Want to be human, but cube-like

P.S. I originally wanted to add something healing later on, but after trying for a while, I realized I couldn't find that old feeling at all. I even went back and looked at how I wrote things back then, and while they did seem healing when I read them, I just couldn't find the inspiration when I tried to write them.

Now I can only write serious and lighthearted pieces; I can't quite capture that literary flair anymore.

Volume 1: Chapter 54 Departure

Alex, who was initially unable to find her exact location due to her blindness and could only adjust her position by looking at the mini-map and letting the water push her forward, finally found her way after hearing Xiangzi's shout.

"Cough cough... Xiangzi!?"

Suppressing the discomfort caused by the numerous negative effects on her body, she coughed up the golden liquid that had been choking her nose and shouted loudly.

"Are you OK?"

Although she couldn't see Xiangzi's exact location, based on the voice she had just heard and Xiangzi's portrait on the minimap, Alex slightly turned her head to face Xiangzi.

"I'm alright, Alex! I've found the exit!"

Seeing that Alex was alright, Xiangzi finally breathed a sigh of relief. She called out happily to Alex, who was still floating on the water not far away.

"It's in that room; I can already see the exit!"

Unaware that Alex was blind at the moment, Xiangzi pointed to a room with a large section of the wall broken open not far away.

"Then you should leave right away! It's too dangerous here!"

Alex blinked, barely managing to assess her surroundings through her two- or three-meter field of vision, despite the distorted and shaky vision caused by nausea, and said.

Alex tried to swim towards the wall, but the force of the current was too great, and she had difficulty even keeping herself in place from being swept away.

The slowness and weakness were still eroding her body, and the burning pain from the poison made it difficult for her to maintain her balance.

Not to mention the hunger and the weakness in her hands due to "exhaustion" were constantly increasing her physical strength.

"...But I can't get through!"

Xiangzi looked down at the turbulent whirlpool beneath the block she was standing on, then glanced at the distance between herself and the room. She placed the remaining block next to the block beneath her feet, slightly closing the distance.

But looking back, it still felt a bit tricky.

Although the room hadn't seen much golden liquid because of the remaining half of the wall and the seemingly waterproof door, and even the floor was still quite dry, there was no way he could jump across that distance.

"Or can I swim there?"

She hesitated for a moment, then asked Alex.

"No!"

Knowing how dangerous the golden liquid was for Xiangzi, Alex immediately rejected the suggestion.

"This liquid is too sticky! You can't swim with your strength!"

She knew Xiangzi's abilities; there was no way he could swim across in this liquid while enduring seven negative states.

After all, even I don't have that ability.

"Where's the Ender Pearl? Did you bring it with you?"

After thinking for a moment, Alex gave a reminder.

"Huh? I brought it with me!"

Xiangzi was taken aback. She quickly rummaged in her pockets and, after a moment, finally found a dark green bead.

"Throw it next to the exit!"

Upon hearing Xiangzi's answer, Alex immediately spoke up.

"What about you?"

Clutching the dark green bead tightly in her hand, Xiangzi felt a bad premonition and asked aloud.

"...I'll catch up in a bit!"

Just as Alex was about to say that she didn't care if she died, she suddenly remembered that Xiangzi seemed unaware that she could actually be resurrected. She hesitated for a moment, feeling that if she explained here, the other party might not believe her, and it would be a waste of time to persuade her, so she could only shout it out like this.

I'll wait here

"Go up when the liquid isn't in such a rush anymore. Now, leave here! Wait for me in a safe place outside!"

Alex, who was already thinking about how to get to Xiangzi's side as quickly as possible after being resurrected, said.

She was still struggling to paddle her limbs against the wall, trying to get closer and slap the blocks to free herself from the liquid, but the viscous liquid and the constantly crashing waves repeatedly prevented her from moving.

"..."

Xiangzi hesitated and struggled, but she couldn't think of any better way, and she couldn't throw away the Ender Pearl in her hand.

"You can't do anything else here. Trust me, you should go out first. I'll find a way to leave later."

After a long silence from Xiangzi, and because she was blind and couldn't see if he was still there, Alex glanced at the minimap to make sure Xiangzi hadn't left before continuing.

