Chapter 68
Chapter 68
“Our Sister Sen is amazing! She never forgets anything she’s seen! We can all vouch for that!” Lin Xiaoxue looped her arm through Wei Sen’s with a proud little look on her face.
He Xu was half-convinced, half-skeptical, and exchanged a glance with Zhou Jie.
These newcomers did not even know what the Origin Land was. Besides, the two of them had been observing this group from nearby for quite a while and had only come over to greet them after confirming they were complete rookies. It really was unlikely they had known them in advance.
With that thought, He Xu smiled and said, “I didn’t expect there to be such an impressive newcomer. The younger generation really is formidable.”
This time, it was Wei Sen’s turn to size up the two people in front of her. As early as when she had arrived beneath the screen, she had already noticed them watching from not far away. She simply had not known their purpose, so she had not wanted to react too much for the time being.
He Xu felt uncomfortable all over under Wei Sen’s gaze.
She was clearly a newcomer. How could she be so calm and composed?
And those eyes of hers… It was as if she could see right through her.
Thinking this, He Xu quickly changed the subject. “I heard you talking about the Origin Land just now. I’m guessing there are still a lot of things you don’t understand. I can answer your questions.”
A hidden gleam flashed in Xia Susu’s eyes, and she cut in to ask, “You two big shots must have cleared a lot of Instance, right?”
Zhou Jie looked Xia Susu up and down before answering, his tone carrying a hint of arrogance. “Twelve Instance. Three C-Rank, four B-Rank, three A-Rank, and two S-Rank.”
Hearing that answer, the others were all somewhat surprised.
“Clearing twelve Instance is enough to get on the rankings?” Huang Xinze asked, a little doubtful.
Zhou Jie’s expression darkened. “Do you have any idea how badass it is to clear twelve Instance and still be standing here alive? And two of them were S-Rank with mortality rates as high as eighty percent!”
“Uh… Not really, but I can tell you’re really impressed with yourself,” Huang Xinze said, making no attempt to hide his hostility toward Zhou Jie.
Men understood men best. From the moment Zhou Jie had looked Xia Susu up and down, Huang Xinze had already defaulted to categorizing him as an enemy.
“Heh. A weakling like you dares talk to me like that?!” Zhou Jie looked like he was about to lose his temper.
He Xu grabbed his arm. “Brother Jie, don’t stoop to arguing with newcomers. No matter what, we’re their seniors. We have a duty to give rookies a few pointers.”
Zhou Jie glanced at He Xu, his gaze complicated. He took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his anger.
He Xu still smiled as she looked at the group, her gaze finally landing on Wei Sen. “Let me explain the Origin Land to you.”
“The Origin Land can be considered a transit station connecting the Real World and the Eerie World. It has always existed, and no one knows why. That electronic screen is the same. It has always been there, and no one knows where it came from.”
“Before entering the Eerie World at four o’clock every morning, you should all have seen the Gate of Xuanpin. If you choose not to enter the gate at that time, you will be automatically transported to the Origin Land a few minutes later. Then you can choose another gate on your own.”
“After an Instance ends, you will arrive at the Origin Land. Red Door will appear in the Origin Land at irregular intervals. Leaving through Red Door lets you return to the Real World.”
“Oh, right. Once every ten years, there is a special situation: for a certain period of time, every Order Keeper who clears an Instance will not go to the Origin Land, but will instead return directly to the Real World.”
He Xu’s explanation was simple and clear, and everyone more or less understood.
“No wonder. So when our first Instance ended, we just happened to run into that once-in-a-decade special situation! That luck…” Xu You said.
Wei Sen remained silent the entire time.
He Xu’s words could indeed answer the doubts Xu You and the others had, but they could not answer the doubts in Wei Sen’s heart.
What made her different from them was that Zhihui Primary School was not her first Instance.
Her first Instance had been Dark Fairy Tale.
And before entering that Instance, she had not seen the Gate of Xuanpin. After the Instance ended, she had not come to the Origin Land either.
