Farming Together Chapter 204: End the game early?

Chapter 204: End the game early?

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

Eventually Bai Li agreed to do so. However, in order to prevent uncontrollable accidents in the interim, he and Zhu MoLing made a deal.

First, Zhu MoLing could no longer chase after him and call him his little brother, nor could he use it as a threat to refuse follow-up treatment. Secondly, he couldn’t send anything to Bai Li, not even money or goods, as Bai Li refused to take advantage. Finally, Bai Li would cooperate with him to talk about topics related to his brother, Zhu QingLing, but not for too much time. T
The necessary time for games and work must be set aside.

Even the right to call him “little brother” was denied. Zhu MoLing’s lips pouted childishly, and both cheeks puffed out like snow-white mochi. His eyes turned a few times in their sockets, and he wanted to ask if spending money in the game would be counted as the second point of sending him money, but he narrowly held back. Spending money in the game was a great way to get the most out of the game, if this was also rejected he would lose half the fun.

So, he might as well spend the money secretly.

“So can I tell Fox One and Fox Two about this? Seeing as they’re coming in a little while, they’ll definitely be wondering about our interaction afterwards, and I thought I’d tell them my suspicions so they can be prepared,” Zhu MoLing asked.

Bai Li hesitated for a few seconds but agreed, then pondered what else he needed to add.

Wen XingYao saw that two people were both silent. With the cub’s young years, and a youthful teenager, the two faces really did have some resemblance. It caused him some internal fluctuations for a few seconds, and he gave up his intention to stimulate Zhu MoLing with a few words. If the two were really brothers, Zhu MoLing was also his future brother-in-law…

He couldn’t do something stupid like digging his own grave.

“Since you have already made an appointment, you can carry out this request. Bai Li, I will leave you guys alone for now. See you in the game later.” After he bid farewell to Bai Li, the flurry of video communication ended.

After a few more minutes, Fox One and Fox Two arrived. Zhu MoLing admitted to them that he was faking amnesia and told them that Bai Li was most likely his brother. At first, they didn’t believe it, but once they thought of their young master’s natural ability, they fell into silence and then faced Bai Li with several times more enthusiasm than before, eager to assist their Patriarch in helping Bai Li recall the memories of “Zhu QingLing.” 

Zhu MoLing wouldn’t be replaced by these two, so he pushed them to play the game and collect materials first, while he sat down with Bai Li, fished out a photo album from his optical computer, and showed Bai Li the photos inside from the beginning.

Under Zhu MoLing’s guidance, Bai Li saw the whole process of a fox boy from birth to his “fall.” Human beings who had awakened the Therian gene would be in a state of animal infancy for a while when they were young, so there were many beautiful photos of snow-white foxes in the album. An itch that couldn’t be ignored was also coming from somewhere on his tailbone.

It was as if something was about to break out.

Zhu MoLing, who was caught up in the memories, didn’t notice Bai Li’s strange expression and continued to talk about his little brother with gentle eyes.

“You were born not long after the Zerg invaded several planets on the fringes of the Empire’s territory, and all the residents of the Empire who had the ability to fight rushed over. Our parents and a large number of clansmen also went, and the war lasted for several years. It can be said that I took care of you from birth to the age of five. I was even the first to discover your natural ability, because you transformed into a copy of my appearance.”

“Then you fell in love with the act of constantly transforming into other people. I found the photos of Mom and Dad to show you, and you turned into their appearance, one person transformed into two, and I was shocked at the time. What was even funnier was that Mom and Dad just happened to come back that day. When they entered the house, they saw that there was another version of themselves standing in front of me, and they were so scared that they almost called the electronic patrol police.”

“You slowly grew up and became more resolute about having your own way, and dared to run to the Zerg battlefield just after your fourteenth birthday. You made a huge difference on the battlefield, and led your army to victory, only to suddenly suffer from Genetic Collapse Disorder, which rapidly deteriorated. In just a year’s time, you entered the advanced stage. You reverted back to a tiny white fox and were sent to Hope Star. Mom and Dad and I went to see you several times a month, only to receive the news one day that you had disappeared from Hope Star…”

“After that, our whole family and clan kept looking for you, but we were disappointed every time. A month ago, I passed by a planet and felt a little bit of bloodline connection, so I took Fox One and Fox Two to stop and look for you. What happened after that you should know. What I want to say is that the connection between kinship is not a deception. I hope you can try to believe.”

