Su Er was the first to regain his composure. “Do you have a pen?”
The punk-styled man was momentarily stunned before instinctively grabbing one from another table and handing it over.
Su Er quickly filled out the registration form and extended his hand. “Please take care of me.”
The punk-styled man began reassessing him. As a newcomer, Su Er might not yet realize the significance of unlocking an Achievement Point. Normally, people like him—regardless of their moral alignment—would be fiercely contested by various organizations. Yet, Su Er didn’t wait for bids to be placed on him; instead, he openly and decisively chose Grave Return in front of everyone.
“Everyone here has secrets,” Su Er said. “But there’s no need to hide everything. Since I’ve chosen you, I might as well be open about it.”
Faced with such an honest and trusting gaze, the punk-styled man was touched. “From now on, we’re friends!”
A tall man interrupted their moment of camaraderie, turning back toward the direction they had come from.
The punk-styled man quickly called Su Er to follow along.
“Su Er.” Li Li caught up, panting. “Thank you.”
Su Er glanced at her. “Live well.”
With that, they went their separate ways.
The punk-styled man grinned. “Wow! I thought you’d at least exchange contact info.”
Su Er shook his head. If he didn’t have to, he would even avoid interacting with players in real life.
The punk-styled man clicked his tongue. “Honestly, watching the water screen, I thought you were just some crafty guy. Didn’t expect you to be so upright at your core.”
Su Er frowned slightly, but the punk-styled man quickly laughed. “Relax. The way you openly chose Grave Return in front of everyone just now…”
Before he could finish, a soft scoff filled with mockery cut him off.
The punk-styled man turned. “Boss, what’s wrong?”
The tall man kept walking, but his voice carried clearly. “He joined for another reason.”
The punk-styled man let out an “Ah?” and looked back at Su Er His expression remained perfectly natural, as if being exposed meant nothing to him.
No one who survived here was foolish. If their boss said it, it had to be true. The punk-styled man started considering what other reasons Su Er might have for joining.
Su Er spoke first. “My politics teacher once said that everything has two sides—just like physical power can be high enough to fight ghosts, but if it’s low enough, it can cost you your life.”
The brochure explained that if physical and spiritual values dropped below 1, the player would be erased. But what about charm?
Realization dawned on the punk-styled man. He abruptly looked down at his badge. The newly added charm value was a glaring single digit: 6.
Su Er had two main reasons for choosing Grave Return. The organizations recruiting members earlier had instinctively kept their distance from these two, their gazes filled with wariness, indirectly proving Grave Return’s strength. But what truly sealed his decision was the last-minute system prompt. While most players were still in shock, Su Er had noticed the numbers on their badges—none of them exceeded twenty.
Like a bolt of lightning, the punk styled man’s eyelids twitched as he glanced at Su Er’s badge. Seeing the number there, he couldn’t hold back—his hands shot out and clamped around Su Er’s neck. “Fifty-nine! Are you even human?!”
His own charm wasn’t even a fraction of that!
He turned to look at their boss. Nineteen. Amidst his dismay, there was a strange sense of comfort.
The brochure barely mentioned Achievement Points. Su Er let the punk-styled man keep strangling him and was about to ask more when the punk-styled man released him and cut in. “Let’s discuss this at the supply point.”
A few small black flying insects hovered nearby. Su Er disliked them and occasionally waved them away.
The punk-styled man gazed into the distance, his tone carrying a hint of pride. “The entire westernmost region belongs to our faction.”
Su Er was thinking of something else. The organization was called Grave Return and their base was in the far west. It was like they were ready to ascend at any moment. Along the way, they passed several people in a daze—some covered in blood, others sitting by the road, crying with their heads in their hands. Su Er couldn’t help but take a second look.
“They just returned from the game,” the punk-styled man said, not sparing them a glance.
Su Er asked, “If you fail a challenge, do you die?”
The punk-styled man shook his head. “Not sure. Some big shots from reality have come here, and people have tried investigating. But those who die in the game… just disappear.”
Su Er thought of Zhu Yun. “So, they might still be alive?”
“Don’t get your hopes up.” The punk-styled man tone suddenly turned cold. “Those people really are gone.”
Not to mention, the process of dying was excruciating. No one would want to experience it.
Su Er wasn’t about to risk his life testing theories. Unsure how far they had left to go, he said, “I can’t waste too much time. I have a mock exam next Tuesday.”
“…” The punk-styled man nearly tripped over a rock. “Time is frozen here compared to the outside world.”
Su Er immediately grasped the key point. “So if someone never leaves, they could theoretically live forever?”
The punk-styled man shook his head. “Stay for more than four days, and you’ll be automatically teleported into a high-difficulty dungeon.”
As they walked further, there were fewer and fewer people. This world had no visible sun—just an eternally overcast sky. A few times, Su Er even had the illusion that he was still trapped in the game.
“We’re here,” The punk-styled man said, stopping.
Ahead were a few scattered white tents. Su Er had seen other organizations’ buildings along the way—tall, imposing structures. Compared to them, this was like a cluster of small shrubs in a towering forest. Inside, only basic living supplies were visible.
“Very distinctive.”
The punk-styled man shrugged. “Boss said this isn’t home, no need to make it cozy and bright.” He briefly introduced a couple of things that weren’t mentioned in the brochure. “There’s a place that automatically supplies daily necessities. You can grab what you need, but not too much.”
After all, nothing could be brought into the game, and everyone preferred living in the real world.
