Jack is resting his eyes while cultivating the small amount of qi within his real body, when the door to the warehouse can be heard opening, Tom is walking polishing a pair of sunglasses into the giant warehouse, followed by Bobby who isn’t willing to make eye contact with Jack.

“You really know how to perform a great magic trick, Bobby here thinks that you’re some kind of witch, but you and me both know that’s ridiculous, right?” Tom asks Jack non-chalantly while cleaning sunglasses, Bobby’s expression cringes upon hearing this but he still won’t make eye contact.

“Umm, I don’t know what to say about that but are you going to be keeping us in this warehouse much longer?” Jack honestly has no idea about the reason why his body disappears before entering the game.

“Yeah, some rats have been poking around recently all thanks to your little friend here, he’s lucky that I can’t touch him as he certainly caused a headache for both of us” Tom says gesturing towards John who is currently within the game still.

“So, are you going to tell me what you’ve been doing in the game that will lead to the destruction of the world?”

“Isn’t it hyperbolic to say that it’ll lead to the destruction of the world?” Jack responds quickly.

“Not really, nearly everything on the planet that hasn’t entered the game world and reached Stage 3 cultivation when the Earth starts to enter void space will become a soulless husk, they’re estimating 3-4 billion people and countless more animals will be impacted” Tom says finishing cleaning his sunglasses before adding, “So are you going to tell me or do I need to guess?”.

Jack’s mind quickly thinks if he should say the truth or not, Tom already know that he went through the legacy trial but that’s about it.

“I’m not really doing anything important, I haven’t used what I got from the legacy trial yet and I’m stuck around some system cities, I recently found some horses that I want to raise and sell…” Jack thinks up a reason, he has had lots of trouble with horses so it’s not a complete lie.

Tom just coldly looks at Jack trying to gleam information from his reactions, not giving any hints towards if he believes Jack or not.

“I see, what about the disappearing trick then?”

“I don’t know, it has done that ever since I started playing…” Jack responds honestly, he would also like an explanation to this, there was the red sky event the day before he started playing but that shouldn’t be related…

“Did something happen before you start playing?” Tom asks, Jack curses in his mind as he was just thinking about this.

“Nope, just some guy stole my wallet and phone on the way back from work, I told you online”

Tom lets out a hmm before he put the pair of sunglasses, he has spent the conversation cleaning, back on. “Well, I was on my way somewhere when Bobby said that you appeared here for a change so I rushed over here so we can have a small chat. I’ll let you get back to your game but I’ll give you some information, if you need to exchange currency only use ‘Global Forex Union’ and that Russian girl you talk to online. I heard she might be linked to some interesting people; it might be beneficial for you to help her…” Tom says cryptically as he’s walking out the door.

“Oh and your sister is being looked after well, she will be getting the game tomorrow but… it appears you will be an uncle soon so that might stop her from playing very much, congratulations” Tom says as he leaves the room shutting the door returning the room to silence.

Jack has several pieces of information to decipher but the first is that he’ll be an uncle? His face almost immediately lights up, his sister is his only remaining blood relative that he knows about and now he’ll have another one soon. He starts to think about how to celebrate it with his sister overseas, ‘wait how did Tom know about this?’ he asks himself before dismissing it.

He brings out his phone and looks at the messages again, he didn’t reply earlier to all the people asking him for money but will now including the Russian girl, she wants to start up a fashion clothing store within the game world and Jack honestly wants to invest in this, he’s sick of wearing robes.

The chatroom is as active as ever;

'The chosen son of heaven shall lead his band of people to the jade palace on the moon where they will acquire the legacy of the Moon Princess...' crazy cultists are still spouting nonsense.

'The American e-sports team backed by the leading payment processor in the world will win all of the prizes, just watch!'

'South Americans stuck on the frozen continent rejoice, EASTER RABBITS WILL DROP COLD WEATHER CLOTHES FOR FREE!'

'The South African tribe has already caught 9392 rabbits with only 200 people!'

The information is just flowing ridiculously fast, Jack looking at the time sees that it's past 11pm, eating some more food and taking a shower he freshens up and heads back into the game, placing the crystal on his forehead his body disappears and reappears in the crystal room.

It has only been a few hours; nothing has changed including the thread of divine sense. The NPC reminds Jack of the previous information and his vision shifts back into his body.

Currently he is submerged within a tub full of wild fire spirit grass causing his body to feel incredibly itchy and irritated, this is the reason why he didn’t want to stay within the game world while his body was healing. Mai was preparing this tub while he was exhausted and they moved his body while he was asleep.

The grass within the water will seep out their qi within the water causing his body to be washed with the fire qi, allowing it to replenish itself but also strengthening its resilience to fire qi for the future. He doesn’t want to stay within this tub much longer, he circulates his qi technique to absorb the energy within the water quicker.

The cultivation technique is flowing 4x faster than previously and his veins feel like they allow a much larger amount of qi through them, these changes indicate that he’s nearly at the peak of Stage 2 cultivation which is a massive leap from his Stage 0-6 cultivation from before. He circulates his qi faster and stores it within his forehead star rapidly draining the tub of water, after 20 minutes of this the tub no longer contains energy and Jack stands up.

