I’m so Sick

Fang Shi woke up refreshed the next morning feeling pleased with how things were going lately. Although it wasn't everyday, the upgraded fields were close to isolating heritages from his lower level plants. He calculated it wouldn't be much longer until his supply of mid level spiritual plants would reach an acceptable level to be sold.

After going through his morning routine, Fang Shi walked into the main store as usual. But something seemed different this morning, all the customers enthusiastically greeted him when he entered and it took a moment for him to realize why.

"Will you be playing soon?", "How could you allow Lin Yueru to die?", "Are you heading to the cultivation hall soon?", questions began pouring in and Fang Shi became alarmed.

"Please my honorable guests, calm down", he tried to coerce the crowd, "I will start some time in the afternoon."

"What?", "Why do I have to wait?", "Owner, you're so cruel!", the crowd shouted.

"If you can't calm down, I will have to ask you to leave", Fang Shi spoke in a firm tone.

His words seemed to wake up the people, and they all took some time to recompose themselves as some of them left to other shops or halls.

'System, I think there will be a rather large audience today', Fang Shi said nervously, 'Please tell me that the artifact refiner can produce something that can solve this problem!'

'Answer: Of course', the system replied, 'As per usual, the host will need to provide a base idea, resources, and pay the bill.'

Fang Shi frowned as he headed back to his home, 'I swear system, if I didn't know any better, you would try to sell me the abilities that show up in the game.'

'Response: The host has not yet requested this service', the system said, 'But now that you have, please tell this unit your request.'

'Wait, what?',Fang Shi stopped in his tracks, 'Its possible to purchase the techniques from the game?'

'This unit is the merchant system', the system remarked, 'The most logical way to distribute methods, techniques, and abilities is either through rewards or transactions.'

Fang Shi thought about that for a moment, and decided that it did make sense so he started walking to his house again. Once inside, he quickly made a list of requirements for the artifact: small, easy to carry, can accept output from cultivation pod, and easily broadcast the signal for a large indoor audience. Once his initial request was processed, he allotted everything the system calculated to produce the artifact.

'Notice: Request accepted, this unit will notify the host once it has been completed', the system told him.

It had taken some time to design everything and submit it, so Fang Shi ordered lunch for now. After enjoying his meal, the system informed him of the artifact's completion, so he had it delivered to his place by a puppet. Fang Shi took a moment to settle his mind, and left his house heading to the cultivation hall. When other cultivators saw him making his way to the cultivation hall, word spread quickly and most of the customers started to go that way as well.

When Fang Shi entered the pod cafe, he saw a pod close to the counter empty, and he realized that they had been keeping it ready for him. When the people inside saw him, everyone split allowing him to easily reach the counter.

"Master Fang, your pod is ready", the puppet behind the counter greeted him.

"Thank you", he replied before you made his way to the pod they had prepared for him.

When he reached the artifact, he took out the artifact he had made today and placed it on top.

"I'm very surprised at the number of people who are here to watch today", Fang Shi spoke to the crowd, "To ensure that everyone will be able to see, I had this artifact made that will produce a larger light curtain so there should be no conflicts between anyone."

Everyone smiled in relief as they saw Fang Shi enter the pod. He quickly navigated to 'Fairy and Sword' and when he reached to opening title screen, he enabled the new artifact. A large light screen appeared above the pod artifact, and to the delight of everyone, no one had any trouble seeing the screen. The screen changed, and everyone became serious as they returned to the point where Fang Shi had stopped yesterday.

Everyone watched as Li Xiaoyao started his mission to collect the objects that could cure Zhao Ling'er and the child in her womb. Some of the audience were upset when Li Xiaoyao ran into A'Nu, a sorceress being trained, because they felt angry that he was traveling with another woman. Li Xiaoyao ultimately succeeds in reaching the Nüwa temple and recovering the elemental pearls, though it required traveling through time.

