Chapter 21: The Gradually Bustling Ship

Elysia's ship gained yet another new passenger.

It was Stella's uncle, a jovial, chubby man who adored lively environments and cherished his family dearly.

Compared to Gwen's aversion to seafood and fruits, Atul was almost indiscriminate in his culinary tastes.

With the arrival of this optimistic and lively character, the atmosphere of the entire game became more cheerful.

Uncle Atul always went out of his way to cheer up Stella, sometimes with playful jokes or by lending a hand with trivial tasks.

Even while traversing the Thundercloud Zone, Atul would teach Stella how to capture lightning in glass bottles.

Yes, capturing lightning in glass bottles—this lightning could become a material for future construction, making it a necessity. While Stella chased lightning, Atul would play stirring melodies on his flute.

Such scenes made Elysia feel like a hero who continuously went to conquer nature while chasing lightning.

But what if they didn't capture any?

In this world, even if they didn't capture lightning, the Everlight would protect Stella and her ship from any harm. It was like a fairy tale world.

However, in some ways, it did slow down the overall pace of the game. The guidance for tasks wasn't very prominent unless the task list was opened, but each completed task meant getting closer to sending someone away.

Every soul boarding the ship would offer an Opal as fare, which could be contributed at various altars on islands to gain entirely new skills.

Recently, the place to exchange skills was naturally the Humming Castle, where many wandering souls resided.

Most of them preferred to live in the castle and didn't want to pass through the Everdoor to move on.

Stella was powerless to change this; all she could do was offer Opals at the altar and gain new abilities—like a double jump. With this ability, the latter half of the Humming Castle's area could also be explored.

Time passed slowly, and after arriving at the Humming Castle, it was already dusk. Heading towards a place that could only be reached by a double jump, the protagonist reached the other end of the Humming Castle's pier where a lonely soul sat on a bench, gazing into the distance.

"What's wrong? Ah! You startled me! ... That cat looks familiar. Dafodill? Is it you? Yes, your fur is still as soft as before. That must mean— Stella, is it really you? What a surprise! Is the ship out at sea yours? You've come to rescue me again. Hmm, but don't rush! This time, let me teach you along others. Let's make a bet! Then let's go. I'll give you all a lesson."

Encounters always felt so natural.

"Another person who knows Stella. Is all of this just a coincidence?"

Elysia noticed many unusual things.

"All of this is certainly not a coincidence, but if you play carefully and treat their deeds as fragments, you can piece together Stella's life and the lives of those friends she encountered," Bronie answered directly, as if it were a matter of course.

It was normal for Elysia to have such doubts; after all, it was also a core part of the game. When she noticed these doubts, it was only natural to unravel the mysteries and connect the dots.

This was also one of the motivations for players to continue playing.

"I didn't expect..." Elysia felt like her spotlight had been directly taken away. Encountering everyone and gradually getting to know their lives. This was also what Elysia did before, and now prepared for—the story of the next possible Human Herrschers.

But now, Bronie was also presenting herself in a similar way through the game.

Truly romantic. Yes, it was romantic.

Elysia also hoped in the future that she also could present herself in such a romantic way to the unknown Human Herrschers among the successors.

"Ah! Stella, look at this fresh air and the expansive view. I feel like I can thrive here. Look, I can even bloom now!"

The ethereal figure of a soul extended its hands upward. Then, the true form of the soul began to materialize.

A snake. A snake draped in a cloak.

"Ah, emerging from the cocoon feels amazing. Thank you, Stella."

"No need to thank me, Summer. Come, let's have a hug of love~" Elysia still gave a loving hug right away.

Hugging a python didn't make one feel afraid of it at all. Summer's hug was so gentle. Her slender body gently wrapped around Stella, as if afraid of hurting her.

After the farewell, Summer headed straight to the entrance of the farmland. She was prepared for the first lesson.

Planting: from sowing to harvesting. It was evident that the snake named Summer had worked in agriculture in her past life.

The blueprint for the vegetable garden was unlocked. Inside, larger vegetables could be planted, such as cabbage or carrots.

Gwen wasn't good at farming, so teaching farming fell to Summer.

First, of course, was sowing seeds. Then came watering.

But what followed surprised Eden a bit.

"In our first lesson, I'll teach you something I'm eager to share with you. You may have noticed that there are some strange rules in this world. I've always been committed to promoting the belief in universal love. You see, the garden reflects the ship of love in our hearts and is also a mirror of ourselves. Now it seems more correct than ever. When I lived on the island before, when I felt lonely, I would sing to the flowers. And just as I expected, they grew even more luxuriantly! Through repeated experiments, I wrote a little song. The plants seem to respond particularly well to it. "

"Using a song to accelerate plant growth?" Eden had never heard of the power of songs having such an effect.

"In our world, there was a scientist in Australia who proposed a topic called biodynamic agriculture in 1942. He believed that soil is the foundation of human health and must be balanced. Humanity, the Earth, and the universe are all one and must rely on the power of all three to nourish and maintain the soil in order to produce healthy crops. In fact, it's a kind of career that focuses on the harmony between society, the environment, and the universe, and there are still people researching it to this day."

"It's interesting to get along well with nature! So Summer is someone who pursues this aspect?"

