Chapter 904: Chapter 901: "The Game of Cultivating Those Who Can’t Afford Classes.
After Su Ming’an came into contact with the girl, the game officially began.
...
[Game Tip: You are a detective and archaeologist who has collected many mysterious antiques including the Eye of the Old Days. You are entering the steam airship era with a child. Trigger various events in your growth together with her, help her walk out of the shadows to become an independent person, and face the upcoming war together.]
...
The game’s green guide arrow appeared ahead, directing Su Ming’an to return home.
Under the swirling snow, Su Ming’an held the girl’s hand and walked forward step by step.
The dim light fell on the girl’s hand, whose finger pads were full of rough, bumpy frostbites. When Su Ming’an held her hand, it wasn’t like holding a girl’s soft hand; it was like touching a rough, cold stone.
He lowered his head and met the girl’s gaze. Her purple pupils seemed somewhat dull, and when she looked at him, there was a vague, obscure emotion in her eyes, but soon, she smiled.
"Detective Sir." she called softly.
"Hmm."
Su Ming’an responded, walking in the increasingly heavy snow. The street had already settled into dusk, with the noises of vendors fading away; the chariots constructed from gears parked by the roadside had long been extinguished, and everything was very quiet.
"Creak, creak." The sound of stepping on snow.
It was so quiet that you could only hear the sound of them two stepping on the snow advancing forward.
Swish, swish.
The white snowflakes floated past his ears, and Su Ming’an’s dark brown scarf gently fluttered in the cold wind, like a fish swimming through the snowy ground. He let his hair flutter in the air behind his head, and sometimes, his coat would lift, and the girl trailing behind him could smell a faint, wine-like fragrance.
The snowy path wasn’t actually long. It took Su Ming’an only a few minutes to reach there. But the girl felt that as she followed him back, the path seemed very long, as if they had walked for a very long time.
A snow-white angel of redemption descended beside her, and they walked together on the snow-white road to paradise, as if erasing all her past pains, until they reached the warm, misty little house. Seeing the house number, the girl was jolted back to reality, realizing she was not following an angel, but still a detective belonging to the mortal world.
[Detective: Come in. I’ll take care of you from now on.]
[Girl: (nods) ...]
...
"Click," Su Ming’an turned on the indoor lamp, with a clear sound, and the dim yellow light flickered a few times before dying out.
[Detective: It looks like the light needs fixing.]
[Girl: ...]
[Detective: You should sit on the sofa over there.]
...
The girl turned her head; Detective Sir’s home was somewhat unkempt, unlike the neat and tidy house she had imagined. The house was cluttered with small trinkets, antiques, and yellowed old books. The interior was very crowded, with the only place to stand being the sofa straight ahead.
So Detective Sir wasn’t as well-off as she had imagined, not a rich person. Would he rather spend 39 Kel just to help her?
[Girl: Let me help you tidy up.]
[Detective: No need, you’re drenched in snow. Just sit on the sofa, I’ll light the fireplace.]
...
Su Ming’an checked the fireplace in the room. The girl quietly sat on the sofa, her hair was damp, and she sneezed.
Su Ming’an found a towel for her, letting her dry her hair.
[Detective: Although your name will be chosen by yourself, I can’t keep calling you "girl," can I? You should think of a nickname first, for convenience in addressing you.]
[Girl: (thoughtfully) ... I don’t have much education, Detective Sir, I can’t think of an especially beautiful name; you should pick one for me.]
[Detective: It’s better for you to choose your own name. It’s okay if the name isn’t beautiful; our names don’t exist in this world for beauty alone. Beauty is just an attachment, your free will is what holds meaning.]
[Girl: (Eyes brightening) I understand, what you say makes a lot of sense, Detective Sir!]
[Girl: (After thinking for a moment) When I was picking up trash outside the theater, I heard people talking—there was a strong female character called "Alice," who in the plot would grow and refuse to yield like a small flower. I want to be strong like her; before I officially name myself, you can call me "Alice."]
...
Su Ming’an heard a "ding" sound.
[Your words have inspired the girl’s "Wisdom"! Girl’s Wisdom +1!]
