RITW 3: Flame Moths

Open the decoration interface.

“Mediterranean Butler Love Elimination” has a moderate level of freedom, allowing players to choose different styles of the same furniture. Generally, there are three options to choose from, allowing players to create their unique homes. Most furniture items cannot be moved.

The game also has a minor storyline, which determines the order in which players decorate. The next area will be unlocked after completing the decoration of one area.

Yu Qunqing clicks on “Next Decoration Task.”

The game screen transitions from the living room to the exterior of the house, showing an elevator, and a text bubble pops up: “It’s pitch black out there!”

“Use the hexagrams to repair the generator in the underground parking lot and provide power to the entire residential building!”

There is indeed a backup generator in the underground parking lot, but it only powers the parking lot. However, under the influence of this game, Yu Qunqing believes that it can supply power to the entire building in reality.

This time, the game requires 2 hexagrams.

As the hexagrams in the screen gradually disintegrate, a roaring generator appears on the pitch-black screen. Then, there is a series of clattering sounds, and the ceiling light above Yu Qunqing’s head turns on.

At that moment, Yu Qunqing realizes that it has already become dark outside. He is so accustomed to working in the dark that he didn’t pay attention to the time.

“The refrigerator is working now… The power outlets are working too…” Yu Qunqing murmured as he walked around his house. The emergence of electricity has propelled the development of human industry and brought great convenience to people’s lives. However, after the apocalypse, Yu Qunqing hasn’t experienced a modern civilized life for a long time. Since before his rebirth, he lived a mediocre life. Now, with the light above his head and the ground beneath his feet, he finally ignites the thought of “living this life well.”

Yu Qunqing: “Let’s continue with the next task.”

The next place to decorate is the kitchen. The game prompts Yu Qunqing to turn the faucet, but no water comes out at all.

It turns out that the water tank is damaged and needs 2 hexagrams to repair.

Still no water? Upon further inspection, it turns out that the water pipe is clogged with algae and requires 1 hexagram to clean it.

Even after the water flows from the faucet, it is still very turbid. Installing a water filter might be a good solution. It requires 2 hexagrams.

Hey, the bare water sink looks ugly. Let’s decorate it. It costs 1 hexagram.

Three styles are presented on the screen for Yu Qunqing to choose from. He opts for the most extravagant style: the entire water sink turns into black marble, with a hollow pattern in the middle and bottom lighting, making the sink resemble an iceberg. The faucet is replaced with a sensor-activated one that can adjust the temperature.

Just fixing the faucet has already cost 6 hexagrams.

The game then prompts: The style of the cabinets don’t match the sink, let’s change it too, 1 hexagram!

Oh my goodness, the stove and hood are covered in dust and grease. It takes 2 hexagrams to clean them!

Following the instructions, Yu Qunqing cleans the stove and hood, and they shine like new.

System: “Now try to turn it on.”

Yu Qunqing: “No, what if it explodes?”

The city center in the post-apocalyptic world is the most challenging place to explore. The overly complex pipeline system, once disrupted, can trigger a chain reaction and potentially lead to explosions with a slight mishap.

System: “It seems that there’s a problem with the natural gas pipeline. This is a big issue, and it will take 2 hexagrams to repair a portion of the pipeline.”

Then, the prompt sounded three times, indicating that a total of 6 hexagrams were spent to fix the stove.

Now there are still 26 hexagrams left.

In the blink of an eye, Yu Qunqing has spent one-third of his hexagrams, but having an ample supply of water, electricity, and natural gas makes him feel that it’s a worthwhile trade-off.

“The kitchen can’t be without utensils. Let’s quickly purchase a batch! Spend 1 hexagram to buy basic kitchen utensils.”

At the same time, the system prompts that this is a free decorating area where movable furniture can be purchased in the Coin Shop.

The shop is divided into a Coin Shop and a Diamond Shop. The furniture in the Coin Shop is small in size, such as an air fryer, microwave oven, and phone holder. The large-sized furniture is available in the Diamond Shop. The one thing they have in common is that they are all priced beautifully, with an air fryer costing 20,000 coins.