Elysia immediately understood Bronie's character background for Summer, which was also Bronie's way of describing the world outside to her. Elysia, who always enjoyed observing humans, naturally had a keen interest in such matters.

"Not originally, but later she did study these issues."

Then Summer entered the vegetable garden and began to play the music she had composed. In fact, it was a variation of the game's theme song. In the twilight, the plants swayed with the music, and the lively melody improved everyone's mood considerably. It seemed like this song truly had a magical power, leading the crops in the land to grow continuously.

First, Summer demonstrated, and then Stella conjured a guitar with her Everlight and began to play along.

Teacher and student.

Sunset and the ocean.

Swaying plants and lively tunes. People truly experienced the harmony between humans and nature that Summer spoke of.

Another person appeared on the ship, making it seem even livelier now. With Gwen's task completed, she also started making another request.

She wanted a private room.

It seemed abit too crowded with three people staying in the guest room all att once. So Gwen made such a small request. She wanted a beautiful, simple, and cozy house. A space where she could read and relax, away from the hustle and bustle of the deck, and the sound of Atul jumping around and hitting the boards.

"It's clear that Gwen prefers a quiet environment, Atul has always been so lively. But it seems to be affecting Gwen?"

Eden observed the plot, everything unfolding naturally and smoothly.

It felt as if she had entered the world of the game, becoming Stella and living with those characters day and night.

"So we do need to build a separate room for each of them. But this means we'll need to expand the entire ship at the shipyard."

Elysia also began to plan for the future.

"Don't worry, there's plenty of space on the ship, especially the largest one, which is definitely large enough to accommodate all the facilities. In fact, this game doesn't have much demand for farming or breeding. Basically, you just plant when you need to, and by the time you finish the journey, they've grown."

Bronie didn't recommend rushing through the game; if one rushed it, it could probably be finished in about thirty hours.

But if one wanted to explore all the details along with the story, it might take hundreds of hours.

"Oh, I see. It does seem like that!" Elysia smiled and glanced at Bronie's state.

She was afraid of getting too absorbed in the game and forgetting about Bronie, which might make her unhappy.

But now, seeing her game being played well, seemed to be the happiest thing for Bronie.

A purely hand-drawn game style, every aspect of it seemed like a work of art, telling fairy-tale-like stories of different people's lives. Different lives intertwined, playing a magnificent symphony of life. She's kind of hooked on this game.

No, she should focus more on Bronie, the one who created this game.

Just before Gwen made the request, Elysia and Eden had already prepared the materials. Elysia was the type who liked to be prepared in advance.

After Gwen made the request, she immediately built the hut.

Then, you could see Uncle Atul helping to hammer nails next to Gwen's hut. It seemed that no matter what Stella did, Atul always managed to help a little.

After each character boarded the ship, a new way of obtaining resources would be unlocked. Of course, Summer was no exception.

After Summer boarded the ship, she said she often had dreams, often dreaming of the same thing. It was a giant python, surrounded by many treacherous reefs and rotten fruits.

Following the guidance of the dream, Stella met the Quartz Dragon at sea. The giant dragon seemed to be eroded by stones, tossing and turning in the sea in pain, hoping that Stella could deal with the ore on its body.

Watching Stella, controlled by Elysia, tossing and turning around the Quartz Dragon while dealing with its illness, Summer felt inexplicably complex. It was like...

"It's like seeing my past self, my dear Elysia. Maybe bottled lightning and jellyfish are metaphors for something, and the illness on the Quartz Dragon's body is even more obvious, perhaps related to Summer's past life."

She really was indeed a great artist, with an extraordinary appreciation ability, and even more so in reading comprehension.

Elysia was just a little surprised, but Eden tasted something different from it.

"Yes, Summer didn't mention a dragon, but a python, just like Summer herself."

"And this quartz... embedded in the body, is it cancer?"

"I suspect you peeked at my setting collection, but indeed, the corroded aura, that's a sign of cancer."

Bronie admitted directly. "And Atul, once the vice president of the Workers' Union, led his subordinates to fight for their rightful interests. Therefore, his resistance against lightning is a portrayal of his fearless life, and the jellyfish group... I don't know much about it."

"Wow, it's amazing that you've analyzed these things so quickly. Each new resource acquisition mini-game actually reflects the life stories of those people. Once, Gwen accidentally got stung by a jellyfish in the sea, and when she went to the hospital, she found out she had lung cancer. So her fear of jellyfish is not unfounded."

Another cancer. It also meant that the things they experienced in their past lives were actually very bad and full of regrets.

"Sometimes life is just so unfair, but we still have the opportunity to help them, the opportunity to fulfill their wishes, don't we?"

Elysia still smiled, but underneath that smile, there was an indescribable sadness. In the calm and warm game, there were countless blades hidden.

When tasting it carefully, the hidden blades in the sugar constantly hurt people's hearts.　

This is much fiercer than the emotional damage brought by Undertale!

"Exactly, fulfilling their wishes is the duty of you, the Spiritfarer. Only you can help them out of their inner turmoil. No matter how bad the past was, we always walk in the present, facing the future."

"Is this what you want to tell us?" Eden looked at Bronie.

"How about it? Do you have any thoughts of leaving the Elysian Realm and then following me out for adventures?"