It took a long time for Bai Li to whisper the word “yes.”

He was a little uncertain now.

Zhu MoLing knew the principle of taking the good with the bad, and when he saw Bai Li showing signs of questioning, he smiled in his heart and thoughtfully said that this was the end of sharing of memories for that day, and that they would talk about other things regarding his brother tomorrow.

Bai Li was rarely stuck for a moment, but he opened his mouth and the only thing that came out was “ah,” then he slowly nodded his head.

It was really strange. Obviously Zhu MoLing was no longer after him to say that he should feel happy, why did he feel a little bit of loss? Forget it. He could think about it later. There were only a few days left before the end of the month. He should think about the game upgrade.

Elsewhere, in the conference room of the official virtual office building of the Holographic Game Design Competition, the organizers and people directly in charge of the competition had the game Carefree Farmstead as the theme.

The leader was a middle-aged man, but his features were squeezed together, “Look at the player data this month. This year our competition has an unprecedented dark horse, Carefree Farmstead. Forget about how we are curious about the organizers, even the other contestants, are completely absent in minding their own games. I heard not long ago that the top ten participants, led by Lu Hui, secretly created a group to share the happenings of Carefree Farmstead in the group every day, and it is estimated that next month they are desperate to grab a place in the game.”

Plus such an exchange group, he could guarantee that there wouldn’t only be one of them. After two months of elimination, there were still many contestants in the Holographic Game Design Competition.

When they heard that, the others all had a “really” expression, and someone at the end of the table whispered, “If not for the agreement signed by the contestants before the competition that they couldn’t withdraw from the competition without reason, there would only be one game, Carefree Farmstead now, right? “

There was no contrast without harm. This year’s contestants had been hit without the strength to struggle.

Then if they couldn’t beat it and chose to join…

The middle-aged man pretended not to hear this line of spittle, as he asked the question, “So next, let’s discuss how we’re going to proceed after this game. Carefree Farmstead is on fire just because of the game itself, and many fellow netizens have forgotten that it is actually still in the competition.”

This was what made him laugh and cry. Obviously, in previous years, the fellow netizens had paid attention to the contest first and then looked for the game of their choice within the contest.

It had to be said that Carefree Farmstead was unbeatable, eh.

For the other games in the competition, they had already become companions. Although it wasn’t a pity to say that the king was defeated, this result was somewhat against the original purpose of the competition. Like popular virtual reality games everywhere in the scene, after this year and even every year after, it could no longer be seen in the competition.

The scene was a little quiet for a while.

After a while, someone faltered and suggested, “How about…Let’s end this year’s competition early?”

The middle-aged man wasn’t satisfied with this answer, “Early end? How far ahead do you want to go? The year is only three months old. There are still nine months to go. If it ends this early, none of us will have to eat.”

“Ahem, the competition can end early, but the follow-up can continue to play well. I slightly envisage, ha, the game ended early, the rest of the time can be used to obtain the ranking of the game developer for linkage with other games. Then perhaps the players will be able to find other games where they can have fun.”

“Hmm? You aren’t rubbing the Carefree Farmstead heat. Who doesn’t know that this game is a big hit, and a little relationship with it will cause a lively discussion on the Starblog, right? In that case, would LiLi be willing?” The moment those words were spoken, it was clear that man was Bai Li’s invisible fan.

He was indeed right. His game could have super high popularity without having to link up with others. Such an operation did sound like rubbing off on the heat, and like they would be lying on top of Carefree Farmstead and sucking blood.

The person who suggested it was already a bit broken. “Let’s try it. If we all think it’s feasible, we can go to Mr. Bai to discuss it. If he refuses, we can think of other ways, but if he agrees, it’s all good.”

He looked wearily at the middle-aged man at the head of the group, who looked somewhat impressed and coughed lightly for a show of hands. In the end, more than two-thirds of the people agreed to the proposal.

So, while Bai Li was still writing and drawing on his optical computer, and thinking about what activities to arrange for the players next month, he was contacted once again by Zhuo Rui, the staff member assigned to him by the competition.

