Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 571 - 197. Death Signs

Chapter 571: 197. Death Signs

[Descend is complete]

[Welcome back to Starry Abyss]

The neural network infiltrated, visual link synchronized, and Caramel Snail crawled out from his house in Newbie Village.

"For some reason, I just got a sudden urge to log in today and check things out."

Caramel Snail was the type who couldn’t go back to sleep once he woke up, especially since today he was particularly excited, just wanting to play the game.

—Mostly because he’d been playing Starry Abyss.

He tidied up his gear and dressed neatly. Now, as a well-known Martial Artist in the national server, Caramel Snail was no longer just an ordinary casual player. Many businesses, large guilds, and professional teams had sent him invitations. While honing his skills and upgrading his gear, he also pondered his goals.

Hanging out with professional players like Cumin Powder for so long, his impression of professional competitions was not particularly outstanding. It felt just like other professional athletes. They all had to undergo training camps, study sessions, practice matches, and reviews, not enjoying the endless gaming sessions that outsiders imagined.

Throwing himself into the profession was no big deal; his college enrollment was preserved for life, and he could return whenever he wanted to continue his studies.

But, which team to join?

That was the question Caramel Snail grappled with.

With these thoughts in his head, he walked into his yard—a self-built small two-story building with a yard, bought from Li Aozi. The scenery was beautiful, with a river and flower fields nearby, and a windmill not far away. Caramel Snail loved this kind of scenery; it made him feel relaxed.

Caramel Snail watered the fields and loosened the soil. The animal pen in Newbie Village hadn’t been completed yet; otherwise, he would have planned to buy a Starry Cat from Baizhu Star, along with a hunting dog, making his home more lively.

Judging by the in-game time, it’s been a full nine months since these players arrived at Baizhu Star. If you counted the time before Newbie Village was established, during the open beta, it’s already been a year. Caramel Snail’s recruited character, "Saga Qi," could even speak Tanas language with a Blue Chrysanthemum Village accent. He got along well with local villagers.

This was actually thanks to many factors.

The Crystal Tower Civilization was a materialist magic civilization with strong inclusivity, having a diverse ethnic and cultural system. The locals didn’t reject players from other species.

Moreover, players were quite weak. To the local Tower People, players were more like a bunch of clumsy Lalafells. With the average civilian on Baizhu Star being Gamma Rank, they naturally had no malice toward such weak creatures.

On the contrary, players’ high intelligence, diligence at work, and simple nature (aside from their love for rummaging through things, looting corpses, and bullying small animals) often led villagers to entrust players with errands or tasks.

In contrast to the players, some cosmic refugees received by Li Aozi for Newbie Village had a harder time integrating locally, like the aliens from Valenkov Autonomy. They were strong, warriors by nature, intimidating-looking, and not very welcomed by locals who found them scary. Nonetheless, due to their strength, key tasks were still assigned to these refugees.

Players weren’t that unfamiliar with the immigrant refugees. They were all "people without proper identification," relying on Li Aozi’s protection to get by. Refugees knew that these undying Descenders had a close relationship with their lord, so they dared not mistreat them.

Although it was still the middle of the night in reality, it was broad daylight in Newbie Village. Caramel Snail leisurely wandered around his plot, gathered some materials, locked up his house, and headed to the village.

At this hour, his teammates hadn’t arrived; he couldn’t tackle an instance alone, and he didn’t want to sprint to Valenkov.

He did not know why, but the sudden urge kept lingering.

So, Caramel Snail closed his game interface and just walked, strolling through the village streets, watching the crisscrossing paths and neat houses. The wind carried the scent of flowers, magical lights twinkled from the workshops, and the biological pool hummed, executing Li Aozi’s mysterious commands.

Young and strong villagers sweated in the fields, children laughed and played, kicking balls, and the village school rang with reading voices. A few workers stood outside the tavern, magic pipes between their fingers, solemnly discussing how to build the flying carpet docking area.

Everything was so real.

He ordered a bowl of fried rice and a glass of green tangerine juice at a restaurant. The proprietress, in a good mood today, gave him two chicken wings on the house.

Caramel Snail had eaten many enhanced dishes from professional Chef Garidon, such as Living Dead Curry Shrimp which added Strength, or Satanic Sobbing Cream Pie which fully restored Health Points.

Yet, for this bowl of fried rice that only increased Satiety, Caramel Snail now savored each spoonful earnestly, relishing the smooth texture of rice and eggs. The restaurant’s cooking was not refined, but the portions were generous, clearly meant to fill one’s stomach and provide more energy for work.

The bard in the restaurant sang and played, creating a lively atmosphere.

The green tangerine juice tasted refreshing and slightly tart, a bit astringent. As Caramel Snail took a sip, he could clearly feel his salivary glands secreting saliva, the whole process and sensation incredibly real.

Without the system interface, this all looked like a real world.

"No wonder they want electronic immigration..."

Caramel Snail now understood deeply.

Patrons came and went, toasting and talking, with fresh fruits and vegetables, humble meals, and joyous dances filling the air with a rich atmosphere of life. Caramel Snail suddenly had a thought:

’When I die, I want to upload my consciousness here too.’

Starry Abyss was their Second Home.

As this thought emerged, he gazed at the fields far away, looking at his two-story house by the river. Caramel Snail naturally thought:

’If anyone dares to do anything bad to Starry Abyss, I won’t let them off.’

After finishing his song, the bard noticed Caramel Snail dining alone. Recognizing his identity as a Descender, he walked over amiably:

"Hey there, buddy, I wrote a new song. Would you mind listening to it and letting me know if there’s anything lacking?"

[Bard ’Max’ has given you a side quest—"Audition Tracks"]

The sudden pop-up of the system interface pulled Caramel Snail back to the player state. The task wasn’t difficult, just listening to a song, which he was happy to do, so he nodded and accepted the quest.

"Sure, no problem."

"Thanks a lot."

Bard Max smiled and then started to sing a ballad with his instrument:

A tailor holds the thread in hand, weaving through fate and time,

She weaves death into tapestries, pages of history in lines,

Calamities then follow in, Destroyer shadows in she climbs.

A saintess ventures into peril, witnessing the tailor’s crimes,

She throws a bronze sword the thin thread binds,

————

As the bard sang, Caramel Snail felt stranger the more he listened. He unconsciously held his cup, sometimes taking a sip of his drink and staying silent, other times gazing into the distance, his expression melancholic.

"Tailor... [Tailor]."

The bard’s lyrics were mundane, and his singing mediocre, but the story described somehow resonated and saddened Caramel Snail—or rather, Jiaozi Niu.

One hundred and twenty years ago, a witch self-proclaimed as [Tailor] fell from the starry sky and descended to the world. She could easily stitch together mountains, cutting through people’s lives and fates, wreaking havoc without restraint, bringing bloodshed and calamity.

At that moment, a saintess who also loved adventure and couldn’t stand [Tailor]’s atrocities descended from the stars. Despite losing her mana, she resolutely decided to fight for mortals, cutting the thread of the [Tailor] and raising the banner of rebellion.

In the end, [Tailor] was defeated, and the saintess was gravely injured. Her body was buried in the mountains, guarded by the heroic soul spirits of Falysia.

Strangely enough,

Though Jiaozi Niu knew nothing about the historical background or the relationships among the characters,

He could distinctly feel it—every time the word [Tailor] came up, or he heard about the [Tailor]’s atrocities, Jiaozi Niu couldn’t stay calm.

As if... he too was a victim of that calamity.