Return, and "Default"

Sometimes, three days felt short. Sometimes, seventy-two hours felt unbearably long.

Li Qingzhi did not know what others thought, but after finally enduring until the third day and watching the countdown on his personal panel tick toward zero second by second, he could only feel tears welling up in his eyes.

He had literally spent three days as a "rat"!

But there was nothing he could do.

After the first night in the mission world ended, the endless blood-red glow outside the building faded away, and those strange, twisted "things" struggled to retreat beneath the belated morning light.

Some fled off into the unknown distance. Some flowed into the shadows of buildings like streams of blood. Some even plunged headfirst into roadside houses or ruins, vanishing without a trace...

After their all-night "carnival," the bloodstains scattered across the ground, deep and shallow alike, also evaporated and disappeared at an extremely abnormal speed, leaving no trace behind.

Everything from the night before seemed like nothing more than fleeting, illusory marks left behind in a nightmare.

He had thought that was the most terrifying trial they would face.

But after carefully stepping out through the doors at the base of the building, he turned back and noticed the enormous mass of "snakes"—or rather, mutated vines—that wrapped around at least a third of the building from top to bottom—

Those thick vines, no longer tightly constricting the concrete and steel structure but half-clinging to the building's surface, moved like giant serpents quietly awakening, writhing their massive bodies as they slowly slithered across the tower...

Nearly everyone was dumbfounded on the spot.

The same went for the "slender" branches and leaves that had proliferated in great swathes from those vines. Carrying the same ferociously unnatural vitality, they had almost completely covered the exterior of the building, then silently and gradually contracted toward the rooftop at a pace so slow it was practically "lazy."

Especially between the thicker vines, the dark crimson color that seemed as though lava flowed within them—an especially ominous sight—also faded away at last.

Like blood being drawn from veins, it was swiftly replaced by a stagnant, nearly rotten-looking natural gray-black...

Until, in the end, the exposed main body of that colossal thing had entirely hidden itself inside the building. All that remained outside the walls were those dull-colored, lifeless-looking "ordinary vines," displaying an utterly harmless appearance.

After carefully watching the entire process, Li Qingzhi understood something amid the crowd, all of whom were drenched in cold sweat and shaking like sieves.

There was still quite a gap between him and smart people.

He did not need to understand why. He just needed to know what to do!

External brain mode! Activated!

For the time that followed, he, like the other newcomers, honestly began carrying out the "work" assigned to him.

During the day, he constantly followed the young man's instructions and gathered all kinds of information, surveyed the map along the main roads, and tried to find cleaner water sources, tubers, tender plant shoots, and anything else that might barely fool their stomachs in this city that was practically "stripped bare."

At night, like a flock of owls, they cautiously hid in different places under someone else's orders. One day they would switch to one building, the next they would rush to another tower. Even when taking turns standing watch and sleeping, it felt like a luxury just to sleep with one eye closed!

After several days of this, his already strikingly red eyes looked as though they were about to drip blood.

It had not been easy. The more he spoke of it, the more tears there were!

...But the facts proved that listening to advice was useful!

Like a group of rats hiding in the dirt, constantly stalling and darting through narrow gaps, they somehow truly made it through the mission without losing another person.

As the countdown on the light screen reached its end, Li Qingzhi chose to return to the Main God Platform.

Before he could even come to his senses, the scene before him had already transformed in the blink of an eye into the azure platform beneath the river of stars.

Buzz—!

Without warning, an unfathomably vast "presence," impossible to truly describe with words, descended over the area in an instant.

Before he could even clearly see the familiar ball of light above, an incomparably pure white radiance fell from the sky and precisely engulfed the returning "guide."

[—Minor Divinity contamination detected in the user. Cleansing initiated.]

Startled, he did not have time to clearly catch what the voice beside his ear had said.

All he could see was an expanse of white. An indescribable coolness emerged, as though great drops of sweet dew had fallen into his eyes. The dryness and burning pain that had plagued Li Qingzhi's eyes for days and worsened by the moment vanished in an instant like the ebbing tide.

The hunger in his stomach and the obvious weakness brought on by insufficient food and water also faded away in that moment, almost like an illusion.

That moist, nourishing sensation had already flowed through his entire body.

