Third Closed Beta

As soon as the others left, Yu Xunge turned on every revealing-potion humidifier in her room. Not only did she add high-grade revealing potions, but she also made sure there was enough potion inside for the humidifiers to run for a week. Only then did she drive out of S City, heading for Border City, four thousand kilometers away. Whenever possible, she avoided the highway and took side roads instead—mainly because if she drove there entirely by highway, then when she used Phantom Shift later, her destination would be on the highway. What if she materialized and got hit by a car? She was afraid she would die with regrets.

She treated it as mapping out the route. By traveling it once now, she would have more places she could Phantom Shift to later.

Fortunately, she had traveled all over the place for acting in recent years, and she had been to most cities before.

Halfway through the drive, Yu Xunge truly could not hold on any longer. She not only put on the plain belt with Constitution +1 that she had gotten from Su Jinxuan, but also had to stop from time to time to cook herself meals that restored stamina.

She finally reached Border City on the morning of the 9th. Without bothering with anything else, she found a hotel, took a proper shower, and slept soundly.

At 7:00 a.m. on the 10th, Yu Xunge made a video call to Yi Qiuguo. She showed Yi Qiuguo and Yu Qingshan the scenery in Border City, asked whether they wanted any local specialties, and reminded them that her younger brother absolutely had to keep his phone close today—and that the two of them had to do the same. They chatted for another ten-odd minutes before hanging up.

After ending the call, Yu Xunge began Phantom Shifting toward S City...

It was over four thousand kilometers. With her current 14 Intelligence, she could only move a maximum of fourteen kilometers each time. Since this route was not on the highway and was not the shortest path, she conservatively estimated that she would need to shift three hundred times, all while maintaining the Disillusionment Charm.

After fifty Phantom Shifts, Yu Xunge started feeling dizzy.

After one hundred Phantom Shifts, Yu Xunge started feeling nauseous.

She stopped to drink some coffee to replenish her mana, then ate food that boosted mental strength.

One hundred and twenty shifts... one hundred and fifty shifts...

After two hundred shifts, Yu Xunge collapsed to the ground and vomited violently for a long time.

It was not yet 8:00 a.m., but instead of feeling relieved, Yu Xunge felt a chill creep into her heart.

She had set out so early and had even factored in her rest time, yet something still went wrong.

It was as though some invisible force was preventing her from returning smoothly to S City. Especially after she had passed the halfway point, her Phantom Shifts kept deviating slightly. A single shift could clearly cover fourteen kilometers in a straight line, yet she kept veering left, then left again, as though she were trapped in a ghostly maze.

Yu Xunge gritted her teeth and continued!

Yu Xunhuan's luck was not low, but her own Luck was maxed out now!

Even if she had to crawl, she would make it back to S City today. If she could not stop Yu Xunhuan from entering the game in time, then she would kill Yu Xunhuan directly!!!

After three hundred Phantom Shifts, she was still more than five hundred kilometers away from S City.

Yu Xunge spat out a mouthful of blood.

A new status appeared beside her character status: Weakened.

For the next 24 hours, her attributes would be reduced by 20%.

Fine. Fine. Fine.

Yu Xunge scooped the blood off the ground into a bag and put it in her backpack, then swallowed the blood in her mouth along with coffee that replenished mana.

9:00 a.m.

There was still time!

10:07 a.m.

Yu Xunge entered S City's boundaries. After restoring her mana, she was ready to make Yu Xunhuan collapse into sleep the instant she entered his villa.

10:10 a.m.!

With a mouthful of blood still in her mouth, Yu Xunge shifted into Yu Xunhuan's room!

The room was empty!

Yu Xunge's eyes blazed with fury.

But the angrier she was, the more urgent the situation became, the calmer she was.

Even though her entire body and mind were steeped in terror, dread, and regret, her mind and heart remained calm.

She took out her phone and used her data to download Calamity of Ten Thousand Races: Fear Rift.

