Chapter 245

Chapter 245: Chapter 242:

On December 3rd, this post surfaced at the very top of the World Forum.

Since the homepage was filled with posts like , , , and , this particular post stood out awkwardly when it surfaced.

In Server 298 of the Main God Space, Hubert, who was taking a brief break in a coffee shop, noticed the post.

His main job at present was data analysis.

In his spare time, he also paid close attention to the trends on the World Forum, aiming to acquire frontline information as soon as possible.

Posts like this, such as , , and so on... these posts were plentiful, visible almost every day. Although the solutions they proposed were usually nonsense with little practical value, they still appeared quite frequently.

But the popularity of this post... seemed somewhat unexpected, being unusually high.

He clicked on the post and saw a video clip at the top.

It was a screen recording from a live stream, and on the screen was that classic view of the Sixth World. He could recognize it at a glance because it was from the player’s first-person perspective, with the dark corners nearly blocking the view and the Underworld’s red glow being very noticeable.

Hubert took a sip of his coffee, opened the video, and immediately saw a series of comments floating across the screen:

...Number One Player?

Hubert’s interest was immediately piqued. He turned off the comments that were obstructing his view and focused on the video.

The screen record came from the first-person perspective of the live stream and was likely recorded by an audience member.

The recording captured the entire process of Number One Player defeating Flax, starting from Flax’s initiation of action.

Hubert glanced at Flax’s combat power.

points.

Although he had expected it, his heart still quivered when he saw that number again.

Indeed, this was a boss that, if placed among ordinary players, couldn’t be overcome even by hundreds of them. A City-Destroying Level existence.

The Flax boss was something most players had encountered.

Instances restarting were still a minority; few players would foolishly go out at night to attack the one-shot kill light points. Thus, their current progression in the game had mostly reached the fourth day.

As for the Flax boss that appeared on the second day, many players chose to attack it directly. The data department had conducted statistics; from their monitored scope, players who attempted to attack Flax and got involved in the boss fight overwhelmingly ended in annihilation, with the remaining players either going insane or dying.

As for non-annihilation outcomes, some players had triggered a Hidden Line and successfully persuaded Flax, thus avoiding total destruction.

But there was not a single case of defeating Flax in a direct confrontation.

...Let alone defeat Flax singlehandedly in a head-on battle.

Hubert sipped his coffee as he watched the recorded screen, the coffee growing colder by the minute, and his heart raced more violently with each passing moment.

The beginning was quite normal. He didn’t understand the "High Tower Invitation" that rang out, but based on recent analysis by the Lighthouse group, it should be a type of compulsory combat contract skill, very similar to the Time Domain that Edward possessed.

Energy Suppression and Spatial Vibration skills didn’t surprise him either; the skills that Number One Player had were all within their analytical predictions.

Up until now, everything had been within his expectations.

Hubert took a sip of coffee – this was a specialty black coffee for recreational players, no sugar added. Although it was bitter, it helped him stay exceptionally alert while working.

As the coffee traveled down his throat, it brought a slight heat with it. The rich aroma spread in his mouth, and he watched the center of the recorded screen out of the corner of his eye. In the footage, the air was beginning to boil.

He savored the taste in his mouth and then saw a bright red pop up on the screen.

"Pfft—"

"Cough cough cough..."

He coughed violently, nearly unable to catch his breath. Coffee slid down his chin in a most ungraceful manner.

"What are you doing, Hubert?"

A playful female voice came from behind him, and a lock of blonde hair floated into his field of vision.

Qiao Liya leaned over and suddenly saw his state, letting out a snort of laughter.

The beautiful blonde lady swept back her hair, revealing an extremely charming smile: "I didn’t expect you to lose your composure like this, Hubert. This is not like you."

Hubert hit the pause button, wiping his chin and making sure there were no mistakes in his appearance. He then reconfirmed the numbers on the pause screen.

As if he hadn’t noticed Qiao Liya at all, his gaze was fixed on that absurd number, his breathing slowed down.

"Are you watching this battle video?" Qiao Liya looked up: "Oh... this recorded footage has been quite famous lately. If it weren’t because I was considering your workload, I would have shared it with you promptly."

"2109 damage, 1700 Combat Power against 2000 Combat Power!" Hubert immediately flipped out a formula from his tablet, and started calculating: "...How is it possible, how can someone deal over two thousand damage. With 2000 Combat Power suppressing 1700, some damage should be reduced, how could it possibly strike over two thousand damage."

His electronic pen paused, and on the tablet, a clear number appeared circled in red.

"By this calculation, Number One Player... he must have at least 200 Mentality Points," Hubert murmured unbelievably, "No, that’s not right... How could it be 200 points? That exceeds our previous estimates by more than forty points..."

Qiao Liya pursed her lips: "Maybe it’s his Occupation Skill. Magic Series Skills have bonuses. In reality, his Mentality Points might not be as much as you calculated."

"...Yes, you’re right." Hubert quickly regained his composure, adjusted his decorative glasses slightly, and the shock in his eyes gradually faded: "...I still find it hard to believe, over 2000 points of damage. If we don’t consider Combat Power suppression, this strike would have damage bonuses that could instantaneously eliminate almost all players at this stage..."

"Surprised?" Qiao Liya blinked her eyes: "Isn’t it quite normal for Number One Player to instantly eliminate other players?"

"...These players include at least those ranked after the top fifty," Hubert said: "Without special props, no one could withstand it."

"Can my dear Eni do it?"

"...If he can’t dodge, probably not."

"What about Miss Mizushima?"

