[Lu Family Courtyard] Livestream and an attempt

[Welcome to the "Lu Family Courtyard" Instance]

[This Instance is a "harvest." The Calamity condition has been met. There are no special objectives. Auxiliary rules are still being generated]

[Restriction: Please be mindful of your identity in the Instance]

[Your objective is to ensure that none of the participants escape]

[Number of participants: 100]

[Countdown to the start of the Instance: 11:59:59]

Ancient times?

Ren Yi looked at his surroundings, but quickly dismissed the thought when he saw a plump maid ride a bicycle into the courtyard below.

It looked more like the modern era.

He was just about to ask Lu Qing to confirm it when Lu Zihan's puzzled voice came from behind him. "A-Mu? Wait, Mom, is that A-Mu? Isn't she our nanny? Why is she in the Instance too?"

"Although A-Mu is a ghost, she belongs to my Instance," Lu Qing explained with a smile.

A thought occurred to Ren Yi. He had heard before that some Instances had NPCs. These NPCs could be ghosts of a lower level than the Instance boss, or participants who had "applied for the job" during the Instance.

As for how they applied, don't ask.

They went downstairs, and A-Mu came in carrying a wooden basin piled with fresh vegetables.

She was about fifty, slightly plump, with a kind face and deep lines at the corners of her eyes that made her look as though she were always smiling. She looked up and saw Lu Qing, and immediately gave her a simple, respectful smile:

"Madam, you're back. The water celery is very tender today. Shall I make a cold salad with it for you and the young masters this evening?"

Ren Yi stole a glance at Lu Zihan, giving him a resentful look that said, "So you're a young master, you little brat." Lu Zihan scratched his head innocently and asked, "A-Mu, why are you calling me young master? Just call me Zihan like you used to."

A-Mu smiled good-naturedly, her gaze lingering on Ren Yi with curiosity. "Young master, in Madam's Instance, you must remember your identity. Here, I'm an old servant who's worked for the family for many years. My maiden name is Chen, and I've been with Madam for a long time. Both young masters can just call me A-Mu."

Holding the basin, A-Mu smiled at the two "young masters" again, then strode briskly toward the kitchen.

Only after watching her disappear beneath the covered walkway did Lu Qing look away and turn to Ren Yi and Lu Zihan.

"Just as A-Mu said, 'identity' is very important in my Instance. Every ghost, NPC, and participant here must act according to their identity," Lu Qing said.

"The participants won't enter inexplicably as they usually do, or arrive with jarring identities like 'explorer' or 'investigator.' Instead, they'll be sent in as 'short-term laborers' or 'temporary servants.'"

"Servants?" Lu Zihan raised an eyebrow, looking a little bewildered. It seemed the "young master" still wasn't quite used to his identity.

"Yes. They might be day laborers referred by an employment agency in town, or refugees looking for a meal, and so on. But the important thing is their identity." Lu Qing smiled.

"Another thing to note is that all the Instances this time will be broadcast live within this world. So be careful not to talk about our world, and don't take out phones or other high-tech items."

"Of course, the Ghost Net can connect directly to your minds inside the Instance, so it doesn't count."

Lu Qing's eyes shifted, as though she had remembered something interesting, and she said to Ren Yi, "Zihan has no choice. Because of his connection to me, his identity in this Instance is fixed. He can only be a 'young master.' But Xiao Yi, you're free to choose."

"Well? Would you like to be the 'second young master,' a distant nephew, or a study attendant? You could also choose to be our steward or tutor, though those identities would require you to disguise yourself."

"Huh?" Ren Yi paused. "They all sound pretty interesting, but Aunt Lu, I don't know how to play those roles yet."

"I was getting ahead of myself." Lu Qing paused. "Come, I'll show you how our Instance is laid out."

Lu Qing took Lu Zihan and Ren Yi on a tour.

The Instance wasn't very large. At its center stood a small wooden building with three floors. The living room and kitchen were on the first floor, the study was on the second, and the madam's and young master's rooms were on the third. Beside the building were a woodshed and the single-story quarters where the servants lived.

Behind the building was a small courtyard planted with all kinds of flowers, plants, and trees. The mulberry tree from earlier grew out of that courtyard. The courtyard didn't look large, but simply gazing at the garden gave Ren Yi a vague sense of disorientation.

In front of the building was a melon field surrounded by a river, with a yellow dirt path leading into the distance.

"There's a private school and a market across the river. Those aren't part of our Instance. We probably won't get a chance this time, but we can visit them another day." At some point, Lu Qing had picked up a fan, and she used it to point into the distance.

Lu Qing took Ren Yi and Lu Zihan all around, introducing each of the Instance's "attractions," but she didn't go into greater detail. In her words, it wouldn't be fun if she told them.

"Well?" After the group returned to the wooden building, Lu Qing covered her mouth with her fan and asked with a smile, "Do you have any thoughts about your 'identity' now? Actually, I suggest you choose 'young master.' That identity gives you a little more freedom. Or you could be a nephew or a distant relative."

Ren Yi lowered his head and fell silent. Just now, a bold plan had suddenly taken shape in his mind.

"Auntie, before that, I'd like to ask about the 'live broadcast.'" He raised his head. "How exactly does it work? Why is there a rule like that?"

"Oh, that's nothing much." Lu Qing snapped her fan shut. "Sometimes, when the rules of worlds clash, a phenomenon like this occurs. You could call it an attempt by the world to struggle and gather information.

"The natives of this world know that if the participants in this batch of Instances die, ghosts will descend directly, but they don't know the details of the conflict between the worlds' rules. This rule... you could say it 'lets them know why they're dying.'"

What was this, end-of-life care for a world?

"Once you've been through more Instances, you'll see even more interesting things," Lu Qing said with a smile, giving an example.

"Sometimes, in worlds where internal relations are strained, competing rules can even emerge, creating things like 'nation-war Instances' and 'civilization Instances.' The participants kill one another, and sometimes, while we're watching the show, they get themselves killed."

Ren Yi fell silent for a second, inexplicably reminded of his first Instance. "Sometimes, it seems they don't need a competitive Instance to get themselves killed..."

"I've decided, Auntie," Ren Yi said.

"I want to be a 'servant.'"