Dwarf In The Future

Star coins? 

Qiao Zhiya was puzzled for a moment, then immediately remembered the introduction about star coins in the novice tutorial. He opened his account balance, and sure enough, his current balance was 1,000 coins, which was all given by the system as a first log-in bonus. It was enough to watch the game. 

After the viewing fee was deducted, his surroundings changed again. He was teleported to the audience seat of a huge amphitheatre. Other people steadily teleported in, filling the empty seats around him. On the middle stage, the host was saying something passionately. 

Qiao Zhiya was watching all this with awe and wonder, and those around him were also equally as excited. 

“Xiongdi1brother, but neutral in seniority., aren’t you a rare sight around here? There are not many people like you who insist on wearing the starting clothing provided by the system.” A red-haired man suddenly came over, sizing him up, and had a guess,”Just signing up your first VR Internet account?”

Qiao Zhiya found that although the other party looked rough, his expression and tone were very friendly. He nodded and replied truthfully: “Yes, I didn’t have spiritual strength before, so I never signed up.” 

People around who heard his answer showed sympathy. They showed extra friendliness towards him. With a familiar tender expression, the red-haired man leaned over and sat next to him. He then proceeded to explain things to him, even telling him to not play too long, as it would be detrimental to his (supposedly) healing spiritual power. 

Qiao Zhiya didn’t expect the people on the Internet to be so friendly. He sincerely gave the red-haired man an appreciation for his concern. 

Everyone also discovered that he was relatively young, and they all enthusiastically introduced this competition to him. Things about the rules, who the popular contestants were, and even some publicly available information about their skills. 

“It’s just the preliminary round now. The players are only required to make one part of a mecha, within a two hours time limit. After the time is up, the system will judge whether the part is qualified. Those who are qualified will be promoted, and those who are unqualified will be eliminated.” A big-breasted blond lady told him patiently. Her intricate red nails were very eye-catching as it was pointed towards the middle stage, where the host was still upping the audience’s interest. 

She continued telling him, “When he finishes talking nonsense, the competition will officially start. At that time, all the contestants’ information will be available for viewing. The numbers are arranged in order and you can see it on the big screen on the back. You can also enter your favorite players’ room code to get teleported directly towards their game. However, it does cost extra money. Xiao didi2little younger brother. It’s said in a very flirty manner too., you look so cute. Do you want me to pay for you? If you want, can you accompany me for a drink or two? Don’t worry, you can’t get drunk on the Internet, after all, we’re all just virtual data right now.” After speaking, she raised an eyebrow at him. 

Qiao Zhiya had never been teased like this before. His face blushed very honestly, and the system actually reflected every detail on his avatar. He could even sense the heat on his blushing face, which only made him even more embarrassed. 

The blond girl covered her mouth to repress a squeal when she saw this adorable scene. 

“Anna, don’t scare the kids.” The red-haired man obviously knew the blonde lady. He reached and patted her shoulder, then signaled to the stage, “Look, the competition is about to start.”

The host finished talking, and a light screen suddenly descended from the sky and hovered above all the audience. After another round of countdown, densely packed player information appeared on the screen. Qiao Zhiya looked over and found that as long as he moved his eyes, it would hover around a certain player alongside their room code number. If he lingered his gaze around the number, a pop-up screen appeared, asking him if he wanted to spend star coins to watch the game. 

“Xiao didi, we’re going to watch the game. See you soon.” The blonde lady gave Qiao Zhiya a wink, then teleported away in a flurry of light spots. She should have entered a player’s private room to watch the game.

The burly redhead followed, but before he left, he sent Qiao Zhiya a friend request.

The number of spectators around him dwindled rapidly as the hall gradually became empty. In front of him, the numbers of viewers in each player’s room was rapidly increasing. Although, the distribution wasn’t equal – some players had a sky-high viewer number, while others were only watched by a handful. 

Not only that, Qiao Zhiya discovered that this light screen extends infinitely outward, that is to say, as long as you look towards the edge of the light screen, a new row of player information will appear where you can see it.

