Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Without further delay, after lunch, Philo, who habitually took a stroll in the yard to aid digestion, soon embarked on his second interstellar adventure in the VR game.

However, after logging in with a new appearance—concealing the identifying patterns of his beginner outfit and hiding his gender—Philo, despite having told Shang Ling that he had a partner, wasn’t in a hurry to find Li Wei upon entering the game.

Back on Earth, he had often played games, so he knew full well that pros like Li Wei should only be called upon at critical moments. If he wanted to team up with a pro, it’d be best to wait until he was at least somewhat competent before making the request.

After all, Philo, who had once dominated game maps, had raged at incompetent teammates more than once. Back then, it was just voice chat—he could take off his headphones and pretend not to hear. But in the Interstellar Era, sucking at the game meant getting flamed just as harshly as in real life.

The rich kid, unwilling to endure such humiliation, decided to keep a low profile for a while—at least until he stopped making stupid mistakes like forgetting to hide his gender.

He didn’t change his in-game nickname. Since duplicate names were allowed, there was no fear of being recognized. After customizing a badass character model, Philo stepped into the starter zone once more.

The bustling, lively starter zone—last time, he hadn’t even had the chance to explore. Today, though—

“Here he comes! There’s a player!”

“Stop pushing, damn it! Let me see first!”

“What ‘damn it’? The Prince might log in at any moment. Keep spewing filth like that, and I’ll send you straight to the spawn point!”

“Shit, like your mouth’s any cleaner? Worse than mine!”

“Screw you!”

“Holy—it’s a Berserker! Another Berserker! And wearing beginner gear—quick, pull up yesterday’s screenshot! See if it matches the Prince’s avatar!”

“Nah, it’s different. Damn, today’s full of copycats making new accounts with the Prince’s nickname. Shameless, the lot of them! Do they even deserve to imitate a royal?”

“Watch your mouth, kid. What if this one’s the real deal? Maybe the Prince just tweaked his appearance.”

“Then who’s gonna go ask? If it’s a male, beat him up. If it’s the Prince… well, wanna try your luck?”

“Hell no! And even if it’s a male, this is still a beginner protection zone. You wanna get banned for a month?”

“I said stop cursing! What if you scare the Prince?”

Silence. The same suffocating silence as yesterday.

The same scorching gazes locked onto Philo’s nickname. And today, the crowd was visibly larger.

Even though the starter zone was usually lively, it wasn’t a place for grinding or map exploration. The foot traffic had never been this overwhelming—so packed the streets could barely hold them.

Guessing the reason for this madness, Philo, seeing some players edging closer, immediately deepened his voice and barked:

“I’m not a royal! We bugs don’t lie to each other—if I’m lying, may I never date royalty in this lifetime!”

...

That was one hell of an oath.

Feet froze mid-step. Faces that had just warmed up for polite inquiries turned cold again. The crowd’s attention shifted, and the hushed murmurs erupted back into noise.

Exhaling silently, Philo finally had the chance to step beyond the spawn point.

But—

“Hey, you. Watch your language lately.”

A jacked male character stopped Philo mid-step, glaring at him with a mix of disdain and intimidation.

“Stop with the ‘damn this, damn that.’ The Prince could log in any second. Have some manners!”

Manners…

His lips twitched. Before he could even get flamed for being bad at the game, he was already getting scolded for poor manners. Stiffly nodding, Philo trudged forward, step by unsteady step.

Hah.

Not to be rude, but bugs—male or female—sometimes seemed a little unhinged.

Having already achieved the game’s first player confrontation right out the gate, Philo, after finally pushing through the male blockade, entered the central district of the starter zone—officially beginning his full-dive gaming experience.

No longer distracted by the mob at the spawn point or his apparent lack of “manners,” Philo gazed at the incredibly lifelike buildings before him. Even knowing these were just standard starter zone setup, he clenched his fists in excitement.

Look at that! The equipment shop—players going in and out were carrying real weapons!

Half-meter-long metal cannons, retractable glowing swords, robot NPCs packing heat… All this gear, all available for purchase! Who could resist? He’d take two of each—one to wield, one to display!

