【Winter, 5895】

【Morning Embrace Star】

【This is a terrible era】

【The damn Morning Embrace government still advocates science supremacy, insisting on de-magic, but the soldiers under them are holding magic guns, and the airships are equipped with magic cannons】

【The Vostar Corporation claims to have the people's best interests at heart, calling for world peace, but secretly produces different-flavored zombie drugs, with a variety that rivals the shelves of a supermarket】

【The Iris Church has had enough of these despicable hypocrites, and they will not stand by and watch the originally pure world be filled with violence and filth, something that every kind-hearted person cannot tolerate and must stop】

【So they decided to destroy the world】

【At this moment, Morning Embrace Star is ruled by three major giants. No matter which camp's core member you are, you can enjoy a relatively complete life and fight for your lofty ideals】

【But unfortunately, you are just a commoner】

【The place where you live is about to be destroyed, and you must leave here as soon as possible】

【Number of players in this game: 12】

【Mission: Escape from the Omuda District】

【Difficulty: S】

【Time limit: 18 days】

【Temporary items have been distributed to individual backpacks, please check carefully】

……

……

Inside a small wooden house.

Gu Chi opened his eyes.

This time, his posture in the instance was different from before.

He entered lying down.

It was somewhat similar to the posture before entering the instance, except that there was no one beside him.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread.com".

The tip of his nose still seemed to retain the pleasant scent of a young girl, but Xia Ling was no longer by his side.

The bed was somewhat hard and very old.

With a little force, it made a creaking sound.

He propped himself up and looked around the environment.

It was an extremely simple and crude wooden house, so crude that the only furniture was a dusty table and the bed he was sitting on.

On the table was a nearly depleted candle, with a blackened wick that looked like it could burn for another five or six minutes.

Other than that, there was nothing else.

It was less than 20 square meters in total, with walls on all sides made of long wooden planks, which could probably all be burned down with a single fire.

There were no windows—only two "skylights."

The triangular sloping roof had a hole on the left and right, and sunlight shone in through these fractured openings, clearly showing the dust dancing in the light.

There probably couldn't be a more dilapidated starting point.

Gu Chi pushed open the door and found that the wooden house was a standalone building, surrounded by trees on all sides.

It seemed like he was in a forest.

There was a small campfire pit at the door, with a few scattered pieces of wood, but it was unclear how long it had been extinguished.

Not to mention players, not even the shadow of an NPC could be seen.

"Perhaps the game deliberately scattered the starting points of each player?" Gu Chi pondered.

Good news: no one knew where he was.

Bad news: he didn't know where he was either.

Even worse news, Gu Chi clicked on the eye icon in his status bar—

【1. Player ID: Wind Without Trace, Total Attributes: 107 (click to view details), Current Status: None】

【Mission 1: Leave the Omuda District. Mission 2: Kill 2 players from the same camp】

【2. Player ID: Fish in the Pond, Total Attributes: 105, Current Status: None】

【Mission 1: Leave the Omuda District. Mission 2: Prevent players without a camp from escaping】

【3. Player ID: Ghostly Child, Total Attributes: 156, Current Status: Hidden】

【Mission 1: Leave the Omuda District. Mission 2: Fulfill the Prophet's wish】

【4. Player ID: Don't Hit Me I Surrender, Total Attributes: 113, Current Status: None】

【Mission 1: Leave the Omuda District. Mission 2: Find "Katherine's Witching Chessboard"】

【5. Player ID: Drink More Lava, Total Attributes: 120, Current Status: None】

【Mission 1: Leave the Omuda District. Mission 2: Find the Church player lurking in the Vostar camp and beat him】

【……】

【11. Player ID: Strength 39, Total Attributes: 213, Current Status: None】

【Mission 1: Leave the Omuda District. Mission 2: Kill all non-Morning Embrace government players】

Looking down the row, not a single player had attributes lower than 100.

Gu Chi: "?"

He clicked on the details of the last player.

【Player ID: Strength 39】

【Constitution: 30】

【Spirit: 18】

【Agility: 14】

【Strength: 139】

【Charm: 12】

Gu Chi: "……"

You call this strength 39?

More like One Punch Man.

Gu Chi seriously doubted whether this instance had attribute bonuses, so he also clicked on his own personal panel to take a look.

【Dao Yun: 44】—including the recent increase of 1 point in constitution and 1 point in spirit from eating rice.

Gu Chi: "……"

So, did he start with an epic opening and draw a high-end hand?

