MC World.
Inside Ryen's manor villa.
Ryen was leisurely fishing while basking in the sunlight.
At this moment, his calmness felt as though all the troubles of the mortal world had nothing to do with him.
Ganyu and Ningguang sat beside him, quietly watching Ryen doze off.
This kind of idle, absent-minded time, enjoyed once in a while, was unexpectedly soothing.
Lisa was inside the villa counting materials.
Hu Tao was looking after Klee and Nahida, bringing them to play in the garden.
Hu Tao was the kind of person who could always get along perfectly with children.
At the moment, only a few of them were at the manor villa.
As for the others…
They had all gone out to play.
Zhongli had taken Xiao and the others to the grasslands to ride horses and hunt.
Venti had dragged Diluc, Tartaglia, and several others off to play Bed Wars.
Speaking of Bed Wars,
Ryen had noticed that everyone in the MC world seemed to spend all their time either exploring or clearing land, which honestly wasn't all that fun.
That really didn't fit the richness and diversity of the MC world.
Even if they planned to build cities and accumulate civilization later on, shouldn't there be some entertainment facilities as well?
After giving it some thought, Ryen decisively brought out various special MC PvP combat modes and fun gameplay designs.
Bed Wars was the first one.
Although Ryen hadn't enabled any new mods,
Bed Wars actually didn't require mods at all.
As long as the arena was built well, not just Bed Wars,
Sky Wars, The Bridge…
He could build all of them.
He even planned to construct a real-life CS battlefield.
A massive arena where each participant would carry a Totem of Undying, paired with redstone technology, once the totem triggered, the player would be instantly kicked out of the battlefield.
Compared to ordinary real-life CS…
The only difference was that Ryen's version used real weapons and real bullets,
and could genuinely kill people…
But that wasn't really a problem.
His Totem of Undying farm produced hundreds of totems every day.
They had already piled up into entire rooms full of chests.
Not to mention, there were also Totem of Resurrection.
If death wasn't permanent, seeking a little thrill wasn't a bad thing.
Otherwise, everyone kept saying that exploring the world with him felt like taking an open-book exam,
no difficulty, no tension, no excitement.
Did they want excitement?
Fine, he'd build it himself.
Of course, for now, the real-life CS battlefield was still just a fantasy.
Not because Ryen couldn't do it,
nor because he didn't want to.
The real reason was,
The moment he brought it up, he could already imagine Ningguang and the others' reactions.
"Even if we have plenty of Totems of Undying, how could such precious items be wasted on unnecessary entertainment?"
"That's too dangerous, Ryen! People could really die! How can you treat life like a joke?"
"Are you going to let us sit aside while you risk your life for fun? That's completely irresponsible!"
Ryen didn't even need to think about it, he knew they would never agree.
At home, and even in this world, Ryen usually had the final say.
But when it came to Ganyu and the others,
their opinions were ones he would always listen to.
Fortunately, Bed Wars had already been fully built and perfected.
The location was over the sea near Mondstadt's First Base.
An aerial Bed Wars arena,
participants were only allowed to carry a wooden stick and a Totem of Undying.
No armor was permitted.
A simplified version of Bed Wars.
Still, Venti and the others were having an absolute blast.
Almost every day, they gathered people to compete.
At peak times, more than a hundred people would join, divided into six factions.
Even if someone was knocked off, they would simply fall into the sea,
no danger to life.
Bed Wars had become the most popular game in the MC world.
Even someone as composed as Zhongli participated quite often.
Venti had even asked Ryen whether there were other Bed Wars maps,
he had practically memorized the aerial one by now.
Ryen casually handed him several design blueprints.
Venti was already planning to mobilize manpower to build several new Bed Wars maps.
Although Bed Wars was the most popular and had the highest participation,
it wasn't the only thing Ryen had designed.
Parkour courses, pursuit games, exploration challenges…
All of these entertainment activities had been rolled out.
Their popularity was also quite high.
At the very least, after working during the day,
the stationed troops would often gather in small groups to go play together.
At this point, the biggest change in the MC world was perhaps how much more diverse its entertainment had become.
Aside from that, Cloud Retainer and the others seemed to have found their own form of entertainment.
Building.
After spending a long time studying MC construction,
they were no longer making crude "matchbox houses."
That said, aesthetically speaking, their buildings still weren't particularly pleasing.
But that fit perfectly with Ryen's future plans.
In Teyvat, it was rare to have games that were immersive, thrilling,
yet carried no real risk of death.
But in the MC world, such entertainment was plentiful.
If things truly developed the way Ryen envisioned,
games like Bed Wars would definitely make the MC world even more vibrant and lively.
As for the new city Ningguang and the others were building on the grasslands,
Ryen had checked on it.
For now, only the Millelith had moved in,
but it could still be considered a city.
It already felt quite lively.
He was satisfied with it,
but he hadn't let Ningguang and the others continue expanding it yet.
They still had to wait until Guizhong mastered more redstone technology.
Next time, they would build a truly modern city.
Lost in thought, Ryen felt the fishing rod in his hands suddenly dip.
With a casual pull, a medium-sized ornamental fish leapt out of the lake.
He tossed it into a nearby bucket and cast the line again.