Li Xiaoyao returned home, and with the pearls revived Zhao Ling'er. She is able to birth the child, and it is also revealed that she is a demigod who descends from the goddes Nuwa. The lands had been suffering from a drought, which in turn caused a war between the Black and White Miao sects, but Zhao Ling'er summons the rain to heal the land and quell the conflict. The Black Miao sect leader reveals himself as the cause of the drought as he summons an ancient water beast. Li Xiaoyao begins an epic battle against the Black Miao sect leader and the ancient water beast much to the enjoyment of the audience. The land is ravaged from the power of both sides, and Li Xiaoyao realizes that if things continue this way, the world will be destroyed. He tries everything he can to stop the pair, something that was even more difficult once the sect leader and the beast merged. As Li Xiaoyao battled, Zhao Ling'er made a surprise attack, sacrificing herself and giving Li Xiaoyao the opening he needed to win. He killed the merged pair, but was traumatized by the loss of both of his wives and his child. The closing music played as Li Xiaoyao made his way home, but for a few sharp eyed viewers, someone that looked like Zhao Ling'er holding a child appeared in the background. As the last notes of the sound played, and the screen went dark, Fang Shi used the chance to stop playing and sneak out of the pod cafe.

After the time it would take to drink a cup of tea, Peng Hui, who had been watching said, "Why isn't the game playing anymore? Shouldn't Owner Fang start a new quest to bring Zhao Ling'er and his child back to life?"

"What are you talking about? Zhao Ling'er?", a voice in the crowd retorted, "If he should bring anyone back it's Lin Yueru, she gave her life first in true love."

The room became louder as the Ling and Lin factions started a new round of arguments.

Mao Qingyue cast a light spell to get everyone's attention, "Owner Fang? Why haven't you continued the game?"

The audience realized that they hadn't seen any changes in the light screen since the room went dark, and when they looked, they saw the artifact Fang Shi had placed on the pod was gone and the pod was open.

"He isn't in here!", someone yelled, and everyone became restless.

The crowd rushed towards the counter.

"Where is the owner?", "What happened to Owner Fang?", "Where is the rest of the game?", a plethora of voices overwhelmed the puppet.

"The owner has returned to his residence", the female puppet replied, "He left a message, 'The game is finished so you can now play on your own'. Will you take a pod now?"

The crowd groaned as they were stuck with an unpleasant feeling.

"This can't be the end", "How could Ling'er be dead at the end?", "Tell the Owner to come back", the mob lamented and yelled.

"Honored guests, if you cause a scene, I will have to remove you from the store's property", the puppet gave a warning.

This caused some of them to wake up, "The Owner is just bad at games, I will save Lin at least, and at most save them both", "I must get a pod now", "I'm coming Ling'er, I will not let you fall."

The majority of customers quickly got into a pod, and restarted their games from the last save. The rest continued to complain until they were removed from the premises for a while day.

"What do we do now?", a man with a red face shouted.

A woman raised her hand to get everyone's attention, "I, like the rest of you, feel ill after watching the ending of the game. We cannot do anything about it now, but we can get others to know how we feel."

"What do you mean?", another older man replied.

"Spread the word and 'Fairy and Sword'", the woman said, "Tell them just enough to grab their interest, and when they reach the end, they will experience what we just did."

Over the next few days, a surge of customers appeared as the story of 'Fairy and Sword' made its way through Blue Moon city. Fortunately for Fang Shi, the cultivation hall was upgraded to hold more people, but future upgrades could only be accomplished by adding more floors. Thanks to his unscripted performance, he had earned a new achievement.

[ New! As seen on TV

Display and demonstrate your product to your customers (completed)

Reward: The host will receive a new function to the cultivation pod artifacts that will allow users to share their sessions in real time, Light screen artifacts x 10]

Sitting at home, Fang Shi asked, "System, can anyone use this new service?"

"Answer: All customers can sign up to the service, but only guests for fit a certain criteria are eligible to have their sessions played on the light screen artifacts. Anyone that wishes to participate must agree to display their games, and achieve a rating high enough as determined by this unit', the system explained, 'Currently, only the host has the right to broadcast to the light screens, so in the mean time, they will only advertise shops from other halls.'

