Interlude II

Amid the crowds, while the "interested parties" were busy taking advantage of the chaos, some people appeared to be "spacing out."

Fortunately, when they returned after the mission ended, their original positions on the platform had not yet been completely "occupied." The three of them, who had descended nearby, almost immediately found one another through the communication function between users via their Main God IDs.

Clearly, under the Main God's previous arrangement of choosing one out of five "random mission worlds," their original plan of "holding hands and entering as a team" had instantly gone up in smoke.

Until they returned to the platform, they had finally met up again.

"...The situation isn't looking good. The free refresh service the Main God provides users only refreshed my condition. This gun wasn't repaired."

Gathered among the crowd, after a brief exchange, Lu Yansheng solemnly pointed out a problem.

With a flash of light, the heavy firearm he had hugged tightly and been unable to put down before entering the mission world reappeared in his hands.

However, seeing the obvious "dent" near the front chamber, along with the distinct crushing fractures in the metal, Du Qifeng could not help hissing. "Brother Lu, what happened to it?"

"The mission world I entered this time was called [Hunting Ground Time]. It was probably the handiwork of a bunch of so-called thrill-seeking native rich people from that world."

At the mention of this matter, Lu Yansheng wore an expression of utter "numbness."

"They kidnapped a group of ordinary people and sent them to an island, then scattered supplies and weapons all over it, forcing them to kill one another."

"According to the Main God's prompt, my identity at the time was one of the people who had been kidnapped."

"Then, while I was carrying out the main mission, I wasn't paying attention and got ambushed. Although the bullets were mostly stopped by the bulletproof vest I found, the other side threw explosives in as well."

"I hadn't found a firearm yet, so in the panic, I took this gun out... The person survived, but the gun ended up like this."

Clearly still shaken, the older "Lu Xun" showed an unmistakable look of lingering fear on his face as he spoke.

"There's a feature in the Main God's official User Services called 'Death Perception Blurring,' and it's enabled by default. But to be safe, remember to check whether it's enabled every time before entering a mission."

"Understood, understood. I'll remember."

"Still, from the sound of it, Brother Lu, you ran into something like a battle royale on a deserted island."

Unlike Lu Yansheng, an "old fossil" from the last century, Du Qifeng immediately understood what had happened. But looking at the damage on the heavy gun, his teeth still ached.

"So how should this be handled?"

"I asked the Main God. It can be repaired directly, but it costs five Universal Points. It isn't too troublesome."

Letting go, he allowed the firearm to silently vanish into thin air once more. The oldest of the three merely waved his hand.

"I'm just reminding you two. It looks like repairing items requires us users to pay for it ourselves. Be more careful in the future."

"Understood."

Beside them, He Qiu was rapidly sliding across his personal light screen. To outsiders, he appeared completely motionless. At this, he nodded as well.

"I have some news too. The mission world I went to was an ancient battlefield site of military strategists. The mission background seemed to contain a lot of complicated information, and I couldn't quite understand it. I was ambushed by a Feng Shui practitioner carrying a compass and almost died before I could return."

Although he claimed that the mission had nearly failed, He Qiu rubbed his fingers together, grinning like a weasel that had stolen a chicken.

"But I confirmed that cultivation is possible in that mission world, unlike in reality."

"And the effects of cultivation didn't disappear after I came back."

"Holy crap... Then you struck it rich, didn't you?"

"Yeah, that's great news."

Du Qifeng's face was filled with obvious shock. Lu Yansheng, on the other hand, was much more composed, though he too seemed faintly pleased.

"Don't get excited yet. Listen to me."

"After I was ambushed, a volley of mechanism-fired arrows came down, and the two users beside me, along with a whole group of people, dropped instantly. They looked like a bunch of hedgehogs!"

"If I hadn't reacted quickly and hidden farther back, with some inner force protecting my body, I would have been done for too."

"So I simply lay there and pretended to be dead. After several groups tore into one another like dogs, I waited until it was over before crawling out and barely cleaning up the leftovers!"

"You should have seen the look on that native Feng Shui practitioner's face when he watched me crawl back up! It was incredible!"

At this point, He Qiu deliberately paused.

"The key is, under normal circumstances, once we fulfill the conditions for a main mission, we can choose to return immediately, right?"

"After I kicked that Feng Shui practitioner into a pit in the ruins and smashed the magical seal he had found with one blow, my main mission was completed on the spot!"

"But I didn't choose to return right away!"

"Then the Main God told me I could stay in that world for up to three additional days. After three days, I'd have to pay to continue staying in the mission world."

"I still had two arrows stuck in me at the time! I hacked the shafts off myself, and let me tell you, it really fucking hurt. Then I cultivated for three full days before coming back!"

That was what he said, but seeing He Qiu grinning so widely that he could barely close his mouth, who could not tell that he had gained a great deal this time?

"Cultivating with arrow wounds and still lasting three days means they probably didn't hit anything vital. You really took a huge risk, kid."

By comparison, Lu Yansheng's face now held an undisguised trace of envy.

