Font Size:
Vivi skimmed through the earlier updates but focused her attention on the event details. Events in the game were notorious for being both time-intensive and resource-heavy, yet they offered enticing rewards. Players often cursed the developers while grinding through events to earn the top-tier prizes.
She ignored the flashy microtransaction packages that popped up and opened the event description:
“A mysterious magician, Mr. C, has chosen to stay in Gotham to help its citizens prepare for the Children’s Festival on June 3rd. While much of the groundwork is done, there’s still a lot to accomplish, and some unconventional methods will be necessary. To bring joy and satisfaction to Gotham’s residents and visitors, Mr. C has introduced magical tools. Complete tasks to earn even more rewards.”
“This is magic, not sorcery.”】
Vivi raised an eyebrow as she read through.
“Wait a second… this event doesn’t seem designed just for me,” she murmured.
Take Event Three, for example. The age restriction barred her entry entirely, and the description hinted at city residents completing tasks like entertaining “Mr. C” projections, beating circus animals, exploring cabins, or battling tin soldiers. While they earned their rewards, she would still gain event tokens. In essence—
“This event encourages more citizens to join the game. The more they participate, the greater my rewards,” Vivi realized. “Makes sense—it’s a citywide festival. How can one player celebrate alone?”
The event token, Sparklers, was currently at zero. With 1,320 diamonds on hand and theoretically unlimited gold coins, thanks to her “human ATM,” she needed to gather her first Sparkler to unlock the event store. Without wasting another moment, she exited the login space and re-entered the game.
June 1st, 00:27:29.
South Hinckley remained quiet and desolate. The night deepened, heavy clouds hung low, and a chilling wind rustled the leaves. Rain was coming.
The girl perched in the tree looked startled. She touched the trunk, pushed aside some leaves, and climbed higher. After a moment, she shook her head, jumped down, and curiously bounced on the ground a few times before crouching to inspect a cracked stone slab.
She seemed like someone regaining their sense of touch for the first time—though no patient recovering from numbness would move with her agile grace.
Summoning her white horse, the girl reached for the saddle but abruptly redirected her hand, hugging the horse’s neck instead. With a broad smile, she buried her face in the horse’s mane, inhaling deeply. As the rain began to fall, she and the horse made their way to a nearby old church. Inside the empty sanctuary, she drove a metal pipe straight through her own chest.
In the next instant, another identical version of herself materialized, catching the collapsing body. The fallen body shimmered and transformed into a pale woman with black hair, gray eyes, and a monocle. The woman clung to the standing girl’s neck, and though silent, their locked gazes seemed to communicate something. Moments later, the woman turned back into a lifeless corpse.
This was, of course, Vivi and her new “disguise,” Daisy.
After activating her new Daisy persona, Vivi triggered a guidance mission directing her to meet students at the presidential suite of the Wayne Hotel by 5 PM on June 1. However, Daisy came with severe limitations—her health drained steadily, even while standing idle. If she ran out of health, it wasn’t much of a problem; Vivi could simply re-equip the monocle to “re-summon” Daisy. Still, this persona seemed useless for the current task.
So, Vivi shelved the monocle, switched back to her “Mayor” identity, and appointed “Vivi White” as the interim mayor of South Hinckley.
The appointment was… absurd, to say the least.
At just 18 years old, Vivi’s identity had barely over a month of documented history. She had no political experience, making her rise feel like the equivalent of a high schooler next door suddenly becoming the town’s mayor. Yet the order went through without much resistance.
Why? Because Anna Alek, the current mayor of Gotham, was riding a wave of high public approval. And South Hinckley was a place everyone wanted to avoid—a ghost town in the making, with a reputation so bad that its residents were fleeing en masse. Moreover, appointing a mayor to such a remote town didn’t require council approval, so long as the locals didn’t strongly object—and right now, no one cared enough to.
Vivi saw an opportunity to leverage South Hinckley for her goals, particularly to complete the five pre-event tasks that had just refreshed.
Glancing at the church walls, she pulled out her trusty hammer.
The townspeople might not have cared who the mayor was, but the GCPD officers stationed there certainly did.
These officers, temporarily assigned to South Hinckley after the criminal raids, didn’t have warm feelings toward the locals. Resentment between the two groups ran deep, but the patrols continued as mandated.
Sam, the temporary leader of the officers, wasn’t exactly a “good guy”—in Gotham’s police force, true paragons of justice were rare. But he had his limits and was clever enough to adapt when necessary.
