Drawing cards—one of the game mechanics Jiang Ye hated most in her life.
Even before she became a game designer, she kept a wary distance from this feature. Whenever she played a gacha game, Jiang Ye would do everything she could to milk the game's company for freebies.
It didn’t matter if the game was fun or if she wanted to play it or not, she would always stubbornly grind until she got the ten free draws the game gave out.
Every single time, Jiang Ye would try to prove her luck with those ten draws.
But reality always told her: unlucky once, unlucky for life.
Every ten-draw roll, all she ever landed was the measly guaranteed minimum that everyone got—never anything more.
When she was making games herself, in order to follow orders from above and set up traps for players, Jiang Ye had tweaked the card pool probabilities more than once.
She knew better than anyone else—the essence of gacha was all about mind games.
So, in a situation like this, Jiang Ye glanced at the Prize Wheel.
Pulling cards? Absolutely impossible. Spending money to pull? Even more impossible.
She calmly exited the screen, opened her backpack, and got ready to flip through the Island Construction Manual to check her spoils.
But right then, a torn card fragment in her backpack caught her attention.
Damn it!
There was no defense for this!
The game had actually used shadow effects and dotted lines to sketch out the card’s supposed whole, its perfect form.
It was a plump and pretty rectangle, decorated with rays of romantic ocean and a laid-back island, a few birds circling above the sea.
The shimmering, semi-transparent shadow made the incomplete card all the more pitiful.
It was just like a poor, lonely puzzle piece, waiting for the only two missing parts in the world that could fit it perfectly.
Staring at the card, Jiang Ye could almost hear a voice talking in her head.
“Wanna pull? Do it! Pull for the unluckiest dream!”
Jiang Ye couldn’t tolerate leaving blanks, but she also couldn’t tolerate that sky-high price of 1,000 gold coins for a single pull. Gritting her teeth, she forced the card deep into the last page of her backpack—far from where her eyes would land at first glance—and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Though her heart still itched, and temptation stirred, reason told Jiang Ye that starting the draw would only lead to a bottomless pit.
This was just like those viral cash-out scams.
And for all she knew, the next time she spun the wheel, she might get the same card fragment again.
Face closed, Jiang Ye slammed shut the door in her heart that yearned for gacha, then tapped into her Island Construction Manual to check her progress.
As soon as she opened it, she was stunned.
The Island Construction Manual had been revamped. No longer just an ordinary, simple notebook, it now looked like a real 3D island map.
The Manual and the Construction Manual had merged into one.
The top and right showed her current collection progress, while the map in the middle displayed the island’s current development progress.
Whenever her gaze landed somewhere, shimmering blocks would appear at that spot on the map. On the side, building options she could buy with gold coins appeared, but most were locked—currently unavailable for purchase or use.
Jiang Ye guessed that this was likely the new gameplay the system had mentioned when upgrading to island mode.
A single glance at how much it cost to buy each building was enough to make Jiang Ye’s heart ache.
Forget it, better not to look.
She turned her gaze to today’s spoils.
Perhaps due to the upgrade, all the items’ cooldowns inside the Manual had dropped from thirty to twenty.
The newly obtained monk seal could be summoned, but unlike the sea snake, only one could be used at a time.
The ocean sunfish didn’t yield any products and had only a single summon option.
Her hands itching, Jiang Ye decided to see what would happen if she summoned the ocean sunfish on land, and pressed the button.
After a flash of light, a half-grown child appeared in front of Jiang Ye.
A little girl with a round, chubby head stared at her blankly. When she spotted Jiang Ye, her eyes lit up and she ran over, eager to give Jiang Ye a bear hug. Who knew, just as she started, her left foot tripped over her right, and she face-planted straight into the ground.
Jiang Ye worried the kid would howl and blow her eardrums. She frowned deeply and hadn’t even covered her ears yet before the little girl wobbled back to her feet, rubbed her cheeks, and flashed Jiang Ye a dopey grin. “Hehe.”
Dummy.
Jiang Ye glanced at the little girl’s head and saw a row of options:
Station, Carry, Transform, Recall.
She checked each one and realized this ocean sunfish really couldn’t be judged by appearances—it was quite useful.
[Assign ocean sunfish to stay at an island building to boost production speed.]
[Take the ocean sunfish with you to gain buffs like insulation and healing. Small chance to trigger Passive skill "Silly Fish's Dumb Luck".]
[Can return the creature to its initial form.]
The buffs from the ocean sunfish didn’t really surprise Jiang Ye.
After all, on Blue Star, the ocean sunfish was known as the “doctor of the sea”—some scientists believed it secreted substances that could heal other fish.
Also, it was the first warm-blooded fish discovered by humans.
So, insulation came as no surprise.
Curious whether the monk seal came with the same perks, Jiang Ye summoned it.
Ding-ding! A little monk appeared in front of her.
The little monk was about as tall as the ocean sunfish and looked fresh-faced and obedient—nothing like its ferocious underwater self.
The monk seal also offered Station, Carry, Transform, Recall options.
[Assign monk seal to stay at an island building to boost production speed.]
[Take monk seal with you to gain buffs such as acceleration and high damage.]
[Can return the creature to its initial form.]
The system also reminded Jiang Ye she could customize the faces of these two humanoid pets. Jiang Ye wasn’t a fan of customization or outfit changes, so she was satisfied with the system-generated looks and didn’t fiddle further.
She named the ocean sunfish “Fan Xiaoche” and the monk seal “He Xiaoshang.”
Jiang Ye sent Fan Xiaoche and He Xiaoshang to hang out by the growing coconut tree. The two little ones nodded obediently and trailed off in sync to their destination.