In truth, the middle-aged man's luck had not been very good. From the Main God's Newcomer Blind Box, he had drawn only a heavy firearm with the property of "automatically replenishing all expended ammunition every twenty-four hours." It had no other special features.

Because of this, just like Du Qifeng, he had exchanged eighty points with the Main God for a [Basic Human Gene Enhancement Agent · Strength], allowing him to flexibly use this firearm, which was genuinely rather heavy but also an alternative, weakened version of "infinite ammunition."

In theory, of the three, he currently possessed the clearest breakthrough potential and the greatest killing power.

Who could have expected that his very first mission after obtaining the weapon would get off to such an inauspicious start, ending in failure...

He Qiu's smile suddenly faded as well. He realized that he seemed to have been showing off and secretly poking at someone's sore spot.

The three of them tacitly decided not to continue this conversation, which was ruining everyone's mood.

Within just a few minutes, the white light of the Main God's teleportation had completely died down all around them. The three of them also turned their attention back to the crowd.

The scene before them was undoubtedly a rare spectacle.

Honestly, within the area visible to the naked eye alone, they could see clothing, features, ornaments, and tattoos from different regions, countries, and faiths. Even more striking were the enormous differences in skin tones, facial features, and languages. At that moment, all of them were being stirred together into an unprecedentedly dense hodgepodge!

Like a flood rushing in every direction, these people—or "ants"—with you within me and me within you, moved noisily around the platform.

Anyone would have felt deeply shaken and confused, even frightened by the sense of smallness that came from realizing they were standing within it all.

He instinctively loosened his collar.

The Main God Platform clearly should not have been capable of such a situation, yet Du Qifeng still stared until his chest felt strangely tight.

Then again, no one could have imagined that they would witness such a scene in their lifetime.

This crowd, so vast that even counting its numbers seemed meaningless...

No, it was more accurate to call it a sea of people.

Each of these figures had experienced at least one Newcomer Trial, yet many still retained their original traits. They might once have been farmers, soldiers, students, foresters, programmers, or hunters from a tribe...

People from modern society, polar settlements, African tribes, and tropical islands...

It was no joke. He had even seen a South Pacific islander with white clay war paint on his face, holding a clearly broken spear that was less than half his height. His animal-hide shield, still tangled with grass, was likewise covered in large patches of blood.

Those dark-brown eyes gazed around in bewilderment, and it was impossible to tell whether a trace of vigilance remained in them or whether they had become completely "numb."

For someone whose entire world might have been a single island, he probably had never imagined that there could be so many people in the "world," right?

These individuals had come from every corner of the real world. They possessed utterly different pasts, cultures, customs, and divisions, yet all shared the title of "human." Now, on this boundless blue-green platform, they had gained a new identity in common—the participants of the "Main God Game."

For some reason, while this scene inexplicably moved and shocked people, it also made them feel exceptionally absurd...

Regardless, many perceptive people understood that with the number of newcomers entering the platform far exceeding the previous occasion, the situation had already undergone a drastic change.

And the most urgent matter, aside from learning more about the circumstances, was to preserve their own "first-mover advantage" as much as possible.

This was especially obvious among the Main God Users who considered themselves "veterans."

Clearly, the positions Main God Users occupied on the platform before entering a mission world also affected the positions where they returned.

At least, in the eyes of some experienced users, most of the beams of light that fell from the sky and represented "free treatment services" had appeared in the area closer to the Main God Light Sphere—the "inner circle."

That was the same area where the Main God Users had mainly gathered before entering the mission world.

The farther out one went, the rarer such occurrences became.

After noticing this, a subtle atmosphere gradually began to circulate invisibly among the crowd...

Some people might not yet have realized what it meant... but those who reacted quickly were already growing restless!

And soon, after the first "bird that stuck its head out," this atmosphere rapidly veered in another direction!

"Friends, I believe you've all realized by now that this is the realm of a god who rules over everything. If you fulfill His requirements here, you can obtain any reward you've ever dreamed of!"

"Whether it's status! Power! Life! The expulsion of disease! Immortality! Resurrection! Or even becoming a true god!"

"I'm a 'pioneer' who has already experienced this kind of 'divine game' multiple times. I possess ample and extensive experience in clearing it, and I understand this place beneath your feet as well as many of the 'hidden rules' within the god's game!"

"If anyone needs help, you can consult me about specific experiences. For the mere price of five 'Universal Reward Points,' you can obtain a 'pioneer's' experience and selfless instruction..."

Nearby, a well-dressed man whose features and appearance were shrouded in a faint "mist"—clearly someone who had activated the Main God's identity-blocking mechanism—slapped his forehead.

He swiped several times in front of himself. With a flash of light, a... solid-gold "megaphone" appeared in his hand?

Before he could even react, Du Qifeng heard this obvious veteran Main God User begin delivering the speech above in an extremely rich voice amplified through the megaphone, practically rising onto his tiptoes—

Judging from the additional voice that came with that translated accent, he had even specifically used English!!!