Thirty new species, and a system?

In the six months before the official start of the game, Jiang Bei and Fang Yuan were completely separated. Where they went, what they did, whom they met—only the two of them knew the answers to these questions. Even Wang Fu, who could be considered their closest confidant, knew nothing about it.

Wang Fu had to admit that, for the past nineteen years, he had never paid any attention to that half-year period. Only now, looking back, did he find it faintly chilling upon reflection.

"First of all," Wang Fu began, "we all saw just now that Yang Xue is an ordinary human girl. She isn't one of us. She's definitely human." On this point, he was certain.

"If this game really has hidden layers," he continued, "then, judging by what I know of that couple, all the related arrangements would have been set up during that half-year."

King Cat blinked his eyes. Cats, by nature, are intensely curious. "But what kind of arrangements could there be? The game still has eleven years to go! Jiang Bei arranged for a human girl like Yang Xue—does he really think she could help him defeat Fang Yuan?"

He shook his head as he finished. "Yang Xue and Fang Yuan aren't even on the same level."

This wasn't meant to belittle Yang Xue; it was merely a statement of fact. King Cat believed that in a few days, when Yang Xue finally met Fang Yuan, she would instantly realize this truth herself.

Wang Fu began to recall certain things—matters he hadn't paid much mind to before, matters he only started considering because of the recent purchase of Peach Blossom Spring Villa and his encounter with Zhang Hengyuan.

"Tell me," Wang Fu said, rubbing his bald head, his voice low, "have you ever heard of something called an Awakened?"

...

Looking back through history, the powerful figures now sitting on the grass in the courtyard hadn't all appeared at the same time, or even in the same era. The Skeleton King, the Elf King, the Mage, the Tree King…

Across the long ages, these figures appeared on this land centuries or even millennia apart, only to be discovered by Jiang Bei and Fang Yuan.

Of course, over millions of years, there should have been more than just these two dozen or so great beings. There ought to have been far more unusual non-human leaders. Unfortunately, some of those species were gradually found and eliminated by resilient humans—giants, for example. Others perished naturally due to changes in the planet itself, like the dinosaurs that Jiang Bei and Fang Yuan fondly remembered as mounts. Still others, who had sought to destroy Jiang Bei and Fang Yuan, were crushed to dust in a single blow, such as the Demon Clan, whose brief existence ended in oblivion.

Thus, over the past nineteen years, the possibility of new species emerging on this land remained. Wang Fu thought that perhaps the Awakened might be one such new species.

At this, Lady Maurice, Chairwoman of the Mage Consortium and Queen of Magic, recalled something and spoke up. "I've indeed heard of the Awakened. In recent years, they've been appearing all over the world."

"Then, Fu, have you ever heard of something called a System?"

Wang Fu: "?????"

King Cat and the others: "?????"

A System? What on earth was that?

Wang Fu had never heard of it. If you don’t understand, you ask. "A System? Some sort of new species?"

But even Maurice couldn't say for sure whether it counted as a new species.

She pondered a moment, realizing that none of those present besides herself had even heard of a System, and decided she should explain in detail.

"Here's the situation," she began. "Many of our Mage Consortium employees pose as magicians, mingling with audiences worldwide—you all know this. In recent years, some employees have noticed odd things. For example, a perfectly ordinary, impoverished young man suddenly starts spending money like water, though he doesn’t have any job that could support such expenses. Or a humble little restaurant suddenly appears somewhere, its owner a miraculous chef. Or—"

Maurice rattled off every example she could recall.

"After these reports reached me, my interest was piqued, so I had my employees investigate. What we discovered were these so-called Systems.

"It’s not just one System, you see—there are many, each with a different name. There’s the Tycoon System, the Gourmet System, the Heartthrob System—every kind you can imagine. I even heard about a Crossdressing System."

The assembled big shots: "o((⊙﹏⊙))o"

Even the group who were supposed to be focused on grilling meat: "o((⊙﹏⊙))oo((⊙﹏⊙))o!!!!"

"Have you ever actually seen one of these… Systems?" Wang Fu asked.

Maurice shook her head.

"That's the strange part," she said. "All those System holders say they can hear the System’s voice in their heads, usually signaled by a 'ding.' Some can even communicate directly with the System. But no matter what tests I’ve run, I can’t find anything unusual in their bodies."

"It’s as if these Systems are completely intangible."

"But they do exist. Take the Tycoon System, for instance. I’ve seen the bank notifications myself—the System really does keep transferring money endlessly to its host. Or the Gourmet System, which allows its host to conjure up all sorts of things out of thin air, just like us magicians."

The big shots: "?????"

All right, now everyone was thoroughly bewildered.

Intangible, invisible Systems? Money that appears out of nowhere? This was far more impressive than the Awakened!

The group erupted into discussion. The debate went on for some time before a tentative idea emerged, one that garnered the most support.

"Maurice, let’s look at the Systems this way—given our abilities, could we make something invisible and undetectable like a System?"

The answer: Yes.

"And what about materializing something from nothing—could we do that?"

Again, yes. That was a magician’s specialty.

"You mentioned there are various Systems… Suppose each System has different functions…"

"Let’s think outside the box: What if someone—say, Fang Yuan—spent that half-year before the game began meeting with a group of people and, without anyone noticing, implanted these Systems in their bodies? We don’t yet know exactly what these Systems are."

"Let’s hypothesize that they’re intangible intelligent beings—like the invisible bodyguards who only obey Jiang Bei and Fang Yuan. Suppose Fang Yuan endowed each of these beings with unique traits… Don’t look at me like that; we all know Fang Yuan is capable of this."

"In fact, Maurice, don’t take this the wrong way, but when it comes to magic, Fang Yuan far surpasses you."

"So, following this chain of suppositions, let’s be bold: Could it be that the Awakened were created by Jiang Bei, and the Systems by Fang Yuan? Is it possible?"