Zhou Qi’an resisted the urge to curse outright and refocused on the forum.
This was his first time logging into the Azure Blue forum, and even though the interface was outdated, everything felt fresh to him. The front page was almost entirely filled with discussions about Sacred Artifacts, followed by threads about instance entrances.
“Rice Field Wildman Mountain, Mermaid Forest… These are all real-world tourist attractions.”
Setting up an entrance was like placing a bus stop—it simply waited for people to go there voluntarily.
Zhou Qi’an carefully recalled and confirmed that Mr. Si had never mentioned how often one had to enter a instance. What if someone simply refused to go?
He searched for the keyword [entrance] and found plenty of related posts.
A year ago, some newcomers had asked similar questions, but most of the replies were mocking: Sure, don’t go. Heh, heh.
Fortunately, he finally found a more helpful response from a kind-hearted player:
[ID115588237]: Once evolution begins, if other organs fail to evolve within a certain time, the advanced organs will overwhelm the body, causing it to collapse.
That was basically like driving a heavily modified tractor on a highway—one small mistake, and you’d crash and burn.
Zhou Qi’an was reading with great interest when his vision suddenly shifted.
A red dot flashed over the message envelope icon in the upper right corner. He clicked on it and saw a friend request from an unfamiliar ID—it was from Han Li’s side.
Along with the request came a long summary of the game’s core mechanics.
Since he had a ready-made guide, Zhou Qi’an couldn’t be bothered to dig through forum posts himself.
But the very first sentence of the summary made him fall silent.
[Game staff have the ability to influence the type of instance a player enters, as long as the difficulty remains within a balanced range.]
“……”
Didn’t this mean that he might run into Mr. Si again in the future?
“Good thing no one told me this earlier.” Zhou Qi’an pressed his lips together.
Mr. Si was after the Sacred Artifacts—he would never let Zhou Qi’an go. Even if he played nice, it would be pointless.
If he had known earlier, he would have offended the guy even more thoroughly.
The most interesting part of the strategy post was a special section titled:
[Top 10 Legendary Monsters Leaderboard]
The very first sentence was highlighted in bold red, making it stand out:
Tip: If you encounter anything that might be connected to a Legendary Monster, it’s best to immediately kill all remaining players and turn the instance into a solo instance to reduce difficulty.
“That does sound like something Han Li would suggest.” Zhou Qi’an shook his head.
【#10: Black Goat】
- Ability: Hallucinations. Unlike ordinary illusions, the Black Goat can peer into the deepest desires buried in the human heart.
- How to identify: If you encounter a trial related to your hidden desires, be extremely cautious!
- Trivia: Rumor has it that Wei Yang is a distant relative of the Black Goat and holds a high position among the game staff.
Gossip too?
【#9…】
Zhou Qi’an was in a hurry to catch up on sleep, so he skimmed through the list quickly. But when he reached the end, his pupils contracted slightly.
【#2: Taisui】
- Danger Level: ???
- Ability: Unknown. It is known for its mystique. No player has ever encountered it, and the earliest rumors about Taisui came from gossip among the instance staff.
- Trivia: It is said that Mr. Si once offended Taisui and was stripped of his Mao Zodiac Fate.
- Other Mao Rabbit staff members are all addressed as Mr. Mao, but he alone must go by another title.
“So that’s why.”
Zhou Qi’an smirked. No wonder Mr. Si was so desperate for a Sacred Artifact. Was he planning to use it to get revenge on Taisui?
Taisui’s danger level might be even higher than listed—after all, no one had ever actually seen it.
【#1: Nightmare (also known as Night Terror)】
- Danger Level: ???
- Ability: Throughout history, there have been countless stories about it. Sleep paralysis is just one of its many manifestations. Nightmare can project dreams, and the range of its influence remains undefined.
- How to identify: No known countermeasures.
- Trivia: It is said that Nightmare can easily influence even the dreams of other monsters, turning illusions into reality. In a instance, anything you see—even a blade of grass or a single stone—could be one of its Nightmare Projections.
- Current Status: Missing.
- Personal opinion: Nightmare has an extremely low probability of ever appearing in the real world.
The phrase “personal opinion” was used because most veteran players would find this idea laughable.
Sure, the real world had instance entrances, but NPCs couldn’t completely pass through the tunnels. Decades of experiments had already proven this.
Even someone as unusual as Mother Zhou had originally been a real-world human, not a instance monster.
Zhou Qi’an couldn’t help but reevaluate Han Li.
That woman had no real moral compass and wasn’t particularly smart, but when it came to certain things, she had remarkable insight.
At the very least, she understood one fundamental truth:
“There are no absolutes.”
Zhou Qi’an put his phone aside. “The Nightmare’s ability might be able to blur the boundaries between reality and the instance.”
Who cares? A rookie who had just entered a instance wouldn’t be unlucky enough to face such a big boss directly. No matter how the game adjusted its difficulty, there was always an upper limit.
