Chapter 4: System Benefits

System = Cheat!

It was delivering a cheat right to her doorstep!

But only classless noobs use cheats when playing games. I, on the other hand, am a person of high moral character!

The highly moral Mo Yubai happily agreed to the system’s binding request.

“Heh, I usually just like telling a few white lies, setting up a persona, holding others to strict standards, and being easy on myself.”

[Ding! Binding successful! Hello, Host, I am Xiao Ling! I’m still trapped in the treasure chest right now. Could you please rescue me first?]

Hearing this ridiculous request, Mo Yubai stared blankly for a moment before saying speechlessly, “Fine, give me a second.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she stood up, walked over to the tree, and forcefully pulled out the feathers.

Looking at the smooth, clean cuts on the tree, Mo Yubai felt extremely satisfied with her past hobby of flicking cards!

She thanked her past self for working so hard. At this moment, her sense of security was through the roof!

Once she was prepared again, she opened the bronze treasure chest in front of her without hesitation.

Instantly, a small, silvery-white snake about the thickness of a finger darted out of the chest, lunging straight for Mo Yubai’s neck!

Fortunately, she was already on guard and dodged to the side beforehand. The silver snake missed its bite and landed on the ground!

Seizing the advantage, Mo Yubai aimed at the target, flicked her wrist, and snapped her index finger. The feather made a sharp whoosh as it tore through the air!

One feather pierced straight through the snake’s head, pinning it to the highway! The other feather struck its seven-inch mark^[1]!

A moment later, the snake’s body twitched a few times before going completely still.

Only then did the little yellow ball system pop out and snuggle up against its host’s shoulder.

Looking at the little yellow puff on her shoulder, Mo Yubai asked it a soul-searching question.

“Xiao Ling, how did you, a system, end up inside a treasure chest?”

[You can blame the Highway Survival System for that!]

Xiao Ling’s voice suddenly sounded aggrieved. [I was on vacation and set myself to bird egg mode to hibernate. But the Highway Survival System packaged my entire nest into a treasure chest and spawned it. I got trapped in the void and fell straight into a deep sleep!]

[And! Because I was forced to boot up just now, and I was trapped in the void for too long before that, my energy is running low.]

[I can only switch to standby mode from time to time to save power. The amount of time I stay awake each day is unpredictable…]

“…”

Mo Yubai stared at the translucent yellow puff in front of her, suddenly feeling a bit worried about her future.

After all, the entity she was now bound to was clearly an incredibly unlucky system with an absurdly low luck stat.

“Let’s not talk about that for now.” Pushing down her worries about a future filled with bad luck, Mo Yubai asked the system out of curiosity.

“What is your core function?”

[This system is equipped with the ‘Three-Day Limited Mini-Game Lucky Draw’ module!]

Xiao Ling immediately switched to a customer service tone, and the yellow puff expanded into a pie chart.

[Every three days, the host can draw a single-player mini-game they have played in the past. Certain items from the game can be materialized and brought into reality.]

[However, each game is only valid for three days. If it is not opened before the time limit, the game will be automatically destroyed.]

“I’m the savior who fished you out of that treasure chest. Isn’t there any special benefit?” Mo Yubai looked at the system expectantly.

[I knew you would bring that up, Host!] Xiao Ling’s tsundere electronic voice rang out, and then the entire ball exploded into clusters of fireworks!

[Congratulations, Host! I have specially applied for a permanent retention slot for you! Your first draw is guaranteed to yield an ‘Initial Mini-Game’ that can be used long-term!]

Mo Yubai watched the beautiful fireworks and listened to the system’s cheerful announcement.

Her emotional value was instantly maxed out. She covered her mouth in exaggerated wonder. “Whose cute and capable system is this? Its host is just too lucky!”

Flattered by the praise, Xiao Ling quickly changed the subject in embarrassment. [Are you ready, Host? Would you like to draw now?]

Mo Yubai swiftly took out her Lucky Cat Pendant and bowed devoutly, praying for the cat to bless her.

“Ready!”

As soon as she spoke, a large prize wheel resembling a Pinduoduo-style^[2] spin-to-win wheel suddenly appeared before her eyes!

