Nurturing Humanity

A Long-distance Relationship Is Coming Suddenly

Xu Zhi walked to the gate of the compound and stood talking to Chen Xi at the gate.

“What are you actually up to? Would you really be happy working in the fields?”

Chen Xi looked curiously at the compound but could see nothing more than a bunch of vegetables that seemed to be growing well. “Man, I’m really p*ssed, you know,” she mumbled. “Is it because I’m not pretty enough or what? Why don’t you go on a date with this girlfriend of yours?”

“Don’t I always go out with you and drive around with you in the morning?” Xu Zhi replied,

He made it clear to her that he had not actually been neglecting her.

He was not all that much of an otaku and was simply enjoying the sandbox experiment. He took walks outside every morning, as well as going out for drives with her. It was quite a relaxing activity.

But then again, he still thought the sandbox was more interesting than any date he might go on.

“How’s tis hat the same? You’re around me for an hour and then you work in the fields for the whole day.” Chen Xi was still muttering away, feeling very dissatisfied. “I’m hard at work learning stuff, and I’m really serious about our dates. Am I really not attractive enough?”

“What are you learning?” He was unable to contain his laughter.

“I’d be going back to school in four days.” Chen Xi looked very irritated, and then looked very dejected. “The summer holiday is almost over.”

Xu Zhi took his lunchbox, feeling quite stunned.

He did a rough calculation and it was only then that he realized that the summer holiday had almost come to an end. He snapped back to reality after the fight with those idiots back at the sandbox in his compound.

He had to admit that he would have quite a hard time getting used to not having her bring him such things to eat.

He understood Chen Xi’s feelings for him well. She had supported him and had volunteered to stay by his side during the most difficult time of his life as he suffered from cancer. She had stayed by his side as his girlfriend as he lived his out his supposed remaining days.

He thought for a bit and added, “It’s okay for us to do long distance. We can still talk over the phone and do video chats.”

He gave it some thought. He could talk on the phone for quite a while as he sat outside enjoying the scenery of countryside. Then, he could work his fields and manage his sandbox. In short, he would be living his rural life in perfect peace and quiet.

“It’s not the same thing. It’s totally different.”

Chen Xi’s expression was hard and a bystander would have thought that they were actually about to break up. “That’s a long-distance relationship. Phones and video chats are not the same as being together.”

Xu Zhi was speechless and frowned. “Right. Have you heard of a game called ‘Spores Evolution’ by the way?”

“Huh? Never heard of it.” She was rather stunned.

As the pure, innocent pretty girl she always claimed to be, she usually played minor, leisurely games, staying off of even those that were even remotely hardcore and intense.

“It’s a recreational sandbox game. Very leisurely stuff. You could move about very freely, just like Minecraft. Have you never played sandbox building games?”

“Minecraft? Yeah, I’ve played that before.” She nodded.

He then added, “I heard that this particular sandbox game is something of a hidden gem. It has a whole different world of its own and it completely mimics reality. We could meet there, just like how we do in real life. That would be far more real than doing video chats.”

“For real?”

She was quite stunned as she asked, “Another world that mimics reality completely? We could meet up there?”

He thought about it and added, “But there are some conditions to getting a spot to the game. It requires a person to write a scientific thesis about natural evolution.”

She was completely baffled right away. She opened her eyes wide and asked in utter confusion, “Write a scientific thesis?… You sure this is a leisurely game?”

“No problem. Leave me to it.”

He then comforted her further. “Just download the game when you’re back in school. I’ll get someone to write the thesis for you and get you a spot. You’d just need to get into the game by then… but, the computers in your school might not be of the right specs and might not be able to open the game. I’ll fork about 20 grand to get you a new computer.”

“I love you!”

Chen Xi kissed Xu Zhi hard on the face out of excitement, before skipping off in embarrassment.

Xu Zhi stood at the door and touched the spot she just kissed him and grinned. “Well, seems like no girl can resist having money and sweet talk thrown at them after all.”

It was already bad enough that he, the creator, had spores in his lesser sandbox thinking of revolting against him, and Gilgamesh from the greater sandbox thinking about killing him all day. He deemed himself unfit to be a creator if he were to be unable to fulfill such a small request from his girlfriend.

A spot in the game was something he could get easily, after all.

But then again, getting a computer with high-end specs would require him to spend quite a bit. He had over 100 thousand yuan in his savings, and he would be left with only 80 thousand after spending the money on a new computer.

“Money isn’t too much of a big deal, and there’s no harm in spending that much. But then again, I’d still need to think of a way to earn some.” He did not think that the sum would matter much due to being able to calm his girlfriend down. He had lots of ways to earn money after all.

In actual fact, the dates that both of them went on were little more than walks and rides, looking at scenery, and talking.

He would be able to take his date to the sandbox in the future. The scenery looked nice enough and the landscape was beautiful after all. Both of them could look at the view while admiring those idiot spores and weird creatures running all over the place.

That place was truly a wonderland of sorts.

He had to admit that the idea with the lesser sandbox was just brilliant. There was then one more purpose added to that sandbox—a place for both of them to have their dates.