When Mayor Alek came into power, Sam watched cautiously. He saw her swiftly clean house, removing deadweight cronies and lazy officers while showing leniency to minor offenders and tossing the more notorious ones into Blackgate Prison.
Whether it was for her political image or a sense of justice, it was clear Mayor Alek had no tolerance for corruption or crime.
Sam, a survivor of Gotham’s rough politics, adjusted accordingly. He didn’t aim to stand out; staying error-free was enough. After all, who knew how long this mayor would last in Gotham?
When he learned that South Hinckley’s new interim mayor was Vivi White—a girl younger than his own daughter—he paused but quickly accepted it.
Although the vigilante “Nightwatch” had never officially revealed her identity, anyone paying attention knew her name. But knowledge wasn’t power in this case. Knowing her name didn’t mean you could use it against her. So, people carried on as if they didn’t know—besides, she still occasionally pulled down her mask to maintain her “anonymous vigilante” persona.
No law prohibited a vigilante from being a mayor, and South Hinckley’s situation didn’t exactly invite scrutiny.
Sam maintained a neutral expression as he led his officers to an open clearing, where they found the young girl waiting. He recognized her immediately—he’d seen her on one of Gotham’s signature “Colourful Trees” just an hour ago. Now, every one of his ten officers received a hammer-and-nails toolkit.
“Hmm…” the girl mused aloud. “These hammers are for dismantling South Hinckley’s public buildings. One hammer per person. While you’re at it, remember to reassure the townspeople. Even though most of them have sold their homes and are about to leave, we won’t demolish any occupied houses just yet.”
She paused, giving Sam a pointed look. “Make sure your officers register their hammers with Captain Sam here. When the work’s done, I expect every hammer returned. If one goes missing…” Her gaze sharpened. “Well, Captain, I’ll have to hold you accountable.”
Ensuring tools didn’t go missing was well within Sam’s capabilities, but the implications behind the girl’s words left his mouth agape. He asked, “There are over four thousand buildings in South Hinckley, and we’re only twelve people. That’s about three hundred buildings per person…”
How could this possibly be done in a short time? It would take a demolition crew of hundreds working for half a month to finish!
“Don’t worry, the Iceberg Construction Company is on their way,” Vivi glanced at her watch. “But South Hinckley is pretty remote. Even with the roads fixed, it’s still an hour or two by car. In the meantime, since you all look like you’ve got time to kill, why not lend a hand?”
She tossed her hammer lightly in the air and pointed upward. “Start with the ceilings on the top floor. Nail in a spike first, then break the walls.”
This method was developed by the Iceberg Construction Company using special tools. Vivi’s hammer was designed to destroy walls efficiently based on the force applied, causing the entire section to disintegrate and leaving minimal debris to clean up. However, not everyone had the physical strength for such precision work. By nailing a spike into the wall, it created a cohesive “structure,” and when hit with the hammer, the entire wall would crumble into ash—streamlining the demolition process.
As Vivi explained, Sam’s pupils narrowed. He glanced around at the surrounding buildings and froze.
This wasn’t just any small square.
This was South Hinckley’s only church! And now, it was an open square.
Vivi wasn’t intent on leveling the entire town—she was simply completing her event tasks.
Event Tasks:
The event shop featured limited-time items, including special small gadgets and the essential [Building Blocks], an upgraded version of building blueprints. With Building Blocks, Vivi could instantly construct specific structures needed for her plans: for instance, 1/5 of an elementary school, 1/7 of a charity hospital, or even the event-required “Strange Circus.”
To ensure the event proceeded smoothly and earn currency to purchase these blocks quickly, Vivi was racing against time to demolish South Hinckley.
One by one, the town’s Gothic-style buildings vanished. Stone gargoyles perched on high walls descended to her side. Vivi stroked one of the gargoyle statues on its neck and murmured,
“It’s okay… maybe Gotham didn’t like these buildings anyway.”
For a player, tearing down old structures and replacing them with new event-unlocked ones was hardly a big deal. Driving out residents who no longer belonged and attracting a fresh wave of newcomers? That was just optimization.
Checking her map, Vivi noted that the remaining families of the imprisoned residents were still fast asleep, with no emotion bubbles above their heads. It made sense—apart from the noise of the officers’ cars, the demolition itself was surprisingly quiet.
June 1, 5:00 a.m.
Lisa had been up early, urging her family to get ready. They’d planned to leave South Hinckley—and Gotham—for good.
She vaguely remembered it rained all night. Stepping into the dewy morning air, she opened the front door and—
Lisa screamed.
EasyRead[Translator]
Just a translator :)