The movement stirred the half-asleep Ganyu.
She groggily opened her eyes, glanced over, then rolled over and leaned against Ryen, falling asleep again.
Ryen couldn't help but chuckle.
Suddenly, his vision went dark as familiar hands covered his eyes,
and a familiar voice sounded in his ear.
"Guess who I am~?"
Ryen rolled his eyes and complained,
"You're the only one who plays such boring games, and somehow never gets tired of them!"
"Tch… couldn't you at least guess before complaining?"
"What an uninteresting person! Has Morax influenced you or something?"
Guizhong walked up to Ryen with her hands on her hips, cheeks puffed out as she glared at him.
"You weren't this lifeless before!"
Ryen lazily shrugged.
"You have to pick the right moment. I'm fishing right now, cultivating my temperament."
"You're just bored, that's all!"
Guizhong rolled her eyes at him. Without any restraint, she plopped herself down beside his legs, resting her chin on his thigh as she muttered,
"How much longer are you going to fish before you play with me?"
Ryen couldn't help laughing, helplessly replying,
"I only just started fishing. Besides, how are you so carefree? Ping'er and the others are handling serious work. What about you? Didn't you say you'd properly study redstone technology…"
As he spoke, Ryen reached out and grabbed Guizhong's wrist, glanced at it, and complained,
"You went dragon-riding around Liyue Harbor again, didn't you?"
"Hehe… dragons need to be walked too!"
"You just wanted to show off."
Ryen shook his head, then asked softly,
"How's your redstone research coming along?"
The moment redstone was mentioned, Guizhong's enthusiasm immediately flared.
She lifted her chin proudly.
"What level do you think I'm at? All those redstone mechas, automatic harvesters, redstone tanks and planes you gave me, I've figured them all out!"
"They're child's play. I even came up with new redstone city rail systems and automated elevators on my own."
"Later, I plan to test them in the new grassland city. That's fine, right, Ningguang?"
Ningguang, who was handling documents nearby, nodded slightly and smiled.
"As long as you don't completely destroy the city, do as you please."
"Deal!"
Guizhong grinned happily.
"Give it some time, and I'll show you the true power of Lady Guizhong, the youthful, invincible genius prodigy!"
Ryen chuckled and was about to say something when Guizhong suddenly leapt up and snatched the fishing rod from his hands.
"Let me try! I've been watching you forever, and you haven't caught a single fish!"
Ryen rolled his eyes.
"Nonsense. I caught one just before you showed up. What do you take me for, Zhongli? Fishing all day just to reel in dozens of rotten flesh?"
Guizhong gave him a look full of disdain.
"You're not much better! Ten casts, nine times you catch something that has nothing to do with fish!"
Ryen shrugged.
In the MC world, who actually fishes for fish anyway?
Everyone's really fishing for enchanted books.
Perhaps it was Ganyu sleeping nearby granting some luck, or perhaps Guizhong truly had a bit of fortune.
Not long after she took the rod, it twitched.
Guizhong's eyes lit up. She yanked hard, then instinctively stepped back, tripped over Ryen's chair, and fell straight toward him.
Ryen sighed, reaching out to catch her and pull her into his arms.
"I've told you eight hundred times already, just lift gently when you reel in. Why do you always use so much force?"
Guizhong snorted, not particularly bothered by the slightly embarrassing position she was in.
"Then where's the fun in fishing? Fishing is about battling the fish!"
She glanced at the enchanted book hanging from the line, clicked her tongue, and casually tossed the rod aside.
She patted Ryen's hand and muttered,
"Let go of me. I'm going to research my new skills!"
If it were Hu Tao or Ningguang, Ryen definitely wouldn't have let them go without holding them a bit longer.
Even if Yae Miko dared crawl into his arms, she'd get thoroughly ruffled.
But this was Guizhong…
Ryen simply pushed her upright, gave her a light pat, and said softly,
"Keep it down. Don't cause too much trouble. And don't use abilities that consume too much elemental power. It's my vacation, I don't want to end up following you around again."
Guizhong pouted unhappily.
"Being able to follow Lady Guizhong, the youthful invincible beauty, is the dream of countless people, and you talk like that!"
"Hmph! Fine then, I'll go find Ping'er!"
She stomped the ground heavily a few times on purpose.
Out of the corner of her eye, she waited expectantly for Ryen's reaction.
But he simply raised his hand and waved lazily, not even turning his head.
"Take care."
"Ugh! You're awful!"
Guizhong glared fiercely at his back before finally leaving.
Ryen returned to his fishing, casually pulling Ganyu into his arms so she could rest more comfortably.
Ningguang put away her documents and glanced at Ryen, somewhat helpless.
"I always feel like… the relationship between you two might–"
Ryen understood what she meant, but he wasn't worried at all.
He replied casually,
"There's nothing like that. Guizhong and I share pure camaraderie, comrades-in-arms, kindred spirits in the pursuit of art, brothers bonded stronger than gold. You're overthinking it."
Ningguang smiled faintly, gazing at Ryen with a thoughtful look.
"Is that so?"
Ryen answered calmly,
"What else would it be?"
Ningguang said nothing more, only shrugged.
"…Let's hope she thinks the same."
~~----------------------
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