With Yueye’s 3,000 reward points backing them, the team upgraded their gear like a bunch of nouveau riche.

They spent the whole night discussing what gear to redeem and how to spend their points, like beggars who’d never seen money before.

“Spend them however you like. As long as you think it’ll help us in our current situation, I don’t mind.” Those were Yueye’s exact words... She couldn’t be bothered to care how these people used her points anymore. The pain in her abdomen made it hard to fall asleep. The night sky was just as lonely as ever. Sitting alone at the entrance to her tent, she gazed up at the stars, lost in thought...

“The stars are beautiful, aren’t they?” A pair of hands rested lightly on Yueye’s shoulders. She didn’t even have to think to know who was standing behind her. She knew those little hands all too well.

“Why are you up so late? What are you doing out here?” Yueye snapped. The other girl’s touch had just made her abdomen hurt, but she’d held back a cry.

“I can’t sleep. Same as you...” Liu Huiying sat down beside Yueye and looked up at the stars with her. Without all the light pollution, the night sky glittered with countless stars, reflected in their eyes like beautiful jewels.

“You must be the most exhausted one here today... Can’t sleep?” Yueye pursed her lips.

“How am I supposed to sleep when you’re still awake? You’re injured and sitting out here alone. Who’ll take responsibility if something happens?” Liu Huiying joked, giving Yueye a playful flick on the tip of her nose.

“Tell me... where is Earth?” The two of them gazed at the stars in silence for a long while. Yueye stared up at the sky, lost in a daze, and murmured to herself...

“Earth? It’s in your heart!” Liu Huiying laughed helplessly. She hadn’t even found the Milky Way, let alone Earth...

“Do you ever miss home?” Yueye asked a question that sounded stupid even to her. She regretted it as soon as it left her mouth.

“Of course. My dad, my mom... and my little Hei!” As Liu Huiying spoke, her eyes began to redden.

“It’s okay... We’ll make it back.” Yueye suddenly felt awkward. She hadn’t meant to make a girl cry with an offhand remark...

“What about you? Do you ever miss home?” Liu Huiying asked Yueye curiously, fighting to keep her emotions in check.

“I... I don’t have a home.” The wound in Yueye’s heart had been cruelly reopened. She turned away from Liu Huiying’s warm, earnest gaze. The pain in her abdomen was nothing compared to the ache in her heart... Her parents had been gone for a long time. Even before she crossed over, she’d been all alone. Every day, she’d come home to a dark room and an empty dinner table, pretending someone was there with her. Whenever she finished cooking, she’d call out, “Mom, Dad, dinner’s ready!” But no one ever appeared beside her. All that kept her company was the dim light in the living room and the two extra bowls of rice she’d made...

“You don’t...?” Liu Huiying didn’t know much about Yueye’s family, but from her reaction, she could guess at least some of what had happened.

“It’s okay. I’ll be your family! From now on, I’m your big sister! Anyone who picks on you will have to answer to me!” Thinking about what the team members had been saying about Yueye these past few days, and the circumstances of her past, Liu Huiying sensed the sadness in Yueye’s eyes. In a rush of emotion, she blurted it out...

“Thank you...” Warmth spread through Yueye as she felt how sincere Liu Huiying was. Her eyes reddened in an instant, and a bittersweet feeling bloomed in her heart. She didn’t pull away. She let Liu Huiying draw her into an embrace, felt the softness against her cheek, and smiled from the bottom of her heart.

“Look! A shooting star!” Liu Huiying pointed excitedly at the sky...

“There really is one...” As if the heavens had heard them, one shooting star after another streaked across the sky. It was a breathtaking sight, as though they were soothing the wounds in everyone’s hearts...

“Four fragmentation grenades, 200 points; two submachine guns and 100 rounds of ammo, 400 points; a map, 500 points...” Yang Yufeng helped Su Lin tally up what they’d redeemed.

“One low-level fire magic sword costs 300 points. One point in Strength, two in Agility, and three in Intelligence cost another 600... Su Lin, how does it feel?” Yang Yufeng asked curiously. The fire magic sword required 2.5 Strength, 3.4 Agility, and 5 points of fire affinity. After discussing it, everyone had decided to test the sword’s effects. As the team leader and the one with the highest fire affinity, Su Lin had naturally become their first guinea pig. Each point of an attribute cost 100 points, and that hefty price had left everyone fretting for quite a while.

“I feel stronger and lighter. And when I hold this sword, I can feel the fire element flowing inside it...” Ever since they redeemed the fire magic sword, a new fire-affinity attribute had appeared on everyone’s status screens. Unfortunately, Yueye was far away and hadn’t taken part in this exchange, so they didn’t know what her affinity was...

“Boom, boom!” Su Lin swung the fiery red magic sword a few times. This low-level sword, worth 300 points, left trails of flame in the air. It looked incredibly destructive...

“That’s so cool... I want one too!” Wang Tong stared, completely entranced.

“You want one? Too bad! We’re out of points!” Du Shengjie said enviously from the side. That rich-kid gear, worth a whopping 900 points, was on a whole different level from what regular people like them could afford. Even its effects looked amazing.

“Then we’ll keep 2,000 in reserve. That’s all we’re redeeming today.” Yang Yufeng completely crushed the two men’s hopes.

“Everyone, get some sleep as soon as you can. We need to set out early tomorrow.” Su Lin glanced at the two men, who were staring at the sword more intently than they’d look at a beautiful woman, and smiled.

“Come on, let us admire it a little longer! It’s so cool!” Du Shengjie protested. If he couldn’t have one himself, surely he could at least look...

“Don’t worry... There’ll be plenty of chances!” Su Lin pushed Du Shengjie back into the tent. On the way, he spotted the two people outside the women’s tent and smiled helplessly. The pressure weighing on him grew a little heavier... He understood that greater ability meant greater responsibility. Being chosen by everyone today hadn’t come without a price. Perhaps this was the team’s trust in him—and the hopes they’d placed on his shoulders...

“Yueye, you’ve really been through a lot.” For some reason, Su Lin felt sorry for Yueye’s slender figure... She’d contributed more to the team than anyone, yet she was now the person the team most wanted to avoid. Everything they’d experienced in those hallucinations had felt too real, and as a result, everyone was deliberately—or perhaps without even realizing it—keeping their distance from Yueye.