Late at night, when everything was quiet, Zhou Qi’an’s face suddenly turned grim.
He sat up and picked up his phone again. “I forgot to set my weekday alarm.”
…
At this moment, the real world was shrouded in night, while the game world still held onto the last traces of daylight. Meanwhile, at the connection point between the two worlds—the tunnel—there was never a distinction between day and night. The place was perpetually filled with lingering mist and countless corpses left behind.
A streak of discordant black mist blended into the white glow, spreading like smoke dispersing into dust before finally slipping through to the tunnel’s end.
At the junction between the game and reality, an invisible barrier rippled slightly before returning to stillness.
The black mist condensed into a vague humanoid figure. Just as it was about to move forward, a sound came from behind, causing the shadow to pause.
“The holy artifact appeared in Yanyang District? That saves us a lot of trouble.” A player who had just exited the instance but had not yet fully returned to the real world grinned. “Being close gives us the advantage.”
Beside him, a baby-faced man with a tattoo on his neck nodded. “I have ten thousand ways to find this person, and then…”
The two exchanged a glance, sharing a tacit understanding as a cruel smile appeared on their faces.
The other players who had exited the instance with them scattered the moment they got off the vehicle, clearly afraid of their infamous reputation.
“After obtaining the holy artifact—”
Before the sentence could be completed, the baby-faced man’s smile froze. His head would forever remain in its youthful prime.
His companion’s pupils dilated as a sudden chill crept up his neck. Blood dripped to the ground, pooling into a terrifying stream.
Two living, breathing people were gone.
On the mist-shrouded bus stop sign, two severed heads were now impaled.
The black shadow had no thoughts, no expressions. Like a puppet on strings, it reacted instinctively to the mention of the holy artifact, then mechanically continued forward.
Eventually, it drifted into a room.
The lightproof room was cluttered with books stacked all over the table.
A man, who had been resting his head on the desk, half-opened his eyes. His grayish-white pupils were sharp and icy, devoid of any human warmth.
Sensing a shadow before him, he slowly sat up, revealing an almost flawless face. He clasped his hands together and easily absorbed the black shadow.
“Qi’an…” After an unknown amount of time, the man’s throat squeezed out two syllables with difficulty.
A long-buried memory surfaced—
“My power, my memories—everything will soon be taken away.” A young man stood before him, speaking calmly. “When I walk this path again, you must fulfill our agreement and give me your Nightmare Heart.”
He had to grow as quickly as possible through another means.
“…It will be easy for you,” the young man said with a smile as he stepped closer. “Just create a Nightmare Vessel in instance 0814 and have it guard the heart. I’ll come to retrieve it.”
“No.” The man spoke in a low voice. “A Nightmare Vessel has only the desire to kill. You’ll most likely die.”
“That’s perfect,” the young man replied cheerfully. “It’ll be no different from any other monster hunting players—this way, the game won’t suspect a thing.” He thought for a moment and added, “As thanks, I’ll treat you to a movie tonight. How about the new Avatar film?”
“Qi’an.” The man closed his eyes and called his name, his voice carrying exhaustion and resistance for the first time.
A Nightmare Vessel would only inherit a small fraction of the original intelligence and strength. Even so, it wasn’t something a newcomer could resist.
Yet the only response he received was the young man’s gradually fading smile and calm gaze.
A stubborn ray of sunlight managed to pierce through the darkness, pulling the man out of his memories. He slowly reached for his chest.
After a moment, he let out a breath of relief. “Three years… You finally took it?”
For three years, he had dreamed countless times of the young man—stripped of his memories and power—dying at the hands of the Nightmare Vessel in various ways.
The three-year deadline had come.
But the nightmare scenario didn’t unfold.
The young man remained the same.
And the Nightmare Vessel had been run through.
·
The next day, 7:30 AM.
After going through his morning routine like a ghost, Zhou Qi’an retrieved a brand-new wig from his cabinet, put it on skillfully, donned his backup glasses, clipped his briefcase under his arm, and bit into a red bean bun as he prepared to head out.
A comfortable life made people more tolerant.
Ever since he got a car, Zhou Qi’an noticed that his mother’s urge to push for marriage had dropped—by a precious one percent.
It had been a full twelve hours since she last threatened, If you don’t get married, you’re done for.
His relatively good mood plummeted the moment he arrived at the office.
His coworker, who was eating breakfast at his desk, widened his eyes in shock upon seeing him. He rushed over, blurting out a rapid string of expletives: “Damn! I thought something happened to you! First, you ran from the wedding, then you missed work—your aunt refused to report you missing!”
Zhou Qi’an glanced at him. “You’ve got a real talent for rapping.” Then he looked toward the office and gave him a knowing look.
“The boss is out meeting clients—won’t be back this morning.”
Zhou Qi’an let out a breath of relief, returned to his workstation, and sent over the proposal he had prepared earlier.
