Chapter 22: Who Could It Be?
“Yu Qimiao,” Su Qiong called out to him.
Su Qiong had noticed that the survival base in the beginner zone was far too densely populated.
Regardless of how many points they possessed, how high they ranked, or whether they had cleared their instances, all the players were gathered here.
That did not make sense.
—Why hadn’t the players entered the Circle?
Perhaps they were clinging to the comfort of the beginner village and did not want to enter the Circle only to die.
But when the game began, Apple, the NPC from inside the Circle, had clearly told everyone that the beginner village would disintegrate after seven days.
Judging by the time, the beginner zone could disappear as early as dawn today.
Players afraid of death should have hidden inside the Circle long ago. Perhaps they could have survived there.
“Why haven’t you entered the Circle?” Su Qiong asked.
The smile on Yu Qimiao’s face vanished for a second. “Su Qiong, so you still don’t know.”
“Know what?” Su Qiong was confused. “Is there something I’m supposed to know?”
Yu Qimiao took a deep breath and told him gravely, “Even after clearing an instance, players in the beginner zone still can’t enter the Circle.”
“Wh-what?!” Su Qiong was stunned.
Yu Qimiao had discovered the situation only after leaving the instance.
Like him, every beginner-zone player who cleared an instance remained trapped inside the survival base.
Meanwhile, players who failed to clear their instances or died inside them vanished without a trace, their whereabouts unknown.
Any player still remaining in the beginner zone had proven that they possessed either the strength or the luck to clear an instance.
Many experts had fulfilled their clearing conditions on the very first day. Some elite players had even entered the system’s leaderboard.
Yet despite that, not a single player had left the beginner zone and entered the so-called Circle.
While stranded here, the players had established forums, formed factions and guilds, and exchanged information.
At present, two pieces of information were widely considered important within the beginner zone.
First, the world inside the Circle definitely existed. None of the players who had experienced an instance had ever seen Apple—or even an NPC as powerful as a zombie puppet.
Second, entering the Circle required gaining the Circle Realm’s “acknowledgment.” So far, not a single player had fulfilled the necessary condition.
“At most, the beginner zone has only another twenty-four hours left. Many players have personally witnessed what happens after it disintegrates.” Yu Qimiao looked around. “We still haven’t discovered the condition for entering the Circle. A lot of players are close to breaking down.”
Especially those ranked near the top.
They had struggled to clear their instances and received abundant rewards and points.
They had assumed they would be able to dominate inside the Circle, survive the game, and become legends among humanity.
But what happened instead?
They could not even leave the beginner village.
No wonder the closed-beta players had said that IF was far more difficult than other horror games.
It first gave people hope, then subjected them to prolonged torment until they fell into complete despair.
“Isn’t clearing an instance the only condition for entering the Circle?” Su Qiong had never heard that there were additional requirements.
“As expected.” Yu Qimiao sighed. “Even a system NPC doesn’t know. It’ll be even harder for ordinary players like us to discover the clue.”
Hearing that, Su Qiong said sincerely, “Yu Qimiao, tell me every clue you know. I’ll help you analyze them. Perhaps we’ll trigger a new hint during the process.”
“All right.” Yu Qimiao shared everything he knew with Su Qiong without reservation.
Compared with the other players, Yu Qimiao had left his instance relatively late and had not had much time to explore the beginner zone.
Fortunately, before Su Qiong entered Instance Two, he had left the Equivalent Exchange Bag with Yu Qimiao.
The bag and the blackhearted capitalist were practically a perfect match. Through forced buying and selling, Yu Qimiao had obtained plenty of useful information without paying anything.
Humans were social animals and excelled at pursuing benefits while avoiding danger.
After arriving at the survival base, Yu Qimiao discovered that most players who had successfully cleared an instance had already joined guilds.
Experienced players were certainly familiar with the concept. Joining a guild meant finding a protective umbrella while gaining access to internal guides and items.
IF was extraordinarily difficult. Joining a large guild would undoubtedly improve one’s chances of survival.
At present, the survival base had two major player guilds.
One was called Extremity, with approximately three thousand members. It had strict entry requirements: players had to earn a large number of points inside an instance or obtain an item before they qualified to join.
Extremity openly wrote its admiration of strength into its guild motto. Power reigned supreme within the guild, attracting countless high-level players.
Among the top one hundred players on the system leaderboard, at least fifty belonged to Extremity. Its highest-ranked member, Xi Huaiji, had already risen to fourth place.
The other guild was called Everyone Survives. Its name alone made it obvious that it was a place where low-level players banded together for warmth.
Everyone Survives had no entry requirements and contained more than ten thousand members, yet fewer than ten had entered the leaderboard.
During the early stages of a guild’s establishment, it naturally had to attract new members by every possible means to strengthen itself.
