, Morning Dawn senses Lin Yuxing often asks about his growth rate and sometimes tries to provoke him to get information. But since she won’t tell, neither will he.

It seems Lin Yuxing has begun to see him as a rival... Morning Dawn exhales deeply and replies, “Rest well, recover soon.”

After the “attack” incident, the Day Wanderers branch is much safer. A player severely injured by a terrifying disaster will temporarily join the branch to thwart the thief’s next plans.

He gazes into the distance—on the street, he sees stone pits and cars smashed to pieces. That night, four top-tier players appeared on those streets: Seabird, White Puppeteer Li, the Thief, the Angler...

Through the eyes of the White Dove, the spiritual power they radiated was unforgettable!

There is an insurmountable gulf between top-tier players and the rest.

Luckily, it was the Shadow of the Body who arrived. If the Thief had come, Morning Dawn feels that even if he used all his potions, he could not harm him in the slightest.

He also wonders about the Shadow of the Body’s status within the Sacred Disaster Association—how many lives he has, and whether there will be retaliation.

He is among the last batch of beta testers. According to the top players’ predictions, after this batch finishes, not only will new players appear, but even more terrifying disasters will emerge.

Morning Dawn stretches—he must quicken his development.

He opens the New Day game.

Your character is dreaming sweetly.

He opens his panel to check what tasks remain. Thanks to the combat experience from the Flame Blade Page, his digestion of the Blood Blade Fruit is now at 83%, just shy of completion, while his learning of the Black Prison Flame has reached 80%.

His immediate priority is to fully digest the Blood Blade Fruit and master the Black Prison Flame. Both can be completed through genuine battle.

But Morning Dawn’s main body is exhausted—he overexerted himself last night and lacks worthy opponents.

I can’t just go challenge Chen Shi to a real duel, can I?

I’ll have to rely on you, my dear reflection.

...

You awake from slumber—this is the first time you’ve slept so comfortably.

You rise, organize your equipment, and begin a new day.

You approach the alchemists’ commission board, where they list their urgent medicinal needs for herbalists to select.

Outside, a dozen noisy alchemists and apprentices have gathered!

Seeing you emerge, though they are doubtful of the new herbalist, they all crowd around you, casting hopeful glances!

Many failed to procure materials from yesterday’s merchant caravan and urgently need your help, while other herbalists are already busy with other tasks.

Every one of them needs your aid!

Herbalists are in such short supply...

From the description, it seems the alchemists desperately need materials, but there are too few herbalists. This is good news.

Morning Dawn continues reading.

You carefully navigate around the eager alchemists and reach the commission board.

A slew of tasks pop up.

Researching Enchantment Potion: requires gathering Mesmerizing Flowers from District 1 of New City, reward: 2 Daylight Coins.

Commissioner’s note: I discovered this potion in an ancient book. It has been lost for ages and is very challenging to recreate, but I am confident. If successful, I’ll grant you two bottles!

District 1 of New City? That’s so far—how do you expect me to go there? And two Daylight Coins wouldn’t even cover travel costs. What is this Enchantment Potion anyway?

Morning Dawn is unimpressed. Next.

Researching Deep Sea Terror Potion: need to obtain juice from the Deep Blue Jellyfish, reward: 5 Daylight Coins.

Commissioner’s note: This is an innovative potion. If I succeed, I can let everyone travel to the unknown deep sea.

Morning Dawn checks the map; the herbalist’s map doesn’t even list the Deep Blue Jellyfish. In other words, he has no idea where to find it—this is the kind of task that’s nearly impossible to complete.

Not enough ability, next.

He continues browsing. Though there are many commissions, most are highly unreliable.

Suddenly, Morning Dawn’s eyes light up—a commission concerning “Flower Wine Elder” fits his needs perfectly.

He can earn Daylight Coins and digest the Fruit in passing!