Yu Yu didn't even dare step on the carpet, carefully stepping over it to head toward the stairs. As soon as she entered the room, the door closed on its own. With a quick glance around, Yu Yu suppressed her curiosity and went upstairs. What would the home of a high-tier spellcaster be like?
Was its defense strong? Would it attract rogues?
Second floor.
The moment Yu Yu stepped onto the staircase, a door swung open on its own. She immediately quickened her pace and walked inside.
"…Sorry for the intrusion."
Several burly elementals were brawling, with lava splashing and ice shards flying everywhere. Yu Yu promptly retreated and thoughtfully closed the door behind her. After a moment of reflection, she muttered resentfully, "Senior Meng…"
The door opened the second she stepped upstairs—how could anyone believe she didn't mean to intrude?
Before she could finish her sentence, another door opened automatically. This time, it was at the far end of the second-floor corridor. Yu Yu was now fully convinced of the chaotic nature of the magic circle's inhabitants. She conjured an animated rope to tether herself to the staircase before cautiously creeping toward the door, peeking inside.
Meng was lounging lazily in a recliner, dressed in her usual unchanging black robe, holding a thick book.
Smiling, she adjusted the glasses on her nose. "Yo, has Xiao Yu fallen in love with my house? Tying yourself up in the corridor like that?"
Yu Yu: "…"
She quickly dispelled the animated rope, thinking to herself that their absurdity forced her to be this cautious. Was there anyone in the magic circle besides Senior Sister who was remotely normal?
Was there? Was there? Was there?
Yu Yu handed over her mooncake gift box, flashing a bright smile. "Senior Meng, these mooncakes are delicious~"
Meng accepted the box, her gaze lingering on it for a moment before setting it aside. "I'm very strict in my lessons. If you can't keep up…"
Yu Yu was about to pat her chest and make a promise when Meng continued, "…you won't be able to escape either."
Yu Yu: "?"
Was this a class or forced labor?
Could it be any more real?
With a wave of Meng's hand, a stack of books floated over.
Yu Yu: "Do I have to read all of these?"
She was somewhat mentally prepared.
Meng glanced at her. "No, use the table of contents to borrow them from the library."
Yu Yu froze, staring at her.
Meng's expression had turned utterly serious.
Yu Yu's smile faded as she quickly flipped open one of the books.
[Fundamentals of Enchantment Index]
The kind of title that made her eyes glaze over instantly.
Meng: "Any problems?"
Once she entered teaching mode, her earlier playful demeanor vanished completely.
Yu Yu hesitated. "I want to make enchantments for self-protection as soon as possible, like reinforcing a house or something."
"And I'd like to create a small item with a feather fall enchantment, even if it's single-use."
Meng frowned. "That's not easy. You have no foundation."
"If I just did the calculations for you, it could work, but what's the point if you don't understand it yourself?"
Yu Yu's eyes darted around. "There's always a priority to things. How about this…"
Meng looked at her.
Yu Yu: "If I study well, will Senior reward me by teaching me a quick way to learn feather fall?"
She tilted her head, blinking eagerly. "How about it? How about it?"
Meng lowered her head and, after a moment, burst out laughing. "Are you trying to mooch off me?"
Yu Yu argued confidently, "Senior, just give me any task. I'll climb mountains or brave seas of fire to get it done!"
Meng let out a long "Ohhh." "Another mooching quest?"
Yu Yu: "…" How do you know players so well? Last time you even asked me what an NPC was!
She'd been careless!
Yu Yu pouted pitifully. "Then what should I do?"
"How about covering Senior's meals for a year?" she tried to negotiate.
Meng tapped her fingers. "Fine, I don't have much going on anyway."
After a moment of thought, she added, "But you'd better study hard. If you don't meet my standards, I'll have Felix take you back."
Yu Yu's eyes lit up. "Thank you, Senior!"
Meng didn't bother correcting her form of address. "Felix mentioned you were designing some… chaotic blueprints. Let me see them."
Yu Yu eagerly started pulling them out, muttering under her breath, "I worked hard on these. Even if you don't like them, please don't tear them up."
Meng shot her a look. "Hurry up."
Yu Yu obediently handed over the blueprints, terrified Meng might tear them in a fit of displeasure.
Good news: Meng didn't tear them.
Bad news: She glanced at them for two seconds before burying them under a book, out of sight.
Yu Yu: QAQ
Meng took a sip of water to compose herself, completely avoiding any mention of the blueprints.
Yu Yu: QAQ
You're really crushing my spirit here.
