Return, and "Default"

Sometimes three days passed in a blink; sometimes seventy-two hours dragged on forever.

Li Qingzhi did not know what others thought, but after finally enduring the third day, watching the countdown on his personal panel tick second by second toward its end, he felt almost moved to tears.

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

But there had been no other choice.

After the first night in the mission world ended, the endless bloody haze outside the building slowly faded, and those strange, twisted "things" struggled away in the belated morning light.

Some rushed off into the unknown distance. Some "flowed" like blood into the shadows of the buildings. Some even plunged headfirst into the small houses or ruins lining the streets, vanishing without a trace...

After the entire night of "revelry," the bloodstains scattered across the ground, deep or shallow, also evaporated and vanished at an utterly abnormal speed, leaving no trace behind.

Everything that had happened last night seemed like nothing more than fleeting, illusory marks left behind by a nightmare.

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

But after cautiously stepping out through the building's ground-floor entrance, he only noticed upon turning back that the upper section of the building was wrapped in a gigantic "colony of snakes"—or rather, mutated vines—that covered at least a third of the building's total volume from top to bottom.

The thick vines, no longer clinging tightly to the concrete and steel framework but only half-adhering to the building's surface, were like giant snakes quietly awakening. They writhed their enormous bodies and slowly moved through the building...

Almost everyone was dumbfounded on the spot.

The "slender" branches and leaves that had split off in masses from them, carrying the same somewhat abnormally animated and vicious qualities and nearly covering the building's entire exterior, also slowly contracted toward the top of the building at a speed so leisurely it was almost "lazy," without making a sound.

Especially among the thicker vines, the ominous dark red color that seemed to have lava flowing within them rapidly faded away.

It was as though the blood had been siphoned from their veins, quickly replaced by a sluggish, nearly rotten natural gray-black...

Only when the exposed main body of that colossal creature had completely hidden itself inside the building, leaving nothing outside the walls but those dull-colored, lifeless-looking "normal vines" with a seemingly "harmless" appearance, did the process finally end.

After watching the entire process carefully, Li Qingzhi knew then that he was quite different from truly intelligent people.

There was no need to figure out exactly why. Knowing what to do was enough!

External-brain mode! Activate!

During the time that followed, he began performing his assigned "work" honestly, just like the newcomers.

During the day, he constantly went around gathering various information at the young man's request, searching the areas along the main roads for maps, and, in this city that could be called "utterly destitute," trying to find relatively clean water sources, tubers, tender plant shoots, and similar things to barely fill his stomach!

At night, they became like a group of owls, carefully hiding in different places according to others' instructions. Today they changed to one building; tomorrow they moved to another. Even when taking turns standing guard and sleeping, those were "good days" when they wished they could keep one eye open!

After several days, his already conspicuously red eyes looked as though they were genuinely about to drip blood.

It had been too hard. There were only tears to speak of!

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

The group kept hiding and stalling like rats in the dirt, scurrying back and forth through the cracks, yet astonishingly, with no further casualties, they somehow managed to complete the mission.

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

Before he could even recover his senses, the scene before his eyes had changed in the blink of an eye into the azure platform beneath the starry river.

Buzz—!

Without the slightest warning, an existence so vast and deep as an abyss or sea, impossible to describe clearly in words, instantly enveloped the area.

He had not even managed to see the familiar glowing sphere above when a halo of pure white descended from the sky and precisely swallowed this returning "guide."

[—A slight contamination of Divinity has been detected in the user's current state. Purification initiated.]

Startled, he had no time at all to make out what the voice beside his ear had said.

His vision was filled with nothing but white. Along with it came an indescribable sense of "coolness," as though large drops of sweet dew had fallen into his eyes. The dryness and burning pain that had plagued Li Qingzhi's eyes and grown increasingly severe over the past several days vanished in an instant, like waves receding with the tide.

The hunger in his stomach and the obvious weakness caused by insufficient food and water also disappeared in an instant, almost as if they had only been an illusion.

That moistening sensation had already flowed through his entire body.