He Xiaoshang, now on land, really did move slowly, like a seal hauling itself up the beach. Walking with Fan Xiaoche, their pace actually matched pretty well.
Watching the two of them shuffle step-in-step across the island, Jiang Ye, for reasons she couldn’t explain, felt a fleeting pang of melancholy.
This deserted island felt a little more lively now.
After finishing all this, Jiang Ye stretched and sat down on the ground.
Sunlight draped over her shoulders like a soft, dense net, wrapping her in warmth. The sound of waves lapping the shore rang out, and Jiang Ye closed her eyes, basking in it all. She took a deep breath and filled her lungs with the salty wind.
From within the breeze, the squabbling voices of Fan Xiaoche and He Xiaoshang floated by.
“You walk so slow,” said He Xiaoshang.
“Are you so fast then?” Fan Xiaoche shot back.
Jiang Ye’s lips curled in a smile as she toppled backward and lay down on the grass.
She finally had time to check the chat window.
In the World Channel, there was nonstop discussion about the level rankings first place climbing even higher.
[World·Old Dream: Big Boss with the asterisk, if you’ve got the guts to level up, then get out here and say something!]
[World·Easy-Lifer: Give it a break. You think the Big Boss is like us idlers? Bet they’re grinding monsters diligently right now!]
[World·Proud Over All: What’s the big deal? Probably just a pay-to-win veteran from First Server anyway. Only real skill is farming a little fame.]
Diligence, pay-to-win veteran… Jiang Ye chuckled and shook her head, switched channels, and finally saw that A-Xing had sent her a message.
[Private Chat·Young Master With Money: Xiao Jiang, don’t worry, your boss here will make sure you get to wear warm, thick clothes!]
[Private Chat·Young Master With Money: I’ll never let you go through rough times again!]
[Private Chat·Young Master With Money: Xiao Jiang, I’ll prove that you were absolutely right to stick with your boss!]
Reading this flood of chatterbox messages, Jiang Ye paused.
Just what kind of misunderstanding was A-Xing laboring under now?
She didn’t bother clarifying, just sent two words back: “Good luck.”
A-Xing replied instantly.
[Private Chat·Young Master With Money: I’ll work hard!!!]
[Private Chat·Young Master With Money: Just wait for your boss to bring you some warmth!!!!]
[Private Chat·Jiang Ye: Thanks, I guess.]
[Private Chat·Young Master With Money: No need to thank me! That’s what your boss should do!]
Jiang Ye could picture the goofy, dog-like grin on A-Xing’s face as he sent that.
She sent A-Xing a batch of seafood and coconut water, telling him not to forget to make sales today.
A-Xing agreed, and after they swapped for a batch of daily necessities he’d bought in novice village, he hurried off to grind levels.
Jiang Ye sorted through the rice and flour and other ingredients A-Xing had traded to her, thinking that even with Tiger Bro being clueless, he would probably soon realize A-Xing had played him before. She reminded A-Xing to be careful and also asked Yuchi Xi to keep an eye out.
Yuchi Xi agreed easily and sent a voice message: “Master, leveling and earning money is important, but don’t forget to take care of yourself.”
Suddenly feeling as though everyone saw her as frail and sickly, Jiang Ye—
She replied with a meme to Yuchi Xi, closed the chat, and opened the Live stream interface to check if her promotional posts had drawn any viewers.
But looking at her homepage, she still only had one follower.
Were interstellar folks really not interested in this?
Half doubtful, Jiang Ye walked into the wooden hut and started her stream. In less than ten seconds, the viewer named “I’m Super Fierce” entered the Stream room.
[User “I’m Super Fierce” sent Streamer So Poor 99 Fireworks.]
I’m Super Fierce probably thought she’d figured out the secret to talking to her favorite Streamer. So as soon as she entered, she started showering Jiang Ye with money.
I’m Super Fierce: [Good afternoon, Streamer! What’s on the menu today?]
“Haven’t decided.” Jiang Ye paused to consider, reviewing the ingredients she had and mentally drafting a menu. “There’s fish, crabs, sea urchins, and oysters—those are all on the table.”
Just hearing the list was enough to make I’m Super Fierce start drooling.
I’m Super Fierce: [I want to eat everything!]
Jiang Ye was about to reply to that chat when, suddenly, her screen stuttered, and when it returned to normal, the once-empty comments scrolled wildly, packed from edge to edge.
[Is this the mysterious, shadowy Streamer everyone’s talking about in the game forum?]
[Where is this? Never seen an inn decorated like this!]
[Whoa, so if I follow now, I’ll be an OG fan, right?]
[Why isn’t the Streamer talking? Is the Streamer mute?]
Her view count, which was just 1, instantly shot up to 159.
So it turned out, nobody could follow her before because the stream offline state kept her hidden. Now that she was live, players who had bookmarked her page got notified and swarmed in.
Jiang Ye stayed silent, but I’m Super Fierce was losing it.
This was her personal treasure Streamer!
Watching as people kept pressing for the Streamer to talk, I’m Super Fierce posted: [Streamer won’t talk to any of you, so get over it!]
No sooner had she sent that than a user named Chun Dengluan tipped Jiang Ye an Ultimate Torpedo.
A deposit of 1,000 gold coins.
The comment section went wild.
Chun Dengluan: [Hm?]
Jiang Ye obediently spoke up, “Hello, Boss. How can I help you?”
Watching the stream, I’m Super Fierce’s cat paws clenched in rage, gouging lines into the wooden planks.
She yelled in frustration, “Such a spineless, hopeless Streamer!!”