Then there was the general store. What was that talking plant at the entrance? That floating flying nimbus—some kind of magical artifact?

Was this Interstellar Era game not just about high-tech gunfights but also fantasy-style combat?

And the restaurants, clothing stores, workshops…

Having topped up his in-game currency before logging in, Philo decided to blow off the tutorial missions for now. Let him go on a shopping spree first!

Blades, guns, armor—he wanted it all!

“Energy saber? Cuts through solid rock in one swing? Give me the most expensive one!”

“Stellar Eclipse Shield? Stats look mid. The Star-Armor next to it—I can’t use it? Too expensive? Whatever. I’m stacked—sold!”

“The Star-Eclipse Phantom Plate—give me the black one. The one with top-tier damage mitigation. Yeah, that’s the one!”

After touring the shops, Philo, who had started in plain beginner gear, was now fully geared up. Still Level 1, but his equipment screamed veteran.

Amped, he carefully stroked the energy saber in his right hand, glanced at the Armmounted Energy Gun strapped to his left, then admired the gravity boots and top-tier Phantom Plate. He couldn’t resist opening the interface to snap a full-body screenshot of his sick character.

Now this was a real man’s game—next-level awesome!

After admiring his gear, Philo stowed the screenshot device, straightened his back, and marched confidently into the starter zone’s mission board.

Alright, let’s see what challenges awaited. Nothing this Berserker couldn’t handle!

“Player level below 20. Available quests: 1. Labor tasks (logging, bricklaying, water-fetching). 2. Crafting (weaving, ingredient gathering, workshop cleaning). 3. Combat (hunt star beasts, capture thieves, bounty hunting). Player, please select your desired quest type.”

“Combat. Hunt star beasts!”

“You got it. Recent scouts have spotted E to F-rank star beasts lurking 10 km outside the village. To ensure villager protection, we seek able-bodied adventurers to eliminate these threats.”

“Requirements: 1. Player level 1–20. 2. Profession: No class or Warrior-type. Rewards: 100 EXP and 100 rep points per F-rank kill. E-rank kills doubled payouts.”

“Note: Quest duration: 15 days. Once accepted, no changes allowed until completion. Confirm acceptance?”

“Confirm!”

“Quest accepted. As a new player, you receive a free starter zone map. It's in your inventory. Wishing you clean kills!”

The calm mechanical voice delivered pre-programmed congratulations along with the male Zerg's choice, accompanied by a pumping battle soundtrack.

In this atmosphere, gripping the weapons in both hands, Philo confidently raised his eyebrows and opened the gifted novice village map in his inventory.

Even those who were directionally challenged wouldn't get lost with the holographic map. For a better gaming experience, the map also featured a fast-travel option, one of which led to the outskirts where the star beasts mentioned in his mission were known to appear.

As a male university student with good motor skills—though majoring in music—Philo, who loved fitness, ignited his plasma blade with a swish and cranked his arm-mounted energy gun to max power.

After full preparation, figuring this mission was in the bag, Philo fearlessly pressed the teleportation button.

Hah, he had wasted plenty of mobs in games before. Today, he would gather enough experience points to reach level 20 in one go and leave the novice village!

The male Zerg was riding high, tricked out with top-tier gear, and possessed rare courage.

But—

The universe humbles you: always respect the unknown.

"Holy... F*CK! Damn damn damn!"

"Are the devs nuts making monster holograms this realistic?!"

"Shit, REZ ME!!"

Holo-Resistance Game, produced by Geshaluolin Group—the most realistic visual experience, the most terrifying simulated star beasts await your challenge.

Are you scared?

When Geshaluolin Group first promoted this holographic game with that slogan, many female Zerg, especially military females, mocked it.

After all, everyone knew it was just a game. So what if they faced full-scale, hyper-realistic star beasts? With all the heavy firepower weapons in the game store, as long as you were willing to spend or played it safe early on, killing one or two star beasts wasn’t a problem.

And if you couldn’t kill them? Just turn off pain settings, wait to be devoured, and respawn. Players below level 20 wouldn’t lose points upon death anyway. A few deaths would teach you how to handle these things.