Yu Qunqing consoles himself that he wasn’t good at cooking anyway, so he didn’t need such additional expenses.

He casually browses the Diamond Shop just to see what’s there, knowing that he doesn’t have money anyway. Surprisingly, the shop has a new user limited-time promotion. With great discounts, new user exclusives, and a three-day time limit, the various advertising slogans greatly tempted Yu Qunqing’s heartstrings.

Luckily, he truly didn’t have any money.

After completing so many tasks, Yu Qunqing already grasped the general process. With a wave of his left hand, the basic utensil clamps and pots and pans were neatly arranged in the cupboard. The wallpaper was changed to blue and white stripes, and the floor was replaced with black stone surface. Acrylic insect-proof barriers were installed in the gaps between the wall cabinets, eliminating any sanitary dead corners and preventing insects like cockroaches.

Finally, the kitchen was completely refreshed, but it didn’t feel any different from Elsa building a castle in “Frozen.”

“The kitchen area has been renovated. Reward: 2000 coins and a random item.

“Next, open the living room area.”

Yu Qunqing’s house is a total of 200 square meters, with two main rooms and three bedrooms. The study and the large living room are connected to a balcony, boasting a 180-degree view of the river.

Looking out through the French windows, everything outside was pitch black, without any traces of human habitation. It starkly contrasted with Yu Qunqing’s well-equipped house, as if he were the only modern person left in the world.

“System.” Yu Qunqing rarely called the system on his own, “There must be a decorating task for the window sill.”

“Ding-dong, query result: Yes.”

Yu Qunqing: “Fast-forward me directly to that task, skipping the other decorating options and selecting the first set by default.”

“Ding-dong, the player’s approach completely fails to appreciate the charm of the decorating game.”

Yu Qunqing drew a big pie for the system, “I’ll replay it carefully and appreciate the fun of the game later. For now, let’s skip it.”

“Processing the request—”

Yu Qunqing closed all the windowsills, turned off the lights, and found a black coat to cover the glowing screen. The entire house instantly merged with the pitch-black city.

Outside, the wind howled.

“Accepting the request, process acceleration complete. Player Yu Qunqing’s remaining hexagram stars: 3. Enjoy the game!”

No sooner said than done. The French windows, which were originally covered in limescale and mold, became clean and appeared several centimeters thicker to the naked eye. The large living room behind Yu Qunqing transformed into an Instagram-style wallpaper, a vintage coffee table, a pop art pendant light, and a cyberpunk-style sofa. The most eye-catching piece was the beach chair with a built-in sunshade.

Then came the sound of metal crashing!

A pair of wings adorned with intricate fluorescent patterns smashed into the glass window!

It slid down, revealing its struggling short legs and a furry little head. The word “little” was used in comparison to its wingspan, which reached one meter. In reality, the dense fur on its face made one’s scalp tingle.

The intruder was an F-class natural disaster, the Flame Moth. They often appeared in groups during the night, their density so high that it could be mistaken for the Northern Lights. They loved light and became frenzied upon seeing it.

More Flame Moths fluttered over, sounding like blades slicing against the glass, emitting a piercing noise.

The first Flame Moth had already been trampled by its kind. When the density of Flame Moths reached a certain level, their wings, glowing with fluorescence, rubbed against each other, igniting a sea of fire in an instant!

Yu Qunqing walked to the study, where the balcony offered a view of the flames. Several Flame Moths squeezed through, leaving the windows here battered and scarred.

He held a steel pipe taken from the bedroom, and a few arcs of electricity danced along the surface.

Pure elemental natural disaster abilities were not the rarest, but they were undoubtedly the most convenient, as they could be shaped like dough into various forms. Among them, controlling the lightning element was the most challenging. Yu Qunqing hadn’t practiced this kind of power before, so in an emergency, he had to try using something conductive.

Holding his breath, he focused his mind…

Awakening the natural disaster ability in his right hand!

“Pew!”

A small spherical lightning ball floated out from the top of the steel pipe and gently touched the head of the Flame Moth that had poked its head through the crack in the window.

The Flame Moth paused, perhaps unsure if it had been shocked.

Then, the steel pipe directly struck its head.

