Wasting a trip to South Hinckley really put Vivi in a bad mood.

Once the mission aligned with South Hinckley activates, she’s determined to “precisely alleviate poverty” in this backward autonomous town.

But for now, she had to rush to Bristol County.

Vivi had already selected the plot of land she wanted based on the map, and if she were to sign the contract, both Warden Bella and Vivi herself would need to be present.

So, the warden’s office “body” came into play. Using her previously stacked buffs, she controlled the body to transform into Bella and stand up, essentially running two accounts at once.

The office door opened.

The patrolling guard nearby paused, straightening up to salute.

He saw Warden Bella leading a brown-haired girl out. The girl was rubbing her eyes, so sleepy that she occasionally leaned against the warden as they walked.

Then, their six-foot-tall warden simply lifted her hand, one arm supporting the girl’s leg and the other her waist, carrying her like a child.

The brown-haired girl comfortably wrapped her arms around the warden’s neck, burying her head into the warm scarf, and quickly dozed off.

The guard kept his eyes forward, not even raising an eyebrow.

Once the pair left and the guard finished his round, his expression immediately turned gossipy.

Meanwhile, Vivi had already “logged into her alt” and hopped on her motorcycle.

The feeling was surreal. Human focus is limited, and she couldn’t control both characters precisely at the same time, so while her eyes were closed, she was controlling her alt’s motorcycle from the game interface like a virtual screen.

—It felt like she was playing VR: Moto Racing inside a holographic game.

At first, it was a little disorienting, but after some practice, she got the hang of it. She could even spare some focus to hold onto her alt’s waist, ensuring she didn’t fall off the bike.

When she arrived in Bristol County, she could focus on one character, making the other appear less like a lifeless puppet.

Vivi congratulated herself—she’d finally mastered the basics of dual-account play… though fighting monsters with two characters was still far off.

The process of buying land in Bristol went much more smoothly.

Vivi chose a spot deep within the forest at the edge of Bristol County. With her connections, she faced no obstacles, and the owner was eager to sell—

“It used to be a logging site, but old Jimmy moved to London with his daughter, and no one’s taken over since. The center lot never got replanted, and the tree roots were sold off,” the land department worker nervously glanced at the expressionless Bella, then turned to Vivi, who seemed more approachable. “If you want to buy it, Jimmy is willing to give you a rare low price. You could sign the contract tonight.”

Of course, Vivi bought it. With her title and badges, she could get the lowest price in most commercial transactions.

Plus, the forest was protected from deforestation, as it belonged to Gotham’s city government.

“Just to confirm,” she asked, “no one usually enters the forest, right?”

“Of course,” the worker replied, “there’s nothing there, and with the unguarded creek nearby, children are banned from going. These days, kids are more into video games, movies, and comics. Who still wants to go on old-fashioned adventures?”

Satisfied, Vivi signed the contract. The land now belonged to “Vivi White.”

She hurried her alt to start the car, and as they drove away, the worker scratched his head. “It’s already 7 PM… Are they really going to the forest this late?”

Excitement, maybe?

The lot was about 4,000 square meters, a bit uneven but still fairly flat. The moonlight filtering through the trees cast eerie shadows, making the surroundings look like ghosts drifting in the dark. The wind howled like they were crying.

Vivi muttered, “…This feels a bit like a horror game.”

Her alt gave her a blank stare.

Vivi rubbed her hands together and pulled out the virtual blueprint from her inventory. The blueprint appeared on the game’s map interface, and after some adjustments, she pressed “confirm.”

Materials slowly floated from her inventory—

Crystals, gold, mercury, silver, lime, wood… all of it dissolved under the soft glow and sank into the ground. Vivi stepped back, leaning against her alt as a faint outline of a building began to form.

A sprawling European-style manor began to rise, and while it was a bit out of place in Gotham’s Gothic aesthetic, it wasn’t completely mismatched.

Vivi stared at the rose-carved gates, instinctively quipping to her alt, “Looking at this gold-painted gate, I almost want to steal it myself.”

Playing this game for so long had made her think more and more like a Gotham local.

The estate was 70% garden and 30% private residence. That meant nearly 3,000 square meters could be filled with roses, and even the doorknobs seemed to carry their scent—though, at the moment, the garden was nothing but barren land illuminated by lights from the main house.

Her expression blank, she muttered, “If I have to plant these roses myself, I’m filing a complaint.”

She stepped forward to push the gate—

Huh? Push—

The gate wouldn’t budge, and a system panel popped up instead.

【Detected Game Bug】

【Detected that the “Rose Manor” is a guaranteed item from the player’s first 10-diamond draw. When the player completes the hidden side quest “First Time Building a Structure,” the “Display Window” unlocks and binds to “Rose Manor.” Currently, the “Display Window” has not been bound to Rose Manor.】

【Before building “Rose Manor,” the player had already constructed the “East District Cathedral” by hand.】

The lines paused for a few seconds, as if the loading had completed—

【Thank you, player, for discovering a new BUG during testing.】

【We will now bind your Rose Manor with a complimentary “Display Window (Replica),” ensuring your manor can never be damaged by anyone or anything.】

【Additionally, your Rose Manor has been granted the “Magic Wardrobe.” You can now return to your manor through any wardrobe, and within the manor, you can teleport between rooms via wardrobes.】

【We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and hope you continue to enjoy your gaming experience.】

After this message vanished, the door finally opened.

