Morning arrived like a soft exhale over the broken village.
Mist clung to the ground in pale ribbons, and the far fields glimmered under it—wet, cool, and waiting. Birds circled lazily overhead, as if surprised to find life moving in a place they had already given up on.
Jin Haoyang stood from where he'd slept—back sore, pajamas wrinkled beyond redemption—and inhaled deeply. The air tasted of damp soil and old wood. A world both hostile and heartbreakingly beautiful.
Beside him, the three children stirred, rubbing sleep from their eyes. Liang Shan was already halfway up, stick in hand as if guarding in his dreams. Liang Yue folded blankets with serious efficiency. Ping'er clutched her doll and blinked at the world like it was something she needed to evaluate before accepting.
The System hovered unseen at Haoyang's shoulder, flickering with energy like a mischievous candle flame.
"Morning, Host," it purred, smug. "You survived another night. I'll add a gold star to your imaginary chart."
Haoyang muttered under his breath, "You don't have a chart."
"I can make one," the System replied, smugness intensifying. "A cosmic-grade sticker board. Very prestigious."
Haoyang ignored it before any of the children noticed he was talking to thin air.
Liang Yue approached. "Young Lord, do you want water?"
"Yes. Thank you," Haoyang said, accepting the ladle she held out.
The water was clean, cold—his handiwork from yesterday. The memory of restoring the well flickered through his thoughts like a small flame.
Liang Shan fidgeted. "Young Lord… what do we do today?"
Haoyang looked over the village—the fallen beams, the empty homes, the fields overtaken by weeds. There was so much to fix. Too much. But not doing anything wasn't an option.
He crouched, drawing a rough square in the dirt.
"Today," he said slowly, "we start organizing."
Liang Yue blinked. "Organizing?"
"Yes," Haoyang said. "Every village needs structure. Even four people."
Ping'er saluted with her doll. "I can do anything!"
The System snorted from where only Haoyang could hear it. "Incorrect, but I admire the optimism."
Haoyang hid a laugh.
He pointed at Liang Yue. "You're good at keeping track of things. You'll manage our supplies. Everything we have goes through you."
Liang Yue stiffened—not with fear, but pride. "Yes, Young Lord."
He pointed at Liang Shan. "You'll handle scouting and collecting anything useful. But stay close. Don't push too far."
Liang Shan straightened. "I can do that!"
"And Ping'er…" Haoyang glanced at the tiny girl who was trying to tie her hair and failing. "…you will be cheering support."
Ping'er puffed her chest out. "I'll cheer the hardest in the world!"
"Perfect," Haoyang said, smiling.
The System murmured, "Your delegation skills are improving. Admirable. Still chaotic, but admirable."
Haoyang responded internally: We're doing the best we can with what we have.
The gremlin hummed approvingly.
They set to work.
Haoyang inspected damaged structures, carefully lifting collapsed beams without showing inhuman strength. Liang Shan gathered fallen branches and old tools. Liang Yue boiled and cleaned the jars they'd found.
Ping'er marched around waving her doll like a battle flag.
By midmorning, the air warmed and the mist burned away. The ground felt less like a graveyard and more like a site under reconstruction.
"Host," the System whispered privately, "your domain initialization is underway. I can optimize your planning. Just ask."
Haoyang rubbed the back of his neck. "Give me environmental data. Quietly."
A faint overlay appeared only to his eyes—contour lines, soil density, water flow patterns, structural weaknesses. Haoyang knelt and used a stick to sketch a series of simple diagrams into the dirt.
Liang Yue drifted to his side. "Young Lord… what are you drawing?"
"A plan," Haoyang said. "Where houses should stand. Where fields will grow. Where paths will go."
The girl studied the lines carefully. "It looks… organized."
"That's the idea."
Liang Shan jogged over, carrying a half-intact ledgerbook covered in dust. "Young Lord! Look what I found!"
Haoyang accepted the brittle book. The pages inside listed grain tallies, supplies, even taxes—last updated decades ago.
"This was a registered farming village," Haoyang murmured.
Liang Yue's eyes widened. "You can read that?"
"Enough," he said. "This ledger will help us track things."
Ping'er tugged at his pant leg. "Young Lord… why track things?"
"So we never lose our place," Haoyang said gently.
Her eyes softened with understanding she didn't yet fully grasp.
He rose, inspecting the half-cleared farmland.
The System spoke again: "Host, the soil is viable. With irrigation and tools—not currently available, mind you—you can restore yield."
Haoyang spoke aloud only what made sense to the children.
"We can plant here. The soil is good."
Liang Shan nodded eagerly. "We'll have food again!"
Liang Yue bit her lip. "But… Young Lord… can just the four of us do all this?"
Haoyang crouched to meet her gaze.
"We don't need to finish today," he said. "We begin today."
Something in his tone made her shoulders straighten.
Ping'er ran circles around them. "We're gonna make a big home!"
Haoyang ruffled her hair.
He then pointed to the crude diagrams he'd drawn. "These will be the foundations. Roads. Storage. Water routes. We'll build gradually."
Liang Shan frowned lightly. "But nobody taught you this."
Haoyang smiled faintly. "Let's say I learned from somewhere else."
The System whispered smugly, "Host is gaining mystique points."
By afternoon, they had cleared a large enough section of field to begin work the next day. Liang Yue's supply list was neatly organized.
Liang Shan returned with a few more useful scraps. Ping'er, proudly exhausted, fell asleep holding her doll like a warrior who earned her rest.
Haoyang carried her into the newly repaired hut and laid her gently inside.
When he stepped back out under the reddening sky, the System glowed at his shoulder.
"Host," it said quietly, for once without teasing, "you've completed the foundation stage."
A panel appeared—
[ STATUS DOMAIN SANCTUARY PROTOTYPE ]
Radius Stabilized : 200 li
Population : 4
Moral: Rising
Structure : 3 restored
Agricultural Field : Pending activation
Next Text : Establish sanitation & long-term water routing
Reward : Tier-1 Resource Package + Basic Construction Blueprint Module + a surprise
Haoyang whispered back internally, We're not a sanctuary yet.
"Everything begins small," the gremlin replied. "Even worlds."
He stepped wide onto the central path, watching the last sunbeam fall upon the ruins. Children's laughter echoed faintly inside the houses. Lantern bugs flickered near the fields.
It was still a half-dead village.
But it was breathing again.
Haoyang pressed the ledgerbook to his chest and exhaled.
"system, what is surprise? " he ask
The little system brat smug as if it has facial face " it's a secret, if I told you its not surprised"
After confirming the system stubborn es, his gaze turn into the children again.
" We Gonna build sanitation!! " He exclaimed as like general in the battlefield.
Liang Shan, just outside the hut, looked toward him with bright eyes.
" Young Lord… whatever we build, I'll protect."
Liang Yue stood beside her brother.
"And I'll manage everything we need."
Ping'er, half-asleep, mumbled from inside—
"Cheering duty… forever…"
Haoyang's expression softened.
He bowed his head slightly.
"Then we'll make this place live again."
When the children returned indoors, the System drifted forward, voice softer than he had ever heard it.
"You're changing, Host."
"I know."
"You're becoming the thing this world forgot existed."
Haoyang lifted his eyes to the vast twilight sky.
"Then let's remind it."
The gremlin crackled gently in approval.