Chapter 903: Chapter 900: ’Detective, you are as beautiful as the stars.
Su Ming’an tried to look at others, and he found that only when he was very close to others could he see such an information panel.
While Su Ming’an was sticking around, the old man Morgan spoke:
[Morgan Maxey: Hey, kid, why are you suddenly sticking to people like you’re sick? You wouldn’t have the Black Mist Disease, would you? Crazy and delirious. (suspicious tone)]
[Detective: Oh, it’s nothing, I like sticking to people. (calmly)]
As Su Ming’an spoke, he continued to stick to others, pasting onto the street children, vendors, and drivers around him, seeing all their information. These people’s attributes are nothing special, mostly E and F, not as good as this old man Morgan in front of him.
...
[Due to your answer, Morgan Maxey’s favorability toward you has increased by 5 points.]
...
The old man looked at Su Ming’an sticking to people with an odd look, and finally sighed.
[Morgan Maxey: Young man. If you really can’t help it, go find someone to fall in love with. I was like this when I was young too, because I was too lonely, even with men...]
Su Ming’an stopped the old man’s words.
[Detective: I’m done pasting.]
Seeing this, the old man refrained from teasing further and gave a friendly reminder.
[Morgan Maxey: You’re the new resident across the street, right? Recently, Burg Castle is not peaceful, there are often ’anomalies’ appearing at night. If you don’t have to go out for a living, you’d better hurry home and not wander around in the dark, it’s already early morning now.]
Su Ming’an understood. It seems that all parts of the game’s backdrop are the same, all have "anomalies", and all have an "instant death rule".
[Detective: I got it, thanks for the reminder.]
Su Ming’an thanked the old man and followed the game’s green arrow direction to a door. The door was marked with the number [3030], and a ceramic white bird decoration sat on the dark wooden door.
[This is your residence, and where you will stay for a long time. Go in and take a look!] The game guidance appeared at this moment.
Su Ming’an felt his pocket and found some items.
[You have obtained a house key*1.]
[You have obtained a cigarette*1.]
[You have obtained a magnifying glass*1.]
[You have obtained Kel (currency)*39.]
[All items have been placed in your "backpack". You can open your backpack at any time to access items.]
...
Su Ming’an used the key to open the door. Pushing open the door and entering, the detective’s home was not large, with a few empty wine bottles strewn on the ground. Most eye-catching was a pile of old books in the corner. There were ceramic items, necklaces, and yellowed parchment among other antiques.
Game prompts popped up:
[You are a detective and archaeologist who has collected many antiques from different eras.]
[In this age of steam airships, antiques have little value, and people disdain delving into them, yet you are fascinated by antiques, always feeling they hold secrets buried centuries ago. These secrets might help you become a tycoon overnight!]
[However, constrained by limited funds, you struggle even to buy new antiques. You need more money, more noble support, more rare knowledge!]
Su Ming’an belatedly realized that in this game, he was a pauper.
Su Ming’an barely sat down on the sofa, flipping through some unfinished books on the sofa. They were books on mysticism and archaeology.
At this point, he suddenly noticed something hard against his leg.
Standing up, he saw that in the gap of the sofa, there was a hard necklace. He picked up the necklace for a look—it was the Eye of the Old Days.
A vivid eyeball stared at him unblinkingly, extremely haunting.
Su Ming’an immediately opened his backpack to check, and found the Eye of the Old Days given to him by a tentacle monster by the sea in the "Louyue Nation" game was gone. Though he had placed the Eye of the Old Days in his backpack, it appeared in the "Girls’ Dream Project" game.
In the game’s opening animation, the detective had such an Eye of the Old Days. This thing seemed like a prop running through the whole situation, reaching Su Ming’an’s hands no matter what.
When Su Ming’an picked up the Eye of the Old Days, a game prompt appeared:
[A destitute detective, constrained by lack of funds, lay in his room drinking all day.]
[But yesterday, he found a magical necklace while passing through an alley.]