Just how many people participated in this competition… 

Qiao Zhiya was a little speechless. He tried to enter a relatively popular room, and then found that he actually had a five-minute trial benefit. After thinking about it, he guessed that this “benefit” was included in the initial 100 coins viewing fee. 

After the selection was confirmed, the screen changed again – it looked like he was teleported into an identical amphitheatre, but there was a different host and a contestant busy connecting a bunch of mechanical parts. The audience in the hall looked directly at the contestant and kept cheering him on, but the contestant seemed to be unable to hear the audience’s voices, nor could he see the audience’s silhouette.  He was fully concentrated in his work, making something without raising his head. 

“Sigh, Xiao Luoli didn’t open the audience communication option again. It’s a pity that I couldn’t hear his baby-like words of thanks.” An auntie-like audience sighed sadly, looking at the contestant with a maternal gaze. 

Another similar audience member waved the banner in her hand, and comforted this auntie, “It’s normal for him not to open it. Xiao Luoli needed all the concentration he can get. He wants to win, and we must understand his wish.” 

“Mhhm, I agree. He needed extra focus!” The sighing auntie got up again, and suddenly shouted hoarsely towards the stage: “Come on, Xiao Luoli! Auntie will always support you! Come on, come on! You are the best!” 

Heralded by this auntie, many other audience members began to shout cheering words. The atmosphere was very high. 

Qiao Zhiya was frightened by their sudden roar that his body froze, and he couldn’t help but widen his eyes —ah, everyone was so excited.

Sneaking aside, he turned off the sounds around him and concentrated on watching the game.

The benefits of the VR Internet were immediately apparent, even if he was sitting far away, as long as he moved his gaze, the things he wanted to see would immediately be enlarged and became clearer. If he turned around, it would also follow his line of sight. It’s very convenient. 

The contestant was a young man with a baby face. With nimble movements, he didn’t hesitate one bit in sorting out many small parts. He then assembled them quickly, various tools flying around as he kept switching them in and out. 

Honestly, Qiao Zhiya didn’t understand one bit. 

Although mecha manufacturing was also a kind of mechanical manufacturing, it was a study he was still completely unfamiliar with. Especially because studying it required spiritual power, which he still lacked. Thankfully, he was familiar with mechanical manufacturing, which was the basis of some of the parts used in a mecha. He understood the first step, at the very least. As for the second, third, fourth, nth steps? Well, it looked 100% alien to him. 

He had only seen the assembled large parts and the assembly of an entire mecha at Master Ren’s workshop. He never actually saw the assembly of the small parts. 

However, the more he couldn’t understand it, the more he wanted to see it. This completely unfamiliar mechanical production method completely aroused his curiosity and enthusiasm!

“The five-minute trial time is over. Would you like to pay 200 star coins to continue watching the game?” 

The enthusiasm that had just been raised was extinguished by the sudden appearance of the prompt. Qiao Zhiya looked at his account, which only had 900 coins left. He shook his head silently, “…No, send me out.”

He really needed a way to purchase star coins. This account was bound to a special-made starnet helmet, which unlike the genuine one, cannot directly bind to his official Federal residency information. This was done to prevent another party using his account as a way to check his identity, which could be troublesome, as he was officially someone with a third-degree disability. 

This also meant that he couldn’t use his real money to buy star coins. Of course, he could still use the coins he had in this account, but in this way, it could only decrease. 

The screen changed, and he was teleported to the square he first arrived at.

Now that he had confirmed that his magic power could indeed be detected by the starnet cabin. Remembering Chu Rong who was still waiting for his feedback, he reluctantly chose to quit the Internet. He took off his helmet and sat up, and dialed a video communication for Chu Rong immediately.

“Can you use it?” Chu Rong went straight to the point.

The fluttering and excited emotions caused by the virtual world immediately settled down the moment he heard the Marshal’s voice. Qiao Zhiya smiled at him and replied: “Yes, I also watched a mecha manufacturing competition.”

Chu Rong frowned, pointed at the desktop and thought about something, and asked: “Did you feel uncomfortable after logging in to the Internet?” 

