Between the wind and the ruins, I prepare materials for a whole city for a virtual person
It was an unreal afternoon.
You sit in front of the computer, and the screen is the login page of “Mingchao”. The city is still flowing, and people are shuttling back and forth.
You suddenly remember the name “Xiakong”.
It’s very light. Like a rain that has just begun, and like a farewell that has not yet happened in the future.
She doesn’t know you.
You don’t really know her either.
You can’t even be sure whether she exists in time or only in a certain emotion of yours.
But you decide to prepare everything for her.
You start collecting materials for a virtual character. How absurd it sounds
But how reasonable it is.
We have all done similar things.
Leave a light on for an ex who will never come back;
Write a poem for someone you have never hugged;
Spend millions of shells in the game for a name that does not belong to reality.
You pave the way for Xiakong’s existence in the world of “Mingchao”. She won’t tell you what she wants. You can only guess what she needs based on experience, like guessing the reason why a person cries late at night.
You checked the complete information. You know that if you want to upgrade her from the initial state to level 90, she will need the following:
Low-frequency eclipse sail core × 29
Medium-frequency eclipse sail core × 40
High-frequency eclipse sail core × 52
Full-frequency eclipse sail core × 61
Burning phosphorus evil bone × 46
Iris blooming day × 26
Golden fleece × 60
Contains impure crystallized phlogiston × 25
Roughly extracted crystallized phlogiston × 28
Distilled crystallized phlogiston × 55
High-purity crystallized phlogiston × 67
Special resonance accelerator × 122
Shell coins: 3,053,300 pieces
The names of these materials are very strange, sounding like poems written by someone who has lost his memory.
“Golden fleece”, “Iris blooming day”, “Burning phosphorus evil bone”… Every word is like a part of her body.
You wonder if you can define a person by these quantitative things in reality, wouldn’t it be so easy to lose them?
You even prepared a sacrifice for her weapon
You know she doesn’t belong to this world.
But you still want her to have the ability to defend herself. Even if she is just a lone traveler like you who travels through the virtual world.
Her weapon also needs to grow. She can’t just rely on the protection of others. You prepare the following items for her:
Simple shackles × 6
Base shackles × 6
Transformed shackles × 10
Special shackles × 12
**Crystallized phlogiston (four categories)** 40 copies in total
Shell money: 330,000
You don’t want to admit that this is more like arming yourself.
There is a kind of growing up, you build a future for a fictional character
In reality, you no longer go all out for anyone.
You know too well that people will leave, relationships will collapse, and enthusiasm will ebb.
But in the game – or in this game character, you allow yourself to regain the hard-working self. The self who is willing to save materials, brush dungeons, and fight bosses bit by bit.
Xia Kong’s growth is not just about breakthroughs. There are also her skills and her circuits. You carefully read the items required for each level, like reading a suicide note.
Her resonance circuit requires the following:
Low-frequency eclipse sail core × 25
Medium-frequency eclipse sail core × 28
High-frequency eclipse sail core × 40
Full-frequency eclipse sail core × 57
Iris Blooming Day × 26
Crystallized phlogiston at all levels: 175 copies
Shell coins: 2,030,000 pieces
You begin to get familiar with the names of these items, and even their origins.
You know that “Burning Phosphorus Bone” is dropped from the Sighing Ancient Dragon;
“Iris Blooming Day” requires completing the main quest before challenging the Fate Fragment Wheel.
You planned a whole city of materials for her:
Dungeons, shops, map points, enemy routes, drop probability…
You no longer play games, but become the designer, guardian, and even fate maker of this world.
You have never really seen her, but you know she is worth it
You may not draw her.
You may never control her to fight.
You may also give up this game completely before a full star guarantee.
But everything you prepared for her will not be blank.
Those efforts, those 1 a.m. brushing books,
Those nights of calculating materials with exhaustion,
are telling you: You are not dead in life yet.
You are still willing to believe that “growth” is meaningful for a projection, a name, and a faint hope.
At the end, you turned off the screen.
The city is still noisy, and the rain outside has stopped.
You wrote in the memo of your mobile phone:
“Xia Kong: Preparation is complete.”
Actually, you are saying:
“I still believe it.”