Xiangzi gritted her teeth and didn't answer. She didn't know if Alex really had a way to escape from the liquid and leave through the exit, but she couldn't refute Alex's words.

Staying here would not help the current situation at all; in fact, it would only be a burden to Alex and make her more hesitant.

A feeling of powerlessness crept into Xiangzi's body like a bone-deep infection, and she couldn't shake it off. She clenched her fists tightly.

Promise me you'll get out safely!

Because Xiangzi is a very rational person, she knows that her only choice now is to throw the Ender Pearl in her hand toward the exit, and everything else can only be left to Alex to solve.

"Okay! Don't worry!"

Despite the pain, Alex tilted her head back, facing the direction from which Xiangzi's voice had come, pretending that she could see her, and gave a slight smile.

Taking a deep breath, Xiangzi pursed her lips, clenched the Ender Pearl in her hand, and threw it forcefully at the distorted space in the room.

The Ender Pearl flew, leaving a trail, and in less than half a second, with a whoosh, Xiangzi landed in the room. She fell heavily to the ground, her ankle seemingly twisted, and her knee scraped when she fell.

"Well……!"

But Xiangzi, who was prepared to fall and get hurt, endured the pain and only let out a muffled groan.

She staggered to her feet and, just before the exit, turned to look in Alex's direction. But because of the obstruction of half a wall, she could only see the top of the tunnel; she couldn't even see the water.

It seemed that the actual area of ​​the exit was much larger than she could see. Even though she hadn't entered the area of ​​spatial distortion, the scene around Xiangzi was gradually becoming blurry.

I am slowly drifting away from this world.

"Alex? I can leave now! Come here quickly!"

Having realized what was going on, she endured the pain, dared not move, and looked anxiously in Alex's direction, calling out.

However, the next second.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The familiar vibration sound came again, and Xiangzi was stunned.

That was the sound of the Banker Witch's four enormous hands crawling across the ground and walls.

Xiangzi could only stare wide-eyed as the gradually blurring scene showed a huge black arm slicing through the tunnel. The enormous hand, wearing a white glove, appeared in her vision through a hole in the wall above, then slammed down, only to be blocked again by the wall below.

"Alex—!"

But her shout did not elicit the response she hoped for.

"Crack-!"

The splashing golden liquid completely covered everything in the tunnel.

"……Feel sorry."

Only one sentence remained, the last words Alex left for her.

With trembling eyes and parted lips, Xiangzi stood there, stunned, unable to support her injured ankle any longer, and slowly knelt down.

The surrounding scenery had returned to the dark and dimly lit street.

“Ellie…Kex…”

Under the dim streetlights, that trembling voice lingered for a long time.

…………

P.S. This part of the story is over. I'll continue posting later. The main reason is that if I don't give Xiangzi a rude awakening like that, it'll be very difficult to win her over.

Writing this was a headache, and it seems like no one is really interested. I rushed to finish it before it went on sale.

Volume 1: Author's Note (Includes plot-related information)

As the title says, it will be on the shelves tomorrow.

Although I didn't offer a bounty because I couldn't save up enough chapters and didn't want to scam people out of their money, I still hope everyone will support me.

Actually, I don't feel there's much to say. I would like to ask for some votes and subscriptions. I hope everyone will not let the book sit unread, as it's easy to let it die. However, I don't think a few words will affect your decision.

I can only guarantee that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, I can consistently update with more than 4,000 words per day. My main goal is to achieve perfect attendance; the rest will depend on my performance later on.

Then there's the plot.

First, let's talk about the protagonist's mother. You might think this is the core setting of the book, right?

But actually, the character of Aine's mother was something I added on the spot after I finished writing Chapter 4, when I was checking the outline that night. You didn't expect that, did you? At the end of Chapter 5, you should have seen me say that I modified the synopsis, which was basically just adding Aine's name.

At first, Alex's mother was actually written based on my own character design, at least in the first four chapters. She has a sense of ritual in life, likes to customize her character's skin, had just played Osteogenesis Imperfecta half a year ago, likes to build houses, and likes to play with swords.

Because I'm a loyal long sword player in Monster Hunter.

