At dusk, after finishing work and returning home, Zhou Qi’an went straight to the bathroom, wanting to wash away the exhaustion of the day with a shower.
His mother wasn’t home.
She had left behind a note saying she had gone to Dun City and asked him to return the luggage at home to the neighbors.
“Looks like she left in a hurry.”
But when Zhou Qi’an saw over a dozen suitcases, his eyelids twitched violently.
Even after showering, he couldn’t shake off the chilling feeling lingering in his bones.
He had even found snakeskin inside one of the suitcases.
With no other choice, Zhou Qi’an cleaned up the luggage as well.
Once everything was finally taken care of, he took a moment to check the in-game store.
- Current total points: 15,547
- Nether Coins: 2,004.36
The Nether Coins inside his daily savings jar were growing at a slow but steady pace—he wasn’t sure if they would come in handy in the future.
Next, Zhou Qi’an turned his attention to team formation items.
- God-Tier Team Formation Item – 100,000 points
- As long as the player has an ID, there is an 80% chance of pulling them into an instance without distinction.
- Tier 1 Team Formation Item – 2,000 points
- If the other party agrees, it allows team formation regardless of instance difficulty.
- Common Team Formation Item – 500 points
- Free team formation for three-star instances or below.
- For four-star instances or above, the failure rate exceeds 60%.
Zhou Qi’an didn’t hesitate—he immediately purchased the Tier 1 Team Formation Item.
He wasn’t about to gamble on the last one with his luck.
Previously, the college student had actively asked to join him in the next instance, and Zhou Qi’an hadn’t refused.
Saying something like “Following me is dangerous” was nonsense he would never spout.
His stance was clear—
“That’s right, I saved your life. Now, my friend, it’s time for you to return the favor.”
With the college student’s healing skills as support, he could also feel more confident in using his Holy Artifact.
After buying the team formation item, Zhou Qi’an casually browsed the rest of the store.
Most of it was weapons, which didn’t interest him much.
But when he saw one particular item, a hint of intrigue surfaced on his face.
It was a miniature male wizard figurine, wearing a black wizard hat and black gloves.
The figure was shrouded in an aura of mystery, its long, almost floor-length robe faintly revealing the tracks of the stars.
【Prophet Warlock】
- Price: 30,000 points
- Purchase Limit: One per player
- Item Description: A wizard who peers into fate. He can predict the fortune or misfortune of a given event. With wisdom, he may even offer valuable guidance.
“Thirty thousand… damn, that’s expensive.”
Though he had already saved up half the amount, it had taken him two consecutive mid-to-high difficulty instances to earn that much.
According to Han Li’s experience posts, point rewards varied by situation.
In his case, he had almost single-handedly solved the instances, so his mission settlement rewards had been especially high.
Zhou Qi’an curbed his greed, shaking his head.
“Forget it. It’s not a necessity. I’ll decide later.”
—
After showering, Zhou Qi’an called the college student.
“Get ready. We’re going into an instance the day after tomorrow.”
“That soon?”
“Next week, according to my work schedule, I have a business trip.”
“If I count the weekend in, the timing should work. It won’t be considered skipping work.”
“Do you need—”
“No.”
Zhou Qi’an already knew what he was about to say.
If he really needed to call for backup, he’d do it when the time came.
He had no intention of forming a party with his boss—a man who freely consumed monster flesh and could mutate into something even more terrifying than the NPCs at any moment.
Given the current situation, the sooner he entered the instance, the better.
It would also catch those lurking in the shadows off guard.
Just as Zhou Qi’an was about to close the store, he glanced at the contract item, which had over 99.99 million units sold in the past month.
He shook his head.
“People really have no basic trust in each other, huh? Just this one contract item alone is enough for the game to rake in a fortune.”
—
September 8 – White Dew
Auspicious for: Opening businesses, groundbreaking, buying vehicles
Inauspicious for: Funerals, temple construction
Zhou Qi’an and the college student had arranged to meet in the city center.
After seeing each other, Zhou Qi’an sighed.
“Today counts as an auspicious day too.”
With that, he activated the team formation item without hesitation.
A sharp pain shot through his nerves, making Zhou Qi’an hiss in discomfort, drawing a few curious glances from passersby.
The experience of using the team formation item was terrible.
After about two minutes, the initial discomfort faded, and a mini-map gradually surfaced in his mind.
One specific point on the map was marked with a blood-red frame.
Below it, a line of eerie, icy blood-red text appeared:
【Waiting Area】
[Note: Arrive before the start of the day.]
The college student immediately said, “That’s near the old demolition street in An’ning District.”
He had been there before on a field assignment.
That day, a heavy fog blanketed An’ning District.
By the time they arrived at the waiting area, it was so late at night that there were barely any people around.
The team formation item didn’t specify an exact instance entry time—they had to arrive before midnight, but they could end up waiting for almost an entire day.
Zhou Qi’an and the college student chatted idly in the cold wind to pass the time.
Hours passed.
No bus came.
Fortunately, they had prepared for this and brought some food to keep them full.
They waited from night until dawn, and by 5 p.m., the college student clenched his fists tightly in frustration.
According to the game’s twelve-hour time system, the later the bus arrived, the higher the instance’s difficulty.
By 9 p.m., the wait had dragged on for so long that the college student was on the verge of going numb from tension.