[The official content of the game—nurturing has begun! You can cultivate the child by scheduling different courses for her. (Note: If the child’s favorability towards you is too low, he/she may not follow your arrangements.)]
[Attributes], [Information], [Schedule] three golden boxes appeared in Su Ming’an’s lower left field of vision.
...
Su Ming’an looked at these three options and first clicked on [Attributes], a line of interface appeared before his eyes.
...
[Name: Alice (Age: 12 and a half)
Occupation: None
Physique: 2
Combat Power: 2
Wisdom: 8
Emotional Intelligence: 8
Good and Evil: 10 (Good)
Faith: 0
Mood: 70% (Quite happy)]
Prestige: 0
Martial Arts: The Way of Attack (0), The Way of Defense (0), The Way of Healing (0), The Way of Method (0)
Learning: Instrument Arts (0), Chess Arts (0), Calligraphy (0), Drawing Skill (0), Dance (0), Cooking (0), Tailoring (0), Medicine (0), Engineering (0), Mathematics (0), Literature (0), Etiquette (0), Military (0), Horsemanship (0), Eloquence (0), Theology (0), Mysticism (0), Archaeology (0)
Skills: None
Overall Evaluation: D
Favorability: 50 (somewhat trusted)
Note: Seems like a common orphan seen everywhere, knows no skills or martial arts, appears to be ordinary?
...
[Game Hint: Before the final war arrives, you can schedule [Agenda] for the child. Different courses will improve the child’s different attributes. The child’s final achievement depends on his/her final overall attributes.]
[Game Hint: The four basic attributes of "Physique", "Force", "Wisdom", "Emotional Intelligence", the average initial level of a common person is 5. You can judge your child’s talent based on this value.]
[Game Hint: "Good and Evil" represents the child’s inclination towards good or evil. If it is a positive value, it is good; if it is negative, it is evil. Good and Evil will greatly influence the child’s character and future identity, and will likely impact your safety from a storyline perspective. Human desire is endless, please be extremely cautious with this value!]
[Game Hint: "Mood" reflects the child’s emotional state. If too low, the child might do unimaginable things, possibly even turning dark. Try to maintain a high level.]
...
Su Ming’an looked at the long string of panels and felt a bit dizzy.
— It’s really a raising game!
He carefully studied the information, feeling it was similar to the raising games he played before in Zhai Xing. All were about deciding the child’s outcome based on the final overall attributes.
For example, if the Combat Power exceeds 30, the child might become a brave soldier in the future. If the Intelligence Value exceeds 30, the child might become a scholar deeply engaged in research. If both Combat Power and Intelligence Value are over 100, the child may achieve higher accomplishments like becoming a Think Tank strategic planner or a General commanding troops. If the child also masters skills like Mysticism and shows interest in it, they might not become a talent in war, but rather shift to researching areas like Mysticism, becoming a "Master of Mysticism" instead.
If focusing heavily on Dance, without nurturing Force and Intelligence, the child may become a dancer. According to the high or low attributes in Dance, it can be judged whether the child will become a third-rate dancer, a first-rate dancer, or even a world-class dancer. The other skills follow this analogy.
Su Ming’an glanced at Alice’s information, and regardless of whether it was Instrument Arts, Chess Arts, or Engineering, Mathematics... all her Skill Values are 0, indicating she hasn’t touched them at all.
Perhaps the only notable thing about Alice’s panel is that her Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence are both 8, above the common person’s level.
Su Ming’an speculated—since he knew there would be a war in the end, most Dream Patrol Families would likely lean towards nurturing the child’s Force system, whether it’s the basic attributes like "Physique" and "Force", or the martial arts attributes like "The Way of Attack", "The Way of Defense", "The Way of Healing", "The Way of Method", or learning attributes like "Military" and "Horsemanship", all are considered part of the Force system.
As for attributes like "Dance", "Cooking", "Calligraphy", most Dream Patrol Families would not touch them because they have no role in war, and won’t help them in earning the War Contribution Value in the end.
