"[Carnival Paradise]'s only recognized currencies are bone gold coins, bone silver coins, and bone copper coins."
"Ten bone copper coins can be exchanged for one bone silver coin, and ten bone silver coins for one bone gold coin."
Zhu Yan automatically thought of them as one, ten, and a hundred yuan.
That made them easy to remember and understand.
"At the current exchange rate, one yuan can be exchanged for one bone copper coin."
Wow.
...They really were one, ten, and a hundred yuan. That made them even easier to remember.
"[Carnival Paradise] is still in the earliest stage of integration, so the exchange rate is low, at 1:1."
"We will open your personal player center page for you shortly."
"Please be patient and listen to the entire broadcast."
Of course Zhu Yan would.
The rewards made him feel much better. Although the pressure still constricted his lungs, at least he could now hold his backpack as tightly as he pleased.
"You can view a map of your current city in the personal player center and visit the [Hall of Mourning] to exchange currency."
[Hall of Mourning]—was that the name of a bank?
Zhu Yan made a note of it.
As far as he remembered, the sudden deaths had not yet spread across all of East Asia, but were confined to his city.
It was just that so many people had died there under mysterious circumstances that it had attracted widespread attention.
He wondered whether the seemingly safe Anwu City would have a [Hall of Mourning].
A sentence from the female voice brought Zhu Yan back to his senses.
"I will continue announcing your remaining rewards."
There were more!
Zhu Yan instinctively focused.
"Player level: Lv.1. Still fragile, but already sprouting."
"[Roleplay] ability level: Lv.4. Considered to be on the right track."
"Please visit the player center page for a detailed explanation."
It had leveled up.
Zhu Yan felt a little excited, but then remembered that leveling up meant facing stronger monsters.
The forum post for newcomers had said that the Beginner Instance wasn't difficult.
He wondered what he would be facing in ten days.
Or perhaps it wouldn't even take ten days.
"And you have a very special reward."
At that moment, the taxi was speeding down the highway.
In the distance, Zhu Yan spotted the large characters for "South Railway Station." His heart pounded in his chest.
"In the [Beginner Instance], we have established an [Ability Deprivation] mechanism. This will be most players' only chance to obtain multiple abilities."
"Players whose abilities are deprived will not know that you took their abilities."
What?
No way...?
Take his aunt's and his younger brother's?
Zhu Yan froze for a second. A nervous feeling rose like a vine and wrapped around his lungs.
Having his abilities enhanced after passing through death gave him a faint thrill.
An obscure pleasure swept over his heart, and Zhu Yan involuntarily tightened his grip on his backpack.
He reached into his pants pocket and felt around, discovering that his aunt's [ability card] and player badge were still completely intact.
The taxi was drawing closer to South Station, and Zhu Yan saw a long line outside.
Still, he had time to catch his train. He could take it slow and didn't need to rush.
As Zhu Yan considered this, he found himself looking forward to the rest of the broadcast.
"They check your palms," the driver said, turning to remind him. "Your left palm. Jeez, it's been like this every time I've come here lately. I don't know what kind of madness this is."
Zhu Yan pressed his head close to the window and saw a checkpoint not far away, along with several fully armed police officers.
The player tattoo was on the left palm.
These people were clearly checking for it!
But his ability, [Roleplay], could hide the player mark for an hour.
That was an hour inside the instance. He didn't know how it worked outside.
He looked at his left palm and thought, watching the black bird gradually disappear from it like a scuff mark dissolving in water.
The broadcast continued, and Zhu Yan focused again.
"Just like the food chain in nature, you can devour those below you in the rankings."
"In [Who Is the Crown Prince], you had the highest score."
Zhu Yan's heart was beating fast.
The female voice asked, "Would you like to deprive the player of the ability [Complaining]?"
Two large red characters abruptly appeared in Zhu Yan's field of vision.
One said yes, the other no.
He would be a fool to turn down something on offer, especially when it belonged to his aunt, who definitely hated him by now.
Zhu Yan decisively fixed his gaze on "yes."
"All right. You have obtained the ability [Complaining]. Its current level is Lv.3."
Even though he still hadn't fully relaxed, he involuntarily felt pleasure again.
"Would you like to deprive the player of the ability [Humiliation]?"
Zhu Yan chose "yes" again.
Their car was already very close to the officers, and he could see them checking passengers' left palms.