As he spoke, a few more people walked into the tent. They all appeared to be under thirty, silent and composed, completely different from the youthful innocence their appearances suggested.
The punk-styled man said, “Cut them some slack. They just left a dungeon less than half a day ago.”
One of them had bloodstains covering half his sleeve, hinting at serious injuries sustained in the game. The only game mechanic favoring players was that no matter how severe the injuries were, as long as their stats didn’t drop below 1, they would fully recover upon exiting.
“New member?” one of them asked hoarsely.
The punk-styled man smiled and nodded.
When the man saw Su Er’s badge, his expression stiffened slightly. “You’re the one who pioneered the Charm stat?”
Even as calm as Su Er was, he couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed. “It was just an accident.”
“Six?” The man shifted his gaze away from Su Er, catching sight of the punk-styled man stat with a hint of disdain.
The punk-styled man shot back, “You’re not much better yourself.”
“At least the others have broken past ten,” a tall, silent man suddenly spoke. “Be more careful next time you enter a dungeon.”
The punk-styled man nodded with a bitter smile. Even though their names were on their badges, he still introduced the group to Su Er one by one, finally saying, “I’m Zhao Sanliang. Just call me Brother Sanliang. As for our boss, Ji Heng. His nickname is ‘Ghost’s Bane’—pretty much what it sounds like. Even ghosts get frustrated when they see him.”
Su Er noticed that the physical power stat on Zhao Sanliang’s badge was marked with a ‘?’.
Zhao Sanliang explained, “I used an item to hide it.”
Su Er: “Isn’t that just drawing more attention to it?”
Zhao Sanliang: “Boss has his own reasons. There are a few other members, but they haven’t entered a dungeon recently, so you won’t see them for now.”
“Let’s get to business.” Ji Heng interrupted Zhao Sanliang’s chatter and looked at Su Er. “For the next dungeon, I’ll use a team item to bring you in.”
Before Su Er could respond, one of the team members frowned. “Wouldn’t that be rushing things too much?”
With Ji Heng involved, the dungeon was bound to be difficult.
Ji Heng replied, “Fifty-nine seems to be a critical threshold. I have a feeling that once it surpasses sixty, it’ll be able to harm the undead.”
With a top player leading the way, Su Er wasn’t afraid to take a little risk, so he nodded. In his last game session, his combined Physical and Spiritual stats had only increased by six points, and he had earned 35 points—still tens of thousands away from the 10,000 needed to escape.
Noticing his frustration, Zhao Sanliang said, “That’s already a lot. Later on, you’ll feel even more hopeless.”
Su Er let it go and started asking about Achievement Points.
“Right now, including you, there are only three people who have Achievement Points.”
Su Er was surprised.
“To earn an Achievement Point, you have to fulfill some hidden condition in the game, and only the first person to complete it gets the point.” Zhao Sanliang gave a wry smile. “There was once a player who tried killing every other player in a game just to see if it would earn him an Achievement Point.”
“What happened?”
“He failed.”
Su Er: “And the other two people with Achievement Points…?”
“Boss has one called ‘A Long Road Tests a Horse.’ The other belongs to Qi Yun. He’s the only player whose Spiritual stat has surpassed 100, but I suspect that guy is more ghost than human now. If you ever run into him, stay away.”
A Long Road Tests a Horse?
Su Er pursed his lips. “Last question. Is the information in the brochure reliable?”
“It is.” Zhao Sanliang nodded. “It was compiled by the top players. Every month, new people arrive, and they all have a million questions.”
Ji Heng and Zhao Sanliang had already stayed here for three days. If they didn’t leave soon, they would be forced into another dungeon. After exchanging contact information, they prepared to return to reality. Following the brochure’s instructions, Su Er pressed down firmly on the indentation in the emblem on his badge. A familiar numbness swept over him instantly, making it difficult to even move a finger. In the end, he simply closed his eyes and let the sensation take over. When he regained awareness, the clock on the wall still showed the exact same time as when he had left—3:45 AM.
His familiar room. An unfinished set of practice exams in front of him. As if everything before had just been a dream.
Su Er reached into his pocket, touching the stun gun, intending to study it further. But then he suddenly remembered the upcoming exam next week. After thinking for a moment, he sent Zhao Sanliang a message: [If you use a team item to enter the game, can you choose the time?]
Zhao Sanliang, being a chatterbox, replied quickly: [It’s too rare, so I’ve never used it. But I assume you can.]
Su Er: [Can you do me a favor? Subtly suggest to Ji Heng that he enter the game next Tuesday at 10:30 AM.]
Zhao Sanliang: [That time… does it have some special meaning?]
Su Er: [Here’s my thought—I’ll be halfway through my test by then. I can jot down the questions I don’t know, check them in the game, and if necessary, even ask someone for help.]
No matter how long he stayed in the game, when he returned, it would still be the exact same moment he had left.
After sending the message, ten minutes passed, and there was still no reply from Zhao Sanliang.
Su Er sighed. In the end, hard work was the only reliable way forward. Resolving himself, he finished the last set of practice exams before finally going to bed.
At a hotel.
Zhao Sanliang lay comfortably on a big bed, still in shock over Su Er’s request. After much deliberation, he called Ji Heng to relay the request.
“Reason?” Ji Heng was as concise as ever.
Zhao Sanliang repeated Su Er’s exact words and summed it up: “He wants to use you to cheat on his exam.”
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