Chapter 1 "Mobile Castle·Fantasy Forest

"I'm really an idiot! Truly!"

When Char vied for the thirty-second time to ignite the pile of dry grass in front of him with the flint in his hand, yet still failed.

He was utterly deflated.

"Why?!"

"Why did I ever design this game?!"

He lamented endlessly, wishing he could travel back several months and slap himself hard: all the suffering he was enduring now stemmed from the brainwater he had during the game's planning phase!

Destroy it!

Hurry up!

I'm tired!

Just as Char was overwhelmed with irritability, a gentle beam of sunshine appeared in his sight, dancing up and down, conveying an encouraging meaning.

This seemed like a star emitting a soft golden glow.

It was only the size of a fingernail, a light gold color sketching the shape of a pentagram, and outside this pentagram, there was a layer of crystal-clear shell, enclosing the light gold star.

As Char's gaze focused on this "gemstone," a set of data visible only to him drifted out from within the "gemstone," appearing above it.

[Star Worm]

[Attributes]: Strength 2, Defense 25, Agility 17, Constitution 5, Intelligence 6, Perception 12

[Life Value]: 56/56

[Magic Power]: 3/3

[Skills]: Sunshine Glow (Circle 0)

[Challenge Level]: 0

[Introduction]: Star Worms are among the weakest Magic Creatures, resembling a gold pentagram set in a diamond. They have almost no Magic Ability, only their hard shell provides some self-defense. However, legends say that Star Worms are incarnations of the stars. How could such a feeble Star Worm be the incarnation of a star? Perhaps it is a misconception…

Seeing the Star Worm made Char feel a bit better, he took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

The Star Worm was his Magic Pet, also the only companion he had in this deserted otherworldly Fantasy Forest.

If not for the Star Worm's company, he might have truly gone mad.

Sadly, the name Star Worm sounds high-end and prestigious, seeming to hold high prestige, even clashing with some famous incantation materials, half-divine traits, and possessing transcendent bugs that grant powerful blinking abilities.

But what are they ranked?

Phasing through walls! Tricks! Divination!

Recording! Teleportation! Blinking!

Banishment! Twisting space!

They can do everything!

Almost possessing mythical abilities!

And what is your rank?

You have a pitiful single skill! And it's a damn Circle 0 skill!

"Sunshine Glow"…

The name sounds good and has a high prestige; in reality, it's just emitting light, even struggling to light up the night, let alone having any killing power.

Even among Circle 0 tricks, it's the weakest!

But in this lonely otherworldly place, the Star Worm was Char's only companion and a great source of comfort, giving him significant courage.

Though it wasn't practically useful, the encouragement from the Star Worm alleviated some of the irritation in Char's heart.

He took several deep breaths and calmed himself down, continuing to strike the flint.

Sparks flew, sunshine drifted.

The Star Worm flew down slightly, landing into the pile of dry grass and started to emit light desperately as if trying to be helpful.

The light gold glow grew brighter, enveloping the Star Worm's entire body, making it look like the pile of dry grass was bathed in a bit of golden light.

At that moment, all the annoyances, irritations, and miseries in Char's heart vanished.

Whether it was finally a glancing glance from the Luck Goddess or the Star Worm's efforts actually raised the temperature of the pile of dry grass a bit.

Either way, this time Char finally succeeded.

White smoke rose from the dry twigs and leaves, scattering like fireflies, and the Star Worm quickly moved away from the pile of dry grass, while Char frantically grabbed a handful of dry grass, loosely covering the flames to prevent them from being snuffed out that he had struggled to ignite.

Finally, a clear flame emerged, and the fire started to grow.

Char breathed a sigh of relief, wiped his sweat, and placed a pot already filled with water on the stacked stones.

On the other hand, the Star Worm, after leaving the pile of dry twigs and leaves, landed on the back of Char's hand.

The light receded, and the Star Worm stopped activating "Sunshine Glow," showing its original appearance.

In its normal state, the Star Worm looked like a round diamond with a golden pentagram embedded inside it, without hands, feet, or wings, just possessing two eyes and a mouth, and even the ears were not apparent.

With its eyes and mouth closed, it was perfectly seamless, showing no trace.

Rather than a worm, the Star Worm resembled a precious gem crafted by a top-tier jewelry master.

The Star Worm was clearly very happy, with its eyes smiling happily, almost squinted to a slit.

Its data also changed slightly, its Magic Power went from 3 to 0—using up all its weak Magic Power to fully activate "Sunshine Glow."

'Silly joy~'

Char couldn't help but chuckle internally.

The Star Worm's structure was peculiar, and it was uncertain what elements constituted its shell, definitely, it wasn't chitin like regular beetles.

Perhaps it really was gold and silicon.

This gave the Star Worm a formidable Defense.

With an outer layer made of crystal and an inner layer wrapped in gold, how could its Defense not be strong?

This was how the Star Worm got its Defense Value of 25.