In its place was a feeling of perfect vitality, calmness, and fullness.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

[—Your standard refresh usage for your current status has been consumed.]

Amid the notification, the light that had appeared for only an instant disappeared just as quickly, as though unwilling to linger even a moment longer.

Only Li Qingzhi, who had reappeared where he stood, remained there foolishly, smacking his lips as he carefully savored that brief instant.

That indescribable feeling was like a clay figurine being fired through forty-nine processes and emerging as fresh porcelain. In that instant, his entire being seemed to have reached "perfection," every last shred and fraction complete and flawless...

He felt strangely bereft.

After a brief daze, he finally noticed that all the discomfort he had felt earlier had vanished. Even his rather filthy clothes had been restored to a clean and tidy state.

This formed a stark contrast with the people beside him, who had clearly appeared at the same time but still looked somewhat disheveled.

Seeing that most of those around him were staring at him with surprise and confusion—

Li Qingzhi froze for a moment. Only after seeing the personal information record on the light screen did he realize that what had just happened to him was the "free refresh service" granted to Main God users after completing a mission.

As this was his first mission after officially activating his ID, it was also his first time experiencing something so extraordinarily wonderful.

"Oh, I forgot to mention this. It's a benefit the Main God gives official users. After every completed mission, you get one automatic refresh and restoration service. But you haven't activated your Main God IDs yet, so you also..."

As though suddenly choking on his words, Li Qingzhi's expression became exceedingly strange.

Only then did he notice the young man among the group, whom he had originally assumed was also a Main God user like himself.

The other man remained calm, wearing those familiar glasses, but his hair behind his head was visibly messy, and the dirt stains on his clothes remained plainly visible.

"Holy shit... You, you, you... you really are a newcomer?"

This stunned Old Li so badly that he started stuttering outright.

The other man merely nodded calmly as though nothing had happened. "Mm. I never said I was the kind of 'Main God' user you mentioned, did I?"

"My god... Brother, then you... back in the mission world..."

"No, then what exactly would someone like you count as..."

"You... Would this count as a difference in innate attributes?... No, that's not right. Are you some kind of naturally enhanced psychic?"

It was hard to tell whether he was excited or terrified. With a complicated expression, "Old Li" circled him twice and carefully examined him.

"...That's not normal. How could something like this exist in the real world?"

Words alone had never been enough, but now that the facts lay before him—and no light from the Main God had descended upon the young man before him—he finally dared to confirm that this guy... really was a newcomer.

"Even if people differ from one another, I've never heard of anything like this... Could those old qigong crazes have been..."

In his brief contemplation, Li Qingzhi had already become somewhat incoherent.

Clearly, what shocked him was not the young man's unusual nature, but the fact that the other party should theoretically be a "natural human" who had never undergone any exchanges.

That was the truly terrifying part.

Even the white lights beginning to flash around them, along with the figures emerging from them, could not draw much of his attention away.

The others present, however, were immediately drawn to the sight.

Large swathes of flickering white light stretched from before them into the distance like rolling waves. Accompanied by a dark mass of people, figures quietly emerged from within them like the "cores" of fruit.

—Obviously, vast numbers of Visitors and users who had completed the second round of the "Main God Game" were returning and arriving upon this boundless azure platform as the differing time flows of their mission worlds converged!

The Temporary Visitor team led by "Old Li" was merely one of the groups that had arrived slightly earlier.

But Li Qingzhi was clearly more concerned with the issue in front of him.

"Brother... I know this may be a little presumptuous, but was this mental ability of yours something you were born with?"

"Oh, I'm not really sure either. I didn't have this before. It was just when I entered this so-called 'Newcomer Trial' that I felt like something different in my head suddenly became clearer, like I had gained another eye..."

Li Yun offered a simple "explanation," but his gaze was directed toward the layers upon layers of white waves that continued flickering, toward the "users" and "prospective users" emerging one after another.

He looked rather absent-minded.

There was no need to say much. Saying too much would only reveal flaws. He only needed to leave them with a lead and let these "smart people" fill in the rest themselves.

"...So you awakened only after entering the mission world?... Is that why there was a difference in how quickly people woke up?... But that's still not right. Or is there some special difference in human mental capacity..."