He stretches his back causing it to crack, stretching his muscles that feel renewed and reinvigorated, full of energy he feels like he can take on another centipede but his foundation isn’t stable, time needs to be spent to lay the foundation of the next cultivation stage, Qi condensation.

“Time to look for a beggar” Jack says to himself after inspecting his body, putting on a set of robes and walking out of the physician’s office onto the main road of Dragon – Phoenix village.

The village is still buzzing with activity, it’s not the usual construction or preparation for a fight but people running around with wood, rope and bits of metal to construct rabbit traps. Jack quietly watches the people in his village rush about before walking down the main road, he is looking for a beggar but there’s no one on the side of the road.

He walks down to the outskirts of the village and is unable to see anyone that looks like a beggar before proceeding in the opposite direction, watching the village life as he slowly walks down the road but is left disappointed. There is no one that looks like a beggar.

Jack stares up at the moon high in the sky, it appears that there might be some time left until the beggar can appear. Jack walks into the city hall office and informs Hilda and Bane to treat all beggars kindly, “How many trappers do we have?” he asks them.

“We have 10 of them, some of the new recruits from outside our village were willing to change their job into one but I don’t recommend anymore than that” Bane summarises, he wanted to force some of the questionable new recruits becoming unimportant trappers as even if their loyalty is low, they can be used to create traps.

There’s not much to handle overnight, the first two kobold villages were settled and the rest of the kobolds were temporarily settled close by. Tomorrow they will all be used to scare out rabbits, even if they can’t be used to capture rabbits they can be used to lure or scare them into certain areas while some of them will be sent out to start mining.

They have a massive need for stone, the first thing they want to construct is a temple for the Star Moon Goddess altar that he acquired and then construct more secure buildings, perhaps it might even be needed for this Easter Event.

Jack leaves Hilda and Bane to handle their duties before he takes a final lap of the village while staring at the moon trying to work out when the time is right, the moon is strange in this world as it has a lot of circles that almost look like structures on the moon instead of holes. ‘Maybe that is the Jade Palace…’ Jack questions himself before being disappointed that no beggar has shown up yet.

Finishing up another lap of the village, Jack enters a workshop before helping to construct a few traps, many of the villagers feel happy that their leader is helping them with mundane tasks like this, there’s a big class divide in villages and towns within this world and no leader likes to get their hands dirty.

Jack helps construct a few cage traps, a few spring-loaded noose traps and a few other non-lethal designs that he has seen previously. This event would be much easier if they could kill the rabbit but it’s not like he can go and complain to anyone.

The moon in the sky finally dulls slightly indicating that the beggar will not show up tonight and disappointing Jack greatly while he leaves the workshop and enters his tent passing through the strange garden feeling invigorated, not noticing that the half-burnt tree and the wild fire spirit grass has been planted already.

Jessica and Mai are both sleeping happily on the bed, Jessica is biting Jack’s pillow while her head and ears are bandaged while Mai is somehow sleeping on her legs. Jack just quietly slips into bed on the outside and falls asleep quickly, everyone in the bed shifts within their sleep to hug Jack.

The night makes way for the morning, at the first crack of daylight Mai wakes up smiling as she looks at Jack sleeping on the bed before quietly slipping a few grasses into Jacks mouth and leaving the tent, she needs to absorb the first rays of sunlight every morning otherwise her cultivation cannot progress.

Jack is the next one to awaken, his body feels great with his qi about 60% replenished already. Jack is still sleeping happily but she has now grabbed onto Jack at some point, he slowly replaces his body with a pillow and escapes from her grasp. Freshening up and taking a deep breath of the garden, he leaves to the city hall.

Drakon is there, Hilda and Bane are located elsewhere.

“Lord, we will be scouting out the plains area using all the kobolds today, I take it you will be going to the system city first?”

“Yes, I will entrust you with this task but I should be back shortly I don’t imagine anything will happen at a system city” Jack explains to Drakon, the two talk for a few more moments before Jack gathers some money and leaves to the Dragon – Phoenix village city heart.

It’s still early in the morning meaning that the prizes might not actually be revealed yet, the information provided by the city heart hasn’t changed but a new option is revealed:

‘Which system city would you like to teleport to? (Note: You can freely teleport into a system city once per day.)

Horse City, population 250,000, exit tax 0%

Council union city, population 400,000, exit tax 20%

Brawler’s Plaza, population 300,000, exit tax 2%

Sacred City, population 200,000, exit tax 10%’

There’s not much information given the options but it is enough to make a decision, Jack feels repulsed by an exit tax at this stage so he feels like his only option is going to Horse City, selecting that option a teleportation gate appears before him and he steps through as he feels his body warped and twisted as it’s transported unlike when his consciousness moves.

The blinding white lights of the teleportation channel finish and Jack is thrown out of the teleportation gate exit onto the ground, nearly everyone is thrown to the ground after their first-time teleporting.