When reviewing the outline later, it was discovered that Alex's mother had too much presence. Since Alex was originally designed as a puppet for the player, almost all of her character development revolved around her mother. If Alex's mother were set up as a person who did not exist at all, it would be a disaster for the development of the subsequent plot.

So I was thinking about how to incorporate the mother element into the character. At first, I thought of choosing between Su Shi and Aine. Su Shi was chosen because she was very parent-oriented, and her character design was practically written based on that term. You can search it on Baidu for more details. Her personality was very suitable to be a mother. Aine was chosen because her character design unexpectedly matched the one I wrote in the first four chapters.

She has a strong sense of ritual, can draw and design clothes, and sometimes talks to herself. Even if some minor details don't match up, it doesn't matter much. After all, it's just a character setting in a game, and it's normal for it to be different from real life.

In the end, Aine was chosen between the two. The reason is that if the pass ticket was in Su Shi's hands from the beginning, then the others would have no chance to fight. Once they recognized each other, it would be a fast-forward to a one-on-one pure love speedrun. If it was Aine, then there would be more playability. Moreover, some of Aine's references also fit the game.

The biggest difference is that Aine might have a sword added to the character to fit her personality, while Suze probably won't, as it doesn't match her personality. So that's one of the considerations.

Then comes the subsequent plot development.

First of all, I won't say that they won't recognize each other even after hundreds of chapters. As I mentioned before, I don't like to keep everyone in suspense, but saying more would be a spoiler. So I'll just give you a rough idea. The current plan is that they will recognize each other before starting to form mygo.

After that, my outline is to go to the aftermath of the Asukayama Annihilation Battle, and I still have to see the mother...

After Chicken Card ends, how can the story continue? Aside from Xiangzi and Mu, the other three characters in Chicken Card have too little screen time, and it's difficult to grasp their character development right now, so I'll leave it for now and discuss it after Chicken Card ends.

Next up is about witches and battles.

First of all, I don't like writing meaningless battles. The main point of this book is the interesting interactions between Tie Tie and several characters. The role of the witch in this book is to drive the plot forward. She can be moved wherever needed, and there won't be any more situations where Alex can't beat the witch. Oh, the witch's night is an exception. I haven't decided what to do with her yet, so it's pending. Anyway, I can keep it off or not write it at all, so it doesn't matter.

Therefore, most of the subsequent battle scenes should be resolved in a few moves. The battles will not be the main content; they will mainly serve as an interaction between characters. So don't worry about Alex's combat strength. I just wrote this casually.

Then there's mod-related stuff, which is mods.

First, the prototype of Skyblock is set as Skyblock Burger Shop modpack, version 1.20.1, this is certain. Then, whatever modpack is in this modpack, that's what you can use, nothing else is considered, the only exception is the extra added Katana: Heavy Edge mod, and the More Recipes mod, which I will write about later.

Only these two modules will be added, both because they are necessary for the storyline.

So, I'm not considering things like equivalent exchange or endless greed. Like I said before, the main content of this book is about interaction between the characters and the main story. I even specifically chose a modpack that has no combat and is purely slice-of-life. Adding those modules would be too much of a distraction.

As for whether to add accessories to the sword, I'm a bit hesitant. But for now, let's just set it up to have only the main body. Accessories would be too messy, especially if some kind of divine fox or Japanese-style accessory were added. Would Kyubey even be able to play like that?

I wrote a launch message that was over a thousand words long, which is quite impressive. But this is all important information, and I feel like if I don't explain it in advance, I'll keep getting asked about it later (just like how people kept asking me if Aine is an alternate dimension and whether Minecraft actually exists in this world).

that's all.

Volume 1: Chapter 55 Making a wish...?

On the deserted street, a blue-haired girl knelt on the ground.

The pain in her ankle was still tugging at the girl's nerves, and the wound on her knee was still bleeding slightly cold blood.

But the burning pain in her wounds made it impossible for Xiangzi to spare even a sliver of attention for her.

She pressed her hands to her forehead.

The scene I witnessed just seconds ago still seems to linger in my mind.

In my memory, the splashing golden liquid seemed to have been tinged with crimson.

It was as if it were mixed with Alex's blood.