Starting the Game with Godlike Vision

Chapter 20 - You Have Changed!

Zuo Chengan squinted, trying to get a full view of the scene before him, but the partial visibility dulled his curiosity.

He brushed it off and returned to his relentless extermination of Steel-Toothed Rats.

By the end of the morning, he had slain a total of 84 pests.

The spoils? Just a single Swift Rat Dagger tool.

It became clear that relying solely on enemy kills yielded pitiful drop rates for items.

It seemed that only the first kill in each dungeon guaranteed a 100% drop rate—a theory Zuo Chengan had concocted himself.

Whether this hypothesis held water would require another dungeon trial to confirm.

...

In the meantime, perhaps realizing the futility of their squabble, the young couple abruptly decided to put their time to better use.

Youyou stomped her foot in frustration and turned away with a huff. "Wang Guangfei! You've changed!"

Wang Guangfei could only sigh. The missing sheep weighed on him like the Sword of Damocles, and he had already resolved to abandon his task if it came to that—choosing instead to help Youyou complete hers. Even if only one of them survived, it would be worth it.

Yet, Youyou's cold indifference, her utter disregard for his concerns, left him disheartened.

"I'm only worried that the lost sheep will stray even farther the longer we wait. If it gets out of reach, there'll be no way to complete my mission. If by 'changed,' you mean I'm no longer jumping to fulfill your every demand at the cost of the bigger picture, then yes, I've changed."

His voice faltered but carried a weight of disappointment. "I hoped we could build a life where you'd think in terms of 'us' instead of just 'me.' But you've never understood—not once. I kept hoping you'd grow, but... I've failed. Completely."

With that, Wang Guangfei turned and walked away without looking back.

A wave of panic washed over Youyou. She felt like she was about to lose something precious forever.

But then, glancing at the tomato field, where only a fifth of the rack remained unfilled, she turned back to her task. Grabbing her basket, she headed for the tomatoes.

She didn't want to die. As for Wang Guangfei?

She'd find him later, after completing her mission. Surely, as always, a bit of pouting and a soft apology would win him over. No matter how angry he got, he'd forgive her unconditionally.

This time would be no different.

...

By late afternoon, the sun had dipped closer to the horizon.

"Got you at last!"

Zuo Chengan chased a Steel-Toothed Rat from the sheep pen all the way to the chicken coop, skewering it with a hayfork just as it tried to dive into a burrow.

...

[Hidden Task: Eliminate Steel-Toothed Rats (100/100) Completed!]

Confirming the quest completion in his interface, Zuo Chengan finally exhaled in relief.

It seemed his guess had been correct—his hidden quest was by far the least punishing and the easiest to complete.

Wang Guangfei's mission, however, still hinged on finding the elusive last sheep.

Youyou's seemingly straightforward task of picking tomatoes was fraught with traps, as the fruits rotted rapidly once they "cried."

Then there was Fu You, stuck in an environment so unpleasant even the spectators found it unbearable to watch.

As for Fu Yu, Zuo Chengan had seen her in the chicken coop earlier, frantically dodging pecks from a horde of oversized hens while cradling fragile eggs. She couldn't fight back or stray too far from the coop, lest she fail her task.

When Zuo Chengan passed by, she even asked if he had any healing or crowd-control items for sale. She was willing to pay a high price or trade something of value.

One of her items, a Shadow Veil Spray, caught Zuo Chengan's interest. It allowed the user to blend into the shadows, which would pair well with his night-vision goggles.

Although Zuo Chengan still had some leftover Tetanus Serum, he hesitated. The serum only worked when applied to wounds, and who knew what wrath Red-Eye might unleash if its chickens were injured?

Fu Yu had eventually decided to endure her ordeal without purchasing the serum, leaving Zuo Chengan slightly disappointed. He'd have to look for similar items at the market later.

Now back at the chicken coop, he decided to check if she'd changed her mind.

But instead of Fu Yu, he found Fu You battling the human-sized hens.

"Where's your sister?" he asked casually.

In this dungeon, players' tasks didn't overlap, nor was there competition for resources. There was no need for deceit or sabotage.

As the audience put it, as long as personal interests weren't at stake, humans could be surprisingly cooperative.

Fu You answered with minimal detail, out of basic courtesy, "She's at the cowshed."

The full story—which Zuo Chengan had gleaned from spectator chatter—was that Fu Yu had sustained injuries during her egg-collecting task.

Fu You had voluntarily swapped roles with her, leaving her sister with the safer cleaning duty while she braved the aggressive chickens.

The spectators often treated these broadcasts as entertainment, commenting and speculating even though players couldn't hear them.

Zuo Chengan had initially thought his ability to see the chat had been exposed but soon realized the audience was merely amusing themselves during dull moments.

Currently, they were debating his actions:

[Why isn't this player doing anything? Just wandering around?]

[Seems like he finished his quest already.]

[Isn't his task to kill 100 Steel-Toothed Rats? That fast?]

[Absolutely. I counted every single one!]

...

Then came a shift in focus as the audience noticed a more exciting broadcast elsewhere:

[So Boring. I thought having Red-Eye here would make this dungeon exciting, but nope. What a letdown—I'm out.]

[Probably just here to assign tasks, nothing more. No way it's actually taking part in the gameplay. A Level 1 dungeon like this doesn't deserve Red-Eye in action. The players here are way too fragile. It's probably just hanging around because this farm happens to be its territory.]

[Breaking news! Red-Eye has returned to the Level 3 dungeon No Escape! The survival pod battle is about to start! Go watch the live stream!]

...

The moment that comment appeared, Zuo Chengan noticed the veiny eyes that had been hovering around him and Fu You thinning out. Most had clearly rushed off to catch the action in No Escape, where Red-Eye had made its appearance.

Could it be that only Level 3 dungeons are worthy of Red-Eye personally entering the fray?

If so, the players competing in those must all be 3rd-Heavenly-Ascension elites.

To stand against 100 such players and hold its ground—just how powerful is Red-Eye?

Nevertheless, the revelation brought a strange relief. It confirmed one thing: Red-Eye was no longer on the farm.

Zuo Chengan had previously assumed the owner was lurking in the shadows, watching their every move. He'd tread carefully, avoiding anything that might provoke it. But now that it was confirmed to be elsewhere...

If the audience's chatter was to be believed, Red-Eye was a melee warrior and unlikely to possess cross-dungeon surveillance abilities.

Which meant the remainder of this dungeon's time was his to explore freely.

And there was only one place on the farm that seemed intentionally concealed: the two-story building with the red roof at its center.

With that thought, Zuo Chengan left the chicken coop and headed straight for the heart of the farm, his curiosity blazing brighter than ever.