Chapter 223: A Brand New Life
Qi Kui froze on the spot.
She was completely stunned.
Her brain was overloaded with information in that instant.
Because she could ’see’.
She saw the blurry landscape, hidden beneath clouds and mist, receding into the distance.
She saw the white clouds.
She saw the azure sky.
In truth, she didn’t know any colors; she had only heard her sister describe them.
Her sister had told her ever since they were little.
The sky is blue, and the clouds are white.
These were colors.
Although she had never known what those colors truly meant.
Qi Kui blinked. ’Maybe I shouldn’t be crying,’ she thought.
But in that moment, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
Because she hadn’t officially entered the game yet, the tears affected her in reality, trickling down her cheeks.
Her sister, Qi Yang, saw her crying and immediately grew worried. "What’s wrong? Qi Kui?"
She had thought entering the game would be a happy occasion.
Worried, she subconsciously reached out to remove Qi Kui’s headset.
But she was afraid she might hurt Qi Kui by doing so.
She called out Qi Kui’s name gently.
Meanwhile, inside the game, Qi Kui wanted to cover her mouth and sob aloud.
The system, however, dutifully played its role as a dispassionate AI: "Hello, and welcome to the Yunzhou Continent. You are about to embark on your..."
Before the prompt could finish, Qi Kui pulled off the headset herself, forcibly severing the connection.
System: "..."
Alright, that’s understandable.
The moment she took off the headset and was plunged back into darkness, Qi Kui was no longer like her old self, who had lived in endless confusion and sorrow, unable to distinguish between night and day.
Now, she tearfully told Qi Yang, "Sister, I saw it! I really saw it! I saw the blue sky and white clouds you told me about! I know what color they are now..."
Hearing this, Qi Yang was also shocked and began to cry tears of joy. "You really saw it? You really did? This game isn’t a fake?"
Qi Kui nodded emphatically. "I saw it! I really saw it!"
"Oh my god!!"
Qi Yang never expected that the information she’d found online, which she had pursued as a last-ditch effort, would actually bring such a wonderful surprise to their family.
Qi Yang couldn’t help but scream with joy.
She was overjoyed. After her excitement subsided, she remembered that players had to log in within an hour, and she worried that this rule might also apply to Qi Kui, who hadn’t finished creating her character.
So, she urged Qi Kui to go back into the game. "Go back in and play for a little while. Log off after you’ve met other players and unlocked your Spirit Root."
She had watched Han Tian’s beginner’s guide and knew that the game would forcibly log players off during the Spirit Root awakening phase.
Qi Kui nodded obediently and logged back into the game.
Meanwhile, Qi Yang’s scream had attracted their parents’ attention.
Their mother pushed the door open and looked at the two sisters irritably. "What are you two doing in the middle of the night?"
Qi Yang turned around, and the tear-streaks on her face startled Mrs. Qi. "Why are you crying?"
"My sister can see!"
Those words hit Mrs. Qi like a ton of bricks, making her head spin. "What are you talking about? How could your sister possibly be able to see?"
Qi Kui was born blind; it wasn’t something that happened later in life. There was no cure.
They had tried many things, but their family’s financial situation was modest, so they had been forced to give up on treatment when she was very young.
For all these years, all they could do was take care of Qi Kui meticulously.
"It’s true!"
Qi Yang quickly explained to her mother why Qi Kui was able to see.
When she heard it was because of a game, Mrs. Qi, who spent her years working in her employers’ homes and had neither the interest nor the time to look at her phone, was a bit skeptical.
But Qi Yang’s expression didn’t seem fake, and the VR headset on Qi Kui’s face did look rather miraculous.
Mrs. Qi didn’t understand any of it, but now Qi Yang was saying that Qi Kui was in the game and would be out in a little while.
So, she decided to wait, half-believing and half-doubting.
After re-entering the game, Qi Kui remembered what her sister had told her about the basics and knew she needed to customize her face to start playing.
But she didn’t know how.
She had been blind her whole life, so what did she know about aesthetics? She had stared blankly at the default puppet for a long time.
Right now, even if the puppet were unbelievably ugly, it would still be more precious than money in her eyes.
The system now had a few more functions and explained the differences between several locations to her.
Qi Kui finally understood that she had to choose a place to enter.
She had never played a game before, but she knew that in this game, death was permanent.
Timid and cherishing this precious opportunity to see, Qi Kui whispered, "I... I’ll choose the Feique Sect."
This way, she would still be in the Longevity Sect, just as a disciple of the Feique Sect.
The system wasn’t surprised, but as she was about to enter the game, it gave her a subtle reminder: "You can modify your face. The Cultivation Continent is a rather appearance-focused place."
But Qi Kui really didn’t know how.
She paused for a moment and said, "Then... can you just copy my real face?"
She knew technology was advanced nowadays and figured such a thing wouldn’t be difficult.
The system replied, "It is possible, but it would expose your real-life information."
This was the same reason many players chose to customize their own faces or use a system-generated one.
In this game, it would be too easy to have your identity exposed if you used your real face. Plus, with Han Tian live-streaming all the time, it would be bad if you were recognized.
Qi Kui thought for a moment. "Then... I’ll try to change it myself."
Although it was quite complicated, Qi Kui tried her hand at the controls.
Making detailed changes was impossible for her.
But slightly altering the size of the eyes and nose was manageable.
She was supposed to be quite pretty in real life, because people around her had always praised her looks.
They just always had to add one thing.
"Such a beautiful child, but she can’t see... What a pity."
It always made her heart ache.
Over time, Qi Kui learned to avoid the topic.
The system copied her face, and when her own face appeared before her,
Qi Kui was stunned for a long time once again.
She had never seen her own face. This was the first time.
The feeling was so new.
She couldn’t tell if she was pretty or very pretty.
She just felt that the more she looked at her face, the more pleasant it became.
Then, she made her eyes a little smaller and her nose a little bigger.
She didn’t know how to do anything more.
And so, she entered the game with this altered face and the ID "Kuihua."
As soon as she entered the game, Qi Kui heard a voice by her ear.
"Huh, someone just came in?"
Qi Kui looked over nervously.
But she was soon captivated by the scene before her.
She beheld an indescribable sight.
Her vocabulary felt far too limited. She knew Braille and had learned all the adjectives.
But for some buildings, she could never truly grasp their appearance through words alone.
Until everything was laid out before her eyes in reality.
She was finally seeing a real world.
A world of light.
Qi Kui looked all around, blinked her eyes, and once again began to cry.
Her sobs were filled with absolute joy.
Unfortunately, the player in front of her didn’t see it that way.
Su Daqiang was in despair.
"I know my skin is a little blue, but I’ve gotten a lot better! Is it still bad enough to scare you to tears?"