[The necklace said: "I am a treasure left by a deity, possessing part of the deity’s power. As long as you act according to my prophecy, you’ll achieve any wish."]
[The detective believed the necklace’s words. He awaited the necklace’s prophecy.]
...
Su Ming’an stared at the Eye of the Old Days in his hand, and it actually made a sound.
[Eye of the Old Days: Detective, you can go to the back alley and bring an orphan home. As long as you raise her to adulthood, all your wealth and glory will begin with her.]
After that, no matter how much Su Ming’an shook the necklace or even tried to cut it with the Sword of Yarman, it remained silent.
Then, a game prompt popped up:
[Girls’ Dream Project’s main story has opened!]
[Every member of the Dream Patrol Family will care for a child in this Steam Age until he/she grows up safely. In the end, a war will break out, and based on each member’s and child’s contributions to the war, they will be ranked and rewarded.]
[The child’s age must be below thirty. He/she will become your greatest aid and most trusted person in this era.]
...
[Main story: Go find the child you want to care for.]
...
Su Ming’an was speechless.
This is actually a nurturing game!
But it’s not a typical nurturing game; it’s more like a contract relationship. Each player has to find an NPC willing to fight alongside them and grow with them. The other person’s age just needs to be below thirty.
It’s likely that many of the Dream Patrol Family will tend to find an NPC that’s already very strong. Then they’ll develop a relationship with this NPC until the day of war where they can fight side by side. Few would have the patience to raise a child to adulthood, after all, no one knows when this "Final War" will break out, whether it’s a few days or years in-game.
Su Ming’an guessed that different Dream Patrol Family members possess different characters. Su Ming’an possessed the detective, so other Dream Patrol Family members should possess others. He remembered a segment from the game’s opening animation showing a hunter adopting a child, a knight finding an orphan, and a priest baptizing a baby.
Su Ming’an was more inclined to directly find a powerful NPC to form a contract with, rather than raising a child, but his main quest had become:
[Main Storyline First Ring: Due to having received the Prophecy of the Eye of the Old Days, you are to go to the back alley to adopt an orphan. This task cannot be changed or abandoned.]
...
Su Ming’an stood up.
[Detective: I don’t want to hear the Eye of the Old Days... (disdain)]
[Detective: My tone of speaking is also monitored? The parentheses show disdain? (shocked)]
...
Su Ming’an talked to himself, testing this text mechanism. It seemed his tone of speech would affect the text display, but this was not important, as only he could see it.
He prepared to head to the back alley, and the moment he pushed open the door, he suddenly felt a chill on his forehead. Looking up, a white snowflake had fallen on it.
In the night, there was neither light nor shadow, only pure white snowflakes falling onto the world of dust. Su Ming’an reached out his hand, the sensation of snow on his palm felt very real, and he could hear people complaining about the snow around him. It was like he was truly inside a computer game.
"It’s snowing, what will happen to my farm..."
"Every time it snows it’s so cold, I have to wear more clothes. My Mia dislikes winter the most..."
"The church’s relief this time didn’t include warm clothes, we are going to freeze. Sigh, when will the Deity look after the wishes of us, the people at the bottom?"
Su Ming’an wrapped his coat tighter, braving the snow as he walked towards the back alley. The detective’s body was very frail, due to long-term alcoholism and malnutrition, the blue and purple veins on the back of his hand were visible. After a few steps, he felt a chill surge within.
The dim streetlights cast a glow over the snowy road, the massive silhouette of an airship passed overhead, dimming the brightness of the lights. Su Ming’an blinked, his scarf trailing behind him in the cold wind, casting a long shadow, and his vision was somewhat blurred against the faint light.
At that moment,
at the end of the alley, he saw a child who was also shivering from the cold.
Her black hair fell naturally, her exposed arms as thin as twigs, her skin sallow, and her clothes pieced together from fragments. Upon hearing Su Ming’an’s footsteps, she lifted her head, revealing a pair of gray-white pupils. Her features were not delicate, her cheeks flushed from the cold, her skin rough, she couldn’t be called beautiful, at most she could be considered pretty. Like a small flower striving to grow in the slums.
