Chapter 11: The Realistic Instance
The rules of IN OFF explicitly stated that if a white-name NPC committed a major violation while guiding players, the system would punish them based on the severity of the offense.
And what Su Qiong was currently plotting was the most severe violation a white-name NPC could possibly commit.
When Su Qiong heard the blaring warning, his expression didn’t change at all. (Then again, how could a featureless marshmallow have an expression?)
Detecting zero remorse from the offending NPC, the system immediately launched its punishment: mental interference.
Su Qiong stood perfectly still. Without anyone even noticing, he calmly accepted the mental strike.
Ten seconds later, a robotic notification chimed: [Punishment failed. Requesting a second interference attempt.]
“Hmm,” Su Qiong tilted his puffy, round head.
Twenty seconds later, the system announced: [Punishment failed again. Retrying.]
Half a minute passed. Su Qiong was starting to get impatient. A third notification rang out: [Punishment obstructed. Requesting advanced punishment.]
After wasting several minutes for absolutely no reason, Su Qiong simply ignored the trashy system and turned his attention back to the players, who were analyzing the second half of the nursery rhyme.
About two minutes later, a rare trace of total frustration bled into the system’s mechanical voice. [NPC detected to have no brain. Command malfunction. Punishment terminated.]
Su Qiong: …You’re the one without a brain!
He had obediently stood there and accepted his punishment, yet this trashy system still had the nerve to insult a piece of code!
“Su Qiong.” Yu Qimiao had been talking for quite a while, but he hadn’t heard the NPC’s sweet, soft voice chime in. “Are you listening?”
“No,” Su Qiong answered honestly.
Those Who Obey Me Win cursed in frustration. “Do you have a pig’s brain?! We just went through all that analysis for nothing?!”
“I don’t have a pig’s brain,” Su Qiong replied quietly, struck right in his sore spot. “I don’t have a brain at all.”
After all, just seconds ago, the system had furiously confirmed that he literally lacked a brain.
Those Who Obey Me Win didn’t understand how Su Qiong was physically built. Assuming the little marshmallow was being passive-aggressive, he opened his mouth to snap a sarcastic reply.
Before the insult could leave his lips, Yu Qimiao gently patted Su Qiong. “It’s alright. I’ll explain it again.”
Those Who Obey Me Win stared in disbelief. Big Brother, you definitely weren’t wearing that gentle expression when you were stringing me up by the neck ten times today!
Shi Yuntian gripped the hilt of his massive sword and glared sideways at the murderer. “Got a problem?”
“…No,” the man swallowed hard.
Turning back to Su Qiong, Yu Qimiao seemed to radiate a patient, almost sacred glow as he calmly repeated their horrific conclusion.
The first half of the nursery rhyme told the story of the outsiders—the girls who had married the wrong men and were trapped in Gangan Village. But the second half told the story of the “women” who were doomed from the moment they took their first breath: the daughters born inside Gangan Village.
Gangan Village was a realistic game instance. Without artificial interference, biology dictates an equal chance of giving birth to boys and girls. Since boys were born in the village, girls naturally were, too.
For generations, the village valued sons and despised daughters. As the years passed, the village’s reputation rotted. Around twenty years ago, rumors that Gangan Village “ate people” had likely spread to the surrounding regions, and neighboring towns stopped marrying their daughters to the village men.
Realizing they could no longer trick outsiders, the villagers turned their eyes toward the “resources” already living among them.
The men of Gangan Village only married wives to produce big, healthy sons. During that process, daughters were inevitably born as unwanted “by-products.” To handle this, the village established a twisted custom: daughters were forbidden from marrying outsiders. They were forced to stay for “exchange marriages.”
An exchange marriage meant trading your family’s daughter for your neighbor’s daughter, who would then be forced to marry your son.
While it cost a family their daughter, the men found a sickening advantage. The girls born in the village had absolutely no one in the outside world to rely on. Because they were trapped for life, their husbands didn’t need to lock them in iron cages or chain them up to keep them from running. They could force the women to work the fields like cattle during the day and breed during the night.
At first, out of respect for the woman’s father—who lived right next door—families pretended to treat the traded daughters well in public.
But as time went on, the corrupted, generation-deep cruelty of Gangan Village proved impossible to wash away. Eventually, a family reverted to their old ways and butchered the wife they had traded for.
The very next day, the family who had received their daughter in the exchange publicly slaughtered a “pig” of their own in retaliation.
And after that… the floodgates opened.
“Beasts! They’re all beasts!” Shi Yuntian’s fists trembled with rage. “Yu Qimiao was right. This village has no reason to exist.”
“I always thought it was weird,” Lu Shufan muttered, looking sick. “The nursery rhyme keeps mentioning mothers and younger sisters, but there aren’t any women that age in Gangan Village. Why do they keep asking for them?”
The horrifying answer was that their mothers and sisters had already become their wives—and their mountains of gold.
Su Qiong stared blankly at the stone monument. Perhaps because he had just purchased genuine human senses, his code had grown more complex. He could actually feel the heavy, suffocating sorrow in the air.