Looking at the campfire pit at his feet, Gu Chi fell into silence.

Roughly calculating, taking 130 as the average total attribute.

Strength 39 clearly belonged to a random player.

He was one too.

Entering one before and one after, isn't that reasonable?

A cold wind blew, and Gu Chi's bangs fluttered.

With a sweet mood, he returned to the wooden house and closed the door tightly.

Not because he was scared, but mainly because it was a bit cold.

After all, it was the middle of winter, and the clothes given by the game were not thick. He was dressed in an ordinary cotton and linen outfit, looking like a hunter.

Gu Chi sat down at the edge of the bed and opened his backpack.

【Orange18: The latest model of a phone produced by a company under the Vostar Corporation, using magic batteries, once charged, it can stand by for a hundred years】【Old Oak Bow (Common): The bowstring is fragile, please do not pull too hard】

【Inferior Magic Arrows*50 (Fine Quality): Contains a small amount of magic power, slightly more powerful than regular arrows】

【Kelda Copper Coins*9: Save a little, this is all the money you have left after buying a phone】

"He really is a hunter."

Gu Chi couldn't be bothered to comment on why a hunter would spend all his money on buying a phone.

Zombies, magic, and technology, no matter how strange the combination, it was all normal.

He thought that the unique item descriptions would hide some important information, but when he opened the phone, it was blank.

No contacts.

The software only had the default clock and date, and a game called Fireball Crush.

Gu Chi: "..."

He could only say that this hunter of his had a dream of being a mage.

The phone was temporarily useless.

50 magic arrows, a quiver, and an oak bow, that was his starting equipment.

To be honest, Gu Chi felt that these arrows combined might not even have the power of one of his sniper shots.

This was a world of cannons and magic.

Looking at the background introduction, other players had airships carrying magic cannons, while he was still using arrows...

This was undoubtedly a hellish start.

Judging from the attributes and tasks of other players, this was an eighteen-level hell.

He had no identity, while other players belonged to three major factions and definitely had better starting equipment than him, maybe even more than a little bit.

There was also a small detail—his task was "Escape from the Omuda District," while other players had "Leave the Omuda District," indicating that faction identity might provide them with more information about this task.

If he had a high-level identity card...

Gu Chi suddenly fell silent again.

Why didn't he get a high-level identity card before entering the game?

Gu Chi: "..."

He was careless.

He had never thought that he would enter a high-level game.

Once a player entered an online instance, all daily functions, including contacting Xia Ling and Dr. Chen, would be disabled, which meant that he couldn't contact Xia Ling directly.

At present, the only good news was that he only had one task.

Judging from the personal information of other players, the higher the attributes, the more difficult the task should be.

As a rookie with only half the total attributes of others, he didn't deserve to have a second task.

But in his current situation, even one task was not easy to complete.

He had no information at all.

Looking at it from another angle, if he were a top player with a total attribute of over 200, had enough confidence in his strength, and happened to be in a personal mode where "legal" PVP was allowed, would he spare others?

No.

Except for his wife, everyone else would die.

Looking at it from another angle, Gu Chi felt that he couldn't just sit and wait for death.

Doing nothing was not an option. For the sake of this game, he and Xia Ling had invested five epic items. If he had even a hint of giving up, Gu Chi felt that he would be letting down the title of "Father."

If his strength was not enough, then he would use his wits.

If normal fighting didn't work, then he would play dirty.

The oak bow and arrows were probably a reminder for him to hunt in this forest, where he might find clues for his task. But if he played it safe, others would also play it safe, and in the end, everyone's progress would be about the same. His 44 total attributes almost had no chance of turning the tables.

Even if he spent all 44 points on defense, he might not be able to withstand a single punch from others.

And he still had to find the "Ashes of Annihilation."

This couldn't go on.

He had to seize the opportunity and find a way to overtake.

And then find Xia Ling.

After analyzing his situation, Gu Chi had a plan in mind.

His gaze wandered back and forth among the personal tasks of the eleven players, finally locking onto the third row—

"Yoyozi..."

"Yeah, it's you."

Gu Chi stood up, no longer conserving his attributes, and spoke directly, "Go to the nearest human settlement."

【Dao Yun -2】

"Swoosh!"

Gu Chi arrived near a small village.

The style changed again.

The village was very primitive, with wooden houses, stone mill carts, and a very primitive appearance.