[Girl: ...]
Su Ming’an squatted down and said to the girl:
[Detective: Are you living here alone? Come with me. (Thinking: This is the back alley, according to the Prophecy of the Eye of the Old Days, the orphan in the back alley at this time will be the source of my wealth and glory. Though I don’t know why, as long as I raise this girl to adulthood, I can become a millionaire!)]
Su Ming’an looked at the text in the lower right corner, somewhat speechless. He had just said one sentence, yet the system spun such an inner monologue around it. This should be the detective’s original thoughts, after all, the detective was not a good man, he adopted children just to fulfill his own wish for riches and glory.
[Girl: ...You want to adopt me?]
The girl spoke, her voice was very pleasant, like a tinkling stream.
Su Ming’an replied:
[Detective: Rather than adopt, it’s more like taking care of you. I hope to have a relationship of equality with you, I hope to see you grow up and become my companion. (Thinking: I’m only nineteen, I don’t want to be a dad!)]
Su Ming’an felt this inner monologue was quite redundant.
The girl sighed, a look of compassion that didn’t belong to her age appearing on her face.
[Girl: I live very hard. Here, other children are in charge of helping with work, I am responsible for begging. Only in this way, can we, a group of abandoned children, stick together to survive. A few days ago, Brother George suddenly disappeared, and we found his broken arm in the trash can, his organs had been sold. We... have no human rights, no protection, no warmth given by adults, just a bunch of trash affecting the city’s appearance in the Steam Age. Life is very hard, but I want to live with the children.]
[Detective: Please, come with me. It’s so cold in winter, your face already looks unwell, if this continues, you’ll freeze to death.]
[Girl (shaking her head): I want to save these children, if I leave, there will be one less person to help them beg. Even if you could give me food and warmth, I wouldn’t leave them.]
[Girl: I am very grateful for your grace, Detective Sir, you are a good person, thank you very much for extending a helping hand to me. But I really cannot leave here.]
[Detective: You are very great, even though you are just a child.]
[Girl: (Silent)...]
[Detective: Alright. If you come with me, I will let you be very well taken care of. Also, I will give these children some money so they can have a better life. Will that work?]
[Girl: In that case... how much money can you give them?]
As the conversation reached this point, a game prompt appeared:
[Giving all your funds will make the girl agree to go with you.]
[You can also forcibly take the girl using forceful methods, but her initial favorability towards you will greatly decrease.]
...
Su Ming’an discovered that the game had a very warm style. While talking to the girl, light and cheerful bagpipe music echoed in his ears.
He chose [give all funds], and suddenly, his 39 Kels vanished immediately, his money returning to 0.
The girl stood up.
[Girl: Let’s go. Detective Sir, you can give me a name.]
A game prompt appeared:
[Please give the girl a name.]
A transparent keyboard appeared before Su Ming’an, waiting for him to name the girl.
Su Ming’an thought for a moment, shook his head, and said.
[Detective: I don’t have the right to name you, when you grow up and have some knowledge, you can name yourself. You are free, not bound by me.]
[Girl (astonished): ...Okay.]
The girl lifted her head towards him.
Under the dim light, it was as if there were sparks flickering in the girl’s eyes. She looked towards the pale young detective, whose pupils were tinged with moonlight, appearing as charming as stars. The detective’s shoulders were covered in snow, under the light, it seemed as if coated with a layer of pale moonlight.
At that moment, the girl thought of the Holy White Angel she saw inside the church while passing by. It seemed like the angel also shone with such a radiant glow. She had thought countless times before, whether there really existed angels in this world, who would be willing to save an orphan from the slums like her. In the end, that day finally came.
[Girl: Detective Sir, you look as beautiful as stars.]
Su Ming’an was stunned for a moment, then replied.
[Detective: ...Got it. (Secretly shy)]
[Detective: ...]
[Detective: This parenthesis is really unnecessary. (Annoyed to embarrassment)]