In its place was a feeling of renewed vitality, peace, and fullness.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

[Your current state's regular refresh quota has been consumed.]

With the notification, the light that had appeared for only an instant vanished at once, as though unwilling to remain even a moment longer.

Only Li Qingzhi, who had reappeared where he stood, remained there foolishly, motionless as he smacked his lips and savored that moment.

That indescribable feeling was like a clay figurine passing through forty-nine successive firing processes and emerging as new porcelain. His entire person seemed to have reached "perfection" in an instant, every single part flawless and without the slightest deficiency...

He felt strangely bereft.

Only after briefly losing himself did he notice that all the discomfort he had suffered earlier had vanished, and even his rather dirty 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 as him yet looked disheveled and unkempt!

Seeing that most of those around him were looking at him with astonished and puzzled expressions, Li Qingzhi was stunned for a moment. Only after seeing the personal information record on the light screen did he realize that the change he had just experienced was the Main God User's one-time "free refresh service" after completing a mission.

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

"Oh, I forgot to mention. This is a benefit the Main God gives official users. After every completed mission, it provides one automatic refresh and repair service. But you haven't activated your Main God IDs yet, so you..."

He suddenly seemed to choke, and Old Li's expression became extraordinarily complicated.

Only then did he notice the young man among them whom he had initially assumed was a Main God User like himself.

The other party's expression remained calm. He still wore that familiar pair of glasses, but the hair at the back of his head was clearly somewhat disheveled, and the dirt on his clothes remained plainly visible.

"Damn... you, you, you... you really are a newcomer?"

This left Old Li so stunned that he began stammering outright.

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

"My god... kid, you... Then earlier, in the mission world..."

"No, wait. Then what should someone like you be considered..."

"Someone like you... Is this a difference in innate attributes?... No, that's not right. Or are you an innate psychic-strength enhancer?"

It was hard to say whether he was excited or horrified. Old Li walked around him twice with a complicated expression, carefully examining him.

"...This isn't normal. How could something like this exist in reality?"

Words had always been empty without proof, but now that the facts were right before him, with no light from the Main God descending upon the young man, he finally dared confirm that the fellow before him... really was a newcomer.

"Even if people differ from one another, I've never heard of this before... Could it be that those qigong crazes in the past were also..."

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

Clearly, what shocked him was not the young man's special ability, but the fact—almost terrifyingly so—that the other party should theoretically be a "natural human who had undergone no exchanges whatsoever."

That was the most frightening part.

Even the white lights continuously flashing beside him, along with the figures emerging from them, failed to draw much of his attention away.

Instead, the other people present were instantly attracted by them.

Large waves of white light rose and fell, extending from before them into the distance. Amid the densely packed crowd, figures quietly emerged from within, like the "cores" of fruits.

It was obvious that the many visitors and users who had completed the second round of the Main God Game were gradually synchronizing across the different mission worlds' time flows and returning to land on this boundless azure platform!

The temporary visitor team led by Old Li was merely one of the groups to arrive somewhat earlier.

But Li Qingzhi was clearly more concerned with the issue before him.

"Brother... I know this may be a little presumptuous, but is your mental ability innate?"

"Oh, I'm not really sure. I never had anything like this before. It was only when I entered this so-called 'Newcomer Trial' that I felt something different in my mind suddenly becoming clear, like I'd gained an extra eye..."

Li Yun gave a simple "explanation," while his gaze turned toward the users—or perhaps prospective users—who continued emerging amid the layers of flashing white waves.

He looked completely distracted.

There was no need to say too much. Saying too much would only make it easier to reveal flaws. It was enough to leave a hint and let these "smart people" fill in the rest themselves.

"...So you only awakened after entering the mission world?... Is that why there was a difference in the speed of awakening?... But that doesn't make sense either. Could there be some special difference in people's mental faculties..."

Seeing Li Qingzhi tugging hard at his chin, muttering endlessly with a tangled expression as he tried to figure it out, Li Yun frowned slightly and was just about to say something.

