Opportunity!

Five minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

Qin Ran did not say goodbye.

Because he knew he would likely never have the chance to return to this Beginner Instance.

So, carrying numerous items including the [Viper-M1] and two [Iron Fist-II] rocket launchers, Qin Ran laboriously raised his right hand to bid Colin and Maggie farewell.

The two girls waved back at Qin Ran as well.

Colin even opened her mouth, preparing to say something.

But Qin Ran's departure time had arrived. Before he could clearly hear Colin's words, the light from when he had entered the instance appeared before his eyes once more, forcing Qin Ran to shut them and raise a hand to block the blinding glare again.

Then, the ensuing sensation of weightlessness made Qin Ran uncomfortable for a moment.

When everything returned to normal, Qin Ran found himself in a tin-roofed room resembling a warehouse.

The room before him was covered in dust and thick with cobwebs.

Even the word "dilapidated" could not fully describe it.

Its only redeeming quality was its size—large enough for five buses to pass through side by side, with room to park ten buses without issue.

"Is this the game lobby?"

Qin Ran looked around, somewhat uncertain.

At the very least, it was completely different from what he had imagined.

Even if it did not have the dazzling game lobbies in all kinds of styles found in other virtual games, it should at least have been cleaner, right?

Qin Ran looked at the dust, which clearly retained his footprints, and frowned slightly.

However, Qin Ran quickly turned his attention to his spoils.

He carefully checked his backpack and the items on his person.

When he discovered that the [Viper-M1] and two [Iron Fist-II] rocket launchers were still there, but a considerable number of the [-II] grenades, [M1905] pistols, magazines, canned food, and water he had brought were gone, Qin Ran let out a helpless sigh.

"Just as I thought, I pushed it too far!"

Previously, with Colin's help, Qin Ran had reached the absolute limit of his carrying capacity—a state where he could barely stand but could not move.

Qin Ran had harbored a lucky hope.

But clearly, even that state was still classified as overloaded.

"Thankfully!"

Qin Ran looked at the [Viper-M1] and the two [Iron Fist-II] rocket launchers, once again rejoicing inwardly.

If he had lost those two kinds of weapons, he truly would have been devastated.

As for abandoning the other items to ensure he could keep those two weapons?

Qin Ran had naturally considered it.

But Qin Ran did not know the limits of his carrying capacity, and he had thought he could manage it.

If someone gave Qin Ran a hundred kilograms of stones and told him to carry them, he would absolutely turn away without hesitation.

But if someone gave Qin Ran a hundred kilograms of Federation currency... Qin Ran would not only think he could carry it, but run with it—and faster than anyone else.

To Qin Ran, his own property was life itself.

"I need to find storage equipment!"

Qin Ran thought instinctively.

Boom!

An explosion suddenly rang out from outside the room, snapping Qin Ran out of his thoughts. Acting almost on instinct, he instantly grabbed the sniper rifle [Viper-M1] and aimed it at the door.

But... the door was tightly sealed!

Even though Qin Ran judged that the blast had occurred right outside the door.

The explosions did not stop. On the contrary, like falling dominoes, one explosion after another began to erupt.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

From the continuous explosions, Qin Ran determined that they were occurring around this very room.

Yet this seemingly dilapidated tin warehouse remained completely unharmed.

"This?"

Qin Ran instinctively began to speculate.

Then a line of text appeared on his retina—

[A war has broken out between Steam City and Steel Chariot. Players, please do not leave your rooms,

to avoid being caught in the crossfire!]

"A guild war?"

Qin Ran froze.

Having once worked at a Gold-farming Studio, Qin Ran was naturally no stranger to this.

It was just that Qin Ran had not expected to encounter something like this the moment he entered the Underground Game.

The text appearing on his retina did not stop just because Qin Ran had lost focus.

Lines of text appeared one after another—

[Beginner Instance: War-Torn City]

[Instance Type: Free]

[Instance Difficulty: Low]

[Main Mission: Survive for three days]

[Mission Completion: 100% (Base Rating Received: F)]

[Side Mission: Rescue more civilians until the war ends. Every civilian rescued can increase the completion rating]

[Mission Completion: 200% (Rescued Colin and Maggie—Rating Increased: F→E)]

[Combat Performance: Extremely proactive (Rating Increased: E→D)]

[Exploration Performance: Average (No increase)]

[Special Rating 1: Killed rebel major Saruka (Rating Increased: D→C)]

[Special Rating 2: Killed rebel general Janning (Rating Increased: C→A)]

[Beginner Instance Benefit: Rating increased by one rank!]

[Player's Final Rating: S!]

[Calculating player's Beginner Instance rewards...]

[Player's final Beginner Instance reward results are as follows...]