Based on this reasoning, aside from some Subfemales and a few female Zerg who found star beast missions too difficult, most female Zerg didn’t take it seriously.

Sure, it was tough, but compared to tasks like grinding fetch quests, these missions offered way more points! Woodcutting dailies might earn you just 5 points—who had the patience to log in daily just for that? Even the most hardcore players lacked the patience!

Of course, if you really disliked such missions, that was fine too. The game offered both base-building and combat paths, and a player’s future class depended on the tasks they took.

If a player mostly avoided combat missions and stuck to construction or daily tasks, their specialization at cap might default to construction. Many Subfemales chose this path.

But generally, female Zerg, especially military females, preferred combat missions. They’d rather earn points quickly to leave the novice village and explore new maps freely.

Since the game’s release, the star beasts in the novice zone had always been low-level, limited to the common Razorclaws and Chasm Beasts. Players familiar with their weaknesses could sleepwalk through these runs.

But perhaps, starting today, female Zerg would reconsider that conclusion.

Green Algae Galaxy Defense Forum, 8 PM—primetime.

"Most Handsome Military Female (OP): Anyone doing star beast missions in the novice village today? With so many new players joining because of Lord Philo, I advise inexperienced bugs not to jump into these missions. Some clearly find them too hard."

"Heart Loyal to Nuo: ...Did you really need to make a whole post for this? Mentioning Lord Philo—OP farming engagement, huh?"

"Toxic Spine & Beloved: Agreed. OP’s tone drips with elitism! What, only military females are tough? Us non-military bugs are cowards? I just killed two D-rank star beasts today!"

"Bloodstained Carapace: Another post about that male Zerg? It’s been spamming the forum all day. This is a game forum—take it elsewhere!"

"Berserker: I joined this game for Lord Philo. What, only military females can play? Novice star beast missions aren’t that hard. Someone’s just salty about sharing Lord Philo’s attention."

"Pec King: OP’s delusional if you think military females are invincible. Plenty of you get wrecked by star beasts too. Reality ≠ game. Bad gameplay means even military females gotta bow to us casual pros."

"Most Handsome Military Female (OP): [VIDEO] Clip's right here. Haters, watch this gameplay before talking. If this is how Military Females play, I’ll eat my head!"

Such a bold claim. While military females stayed calm, civilian players instantly clicked the video, ready to dogpile the OP.

Let’s see this so-called "proof." If it’s trash, they’d roast the OP alive. Who hadn’t died to star beasts a few times? How bad could it really be... The actual hell—?

The video opened, revealing uncut gameplay footage.

The familiar star beast grind spot outside the novice village, usually a scene of fierce battles, was... something else today.

Towering boulders, dust devils whipping up, bioluminescent moss blanketing the ground—a freshly spawned, full-health F-rank Chasm Beast charged furiously toward the camera.

Though terrifying, the spectator, well out of aggro range, zoomed in further, focusing until a panicking noob became unmistakable.

Gravity boots, arm-mounted energy gun, plasma blade, and a blinged-out armor set—this player had it all.

Yet...

"HELP!!"

"I’m gonna die! Anyone?! REZ ME!"

"Damn this bullshit game won’t let me quit combat mode! I’m reporting this!!"

Git gud, scrub!

"Toxic Spine & Beloved: Okay, I side with OP. No military female would do this. But maybe it’s not a female Zerg? Subfemales, thoughts?"

"Heart Loyal to Nuo: ^ Agreed."

"Berserker: ^ Agreed."

"Pec King: ^ Agreed."

"Subfemales Are Tough: ALL OF YOU PISS OFF! We Subfemales did nothing wrong! That noob’s gotta be some hatchling!"

Philo: ...Heh.

Who’d have thought?

One game session, first losing his cool, now getting written off as a newb. Typical.

Author’s Note:

Philo: Stop arguing. The embarrassment isn’t female Zerg, or Subfemales.

Other Insects: ...Lord Philo, we didn’t mean it like that QAQ

PS: Tomorrow’s patch drops at 6 PM!