Why Do Humans Need to Sleep

It has been one day since the launch of Palworld.

Unlike the previous illusion realms, this time Lu Ze published announcement posts across all his realms simultaneously, drawing in hundreds of thousands of cultivators on the very first day.

As he had predicted, player retention was remarkably high.

Games are picky about their audience.

Some people love strategy, others prefer story, some just want to fight, and others are all about relaxation...

But Palworld—that Frankenstein's monster of a game—just so happened to fuse together elements from more than a dozen different genres.

In Lu Ze's previous life, how absurd was this game, exactly?

It was made by a no-name indie studio, the graphics looked rough and shoddy, some assets were even stolen from free public repositories.

And yet, this game sold over a million copies within eight hours of release, and five days later, it had moved seven million units.

Now, with Lu Ze at the helm, the game had been launched simultaneously across multiple realms with synchronized marketing, and the buzz had gone through the roof.

Even the once-dominant Shen Yuan Continent Ops had been edged out by Palworld.

Nine out of ten forum threads were all about Palworld.

“Fellow cultivators, why won’t my Chicilly help me craft Pal Spheres?”

“Chicilly doesn’t have the Handiwork skill. You gotta assign it to the right job!”

“Why can’t Pengullet lay penguin eggs? This is unfair!”

“Old Demon Lu, compensate me for my base!! Why did you put a Mammorest right at the entrance of the starting plateau?!”

“Is no one else here who thinks Blazamut is really cute? I want to take one home as my daughter. Hehe, hehehe…”

“Brother up there, wake up! You’re about to fall into the demonic path like that!”

“Grintail is way too clingy, keeps sniffing my neck. I feel kinda awkward about it…”

“Brother, you smell nice!”

“Anyone want to team up? I keep getting lost in the dungeons.”

“Top-tier builder available, 3 spirit stones for a large-scale base construction. Message me for commissions~~”

“Holy shit, Ascended Guardians are getting re-employment on the Palpagos Islands??”

Lu Ze browsed the forum on day one. The discussions were still fairly wholesome, a beautiful and thriving atmosphere all around.

But when he thought about how these players would behave in just a few days, he couldn’t help but smirk.

He glanced at his quest bar.

Neither the Pals defeated counter nor the Pal resentment meter had moved much at all.

But Lu Ze wasn’t worried.

On the first day, players were mostly catching Pals, not killing them.

At this point, the players still had a shred of conscience left.

Give it three more– no, just one more day, and the times would change.

Then, when players started willingly sending their maxed-out Pals to the dismantling machine, both quest bars would skyrocket simultaneously...

...

...

Lingxiao Sect, Qingfeng Pavilion.

Zhong Yi and his three companions gathered once again, all entering Palworld together.

“Let’s go, let’s go! Today I’m definitely going to catch a shiny Pal!”

Zhou Yue swore fiercely as his figure materialized at the base.

“My little darlings, I’ve missed—ugh???”

The moment Zhou Qiaoling landed, she was stunned into silence by the scene around her.

Pals were sprawled out in disarray on straw mats. The only one still working was a Dumud stuck on the ore node, but its eyes were bloodshot and it looked mentally unstable.

Up in the top-right corner of the base interface, one status notification after another scrolled past:

【Pengullet King (Starving) (Depressed): Its health condition is extremely poor. It seems unable to do any work anymore……】

[Cat-Bat Monster (Empty Stomach) (Severely Injured) (Dying): Its health is in terrible shape. It seems it can't do any work anymore...]

[Faceplant Catfish: Its eyes are bloodshot, and it radiates a dangerous aura...]

...

"Holy crap!? Our Pals are about to bite the dust!!!"

...

Fifteen minutes later.

"Senior Brother Zhong's campfire therapy is really something else!"

Zhou Qiaoling marveled as she watched the Pals return from the brink of death.

Zhou Yue and Mu Yawen exchanged glances. They still couldn't quite accept such a gruesome scene.

"What's with that look, Lao Zhou? You're a master of fire techniques. Isn't it a piece of cake for you to burn away the illnesses inside mortals' bodies?"

Zhong Yi said cheerfully, trying to enlighten Zhou Yue.

"If you put it that way... Pfft! Don't twist the argument, alright?"

Zhou Yue shot Zhong Yi a dirty look.

"It's just an illusion, don't take it too seriously... Look how peaceful they look standing in the campfire!"

Zhong Yi pointed at the last Faceplant Catfish on the fire.

"Senior Brother, you look really familiar right now... Like I've seen you somewhere before?"

Mu Yawen stared at Zhong Yi, lost in thought.

"Where?"

Zhong Yi was puzzled.

"I remember now! Back in the days when we played Minecraft, when you were researching how to make villagers breed!"

Mu Yawen slapped her forehead, suddenly enlightened.

Zhong Yi: "..."

The four of them tidied up the base.

Although all their Pals had collapsed, there were still some gains overall.

They had more ore and ingots than before, and enough high-quality Pal Spheres for the four of them to go out and explore.

Zhou Yue and Mu Yawen each built a stove and busied themselves cooking vegetable salads for the base's Pals.

Zhong Yi and Zhou Qiaoling each stood on one side, looking up at the starry sky, seemingly lost in their own thoughts.

It was already late. All the Pals except the Dark-type ones had gone back to their straw mats to sleep.

"Senior Brother, what are you thinking about?"

Mu Yawen asked curiously.

"I'm thinking... how to make the campfire therapy run automatically."

Zhong Yi answered, pinching his chin.

"...Lao Zhong, have some decency."

Zhou Yue's mouth twitched, then he looked at Zhou Qiaoling with confusion.

"Little sis, what about you? What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking..."

Zhou Qiaoling stared at the stars in the sky, frowning deeply.

"Why do humans need to sleep?"

"Huh???"

Zhou Yue thought he'd misheard, then stammered for a moment before saying:

"We're cultivators. We don't need to sleep..."

"Exactly! Cultivators don't need to sleep!"

Hearing this answer, Zhou Qiaoling's frown suddenly smoothed out.

She grinned and looked at the Pals sleeping soundly on the straw mats.

"So..."

"Why do Pals need to sleep?"

Zhou Yue: "???"