Zhuo Rui explained his intention with an embarrassed face, as he expected to be rejected straight away, but Bai Li said after a moment of deliberation, “I don’t have a problem with it, but what is the specific linkage? A game to game linkage, it shouldn’t be easy to do, right?”

After he heard the other party’s rhetorical question, Zhuo Rui was even more embarrassed. The people at the top only said to contact him to communicate, but didn’t tell him the specific details, so how could he answer ah…?

Bai Li looked at the other party’s hesitant look and said thoughtfully, “If you haven’t decided on the specifics, I have some ideas…”

The more Zhuo Rui listened, the more he thought it was a good idea, and a surprisingly bright light erupted in his eyes. When Bai Li finished, he even patted his chest and promised, “Mr. Bai, don’t worry. I will definitely help you to bring your words over, and if the leaders agree, I will come back to inform you!”

“Well, good, then I’ll trouble you,” Bai Li thanked him.

Zhuo Rui came bitterly and left with great enthusiasm. The communication had hung up for a while before he could react. Eh, he didn’t go to be a lobbyist for the leaders? How did he turn into Mr. Bai’s lobbyist to help him to convince his own leaders? Mr. Bai’s proposal seemed very good to him. This could link up several games at once! They were the ones who would make a fortune!

After he contacted Bai Li, the biggest difficulty was solved straight away, and now the competition only had to think about whether the other game developers would agree with the decision, and whether the people of the Empire could accept that particular situation this year. To be more accurate, one also had to add whether Bai Li’s proposal could be adopted and implemented smoothly.

With the end of the month just a day away, there wasn’t much time left for them to do so.

Bai Li didn’t pay attention to the follow-up of that matter, he only had a flash of inspiration that he mentioned casually. The other’s answer to him didn’t affect him. He found Xiong Pili’s name in his address book and skillfully contacted him, then expressed his desire to upgrade the virtual reality game builder again. This time, with plenty of money, he intended to upgrade it from C to A level in one go, and span two levels in a row.

C level to B level, need 25 million star coins. B level to A level, need 100 million star coins. The two together needed a total of 125 million star coins, and the reservation required a deposit of 20%, that was, 25 million star coins.

Bai Li was no longer as shy as the first two times, and able to afford to pay that money. If all went well, when the upgrade was over, the game would be able to accommodate twenty-five million players at the same time. Although there was still a big gap with the total population of the Empire, it was still 25 times more than the current one million players.

However, to Bai Li’s surprise, the reservation request was rejected by Xiong Pili.

“Sorry Mr. Bai,” Xiong Pili said. “I forgot to tell you before. Upgrades to A-class and S-class virtual reality game builders are not available for reservation. The company has to first submit your demand to the Imperial Research Institute, and once approved, they will arrange for a person to do the upgrade. Then you pay the full amount immediately after the upgrade. If you only upgrade to B level, I can arrange it for you right away.”

Bai Li really didn’t expect such a twist, and hesitated between B and A level. He asked Xiong Pili how many days it would take if he upgraded to A level in one go.

This time, Xiong Pili gave an exact number, “Five days, at most. The Imperial Research Institute will approve your application if there are no problems, and those five days include the time needed to upgrade.”

Bai Li calculated in his head. Today was March 29th, and the future world only had 30 days per month. At the latest, it would be up by April 3rd. His virtual reality game builder would be able to complete the upgrade two days late. He could afford to wait, and the fellow netizens should also be able to wait. Probably. He guessed?

“Then I’d better choose to upgrade two levels at once. Can I also set the upgrade time from C to B on April 3rd, so that I can finish it all at once?” Bai Li asked.

“That’s fine. Then I’ll help Mr. Bai to make an appointment for the upgrade to B level and submit the application for the upgrade to A level,” Xiong Pili moved quickly, and in a short while, he said it was done.

After Bai Li paid the first deposit, the upgrade to the virtual reality game builder was almost done. Today’s work time was over, and he re-entered the game.

Wen XingYao was waiting for him in the game. They met and he asked him with his eyes how his communication with Zhu MoLing was going. Bai Li said let it be. The truth of the matter would be solved one day. When he saw that Bai Li didn’t want to say more, Wen XingYao stopped talking about the matter and turned to other things.

