Su Er was the first to come to his senses: "Do you have a pen?"
Shamatte was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously asked for one from another table.
Su Er quickly filled out the registration form and held out his hand: "Please give me your guidance."
The Shamatte started to re-evaluate him. As a newcomer, he might not have realized the significance of unlocking achievement points. Usually, such people, regardless of good or evil, would be sought after by major organizations. But Su Er did not wait for a price. Instead, he immediately chose to return to his grave in public.
"Everyone here has secrets," Soul said, "but there's really no point in covering everything up. Since I've chosen you, I might as well be open and honest."
Being looked at by such honest and trusting eyes, Shamatte was deeply moved: "I'm determined to be your friend!"
The tall man interrupted them just as they met a close friend, and turned around and headed back in the direction they came from.
Shamatte quickly called Sur to follow him.
"Su Er." Li Li chased after him and said breathlessly, "Thank you."
Su Er glanced at her and said, "Live well."
After saying that, they went their separate ways.
Shamatte smiled and said, "Okay! I thought we should exchange contact information."
Sur shook his head. If not necessary, he would even avoid any interaction with players in reality.
Shamatte said with a tut, "To be honest, when I saw the water curtain, I thought you were just a clever trickster, but I didn't expect you to be quite upright at heart."
Su Er frowned slightly, then said with a smile, "Don't worry, just because you chose to return to the grave without hesitation in front of everyone just now..."
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by a mocking chuckle.
Shamatte: "Boss, what's wrong?"
The tall man didn't stop walking, but his voice floated over clearly: "He joined for another reason."
The Shamatte let out an "ah" and looked at Su'er again. There was no trace of awkwardness on his face as if he had been exposed.
Those who can survive here are not stupid. If the boss speaks, it is absolutely true. Shamatte began to explore other reasons why the other party joined.
Soul took the initiative to speak: "The political teacher said that everything has two sides. Just like when the force reaches a certain level, it can deal with demons, but when it drops to a critical point, it can also kill people."
The brochure clearly states that characters with a Strength and Spiritual Value lower than 1 will be killed. What about Charm Value?
The Shamatte finally reacted and suddenly looked down at his badge. The newly added charm value column was clearly engraved with a single digit: 6.
"…"
Su'er chose Guifen for two main reasons. The organizations that had recently recruited members subconsciously stayed away from these two, their eyes filled with fear, indirectly confirming Guifen's strength. But what truly spurred his decision was the sudden notification sound at the end. While most players were stunned, Su'er immediately noticed the stats on their badges...none of them were over 20.
After the shockwave, Shamatte looked at Su Er with trembling eyelids. He caught sight of the number on the other's badge and couldn't help but reach out his hands to pinch his fragile neck: "Fifty-nine! Are you still human?"
I don't even have a fraction of what others have.
Looking at my own boss again, he was 19 points, and there was a strange sense of satisfaction amidst the sadness.
The brochure barely touched upon the question of achievement points. Su Er allowed him to pinch her, and was about to ask for details, but Shamatte let go and interrupted, saying, "We'll discuss this when we get back to the supply point."
There were a few small black flying insects hovering around. Sur didn't like these creatures very much and would disperse them with his hands from time to time.
The Shamatte gazed into the distance, his tone revealing a sense of pride: "The westernmost area all belongs to our camp."
Su Er was thinking about something else. The organization's name was Guifen, and they lived in the far west. They were about to die. On the way, he encountered a few dazed people, some with blood on their faces, others weeping on the side of the road. He couldn't help but take a few more glances.
"They all just came back from the game." Shamatte looked straight ahead.
Soul: "Will I die if I fail to pass the level?"
Shamatte shook his head: "I don't know. There are also many big figures in real life who come here. Someone investigated it a long time ago, but those who died in the game are just missing."
Su Er thought of Zhu Yun: "That is to say, there is a possibility that he is still alive."
"Don't be too optimistic." Shamatte's voice suddenly turned cold: "After all, those people really disappeared."
What's more, the process of death is extremely painful and no one wants to experience it.
Su Er naturally wouldn't risk his life for an experiment. Not knowing how far the journey was, he said, "I can't waste too much time. I have a mock exam next Tuesday."
"..." Shamatte didn't notice the stone under his feet and almost tripped: "To the outside, time inside is still."
Su Er immediately grasped the key point: "If I never leave, won't I be able to gain eternal life?"
Shamatte shook his head: "If you stay for more than four days, you will be automatically teleported to a high-difficulty dungeon."
Going further, there were almost no people to be seen. This world was devoid of sunlight, and the weather was perpetually gloomy. For a few moments, Soul even felt like he was still stuck in the same game.
"We're here." The Shamatte stopped.
Looking up, he saw a few scattered white tents ahead. Soul had seen some other organizations' buildings on his journey, tall and imposing. Compared to them, this one was like a row of low shrubs in a towering forest. Once inside, he could only see some ordinary daily necessities.
"Very distinctive."
Shamatte spread his hands and said, "The boss said it's not home, there's no need to make it cozy and bright." He briefly introduced two places not mentioned in the brochure: "There's an automatic supply station for daily necessities. You can go there and pick them up if you need them, but they don't take much."
After all, we can't bring it into the game, and on weekdays people prefer to live in the real world.