“You guys…” Lu Shufan was usually eloquent, but no words could extinguish the burning anger in the group. He tried to offer a pale reminder: “Don’t get too emotionally invested. This is a game world. Everything we’re seeing is controlled by pixels and code. It’s all fake!”
Su Qiong slowly turned his puffy head toward him and projected a system notification into the air: [Gangan Village is a realistic instance. The events of this storyline truly happened.]
“Heh. What a wonderful ‘realistic instance’,” Lu Shufan clicked his tongue. Suddenly, he was overwhelmed by the urge to destroy the village too.
“Before we do anything crazy, we need to complete the quest,” Yu Qimiao reminded them. He looked at Su Qiong. “Should we try crossing the river again?”
Su Qiong thought for a long time before shaking his head. “They despise men. They won’t talk to any of you.”
“Then what do we do? Crossdressing Little Yu didn’t work. Where are we supposed to find a female player?”
The few female players assigned to this level had been scared off on day one. Looking at the entire village, the only women left were Granny Li and Li Ting. Li Ting was too young, and Granny Li was likely the boss monster whose sole purpose was to kill them. Who would dare ask her for help?
“What now? We finally found the truth. Are we just supposed to give up?” Shi Yuntian groaned.
Su Qiong gazed out toward the dark riverbank and said softly, “Even without a female player, I can find someone to cross the river. The women over there will definitely accept her.”
The players looked at him in total confusion. “Who?”
Su Qiong didn’t answer. He simply floated upward. “Go to sleep early. We’re going to the city tomorrow.”
The next morning, the bus rumbled to a halt at the village entrance.
It was mathematically impossible to earn even half a cent inside the village, and failing to earn money meant failing the game. With only one day left, the fewer than ten surviving players eagerly waited by the dirt road, desperate to get to the city and scrape together some cash.
But the bus driver was violent and strictly enforced the rules. Without a ticket, they would be thrown into the dirt.
Just as the remaining players began to panic, Su Qiong quietly poked several more holes into the hem of his gray cloak and handed the torn scraps of fabric to them, one by one.
“Th-thank you…”
The players took the “tickets,” feeling deeply confused. Why had the little marshmallow ignored them the first time, but chosen to save them today? Was he plotting something?
Su Qiong tugged at his now-tattered cloak and explained concisely, “There wasn’t enough fabric last time. I only had a few pieces to give out.”
As a white-name guide NPC, Su Qiong’s core programming was to treat every player equally. He was perfectly willing to help them. However, aside from the Orphan Alliance, the rest of the players had initially looked at Su Qiong like a walking treasure chest of experience points. Because he was low-level, he couldn’t defend himself against dozens of murderous people at once, so he had avoided them.
The players stared at Su Qiong’s small, tattered form, their faces burning with deep shame.
Su Qiong didn’t notice their guilt. Once they arrived in the city, he followed Yu Qimiao off the bus and headed straight for the securities market to check on his investments.
Yu Qimiao had zero gaming experience, but he possessed God-tier experience in making money. In only five days, starting with almost nothing, his investments had skyrocketed to over five million yuan. It was more than enough to buy the freedom of every single player left in the game.
“If you exchange this for Gangan Village currency now, you can instantly clear the instance and leave,” Su Qiong reminded him. “Do you want me to process the exchange?”
Yu Qimiao shook his head. “No. I want to uncover the full truth first.”
Withdrawing his massive stack of assets, Yu Qimiao turned to the remaining players, who looked like exhausted walking corpses.
“Do you all want to clear the instance?” he asked smoothly.
“Yes! I dream about it!”
Yu Qimiao smiled, his voice dropping into a demonic, calculating whisper. “Then let’s make a deal.”
Standing nearby, Those Who Obey Me Win rubbed his bruised neck and violently shuddered. Su Qiong’s stockpile of patsies is about to increase again.
After dismissing the newly indentured players, Yu Qimiao pocketed enough money for the Orphan Alliance to clear the game. They then followed Su Qiong through a winding maze of streets until they entered an alley flooded with gaudy neon lights.
Deep within the red-light district, beauty, perfume, and desire collided. A hazy, ambiguous atmosphere permeated the air.
“Su-su, you came to a place like this all by yourself last time?” Lu Shufan asked, his eyes shining with admiration.
“Mm.”
“You didn’t… see anything, did you?” Yu Qimiao asked. He looked as nervous as a mother terrified her innocent child had wandered down the wrong path.
“No,” Su Qiong replied blankly. “Was I supposed to see something?”
“N-no. Never mind.”
Everyone tacitly agreed to drop the subject.
“Speaking of which, who are you taking us to meet?” Shi Yuntian asked.
“They work here,” Su Qiong said, stopping in front of a tightly closed door. It was still early in the day, so the brothel hadn’t opened for business yet. Su Qiong explained that several young women who had escaped Gangan Village worked inside.
The players exchanged a look and decided to knock.
Shi Yuntian pounded a massive fist against the door. The madam yanked it open, looking annoyed, but the moment she saw Shi Yuntian’s towering, muscular frame and massive sword, her expression flipped. Smiling apologetically, she asked what they wanted.