“By the way, while you were not online, Heart’s Jade came to your doorstep several times to look for you. She said that the fishing boat she made in cooperation with Give Me a Bowl of Rice will be ready soon, and specially came to invite me and you to find a day to go out to sea. In addition to the two of them, there will also be Give Me a Bowl of Rice and What Are You Playing?, who gave her a lot of help in the process of making the fishing boat. I’ll be there too. Do you want to come along and have some fun?”

Bai Li had no reason not to agree to such a good thing. He hadn’t expected that he, the game developer, wouldn’t get a fishing boat himself, but instead could go to sea with the first batch of players.

Not long after that, Jiang Huaibi once again ran over, saw that this time Bai Li was actually in, and hurriedly explained her intention. She was worried that Bai Li would refuse it, and didn’t expect that he would immediately agree. The corners of her mouth immediately turned up as she grinned.

“Great! Li Li, since you agreed, I am more at ease! I’ve never been to sea before, whether in reality or in the game for the first time. With you as the game developer around, it should be super safe, hehe…!” She didn’t hide her decision to invite Bai Li to go with her because of his identity.

That straightforwardness was appreciated by Bai Li, who smiled and said that it was no problem. He would remind himself when necessary. However, after Jiang Huaibi left happily, he apologetically told Wen XingYao that he had to go offline again.

The reason he gave his boyfriend was, “Ahem, there are so many items added this month, I almost forgot that there are still fishing boat designs, I need to go down and add sea creatures and sea scenery, and try to let players enjoy a perfect sea trip.”

As for the word “perfect”, it was not put in quotation marks, so no one knew.

Wen XingYao laughed and cried. Dating the game developer was also taking time. He rubbed Bai Li’s hair, and urged him to hurry to work.

“I know, I’m leaving! I’ll come back when I’m done!”

As he waited for Bai Li’s figure to disappear from its spot, Wen XingYao again had some regrets. He should have taken the opportunity to kiss him…He really was not brave enough.

While Bai Li was busy adding marine species, expanding the area of the ocean, and adding special islands, the official virtual building of the Holographic Game Design Competition had its second discussion of the day about Carefree Farmstead. In the end, all the people in charge approved Bai Li’s proposal, which was conveyed to Zhuo Rui. They said that if the other contestants had no comments, they would follow Bai Li’s suggestion.

After the meeting, the liaison officers of the contestants took action, and conveyed to the contestants what the competition was going to do.

Firstly, that year’s Holographic Game Design Competition would end early, by the end of June, to determine the final winner. Secondly, while the main competition would be over, it wasn’t really over. Those who performed well during the competition (specifically the second to ninth places overall) would be given the privilege of linking up with the first place game for the next six months.

For those two announcements, a joint decision was required from the holographic contestants. As long as the approval rate was 75% or more, the above statement would be released. As they laughed themselves to death, no one raised any objections at all, and a number of people made relieved noises.

[Phew, finally I don’t have to wake up every morning having to face a dwindling number of players and a decreasing popularity of my game. Plus, I can have more time to learn everything in Carefree Farmstead!]

[Seeing others playing Carefree Farmstead and getting in better and better shape and glowing red every day, while I was going bald every day over how I should design my own game, it was so tiring that I started to regret signing up in the second month.]

[Well, who the championship candidate is doesn’t even require a guess. It’s definitely LiLi. We salty fish have long since given up the struggle. The competition officials are really good people that they actually let us out of the sea of misery early. Hahaha!]

[Am I the only one wondering what the hell is the game linkage? Does it mean to cooperate with LiLi’s game? It’s a pity that my game ranking is too far back, so it’s not my turn for sure, otherwise I could catch up with the stars up close!]

“…”

The contestants discussed it excitedly, and cast their own votes in favor.

The chat group where Lu Hui and Yu Xiao were located was as lively as New Year’s Eve. How could they not be happy that they could all “catch up with the stars up close”? Almost as soon as they saw the notice, they were busy agreeing to it, and thinking that they might be able to increase the traffic to their game through that cooperation with Bai Li!

Although they said they liked it, they still had feelings for the games they had been making for months. They were like their own children, so how could they just give up?

At most, it would just increase the release time.

They were even happier when all the contestants expressed their respect for the competition’s decision, and Lu Hui’s small group welcomed the tenth member they had been waiting for.

Bai Li, with a white pear tree avatar, sent out his first sentence after joining the group. [Hello, I am Bai Li, the game developer of Carefree Farmstead.]