Vivi pushed the door open and glanced at the moon hidden behind the clouds before stepping into the softly glowing manor.

The front gate of the manor faced the forest path, with a gently flowing stream behind it. An artificially dug creek ran through the entire property, connecting to the stream. Upon entering, there was a fountain and a sculpture in its centre. Unfortunately, the areas beside the fountain that were supposed to be lined with roses were now just patches of uneven black soil, leading to the main house at the end.

Vivi paused in front of the fountain, her eyes lingering on the sculpture.

—She understood now. The silver card “Rose Manor” and the gold card “Someone’s Sculpture” were both guaranteed draws for players’ first 10-diamond pulls.

It wasn’t just the BUG notification that clued her in-game designers probably didn’t anticipate a player constructing a large building without using magic first, so the hidden quest had been tied to the manor.

Also, the designers probably lacked enough imagination to understand why, as a mayor, a player wouldn’t commission a statue of themselves in the city but instead make a statue of someone else.

As a result, the statue in the manor’s fountain… was an exact replica of the kneeling Batman statue in the city center, only scaled down.

Vivi sighed, “Hmm… Can I throw this statue out?”

【When the statue is placed in your manor, entering the manor will slightly increase your luck.】

“Well, if I ask Batman to help me train later… as long as I don’t feel awkward, it’ll be Batman who does,” she mused.

After all, it’s just displaying his statue at home. Worst case, she could blame it on Mr. C’s twisted sense of humor.

The more times she shifted the blame, the better she got at it.

^[1]TN: lol

She clicked on the land interface on the map:

【Current Land Status: Excellent】

【You are missing 32,000 rose seeds】

【The rarer the seeds, the higher the chance of obtaining rare roses】

【Normal rose types mature in about 3 days. Roses grown in the manor cannot be used for economic transactions but can be gifted or sold back to the coin shop for recycling】

【This land can only grow “roses.” Please do not try to exploit the system】

Since she hadn’t bought seeds yet, she put off dealing with the land for now.

Upon opening the manor’s front door, another prompt flashed across her vision—

【You can change and move furniture from the System-Home interface. The manor’s furniture cannot be forcibly destroyed】

【The manor rejects any illegal intrusions under all circumstances and only opens to guests authorized by the player】

Changing and moving furniture?

The manor had two floors, with an interior decorated primarily in red and gold. Rose-shaped carvings adorned most pieces, making the place elegant and grand—and all the furniture was free.

Vivi first went to the bedroom to test the teleportation feature and confirmed it worked flawlessly. Then, she sat on a sofa on the first floor, opening the interface to browse the furniture options.

She sat down.

Seven hours later, she lay in a daze on her alt’s shoulder, staring out the window, glancing at the clock.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Vivi muttered. “How is it already 5 a.m.?”

What happened to her work schedule?

What was she planning to do yesterday?

Wait, what had she even done yesterday? It all felt like a blur now.

The room’s lights were still on, and the person next to her was incredibly comfortable, but the entire manor had been transformed—

The black soil outside now had a few wardrobes scattered around, looking eerily like coffins laid out in the open. Every room, from the bathroom to the stable, had wardrobes to ensure Vivi could randomly teleport between them at will.

Meanwhile, her little horse, White, was in the stable eating grass. Balloons in various colors decorated the rooftop, windowsills, and Batman statue, while the once-luxurious interior had been replaced with soft beige tones. Vivi had converted the entire second floor into a training room, complete with a wall full of dangerous weapons.

As for the rest of the black soil…

【Coin Shop – May 5th】

【A bag of ordinary rose seeds, priced at 1 coin】

【Though ordinary, these seeds might still grow into beautiful, rare roses—just with a little luck】

Great. No need to shop online anymore.

After purchasing, the seeds appeared in her inventory. Vivi dragged them into the “Manor-Land” slot on the system interface, and the seeds disappeared. She leaned out the window for a peek, seeing the land smoothly transformed by some invisible force, flattening the surface. The map interface displayed a new prompt—

【Growing… Countdown: 71:59:55】

Vivi rubbed her neck and checked the interface and her phone, finding nothing urgent to handle.

The progress on the main quest 【Gotham Underground·Gotham Underground (Part Two)】 was at 36%, steadily increasing. At least for the new day, Vivi hadn’t received any “Oh no, Mayor, the East District has been blown up!” kind of bad news.

As for the other main quest 【City Political System · New Council】, there hadn’t been any movement. After all, Vivi was a player, not a real politician, so she wasn’t exactly brimming with constructive ideas. In her opinion, the professional NPCs were far more useful—she just needed to make decisions when necessary.

She took her alt’s hand, and the two of them walked into the master bedroom on the second floor. Then, Vivi had her alt sit down on the bed.

The overlapping interface was dismissed, and silver hair cascaded down as the alt transformed from the controlled figure of Bella into Mr. C himself under her control.

Vivi lifted her hand to hold his chin, inspecting him. His strands of hair fell slightly, and his heterochromatic gold and green eyes quietly met hers.

Vivi: “Take it off.”

Mr. C’s body was completely different from any of Vivi’s other forms—he was a mechanical puppet.

She recalled the last time Mr. C had opened his chest cavity, revealing that his internal mechanisms were powered by magical arrays.

Now, she decided to take him apart and have a closer look. If the magical array could be observed with the naked eye, then… could she replicate it?