Makoto knew Qiqi had a poor memory, but he didn't expect it to be so bad.
She had forgotten what she had just said in an instant.
To help Qiqi remember, Makoto picked up a piece of amber and wrote their names on the ground.
"Your name is Qiqi, and my name is Makoto," he said.
"If you can't remember, you can look at the names I wrote on the ground."
Makoto didn't know what script Liyue used centuries ago, nor if Qiqi could understand it, but this was the only method he could use at the moment.
Fortunately, Qiqi could understand their names.
She stared intently at the writing on the ground, repeating the two names over and over again.
It was clear the little zombie was really trying hard to remember the names.
Finally, Qiqi looked up at Makoto and said seriously, "I remembered it… Your name is Makoto… My name is Qiqi… Qiqi… didn't forget this time…"
Joy shone in little Qiqi's beautiful eyes.
She had finally remembered the names!
As she spoke, little Qiqi reached out to try and write their names, but she unexpectedly found her body was very stiff.
Not only could her limbs not bend, but even her fingers couldn't move normally.
It felt as if her entire body was encased in ice, frozen and deprived of all sensation.
"Why… Qiqi… can't move… Hands… no sensation…"
Qiqi tilted her head, her clean, bright eyes filled with confusion.
She probably didn't understand what was happening to her, why her body couldn't move after waking up.
Seeing this, Makoto patiently explained, "Because Qiqi is a zombie, that's why your limbs can't move normally."
Little Qiqi didn't understand what a zombie meant; she only vaguely realized that she was no longer human.
"Zombie… Qiqi… is no longer human…?"
Qiqi was a zombie and couldn't make expressions on her face, but Makoto could clearly feel that Qiqi was very sad.
Little Qiqi lowered her head, her beautiful eyes dull.
Although Qiqi had lived for thousands of years, her mind remained at the stage of a child.
For a child, all of this was too cruel.
Makoto couldn't bear it and immediately comforted her, "Although Qiqi is a zombie, you can eat and sleep normally every day."
"As long as Qiqi does calisthenics every day, her body will slowly return to normal, and then there will be no difference from humans."
In the game, Qiqi needed to do flexibility exercises every day to improve her flexibility.
Makoto didn't know how to do flexibility exercises; he only knew calisthenics.
The two should have similar effects.
Qiqi looked up at Makoto, softly repeating, "Do calisthenics… Qiqi will be… no different from humans… Really?"
Seeing Qiqi's mood improve, Makoto continued, "Yes, come on, Qiqi, follow me and do calisthenics."
As he spoke, Makoto demonstrated for Qiqi.
Stretching exercises, chest expansion exercises—the sixth set of middle school calisthenics.
As the exercises continued, Qiqi's beautiful eyes gradually regained their brightness.
Her limbs were no longer as stiff as before; she could now move them slightly.
Qiqi could now simply raise her hands and spread her fingers.
Her little feet could also wiggle slightly.
The situation was much better than before.
"Thank you… Makoto… Flexibility exercises… Qiqi… likes them…"
After a while, Qiqi looked up at Makoto and asked seriously, "Can zombies… be friends with humans?"
"Qiqi… wants… friends… Qiqi wants to be friends… with Makoto…"
Qiqi had been sealed in amber for too long, so she was afraid of being alone again.
And the first person she saw after waking from the amber was Makoto.
Coupled with Makoto teaching her flexibility exercises, she wanted to be friends with him.
Looking at the innocent Qiqi, Makoto nodded seriously, "Yes, I am willing to be friends with Qiqi."
"From now on, Makoto and Qiqi are friends, good friends for life."
Facing such a cute and pitiful little zombie, Makoto had no reason to refuse.
Qiqi's voice was filled with joy, "Qiqi… has a friend… Now… someone can talk to Qiqi… That's great…"
For a moment, Makoto felt a little touched.
He had only taught Qiqi how to do exercises to move her limbs and was willing to be friends with her, but he hadn't expected little Qiqi to be so happy.
Just then, Makoto heard the system's voice in his mind.
"Detected Qiqi's friendship with the host has increased from level 0 to level 1."
"Congratulations to the host for obtaining one intertwined fate, and at the same time, an additional reward: a five-star artifact, Sands of Eon, Gladiator's Finale."
Makoto was not surprised by the increase in Qiqi's friendship.
Because little Qiqi had been too lonely when she was sealed in amber before, having a friend now could make him happy for a long time.
Soon, Makoto skillfully opened the inventory interface to check the newly acquired artifact.
Due to his gaming habits, Makoto always subconsciously checked the artifact's sub-stats.
Crit DMG +26.3%
Crit Rate +14%
Elemental Mastery +23
ATK +16
Looking at these four sub-stats, Makoto couldn't help but sigh that his luck had finally turned.
All four stats were effective stats.
How could it possibly roll badly???
Immediately after, Makoto turned his attention to the main stat.
The main stat of the Sands of Eon was no longer a fixed stat, but rather divided into ATK, HP, Energy Recharge, and DEF.
Makoto hoped that the main stat of this hourglass would be ATK.
At the very least, it should be HP or Energy Recharge, right?
However, when Makoto saw the three large characters "DEF" written on the main stat, he almost broke down.
I have a phrase I'd like to use, but I don't know if I should!
It's like he can't escape DEF in this life, is that it?
Makoto thought he had finally escaped his bad luck and entered a phase of good fortune.
Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, he would become the unluckiest again?
Such are the ups and downs of life…