After hearing the explanation, Pei Guang nodded. "Thanks a lot, truly. Once I finish testing the map, you can go ahead and select some reliable Heliobi to work here. I even plan to keep this map open to the public. It'll stay right here, and if you find any Heliobi you get along with, feel free to send them in to work. Though... they'll probably end up working under Tutu."
Hearing this, Tutu instantly perked up. "No problem! Leave Heliobi management to me and I'll keep everything in order. As long as they're willing to work here, I'll distribute part of the energy we generate back to them as power. How much they get depends on their effort!"
Listening to this, March 7th, who had been silent till now, couldn't help but mutter, "Ah Guang... I feel like this little one's gonna die someday. Not by us, but by some other Heliobus…"
Pei Guang said, "I think she might not get beaten to death, but hung from a streetlamp. Ahem—alright, Tutu, we'll talk about the details later. For now, go in and get familiar with the space. Don't worry, I added a quick-understanding feature, you'll know how everything works once you're in."
Tutu: "Got it~ I'm going in~"
As a Heliobus, she was thrilled. She more or less understood how Pei Guang intended to run this place. Sure, compared to her own factory, the efficiency was way lower, but compared to being locked away? This was great!
A thousand years of confinement didn't earn a single cent, but tagging along here, while it wasn't exactly free, at least there was income.
Some Heliobi may only want freedom, but she was different. As one who had transcended low-level desires, she just wanted industrialization, mass production, and efficient power gains.
With that belief, Tutu entered the map Pei Guang had created.
The entry method for Pei Guang's map was similar to that of an Echo Space, except the weekly Echo Spaces required a Trailblazer's power to enter; his map, however, could be accessed by anyone he allowed.
When Tutu entered, she discovered two maps: one multiplayer, one single-player.
After thinking for a moment, she decided to start with the single-player one. As soon as she entered, she understood what the modes were. After considering it again, she chose the single-player mode first.
After all, she was supposed to play the hunter role and scare future participants. And since she needed to extract power from their fear, as a professional Heliobus, she naturally had to understand how the mechanics worked—and figure out how to maximize power collection.
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The next thousand years, let me grow little by little right here!"
Seeing that no one was around, Tutu loosened up a little as she entered the edited map. Of course, she had no intention of disobeying Pei Guang's instructions.
After personally experiencing Pei Guang's terrifying strength, she felt that this environment was a thousand times better than being sealed up doing absolutely nothing!
Within the pitch-black map where she could only see a few meters ahead, Tutu, a Heliobus, felt quite pleased with herself.
She was a Heliobus after all: how could she possibly be afraid of a scary-looking environment?
Based on her own feedback, she actually thought this setting was very inspirational. If she ever ran off on her own again in the future, she could probably set up something like this spooky "farm" alongside her usual honey trap farms: it seemed very promising!
Just thinking about the possibility of gaining power even while sealed away made Tutu feel ecstatic. If she kept this up, by the time the Xianzhou Luofu fell, she'd have built up quite a bit of strength, enough to spread joy across the whole universe.
With that thought, she couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! My invincible journey begins now!"
Feeling pleased with herself, Tutu was suddenly interrupted by the sound of clapping. The applause seemed to be saying: "Take a look behind you."
"Hm? Someone's here?"
As a Heliobus, she turned around—and the moment she did, she saw something that made her metaphorical heart stop. A clown had appeared before her.
The moment she laid eyes on it, she felt sheer terror.
Wait a second... do Heliobi even have hearts?
The clown, seeing her frightened, took the lead and began to run: "Come on, come on, come on~ This place is so fun!"
It was strange: as she grasped the clown's intentions, Tutu, being a Heliobus, felt a strange surge of joy. But she hesitated. She wasn't sure whether following this clown was a good idea or not.
To her, this Heliobus was incredibly interesting, radiating pure joyful energy. And because she had been synthesized by Pei Guang, she could convert that joy into her own power.
Even stranger, she found the converted power was filled with happiness. The more joyful she felt, the more she wanted to play with the clown.
At the clown's suggestion, the two of them went around setting up traps throughout the place—from the outer edges to the inner layers—adding surprise boxes and jump scares along the way. The map Pei Guang had designed was originally spooky but still beatable for the average person.
But after the clown and Tutu had their fun, the place had basically turned into hell on earth. Still, it didn't matter: throughout the whole process, Tutu had never felt more alive.
The clown didn't help with any of the setup: Tutu did all the dirty work herself. And that was exactly why she felt so satisfied.
The joy she experienced from all this effort made her feel stronger than ever.
But more joy was still waiting. When they finished setting the last trap at the deepest point of the map, transforming the whole thing into a grotesque nightmare, Tutu suddenly noticed the clown's grin growing wider.
Then, the map itself changed. Fireworks of every color lit up the once-dark terrain. With the fireworks came the clown's disappearance, leaving only a floating mask staring silently at Tutu.
Even though it didn't speak, Tutu could read a single sentence from the mask:
"You make such a fun target for pranks~"
As she understood those words, the clown mask sprang into action. It opened its huge mouth, as if it was about to devour her. Tutu could sense it clearly: aside from Pei Guang, this thing in front of her was the only other existence capable of truly erasing her.
At that moment, she panicked. She had to run, had to get out of here. But just as that thought crossed her mind, the map's rules appeared in her head: to escape, she had to collect items and avoid being caught by the pursuer.
And just now, she had filled this entire map, from the outside in, with traps and ambushes along with the very thing that was now hunting her…
That's right: the thing wasn't just any random entity. It was Aha. Not Aha's full self of course, but one of his masks.
To him, Pei Guang's map was an incredibly entertaining curiosity, completely independent from the rest of the universe, with a fascinating gameplay mechanic.
Most importantly, it was a map created directly by a player. Maybe there wasn't anything exciting in it yet, but eventually it would draw in all kinds of interesting people and stories.
Leaving a mask here ahead of time? A wise investment.
Of course, before discovering something more joyous, playing with this little Heliobus was already plenty fun. What's that? Bullying?
Not at all!
All these traps were set up by this cute little thing herself~ Aha only made a few suggestions: he never laid a finger on the map~ He's just faithfully playing the role of the pursuer, without altering anything himself~