The world spun—and Fu Changxun once again found himself in the featureless white room.
[Ding-dong! Congratulations, the player has cleared the instance “The General.” Task points earned: 200. Remaining points: 208. Acquired item: an extraordinarily sharp blade. Achievement unlocked: cleared two days early. NPC affinity ×2. NPC fear ×1…]
[Achievement unlocked: “Never Leave Empty-Handed.” Obtained: Dragon Robe ×1, Jade Thumb Ring ×1. In-instance valuables can be converted to points. Proceed with exchange?]
“Yes, please convert everything. Thanks,” Fu Changxun said without blinking.
[Exchange complete!]
[Points earned: 1790.3. Total remaining: 1998.3.]
[Player will now receive 30 days of rest.]
The Black Cat was thoroughly unimpressed by the nothingness of this space and began scratching wildly at the walls.
Fu Changxun picked it up and held it still. “Stop that. Let me check my panel first.”
[Name: Fu Changxun]
[Nickname: Doctor]
[Role: Player (Stealth Walker)]
[Gender: Male (for now)]
[Age: 23 (still growing)]
[Points: 1998.3]
[Stamina: 27 (You’re weak. Your teammates could carry two of you.)]
[Intelligence: 82 (still increasing)]
[Charisma: 90 (Higher-dimensional beings are displeased by your mental shielding.)]
[San Value: 69 (minor hallucinations)]
[Health: 100 (healthy)]
He skimmed the data carefully, ignoring all the weird little side notes.
Stamina and intelligence had gone up, but his Charisma had dropped—a result he was more than happy with. Higher-dimensional beings might shower him with gifts, but in critical moments, he’d rather they kept their distance.
As for the san value… yeah, Yun Qing’s ghost had definitely taken a toll.
Not to mention his identity as a Stealth Walker.
Fu Changxun gave a wry smile. He wanted to not be afraid, but there really wasn’t a method for that.
The NPC affinity and NPC fear stats were probably from the Yun sisters and the scumbag emperor, respectively. As for that final achievement—“Never Leave Empty-Handed”—he decided to just ignore it. The name didn’t exactly sound… honorable.
“Meow—mraaow.” The black cat struggled in protest. Only then did he let it go and ask, “Customer service, are you there? Is this my personal player space?”
[Yes. Players may purchase items from the Game Shop to customize and decorate their personal space.]
“So… does it at least come with walls?” Fu Changxun looked around. “Don’t tell me you guys are so stingy you make us buy our own walls and ceiling?!”
The system seemed completely unprepared for this line of questioning. Or maybe it just hadn’t expected any player to ask.
It glitched out for a moment, buzzing static before replying:
[Warning! System under maintenance…]
And with that, Fu Changxun was unceremoniously kicked out of his personal space.
Fu Changxun: “…”
You’ve got to be kidding me. That petty?
He stumbled as he landed and grabbed something for balance—only to realize that “something” was Dong Zi.
Before entering the instance, he’d been with Xu Zhengyi and Dong Zi. Now that he was back, only Dong Zi remained.
Xu Zhengyi had stayed behind… forever.
“…Thanks.” He quickly let go. “Ah-Zi, we need to get Xiao Xiao. Right now.”
Dong Zi nodded, a flicker of regret in his eyes. He pulled a car key from his pocket. “Okay. Do you know how to get to her place?”
“I do. Let’s go.” Fu Changxun beckoned him along.
They were still wearing the clothes and gear they’d prepped for the instance, so there was no need to repack. They immediately headed downstairs and jumped in the car, rushing toward Xu Zhengyi’s home.
Halfway there, the system voice rang out again, loud and clear across the world.
[Ding-dong!]
[Player survival count has exceeded one million! The Personal Points Leaderboard and Team Ability Leaderboard are now live!]
[Players may now apply to join teams. Your personal panel has been updated with team chat, private messaging, blacklist, block, and deceased-player ID locking functions…]
Millions had entered the game by now. But only a million were still alive.
Less than a 50% survival rate.
Players and even non-players who hadn’t yet triggered the game all looked up.
Those with quick reflexes instantly opened their personal panels, finding the two new leaderboard tabs.
[Points Leaderboard]
1st: 打工人 (Working Stiff) – 5456.78 points
2nd: 醫生 (Doctor) – 1998.3 points
3rd: sliver – 740 points
4th: 絕世歐皇 (Supreme RNG God) – 666 points
5th: i dont want to die – 650 points
[…]
The Points Leaderboard listed only the top 100 players, a dizzying mix of nicknames in different languages.
Fu Changxun stared at the first name—“Working Stiff”—with a total eerily similar to his, down to the decimal.
Clearly, they’d also looted money from inside the instance.
Wait a minute—Working Stiff… wasn’t that the same player who had triggered the full-server announcement during the rookie instance?
He’d traded in the emperor’s dragon robe and jade ring. But the other guy had more than double his total. What did he do, strip every last NPC in the instance?