It displayed various mini-games she had played: Delivery Master, Delicious Dinner, Dream Hotel, Subway Surfer Grandma, Pony’s Magic Potion…

She quickly reached out her lucky little hand and tapped it. The wheel spun rapidly, slowly coming to a stop at a mini-game called “Cat Snack Shop.”

Mo Yubai recalled the mini-game. She seemed to have played it during a boring public lecture in her freshman year.

She had only played it for a single class. It was basically a game about selling cat treats. Now that she was about to graduate, she could barely remember it.

[Congratulations, Host, on drawing the “Cat Snack Shop” mini-game! As a newbie benefit, your first game will be materialized directly at max level. Would you like to materialize it now?]

“Wait, Xiao Ling. Once I materialize the game, where will the snack shop be placed?”

[Once you choose to materialize it, the “Cat Snack Shop” will appear virtually before your eyes. You can set the prices and sales methods for the snacks in the backend. Once everything is ready, you can list it on the game’s trading market.]

“Alright, materialize it.”

Mo Yubai smiled with satisfaction at the “Cat Snack Shop” in front of her, then opened the backend to start configuring it.

The snack shop had a cartoonish style and wasn’t very large. There were eighteen cabinets in total, each with eight shelves. Every shelf was packed with cat treats: cat lickable treats, canned cat food, cat biscuits, cat puddings…

She took out a box of cute fish-shaped cat grass biscuits and tasted one carefully.

Hmm… The taste was a bit strange, but it was edible. No big deal.

Next, she modified the payment methods. In addition to gold coins, she added materials like batteries, iron, and plastic as accepted payment.

At the same time, she lowered the prices a bit. Since it was still the early stage of the game, everyone was probably very poor. Setting the prices too high wouldn’t be conducive to sustainably harvesting the chives^[3].

Once everything was ready, Mo Yubai took out a week’s worth of food and drinks for herself and put them into her backpack.

She opened the trading market on the game page and chose to list the “Cat Snack Shop” for business.

After confirming that the “Cat Snack Shop” was successfully online, Mo Yubai turned her gaze to the open bronze treasure chest.

[Congratulations! You have obtained: Sportswear x3, Hemp Rope x3, Tarpaulin x3, Cotton Socks x3, Torch x3, Wood x6, Iron x15, Battery x9, Plastic x3.]

Although she still didn’t have any real food, with the Cat Snack Shop around, she didn’t have to worry about starving.

Plus, she finally had a torch. Once she lit some wood during her break, she wouldn’t have to worry about surviving the night!

What Mo Yubai didn’t know was that players across the entire region were currently discussing the sudden appearance of the Cat Snack Shop!

“Oh my god! My savior of a snack shop! These cat treats are so delicious!”

“Blech… (´ཀ`」∠) The fishy smell of these cat treats is way too strong… Blech…”

“This came just in time! I haven’t had a single drop of water all day, and some scammer swindled three stones out of me. Without this snack shop, I might have actually had to gnaw on rocks!”

“Blech… Σ_(꒪ཀ꒪」∠) We’re lucky just to grab some cat treats and have anything to eat at all! Blech…”

“I ran into a service area this afternoon. You guys have no idea how expensive the stuff inside was, and they only took gold coins! Compared to that, even though this Cat Snack Shop’s food tastes terrible, it’s practically a charity!”

“Everyone, if you’re opening treasure chests tonight, you have to watch out for Chest Guardians!”

“Sure, the loot drops are tripled at night, but from what I can see, the death toll has way more than tripled compared to the daytime.”

“Ahhh, the stock was way too low! It sold out almost as soon as it was listed! But I managed to grab a whole box of cat treats! Hehehe~”

“It’s mostly because it’s night now. It’s too dark to see the road, so most players are just staring at their game panels. Of course they’re going to buy things fast!”

“Girls, I highly recommend the yogurt-flavored freeze-dried cat treats! They’re sweet and sour, and they taste amazing!”

…

Mo Yubai looked at her battered bicycle, which looked like it might fall apart at any moment, with pleasant surprise. “Awesome! It can be upgraded!”