Meng casually handed her a book. "Start with this one. Come to me with questions after you're done."
Yu Yu took the book and realized it was one she hadn't seen before.
[History and Overview of Enchantment]
Oh no!
No matter what you study, you can't escape theory lessons. Yu Yu plopped down on the floor, leaning against a bookshelf, and started reading. To her surprise, Meng's place had thick, soft carpets, a comfortable temperature, and a gentle breeze—perfect for studying.
Yu Yu had thought pure theory would be a slog, but as she read, she found herself engrossed. New things always sparked curiosity, and Yu Yu was soon reading with relish. She instinctively reached for a pen, nearly marking the book before catching herself. She pulled out her notebook instead, jotting down key points that might come up in a test.
Another day of missing her iPad!
Meng leisurely read her own book, occasionally glancing at Yu Yu. Seeing her quietly absorbed in study, Meng felt a sliver of satisfaction—but only a sliver. She pulled out Yu Yu's blueprints again, frowning deeply. What was this chaotic mess?
How could someone draw something like this?
After a glance, she shoved them back under the book. A while later, she pulled them out again, frowned harder, and shoved them back…
Time slipped by, and when Yu Yu snapped out of it, the sky had darkened.
She checked the remaining pages, feeling a pang of regret. "I didn't finish. Too bad I can't read offline."
Meng: "Just keep reading tomorrow."
Yu Yu: "See you tomorrow, Senior Meng!"
The next day, Yu Yu hung a custom-made sign on the plantation's gate.
A black plaque with a silver-white ring.
The sign wasn't as intricate as the magic circle on Yu Yu's robe, with simple, bold strokes that looked clean and elegant from a distance.
Cat Tail: "What's this for?"
Yu Yu rubbed her chin, satisfied. "The magic circle plaque keeps riffraff out. That's what Senior said, anyway."
"You're right, my lady," said an NPC Yu Yu had hired, eyes full of admiration. "Are you a spellcaster, my lady?"
Cat Tail scratched her cheek. "Won't the NPCs report us for hiring child labor?"
Yu Yu replied confidently, "I checked. Silver Moon has no such law."
She'd hired two boys and two girls… minors, or rather, teenagers.
But they were cheap! (Emphasis)
Players would handle the real work anyway. The NPCs just needed to guard the gate or keep watch at night. With the magic circle plaque and Senior's lingering influence, Yu Yu wasn't worried about security.
The previous NPC had left a fully stocked night-watch cabin, even better equipped than Cat Tail's setup.
They were still lying in the fields, logging off directly.
20 silver a week, 80 silver a month—you couldn't hire an adult for that!
Yu Yu hired four, enough for full coverage. An adult's weekly wage started at 50 silver, with better ones demanding 80, and one might not even be enough…
Even a landlord's reserves weren't endless. The leftover money was perfect for hiring players.
Yu Yu's conscience didn't ache one bit—she felt perfectly justified.
Cat Tail scratched her head, not thinking much of it. "Fair enough, it's about the same."
Yu Yu turned to explain the job to them. It wasn't complicated—couldn't they handle gatekeeping?
The four kids were full of gratitude. "You're so kind, my lady!"
No one wanted to hire them. They usually scrambled for odd jobs, often getting shortchanged by bad employers. Who knew…
Cat Tail and the others wouldn't bully kids. Yu Yu handed them over, asking, "How's it going? Need to hire more? How many?"
Cat Tail calculated. "Probably five more players, warrior types. They've got the strength for heavy work."
"About 20 silver a day per person should do it. People will come—dock workers only make 15 silver a day hauling bricks."
Yu Yu's lips twitched, thinking to herself that NPCs were even harsher at undercutting wages than she was.
Cat Tail: "As long as they don't slack, ten days tops to finish. After that, we'll just need routine maintenance, and we can handle it ourselves."
Yu Yu: "Here's 20 gold."
Cat Tail patted her chest, thrilled. "Boss, don't worry! I'll record every expense and report it to you!"
Yu Yu smiled faintly. "Doesn't really matter. The magic circle isn't afraid~"
Her smile startled Cat Tail, who muttered, "Boss, you're finally starting to act like a villain."
After parting ways, Yu Yu set off on her path of study once more. Zi Shu said she'd spotted a particularly stunning unicorn and wouldn't leave the ranch until she'd tamed it. Fuyu was being secretive, up to who-knows-what.
Shu Tu had received a solo mission from their mentor and was out on a task, delaying her mentor meeting by a couple of days. She'd been getting a lot of attention lately, gradually experiencing the same joy Yu Yu had felt before.
