A Sandbox Game Connecting All Dynasties

After the death of the grandmother who had raised her, Yan An received an enormous sum in compensation, enough to ensure she would never have to worry about food or clothes for the rest of her life.

She no longer needed to go to the outer city to kill zombies and dig up crystal cores. She stocked dozens of cases of nutrient fluid at home, ready to lose herself in sandbox games until the end of time.

But then a System calling itself "Connected to All Dynasties" showed up at her door, babbled a bunch of incomprehensible things, and issued a pile of baffling quests.

Yan An frowned.

Qin Shi Huang? Never heard of him.

Li Shimin? Who's that?

Liu E? Doesn't ring a bell.

After learning there would be no punishment for refusing to do the quests, Yan An simply blocked the System on her end and went back to building her home in immersive mode, enjoying the pleasures of farming.

What could the System do?

It had no choice but to fend for itself, using the tiny bit of energy it had left to project its Host's sandbox game into all the dynasties.

After assigning each of the twelve time periods to one of the twelve planes, the System dutifully began completing quests on its Host's behalf.

*

At the foot of Mount Tai, a goddess appeared in the mortal world.

Her wheat ripened in five days and nights, her cows could give birth to four calves in a single day and night, and that was not to mention the chickens that laid eggs constantly, the sheep with coats of many colors, and even the moving iron men.

But the goddess was aloof. She ignored even the emperor when he came in person. Her spirit pets, however, were lively:

Want to learn about the future? First prove you're a good emperor.

Want the goddess's grain and iron? Ahem, don't get ahead of yourself. Get this System's favorability high enough first.

During the zi hour, Ying Zheng learned from a divine beast that the Qin dynasty would fall after just two generations, and flew into a rage.

During the chou hour, Liu Che learned from a divine beast of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing's achievements, and was beside himself with joy.

During the yin hour, Deng Sui learned from a divine beast that there would be female emperors in the future, and fell into deep thought.

During the mao hour, Cao Cao learned from a divine beast that the Five Barbarians would ravage the Central Plains during the Western Jin, and grew troubled.

Chen, si, wu, wei, shen, you, xu, hai.

The rulers left the goddess's dwelling, some happy and some grieving, and history quietly took a different course.

*

During a boring day spent idling above an automatic mob farm, Yan An accidentally opened the System's collection module:

Deliver a letter from an NPC named Zhu Yuanzhang to another NPC named Zhu Qiyu, and get a [Iron Certificate of Merit of Dubious Effectiveness]?

Can't go wrong with free stuff.

Could give it a try.

Give 500 wheat blocks to an NPC named Ying Zheng and get a [Dagger from the Map of the State of Yan]?

A little pricey.

Guess I'll need to build an automatic farm.

This NPC named Liu Che wants to trade his daughter to me for one iron block?

Who do you think you're talking to? I'll give you ten!

Wait! Human trafficking is illegal!

*

According to historical records, the Goddess of Mount Tai protected all living things, and the realm enjoyed peace.

1. The twelve planes are those of Ying Zheng, Liu Che, Deng Sui, Cao Cao, Li Shimin, Wu Zetian, Zhao Kuangyin, Liu E, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Qiyu, Xiaozhuang, and Yongzheng.

2. All dynasties mentioned in this story exist in parallel timelines.

3. The female lead is a native of a wasteland planet in the interstellar era and knows nothing about history.

Theme: When the realm thrives, the people suffer; when it falls, the people suffer