Chapter Three: Change and Yearning

Page 1 of 3

In a single apartment on the fifteenth floor of a residential building in Shengheng Real Estate Community, Donghe District, Muyang City, Rhine Federation.

The moment Ji Yu awoke, he was immediately struck by a wave of dizziness.

Shortly after, an overwhelming sense of hunger arrived right on cue.

Hungry—extremely hungry!

He hadn’t eaten for twelve hours, yet the hunger felt as if he’d gone an entire day without food.

Not to mention, Ji Yu was still a patient.

Without caring about anything else, Ji Yu immediately rolled out of bed, tore open a bag of bread, and began devouring it in large bites.

A few minutes later.

He drank some water and belched with satisfaction.

Only then did Ji Yu realize that his weakness felt a little different.

“It doesn’t hurt as much? My chest doesn’t feel as dull as before?”

Ji Yu pressed his hand to his chest and took a deep breath.

Though there was still some tightness, he didn’t feel the usual dull pain when inhaling deeply. At that moment, Ji Yu understood.

His condition had probably improved greatly—was it because of the “game”?

Surprise? Excitement?

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Ji Yu hesitated, then summoned his status panel.

[Player Status]

[Weak]

[Life Level: 1]

[Constitution: 0.39 (average: 0.5)]

[Height: 1.74 meters (average: 1.67)]

[Age: 26 (average lifespan: 77)]

[Acquired Trait: Vigor (Low)] (Level 1 Avatar: The player has semi-permanently acquired one trait applicable to themselves from this avatar.)

Vigor?

Ji Yu was startled, but quickly calmed the surge of excitement in his heart.

The average value corresponded to the average human constitution, which was easy to understand. Yet, his own constitution was only 0.39?

Just seeing this number, Ji Yu could tell his condition before had been even worse.

Three months of coughing up blood from tuberculosis had already taken a heavy toll on him. Now, with the sudden improvement, Ji Yu felt both relieved and grateful.

Page 2 of 3

Ji Yu knew that this game, which had appeared so suddenly, was anything but ordinary. Yet, he hadn’t expected its effects to be so pronounced.

Just twelve hours—and he could hardly conceal his delight.

Though he really wanted to go out for a jog to test it, as someone with a history of hemoptysis, Ji Yu knew not to be reckless even with his improvement.

Recalling how a light jog once triggered a massive bout of coughing blood left him wary, so he quickly suppressed his excitement.

Rhine time, about 10:10 in the morning.

He ordered a proper breakfast with his phone, ate, washed up, and then sat down at his computer desk.

Casually, he turned on the computer and entered keywords into the search engine: “Southern La Continent, primitive tribe, brown-skinned people, oak tree.”

Soon, Ji Yu was met with a pile of search results.

However, the results were far from ideal.

There were more than two hundred known primitive tribes on the Southern La Continent, and most of the information about them was vague, lacking any detailed introductions.

The reason for this lack of detail was that these tribes were extremely reclusive.

They refused outsiders entry into their communities.

Moreover, with the backing of the global UNESCO Conservation Organization, these primitive tribes were granted even better conditions to maintain their isolation.

Thus, finding comprehensive information online about the tribe Ji Yu knew proved to be a daunting task.

Still, there was one thing in his favor—Ji Yu knew exactly where that primitive tribe was located.

After all, his perspective had descended step by step from outer space onto Blue Star.

Because of this, once Ji Yu opened the world map, he quickly pinpointed the tribe’s exact location.

The tropical rainforest near the equator of the Bana Federation.

“That’s a truly distant place.”

——

“This game only grants a so-called game avatar every month, and my current avatar is the only one I have. If anything happens to it, even the existence of this ‘Vigor’ trait would become uncertain, since ‘semi-permanent’ is telling enough.”

After a long while, Ji Yu leaned back in his chair, lost in thought.

“A level 1 avatar can randomly grant one trait; does that mean a level 2 avatar could provide two traits?”

“Most likely, that’s the case?”

With this thought, Ji Yu’s interest soared.

If possible, he wished the game had no time limits. But reality dictated twelve hours…

Better than nothing—no point in being greedy.

So, in this state of restless anticipation, Ji Yu waited right up until noon.

Page 3 of 3

The instant the game’s time restriction was lifted, Ji Yu entered the game again without hesitation and quickly took control of the Oak Avatar.

It was deep night, and heavy rain poured down as Ji Yu found himself once more in the familiar yet alien primitive tribe.

With panoramic, night-vision eyes, Ji Yu surveyed his surroundings, feeling a surge of wonder.

“This kind of vision, combined with night vision, is truly novel. Though it’s my second time observing the world like this, I still can’t fully adapt!”

Murmuring to himself, Ji Yu began experimenting with the range and limits of the vision granted by his avatar.

After half an hour, he had his results.

Currently, his panoramic vision’s anchor point was the highest leaf of the oak tree. From this vantage, there was an ultra-clear zone within a fifteen-meter radius.

Within this super-clear area, even ants and mosquitoes were visible in minute detail—their tiny limbs and slightest movements discernible without any effort.

Nothing within this magical fifteen-meter range could escape Ji Yu’s sight. It was quite extraordinary.

For instance, under the oak tree, on one side, the figure of the tribal elder sleeping sideways in a wooden hut was projected in perfect clarity into Ji Yu’s eyes.

All these novel experiences felt refreshing to Ji Yu, and made him realize how small he was as an ordinary human.

But marveling aside, Ji Yu didn’t forget his true purpose.

Soon, he measured his long-range vision: about one kilometer.

That was in the pouring rain at night—on a clear day, the range would likely be even greater.

After collecting the data, Ji Yu marveled at the breadth of his vision and, though tempted to keep exploring, exercised self-control and refocused on restoring his avatar’s condition.

At present, time was more precious than money.

First, his own frail body needed recovery. Second, so did the oak avatar.

With these dual needs, Ji Yu quickly slipped into a state of quasi-self-hypnosis—essentially, meditation.

Beneath the night sky, as Ji Yu meditated, the oak’s vitality steadily increased in quantifiable increments.

Sometimes, in five minutes, its life force would rise by 0.02; sometimes, in ten minutes, by 0.03. In this uncertain, fluctuating process, Ji Yu’s oak avatar was visibly changing at a pace discernible even to the naked human eye.

As the oak’s vitality recovered, the roots—which had already improved somewhat—continued to grow rapidly, sprouting new root systems in abundance.

Meanwhile, countless branches on the trunk entered a phase of healthy, exuberant growth, with fresh buds emerging everywhere.

So it continued, until dawn began to break.