The moment Yu Qimiao stepped into the survival base, he became highly sought after because he possessed the points awarded for a perfect clear as well as an item from an instance NPC.
Both Extremity and Everyone Survives extended invitations to him.
However, Yu Qimiao was highly vigilant and slow to warm up to others.
Furthermore, he had spent many years in a position of authority and could not adapt to joining a guild only to be ordered around by its leaders.
Lu Shufan and Shi Yuntian were equally unwilling to join one. Thus, the three companions who had survived a life-and-death ordeal together decided to establish a small guild of their own.
They named it the Orphan Alliance.
“You actually used that name.” Su Qiong still desperately wanted to complain.
After establishing the Orphan Alliance, its three members did not immediately begin recruiting.
Instead, they split up and used their own methods to search for clues about entering the Circle.
“Shi Yuntian entered a slaughter instance in Instance Three to search for clues there. Lu Shufan has already become friendly with the leaders of other factions and is extracting information from them. As for me…” Yu Qimiao glossed over the details. “I traded with them fairly.”
Fairly?
A knew little about Yu Qimiao, but his tone and manner were enough to tell him that the blackhearted capitalist’s trades were unlikely to be fair.
“Although we haven’t obtained a direct clue about entering the Circle, we’ve gathered quite a few indirect ones.”
Yu Qimiao skipped over the previous topic and began listing what he knew.
“First, there must be some method that allows players to enter the Circle. We simply haven’t determined the exact condition yet.”
“Second, the beginner zone contains one hundred thousand instances. The ratio of easy, normal, and difficult instances is seven to two to one. Several of those instances contain clues about entering the Circle. For example, the information I just mentioned was collected by players who cleared difficult instances.”
“After discussing it with the other guild leaders, we arrived at two mainstream theories. First, at least one player must clear every one of the hundred thousand instances before we can enter the Circle. Second, we have to wait until the seven days end and the beginner zone disintegrates before we can enter.”
After listening to the analysis, Su Qiong shook his head. “I don’t think it’s either of those.”
“Mm,” A agreed.
The IF system was relatively fair. It would not implicate everyone because of a few people’s failures.
For example, A had been thrown into an extraordinarily difficult Instance Two, where he was the only player.
The system was a bastard, but it had not casually dragged in several disposable players to die alongside him.
As for the second possibility, it sounded even more absurd.
There was absolutely no such thing as winning without effort in IN OFF.
“Then what do you think?” Yu Qimiao asked.
“I’m not entirely certain about the beginner zone,” Su Qiong told him, “but within the Circle world of IN OFF, each Circle has a special red-name NPC whom the system calls the Circle Lord.”
“The Circle Lord can control the Circle under their authority. The Circle Realm will open to players only after they fulfill the conditions given by the Circle Lord—or defeat them.” Su Qiong paused for several seconds before saying uncertainly, “Perhaps the beginner zone also has something like a Circle Lord. But there aren’t any NPCs outside the instances here.”
“That’s true. You’re the only NPC I’ve ever seen outside an instance.” Following Su Qiong’s hint, Yu Qimiao fell into thought. “Assuming the beginner zone really has a Circle Lord, who could it be?”
“Who could it be?” Su Qiong began thinking as well.
A said nothing.
His gaze remained fixed on Su Qiong.
“Hey, Yu Qimiao!”
A familiar voice called from the distance. Shi Yuntian hurried over, carrying a small, frail girl in one hand.
The girl appeared to be around thirteen years old and was obviously a minor.
Held by Shi Yuntian, who stood over one hundred ninety centimeters tall, she had been jostled the entire way like a battered rag doll.
“Shi Yuntian, did you clear Instance Three?” Yu Qimiao asked.
“Of course! Slaughter instances are my comfort zone. It was much easier than Gangan Village.” Shi Yuntian tossed the girl toward Yu Qimiao and casually said, “Here. A new member I picked up inside the instance.”
“Hello, Guild Leader. My name is Qiyi.” The girl swayed as she regained her footing, then greeted Yu Qimiao in a barely audible voice, looking as though she had only half a life remaining.
Su Qiong could not help feeling confused.
According to IF’s settings, as long as a player still possessed even the faintest breath when leaving an instance, every injury sustained inside would heal completely.
For example, the radiation damage A suffered had disappeared without leaving even a scar after he exited the instance.
When players entered IF, the system adjusted their health for the sake of fairness, preventing injuries or illnesses from outside the game from causing their failure.
Then why did the girl Shi Yuntian had brought back look half-dead?
Yu Qimiao did not reject Qiyi for being young and weak. He confirmed, “You want to join the Orphan Alliance?”
“Mm.” Qiyi nodded firmly. “Shi Yuntian saved us inside the game. I’m willing to follow him.”