Su Ming’an thought, the different thing in this game compared to usual raising games is—in this game, the child and the player are more like equals, not where the player arranges the schedule and the child will certainly obey. Because the child’s age can be up to thirty years old, the child can be older than the player. Furthermore, the child’s destiny is likely to affect the player’s fate; if the child joins any Evil Organization, the player’s safety may be compromised. If the child is not strong enough in the future, the player might be dragged to die on the battlefield as well—it’s an extremely risky raising game, where players may die from their own nurturing decisions.
Every step must be cautiously cultivated to ensure both the player and child can survive the future war. The two are in a symbiotic relationship.
Su Ming’an opened the "Friends" interface and saw a message sent by Su Luoluo to him. This private chat is not visible to viewers.
[Su Ming’an (No.1 Dream Patrol Family): Have you already found someone to nurture?]
[Call Me Miss Demon King (20w follower Dream Patrol broadcaster): Found them. I’m an entertainment anchor, not planning to contribute much in the final war, so I adopted a child from the orphanage. He’s quite ordinary, I’m not expecting much. He seems to really like drawing, I’m planning to provide funding for him to learn drawing and become a painter in the future!]
[Su Ming’an (No.1 Dream Patrol Family): Is that so...]
[Call Me Miss Demon King (20w Dream Patrol broadcaster): Little Cloud, what are your thoughts? You are now the first in Dream Patrol Family, and billions are watching your every move. If you fail in this game, who knows how many will ridicule you. I suggest you directly find an adult companion, this way you won’t need to spend a lot of time nurturing them. Raising a child is too time-consuming, and who knows when the war will come.]
[Su Ming’an (No.1 Dream Patrol Family): You’re right.]
[Call Me Miss Demon King (20w Dream Patrol broadcaster): I heard from audience in my live broadcast room, Yi Zhongyu directly found a Royal City Knight as a partner, preparing to progress together. Also, broadcaster Norse directly approached the Church, seems like planning to handle things from the Priest level. Little Cloud, I heard from the audience that you found a completely ordinary orphan...?]
[Su Ming’an (No.1 Dream Patrol Family): She still has some features.]
[Call Me Miss Demon King (20w Dream Patrol broadcaster): Alright! Actually, winning or losing isn’t important, I trust your judgment, go for it, Little Cloud!]
...
Su Ming’an asked Su Luoluo for her information and looked at it; Su Luoluo’s child’s attributes were similar to Alice’s, Alice had practically no special skills. Is she really the one Eye of the Old Days designated to nurture?
Su Ming’an turned back and glanced; Alice was quietly sitting on the sofa, cleaning her hair. The flickering firelight in the fireplace cast warm yellow hues over her pale face.
Seeing him turn around, she even smiled at him, like a little warm yellow flower.
Su Ming’an’s gaze shifted.
[Detective: Even if ordinary... maybe it’s fine.]
[Detective: Because I was just an ordinary person initially.]
[Detective: Maybe she can really perform a miracle.]
...
Su Ming’an closed [Attributes] and opened [Information].
This [Information] interface was temporarily empty, with nothing inside. It should be the source of information for players in the future.
Finally, Su Ming’an opened [Agenda].
In an instant, a large list of courses appeared in front of him:
[Elementary Instrument Arts] , [Elementary Dance] , [Elementary Foreign Language], [Understanding Faith], [Divination Studies], [Exotic Species Teaching], [Elementary Sword Techniques], [Poetry Reading Class], [Mysticism Entry]... Hundreds of courses appeared on the panel, densely packed.
Moreover, almost every course requires money to learn.
This is a given, sending children to school naturally costs tuition, not to mention this is an era where educational resources are relatively scarce. Su Ming’an glanced upwards, catching sight of a course named [Elementary Military Science], with a term of one semester (half a year), requiring 200 Kels! After finishing this course, there are further courses like [Intermediate Military Science], [High-Level Military Science], [Master’s Military Science], with prices increasing exponentially.
An elementary course costing 200 Kels?
—A detective’s entire assets were only 39 Kels!
And now, not even 39 Kels are left!
Su Ming’an shifted his view back to his backpack interface, where the Kels (money) displayed was 0. A bleak but real number.