Yu Qunqing said, “Now I should be able to control the intensity directly, right?”

“Zap—”

A burst of lightning flashed, casting Yu Qunqing’s shadow pale against the wall. After a few seconds, the Flame Moth had been charred by electricity.

The Flame Moths on the balcony, seeing the light, burned even more fiercely as they squeezed over.

Yu Qunqing said, “Fortunately, the study and balcony haven’t been renovated yet…”

He swung the steel pipe and struck the heads of the Flame Moths attempting to squeeze in. Thunder roared, and the steel pipe he held emitted a bright light, as if attracting the saints in the darkness to pilgrimage.

Yu Qunqing threw the fully charged steel pipe out through the crack in the window. Instantly, a cluster of “auroras” chased after it as it moved away. It should have been an incredibly beautiful scene, but the sheer number of auroras and the smallness of the steel pipe created a horrifying atmosphere.

Yu Qunqing felt that he could control the intensity now. Suppressing his discomfort, he touched one Flame Moth’s wing, feeling its coolness. Then, with force from his right hand, imperceptible electric flashes pierced through the Flame Moth, electrocuting all the others that had squeezed in.

The Flame Moths outside the balcony burned rapidly, and soon calm returned outside. The night was silent, and the severed limbs and wings of some Flame Moths made dry and crisp sounds due to the high temperature. The stench of charred insect corpses wafted over.

Yu Qunqing walked to the balcony and rummaged through the pile of corpses, searching for something.

Finally, he felt a relatively hard wing and scratched at the edge. A thin, dark red wing-shaped calamity stone was thus separated.

Following the same procedure, he obtained over a dozen calamity stones. With a gust of evening wind, these light corpses drifted away like autumn leaves being swept away.

Yu Qunqing found a fruit basket and placed all the obtained calamity stones inside. His right hand felt somewhat weak, so he simply slumped onto the beach chair, lost in thought.

In this lifetime, would he have to walk the same path as in his previous life?

In his previous life, he possessed strong abilities and was elevated after entering the shelter. Everyone trusted him, and he was willing to respond to their trust. In order to grow quickly and become stronger, he carried rare calamity stones with him, hoping to mutate to a higher degree, just a little higher.

Finally, he became a well-known Lv5 Esper, replacing the carried calamity stones with high doses of tranquilizers. He walked on the edge of humanity and calamity. People needed him, and people feared him.

He had once advised lower-level Espers not to keep calamity stones with them, but the thirst for power temporarily overcame cautious survival instincts. People feared him, and people also became him without hesitation.

The memories before his death were very vague, perhaps influenced by that aspect. There were still flames and explosions in that moment, and Yu Qunqing’s temples throbbed slightly.

“Sigh…”

Yu Qunqing placed the fruit basket on the coffee table and muttered to himself, “I might as well use you for planting vegetables.”

Once the floodgates of memories opened, it was difficult to close them. Yu Qunqing remembered the action team he formed after reaching Lv5. People started calling him “Team Captain Yu” from that time onward.

On this same day in his previous life, they hadn’t met yet. What would the team members be doing now?

The deputy leader, “Snake Heron Wolf,” She Lulang, should have just arrived at the shelter…

The sniper might be sharpening his knives, preparing to slaughter those who bullied her.

Li Yuebai was probably still a dedicated and sleepless doctor these days.

Had Lin Lu already been taken to the laboratory because of his peculiar constitution?

Tang Qianjiang, who hadn’t experienced the loss of family yet…

Clear faces and vivid scenes of their interactions kept flooding into Yu Qunqing’s mind.

And there was someone else, Han something. He seemed to always be present in his memories, but without any specific recollection.

Yu Qunqing looked at the dirty balcony after the battle and then at the spotless floor in the living room. He thought he could have his companions move in here.

There was still time for everything. Please, they must all survive.

“Wait!”

Yu Qunqing suddenly sprung up from the beach chair. “My stamina should be fully recovered now. It would be a waste if I don’t play anymore!”

He turned on the television and bravely ventured into Level 40.

At this moment, the sun was rising outside, and the gentle sunlight bathed the tall buildings.

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