After witnessing their friendly exchange with the Barrier Ghost, Fan Daoyi returned to business.
They couldn't shirk responsibility for what had happened, so they could only accept it.
"From now on, I'll drop in at random. If I see that you still haven't reformed the game, you can all go back into the furnace and be remade."
At that moment, they were miserable. But the next moment—
"I'm going over to the human side."
Their lifeless eyes lit up again, their delight impossible to conceal.
"Xuan Miao."
A black cat suddenly appeared. It held part of the authority over the game and had also been the one to start the trend of getting off work on time.
The proposal had won everyone's unanimous approval and even earned a favorable assessment.
The unscrupulous boss who slacked off and his assistant who cared for the people.
Fan Daoyi liked that assessment, so it was only natural for Xuan Miao to work a little overtime to fulfill an assistant's responsibilities, right?
"From now on, you'll be fully responsible for all coordination work. Be ready whenever I call."
He continued assigning tasks and discussing plans to reform the game. In the middle of the conversation, Fan Daoyi abruptly stopped talking.
He glanced at the time and said something familiar.
It seemed to be what they said every time their shift ended.
"Tired and weary, time to get off work."
They were speechless, and they couldn't very well say anything.
They finally understood: it really wasn't their fault they slacked off. The main problem was that their boss was the same damn way!
Fan Daoyi was already gone, having slipped away faster than anyone.
"What do you all think?" The Flower Tender was still tending the flowers with care and might not have listened to the earlier conversation.
The Apothecary replied, "Lord Dao Yi's Origin Source is badly damaged. Otherwise, that hands-off boss wouldn't have come out."
"So?"
Their eyes met, and they confirmed the thought in their minds.
"So he needs enough fear to replenish his Origin Source right now. He definitely won't reform those high-difficulty instances first."
"He needs a stable instance with enough players."
They all thought of the answer.
The college entrance exam held every year.
"We're safe, there's still time. Let's keep slacking."
"What if we're discovered?"
"Hmm... then we'll deal with it when we're discovered."
The Apothecary went to the butcher. "I paid you, but you failed to get the job done. Shouldn't you pay a price?"
The butcher eyed the Apothecary's crafty expression suspiciously. "What do you want?"
At that same moment, Fan Daoyi reached the maze's exit, bringing the beginner instance to an end.
He stood on a bustling street filled with traffic, still slightly puzzled.
He could understand the players who ventured into Guixu, but why weren't these ordinary people afraid of it either?
The unstable entrance to Guixu was neither guarded nor cordoned off. What was more, when they saw him leave Guixu, there was even a hint of envy in their eyes.
Once all the survivors had left Guixu, the passage closed.
Sensing several intense gazes, Fan Daoyi frowned slightly and looked in one direction.
It felt as though he was being watched from there. It seemed he shouldn't stay long.
His figure turned illusory and vanished from the spot.
[An identity has been arranged for you.]
Xuan Miao spoke directly to Fan Daoyi in his sea of consciousness. After all, there weren't any cats floating in the air and speaking human words around here yet.
They followed the principle that animals couldn't become spirits after the founding of the nation.
[Fan Daoyi, currently attending Qingyun City No. 1 High School. His parents are located...]
"Stop." Fan Daoyi interrupted Xuan Miao. "Don't give me complicated relationships. I can't be bothered dealing with them."
[All right. Average family background, both parents deceased, withdrawn personality, middling grades. How about that?]
Fan Daoyi didn't reject those conditions. He wouldn't be using this false identity for long anyway.
[The college entrance exam is in a week. For a student like you, this is an important moment. And yet you skipped class to compete for a Guixu slot. How disheartened your teachers must be.]
Xuan Miao had already begun teasing Fan Daoyi as though he were his assumed identity.
"Just you wait."
Teasing aside, the work still had to go on.
It found information on the five academies and sent it to Fan Daoyi.
[I recommend Dawnlight Academy. After all, they hold many Guixu slots, and their students must enter Guixu once every year.]
Xuan Miao's voice carried a hint of smug delight.
[After all, our Lord Dao Yi can't enter and leave Guixu at will in his current state. He has to rely on entrances in the present world. How pitiful, meow.]
Fan Daoyi added another mark against Xuan Miao.
"You're the only one who dares act so recklessly."
Using the information he had received, Fan Daoyi made his way to the school.
He had already asked Xuan Miao to prepare an excuse for why he hadn't come to class.
He knocked three times, then pushed the door open and entered. Standing just inside the doorway, he first apologized sincerely. "Sorry, teacher, I'm late."
The teacher looked toward the door and saw a pale-faced young man. He leaned most of his weight on a cane and looked extremely frail.
The child before him felt somewhat unfamiliar. Suddenly, a set of memories that didn't belong to them appeared in his mind.
Fan Daoyi, Fan Daoyi.
Oh, he was a student in their class.
His health didn't seem very good, and he had been delayed from coming to class today for health reasons too.
"Go back to your seat."
The teacher didn't make things difficult for Fan Daoyi. Instead, he felt pity for him because of his poor health.
He heaved a long sigh inwardly. What a poor child.
After returning to his seat, Fan Daoyi flipped through his books at random.
When Guixu had first appeared, as long as someone achieved excellent results after entering Guixu during the college entrance exam, they could be admitted to one of the five academies as an exception, even if their academic scores were average.
Now, however, Guixu results only accounted for 30% of the total college entrance exam score.
After all, Guixu's content never changed, and the guides couldn't be kept hidden. Anyone who had read a little beforehand could get a decent score. It had become a giveaway.
Fan Daoyi sighed softly.
Xuan Miao was right. He now needed to use the Guixu entrances here to appear in the various instances.
As for his academic scores...
Fear formed the Origin Source, and a small portion of it was then separated off to form wishes as rewards for those who cleared an instance.
He now applied the same principle, using that portion of his Origin Source to take in all the knowledge in the books.
When he looked up at the problem being explained on the blackboard again, his thoughts were already clear.
Meanwhile, news of the beginner instance quickly reached an official organization.
The Dragon Group.
A middle-aged man hurriedly kicked open the office door. "Xia, something seems to have happened."
The guy surnamed Xia was leaning back in his chair with his legs propped on the desk, holding a game console.
The loud bang made his heart jump. He lost his balance and nearly fell off his chair.
He steadied himself, hid the console, and coughed. Then he sat up straight and said, "What are you making such a fuss about? What, did someone die?"
In the silence, Xia also realized how serious the matter was. "Someone really died?"
"Yes." The man nodded. "And they died in Guixu."
Xia could no longer stay calm. He sprang to his feet and braced both hands on the desk. "People can still die in that thing now? What level, Red-level?"
The man shook his head and sighed. "Green-level, and it was a beginner instance at that. So far, we know there was one veteran player there: Edwin Parker from Eagle Country."
He took out a photograph and handed it over. "This is a photo they took. Number of people who cleared it: one. They suspect someone was responsible and want us to give them an explanation."
The photograph showed Fan Daoyi just after he had left Guixu.
They looked at his attire. "A Daoist?"