Chapter 8: Evergreen Pines Retirement Home

Morning.

Shen He yawned and sat up straight from his bed. He blinked drowsily at the light screen that appeared before him, eyes still heavy with sleep.

[Daily Task]
[Task One: Survive for twenty-four hours]
[Completed!]
[Reward Earned: 0.5 Free Attribute Points]
[…]

Yesterday’s daily task was done, and he had gained another 0.5 free attribute points. With this, his total free attribute points on his personal panel once again exceeded two.

Shen He got up and went to the bathroom to wash up. When he emerged, he flopped onto the sofa and began to scroll through today’s refreshed daily tasks.

[Daily Task One: Survive for Seven Days]
[Time Remaining: 6 Days 15 Hours 36 Minutes 27 Seconds]
[Possible Reward: 3 Free Attribute Points]
[…]

Well now!

Task One had upgraded, moving from surviving twenty-four hours yesterday to surviving seven days now. He figured the number of days required for these daily tasks would only continue to increase as time went on. He wondered if the number of daily tasks would also change.

Shen He moved on to the second daily task.

[Daily Task Two: Explore the Surrounding Area]
[Two and a half years since the revival of spiritual energy, most regions have been devastated by monsters, nuclear radiation saturates the land, and dangers abound everywhere. Strive to survive and explore the surrounding area.]
[Possible Reward: Danger Sense]
[…]

Shen He glanced at the requirements. It was vague, simply telling him to explore the area; nothing more specific was mentioned. Did it just want him to take a stroll around the neighborhood? If it really was that simple, then he’d struck gold.

Danger Sense!

Just the name sounded like an extraordinary ability. Could it be something like Peter Parker’s spider-sense? If so, that would be incredible.

Reading the brief introduction to Task Two, Shen He could roughly deduce that the appearance of Earth Online must have happened at the two-and-a-half-year mark of the spiritual energy revival. By then, every country had suffered monster invasions, and the whole world was fraught with danger.

But it also seemed to be a point in time when humanity had barely regained some ability to resist. It appeared this thing had arrived ahead of schedule. If it had actually arrived according to the timeline described in the logs, he would probably be as young as Abe, two and a half years old. Absurd, truly absurd.

Taking a deep breath, Shen He first took out his computer and sent another prepared file via email to the company secretary’s public inbox. Since Zhao Hu, that scoundrel, dared to set him up, he couldn’t be blamed for retaliating robustly.

With that done, he got up, planning to go downstairs for breakfast. After eating, he would check online to see if there were any nearby welfare homes or nursing homes, so he could donate all the rice, flour, and grains he’d bought the day before. After all, there was no point letting so much food go to waste in the hands of someone who rarely cooked.

While eating breakfast at a nearby café, he actually found a nursing home not far away. According to its online description, it was a low-cost institution, surviving mostly on the kindness of donors. It mainly took in elderly people who were alone or in particularly difficult circumstances. As such, it welcomed any donations, whether cash or goods.

It was the perfect solution for his surplus supplies.

Shen He ordered a car online. When it arrived, he took out a hundred yuan in cash and asked the driver to help him carry the goods. But when the driver heard that the rice, flour, and oil were being donated to the nearby nursing home, he adamantly refused the money.

With no other choice, Shen He handed over a pack of cigarettes he’d previously brought from the company. This time, the driver accepted without hesitation and pocketed them.

As they drove, the driver, cigarette in mouth, commented, “Young folks these days with both a kind heart and a good head on their shoulders are really hard to come by.”

Shen He waved his hand shyly. “You flatter me, sir. I just didn’t want to see it go to waste.”

The driver chuckled. “No need to be modest. Those supplies of yours are all brand new—if you were just worried about waste, why buy so much? You’re not crazy. You must have planned to donate from the start—my old eyes aren’t blind.”

“And that nursing home you picked—I’ve actually been there. It’s really a place worth supporting.”

At this, Shen He fell silent.

The driver continued, “The place is run-down, but it’s spotless inside. Most of the staff have minor disabilities themselves. They not only look after the elderly, but in their spare time, they have to take on side jobs to help keep the place afloat. It’s heartbreaking to see. Way better than those online scams.”

He took a long drag on his cigarette and blew out a thick ring of smoke.

Soon, the car stopped in front of Evergreen Pines Nursing Home. The home was named after the several ancient pines growing in the courtyard, a symbol of enduring vitality and good wishes for its elderly residents.

No sooner had they parked than a big yellow dog came bounding out of the home, wagging its tail furiously around the car.

[Warning! Warning! Tier Four Mutant Dog Approaching. Player, leave immediately. Don’t risk your life.]

Having just gotten out of the car, Shen He looked down at the big yellow dog nuzzling his trouser leg, feeling a striking contrast. This little fellow would one day become a Tier Four mutant dog? So fierce…

He crouched down and patted the dog’s head. “Go on, fetch someone for us.” Best to get in a head pat before the mutation.

A moment later, the dog seemed to understand, turned, and dashed back into the nursing home.

Shen He and the driver began unloading the supplies, carrying all the rice, flour, and oil to the entrance. As soon as they closed the trunk, the driver said nothing, simply got in and sped off.

Shen He couldn’t help but mutter, “He’s not worried I’ll skip out on the fare?”

He took out his phone to pay, only to find that the app said “Order Cancelled.” A message popped up: “Brother, this one’s on me. Consider it my good deed for the day.”

Shen He chuckled. The driver was a man of character, too.

He put away his phone and turned to the nursing home. He saw a slightly lame middle-aged man approaching, accompanied by two young men who walked with a peculiar gait. Leading the way was the same big yellow dog.

When the middle-aged man saw Shen He and the supplies at his feet, his pace quickened. He shook Shen He’s hand warmly. “Hello, I’m Liu Qing, the director here. You must be the kind person who messaged us online about donating supplies. Thank you so much.”

As he spoke, he noticed Shen He glancing at the two young men and explained a bit sheepishly, “They were both abandoned as infants at our gate some years ago. They suffer from polio. Please don’t mind.”

Shen He quickly said, “Not at all. Let me help you carry these inside.”

He bent over, picked up the heaviest bags of rice and flour, and was just about to enter the home when a crimson flash flickered across the light screen before his eyes.

[Warning! Warning! Tier Six Espers Gemini Twins Approaching. Leave immediately.]
[Warning! Warning! Tier Six Espers Gemini Twins Approaching. Leave immediately.]
[Warning! Warning! Tier Six Espers Gemini Twins Approaching. Leave immediately.]
[…]

Shen He looked at the two young men with the honest smiles who had just reached him and swallowed hard.

These two… Tier Six Espers!?