A middle-aged man was drawing water from a well, wearing a very simple military coat. He held a rope with one hand and a shiny gold phone between his neck and shoulder, as if he was talking to someone.

Although he didn't look wealthy, the communication device was an Orange18 luxury model, seemingly more advanced than the one he had.

There was also a well-dressed woman walking a purebred dog, holding a handkerchief and walking around the well. When they saw him teleport over, they just glanced at him and continued their activities, as if they were used to the appearance of strangers out of thin air.

Gu Chi didn't have time to experience the unique customs of this village. He walked over and waited for the man to finish his call before smiling and asking, "Excuse me, sir, I'd like to ask you something."

"Just wait a moment, I'm going to light a cigarette." The man had already drawn the water and set it aside, then pulled out a purple cigarette from his pocket. Snap! A small flame appeared on his fingertip with a snap of his fingers. He lit the cigarette and was about to take a deep breath to enjoy it when the purebred dog suddenly jumped up and swatted the cigarette out of his hand.

"Woof woof woof woof!"

The man: "..."

Gu Chi: "..."

The man glared at the dog, "Didn't you see that there's a stranger here? Can't you give me some face?"Pomeranian: "Woof woof woof woof woof!"

Leave a fart's worth of face?

For some reason, Gu Chi felt like he understood what the dog was saying.

Annoyed, the man kicked the dog away, picked up his cigarette, wiped it off, put it back in his mouth, took a deep drag, and contentedly blew out a smoke ring.

The smoke was caramel-colored.

Gu Chi: "..."

Things were getting weirder.

"Ask away," the man said.

Gu Chi: "Do you know where the prophet is?"

It was like a dream returning to the City of T-Spooky.

Only this time, it was him asking the questions instead of Ling Mao.

Gu Chi still preferred the days when he could be a lazy dog.

"The prophet?" the man asked, "You mean Joseph?"

Gu Chi: "Are there other prophets?"

"Yeah," the man said, "There's one in Seagull Town, one in Kuhl Village, one in the city, one in the prison... about eight in total, which one are you asking about?"

Gu Chi: "..."

A pack of seven wolves, huh?

He still needed to find the real prophet.

After thinking for a moment, Gu Chi asked, "Which one has the most accurate predictions?"

"Oh, you want accurate predictions..."

The man paused and said, "None of them."

Gu Chi: "?"

The man, with a cigarette in his mouth, said, "Joseph predicted last month that there would be snow, but it turned out to be sunny all month in the dead of winter."

"Joelson from Seagull Town predicted that a man shot eighteen times would recover the next day. The guy got so excited he couldn't catch his breath and died on the spot."

"Then there's Vina from Kuhl Village, who's been buying magic lottery tickets all her life and hasn't even won the lowest prize of a silver coin."

"Lister from the city once divined for a pregnant lady, saying it would be a boy, but she ended up having twin girls."

"The one in the prison did successfully predict something once..." the man recalled.

Gu Chi's interest was piqued: "How so?"

The man said, "He predicted he would end up in prison, then went and smashed a police car, and sure enough, he got himself locked up."

Gu Chi: "..."

6.

The man extinguished his cigarette under his foot, patted Gu Chi on the shoulder, and said, "They all have quite a reputation. You can just ask around when you get there, but if you're looking for them to tell your fortune, I have a suggestion."

"Listen to them backwards, it might be more reliable."

After saying that, the man took his water and went back inside.

Gu Chi: "..."

Whether he listened to them backwards or not, he didn't want to believe them anymore.

But he had no choice; he had to find the real prophet.

How could he become a prophet himself if he didn't take out the real one?

Gu Chi had thought there was only one prophet and planned to approach step by step, to first understand the situation, like whether there were experts protecting the prophet, how tight the security was at the residence.

Now it seemed he had to take a risk.

Otherwise, by the time he found the real prophet, Tian Tian might have already completed the task.

Gu Chi began to buff himself.

"Others cannot see me."

【Dao Yun -3】

"They can't hear my heartbeat."

【Dao Yun -2】

"They can't smell my scent."

【Dao Yun -2】

"They also can't sense my presence."

【Dao Yun -10】

"Next step, go to the prophet that Tian Tian is looking for."

【Dao Yun -10】

"The step after that, ten kilometers away."

【Dao Yun -2】

Most of the Enlightenment Elixir was gone.

Gu Chi took a step forward.

The next second.

The bustling noise filled his ears.

He appeared in the back seat of a sedan.

...

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