Fang Shi returned to his normal duty of taking care of the main store, but he often noticed guests glancing at him. He could tell that they were looking at him with anger, disgust, and frustration, and he figured out that they had either saw or heard about him finishing the game, but failing to save either wife. He no longer let the stares bother him as he served his customers.

To Fang Shi's surprise, the next guests to approach him were Mayor Chen, Elder Jian, and Elder Shui.

The two men and the woman greeted Fang Shi warmly, "Good morning, Owner Fang."

"Mayor, Elders, it's a pleasure to have you in my store", Fang Shi responded, "How has your stay in Blue Moon city been?"

"It has been very enlightening", Elder Jian smiled.

"We were wondering if we could speak business with you?", Elder Shui said in a friendly manner.

"I don't mind, elders, but I must finish my work first", Fang Shi remained at the counter and pointed at his 'clock', "Once the day reaches this point, I'll be finished for the day."

"That's fine", Mayor Chen replied, "We will return by then, and we can have a meal together as we discuss these matters."

Fang Shi nodded in agreement, and the three cultivators left to continue enjoying the shopping plaza.

Later, when his Minecraft clock showed that the sun had set, Fang Shi got up from his seat as his puppet replacement arrived. As he walked towards the stairs leading to the restaurant, Fang Shi saw the three Golden Core cultivators also walking down the stairs towards him.

"Good timing, seniors", Fmag Shi called out as he ascended the stairs.

They stopped, waited for Fang Shi, and everyone walked into the private room that had been arranged by him afterwards.

Fang Shi ordered his dishes, and everyone went after, only ordering the mid grade spirit rice.

Just before the waitress was about to walk away, Fang Shi stopped the puppet, "Seniors, I was able to procure some higher grades ingredients lately though it wasn't much."

He turned to the puppet, "Please bring out fried rice and wonton soup for these guests."

The puppet bowed and left, so Fang Shi turned his attention back to his guests, "It might not sound like much for now, but I believe this meal is better for your realm than just plain rice."

"Thank you, Owner Fang", Elder Shui replied.

The other two men nodded as well, so Fang Shi decided to not wait and begin the discussion.

"What business does your three organizations wish to do with my store?", he got to the point.

Elder Jian smiled, "Good, no beating around the bush. The profound sword sect wishes to purchase some of those cultivation artifacts from you."

"The Mayor and Elder Shui also wish this as well?", Fang Shi responded.

"Yes", Elder Shui didn't hide her intentions while the mayor nodded in agreement.

"I have also been considering sell these artifacts as well", Fang Shi admitted, "Indont mind selling them, but it will be complicated."

Fang Shi laid a scroll on the table and slid it over.

"I don't have enough resources to mass produce these artifacts for everyone", he said, "And it runs off of spiritual energy, so to speak properly gauge the amount that's right for you, I will need to understand how strong your spiritual vein is. Also the 'realms' that the users visit have to be purchased separately. Fortunately, these artifacts can operate using many sources of power: spirit veins, spirit stones, beast cores, or even resources that store large amounts of energy."

"So you won't sell to us without these conditions?", Elder Jian inquired.

"Yes, if you don't order to much, your spiritual vein will be safe", Fang Shi asserted, "But if you get too many, it will quickly hasten the demise of it."

"I agree to your conditions", Elder Shui stated.

The other two men looked at her, but when they saw her resolve they also agreed.

"Excellent", Fang Shi clapped his hands, "Give me three days to prepare, but I have to ask why you wish to purchase these artifacts when they are so much trouble to set up?"

Elder Jian solemnly answered, "After experiencing the artifacts ourselves, we walked around Blue moon city. Do you know what is being talked about now in the major shops, restaurants, tea houses, and entertainment venues?"

"Fairy and Sword?", it was obvious what the answer was to Fang Shi.

"Exactly", Mayor Chen spoke, "Like a sickness in the mortal world, this game has quickly spread everywhere."