"All right. You have obtained the ability [Humiliation]. Its current level is Lv.2."
The moment he obtained the ability, the conflicted pleasure intensified.
It was all so enthralling that Zhu Yan had to dig his nails hard into his palm, forcing the addictive feeling to slowly subside.
"All rewards have been issued."
"Stare at your left palm for three seconds to log in to the player center."
The female voice disappeared.
Zhu Yan's car rolled slowly forward. The driver obediently stopped beside an officer and rolled down the windows on both sides.
"Hold out your left hand so I can take a look," the officer conducting the inspection said.
He looked young, as though he had never been through the wringer in a Beginner Instance.
Zhu Yan obediently held out his left hand.
The officer took a bottle of makeup remover and rubbed some on Zhu Yan's left palm.
"...Huh?"
Zhu Yan was dumbfounded.
Had someone already tried to leave the city that way?
The officer smiled at him.
"Just a routine inspection. Don't take offense. Where are you headed? Do you have your ticket and ID?"
Zhu Yan said, "I'm going to Anwu City for university. My ticket and ID are both electronic."
He pulled them up on his phone for the officer to see, and showed him his admission letter as well.
"That's an unusual name." The officer grinned at him. "All right, hurry and get your ticket checked."
He was through. Zhu Yan breathed a sigh of relief.
The taxi pulled up outside South Station without a hitch. Zhu Yan didn't dare waste a moment and jogged all the way to the platform.
His timing was perfect.
The train would leave in fifteen minutes!
Of course, Zhu Yan had no way of knowing.
In the tenement building nine kilometers away, his aunt's mental defenses had collapsed as she faced her son's corpse.
She shook her lifeless son frantically, her cries echoing throughout the building.
At that moment, she finally believed that none of it had been a hallucination, that it was all real. But it was already too late.
"Zhu Yan!!"
His aunt's heart-rending cries finally alerted the neighbors.
The residents went upstairs to see what was happening and called the police for the woman, who had already lost her mind.
A few minutes later, the officers arrived and quickly checked both of their left palms.
"Take her back," one of the police sergeants said immediately. "Question her, take her statement, and perform an autopsy. See if there's anything different about this one."
His aunt was pushed into a police car.
She cried in a daze, then, as if remembering something, nervously seized the sleeve of the officer beside her.
"Officer, my son was murdered! My son was murdered by my damned nephew!"
The officer was somewhat older and was already used to this sort of thing.
"Please calm down first," he advised. "It might not have been your nephew. The circumstances may be beyond anything you can imagine."
"We all know. Some people look like your family, but they aren't."
His aunt's hand began to tremble.
She had lost her son and belatedly become a little smarter.
"I know, I know," his aunt said, recalling the female voice she had taken for an auditory hallucination.
Her face was bruised and swollen where her son had hit her before he died.
Now, though, his aunt wished her son could hit her once more, even harder.
"I heard a voice making announcements." She stared at the officer and hurriedly explained, "Officer, listen to me. There were four people in the room: my husband, my son, my damned nephew, and me."
The officer gave her a sympathetic look and let her continue crying out.
"My husband wasn't my husband, I know that. But my nephew really was my nephew!"
"Later, during the announcement, that voice said there were three players!"
His aunt broke down again, sobbing uncontrollably.
"You saw the scene. My son and I—that's only two people. My nephew was the third player!"
"He killed my son and fled because he was guilty! He might have already left the city!"
The officer nodded.
Over the past two weeks, the police department had handled quite a few cases like this. He had been shocked at first, but now he understood what had happened as soon as he heard it.
It would have been strange if the nephew had stayed.
"He can't get out," the officer said with a smile. "They check your palms when you leave the city. He can only stay here."
"He can turn into another person!" his aunt cried. "You don't understand, he can change! He turned into my son, then tricked me into killing my son with my ability!"
The officer's expression changed.
He looked directly at his aunt and asked, "What's your nephew's name?"
By now, of course, it was already too late to stop him.
Zhu Yan leaned against the train window and bought a cup of freshly prepared hot taro milk tea from an attendant.
The high-speed train raced past dark farmland, the passengers' reflections clear in the windows.
Zhu Yan finally dared to relax completely, easing the tension that had held him all night.
Scenes from the Beginner Instance flashed through his mind. Zhu Yan began brainwashing himself, trying to loosen the muscles all over his body as much as possible.