LSDWTWHA chapter 25

Chapter 24

Won!

Su Su jumped up from the pilot seat. This kind of confrontation between life and death brought him an indescribable thrill.

Is this what human games are like?

It’s so exhilarating!

Is real starship piloting really like this?

If only I had the chance to pilot a real starship.

Thinking of real starships, Su Su couldn’t help but think of Qi Hanyi, the Admiral of the Imperial Star Expeditionary Force.

Su Su’s mood sank for a moment.

Qi Hanyi is the boss of the Imperial Star Expeditionary Force, but he doesn’t even let himself play games, so it’s impossible for him to pilot a real starship.

The starship emitted a low fuel warning, and Su Su brought the starship back to the nearest supply point. He used the supply coupons from the novice package to refill the starship’s fuel and ammunition.

The supply point’s lobby appeared as a massive, floating spherical structure with numerous pipelines connecting to several oval, cocoon-like cabins.

After the starship docked, it would be wrapped in these cocoons—this was the starship’s supply chamber, used for refueling, repairing, and maintenance.

Players would take an elevator to enter the main body of the sphere.

Su Su waddled around the lobby in his round cartoon shark body on his short legs.

The lobby was also styled in a pure white minimalist design and featured player mission release areas, mecha repair sections, trading zones, and teleport stations.

The currency used in the game was virtual star coins, which could be exchanged for reality’s imperial currency at a one-to-one hundred rate. Of course, the exchange was only one-way, and players were not allowed to earn star coins in the game and exchange them back for real currency.

However, there were no constraints from the Empire concerning private transactions between players.

In addition to spending money, players could take on tasks via the mission release area.

The admission level for taking missions in the mission release area was level 30. When players reached level 30, they could determine whether their main development direction was mecha operation or starship piloting.

Casual or management-type players could also choose to engage in manufacturing, research, or repair-related industries as their main profession.

Of course, once a main profession was determined, players were not limited to that gameplay style. They could also choose one or two secondary professions. For example, if the main profession was mecha operation, the secondary profession could be mecha modification. However, only the main profession could undergo professional assessments and level evaluations, and only the main profession could accept official commissioned tasks.

Both starship repair and supply required star coins, and Su Su quickly realized how important money was in this game. He wanted to complete assessments to take missions and earn star coins, but to level up to 30, he needed to finish all the novice experience tasks.

Unfortunately, aside from tasks related to starship piloting, he hadn’t completed any others.

Su Su opened his task panel, and the first task listed was to carry out a remote communication with a friend.

He then opened his friend list.

The only friend listed, [Bai], had a chat box indicating 99 unread messages.

Su Su froze for a moment, then realized that his initial purpose for logging into the game was to find Yan Bai.

He opened the chat box and began reading the messages one by one.

[Are you online?]

[Here’s the coordinate for my guild hall; just come over directly.]

[System message: Guild master ‘Bai’ invites you to join the guild. Do you accept?]

[Ugh, what a weird name you have.]

[System message: Friend ‘Bai’ has sent you a name change card.]

[Why aren’t you replying?]

[Where did you run off to?]

Then there were some meaningless repetitions.

Su Su stared at the chat box full of questions, feeling guilty as he flicked his tail. He accepted Yan Bai’s guild invitation and then scrolled down to the bottom of the chat box, replying, [I’m on my way to find you now.]

The response was instant: [Finally remembered to find me? I thought you were kidnapped by the insect race and taken to their home planet.]

Seeing Yan Bai’s not-so-friendly tone made Su Su feel guilty as he hurried to the teleport point, preparing to teleport according to the coordinates given by Yan Bai. However, the system prompted that the starship couldn’t be remotely teleported, asking Su Su if he needed to store it.

The supply coupon service did not include storage, and storing the starship required additional star coins, which Su Su lacked the most.

So, he messaged Yan Bai: [I still need to wait a bit. I’ll come over once the starship is refueled.]

Yan Bai’s tone revealed some impatience: [Coming over too slowly; can’t you just teleport?]

Su Su: [Storing the starship requires star coins.]

[System message: Friend ‘Bai’ has sent you 1,000,000 star coins.]

Yan Bai: [Is this enough?]

[System message: Friend ‘Bai’ has sent you a Silver Dragon starship.]

Yan Bai: [Forget it; what’s the point of storing a system-given piece of junk? You can just get a new one from the system store. Hurry up and come over; I’ll give you the best one.]

Su Su accepted Yan Bai’s gifts, no longer troubled by the starship issue, and directly teleported to the White Scale Guild’s base.

Unlike the modern minimalist design of the system buildings, the White Scale Guild’s base was built magnificent, resembling a giant crystal palace floating in space.

Inside the guild, projections simulated an oceanic effect, with soft white sand underfoot, various fish swimming around them, and shimmering waves above, with stars visible through the water’s surface.

At this moment, there were a few scattered players in the hall, all curiously looking at Su Su, but none approached.

“You finally made it. I’ve been waiting for you all day,” Yan Bai appeared on a nearby rock. His virtual avatar was that of a mermaid, with a face resembling his in reality.

“Sorry, I got too engrossed in the game and lost track of time without checking my messages,” Su Su immediately apologized.

Seeing Yan Bai emerge, the other players gathered around to greet him.

