Ten minutes later, all three were staring at the cup of coffee on the table.
March 7th: "This thing is so weird."
Stelle: "Another sip?"
Pei Guang: "I don't think so. This is probably a special item and not meant for us to drink."
Stelle: "A special item?"
Just as Pei Guang was about to explain, the phones of all three of them rang. When they checked, they saw a message from Asta.
Asta: "I've sent the highlight reel to Himeko~ Your mission rewards are ready for you. You can come to get them now or pick them up before you leave after exploring a bit more. There are still twenty treasure chests left on the space station waiting for you to discover~ Have fun on the Herta Space Station~ And thank you for your contributions here."
To Asta, Pei Guang was the true hero who saved the Station. He had brought back 21 doomed-to-die crew members, taunted and killed the Doomsday Beast when it appeared, and even saved March 7th and Dan Heng at the last moment.
In her eyes, Pei Guang was a good person, a hero, much like the brave ones from cultural tales. However, this person's thoughts were a bit unusual, and his way of acting was a bit eccentric.
So, what was the hero in her eyes thinking at that moment? He was thinking about how to snatch all those twenty-some treasure chests!
Pei Guang: "Let's get those treasure chests first!!"
March 7th: "Treasure chests! I hope there are some shiny things in them."
Seeing the message on her phone, Stelle's eyes sparkled, "I think we can look around. Earlier, I found ten treasure chests in the safe zone."
Pei Guang: "You found ten, and I opened one while we were fighting together. That means there are actually thirty-six treasure chests in the space station? Should we collect them all? Let's go for it!"
Stelle was shocked, "What? When did you sneak one open?"
Pei Guang: "When I was drawing the enemy's attention, I found the treasure chest I'd spotted earlier, so I opened it."
March 7th: "You're so fast with your hands? I didn't even notice!"
Pei Guang stood up, "Of course! I'm a professional at opening treasure chests! The mission rewards are just sitting there and won't disappear, but our time is limited. Before the main quest starts, it's good to open as many chests as possible. Don't worry, I won't keep the rewards to myself. We'll all level up together!"
Although they were currently in a three-person team, based on his experience, you need to level up to progress through the main quest. Why would they stay here for three days? It's clearly a game mechanic to level up, right?
It's not just about leveling himself up: according to his judgment, in this so-called real world, leveling up together is the best way to prepare for battles.
Also, considering the size of this space station, there should be many items with special functions like the recently acquired coffee cup. Exploring a bit more to gather materials and improve their weapons and levels would make progressing through the main quest easier.
"But speaking of which, this game doesn't seem to have levels, right? There are no classes either? Damn it! Although I'm happy it combines many game features, the fact that it has a Sword Art Online-style exit mechanism makes me want to curse."
March 7th: "Relax, relax, we'll have everything eventually. But Ah Guang, do you have any plans for the future? Do you want to go back to your hometown someday?"
Pei Guang reminisced, "Hometown? This world doesn't have it. I can only take one step at a time and see where it leads. You're the first person I met in this world, so if you don't mind, I'll follow you through the main quest. As for the rest? I'll leave it to fate, take it one step at a time. If it comes down to it, I might die and see if death leads me out of this game. If I gamble and win, I exit the game; if I lose, I'm dead. It's a win-win situation. But honestly, I don't want to gamble. I know my luck too well; the chances of returning to my birth place through death are not worth the bet."
His words were all over the place and March 7th and Stelle only understood the gist of it, but they extracted the key point: Pei Guang has nowhere to go in this world, and only death could free him from it, but he doesn't want to die.
At the same time, Stelle also heard something about luck, so she curiously asked, "Is your luck really that bad? I feel like your luck is pretty good."
Pei Guang: "What's my name?"
March 7th instinctively replied, "Pei Guang!"
Pei Guang nodded, "Exactly! 'Pei Guang'—it sounds like 'lose everything' in Chinese. Based on my experience from childhood, whenever I dare to gamble, I always lose. Especially after an experience in my childhood, I'm convinced: I shouldn't gamble, never gamble! Even if I'm desperate, I shouldn't gamble."
Hearing Pei Guang mention his childhood, March 7th suddenly became interested. She had no memories of her past, but she was curious about Pei Guang's history: "Tell us about it? Maybe it'll increase your favorability."
Hearing that his favorability might increase, Pei Guang immediately perked up, "That was back when I was in school. It was the most intense time I've ever been a gambling addict."
Stelle perked up her ears to listen, and March 7th eagerly prepared to hear more.
Pei Guang: "That time, I felt like I was on a roll and gambled on a fart! In the end, I lost everything."
March 7th: "Pfft!"
Stelle: "Pfft!"
With just a simple sentence, March 7th and Stelle instantly imagined what had happened. They couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Stelle: "Hahaha!"
March 7th clutched her stomach, "Pfft! Why is it that when you say things like this, it's so funny…!"
The reason it was funny was simple: the contrast was just too great. While Pei Guang might not always be serious, his behavior was usually not completely off the rails. As Dan Heng had once said, understanding what Pei Guang wanted to do and expressing what you wanted to do to him made conversations with him quite relaxed, even very relieving.
In terms of their shared goals, he was a very reliable and warm-hearted companion. They worked together well in battle, went crazy together during breaks, and he even helped with things that were hard to say. Despite his quirks, she enjoyed this kind of happiness.
No matter how he acted, Pei Guang was always someone who ensured that neither he nor his companions suffered any losses. Yet, here was this companion, who... who...
March 7th and Stelle laughed, and seeing March 7th's smile, Pei Guang felt quite happy because his favorability was steadily increasing. Whether it was real or not didn't matter: to Pei Guang, it was just a game, so enjoying the process was what mattered. Whether it was the seemingly real joy of his companions or the aim of increasing favorability, Pei Guang was happy.
However, watching the favorability increase,he felt something was off. Why did the favorability rise in a way that seemed like it was laughing at him?
+1 +1 +1 +1 ~~~~ +1 ~~~ +1 +1 ~
The rate of increase gave him the impression he was being humored, but it didn't matter, as long as it was going up.
The three of them continued chatting and laughing as they arrived at the Base Cabin Section, which was quite crowded. Since the enemy had been defeated, everyone was busy transporting resources for reconstruction, reorganizing data to assess the damage, or conducting live broadcasts to interview and console people.
According to Asta's message, there were still twenty treasure chests left, so the places Stelle hadn't been to, and those that Pei Guang and March 7th hadn't explored, naturally became their primary targets for finding treasure chests.
From Pei Guang's perspective, gathering the resources from these chests would make starting the main quest a few days later more manageable.
In the Base Cabin Section, the three decided to split up to search for the treasure chests, but just as they were about to separate, Stelle called out to Pei Guang.
Stelle: "Ah Guang, look!"
March 7th also heard Stelle's voice, so she and Pei Guang followed Stelle's gaze.
In front of two trash cans stood a treasure chest, and beside that chest was a person.
He immediately recognized the person; it was the man who had stopped him from opening a treasure chest earlier!