As he was speaking, several more people walked into the tent. They looked no more than thirty years old and all remained silent, completely different from the childishness revealed on their appearance.
Shamatte: "Understand, they just left the instance less than half a day ago."
One of them had half his sleeve stained with blood, suggesting he'd been seriously injured in the game. The only thing about this world that favored players was that no matter how badly injured they were, as long as all their stats weren't below 1, they'd be able to recover once they emerged.
"New member?" one of them asked hoarsely.
The Shamatte smiled and nodded.
The man saw Suer's badge and his expression froze slightly. "You are the one who pioneered the charm value?"
No matter how calm Su Er was, he couldn't help but feel a little ashamed at this moment: "It was just an accident."
"Six?" The man looked away from him and glanced at the value of Shamatte with some contempt.
The Shamatte responded: "You are not much better."
"At least they've already broken through level 10." The tall man who had been silent all this time suddenly spoke up, "Be careful when you enter the dungeon next time."
The Shamatte nodded bitterly. Even though the names were all on his badges, he still introduced everyone present to Su Er one by one. Finally, he said, "I'm Zhao Sanliang. You can just call me Brother Sanliang. As for the boss, he's Ji Heng. His nickname is Guijianchou, which literally means that even ghosts get worried when they see him."
Suer noticed that the column for strength on his chest badge read '? '.
Zhao Sanliang explained: "I used props to cover it up."
Su Er: "Isn't this just making things worse?"
Zhao Sanliang: "The boss has his own ideas about things, and a few members haven't been to the dungeon recently, so you won't be able to see them for the time being."
"Let's talk business first." Ji Heng interrupted Zhao Sanliang who was chattering and looked at Su Er: "I will use the team props to take you through the next dungeon."
Before Suer could say anything, one of the team members frowned and asked, "Isn't this a case of forcing things to grow too fast?"
With Ji Heng here, the difficulty of the copy must be very high.
Ji Heng: "Fifty-nine should be a critical point. I have a feeling that once it exceeds sixty, it will likely cause harm to the undead."
With a big boss leading the way, Su Er wasn't afraid to take a risk and nodded. After the game was settled, his combined strength and spirituality had only increased by six points, leaving him with a total of thirty-five points, a far cry from the required escape value of ten thousand.
Seeing his depression, Zhao Sanliang said, "It's already a lot. You will lose hope even more later."
Su Er stopped worrying and started asking about the achievement points.
"There are only three people with achievement points now, including you."
Suhr was surprised.
"To earn achievement points, you have to complete a hidden condition in the game, and only the first person to complete it gets them." Zhao Sanliang said with a wry smile, "There was once a player who tried to kill everyone else in a game just to see if he could get achievement points."
"What's the result?"
"Failed."
Soul: "The other two people who received achievement points..."
"The eldest has the achievement 'A Journey of Thousand Miles Tests a Horse'. The remaining one is called Qiyun. He's the only one in the game with a Spirit Point over 100. However, I suspect he's already half-human, half-ghost. Remember to avoid him if you see him next time."
A journey of a thousand miles tests a horse's strength?
Su Er pursed his lips and said, "One last question. Is the content in the brochure trustworthy?"
"It's credible." Zhao Sanliang nodded. "It was compiled by the top players. After all, there are new players coming in every month, and they all have a million questions."
"…"
Zhao Sanliang and Ji Heng had already been here for three days. Any longer would force them to leave the dungeon. They exchanged contact information and prepared to return to the real world. Following the instructions in the brochure, Su'er pressed firmly on the indentation on his badge. A familiar numbness washed over him, and for a moment, even bending his fingers was difficult. Finally, Su'er simply closed his eyes, letting the force wash over him. When he regained consciousness, the clock on the wall still read the same number he'd last seen before leaving: 3:45 AM.
In the familiar room, in front of me was an unfinished set of 53-inch paint, as if everything before was just a dream.
Su Er touched the shock device in his pocket, ready to delve deeper into it, when he suddenly remembered next week's quiz. After a moment's deliberation, he sent a message to Zhao Sanliang: "Can I choose my own time when entering the game using the team-building item?"
Zhao Sanliang was a chatterbox and quickly replied: [It's too precious. I haven't used it, but I think it's okay.]
Su Er: [Can you do me a favor? Subtly suggest that Ji Heng enter the game at 10:30 next Tuesday.]
Zhao Sanliang: [Does this time...have any special meaning?]
Suhr: [My thinking was that the exam was only halfway through, so I could write down the questions I didn't know how to answer and study them when I got there. If I couldn't figure it out, I could always ask someone for help.]
No matter how long time has passed in the game, when you return, it is still the same time point.
Ten minutes passed after this message was sent, but there was still no reply from Zhao Sanliang.
Su Er sighed, thinking that one must be down-to-earth in life. He insisted on finishing the last set of papers before going to bed.
In the hotel.
Zhao Sanliang was lying comfortably on the big bed, shocked by Suer's request. After thinking it over, he called Ji Heng and told him that he wanted to choose a time to play the dungeon.
"The reason." Ji Heng was always concise and to the point.
Zhao San relayed Su Er's exact words and concluded, "He wants to use you to cheat on the exam."
"…"