Su Qiong noticed that she had said “us,” not “me.”
“All right.” Yu Qimiao opened his bracelet and sent Qiyi a guild invitation.
Only after Qiyi accepted did he look toward Shi Yuntian. “Tell me. You wouldn’t bring a child back without a reason.”
“I was planning to keep you in suspense a little longer. But since you’ve asked so sincerely, I’ll graciously tell you.” Shi Yuntian declared proudly, “Qiyi might look weak, but she has a skill.”
During the beginner-zone stage, players usually received only points for clearing instances. Very few obtained instance items.
Those fortunate enough to gain a skill inside an instance were even rarer.
Rare did not mean nonexistent.
Furthermore, Qiyi appeared incapable of fighting and did not seem worth recruiting into a major guild.
The senior members of the major guilds hiding near Yu Qimiao in an attempt to recruit A thought exactly that and showed no reaction.
“What kind of expressions are those? I haven’t finished speaking!” Detecting Yu Qimiao’s lack of excitement, Shi Yuntian announced forcefully, “She knows a clue about entering the Circle!”
“What?!”
Countless voices sounded around them the moment the words left his mouth.
“Is that true?”
“That little girl is incredibly lucky. She obtained a skill and discovered a clue about entering the Circle.”
“Yes, I know.” Qiyi opened her mouth and was about to explain. “The skill we obtained is—”
“Wait. Don’t say it yet.” Yu Qimiao stopped her, then turned toward the surrounding crowd with a smile. “Since the leaders of the major guilds are all here, let’s make a trade. In exchange for the clue possessed by a member of our guild, you will provide us with every clue your guilds obtain during the next game world.”
“Hey, Yu Qimiao! Have some basic decency!”
“Extremity already gave you so many clues. You still aren’t satisfied?”
“Besides, we don’t even know whether the girl’s clue is useful.”
Remembering all the times Yu Qimiao had deceived and exploited them, the leaders of the major guilds protested loudly.
[System: Player Yu Qimiao has used the Equivalent Exchange Bag. Transaction established.]
The leaders of the major guilds: …?
“The system accepted the transaction. It seems Qiyi’s clue is extremely valuable.” Yu Qimiao smiled and gestured toward her. “You may speak now.”
“All right.” Qiyi began again. “The skill we received is called Shared Life and Death.”
“We?” Yu Qimiao noticed the pronoun she used.
Qiyi explained, “I have a twin sister named Moi. My sister and I have been together every day since we were born, so the system allows us to share the skill. Within the world of IF, as long as one of us retains any health—even if only two breaths remain—we can give one breath to the other.”
“We’re both young, so we were at a disadvantage inside the slaughter instance. Because we were lucky enough to obtain an instance skill, the other players and NPCs hunted us. Moi died inside the instance while protecting me.”
“Aren’t your lives linked?” Yu Qimiao asked.
“Yes. I wanted to share my life with her, but Moi refused. The instant she died, she was forcibly removed from the instance and taken somewhere special.” Recalling her sister’s words, Qiyi described it to the players. “That place is both silent and noisy, both crowded and empty. Every player who dies or fails inside an instance is transported there.”
“Moi told me that place is called—”
“Rebirth at the End.”
A leader from another guild asked, “What does that place have to do with entering the Circle?”
“Exactly. We already cleared our instances, so we won’t be transported there.”
“Moi and I are twins. Even when we’re separated, I can still hear her voice.” Qiyi raised her eyes and calmly looked at them. “Moi told me that Rebirth at the End is no different from the survival base. As long as we remain inside the beginner zone, we will all become sacrifices.”
“Sacrifices?”
“Yes.” Qiyi spoke with certainty. “Sacrifices for the birth of a new lord. My sister said that once you go there and see it, you’ll understand.”
The other players became anxious.
“But how are we supposed to reach it?”
“Do we have to deliberately fail inside an instance?”
Qiyi raised her hand. A blood-red thread was wrapped around her little finger.
Blood seeped from her fingertip and condensed into thin strands that pointed in a certain direction.
“Moi and I share life and death. The bond of our flesh and blood will lead me to her—and to that place.”
The other players were overjoyed.
“Then as long as we destroy that place, we’ll be able to enter the Circle, right?”
“What are we waiting for? The beginner zone has only twenty-four hours before it disintegrates. Let’s go!”
“I’ll notify Guild Leader Xi Huaiji immediately!”
Desperate to escape the beginner zone, the players followed the guidance of the red thread and marched toward Rebirth at the End in a vast procession.
Su Qiong had just floated into the air when A suddenly stopped him.
“You’re going?”
“Of course,” Su Qiong replied. “I have to guide the players through the game.”
A’s gaze darkened as he abruptly demanded,
“Su Qiong, don’t go.”