“President, is this the new member of our guild?”

“Yes,” Yan Bai replied with a smile.

“Wow, it’s a cartoon shark! So cute! This was just recently released; I wanted to try it but changing your avatar costs 200 each time. It’s better being a newbie; they get a free avatar change once.”

“This is our guild’s first pure newbie under level 30, right? Is this newcomer the president’s real-life friend?”

“Yeah, my friend,” Yan Bai said while blocking Su Su’s round shark head. “So you all better not bully him.”

“Hello everyone. I’m… it’s so hard to name a shark, ahhh.” Su Su attempted to introduce himself but stumbled over his words.

But even if he didn’t say anything, others had already read his personal information from the system.

“Hahaha, that name is hilarious. You didn’t just randomly type and hit confirm by mistake, did you?”

“Yeah,” Su Su confessed unbothered by their laughter. “When I wanted to change it, I found I couldn’t, but luckily, the president gave me a name change card, so I can change it now.”

Su Su opened the guild chat; there were over a hundred people in it. Besides Yan Bai’s name being [Bai], everyone else had names beginning with White Scale XX.

After thinking for a moment, Su Su used his name change card to change his name to [White Scale Shark Shark], keeping in line with the naming convention.

Having a unified naming format always inexplicably creates a sense of belonging. After Su Su changed his name, the people around him seemed even more enthusiastic, welcoming the “Shark Shark” and giving him many practical little gifts for newcomers.

Yan Bai allowed them to make a fuss for a while, and when he saw Su Su getting familiar, he urged, “Okay, okay, don’t all crowd here. I’ll take Shark Shark around the guild to get familiar with the surroundings. You all go back to what you were doing.”

“The president is so stingy.”

“Yeah, this cute shark is kept to himself without letting us interact.”

“I say, is he really just a friend? He can’t be a sister-in-law, right?”

“Don’t talk nonsense; Shark Shark’s info shows he’s male.”

“So what if he’s male? He could still be a male sister-in-law!”

As the crowd chatted and laughed, they slowly dispersed.

Yan Bai didn’t explain, letting them tease as he appeared more approachable in the game than in reality.

Once the crowd cleared, Yan Bai released Su Su and led him forward. “Let’s go; I’ll show you around the guild.”

Part of the guild’s functions is similar to the supply station. As the guild’s level increases, it can provide fuel supplies, starship and mecha repairs, and daily operation training, essentially functioning as a private supply station.

However, if one wanted to accept missions, they still needed to go to the system supply station.

Additionally, large guilds generally set up dedicated parts warehouses and modification departments to customize mechas and starships based on individual characteristics, making them better suited to the pilots.

Moreover, the guild also provided rest areas and a cafeteria.

This was the part that surprised Su Su the most.

“Eating and sleeping in the game? You don’t need to log off?”

Yan Bai: “If you have a gaming-compatible nutrient pod at home, you indeed wouldn’t have to log off frequently for physiological needs like eating and sleeping.”

The nutrient pod would detect their bodies and continuously replenish the necessary nutrients, addressing their various physical needs in reality.

And when they lay down to sleep, their bodies in the nutrient pod could also get rest. The highest-grade nutrient pods could even sustain users for a month without needing to log out from the game.

“That’s amazing!” Su Su expressed his envy, “I want to live in the game too.”

“Do you like ‘Star Wars’ that much?” Yan Bai tilted his head to look at Su Su.

Being asked about his favorite topic, Su Su quickly opened up: “Yeah, I didn’t realize how great this game is! I discovered that the universe is so beautiful; piloting a starship is also very interesting. I love the feeling of flying a starship.”

“By the way, today I met a player whose starship was much bigger than mine. I still don’t know why he attacked me, but I managed to trick him, and he crashed into a rock.”

Su Su kept it brief; Yan Bai couldn’t grasp what had really happened but knew that some players enjoyed attacking others for fun, so he figured it was just Su Su’s luck to dodge.

“If anyone bullies you in the future, you can tell me.”

Although Yan Bai’s gameplay skills weren’t that strong, he was ranked in the top ten on the spending leaderboard and had the best equipment. Thanks to his investments, the guild housed many high-level players.

“Alright.” Su Su recalled that Yan Bai had also given him a starship, so he eagerly added, “I want to see the starship you gave me.”

“Look at you being so impatient. The Silver Dragon is much more complex to operate than a novice starship; I can’t just let you take it away. I’ll find an experienced player tomorrow to guide you through the controls.” Yan Bai checked the time: “It’s getting late; I need to rest. I have some work to handle during the day tomorrow, and I won’t be online until after dinner. Then I’ll take you to see the new starship.”

“Okay.” Although Su Su was anxious inside, he obediently logged off to sleep.

When Su Su logged off, it was already 2 AM. Normally, he would have been asleep by this time, but now he felt wide awake and exhilarated.

In his room, there were two new buttons installed, one for meals and one for calls.

Su Su pressed the meal button, planning to have a late-night snack to calm himself down.

After finishing a large table of late-night snacks, Su Su’s round stomach finally felt sleepy. He lay down on the new single bed next to the water tank and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, the video of the novice starship backfiring against players, the [Star Bandit Leader], quietly began to trend online.