Then again, considering this was the first person to ever clear the starter instance, it tracked.
He never thought he’d end up in second place.
“Hey, Ah-Zi, that crown and belt you picked up—did you not trade them in for points?”
Fu Changxun had just noticed. He’d scanned the leaderboard but didn’t see Dong Zi’s name.
The 100th-ranked player had 420 points. Dong Zi clearly had less than that.
Dong Zi shook his head. “Not yet. I left them in my personal space. Figured we’d exchange them when we really need the points. That way we won’t draw too much attention.”
If they traded them now, and then later teamed up, the whole world would know two high-ranking players had formed a squad. It would invite way too much trouble.
Fu Changxun nodded in agreement. That was exactly his concern too.
***
The Team Ability Leaderboard only had a few dozen entries so far—clearly, most players hadn’t formed permanent squads yet, or were still just using temporary teams like theirs.
Back when they entered the game with Xu Zhengyi, they’d used a low-grade, single-use team item. But now that it was confirmed they’d be keeping Xiao Xiao with them, and they had the points to spare, Fu Changxun went ahead and spent 300 points on the highest-tier team card.
It was expensive for a reason—among other things, it had built-in player location tracking.
The car cruised down the road. Occasionally, a driver would suddenly vanish, pulled into the game mid-ride.
But emergency crews responded fast. Workers arrived almost immediately to tow abandoned cars off the road, and even used abilities to prevent high-speed accidents.
Society hadn’t collapsed into chaos. After the initial panic, people were slowly adjusting to the new reality.
“Those are Special Affairs people, right?”
Fu Changxun glanced out the window, recognizing one of the workers as someone who had come to them with Qiu Yi before. “Looks like their department’s grown.”
Dong Zi kept his eyes on the road, stealing a glance at the scene. “Mm… Are we going to join them?”
Fu Changxun looked back at him. “Forget it. We’ve got Xiao Xiao now. She’s not suited for that.”
That’d basically be hiring child labor.
Dong Zi shook his head. “Not necessarily. The game’s going to keep dragging more people in. Kids between ten and fifteen are especially vulnerable. They need training.”
Fu Changxun’s lips parted, but in the end, he said nothing.
He was right. The game forced players to understand every rule of every instance just to survive. Kids and the elderly were at an even greater disadvantage. They couldn’t hide.
Xiao Xiao had already been pulled into the game. All they could do now… was help her arm herself as best they could.
***
Xu Zhengyi’s home was a small apartment in a school district—he had poured his life savings into buying it for his daughter.
Just a few minutes earlier, Xu Xiao had returned here from the instance. Right away, she got a call from her two gege, telling her not to go outside. So she waited by the window.
Her father was gone, but traces of him lingered in every corner of the home.
Xu Xiao still felt deeply sad—but she wouldn’t cry.
She stood perfectly still, waiting for her gege… until the door was finally knocked.
Only after confirming through the peephole that it really was Fu Changxun and Dong Zi did she dare to open it.
“Xiao Xiao, are you okay?”
Fu Changxun immediately crouched down and examined her from head to toe, carefully checking to make sure nothing had gone wrong after she left the instance. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Xu Xiao forced a small smile. “Gege, I’m fine. Really. Oh, I have an ability now, too—it kills a certain type of creature within a five-meter radius. But right now I’m too weak… it only works on bugs and ants.”
“That’s not weak at all—it’s an amazing ability, Xiao Xiao.” Fu Changxun gently smoothed her hair. “You’re already doing great. With this, you can protect your gege now too.”
Xu Xiao finally couldn’t hide her discouragement. “No, it’s really weak. I don’t see how this ability is useful at all. My stamina stat is bad too. I’ll just slow you down…”
She had always been this sensitive. Fu Changxun knew that well.
He held her hand and said seriously, “Gege’s stamina stat is bad too. But did you ever see Dong Zi getting annoyed with me for being a burden?”
Xiao Xiao: “Huh?”
She looked up at the very tall gege, replaying their interactions during the instance. After a while, she shook her head. “I… don’t think so.”
“Exactly. So gege won’t be annoyed with you either—we’re all the same.”
Xiao Xiao still felt like something was off, but being only ten years old, she couldn’t quite figure it out.
Dong Zi, who had been silently watching Fu Changxun sweet-talk the kid, didn’t expose him—in fact, he nodded along.
That made Xiao Xiao even more unsure if she was imagining things. Embarrassed, she smiled and said firmly, “Thank you, gege. I’ll do my best!”
With no parents left, it wasn’t right to leave a child living alone.
Fu Changxun asked her to pack her clothes, daily necessities, and a few items that were especially important to her. She’d be moving in with him.
They helped her pack up her belongings and cleaned the apartment, covering the furniture with dust sheets.
Xiao Xiao’s things filled two suitcases, which they carried downstairs.
She looked back at the apartment one last time, picked up the family portrait, gripped her keys tightly, and stepped out the door.
