Death Penalty

"Good morning, brother."

"Morning."

"I have breakfast with me," she said, placing the bowl of soup on the adjustable table on the bed.

"Yu Rou, can I ask you for a favor?" Yuan asked her as he's being fed like a patient in a hospital.

"What is it?"

"I'd like to hear some fairy tales tonight." His words dumbfounded her, who wasn't expecting such a request.

"Why fairy tales?" She asked in a worrying tone, afraid the illness might have finally messed up his mind.

"I made a friend in the game, and she happens to be a young NPC. I promised her that I'd tell her more fairy tales," he explained.

"You are telling fairy tales to NPCs? Brother… what are you doing, really?" Yu Rou sighed, thinking how silly he was being.

"Don't let the fact that they are NPCs fool you into thinking that they are not worth your time. They move, think, react, and speak like real Players. You wouldn't know if they are a real Player or not unless you ask them.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't do anything weird to her, alright?"

"W...Weird? Why would I do anything weird?" Yuan asked.

"Haven't you heard? There have been plenty of perverts getting killed for touching NPCs inappropriately. The penalty for death is extremely harsh in this game from what I heard."

"Perverts touching NPCs? You can do that in this game?" Yuan lifted his eyebrows in surprise. What a profound game!

"Ah! You're thinking about doing something perverted, aren't you!? Don't even think about it, brother! I prohibit you from doing that as your sister!"

"That only works if you are the older one, no?" He smiled.

"Then… then I will stop taking care of you! Hmph!"

"Aiii… Do you think your brother is some kind of pervert that likes to touch NPCs? Unlike some people, I have morals, you know." He sighed, and continued to speak, "Anyway, what is this death penalty, and what happens if you die?" He was more interested in that than the perverts in the game.

"According to those who have died, some became unable to cultivate after death while some have even lost their cultivation base entirely, requiring them to restart from scratch."

Yuan pondered. "So you basically have to start from the beginning… That is indeed very harsh for a game."

"Additionally, some people have already tried to buy new consoles to start fresh but guess what? They still appear in the game with the same character!"

"So we are limited to one character no matter what?" Yuan cannot comprehend the game creators' motive for creating such a system; it's almost as if they want humans to live in another world with life as realistic as possible.

"Ah, brother, it's time for me to go to school. I will pick up some fairy tales on the way home," she said before leaving.

"Thank you."

—

"She's not here…" Yuan looked around for a small figure, but Xiao Hua was nowhere to be found. "I guess she went home."

He decided to sit down and cultivate to wait for her. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hours. Until night came, Yuan sat there like a stone statue, cultivating and unaware that time had passed by so quickly.

10,000/10,000

<You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough>

<You have reached Second Level Spirit Apprentice>

<All stats +150>

10,005/20,000

20,000/20,000

<You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough>

<You have reached Third Level Spirit Apprentice>

<All stats +200>

20,005/40,000

40,000/40,000

<You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough>

<You have reached Fourth Level Spirit Apprentice>

<All stats +250>

80,000/80,000

<You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough>

<You have reached Fifth Level Spirit Apprentice>

<All stats +300>

148,550/160,000

Yuan did not stop cultivating until it was time for him to eat dinner. "We couldn't play today but that's fine. At least I will have stories ready for the next time we meet." He stared at the night sky for a moment before logging off.

—

After feeding Yuan and getting him cleaned, Yu Rou began reading fairy tales to him like a mother would tell stories to her child before bedtime, but her voice was still too immature to sound like a real mother.

"How was my narration?" she asked him in a cheeky tone.

"It sucked…"

"What—Fine! You can read it yourself next time!"

"Ah! I'm sorry, Yu Rou. I was only joking." Yuan hurriedly corrected himself, "Your voice was so heavenly that I thought you were a real fairy!"

Yu Rou blushed. "It was embarrassing to read these childish stories out loud, you know?" she said later, "I will remember this debt you owe me!"

"Yes yes, I will even give you my life, so find me a few more fairy tales, okay?"

"..."

"Yu Rou?" He called out to her after receiving no answer.

"Brother, please don't say things like that ever again," said Yu Rou with a serious expression on her face, her voice somewhat sorrowful.

Yuan quickly realized that he had screwed up. "I'm sorry…" he apologized right away.

"As long as you understand…" Yu Rou left his side to close the light, "Brother, it is getting late, you should go to sleep now."

"Un. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, brother."

—

Inside her room, Yu Rou surfed the internet on her phone for some time before sleeping like always.

"This player Yuan is very mysterious and baffling. In just two days since the game's launch, he was able to become the first Player to obtain a Divine-rank skill and finish a Hidden Quest. Is he even human?"

Despite not being able to play the game due to school and Yuan, she would still keep up with the newest information about the game so when the time comes for her to play, she wouldn't feel too lost. "Meanwhile, my brother is fooling around with a young NPC…" she smiled bitterly at that thought.

"Wow, his bounty has increased to five million already!" Her eyes widened at the effort and money others were willing to put out just to find this one player.

"So much fame… how envious…" she turned the phone off and closed her eyes. "Brother too... used to be flickering with lights under the spotlight..." she sighed before slowly falling asleep.