Seeing Li Qingzhi desperately tugging at his own chin, muttering to himself in troubled confusion, Li Yun frowned slightly and was about to say something.

Then a thud suddenly sounded beside him.

The frail South Asian boy whom everyone had temporarily called "Kutanda" in the mission world had collapsed weakly to the ground, his head lolling to one side.

The Russian white man beside him, who had been staring intently at the clusters of white light and the groups of various figures appearing across the platform with a heavy expression, was startled by this and hurriedly lunged over.

Amid the crowd, he skillfully reached out to check the boy's breathing beneath his nose. Still not reassured, he pulled open the kid's thin shirt and pressed his broad palm against his chest to carefully feel his heartbeat before finally sighing in relief.

He casually lifted the boy's head and rested it on his own leg to ease the pressure on his neck and spine. Then the old man turned to the others and said, "He's not in any immediate danger. He should be in mild shock. He needs a great deal of nutrition and rest."

Hearing that, everyone relaxed somewhat.

It was not particularly surprising.

Poor physical condition, malnutrition, inadequate food intake, excessive exertion...

With all those obvious problems, this kid had already been one of the newcomers in the worst physical condition. The fact that he had gritted his teeth and persisted all the way until now, only collapsing after confirming that he could finally relax, was already no small feat.

It was only natural that he had nearly fainted on the spot now.

Even Li Yun had to admit that the boy had grit.

But just as he took two steps closer to check on him, Li Yun heard a notification beside his ear—

[Visitor detected entering a delayed unconscious state on the Main God Platform after clearing the Newcomer Trial. As he had not selected whether to activate his ID before losing consciousness, he does not qualify for refresh services. Querying administrator opinion: upon the conclusion of this user's personal stay period, should he be directly removed from the platform?]

Li Yun paused, then immediately understood.

Clearly, this was another situation that did not fully fit within the established rules. Since he happened to be present, the Main God had proactively come to seek a little "personal opinion."

The information in his mind quietly turned over. Blinking, he gave the boy on the ground a somewhat subtle look.

This really was a rather rare situation.

If he had to put it another way, the kid had stumbled upon a procedural bug.

According to the Main God's assessment process, newcomers who completed the Newcomer Trial but did not accept ID activation would automatically have their Visitor status removed, with no second chance to access the Main God Platform.

And as a non-user of the Main God, the boy himself was unable to receive the service where "a beam of white light descends" and refreshes him awake.

Yet before he lost consciousness, he had been in a state of "not having made a choice." If he still could not wake up on his own and make a choice before his stay period expired—

Then after the Main God removed him from the platform and cleared his Visitor status, he would have no next chance to decide whether to activate his ID.

And that meant that the boy's opportunity for activation would effectively be voided.

This should theoretically have been an incredibly low-probability event that could only occur when every Visitor first logged onto the Main God Platform, something ordinary people would never even imagine. Yet it had actually appeared right before them.

Still, it was a flaw, neither too large nor too small.

After pondering for a moment, just as he was about to speak, Li Yun suddenly paused again.

He had realized something.

Li Yun knew very well that if this matter itself had not been somewhat connected to him—namely, that this boy had become slightly associated with him during the Newcomer Trial—the Main God would almost certainly not have bothered the administrator behind it over such a small issue.

Even now, Li Yun had already figured out how he would judge the matter.

But at the same time, he wanted to see how the Main God itself would normally handle such a situation if the influence of him, the administrator, were removed from the equation.

To be honest, he did not want to casually make an exception and interfere with the operation of the Main God's gradually improving "rules"—or rather, the tiny bit of goodwill earned by this kid being carried through the mission world all the way to clearance was not enough for him to make a special exception...

Very soon, after understanding the administrator's invisible "question," an utterly emotionless, cold voice sounded simultaneously beside the unconscious boy and Li Yun—

[Visitor detected to have failed to complete the choice of whether to activate Main God ID before losing consciousness, with no explicit intent to refuse. Default to ID activation!]

Fine, fine, fine. Not choosing meant "default," was that it?

From an angle no one noticed, an extraordinarily subtle gaze quietly turned toward the spherical radiance in the sky!

—Who would have thought, Main God? So this was the kind of Main God you were...