Chapter 4: The Celestial Sanctuary

Fana first took a stroll around the virtual network and noticed there was a spot for running small businesses. She made a mental note of it.

Suddenly, she thought of the last book, a Mary Sue novel, so she searched for it on the virtual network as well.

To her surprise, she actually found it. The novel was written by someone with the pen name "Alyse." According to the page description, it was a book that had been completed for nearly ten years.

The novel was not very popular right now, but Fana noticed it had accumulated a lot of comments, which meant it had sparked plenty of discussion and had been a hit in the past.

Could writing novels like that make money? Fana bit her lower lip, a hint of excitement in her expression.

She had dabbled in writing novels when she was younger, but she gave up before things really took off.

Father and Mother Vesper did not give her an allowance, so she had to earn her own money, and it would take a month or two before a novel started generating income.

But the virtual network here was different. Even though it would not be available for readers to subscribe to in the early stages, there were ad revenues and attendance bonuses upfront.

As long as she kept up a daily update of four thousand words, she could get six hundred coins each month as an attendance bonus.

As for ad revenue, it was unstable, sometimes high, sometimes low, but the money was settled daily and would hit her account by eight in the morning the next day.

Why not give it a try? A thought crossed Fana's mind.

She browsed the virtual network some more and was amazed to find there was no piracy here at all. Everything was on legitimate sites.

But after looking at the basic genres and the leaderboards, Fana felt a bit overwhelmed.

Most of what was written here was stuff like "Claimed by the Overbearing Commander" and "This Vanguard Is Mine," all of it reeking of that thick Mary Sue vibe.

It was not that Fana could not write that kind of story, but she was not familiar with the outside world right now.

In fact, Fana had very little life experience.

So even if she wrote something now, it would feel detached from reality, leaving readers confused and unable to follow.

After some thought, Fana decided to set the idea aside for now, but what other ways could she make a living?

She racked her brain and could not come up with anything, and on top of that, she was starving.

She had been in this world for about five hours now, so being hungry was only natural, but she did not have a single coin on her. That was the real problem.

Plus, Fana had always had low blood sugar. If she got even slightly hungry, she would go dizzy and lightheaded, unable to think straight.

Just then, Fana suddenly felt like she had been electrocuted. Her whole brain went numb, and her consciousness blanked out for a split second.

A second later, she snapped back to her senses, but there was something strange lodged in her mind.

"Detected a strong desire in the host. Energy has peaked, meeting the system's activation threshold."

"Beginning binding. Binding successful."

"Beginning activation of the Celestial Sanctuary System. Activation successful."

"Now entering. Entry successful."

The scene around Fana shifted instantly. Just a moment ago, she had been in that simple but clean temporary reception center, and now she was standing in a patch of farmland.

"Welcome, host Fana Vesper, to the Celestial Sanctuary System. Please claim the plant seed you most want to eat." The system's voice was distinctly feminine, soft yet firm, and Fana could not help but obey.

A floating box appeared right in front of her. When Fana opened it, there was actually a strawberry seed inside.

No way. Strawberries.

Fana stared at that sesame-sized seed and got lost in memory.

Before she turned six, Father and Mother Vesper had not managed to have a son yet. She was their only child.

Back then, even though the couple was dissatisfied, they still treated her, their sole daughter, fairly well.

Almost all kids are fascinated by strawberries, the seasonal and scarce fruit.

Fana was no exception.

But Father and Mother Vesper were still stingy back then, so she only got a box of strawberries to eat each early summer.

After Loris was born, Fana never saw strawberries again.

No, that was wrong. She just never got to eat them.

Whatever Loris wanted, Father and Mother Vesper gave him. Strawberries were practically available in three seasons at the supermarket, and as long as Loris wanted them, he would always get them from Mother Vesper.

As for Fana, the older sister, all she could do was trim the strawberry stems for him.

Thinking about it, Fana felt nothing but sourness in her chest.

Whether it was heartache or the tart taste of strawberries from her memories, she could not say.

"Fana, don't look back. You should look forward." She lowered her head and whispered to herself.

When she lifted her head again, there was no sadness left in her eyes, only a full sense of hope.

She gripped the strawberry seed, her gaze more determined than anyone's.

"Player has obtained the Frostwyn strawberry seed, a beginner-friendly strawberry variety. It features vigorous growth, abundant flowers and fruit, large berry size, good disease resistance, and a range of other traits. Flavor is average."

After introducing the strawberry variety, the system explained how to cultivate it.

Strawberry seeds need to be germinated and sprouted first. Fana bought a free seedling tray from the system shop and followed the steps the system provided, sowing seed by seed.

After working for most of the day, Fana finally got the strawberry seeds planted. Once she watered them, all she had to do was wait for them to sprout.

A trickle of water flowed from the bottle into the seedling tray, and the black soil immediately turned damp and soft.

Almost instantly, green sprouts burst out.

Fana could feel the vibrant vitality, and then her whole body seemed to lighten.

Half a minute later, the strawberry seedlings had grown three leaves.

The system reminded her, "The seedlings have reached the transplanting standard. Please transplant them promptly."

Fana snapped out of it and quickly bought a free little hoe from the system shop.

She loosened up that small patch of soil. Actually, she had done this kind of work before.

Back when Father and Mother Vesper had their son Loris, they dumped her off with her grandmother in the countryside to focus entirely on taking care of the boy.

Fana spent three years in the countryside, and during that time she often followed her grandmother out to do farm work.

She had never actually done the digging and transplanting herself, but she had watched her grandmother do it many times.

After turning the soil, she piled up several rows of ridges and then planted the seedlings at a spacing of four inches between each strawberry plant.

"The host has completed the first planting. Rewarding ten attribute points. Keep up the good work. The strawberries will enter the flowering and fruiting stage in five hours. Please be patient." After saying this, the system fell silent.

Fana quickly began studying the attribute points.

She opened her personal information panel and soon found the attributes section.

This system divided personal attributes into six categories: intelligence, endurance, Arcane Will, martial power, agility, and vitality.

Fana's initial values were: intelligence four, endurance two, Arcane Will three, martial power zero, agility one, and vitality one.

She thought for just a moment before starting to allocate points. First, she added three points to vitality, then three points to martial power, three points to agility, and saved the final point for Arcane Will.