Because the person on the other end had a nitpicky personality, the responsible party kept making absurd and ambiguous demands over the phone.
A coworker nearby sympathized. “Jobs are hard to find these days. Just endure it. HR hired a new intern today, but since we’re short-staffed, they sent him out for fieldwork.”
At 6 PM, when it was time to clock out, the boss still hadn’t returned, so no one dared to leave—including Zhou Qi’an.
At 6:29, the elevator doors finally opened.
A man in polished leather shoes and a tailored suit stepped out. His slicked-back hair was neatly styled, and he deliberately made his footsteps heavy to assert his presence. His pale skin carried a faint bluish tint, which led employees to secretly joke that he was a vampire—an outdated relic of feudal times.
The boss casually tugged at his bright red, high-end luxury tie.
A coworker whispered to Zhou Qi’an, “The beast’s neck is strangled.”
A chilling gaze suddenly swept over them.
The coworker shuddered and immediately pretended to work diligently. Zhou Qi’an also kept his head down, minimizing his presence.
The next moment, a mocking voice sounded above him:
“The groom is back from his honeymoon so soon?”
The office fell into complete silence. Everyone was afraid to make even the slightest noise and draw attention to themselves.
“Come to my office,” the boss ordered arrogantly, striding ahead with an air of authority.
Zhou Qi’an got up without a word.
His coworker clasped his hands together in a silent farewell: Walk bravely.
Zhou Qi’an followed the boss into the office.
“Close the door,” the man commanded imperiously.
Before the door had even fully shut, a stack of documents came flying at him. Fortunately, Zhou Qi’an dodged in time and wasn’t hit.
“I won’t even bring up the farce at your wedding, but skipping work for two days—do you think I’m cutting you slack? This company isn’t a charity. Either work or get lost!”
The boss’s bright red tongue flicked inside his mouth like a lizard lurking in the depths of a primeval jungle.
Halfway through his tirade, something seemed to cross his mind. He picked up the landline and called out, “Didn’t we hire someone new today? Where is he?”
A hesitant voice answered, “He was sent on fieldwork. I guess he went straight home after work hours.”
The boss exploded. “Tell him to get his ass back here!”
After slamming the phone down, he resumed berating Zhou Qi’an.
Spittle flew for a full twenty minutes. In between, he even managed to scold someone else: “What the hell is taking him so long? Did the new guy stop to count ants on the way?”
Zhou Qi’an frowned slightly.
At least his mother still showed him a little familial affection, but this superior… even with his body having undergone a certain degree of evolution, the oppressive fear this man evoked had never faded.
Who knew what kind of wretched beast lurked beneath that designer suit?
Endure for now.
Revenge is best served cold.
Just as he was thinking this, the office door suddenly swung open, and in walked a young man with a face that still held traces of youthful innocence.
For a brief moment, both of them froze.
The newcomer even wondered if he was dreaming.
After all, his dreams last night had been filled with a blue-haired, otherworldly youth climbing out of a lake, wielding a holy artifact, and piercing through a divine statue—a scene as if a new deity had descended.
Zhou Qi’an, on the other hand, was surprised that this self-sacrificing, saint-like college student—who had just aced the entrance exams—was here at the company instead of attending university.
Could he be interning during his break? Is the job market really this cutthroat now?
The college student’s arrival clearly diverted some of the boss’s attention.
Seeing the new recruit, the boss’s sharp lips moved even faster. “Young people these days are unbelievable. Do you see anyone else leaving the moment work hours are over?”
“I’m talking to you! Is this your attitude toward your superior? Huh? Not hardworking enough, ungrateful…”
The college student snapped out of his daze, strode up to the boss’s desk, and slammed down a freshly printed stack of documents.
The boss, still in the middle of his rant, picked it up with a sneer—until he saw what it was.
The Labor Law.
Freshly printed at a copy shop on his way back, still warm to the touch.
The office fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone knew their rights, but few dared to defend them. Large corporations never lacked workers—if you quit, someone else would take your place.
Yet, the college student stood his ground, unafraid. At this moment, he seemed like a towering giant as he pulled out his phone, ready to record a video.
“I run a social media account where I share study tips, mistake analysis, and even write my own novels,” he stated. “I have around a million followers—active ones.”
“If you keep infringing on my off-work hours, I will expose you.”
Then, he turned to Zhou Qi’an, his tone carrying a hint of hesitation. Unsure of how to address him, he simply called out, “Bro.”
“Bro, are you here to advocate for The Labor Law too?”
The college student remained oblivious to the chilling glare from the boss, whose pupils, if one looked closely, contained a faint trace of blood-red.
Zhou Qi’an: “…”
Don’t call me bro. I don’t know you.
Also, I am legally illiterate.
__
Author’s Note:
Zhou Qi’an: “Guess why I don’t resist in this company?”
College student: “…”
