Chapter 73
Chapter 73
Everyone in the room fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts.
After a long while, Wei Sen finally asked, her expression serious, “What exactly is The Organization?”
CC leaned back lazily in her chair with her arms folded across her chest. “I told you last time. As you are now, you’re not qualified to know.”
Wei Sen said, “The conditions.”
CC looked into her eyes and fell silent for a moment.
Those eyes carried an inexplicable pressure, as if, so long as she wanted to know something, there was no secret in this world that could be kept from her.
“At minimum, you must clear twenty Instance runs. The Organization will then make a comprehensive assessment of your performance and decide whether you may enter The Organization as official members. Once you become official members, you’ll be able to meet the Elder, and naturally, you’ll learn more of The Organization’s secrets.”
“Twenty?!” Xia Susu cried out. “Are you insane? Every Instance could kill us at any second. There’s no way I’m risking my life clearing Instance after Instance just to join this so-called Organization of yours!”
CC said, “Oh, right. I didn’t tell you in advance. After joining The Organization, you will receive a bonus to the Merit Points awarded after clearing an Instance.”
“What does that mean?” Xia Susu asked.
“For example, as far as I know, your Infinite Flight Instance this time gives each person a minimum of 50 Merit Points. But if you join The Organization, the Merit Points bonus each time ranges from 10% to 200%. In other words, for this Instance, the minimum would become 55 Merit Points, while the maximum could be 150 points, or even… more.”
When CC said the final sentence, she looked at Wei Sen with a smile.
Once again, everyone fell silent.
Wei Sen’s fist tightened unconsciously.
A 200% bonus!
If her 3,500 Merit Points received that bonus, it would become 10,500 points!
If she remembered correctly, the last person on the Hero Ranking, the Top 400, only had 11,298 Merit Points!
“I-I want to join The Organization!” Lin Xiaoxue lifted her eyes, her gaze exceptionally firm.
No one present was unmoved by the Merit Points bonus. After all, the reason they were willing to brave such tremendous danger and enter Instance runs in the first place was to accumulate more Merit Points and meet God as soon as possible.
And from what CC had said, joining The Organization meant they would be able to meet the Elder who could meet with God at any time. Once they met the Elder, that was the same as being only one step away from God.
Xia Susu muttered, “It sounds nice, but twenty Instance runs… It’s not like I can skip sleep every night to clear Instance runs.”
If she really did that, earning money by livestreaming during the day and facing those ghostly things in the Eerie World at night, she would probably have a mental breakdown in less than half a month.
“Isn’t there a faster way to join The Organization?” Xu You asked.
“There is!” CC said brightly. “Clear one S-Rank Instance, and The Organization will make an exception for you.”
“You’re making it sound like college admissions,” Xu You said, rolling her eyes.
Everyone present knew exactly how dangerous an S-Rank Instance was. An 80% mortality rate. To achieve survival for the entire team was practically impossible.
But none of them immediately refuted CC, because a 200% bonus was simply too tempting.
“You said 10% to 200%. How is the exact number decided?” Wei Sen asked.
“By the difficulty of the Instance. The harder the Instance, the higher the bonus at clearance settlement. Of course, personal performance bonuses are also included.”
“Is the Eerie World really not a… game?” When Wei Sen said this, she did not seem to be joking.
Clearing stages, settlement, bonuses, points-no matter how she looked at it, it resembled a game.
And only their consciousness entered the Eerie World, not their physical bodies.
In the Eerie World, their consciousness could appear as they had looked before falling asleep, or it could exist in the form of natives of the Eerie World. That alone was very strange.
The entire Eerie World was like a virtual game world. The only difference was that if they died in the Eerie World, they would also die in the Real World!
But there was one thing Wei Sen still could not figure out. If the Eerie World was a virtual game world, then…
How could the events of Infinite Flight be explained?
Why had what she done mirrored the Real World exactly?
“It really does seem like one,” CC said with a slight nod.