Hugging an NPC's thigh was never a loss!
Notably, the new staff listed +4 to Spirit, but when Yu Yu equipped it, her Spirit only increased by +1.
She felt scammed.
Then she realized… the stats from equipment seemed to follow the same rules as attribute points…
In other words, if 2 attribute points could raise her Spirit to 16, getting to 17 might require more than 2 points!
No wonder Senior wasn't interested—her Spirit was probably far beyond what this staff could boost.
Still, it suited Yu Yu's current needs.
Everyone had a bright future ahead, so Yu Yu went back to study with Senior Meng. Senior Meng was quiet, spoke little, had soft carpets, a ton of books, and built-in air conditioning. Yu Yu absolutely loved it here!
This time, Yu Yu brought more study tools—paper and pens from outside. She still wasn't used to quills. Naturally, she brought breakfast and lunch for Senior, including bread she'd said was delicious.
Meng glanced at her for a moment before setting her book down. "Is this your writing system?"
"Yeah, yeah!" Yu Yu said. "Want to learn, Senior?"
Meng pondered. "Can you bring books here?"
Yu Yu: "…Not yet, I think."
Meng sighed. "Then we'll have to wait."
She looked at Yu Yu's stationery, genuinely curious. "Your paper is quite pretty. The pens are odd but nice. What are these colorful things?"
"These are stickers, and this is a bookmark…"
Yu Yu chattered on, self-deprecatingly adding, "I'm just a bad student with too much stationery."
Meng paused, then nodded. "True."
Yu Yu: "…"
Why did you have to respond!
Meng: "You're almost mid-tier. Have you chosen your school?"
"High-tier spellcasters are different from the first two tiers. You can't just advance because you want to."
Yu Yu looked up. "Any tricks to picking a school?"
Meng raised an eyebrow, chuckling. "None. It's all about preference."
"For example, Felix chose… well."
Senior was into necromancy and curses, with spell lists focused on control, curses, and debilitation, not offense. Yu Yu didn't understand why Senior picked those schools but didn't dare ask or comment.
Senior must have her reasons.
Yu Yu: "I want to learn summoning, enchantment, and elemental."
Meng: "Oh?"
Her smile faded, and she asked seriously, "Is that your preference?"
Yu Yu nodded firmly. "It's my preference."
"Summoning can handle situations where numbers matter."
Meng mused, "That's a fair point."
"Enchantment can address things spells can't, like…"
"Like?" Meng raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"Money," Yu Yu said gravely.
Meng: "…" That wasn't what she'd expected.
Yu Yu: "I refuse to believe enchanted items won't sell!"
Worst case, she could sell handmade trinkets to players.
Meng: "…You'll need to work hard for a long time."
Yu Yu: "Elemental is simpler."
"It can solve any problem that needs brute force."
"If one fireball doesn't do it, it's because the fireball isn't big enough or there aren't enough of them."
Small fireball, big fireball, explosive fireball, delayed explosive fireball, flame burst, incendiary cloud, meteor strike, meteor shower…
Rushing toward "bigger" and "more" with reckless abandon—utterly reliable, no doubt.
Meng: "…Classic elemental school rhetoric."
She tapped the table absently. "I almost thought you'd researched our schools."
Yu Yu: "? Maybe great minds think alike?"
Meng laughed. "Let's call it that."
"I specialize in elemental and evocation."
Yu Yu was surprised. "What a coincidence!"
Meng: "Quite the coincidence."
Yu Yu: "There are only so many schools. As long as I don't obsess over control like Senior, it's easy to overlap, right?"
"Transmutation isn't my thing."
Late-stage transmutation involved messing with the body, and Yu Yu wasn't keen on that.
"Necromancy and curses are fine to have, but I'll specialize later."
"Evocation is nice and flexible, but compared to the other three, it's a bit lackluster."
"Elemental can hit hard, really hard."
"Summoning is great for outnumbering enemies."
"Enchantment covers what the other two can't."
"It's perfect!"
Meng was convinced, nodding solemnly. "Indeed, perfect."
"But elemental, summoning, and enchantment are major schools—easy to learn, hard to master, or just plain hard all around. Do you have the energy for it?"
Yu Yu puffed out her chest. "I do."
Meng thought for a moment, then floated over another stack of books. "Keep at it. I'm rooting for you."
Yu Yu glanced at them, noticing they seemed to be about summoning, and declined politely. "Can I focus on enchantment first?"
Meng: "Sure."
Yu Yu went back to reading.