“No.” Qiao Zhiya then recounted everything that happened during his time on the Internet. Who he met, what he talked about, and who tried to add him as a friend. 

So far, it looked like he could log in normally, he could add friends normally, and overall, the starnet cabin system didn’t detect any anomalies with Qiao Zhiya’s account – and to an extent, his magic power. 

“Go home this weekend, you need a physical check-up to investigate what’s actually happening.  During this period of time, don’t use the Internet anymore, and try not to use your abilities outside.” Chu Rong instructed, expressing his guess, “Qiao Zhiya, your spiritual power might have become stronger.” 

Qiao Zhiya was stunned. He frowned as he wondered, “But I didn’t find any signs of upgrading my power…” And besides, it’s not as easy to upgrade to a high-level magic power compared to upgrading to an intermediate level. It’s very normal that it would be stuck on the same level for decades. 

“So far, my guess is that your spiritual power somehow upgraded, one way or another. My guess will be verified after Zhuang Yu gives you an examination.” Chu Rong insisted on his guess. Seeing that the Bald Chicken looked like he didn’t understand, Chu Rong’s frown loosened, and he explained in a very patient tone, “Starnet cabin has very low requirements for spiritual power, and even the weakest E-grade spiritual power can be detected and logged into the Internet. Since this is the case, if your spiritual power can be detected by the star network, at least it has reached the E-grade.” 

To sum it up, Qiao Zhiya’s spiritual power must have improved, even if it’s just a very small increase. 

Qiao Zhiya half-understood. He looked down at his fingertips, tried to condense a little magic power to feel the change. But he still didn’t sense anything, and became more and more puzzled.

“Don’t think too much about it, study hard these few days, and go to the south gate afterschool on Friday. I’ll pick you up there.” Chu Rong decisively ended the topic. He ordered, “It’s already late, go to bed.” 

Qiao Zhiya snapped out of his puzzlement. And it was really late. He feared that he would delay Chu Rong’s rest time, so he hurriedly nodded and climbed onto his bed. He looked at the Marshal eagerly, waiting for him to hang up the communication.

Chu Rong, who was going to let him hang up the communication first today, looked back calmly, without moving.

The two looked at each other inexplicably for a while, and Ancestor Chu lost his patience. He frowned and said, “Why don’t you go to bed?”

Qiao Zhiya pulled the quilt, and replied honestly, “You haven’t hung up the communication yet.” 

‘And you can only go to sleep after hanging up.’ was left unsaid.

This line of thought made sense in Qiao Zhiya’s little head. 

“You hang up first.” Ancestor Chu was silent for a few seconds before ordering coldly.

Qiao Zhiya shook his head honestly, not hiding his attachment to the White-Haired Monster at all: “I don’t want it, I can’t bear it.”

Chu Rong frowned, squinted, and looked at him deeply.

The two stared at each other. Ancestor Chu suddenly felt a little irritable, but he didn’t look like he was angry. He wasn’t in a bad mood, but he did look like he was struggling with a mixture of unknown emotions he didn’t fully understand. 

He glanced at Qiao Zhiya who looked warm on the bed, and asked coldly, “What’s your Internet account ID?” 

“, it’s the name of the village where I used to live.” Qiao Zhiya replied, and then wondered, “Why are you angry again?”

The table beside Chu Rong’s was almost cracked. 

Again? Was this accusing him of having a bad temper?

Ancestor Chu’s face darkened, he obviously didn’t want to be angry, but he was still angry. He glared at him and scolded: “You’re out of luck.” After speaking, he ruthlessly hung up the communication, and walked out of the room. 

Qiao Zhiya blinked with a blank look on his face, then shrank back into the quilt aggrievedly. He retorted in a low voice, full of irritation, “Why is this White-Haired Monster getting mad out of nowhere? I didn’t even do anything wrong. Humph!!”

He fiercely pouted, then angrily went to sleep. It was a night without dreams.

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1brother, but neutral in seniority.2little younger brother. It’s said in a very flirty manner too.