"Without a doubt, she can’t."

"And you?"

"Don’t joke about me, Qiao Liya."

"An expected answer," Qiao Liya’s fingers twirled the ends of her hair.

Hubert didn’t pay her any more attention and continued watching the playback.

The playback continued to play, and the boss’s health had dropped to 53% after that earth-shattering strike.

The next moment, Shadow appeared.

Shadow extended a hand, the same skill used once again——

With a "snap," Hubert pressed the pause button again.

Qiao Liya stood by the side and sighed, "Shocking, isn’t it? When I first saw it, I thought 2000 damage was scary enough, but I didn’t expect him to do it again..."

"Combat Power assessment was incorrect," Hubert said. "It’s time for the United Group Player Information Record Committee’s stuff to be updated."

"Tell me," Qiao Liya raised her voice slightly, "if in the future they launch an instance that involves a battle royale of hundreds of players, do you think Number One Player can withstand a thousand on his own?"

"...He can’t."

Hubert thought for quite a while before arriving at this conclusion.

He opened a folder marked on his tablet, entered a password, pressed his fingerprint, and then clicked on a file pinned at the very top.

The name of that file was——.

When the file displayed, the first thing that appeared was Su Ming’an’s name, followed by United Group’s value estimation and skill analysis of him.

Hubert stared at for a while, decided to quickly draft a new report, and asked his superiors to start revisions immediately.

While typing, he said, "Although theoretically, no ordinary player can withstand a single attack from him, his limit still exists, and it’s very clear."

"Mana Points?"

"Correct," Hubert nodded. "For ordinary players, Health Points are their lifeline, but for Number One Player, Mana Points are his true lifeline.

As long as his Mana Points remain, under Energy Suppression and Spatial Vibration, other players can hardly approach him unless they use specialized targeting skills.

Even if they did get close, they might be blocked by his high-health Cloning state.

But if the Cloning is lured away, or his Mana Points are depleted, then he, with his extremely low health, becomes very easy to deal with for the enemy.

And in detail, there are far more than one way to defeat him, in fact, opportunities are everywhere..."

He scrolled down the post and saw the details of this .

Su Ming’an stood with a flashlight in hand, pondering by the wall.

He’d roughly figured out the game progression of the Sixth World.

The game progression of this world should basically be divided into two routes.

The first one is the obedient line, which requires the players to listen carefully during the day, not disobey the NPC teachers’ orders, and act according to their rules. If they hold on until the fifth day, they can pass successfully.

This should be the simplest and safest route, likely the choice of the vast majority of players.

Of course, there’s a risk. If they can’t hold on until the fifth day and get driven mad by the bewildering acts of various teachers, then all is lost.

The second one is the escape route, where players need to work hard to raise Dong Xue’s favorability, get the flashlight from her, and then see the escape route hidden under the wallpaper. During the nights of the third or fourth day when the teachers are away, they have to kill the other students, get the props from them, acquire the passwords on them, open the door, and escape.

This is a relatively riskier route. If a player is confident in their Force and believes they can kill the other students and obtain all of the passwords, they might be inclined to choose this one.

As for Su Ming’an...

He’s like an upgraded version of the second route.

Firstly, he doesn’t need to raise Dong Xue’s favorability; she willingly gave him the flashlight. Secondly, he killed the second day’s teacher Flax early on, causing White Sand Paradise to be understaffed.

He doesn’t have to wait until the third night; he can start his escape now, which is more than a day ahead of the normal escape route.

"Big advantage there."

Su Ming’an switched off the flashlight and went to the other students’ rooms to inspect the props of the deceased, one by one.

When he had killed them earlier, he hadn’t paid much attention to the identity props they dropped, like plush toys, dolls, or cherry blossom replicas. After killing them, he had just stashed the items under their beds, but now, examining them one by one and tearing them open, he saw numbers inside.

Not all identity props had numbers; after checking them all, he got five digits, which should be the five-digit code needed to open the door.

...So, this instance is truly like the Underworld.

Su Ming’an had originally thought the conflict between "Doctor" and "Student" was all the PvP content of this instance, but he did not expect another hidden layer here.

If in other parallel instances a player suddenly spots the clue under the wallpaper, in their pursuit of the passwords, they might suddenly strike, killing others unexpectedly to get their dropped props.

...It’s just that he acted too fast,

before getting this clue, he took the initiative; now there’s no need for extra effort.

He memorized the code, hurried to take one last tour of White Sand Paradise to see if there was anything he hadn’t discovered.

When he visited the library, he found that the sixth floor was open.

According to the previous progression, they weren’t supposed to open an additional sixth floor on the second day. Now that it’s open, it indicates a trigger mechanism for the Escape Line.

Normally, the sixth floor would be accessible on the third day.

Su Ming’an’s pace was much faster than the others.

He went up to the sixth floor and found Mo Yan and a little girl student named Suzune already searching for things to take.

...This is a big darkroom.

The windows were nailed shut with thick planks, the iron nails protruding, with not a glimmer of light seeping through. Inside, a very dim light was on, seemingly on the verge of going out.

Rows of chairs were neatly arranged on the wooden board, above each hung a circular headband, with white wires connecting the headbands to the power strips below.

The headbands were stained with spotty blood traces and substances resembling brain matter, and beyond the headbands, many needles were scattered across the floor.

The light was too dim, so Su Ming’an turned on the flashlight to see the paintings on the wall, which were about electroshock therapy. The illustrations showed a child smiling in the midst of electric currents, with parents clapping and smiling at the side.

The imagery is pale and morbid.