Photosynthesis

“Ah!”

Shen Yi let out a pained cry as he woke up from a nightmare, drenched in sweat.

He sat up abruptly from his lazy sofa, the bright daylight streaming in.

Morning birds chirped outside, and the sounds of someone exercising downstairs echoed faintly.

He instinctively touched his chest, relieved to find it intact, with no bullet holes.

If not for the lingering phantom pain, he would have thought it was just a dream.

“Do they have to make it so realistic…”

Shen Yi couldn’t help but mutter under his breath.

Back then, with the situation urgent, he sensed the rescue team wasn’t friendly and instinctively pushed Cheng Jun down.

Unfortunately, he was a step too slow, and in his premonition, he had been hit by at least three or four bullets.

The pain of the bullets tearing through his flesh was too real, causing him to cry out even after waking up.

He didn’t consider himself a protagonist of a novel or some tough soldier, so he certainly couldn’t brush off life and death so easily.

“Huff… huff…”

After calming down for a while, he exhaled and stood up, heading to the bathroom to relieve himself.

He then opened the washing machine and finished dealing with the clothes he hadn’t had time to hang up the night before.

Afterward, he filled a glass of water and gulped it down, finally beginning to relax.

He sat back on the sofa and tried to clear his thoughts.

“This crappy event is way too sketchy. I’m never participating again.”

Shen Yi muttered to himself.

He was more suited to casual simulation games. This dream adventure was way too hardcore—getting shot actually hurt, no discounts there.

Although Shen Yi knew he wouldn’t die, the shadow of death accompanied by intense pain wasn’t something that would fade quickly.

“Ah… it’s a pain to suffer through, and dying means all that effort was for nothing.”

Cheng Jun was a nice girl, but the apocalypse was too dangerous, and they only lived peacefully for three months.

Sighing, he opened the panel to check it out.

His eyes widened in surprise, his mouth half-open.

The panel displayed:

【Qixi Special Offer Event: Fulfill Your Qixi Dream.】

【Dream World: Cataclysmic Apocalypse.】

【Mission Completed!】

【Please Claim Your Reward.】

“Huh? Huh?”

Shen Yi double-checked several times to make sure he wasn’t mistaken.

“I died, but it still counts as a success? The evaluation probably isn’t too high, right?”

Skeptical but curious, Shen Yi clicked the claim button.

【Night Silver Candles, Autumn Glow, Willow Branches Bright Moonlight, Weaver Girl Meets Cowherd, Magpies Sing Joyfully.】

【Overall Evaluation: A】

【Your Charm has increased, your Strategy Experience has increased.】

【Reward: Strategy Points*1, Free Attribute Points*1, Charm*3.】

【System Comment: Joy and Sorrow, Always Fickle, A Dream of Yellow Millet, Drips Until Dawn.】

【You have received the Weaver Girl’s Exclusive Reward.】

“A grade? That’s higher than I expected.”

“Too bad, if I could’ve stayed with her until the end, I’m sure I would’ve gotten the highest reward…”

Shen Yi wasn’t dissatisfied. Originally, he thought character death in the event would definitely count as a failure.

But the evaluation wasn’t bad, so he was already quite happy.

Shen Yi checked his overall attributes.

Name: Shen Yi

Level: lv.2

Strength: 8

Stamina: 9

Energy: 9

Charm: 77

Assets: 219,533.5

Strategy Points: 3

Attribute Points: 1

“Great, my Charm increased by three points, and I have one Attribute Point. Which one should I add it to?”

Shen Yi rubbed his chin, thinking.

This feeling of accumulating values was incredibly satisfying, more so than any game.

The best part was that it actually reflected in real life.

If everything had a progress bar, Shen Yi guessed people wouldn’t find so many things boring.

Positive feedback in life was both rare and slow. People weren’t unmotivated; they were just afraid of effort without hope.

“Forget it, I’ll leave it for now. Let’s see what this Weaver Girl’s Reward is all about.”

