Chapter 271

Chapter 271: Chapter 268: "The Magnificent World

Dark clouds amassed at the edge of the sky, completely obscuring what had been a clear day.

People on the street only had to look up to know that it was definitely some damned character messing with that hemp-structure virtual reality system again.

Before they could start cursing, the rain poured down suddenly and relentlessly, before they even had a chance to open their umbrellas.

"Shit!"

"We should find a security guard to drag away those who mess around blindly. Now, even any Tom, Dick, or Harry can play with this system..."

"Wait, over there at the street corner, that looks like..."

The gathered crowd quickly dispersed, their complaints stopping in their throats.

They scattered as if running for their lives.

...Because a red figure had appeared in the middle of the street.

The person wasn’t wearing red; they were drenched in blood, making their entire body appear a bright red. An intense smell of blood emanated from their body, a scent that came not just from the blood itself but also from the aura of blood around them.

It was an aura as if they had killed many people.

Rainwater streaking down their clothes mixed with the light red, spreading slowly on the ground in a growing stain.

They limped along, blood from their leg washing away in the rain, even their white shoes speckled with blood.

"Damn it, must be an adventurer player who has just returned... The adventurer players returning these days are all madmen..." In a corner of the street, a female casual player who had just escaped quickly dialed the United Group’s number.

To be "available to assist players at the first opportunity," the United Group had spent points to set up a telephone service that any player could use to contact them.

Now faced with a madman covered in blood, the first instinct of the people was to seek help from the United Group, as natural as calling the police on Zhai Xing, a natural reflex.

They had gradually become accustomed to the United Group’s role in maintaining public order.

"Hello, this is the United Group." A gentle female voice came from the other end, instinctively endearing to the caller.

"The United Group? I want to report an incident. In Main God Space Zone 209, (coordinates), there’s a mad adventurer player who has just returned, covered in blood..." The woman reported immediately.

Even though people knew they couldn’t be attacked directly here, the sight of a madman instinctively frightened them. After all, who knew whether these madmen might carry a few explosives in their backpacks or have a few packs of poison ready?

Now with no security checks or guards, if someone went insane, they as casual players couldn’t defend themselves.

Hearing the woman’s report, the United Group operator immediately informed her to evacuate and reassured her that someone would soon arrive to handle the situation.

The woman, reassured, relaxed a little.

"You guys better handle this properly. We are genuinely afraid of these returning players now..."

She rambled on and quickly left the street.

Meanwhile, on the street, many people, just like her, fled the area as if avoiding a terrorist.

The man soaked in blood stood in place, his gaze vacant.

In the downpour that covered everything, he suddenly felt he had nowhere to go.

"Why, why is everyone avoiding me?" he murmured, his eyes full of disbelief.

Hadn’t he just returned from the most dangerous front lines?

Hadn’t he just survived a terrifying ordeal, and had barely breathed in the fresh air from the streets?

Why, why were these people, these people he protected, these idle folks, shunning him like he was a criminal?

His heart filled with festering resentment, his fists gradually clenched tight.

He stood in the rain without a word, until he saw a man in a military uniform adorned with silver stars approaching him.

Among all the people who avoided and steered clear of him, this man with the silver stars was the only one who walked against the crowd towards him.

"Hello, I’m Yang Changxu from the Wanli Troops."

The man with the silver stars extended his hand to him.

The man lifted his head in a daze and reached out, clasping hands with the cold and firm palm.

"Thank you for your contribution to humanity’s overall points," the soldier named Yang Changxu bowed, "Humanity’s hero, welcome back, and thank you for your valiant struggle."

Hearing Yang Changxu’s words, the man blinked in some bewilderment.

In his original world, his kind of person lived at the very bottom, like vermin. Spending the days in a drunken stupor without accomplishing anything, even the neighboring auntie looked at him with disdain.

But now, right now...

A neatly dressed soldier approached him, bowed, saluted, calling him...

"Humanity’s hero."

A spellbinding emotion surged in his heart, as if a giant door, never before opened, was now swinging open towards him.