Lu Shufan, the team’s charming social butterfly, stepped inside. Blinking his attractive eyes, he smiled. “Madam, we’re looking for a few specific girls. Would that be convenient?”
The owner looked troubled. “The girls just finished their night shift and are resting, so I’m afraid—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Yu Qimiao pulled two thick stacks of large-denomination bills from his suit jacket and casually dropped them onto the counter.
Lu Shufan smiled wider. “Would it be convenient now?”
“Yes! Of course it is!” The sheer power of capitalism instantly changed the madam’s tune. She pulled out the employee roster, eager to let her distinguished guests take their pick.
Standing in the back, Those Who Obey Me Win couldn’t even contribute to the conversation. He watched them with a creeping sense of dread.
This is bad, he thought. While I was busy feeding my own ego, these three have already formed perfectly defined roles and operate like a flawless machine.
Yu Qimiao was the strategist and financier. Lu Shufan was the charismatic negotiator and scout. Shi Yuntian was the muscle and the enforcer. If they ended up in a high-level combat instance, how could a solo player like him possibly compete with this team?
It was baffling. In the real world, these three men were arrogant, solitary elites at the absolute top of their respective fields. What kind of magical power had convinced them to cooperate so perfectly?
Just as he was wondering this, he heard the embodiment of that “magical power” speak up.
“It’s them,” Su Qiong’s sweet voice chimed as his puffy white finger tapped the roster, pointing out the girls he had met on his last visit.
Without wasting a breath, Yu Qimiao tossed another massive stack of cash onto the desk. “Can I buy out their time for the next two days? We are taking them with us.”
The madam clutched the money, but it suddenly felt uncomfortably hot in her hands. She hesitated. “I don’t mind, sir. But the girls you picked… they consider this place their safe haven. They definitely won’t agree to leave the city with you.”
“As long as you agree, I’ll handle the persuading,” Yu Qimiao replied smoothly.
For the sake of the mountain of cash, the madam gritted her teeth and nodded. “Fine. I’ll go wake them up.”
Twenty minutes later, three young women walked out. They had quickly freshened up, their faces beautiful and their figures graceful.
But the absolute second they spotted Su Qiong, the professional smiles vanished from their faces.
“Why are you here again? You really won’t leave us alone!” “Boss, I refuse to take these customers!”
The madam looked awkward. “A-Qiu, they’re paying an insane amount of money. Just endure the inconvenience for a bit, alright?”
“…”
These women had fought tooth and nail to survive on the brutal city streets. They understood the power of money better than anyone. Reluctantly, they agreed to sit down.
Yu Qimiao rented a private VIP room and quickly explained their goal in a few concise sentences. As he spoke, the women’s faces twisted with deep resistance and fear.
“I’m not going back!” “I risked my life to crawl out of that hell! If it were you, would you gladly jump back into the fire?!”
“I know you hate Gangan Village,” Yu Qimiao tried to reason gently. “But if you don’t return, our quest—”
“But what?!” the girl in the yellow dress, A-Qiu, snapped. She crossed her arms defensively, her eyes blazing. “You have nothing else to say, do you? Your game quest isn’t our problem!”
The players were totally silenced. They desperately needed to cross the river, but putting themselves in the women’s shoes, they completely understood why returning to that nightmare was unthinkable.
The room fell into a heavy stalemate.
Shi Yuntian gripped the hilt of his heavy sword, his knuckles turning white. He let go. He gripped it again. Finally, he exhaled and stepped back. Using violence to drag traumatized women back to their abusers was a line he refused to cross.
“Are you finished? Then get out!” A-Qiu yelled. “I hate dealing with anyone from Gangan Village!” “Just standing in the same room as you makes me feel filthy.” “You actually want us to go back to that damned place… you’re sick!”
“I’ll protect you.”
Before the women could storm out of the room, Su Qiong spoke. His sweet, soft voice carried an extraordinary, unshakable weight.
A-Qiu’s footsteps froze.
“Will you come with me? The women across the river need you,” Su Qiong said gently. “I promise, the four of us will protect you.”
Hearing his voice, A-Qiu suddenly lowered her head. She bit her lower lip so hard it nearly bled, her body trembling as a violent internal struggle tore through her.
“Hey, A-Qiu, ignore them. Let’s go.” “Don’t tell me you actually want to go with them! Look at them! They’re men from Gangan Village!”
A-Qiu raised her hands and covered her ears tightly. But inside her mind, Su Qiong’s gentle voice was overlapping perfectly with the desperate voices from her past.
“Little sister, don’t be afraid.” “Your sisters will protect you!” “Keep running! Whatever you do, don’t look back!”
Tears spilling down her cheeks, A-Qiu slowly turned around. “Will you… really protect me?” she whispered, her voice shaking. “Like my older sisters did?”
“Mm,” Su Qiong answered with absolute, chilling seriousness. “If any of you suffer even the slightest harm, I will destroy Gangan Village.”