[Points: 3000; Skill Points: 3; Gold Skill Points: 1]

[Player has no serious injuries. Treatment unnecessary!]

...

"3,000 Points? Three Skill Points? One Gold Skill Point?"

Looking at the final rewards, Qin Ran had no frame of reference and could not determine their value. But judging from the S rating, he should have gained quite a lot.

"Player has completed the Beginner Instance. Channel activated..."

Just as Qin Ran was examining his rewards, a mechanical voice sounded in the room.

As the mechanical voice rang out, an LCD screen suddenly protruded from the wall opposite the door, replacing the original tin wall.

After a brief black screen, three rows of enormous words appeared on the LCD display.

Shop, Forum, and Instance.

As Qin Ran's gaze rested on them, explanations immediately appeared.

[Shop: Supplies all kinds of raw materials, ammunition, basic weapons, armor, medicine, miscellaneous goods, and provides players with skill upgrade services]

[Forum: A platform for player communication and trading]

[Instance: Worlds where players adventure alone or in groups]

(Tip 1: Solo Instances have a one-week cooldown after each entry—regardless of how long passes in-game, only one hour passes in reality)

(Tip 2: Multiplayer Instances (minimum two players) have a one-month cooldown after each entry)

(Tip 3: Players must enter a Solo or Multiplayer Instance at least once every three months. Those who do not will lose their game qualifications and be judged as having died in-game)...

Qin Ran's gaze swept across the options before lingering on [Instance], his eyes filled with surprise.

It was not the time within instances or the cooldown periods. Qin Ran, who had played other virtual games, had long expected such things.

What surprised Qin Ran was the notice stating that he had to enter a Solo or Multiplayer Instance once every three months, or else his game character would be judged dead.

"If I completely remove the game helmet, will only my game character die? Or will it take me down with it too?"

Qin Ran frowned.

He could not predict what would happen.

"I'm still far from earning enough for the treatment fees. What's the point of thinking about this now?"

Qin Ran laughed at himself.

Then he immediately began browsing [Shop] and [Forum].

He focused especially on the value of Points and the prices of equipment.

Qin Ran had not forgotten his original purpose for entering the Underground Game: making money!

And browsing like this naturally took quite a bit of time.

After spending nearly two hours, Qin Ran had only managed a rough look through everything.

First were Points.

On the Forum, some players were buying them at a rate of twenty to thirty Federation currency per Point.

But there were very few sellers.

Clearly, the price was too low.

This was naturally good news for Qin Ran.

Because it meant that from a single Beginner Instance, he had earned at least 60,000 to 90,000 Federation currency—several times the combined income he had made over the previous three years.

Then came the [Shop]!

Just as the system description stated, it only sold basic items and all kinds of raw materials. There was none of the powerful equipment Qin Ran had imagined, much less skill books or storage equipment.

The skill upgrades, meanwhile, made Qin Ran, who had believed himself quite well rewarded, feel short on funds—and... pained.

Raising the beginner-level [Gunpowder Weapons: Light Firearms] to the next level, "Proficient," actually required 1,000 Points and 1 Skill Point.

Raising the beginner-level [Stealth] to the next level, "Proficient," required 1,500 Points and likewise required 1 Skill Point.

Although upgrading other basic skills to beginner level did not require Skill Points, they were not cheap either, ranging from 200 to 800 Points.

[Tracking] was the most expensive.

The rest cost around 200 Points.

Simply put, if Qin Ran raised the skill levels of [Gunpowder Weapons: Light Firearms] and [Stealth], his remaining Points would only be enough to raise two more basic skills other than [Tracking], or buy a full set of equipment from the [Shop], including weapons, armor, medicine, and necessary miscellaneous goods—a set cost 500 Points and was placed in the most conspicuous position, on the first row of the first page of the [Shop].

Although that full set included a pistol, a dagger, two magazines of matching ammunition, armor from head to toe, three rolls of Advanced Bandages, and miscellaneous items such as a water flask, cigarettes, and a lighter, Qin Ran would absolutely not buy it. Not only did he already have better weapons and armor.

His experience from the Gold-farming Studio alone was enough to tell Qin Ran that there were cheaper purchasing channels: other players!

When it came to low-level equipment, player-to-player transactions had always offered the best value for money.

Qin Ran's later browsing on the [Forum] completely proved this point.

The exact same full set of equipment could be bought from players for only 400 Points.

If the firearm was removed, 300 Points would do.

And if the medicine was removed as well, a set could be obtained for 200 Points, or even less.

Qin Ran silently browsed the trades on the Forum. As he looked especially at the persistently high prices of weapons and medicine, a glimmer gradually appeared in his eyes.

After all, he had brought back two [Iron Fist-II] rocket launchers.