If, according to He Xu, the situation where an Instance ended and people returned directly to reality only happened once every ten years, then why had she encountered it twice in a single year?
“Ten years-is that Real World time or Instance time? What’s the time-flow ratio between the Real World and an Instance?” Wei Sen looked at He Xu, her expression unusually grave.
“Real World time. As for this time-flow ratio you’re talking about… there isn’t a fixed number. Basically, after you clear an Instance in the Eerie World, arrive at the Origin Land, and then leave through the Red Door, you usually wake up in the Real World the next morning.”
“What exactly is the Eerie World? A parallel universe? Or… something else?” Wei Sen asked in return.
A flicker of shock crossed He Xu’s eyes. This newcomer’s logic was clearly on a different level from the others. The things she considered were nothing like what a newcomer should be thinking about.
“There are a lot of theories about the true nature of the Eerie World. But the mainstream theory right now is that this is the world of God. Why does God make us clear Instances? Maybe to watch us perform. Maybe to achieve some secret purpose we’re unaware of. But no matter what kind of universe this place really is, at the end of the day, it’s the Land of God. We can’t use the scientific logic of the Real World to explain miracles of God.”
Miracles of God? The Land of God?
Wei Sen looked around.
She believed that everything that existed had an underlying logic supporting it. The only question was whether that logic could be understood by human thought.
Why had God done all of this?
What exactly were Merit Points?
And why did she have one more Instance than everyone else?
The Dark Fairy Tale Instance definitely belonged to the Eerie World, but whether it was how she entered that Instance or how she left it, everything about it was completely different from a normal Order Keeper.
Could it be because of the Protagonist Aura System in her head?
Was the Dark Fairy Tale Instance the System choosing her, testing whether she had the ability to obtain it?
But if she worked backward from there, a new question appeared.
Where had the System come from?
Was that also a miracle of God?
And if so, was she really the only one who possessed such a miracle?
At least for now, among this batch of newcomers, she had gained several thousand Merit Points because she had the System, while Xu You and the others still had only three-digit Merit Points.
So with the System’s support, one would gain more Merit Points.
Then…
Wei Sen’s gaze once again fell on the name ranked first on the Hero Ranking.
Lin Ze-did the person whose Merit Points were in a league of their own also have a System?
“Sister Sen, what are you thinking about?” Lin Xiaoxue looked at Wei Sen with a blink.
Wei Sen came back to herself and sighed softly. “I’m thinking about the truth of this world.”
“Pfft.” He Xu burst out laughing when she heard that. “Newcomers are all like this. When they first arrive, they’re curious about everything. Don’t rush. After you’ve gone through a few more Instances, you’ll understand. Everything here is different from the Real World, but once you get used to it, it’ll be fine.”
As she spoke, He Xu raised her wrist and showed her watch. “Add me as a friend. I think I get along pretty well with you all. In the future, we can consider teaming up to clear Instances together.”
“Sure, sure!” Xia Susu was the first to agree. “How do we add friends?”
“Tap them together.” He Xu reached out and tapped her watch against Xia Susu’s.
Only then did everyone realize, to their surprise, that the watches had this function too.
Xia Susu received a friend request on her watch.
“Done.” Xia Susu couldn’t hide her joy at latching onto a powerful backer. With a big shot from the Hero Ranking leading her through clears, why would she still need to stick with this group?
“What about you?” He Xu looked at the others in confusion when they remained unmoved.
Wei Sen calmly looked at He Xu and Zhou Jie.
Two big shots whose names were on the ranking had taken the initiative to come help a few newcomers like them. Were there really such kind people in the world?
And this was the Eerie World, no less.
Wei Sen did not trust the two people in front of her. If she had to give one reason for why they had taken the initiative to suggest teaming up…
It was simply that these two knew exactly how dangerous Instances were, and they needed newcomers who had just entered the Eerie World to serve as their stepping stones!