Zhou Qi’an, however, remained calm.
He even brought up his mother’s trip to Dun City, saying in confusion—
“She’s never been into traveling before.”
To Mother Zhou, traveling was just a waste of money.
The college student, momentarily distracted, thought for a moment before saying,
“I heard a new ancient tomb was recently discovered in Dun City. They even dug up an ancient corpse. If your mom waits a bit longer, she might get to visit another attraction.”
“Ancient… corpse?” Zhou Qi’an repeated hesitantly.
Oh, hell no—could she be trying to find him an ancient corpse bride?!
Just then—
“The bus is here!”
The college student shouted in alarm, then sucked in a sharp breath.
In the distance, a plump, pink bus with pig ears rolled in.
Its meaty pink hue was disturbingly fleshy and slick, its oily red sheen resembling real pigskin.
They hadn’t escaped their fate of entering the game at the Hour of the Pig.
The driver’s seat was surrounded by a dense cage of metal bars, resembling a tiny prison.
It was impossible to see the driver’s full appearance.
As soon as they got on, the bus’s automated announcement played—
“Passengers, please fasten your seatbelts.”
For safety reasons, Zhou Qi’an sat down immediately and refrained from moving around unnecessarily.
He had no spare energy to focus on anything else.
The bus swayed in an eerie, dreamlike manner, inducing a sensation similar to seasickness.
Outside the windows, an intense red glow bathed the interior, making everything feel dizzying and surreal.
Zhou Qi’an hastily scribbled his chosen evolving organ onto his bus ticket:
[Calves]
Then, he closed his eyes, focusing all his willpower on fighting the nausea.
Somewhere in the hazy disorientation, the bus announcement seemed to be calling for passengers to disembark.
Zhou Qi’an fumbled for the buckle in the darkness, managing to unfasten his seatbelt.
The moment he stood up—
His foot stepped into empty air.
“Ugh—”
Water.
Scarlet water surged from all directions, threatening to drown him.
Zhou Qi’an struggled fiercely, his arms flailing as he fought to stay afloat.
Then—
Fresh air rushed into his lungs.
Desperately, he tilted his head back, trying to inhale more oxygen.
As his consciousness gradually cleared, a sharp, shrill voice pierced through the air—
“The exam is about to begin! Read the questions carefully—cheating is strictly prohibited!”
Zhou Qi’an’s vision cleared as he fully regained consciousness—only to realize that the entire world had changed.
The pig-headed bus was gone.
There were no staff members in sight.
He was now sitting inside a normal classroom.
On the wall, a clock showed 4:00 PM.
Outside, the sky was a dull yellow—a sign of heavy rain, as folklore warned: “Yellow skies foretell a storm.”
As his gaze swept across the room, Zhou Qi’an’s eyes sharply narrowed when he spotted a particular person sitting at a diagonal desk.
The man’s hair was significantly lighter than a normal person’s.
In the past, he had brushed it off as dyeing or perming, but Zhou Qi’an had never believed him.
Even his pupils carried a faint grayish hue, and his clothing was muted in color.
The entire person resembled an old black-and-white television set.
“So he really came…”
Zhou Qi’an’s expression darkened.
His night school teacher had arrived as expected.
As his gaze drifted around the room, a chalkboard eraser suddenly shot toward him like a missile.
Whoever threw it had put real force behind it—Zhou Qi’an could feel the sharp wind cutting through the air.
If it hit him directly, it could easily break a bone.
Across the room, the silent-film-like man absentmindedly spun his pen, then lifted his thin eyelids and cast a brief glance at the exam proctor on the podium.
Mid-flight, the eraser abruptly veered off course and smashed into the floor, leaving a small crater.
The exam proctor frowned in confusion, clearly surprised that her throw had gone off-target.
With a cold snort, she snapped—
“I will say this one more time—no looking around during the exam.”
The wooden stool beneath Zhou Qi’an was uncomfortably stiff, and he didn’t dare shift too much.
From his earlier quick glance, the front rows of the classroom were almost entirely full.
Clearly, this instance had a lot of players.
Standing on the podium, the exam proctor was unnaturally thin, with sharp cheekbones and pupils that were nothing more than tiny, scarlet dots—like all-seeing surveillance cameras.
Then, a cold system notification rang out—
【Instance: Boundless Blood Sea】
Difficulty Level: ★★★★☆ (4.5 Stars)
Main Quest:
All students enrolled in this school are the best of the best, carefully selected from thousands.
Competition is everywhere.
To advance further, you must continue your studies and become even more outstanding.At the end of the semester, you must secure one of the following qualifications:
1. Scholarship (6 students) – Reward: ¥3,000
2. Financial Aid (2 students) – Support: ¥2,000Instance Duration: Determined by the school
Number of Competitors: 44 students
【WARNING: This instance has an average death rate of 90%. Survivors are strictly forbidden from disclosing any information about this instance—violators will have their game accounts permanently erased.】
【NOTICE: If the Story Exploration Progress reaches 100%, the Green Escape Route will unlock immediately.】
Story Exploration Requirements:
- Uncover the true story behind this instance.
- Visit all important locations containing key clues.
Current Story Exploration Progress: 0%
Current Key Locations Visited: 0/4
Unlocking all locations will grant additional rewards.)