A Defense Value of 25 is not weak at all; an average person has an overall average of about 10 in the six attributes, with Defense generally even lower around 6 or 7 points.

The Star Worm's Defense of 25 already matched that of Levels 1 and 2 Professionals.

But—

That's just it.

The only thing worth praising about the Star Worm was its strong defense.

This made it very difficult to kill.

Other than that, it might just be its speed that was somewhat strong.

With a speed of 17, that was almost twice that of an ordinary human.

However, the strength and skills of the Star Worm were too weak.

With only 2 points in strength, it could hardly be said to have any physical damage capability.

Not to mention the lack of physical attack skills, even if they existed, they wouldn't be very powerful. And as for magic damage, although the Star Worm's intelligence and perception were decent, its complementary skills were very poor.

"Sunshine Glow"...

It barely had any damaging power, so how could it talk about attack capabilities?

Char sighed inwardly, his thoughts shifted, and another set of data appeared in front of him.

This set of data was more complex compared to that of the Star Worm.

It was his own character panel data.

[Name]: Char Rain Season

[Race]: Half-Elf

[Level]: 1

[Profession]: Commoner

[Attributes]: Strength 12, Defense 8, Agility 14, Constitution 11, Intelligence 13, Perception 11

[Life Value]: 113/113

[Magic Power]: ——

[Skills]: ——

[Magic Pet]: Star Worm (Challenge Level 0)

'Not only is the Star Worm pathetic, but so am I,' he thought.

Char sighed heavily.

His attributes weren't much better than the Star Worm's, and he completely lacked skills.

With such capabilities, the probability of surviving in a fantasy world was zero.

Char closed the panel and flipped his hand gently, letting the Star Worm that had been lying on the back of his hand nestle into his palm.

Then, he lifted his gaze to the outside.

He saw a brown horse, head bowed, nibbling the grass at its feet. The horse was tethered with a rope that extended in front of him, connecting to the wagon.

He was currently in a dilapidated carriage.

The entire carriage was made of wood, worn and unrepaired, with many damaged parts covered in moss, and even the roof had several holes.

At the moment, he was cooking on a wooden plank in front of the carriage door, about half a meter above the ground.

The horse pulling the carriage was already very old.

Bony and skeletal, even though it was a horse, it gave off a decrepit, dilapidated impression.

So old and still had to pull a carriage. It wasn't easy and terribly heartless!

But this was not Char's intention.

If possible, he wouldn't want to exploit such an old horse that could collapse at any moment.

This was the system's arrangement, what could he do?

This matter really did have a long story behind it.

He was not originally called Char, nor was he from this world.

He was an Earthling, a professional in the game industry.

Young and promising, a few years after graduating from college, he and several like-minded friends had established a somewhat famous gaming studio. They had produced several small but successful hits and had a modest fortune.

Before he crossed worlds, they were developing a game called "Mobile Castle·Fantasy Forest."

This was a game focused on a beautiful art style, with elements of pet beast development in a fantasy adventure and management game, the result of ten years of effort by their studio.

At the start of the game, every player would receive an old horse-drawn cart, and through daily tasks, gradually repair, modify, expand, and add functions to the cart...

Through several upgrades, step by step turning the soon-to-be-discarded old cart into a magnificent and spectacular Mobile Castle, embarking on a splendid and thrilling adventure in a fantasy world!

During this time, players could also tame Demon Beasts by praying and taming, use them as Magic Pets, defend the castle, face challenges, and help manage their castles.

In short, it was a game that combined fantasy adventure, pet beast development, wilderness survival, and farm management, all rendered in a beautiful art style.

Although it was a small studio's product, Char and his partners were confident about the game, believing it would be a big hit, so much so that they had already planned a second and third installment...

This was also why they named the game "Mobile Castle·Fantasy Forest."

Because there would be subsequent parts like "Mobile Castle: Ocean Song," "Mobile Castle - Prairie Adventure," and "Mobile Castle: Desert Treasure Hunt," each featuring different landscapes and fascinating creatures.

Just the thought was exciting!

Who would have thought that before it could begin, he would unexpectedly cross into another world?

It was disastrous the moment he crossed over.

In the game, all the tasks just needed a simple movement of the mouse and fingers to be easily completed.

You wouldn't even die!

You had infinite lives!

But when all this left the game and became reality, it turned into a true nightmare.

Tasks that seemed easy and simple by just moving a mouse became incredibly difficult, each consuming a great deal of time, energy, and physical effort.

Worse still, to enhance the player's experience of building a home from scratch and feeling a sense of achievement, the players had almost nothing in the early stages of the game, nearly a wilderness survival mode.

And this!

All were traps he had set for himself!

As the main strategist and artist of the game, one could say the entire game world was crafted by him, including the early wilderness survival mode.

If he had known one day he would cross into the game he designed, why would he plan it like this?

Of course, he would make it as simple and safe as possible, preferably giving himself ten or eight cheats!

Char's gaze followed the old horse and looked farther away.