Chapter 63
Chapter 63
Aside from Chu Yue and Shen Yubi, the remaining Players watched the scene before them in shock.
The Waiter grabbed at the bracelet, trying to pull it off, but the moment it touched him, it had already bitten deep into his skin.
The black mist tried to flee, but the golden light emanating from the bracelet bound it beneath that shell of flesh.
Gold and black collided, dissolving into each other simultaneously.
An eerie sound erupted from the Waiter’s mouth, the vibration making everyone’s eardrums throb with pain.
That bracelet had been left behind by the Paper-Cut Goddess, and it contained the majority of the incense offerings she had gathered. No matter how powerful the evil god was, now that it was trapped within the Waiter’s body, it was forced to perish along with the Paper-Cut Goddess.
When Chu Yue woke up the next day, the sky outside was already bright.
He pushed open the window and looked down at the street. The town, which hadn’t been particularly lively to begin with, seemed even more desolate now that many of the stallholders were gone.
The people of this town would never know that a god had protected them for a long time, nor would they know that on yesterday’s seemingly ordinary day, that god had fallen.
After finishing his morning routine, Chu Yue walked downstairs side-by-side with Shen Yubi.
“Now that this Instance has ended up like this, will it be forced to close? The System won’t pin this debt on us again, will it?”
Shen Yubi thought for a moment, looking somewhat uncertain. “I’m not sure. There have been Players who killed every NPC in an Instance before, but before the next batch of people arrives, the data usually resets. Your situation is unusual.”
For example, he had once entered an apocalyptic Instance where he cleared it by killing every zombie in the town.
That didn’t stop others from entering that Instance later; all the zombie data would simply refresh. There was no reason to deduct his Points.
After all, this was a survival game, and the direction of the game wasn’t entirely under the Players’ control.
If the System deducted Points every time an accident occurred, the Trading Center would be filled with nothing but paupers.
“What’s your account ID? I’ll add you,” Shen Yubi asked.
Chu Yue pulled up his System interface and recited a string of numbers.
Shen Yubi searched for it. “User does not exist. You add me instead.”
This was likely a form of protection the System provided for Players who had activated Redemption Mode.
There were fewer than a hundred Players capable of activating Redemption Mode. If someone wanted to snoop, they could discover new users in Redemption Mode simply through trial and error.
He took Chu Yue’s hand, typed his own account ID into Chu Yue’s System, sent a friend request, and changed the nickname-all in one smooth motion.
“I’ll send you Guan Doujin’s ID later; you can add him too.”
Once he was finished, Chu Yue clicked on the friends tab. Only Shen Yubi’s account was sitting there.
He poked at it curiously a few times.
He discovered that the built-in friend function in this game was actually quite similar to WeChat or QQ.
Not only could you add friends and chat, but you could also post status updates on a feed.
However, Shen Yubi’s feed was completely blank.
Shen Yubi glanced over at him and said, “Only visible for three days.”
Chu Yue: “Oh.”
Who was he kidding? If it were set to ‘visible for three days,’ there would clearly be a notification. Was he being blocked?
After copying the string of numbers Shen Yubi sent over, Chu Yue sent a friend request to Guan Doujin.
Guan Doujin happened to be coming downstairs. After accepting the friend request, he looked at Chu Yue.
“Are you coming back to the Nightmare Trading Center with us this time, or are you going back to the Real World?”
Chu Yue didn’t understand what he meant.
Guan Doujin explained, “The Real World is self-explanatory. The Nightmare Trading Center is essentially the game Hall; it’s full of Players. People like us who can’t return to the Real World live there. For Level Zero Players, the System randomly assigns a Model House.”
“I’m going to the Nightmare Trading Center.”
Chu Yue made his decision after only a brief moment of thought.
Since he had decided to clear the game up to Level 12, he needed a better understanding of how it worked.
The Nightmare Trading Center was clearly the place to start.
“Alright then. Once you’re back at the Nightmare Trading Center, send us your location and the two of us will come find you.”
“Okay.”
As soon as Chu Yue responded, the world around him fell into an instantaneous silence.
The villagers walking past the entrance of the Inn seemed to have been hit by a pause button. The entire world ground to a halt; then, the earth beneath his feet began to tremor, and the distant houses started to collapse.
Having experienced this in the previous Instance, Chu Yue knew he was about to leave.
When he regained his senses, he was once again standing in that space of pure white.
Several lines of text were already floating on the transparent screen in front of him.
[Player Biyue, wish redemption in progress-]
[Would you like to proceed with Points settlement?]
[Yes]
[No]
Chu Yue tapped lightly on the screen.
[Commencing Points settlement: Cleared Instance “Sigh of the Paper-Cut Goddess,” Points +100. Completed hidden quest “The Paper-Cut Goddess’s Wish,” Points +150. Caused temporary closure of the Instance, Points -300.]
[Remaining Points: -293]
[Purchasing Power: Slum Scavenger]
[Instance Strategy Clues: 2]
[Level: 0]
[Strategy Level: 1]
[Level 1 Instance Modes: “Fairy Tales,” “Horror Collection,” “Folk Affairs,” “Deity Game”]
[Level 1 Instance Strategy Progress: 1/4]
[Would you like to continue the strategy?]
[Yes]
[No]
Chu Yue clicked cancel.
He reviewed the data carefully. He had been rewarded a total of 250 Points for clearing this Instance, but 300 had been deducted. All things considered, he had actually lost over fifty Points during this run.
However, he wasn’t one to worry about having too many debts; he put it out of his mind after a single glance.
Looking further down, the option for “Deity Game” under the Level 1 Instance modes had turned gray.
He closed that panel, only to see two small icons appear on the other side.
Chu Yue clicked the red one at the top.
[Skill: Charm]
[Level: 1]
Just a few simple words with no further description.
After a brief look, he closed it and clicked the green icon below.
[Inventory]
As soon as he opened it, a message popped up: [You have a new item.]
Chu Yue clicked to view it.
[Level 1 Instance “Sigh of the Paper-Cut Goddess” drop: Golden Bracelet of the Paper-Cut Goddess.]
[Item: Golden Bracelet of the Paper-Cut Goddess.]
[Level: 1]
[Description: Upgradable item. This is a gift from a deity.]
[Effect: Blocks one attack from an evil entity.]
[Equip?]
[Yes]
[No]
He clicked yes.
The Golden Bracelet in the Inventory immediately vanished. A moment later, Chu Yue felt a cool sensation on his wrist; a band of gold made his skin look even fairer.
The style of this bracelet was slightly different from the one the Paper-Cut Goddess had given them in the game. It looked more exquisite without being feminine, instead adding a touch of nobility to his appearance.
Since he had put it on, Chu Yue didn’t bother taking it off.
He clicked through every part of the screen marked with a red dot, finally finding the logout options in the corner.
[Real World]
[Nightmare Trading Center]
Remembering his agreement with the other two, he placed his finger on the bottom option. The moment he pressed it, a wave of weightlessness washed over him.
The sensation of the scene shifting was far too aggressive; anyone prone to motion sickness would have vomited in seconds.
Once his feet were steady, Chu Yue looked up at the scene before him and was genuinely stunned.