He grinned after taking care of that her restlessness about maintaining a long-distance relationship, standing at the gate with the lunchbox in his hand.

…

Back in the compound.

“Genesis, what the hell?”

A group of players gasped.

“How could a term like ‘Genesis’ pop up in a sandbox game about spores evolving? Is this the hidden subplot or some sort of background setting for the sandbox game?”

The players were puzzled and shocked. They were feeling very agitated and were behaving as if they had just discovered a new continent.

They were impressed again by just how unnervingly high the degree of freedom in the game was. It was just like how it was in reality, where they had to even dig around for subplots and such.

From the perspective of the players, what they did had apparently triggered the main questline.

There is no doubt about it!

We are about to attack the boss, and we have definitely triggered a cutscene!

Every single player in the game was familiar with online games.

All of them knew that most online games had a background world setting. The likes of western fantasy and eastern xianxia games had their own plots and histories, and the players deemed their actions to have triggered a cutscene from said setting.

“Gosh, I didn’t expect a sandbox game like this have a background setting. I thought this was just a simple sandbox game world about spore evolving!”

“I gotta hand it to the developers. They are really as hardcore as they come, and d*mn, they really are the best! They even give us a background worldview to dig into!”

All manner of weird creatures crawled on the huge page as they chatted away, feeling very hyped.

“Alright, cut it, people. No time to waste. Let’s flip to the next page and see what this Genesis book is about… my god, dude, just how hardcore can this game get, man? We even need to dig the pages to trigger even a cutscene introducing the background!”

Those people, who simply ran into something in an accident, actually thought that they had just triggered a further plot to the game.

Under the leadership of the Racer of Mount Haruna, all of them scurried away from the huge book and went on to flip to the second page together. They then saw ‘Dark Cambrian Period’ written on the second page.

The Dark Cambrian Period. The world shifts, the sun sets, and the moon rises. The world is plunged into a 5000-year-old period of darkness, where 99 percent of oceanic life is rendered extinct, with only the Blue Moongrass surviving by absorbing moonlight, becoming the only species to propagate in a frenzy and becoming extremely prosperous throughout the dark oceans. The Blue Moongrass is the species reigning supreme over that age.

Shoop!

First mass extinction event?

Countless people were shuddering at what they read.

“Are these super ancient historical periods?”

“No time to read every detail! Take pictures with your VR headsets and we’ll mull it over when we get back. The giant boss is gonna come back if we keep wasting time… next page!” someone growled.

Countless players snapped out of their dazed state. This was the first time they had gotten so excited over a game, and all of them feeling as if they were no longer themselves.

This is so exciting. This feeling of snooping around is such a blast!

They quickly flipped to the next page.

The next page had ‘Light Cambrian Period’ written on it.

The Light Cambrian Period. The world shifts, the moon fades, and the sun rises. The world enters an age where the sun remains in the sky over a 5000-year-long period. The Blue Moongrass, which had once reigned supreme during the Dark Cambrian Period, began to face mass extinction. The Violet Ray Flower, which was once of the weaker line of the Blue Moongrass, rises and becomes the reigning species of this new age.

Reigning species of a new age?

A second mass extinction event?

None of them were able to sit still any longer and anxiously flipped to the next page.

The next page had ‘Cenozoic Era’ written on it.

The Cenozoic Era. This new age is an age of rebirth. All manner of animals propagate wildly. The first batch of oceanic life emerges, and it is the time that teems with life, with each species fighting for supremacy. Invertebrates rely on their exoskeletons and reigns supreme over the oceans for a time, becoming the reigning species in this age, but vertebrates come long before the invertebrates are able to maintain supremacy for long. The vertebrates beat the invertebrates due to their nimbleness, becoming the true supreme beings of this age, and they shall reign for a long time in this era.

What the hell is this?

All of them were confused as to what this was all about, yet they felt what they read to be surreal nonetheless.

The background setting of that sandbox game looked difficult and had a worldview that was extremely expansive. The game had unnerving degrees of freedom, and they could tell that they still had much to explore.

They found themselves completely gaping when they flipped the next page and came to the fourth age in the expansive history.

The Genesis Period. It is the age where intelligent beings emerge. The intelligent apes begin to lay foundations of civilization through tribal living, chasing away the beasts and reigning supreme in this age. However, they are ruthless and brutal. The heavens are unable to tolerate them any longer and bring about a great flood, destroying them all. The third mass extinction event begins, wiping out 99 percent of the existing creatures.

Intelligent life existed before?

Civilization?

Great flood from the heavens?

There was actually a third mass extinction event?

Gosh!!

No one was able to keep themselves composed any longer. All of them gasped as they frantically flipped to the next page, which was where Xu Zhi wrote his line about the ongoing fifth age.

The Witchcraft Period. Hermes the God of Wisdom conversed with the people of the land, and the three witches blazed the path of witches. Year 198 of Babylon. The three witches passed. The gods bestowed miracles upon the land to mourn the passing of the witches…

God of Wisdom! Hermes!

Just what the god**mned hell is this? Is it for real!?

The minds of everyone went blank, feeling as if a grand, majestic, and brilliant sandbox world was gradually unfolding before their eyes.