As moonlight shifted, Noah quickly found the key person for the first wish—Shifan.
"Researcher Shifan, I came specifically to find you."
"Jinzhou hero? Uh, may I ask what you need from me?"
Shifan scratched his head, somewhat puzzled. Noah didn't rush to answer but looked around left and right, finally calling over another researcher not far away:
"That researcher over there—yes, you, the one with the parted hair—come here for a moment."
As that researcher approached, Shifan visibly stiffened.
The parted-hair researcher finally came closer and introduced himself graciously:
"Hello, Jinzhou hero. My name is Jiuli. May I ask what you need from me?"
"Today, I'm here to act as a mediator to resolve the misunderstanding between you two. I hope you'll both give me some face."
Noah stood between the two and slowly began:
"Once upon a time, there were two close friends who both shared a passion for researching Echo technology."
At these words, both Jiuli and Shifan held their breath simultaneously.
"Due to an accidental mishap, one persisted, leading to the other's hand being injured, no longer able to operate precision instruments."
Shifan lowered his head, trembling slightly.
"The one who made the mistake felt immense guilt inside, not knowing how to face his friend, and chose to evade, avoiding his close friend ever since."
Jiuli looked stunned, incredulously turning to Shifan.
"Little did he know, his close friend never blamed him and had even been silently watching over him all along."
Shifan shuddered all over, lifting his head to look back at Jiuli.
"I've said my piece; the rest is up to you two."
Noah shrugged and quickly left, though he actually found a corner to hide and secretly watch their actions.
He saw the two start chattering and arguing, then suddenly Jiuli heavily punched Shifan before pulling him up from the ground.
During this, words like "even" and "reconcile" were heard. The two made up, chatting about topics related to "Echoes."
The first wish was resolved.
Some people say on the surface they want to die, but deep down, they crave being loved.
This Shifan was exactly like that—burdened with guilt after making a mistake, too afraid to face his close friend, yet always yearning to reconcile.
Seeing a complete resolution, Noah left satisfied.
As a noble player familiar with the plot, he had no intention of waiting for Xiangli Yao to parse the remaining wishes one by one before slowly completing them.
His style was all about speedrunning.
Time passed slowly, and Xiangli Yao finally contacted Noah proactively:
"The second wish has been parsed. It's an old grandma who lost her son, feeling even more sorrowful seeing everyone reunite during the Moon-Chasing Festival, hesitating whether to reunite with her son in the other world."
The next second, Noah sent Xiangli Yao a photo—of an old grandma chatting happily with two Midnight Rangers.
"Huh?"
Xiangli Yao froze in place.
"This wish is already resolved. The grandma's son was once an instructor in the Midnight Rangers; the team members he trained are chatting happily with the grandma right now."
Noah enthusiastically explained:
"The grandma saw things left by her son, felt deeply touched and comforted, no longer harboring thoughts of death."
"As expected of the Jinzhou hero—such high efficiency. Then I'll continue parsing the next wish."
Xiangli Yao praised, then resumed his busy work.
Not long after, he called again:
"The third wish is parsed too—it's a child who longs to awaken Resonance abilities and wants to become a hero."
As soon as he finished speaking, he received another photo from Noah—of three children playing happily with Noah.
"Kids should act like kids. I told them: study more, read more news, eat fewer snacks, sleep more—and you'll become a hero."
"Maybe I was too convincing."
"They believed it!"
"..." Xiangli Yao's mechanical hand tapped on the virtual keyboard, producing a row of 666.
Even as a genius, he couldn't understand how Noah completed others' wishes so efficiently.
Perhaps this is the gap between people, Xiangli Yao thought silently:
He needed great effort to help fulfill others' wishes, but for Noah, it was just casual everyday stuff.
Clearly, these three wishes weren't the cause of the anomaly in the assistant robot Patty.
So, only the last wish remained.
"You've worked hard, Noah. Let's stop here for today. The final decoding needs time; it might not be resolved until tomorrow."
"Alright, remember to call me tomorrow."
Xiangli Yao's gaze focused as he fully concentrated on decoding the last wish.
With the Moon-Chasing Festival approaching, he only hoped all the beautiful wishes in the Moontree Lodge would come true.
Moonset, sunrise—a new day.
The first communication Noah received wasn't from Xiangli Yao but from Chixia:
"Noah, Noah! You've been to the wish-making tree, right? What wish did you make? Has it come true? Uh, probably not that fast."
Suddenly, Yangyang's voice came from the other end: "Chixia, just put the things over here."
"Okay, Yangyang. Noah, it's super lively here—listen!"
Just like how on Blue Star, families gather on New Year's Eve, the Grand Library's Moon-Chasing Festival has a corresponding Moonlit Fair to celebrate.
Somehow, Chixia made the terminal transmit the bustling street sounds:
Baizhi: "Need to confirm the trigger program a few more times, but I think I just saw the Magistrate... wearing very girly clothes... was it an illusion?"
Jianxin: "Shop owner, will anyone really come drink our tea on Moon-Chasing Festival? Oh! Free tea, huh."
Verina: "My flowers!" (sound of vase breaking)
Zhezhi: "Sorry sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you."
Linyang: "Awoo."
Noah couldn't help but chuckle, nodding in approval:
"Indeed lively."
"Right? Jinzhou rarely has peace—everyone's been saving up energy for this Moon-Chasing Festival. There's even a dragon dance tonight!"
The terminal seemed to be passed over suddenly, replaced by Yangyang's somewhat flustered voice:
"Why give it to me... I wasn't ready... um, Noah, how's your day going? Tonight, everyone and I are waiting for you here."
The terminal was passed again; there was a moment of silence, then Baizhi's consistently cool voice:
"If possible, please come early. Everyone has prepared for this Moonlit Fair for a long time."
"No problem!"
With that response, the terminal finally hung up.
Hearing Chixia and the others' enthusiastic descriptions, even Noah—who had repeated many quests—couldn't help but feel renewed anticipation for tonight.
Moon-Chasing Festival, Moonlit Fair, reunion.
It really would be a very lively night.
If this world weren't disturbed by Threnodians, Noah felt he would love it here.
No—even with Threnodians in this world, he still loved it here.
So—he absolutely couldn't let Threnodians destroy the peace here.
A determination called protection quietly took root.
[Daily Quest: "Unforgettable Tonight"]
[Quest Description: In a post-apocalyptic world, peace is like flowers blooming on ruins—precious beyond measure. In the years to come, will you often look back on the full moon of this night? (Use camera to take photos 0/10).]
[Completing the quest rewards: Astrite *800, Shell Credits *10000.]
The current sound rang again; Noah answered the communication.
"Noah, do you have time to come to the Moontree Lodge? The fourth wish has been successfully parsed."
"No problem."
Noah agreed immediately:
"I'm in a hurry tonight to join Yangyang and the others for the Moonlit Fair, so—just one word—"
"Speedrun!"