He clicked to claim the reward.

If the Weaver Girl rewarded me, what about the Cowherd? Let’s check the Cowherd…

While waiting, Shen Yi’s thoughts wandered.

Magpies danced, colorful lights swirled, and after some time, the reward was finally issued.

【You have received a Skill Blessing.】

【Skill—True Core Queen’s Favor: Photosynthesis.】

“Wow, there’s even a skill reward. But who’s the True Core Queen? Isn’t it supposed to be the True Core Fungus Lord?”

Shen Yi didn’t dwell on this, instead looking at the introduction, eager to know the purpose of this ability.

【Photosynthesis: Slowly recover your condition and injuries under sunlight.】

As expected, the description matched Shen Yi’s guess.

“Nice! The scope is quite broad, but it might synergize with my Stamina Talent.”

“Standing in the sunlight, consuming energy on one side and recovering on the other—isn’t that a perpetual motion machine?”

Shen Yi chuckled. A perpetual motion machine might be unrealistic, but it was definitely a powerful and useful ability.

He didn’t have any delusions of godlike power; he just wanted to be a peaceful, well-behaved youth.

But who hasn’t dreamed of getting superpowers? I might not use them, but I can’t not have them!

Although this ability wasn’t flashy, he was still quite satisfied with it.

“Now I’m like a sunflower come to life. And the injury recovery—I’ll need to test that out.”

Taking a deep breath, Shen Yi felt invigorated, finding everything pleasing to the eye.

With a spring in his step, he headed to the bathroom to freshen up.

…

In the bright afternoon sun, Cheng Jun stood in the small garden, dressed in casual attire.

A long-unused drawing board was finally exposed to the sunlight.

Cheng Jun was focused on her painting.

Auntie Zhang came over, placing a cup of coffee on the table.

“Miss, are you on leave today?”

Cheng Jun had only been working for a month or two, and her rest days were fixed. Today should have been a workday, yet here she was, leisurely painting in the garden.

Combined with the morning’s events, Auntie Zhang couldn’t help but feel concerned and asked.

Cheng Jun took a sip of the coffee and casually replied,

“No, I just wasn’t feeling well, so I took the day off.”

“Oh…”

This wasn’t something Auntie Zhang should have asked, but seeing Cheng Jun’s calm demeanor, she felt reassured.

“Since Auntie Zhang is here, help me take a look at how the painting is coming along?”

“Oh, these are all artistic things, I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

Auntie Zhang waved her hand dismissively.

“Just take a look, and give me your thoughts.”

Unable to refuse Cheng Jun’s request, Auntie Zhang glanced at the several drawing boards set up.

As she looked, she couldn’t help but feel a chill run down her spine.

The first painting depicted a horrifying figure, covered in spots and veins, with mold-like roots intertwining, bulging eyes filled with bloodshot veins.

The character seemed so lifelike, it was as if they were about to leap out of the painting.

The second painting showed a grand building entangled in vines, with hanging roots, leaves, branches, and creepers, all with imaginative and unique shapes.

The third painting was much more pleasant, depicting a simple two-story house, bathed in sunlight, with warm colors, clothes hanging at the door, full of life’s charm.

“Yikes… what’s this supposed to be? It’s kind of creepy.”

Auntie Zhang rubbed her arms, clearly uncomfortable, then, realizing her words might have been too harsh and fearing she’d hurt Cheng Jun, she quickly added,

“The last one looks pretty nice though, very peaceful. I don’t know much, but it must be good, it’s so real!”

She even raised her thumb to emphasize her point.

Cheng Jun smiled lightly and set down her brush,

“It’s alright, just go about your business, I was just asking casually.”

“Alright, let me know if you need anything.”

Auntie Zhang agreed and turned to leave, but as she did, she couldn’t help but glance at the fourth painting Cheng Jun had just finished.

This one was quite ordinary.

It was a portrait of a man.