Right. Yu Xunhuan would not want anyone else to know about his God-given talent, not even his parents.

So where would he be?

The Yu Family home?

At 10:11 a.m., invisible Yu Xunge appeared in Yu Xunhuan's room at the Yu Family home.

No one?

Yu Xunhuan's apartment? No, Ye Dong was there. That was even less likely.

Then...

Yu Xunge left the room, went to the Yu Family study, drank a phasing potion, and passed through the wall.

Inside the Yu Family's secret room, Yu Xunhuan sat atop a wooden crate, staring at his phone with wild joy on his face.

Yu Xunge walked over and, at that very moment, saw the moon rush toward the screen.

At that instant, Yu Xunge's soul screamed madly, Kill him! Kill him now! Otherwise, he will soar to unimaginable heights!!!

But the next second, even she was startled by her own calmness, greed, and madness.

She thought that perhaps all those reasons she had used to convince herself before were merely excuses. What not letting him have it too easy, what an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? None of that was true. Maybe from the moment she drew [Thief God]—no, perhaps even in her previous life—she had always coveted Yu Xunhuan's God-given talent!

Even though he had never told anyone all of his God-given skills, it was a God-given talent that had driven the three great families to fight over him. It was a God-given talent that had made three prodigies from three great aristocratic families willing to set aside their pride and coexist peacefully for his sake...

She did not believe Yu Xunhuan was so charming that three top-tier rich beauties could forget their dignity and pride to share him.

Almost instantly, she used [Wheel of Fortune] on Yu Xunhuan, altering his Luck. Then she left behind her shadow and had it merge into Yu Xunhuan's shadow. After that, she left the secret room and returned to her own bedroom.

Separated by only one wall, she opened her own game. At the same time, through her shadow's perspective, she saw Yu Xunhuan's game interface—and his God-given talent: [Food God] (SS Rank).

She felt as though someone had split her mind in two. One half was as calm as ice, while the other howled with fear, madness, and greed.

Yu Xunhuan's avatar appeared in Silvermoon City, the blood elves' main city.

Yu Xunge logged into her own game, used Disguise to turn herself into a blood elf, then passed through the city gate plastered with wanted notices. One was for an undead, and one was for a goblin; both looked familiar.

She used teleportation to send her game avatar to Silvermoon City.

It was the third closed beta. The number of players logging in was ten thousand times greater than before, and the city was bustling to the extreme, almost packed shoulder to shoulder. If the alien races' main forces could already project themselves here, these few main cities probably would not have been able to hold so many people.

Yu Xunhuan's avatar stood in the vast city, looking around curiously.

He passed an inn, a herbalist's shop, a weapon shop. He passed the statue of the Elf King.

Following his path, Yu Xunge passed through the exact same inn and shops, and went past the exact same statue of the Elf King. She brushed past Yu Xunhuan and used Appraisal on that blood elf avatar with long silver-white hair.

[Character] Xunhuan

[God-given Talent] ?

The next second, she used her skill without hesitation!!

She was going to steal Yu Xunhuan's God-given talent!

[Gambling the name of Thief God, you attempt to steal the talent of the elven player Xunhuan.]

[Theft successful—target's God-given talent rank is too high—theft interrupted!]

Yu Xunge walked toward the city gate while opening her quest panel.

She saw that Skill 2 under [Thief God], [The Thief God's Theft Is Also a Robber's Theft], had turned dark gray and unusable.

Meanwhile, beneath [Immortal], a new God-given talent had appeared: [Food God] (SS Rank) (Incomplete).

After expanding it, she saw five skills, but only two were currently lit up.

When she had stolen from the undead city lord, she had stolen three skills in one go. Yet when she stole from Yu Xunhuan, whose Luck was 1, she had only obtained two.

She did not carefully read the skill descriptions. Instead, she left the city, found the cemetery closest to Silvermoon City, then clicked to use all the explosives in her inventory and tossed them at her avatar's feet. Seconds later, the screen went dark—

[You have died.]