Suddenly, a "thud" sounded beside them.

The South Asian, the frail youth whom everyone had temporarily called "Kutanda" in the mission world for convenience, had collapsed helplessly onto the ground. His head drooped to the side.

The white Russian beside him had been staring intently at the successive flashes of white light and the various figures appearing across the platform, his gaze heavy. Seeing this, he was startled and hurried over.

Amid the flow of people, he skillfully reached out to check Kutanda's breathing. Still uneasy, he pulled open the boy's thin shirt and pressed his broad palm against him to carefully feel his heartbeat. Only then did he relax.

He conveniently lifted the boy's head and placed it on his own leg to ease his neck and blood pressure, then turned to the others and said, "He's not in serious danger for now. He's probably fallen into mild shock. He needs plenty of nutrition and rest."

Hearing this, the others relaxed slightly.

It was not particularly surprising.

Poor physical condition, malnutrition, insufficient food, excessive exertion...

Those problems were plainly visible. The boy had already been in the worst physical condition among the newcomers, and 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 remarkable.

That he had now fainted on the spot was perfectly understandable.

Even Li Yun had to admit that the boy was indeed a promising seed with considerable perseverance.

But just as he approached by two steps to take a look, Li Yun heard a notification by his ear—

[After detecting that a visitor entered a delayed state of unconsciousness on the Main God Platform after completing the Newcomer Trial, and noting that he had not chosen whether to activate his ID before losing consciousness, he does not qualify for the refresh service. After consulting the administrator's opinion, should he be directly removed from the platform once his personal stay time ends?]

After a brief pause, Li Yun immediately understood.

Clearly, this was another situation that did not fully comply with the regulations under the framework of the preset rules. Since he happened to be present, the Main God had taken the initiative to ask for a little "personal input."

The known information silently revolved once in his mind. He blinked and cast a somewhat complicated glance at the youth on the ground.

It was indeed a relatively rare situation.

If one had to put it another way, the boy had managed to wedge himself into a procedural bug.

According to the Main God's judgment process, a newcomer who completed the Newcomer Trial but did not accept activation of an ID would have their visitor status automatically removed, with no chance to connect to the Main God Platform a second time.

As a non-Main God User, the boy was also not entitled to the service of having "a beam of white light descend upon him" to refresh him awake.

Yet before losing consciousness, he had been in the state of "not having made a choice." If he still failed to wake up and make a choice before his stay time expired, then after the Main God removed him from the platform and erased his visitor status, he would have no further opportunity to decide whether to activate his ID.

This meant that his opportunity to activate his ID would effectively be forfeited.

In theory, this should only have been possible during a visitor's first login to the Main God Platform. It was an extremely low-probability event that ordinary people would never even think of, yet it had actually appeared right in front of them.

But it was indeed a minor flaw.

After pondering for a moment, someone was just about to speak when he suddenly froze again.

He had realized it.

Li Yun knew very well that if this matter had not been even slightly connected to him—if the youth had not formed the faintest connection with him during the Newcomer Trial—the Main God would almost certainly not have disturbed the administrator behind it over such a minor issue.

As for now, Li Yun had actually already figured out how he would judge the matter.

Still, he wanted to see how the Main God would normally judge it if the influence of an administrator like himself were removed and only the Main God itself was considered.

After all, to be honest, he did not want to casually make exceptions and interfere with the Main God's gradually improving "rules." Or rather, the small favor he owed the boy for essentially carrying him through the mission world was not worth making a special exception for...

Soon, after understanding the invisible "inquiry" from the administrator, a cold voice without the slightest fluctuation simultaneously rang in the ears of the youth on the ground and Li Yun beside him—

[This visitor failed to complete the choice of whether to activate a Main God ID before falling unconscious, and has not clearly expressed opposition. It will therefore be considered a default activation of the ID!]

Very good, very good. So not choosing meant "default," did it?

From an angle no one noticed, an especially subtle gaze silently turned toward the spherical halo in the sky!

—Who would have thought, Main God? You were actually this kind of Main God...