"The United Group’s Psychological Department has prepared a grand homecoming ceremony for heroes like you," Yang Changxu said with a smile, "At the same time, you’ve just come back and need rest."

As he spoke, he extended his hand in a very friendly manner, "You should come with me first."

The man couldn’t help but extend his hand, letting the soldier lead him towards the teleportation formation.

...He was a hero.

The man savored the implication of Yang Changxu’s words repeatedly.

In such a world, a person like him... could also be called a hero.

How wonderful.

It seemed his decision had indeed been the right one.

People needed someone like him... needed a "hero" like him standing on the front lines, fighting for points for humanity.

He closed his eyes and a smile appeared on his lips.

Rain washed over his body, and his head, which had been in severe pain from long-term mental torment, felt as if it were soaking in warm water.

He let the soldier in uniform lead him away from this place.

After the two had gone, the people who had been hiding gradually showed their faces.

"...Finally gone, that guy," an auntie spoke up.

"Exactly, it’s good that the United Group arrived on time."

"If you ask me, these Adventurer Players should first be observed by the United Group for a while before being released back. I’ve seen several covered in blood. Don’t they change their clothes?"

"They might have already become immersed in it, that kind of world, addicted to illusions; it’s not surprising."

"I just worry that one day one of these people will grab some explosives and blow us up, they all look abnormal..."

"Let’s not talk like that; after all, they are also front-line players..."

"But really, they should make a proper distinction. I’m afraid that these Adventurer Players might suddenly go mad... And when our points target is reached, I won’t be able to see the day."

People talked among themselves, gradually dispersing.

The rain washed away the blood on the ground, and the diluted reddish stains flowed into the drainage.

As if nothing had ever happened.

[1. On the evening of December 14 at 20:00, the "World-Level Auction Event" will open to all players! Invitations have been sent to each player’s email, so please check your inbox.

2. The upper limit for secondary occupation players has been opened up to level five.

3. New items in the shop!

In the new version, the Main God Shop will offer a batch of new equipment to Adventurer Players.

4. The main interface layout adjustment, live broadcast room function adjustment, and added some game background music and sound effects.

5. More special identities have been opened, more information can be explored by players themselves.

6. The Eighth World—the summit world for Number One Players will open after the end of the Seventh World, when the betting will be reopened, and other players can place their bets freely.

Looking at the post that was blatantly staked at the top of the World Forum, with several annotations like "essence", "sticky", "hot", Su Ming’an finally understood what Noel meant by "interesting update announcement."

...The overall announcement layout was like that of a third-rate online game, lacking attractiveness and leaving many important points completely unclear, seemingly compiled by some high-dimensional being.

However, from a surface point of view, much of the information notified in the announcement was already known to him, and there were no changes to the rules of the game instances themselves.

This announcement, rather than an "update", was more like a "notification". It was to tell them—these players who had just returned and were completely confused—what important events had taken place in Main God Space.

For example, the World-Level Auction on the 14th. Was this a global event organized by the organizers? Open to all players...

Su Ming’an noticed the "Invitations have been sent to each player’s email" mentioned in the announcement and opened his email.

"Ding dong ding dong ding dong—!"

Accompanied by a series of jarring sound effects, like a machine gun, "dong dong dong" echoed in his ears as red dots bounced out on the email interface, and the number quickly shot up to 99999+.

If it weren’t for the fact that 99999+ was the maximum display value, he doubted this number could have soared into the billions.

Email was the only way to contact him directly without adding him as a friend; anyone could send a message by typing in his name, but, given this terrifying order of magnitude, it was impossible for him to accurately see any individual’s message.

Many people were just like throwing a letter into the sea, sending him an email in the hope of trying their luck, maybe he would have time one day, randomly pick one out, and see theirs.

As it happened, Su Ming’an had time today.

He first looked at the system messages, sure enough, he saw two messages marked "Auction Invitation" and "Special Easter Egg Reward".

He opened the invitation first.

The screen shifted, and a physical letter slowly appeared in his hands.

[Respected No. 1 Player:

The "World-Level Auction Event" organized by the World Game organizers will be held in grandeur at 20:00 on December 14, 2021, at (coordinates). This auction will feature six items, each supplied by the organizers.