She started missing her computer, wanting to play some music to study by—preferably without needing a pen. Too bad there was no music here, and she couldn't take the books out. Sigh.
Still a little ways from the perfect life. Lost in thought, Yu Yu looked up to find it was evening again. She noticed something: Why didn't Senior Meng ever leave the house?
Was she, like Senior, idling away her days?
But just a few days ago, she'd seen her running around.
Yu Yu: "Can I borrow books to read at home?"
Meng snapped out of her thoughts, setting her book down with a sigh. "Sure."
"If you have questions, come find me, or send a message via night raven."
"Senior, you're the best."
Meng's lips twitched, giving a half-smile. "Not necessarily."
Yu Yu: "…"
Meng: "Did you hear the Grand Archon is replacing the four regional Archons?"
Yu Yu pondered. "Senior Chang mentioned something a few days ago…"
Meng: "Guess who she'll pick?"
Yu Yu: "…Senior?"
Meng blinked. "Me or Felix?"
Yu Yu coughed. "You, of course."
Meng glanced at her. "Barring any surprises, I might become the new Archon of Moonbay Town."
"Mid-tier spellcasters are still too vulnerable," Meng said calmly, pouring herself a glass of water. "High-tier spellcasters have better self-preservation."
Yu Yu's mind wandered: What if players all reached high-tier one day?
If Senior or someone got killed by some idiot player—ugh.
Unacceptable!
Meng: "What are you thinking?"
Yu Yu said gravely, "Senior, you must be cautious of players."
Meng didn't respond immediately, then said, "You'll come with me when the time comes."
Yu Yu: "Huh?"
I just settled into my cozy Silver Moon!
With a warm house and a beautiful garden!
Meng: "I'll teleport you."
Yu Yu instantly beamed. "I'll follow Senior through wind and waves, no matter the cost!"
Meng wasn't one to snark—unless she couldn't help it.
"Your expression just now didn't match your words."
Yu Yu: "Cough, I just moved into my new house, haven't even warmed the seat…"
Meng was speechless. "It's not that far."
Yu Yu: "Thanks to Senior's reminder, I just remembered!"
"Senior, Senior, what will I do there? But my current job…"
"Of course, I've already cleared it with Chang," Meng said confidently. "As for what you'll do…"
Her expression turned sly. "What do you think?"
Yu Yu's smile faltered. "…Not managing players, right?"
Meng smiled. "Exactly."
Yu Yu: "…"
Was it too late to run?
Players were the ultimate pitfall—messing up could drag her down to the underworld with shared liability!
Meng: "Do your best. I'm rooting for you."
Yu Yu's face was a bitter melon. "I'll try my hardest, but if I can't manage them…"
Meng leisurely ate a mooncake. "I'll tell the Grand Archon you're not up to it and move on to the next candidate."
Yu Yu froze. "What?"
Meng didn't elaborate, instead shooing her out. "Alright, I've been cooped up for days. Time to go have some fun."
"Take the books and get out."
She stretched, stood, and vanished in a flash.
Her voice lingered in the air: "See yourself out."
Yu Yu hugged the books, lost in thought the whole way.
Where had things gone wrong?
She was actually getting promoted?
But… it seemed risky.
Manage players?
How was she supposed to do that?
Unless she could control the task system, there was no way to guide players…
Lost in her thoughts, Yu Yu returned home, nearing logout time.
She rubbed her face and opened her little notebook.
If she really had to go, she'd definitely bring Zi Shu and the others.
She hadn't found jobs for them yet—this was perfect!
If this was part of the Grand Archon's plan, her reason for holding the selection was clear.
Even as a high-tier spellcaster's subordinate, taking office required mid-tier strength to command respect.
What was she trying to do?
Foment player infighting? Or was there a deeper motive?
Yu Yu genuinely couldn't figure out the Grand Archon.
As she mulled it over, she felt like she'd forgotten something.
What was it?
With that doubt lingering, Yu Yu was kicked offline.
The next day.
Yu Yu woke in the bright morning light.
She climbed out of her soft bed, pulling out the book she'd been using as a pillow.
Ah, what a beautiful day.
Studying at home was so comfortable.
She wanted to listen to some music.
If only she could bring her phone or computer here someday.
She'd figure out a charging spell later.
As she thought this, something felt off.
"…What did I forget yesterday?"
"Oh, what did you forget?"
Yu Yu froze, turning to stone as she looked over.
Perched on the windowsill was a woman with emerald-green eyes, gazing at her faintly—
"Probably that I'd be getting out of jail…"