Opportunity!

Five minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

Qin Ran did not say goodbye.

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

So, burdened with 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, ready to say something.

But Qin Ran's departure time had arrived. Before he could hear Colin clearly, the light that had accompanied his entry into the instance appeared before his eyes again, forcing him to shut them and raise a hand to shield himself from the blinding glare.

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

When everything returned to normal, Qin Ran found himself inside a tin warehouse-like structure.

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

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

Its only commendable feature was its size—large enough for five buses to drive through side by side, with room to park ten buses without any problem.

"This is 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, differently styled game lobbies of other virtual games, it should at least have been cleaner, right?

Qin Ran frowned slightly as he looked at the dust, which clearly preserved his footprints.

However, Qin Ran soon 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 the two [Iron Fist-II] rocket launchers were still there, but that he had lost quite a few [-II] grenades, [M1905] pistols, magazines, canned food, and water, Qin Ran sighed helplessly.

"As expected, I pushed it too far."

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

Qin Ran had held onto a trace of hope.

But clearly, even that posture had still been classified as overloaded.

"Fortunately!"

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

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

As for abandoning the other items to ensure he kept those weapons?

Naturally, Qin Ran had considered it.

But Qin Ran did not know where the limit of his carrying capacity lay. He had thought he could carry them.

If someone gave Qin Ran one hundred kilograms of rocks and asked him to carry them, he would absolutely turn away without a second thought.

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

To Qin Ran, his own property was life itself.

"I have to find storage equipment!"

Qin Ran thought instinctively.

Boom!

An explosion suddenly sounded 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 sealed tight!

Even though Qin Ran judged that the explosion had occurred right outside, it made no difference.

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

Boom! Boom! Boom!

From the continuous blasts, 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 homes,

lest you be caught in the crossfire!]

"Guild war?"

Qin Ran froze.

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

What Qin Ran had not expected, however, was 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 was distracted.

Line after line of text appeared—

[Beginner Instance: War-Torn City]

[Instance Type: Free]

[Instance Difficulty: Low]

[Main Quest: Survive for three days]

[Quest Completion: 100% (received base rating: F)]

[Side Quest: Rescue more civilians before the war ends. Each civilian rescued will raise the completion rating]

[Quest Completion: 200% (rescued Colin and Maggie—rating increased: F→E)]

[Combat Performance: Very 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 Bonus: Rating increased by one tier!]

[Player's final rating: S!]

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

[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 his final rewards, Qin Ran had no reference by which to judge their value, but judging by 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 within the room.

As the mechanical voice rang out, an LCD screen abruptly emerged from the wall directly 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 looked at them, explanations immediately appeared.

[Shop: Supplies various raw materials, ammunition, basic weapons, armor, medicine, miscellaneous items, and provides players with skill upgrade services]

[Forum: A platform for player communication and trade]

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

(Tip 1: Solo Instance: After each entry, there is a one-week cooldown—regardless of how much time passes in-game, only one hour passes in reality)

(Tip 2: Multiplayer Instance (at least 2 people): After each entry, there is a one-month cooldown)

(Tip 3: Players must enter a Solo Instance 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 the instances or the cooldown periods. Qin Ran, having experienced other virtual games, had long expected those.

What surprised Qin Ran was the notification stating that he had to enter a Solo Instance or Multiplayer Instance once every three months, or else be judged as having died in-game.

"If I completely disconnect from the game helmet, will it only mean the death of my game character? Or will it affect me as well?"

Qin Ran furrowed his brow.

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 that 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 why he had entered the Underground Game in the first place: to make money!

And browsing like this was bound to take quite some time.

After nearly two hours, Qin Ran had only managed a rough overview.

First came the points.

On the forum, players were offering to buy them at twenty to thirty Federation currency per point.

However, there were very few sellers.

Clearly, that price was too low.

This was naturally good news for Qin Ran.

Because it meant that his first Beginner Instance alone had earned him at least 60,000 to 90,000 Federation currency, several times more than his total income from the previous three years.

Then came the [Shop]!

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

The skill upgrades, meanwhile, made Qin Ran—who had thought himself quite well rewarded—feel poor and... pained.

Upgrading the beginner-level [Firearms: Light Guns] to the next level, "Proficient," actually required 1,000 points and 1 Skill Point.

Upgrading beginner-level [Stealth] to the next level, "Proficient," required 1,500 points and 1 Skill Point as well.

Although other basic skills did not require Skill Points to be raised to the beginner level, they were hardly cheap either, ranging from 200 to 800 points.

[Tracking] was the most expensive.

The rest cost around 200 points.

Simply put, if Qin Ran upgraded [Firearms: Light Guns] and [Stealth], his remaining points would only be enough to upgrade two more basic skills besides [Tracking], or to buy a full set of equipment from the [Shop], including weapons, armor, medicine, and necessary miscellaneous items—500 points per set, displayed in the most prominent spot on the first row of the first page of the [Shop].

Although the 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 canteen, cigarettes, and a lighter, Qin Ran would never buy it. Not only did he already possess better weapons and armor.

His experience at the Gold-farming Studio alone was enough to tell him where to find cheaper purchasing channels: other players!

For low-level equipment, player-to-player trades had always offered good value for money.

Qin Ran's subsequent browsing of the [Forum] fully proved that point.

An identical full set of equipment could be bought from players for only 400 points.

Without the firearm, it only cost 300 points.

And without the medicine as well, a set could be had for 200 points, or even less.

Qin Ran silently browsed the forum's trade listings. As he looked especially at the persistently high prices of weapons and medicine, a glimmer gradually appeared in his eyes.

After all, he had returned with two [Iron Fist-II] rocket launchers.