His vision clears up and he’s located at a stone plaza, ‘Easter PLAZA’ is written on a marquee above Jack as he looks around. It’s just an area with stone floor and a large black crystal in the centre surrounded by trees. Surrounding the trees there are grey stone multistorey buildings, some chimneys are billowing smoke indicating that there is life within them.

There’s only 10 or so people within the plaza, Jack isn’t able to tell who is a player or not but a group of 3 people are walking over to him, it’s two men and an old woman who have smiles and look like town officials.

“Welcome Player to Horse City Easter Plaza! We are here on behalf of the city lord to welcome you!” an old man with a long white beard says with open arms smiling towards Jack, the other two people join in on saying ‘Welcome!’.

Jack picks himself up off the ground dusting himself off, “Thanks, do all players come here like this?” Jack asks noticing that no one else has appeared.

“Yes, you are the 12^th player to show up at Horse City since the opening of the teleportation channels, perhaps others went to the other cities” the man replies.

Jack takes note of this information, it appears that there are not many players within this region yet or they truly did go to the other cities with their exit tax. “How do I look at the information on the crystal?” Jack asks motioning towards the large black crystal.

“Just go up to it and press your hand on it, you will receive the information in your mind” the man replies, Jack thanks the man before leaving towards the crystal ignoring all the other people around, he isn’t concerned with other players yet.

Placing his hands upon the crystal he receives the information:

‘You currently have 492 points.

10. [Lucky Rabbit's Paw] (Gold), an auspicious sign at this time of year, enhances luck. 3,000,000 points

 

9. [Chocolate Fourteen Herb Egg], Description: A special dan formed into an Easter egg, Gives Permanent +10 stamina and +10 speed boost, enhancing levels of cultivation. 3,000,000 points

 

8. 10,000-year-old carrot, a carrot old but not rotten, full of life energy. 3,200,000 points

 

7. [Rabbit Flute] (Legendary), able to tame simple creatures that listen to the tune. Provides buff, [Rabbit's Good Fortune]. 4,500,000 points.

 

6. Rabbits Ranger, Grade: S grade military profession, Description: Soldiers with enhanced speed, better hearing and buff on plains area. 6,000,000 points.

 

5. [Rabbit Paw], a fist type weapon (gold) Description: Looks unnatural as though it's a giant fist filled with fluff, rather comical but gives STR+20. 6,000,000 points.

 

4. Rabbit Scout, Grade: SS grade military profession, Description: Soldiers with enhanced speed, better hearing and buff on plains area, special recon skills. 8,000,000 points.

 

3. [Rabbit shoes] Leather Foot Armour (Gold) provides greater leg strength for kicks, +35 agility. 8,000,000 points

2. Rabbit Trapper, Grade: SSS grade military profession Description: A special class that specialises in trapping, able to burrow underground in soft dirt quickly to lay traps. Soldiers with enhanced speed, better hearing and buff on plains area. 9,000,000 points

 

1. Royal blooded Jade rabbit, Grade: Legendary, Description: A rabbit able to search for unseen treasures in the moon light, able to give blessing of the jade palace. 12,000,000 points.

Jack is surprised at the information revealed as he was expecting it to be hidden still, he is happy but not excited at the details as it’s a lot of rabbit type things. Mulling over what prizes sound good, perhaps the Chocolate Fourteen Herb Egg but he far from being able to afford anything.

He feels some pressure about being able to afford the more expensive items given how many points he acquired overnight while mobilising his whole village but there’s still several days until the event is over so he’s not too concerned about it.

Leaving the plaza, he looks at the rest of the system city, it’s a town that focuses primarily on agricultural goods and after browsing some markets quickly to get a gauge on prices, Jack spends a few coins on purchasing some seeds.

“Do you have any medicinal seeds?” Jack asks the weathered weary old seller at a stall within a farmer’s market.

“Medical seeds? What? do I look like some sort of herbalist? I sell food seeds, if you want that other stuff go somewhere else” The farmer looking person turns Jack away. Jack isn’t discouraged and asks several more stalls but mostly with the same result, one did sell some unnamed seeds for cheap but they just look like some rocks.

Jack doesn’t let this discourage him as he searches around the stalls and buying up plenty of unique seed varieties that will grow on the plains area. Other types of Wheat, Corn, potatoes, kale, lettuce, lots of weird leafy plants that he isn’t able to identify, just wanting to kick start the agricultural side of Dragon – Phoenix village.

Feeling accomplished and knowing he has the ability to come back here for the duration of the event, Jack heads to the teleportation area and brings up the menu to head back to this village, luckily his village isn’t listed as a destination there’s only an option of ‘Return to Origin Point’.

Jack made a few appointments to buy some more seeds from some of the sellers another day but first thing he would like to do is get a storage ring, carrying around all these seeds on his back will quickly tire him even with the teleportation channels available.

His body feels like it’s falling through the teleportation channel again as he appears back before Dragon – Phoenix village city heart, this time not falling over as he’s ejected out. Running to place the seeds he gathered with the farmers, he leaves to find Drakon as it has been a few hours since he left.