The woman’s appearance bore a faint resemblance to Bai Youwei.

But she was, after all, a game character. Even setting aside the fact that the resemblance was only partial, even if she had been identical to someone in real life, she was in every meaningful sense only a part of the system — not human in the slightest.

Cheng Weicai had heard that when a person became a doll, their consciousness didn’t disappear immediately. Instead, the game preserved it, using it as another form of test subject to continue providing data and information to the game.

Would the woman before him have encountered something similar? He didn’t know.

Bai Youwei had once mentioned that during the time Fu Miaoxue was dead, her consciousness had wandered through various games, gradually forgetting her memories of being human, nearly merging with the games entirely — and it was only after Du Lai revived her that her consciousness recovered.

Cheng Weicai thought carefully, trying to piece together any clues.

Just then, the Ice Queen had already walked to stand before the four of them. That beautiful face bore no expression whatsoever, cold as a slab of ice.

“These are rose seeds.”

She raised her staff and lightly tapped it in the air. A seed appeared in each of the four players’ hands.

“I will return to check every 6 hours. If the rose successfully grows and blooms, you win immediately and receive the King’s Sword. If the rose dies, you are eliminated.”

She remained utterly indifferent throughout. Once she had finished explaining the rules, she said not a single word more and turned to leave.

When her figure disappeared into the hall, the remaining players looked at one another.

“This… are we really supposed to plant them?” The short young man was speechless, cupping the tiny seed in his palm. “What the hell — I thought we’d have to fight once we got into the game. Why do we need to grow flowers…?”

“This place is freezing cold. How are we supposed to grow roses?” Another flat-topped man couldn’t help but complain. “We’re out in the middle of the ocean right now! No soil, no fresh water — how are we supposed to grow flowers? You can’t water plants with seawater!”

“You can, actually.” Teacher Cheng spoke up helpfully. “There’s plenty of ice outside the castle. When seawater freezes, the pure water separates out from the brine, expelling the salt. So when the ice melts, it produces fresh water. The Eskimos used to use this as their drinking water.”

The other three exchanged strange looks.

“Old man, we’re in opposing camps,” the flat-topped man said with open contempt and disgust. “You think I’d believe a word you say?”

Cheng Weicai froze for a moment, then hastily waved his hands. “I’m not making it up — using ice is genuinely worth trying. Yes, we’re in opposing camps, but things haven’t reached a life-or-death stage yet. We can compete perfectly well in a cooperative spirit…”

“He’s not lying.” The bearded man cut Cheng Weicai off, his tone calm. “Using the ice outside, you really can obtain fresh water. But how to melt the ice is the problem. As you can all see, there’s nothing combustible here besides ice. How are we supposed to make a fire?”

The problem before them was practical and clear.

Whether for obtaining fresh water or keeping themselves warm, their first priority was the same: start a fire!

“It’s very cold. Everyone hold onto your seeds, then spread out and look around — see if there’s anything useful in this castle.” The bearded man said, “If there’s nothing inside, we may have to go outside to look for supplies.”

The flat-topped man frowned and glanced at Cheng Weicai. “And the old man…?”

The bearded man gave the flat-topped man a light pat on the shoulder, his expression meaningful. “I think this old gentleman had a point — things haven’t reached that stage, and we may as well compete cooperatively. Let’s work together for now. At the very least, we need to make sure we don’t freeze to death in the next 6 hours. Don’t you agree?”

The flat-topped man’s expression was uncomfortable as he looked away. “Ah… right, yeah. Anyway… first let’s figure out how to start a fire. Otherwise, before we even compete over who can grow roses, we’ll all freeze to death.”

Cheng Weicai looked around. “Indeed, starting a fire is quite the challenge.”

—