Organizing Unit: World Game Organizers

Participants: All one billion players

Bidders: Adventurer Players

Auction location: (coordinates)

Methods of Activity: 1. The auction will be conducted by a person appointed by the organizers, who will display images on-site during the auction and provide a brief description of the items. The types of items may include: props, equipment, special identities, pets, followers...

2. Bidders can only use Points for bidding. If you need to use props or equipment, please exchange them in time before the auction starts.

3. Bidders may only use Adventure Points for bidding (excluding points given among players within instances). Points from Casual Players and Lifestyle Players cannot be used for bidding.

4. Casual Players and Lifestyle Players can come to the auction site to watch the process. The auction house has prepared ample seating. The auction will also be streamed live.

5. Once a bid is successful, the bidder must not renege on the deal, otherwise, the organizers will deal with it seriously.

6. After the auction ends, an on-site selection and commendation will be conducted.

7. The final right of interpretation of the above rules belongs to the organizers.]

Su Ming’an looked towards the "selection and commendation" mentioned in the seventh rule.

...For some reason, he felt that this commendation seemed filled with malice, instantly reminding him of that malicious award ceremony at the end of the Fourth World.

However, from this invitation, it could also be seen that the points of the Adventurer Players now seemed very important. If nothing unexpected happened, those who had the qualifications to truly participate in the bidding would be the more than twenty million players who survived.

Moreover, the vast majority of them probably didn’t have the economic strength to participate.

After all, for nearly half of the players, it was difficult for them to complete the advancement tasks, let alone achieve a Perfect Pass. Their live broadcast rooms were not very popular either. Even if they survived one world, the points they earned were only a hundred or two at most.

And most of these people would have squandered all their points at the end of the world before last, with only those points earned from the Sixth World available for unforeseen events.

Su Ming’an glanced at his own 741 points.

He was fairly certain that at this auction, he was the one with the most points.

So, what to buy, and in what order to buy, became an important question...

He opened the second system email and obtained the Special Easter Egg Reward.

As usual, he allocated the free Attribute Points. As for the evolved skill, Su Ming’an chose Surveillance Eye.

He had initially picked this skill because of the "Weakness Insight" skill that could be acquired after its evolution, as stated in the description.

The red stone shattered in his hand, turning into a stream of light that drilled into the Skill Bar. When he opened the Skill Bar, he saw the updated information.

[(Purple Grade) Carry-over Weakness Insight (second evolution):

Skill one (Clue Insight): Passive Skill. In a non-combat state, it will automatically provide the player with the location of key clue points within the field of vision. (Minor clues and some hidden clues will not be indicated.)

Skill two (Dynamic Insight): Passive Skill. In a combat state, it will constantly provide the player with a "Weakness Insight" status, highlighting enemies’ weak points in red. Players striking at these weak points will significantly increase the chances of a critical hit.]

Upon reading the description, Su Ming’an understood the immense value of this skill.

It could significantly reduce the players’ exploration time, almost like giving them a cheat for finding clues. He no longer needed to worry about missing overly concealed clues.

Even without the Dynamic Insight from skill two, this Purple Grade skill was tantamount to a Divine Skill. As a non-combat Divine Skill, it had a god-like utility in exploration-type instances.

After collecting the email reward, he glanced at the sea-like volume of email information. The sound of receiving emails still tinkled incessantly in his ear; even at such times, many people were persistently sending him messages.

The information fluttered before his eyes like snowflakes, and he couldn’t help but be curious—what on earth were these people writing about so persistently, knowing full well he wouldn’t read the emails?

He couldn’t help but pull out a random email from the flurry.

[Yue Ze Sweet Bow Yao: Zhai Xing is heading towards destruction... almost irreversible. Born to die, all things from the earth shall also return to the earth, what the world has given us, we must ultimately return...

There is no hope for humanity, and I, insignificant as dust, on such a night, listening to this song, what am I really contemplating... Number One Player, do you know? Perhaps God just likes to watch us full of regrets. The song knows how sad I am, the pillow knows, but you do not...]

Su Ming’an: "..."

He regretted opening the message.