“But it isn’t.” The one who denied it was, surprisingly, Xu You.
Wei Sen looked at her in surprise and asked, “Why are you so sure it isn’t?”
Xu You frowned. “I can sense that the Eerie World is truly filled with ghostly energy everywhere. If it were just a virtual game world, something like that couldn’t possibly exist.”
CC gave a soft laugh. “A Daoist? Interesting.” She took a deep breath, and her gaze turned a little more serious. “That is a… real world. All of you will understand sooner or later.”
“You seem to know a lot about us,” Wei Sen said.
CC took out her phone and scrolled through it. “Of course. I have files on every one of you.”
Wei Sen narrowed her eyes. The Organization was far more powerful than she had imagined.
“Why were we the only ones who received an Invitation? Why didn’t Huang Xinze get one?” Wei Sen asked, following the thread.
CC glanced at the photo on her phone. It showed each of their profiles, but the section for Huang Xinze was blank.
CC covered the screen and said, “Only those chosen by an Elder are qualified to receive an Invitation.”
“Is that so? Are you sure there isn’t another reason? For example, that he isn’t from the same world as us.” Wei Sen watched every change in CC’s expression closely.
A flicker of surprise flashed through CC’s eyes before she quickly calmed down. “Some things are more interesting if you discover them yourselves. Of course, if you’re still confused, once you’re fortunate enough to join The Organization, I’ll answer your questions one by one.”
Everyone fell silent again.
At present, there were more and more things they didn’t understand. The Organization clearly knew many of the truths, but before they joined The Organization, CC would not reveal anything more.
“Then why did the Elder choose us?” Wei Sen asked again.
“How would I know something like that?” CC spread her hands, then looked at Wei Sen. “You’re asking far too many questions.”
“I thought every Order Keeper would receive an Invitation from The Organization, but it seems that isn’t the case.” Wei Sen ignored CC and continued asking, “How many people on the Origin Land Hero Ranking belong to The Organization?”
CC was at a loss for words. This woman’s thirst for knowledge was way too strong!
After a speechless pause, CC still braced herself and answered, “There are four hundred people on the Hero Ranking in total. About one-fifth of them are from The Organization. Why?”
Wei Sen lowered her head in thought.
One-fifth was far lower than she had estimated. After all, with The Organization’s ten to two hundred percent Merit Points bonus, it should be easier for its members to make it onto the Hero Ranking.
But out of the four hundred people on the Hero Ranking, only one-fifth were from The Organization. That could only mean The Organization had actually chosen very few Order Keeper.
Or rather, very few Order Keeper had successfully joined The Organization.
“Oh, I have a question too!” Xu You sat up straight.
CC took a deep breath. Clearly, they had far too many questions, but considering their excellent performance, she would allow them to ask a few more.
After all, the more they understood how powerful The Organization was, the more interested they would be in joining it. That way, her recruitment KPI would be completed smoothly!
“Ask, ask,” CC said, pretending to be impatient.
“How do we tell whether someone is from The Organization? There should be some kind of secret code, right? Like, ‘The heavenly king covers the earthly tiger; the pagoda suppresses the river demon’ or something?” Xu You asked with a completely serious expression.
The corner of CC’s mouth twitched. “Could you be any tackier? No, there isn’t.”
“Then what if we run into someone from The Organization in an Instance and accidentally kill a good person?” Xu You asked.
At that, CC’s expression immediately turned grave, and her eyes became somewhat frightening. “Kill someone? Heh.”
Everyone looked at CC in confusion, thrown by her sudden change.
“You should know that when an Order Keeper dies in the Eerie World, their Merit Points are reset to zero, right?” CC asked.
“Mm.”
Back in the Zhihui Primary School Instance, after that man named Ah Qiang died, they had all seen it: the Merit Points on Ah Qiang’s watch had turned into a “-“.
CC’s voice sank as she enunciated each word. “Since Merit Points can increase, they can also decrease. If your Merit Points drop below zero… you die.”