TAG Chapter 16

“Hey, how did you get in here?” Zou Yidao curiously asked Bai Er.

Bai Er casually replied, “Mission failure.”

“What about you?” Zou Yidao nodded towards Qiao Jingting.

Qiao Jingting rubbed his nose and muttered, “Got into a fight with someone and fell into the sea.” He had gone to Marina Bay that day to find the contact information of the man whose mother kept nagging about. Since the man wasn’t there, only Qiao Rui was at home. He had just finished a match, took some painkillers, and his mind wasn’t clear. He got into a fight impulsively and ended up falling into the sea. He rarely regretted things he did, but he regretted all the stupid things that happened that day, which trapped him in this cursed game just when his grandmother needed him the most.

Zou Yidao sneered.

“How did you get in?”

“I assisted the border police in escorting a group of drug dealers and got ambushed. The car flipped off a cliff.” Zou Yidao took a puff of smoke, his eyes smoky and gray, “It was raining heavily that day, and you couldn’t see anything three meters away.” He sighed lightly, muttering, “I’ve never seen such heavy rain in my life.”

Qiao Jingting said in a deep voice, “There are over two thousand six hundred people in this game, and it might be increasing. Does no one know why we are living in this game?”

“There have been many speculations, but currently, no one can confirm. The only thing certain is that this game triggers people’s potential.”

“How so?” Bai Er asked.

“When you wash your marrow, you can feel it. Your body is still yours, but it’s as if you have been reborn, it’s hard to describe. After washing your marrow, all your physical qualities will have a qualitative leap.”

“What if it’s all an illusion? I feel that everything in the game is virtual, just a program. We might also be just a segment of the program, and only our consciousness is active, while our bodies are not really here.” Qiao Jingting said.

“Why do you think that way? Did you come up with that idea after being influenced by The Matrix, or is there any evidence?”

“I do have evidence,” Qiao Jingting frowned, “But I can only confirm that all the scenes, weapons, and monsters are illusions. I cannot confirm about people.”

Zou Yidao got interested, “What evidence? Tell me.”

Qiao Jingting truthfully told Zou Yidao about the system bug he discovered. Zou Yidao listened attentively, his eyes shining. Qiao Jingting thought that was the appropriate reaction; Bai Er had just entered the game and didn’t know the importance of points, so he couldn’t appreciate how valuable that bug was.

“Is there really such a bug?” Zou Yidao was surprised, forgetting to flick the cigarette butt and getting burned in the process.

Qiao Jingting nodded, “But neither Shu Ai nor Bai Er can enter it. Maybe you can try it.”

“Sure, I’ll find an opportunity to try.” Like Shu Ai, Zou Yidao, too, didn’t fully trust others, so he wouldn’t easily put himself in a state where he couldn’t resist. He licked his lips, “Kid, don’t mention this to others anymore; this matter is not as simple as you think.”

“I understand.”

Zou Yidao pondered, “In the game, scenes, props, and monsters being programmed, many people have guessed that, but there is no solid evidence. However, we are not just consciousness in the game; our whole bodies are in the game. That has been confirmed by someone.”

“How did they confirm it?”

“Somebody dissected a few players while they were still alive and used tests on their brain cortex neurons to prove that our brains have always been in an active state. There were also a series of experiments to observe the response of neurons to various stimuli, comparing the differences between virtual and real stimuli, and finally deduced that what we experience is not like The Matrix; our brains and bodies are synchronized.” Zou Yidao said, scratching his head, “I read his research report, but I barely understood it, but it’s something like that.”

Bai Er raised an eyebrow, “Dissected alive?”

“Yes, he’s a Colosseum participant, a lunatic,” Zou Yidao mentioned the person with some trepidation. “He’s the leader of a major guild in the Abyss Game.”

“A guild?” Qiao Jingting recalled the game’s explanation of guilds. “They mark a city’s Life Tree.”

“In fact, there’s more than one.” Zou Yidao spoke slowly. “In this game, there are many guilds, and the bigger ones usually occupy several cities. There are three strongest guilds in three tiers in the game: Sharps, SK, and Zen ND. The person I mentioned earlier is the leader of SK.”

Qiao Jingting chuckled mockingly, “Wherever you go, people like to form alliances.” He wondered if these major guilds were also like Han Bin’s rule over the newbie village, filled with violence and exploitation.

“In this game, it’s hard to survive without forming alliances,” Zou Yidao squinted his eyes. “Let me give you a simple example. In the game, there’s a monster called ‘Juru,’ which costs 150 points each. It’s not too difficult to kill, and there’s a 1 in 11,000 chance that it drops a highly sought-after symbol stone that increases your recovery power by 15 after being injured. If you buy it from the system, it costs 6,000 points each, which many people can’t afford, so they have to kill the monster. However, this monster’s location is in the territory of ‘Yi Huoshe’ (a guild). You have to move to Yi Huoshe before using a travel scroll to teleport there. And Yi Huoshe’s Life Tree is marked by Zen ND, so everyone needs Zen ND’s permission to enter. However, there’s only one spot for Juru, and it’s impossible for everyone to swarm there to kill it. So Zen ND arranges a schedule, using it to exchange other popular monster spots with other guilds. If you are a free player who hasn’t joined any guild, it’s challenging to get a slot. Such resource exchanges are quite common in the game.”

Qiao Jingting listened with surprise; this game had seemingly formed a complete social structure based on its own rules.

Bai Er chuckled, “Interesting. So, which guild did you join?”

“A small guild,” Zou Yidao said as he forcefully extinguished the cigarette in his hand. A hint of coldness flashed in his eyes. “It doesn’t exist anymore.”

Zou Yidao was sent back to the newbie village as punishment for killing a player lower-level than himself. As an experienced gamer, the chance of him making such a mistake was very low, and there must be a story behind it.

“In any case, once you leave the newbie village, it’s a whole new world, a hundred or even a thousand times more cruel than here.” Zou Yidao smiled faintly, his gaze profound as he looked at Qiao Jingting. “Don’t think that defeating the local boss of the newbie village and leveling up to level 6 overnight is something great. To be able to break out of the newbie village is the lowest requirement for survival in the game.”

“I didn’t defeat Han Bin. At most, we defeated him together, so I indeed have nothing special now.” Qiao Jingting showed a proud smile. “But I will climb all the way up. No matter if they are Colosseum participants or major guilds, nothing will stop me. I will definitely become respected.”

Zou Yidao was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter, “You’ve got some guts, kid. I do have some expectations for you. But anyone can talk big; it depends on whether you have the skills to back it up.”

Qiao Jingting clenched his fist with determination. He felt that his discovery of the bug was not a random occurrence. With this assistance, his courage, strength, and belief were not inferior to anyone else’s. If someone was destined to stand at the pinnacle of the game, why couldn’t it be him?

After chatting for a while, everyone got tired and went back to their rooms to rest.

Although Qiao Jingting was exhausted, he couldn’t bear to sleep.

He opened the Demon Subjugation List and checked Qiao Ruidou’s level, realizing it was still level 6, which pleased him. At least, they were on equal footing now.

But now that he had reached level 6, the next step was to consider washing his Divine Marrow and leaving the newbie village. Zou Yidao advised them not to leave the village before washing their Divine Marrow because they were too weak, and going outside would make them easy targets for hunting.

However, Qiao Jingting was a bit anxious. He needed to find Qiao Ruidou. No matter how much he detested that so-called “brother,” it was his responsibility to bring Qiao Ruidou into this world. If that kid behaved properly and didn’t act foolishly, Qiao Jingting would do his best to help him return to the real world together.

He entered the platform and checked his battle records from the night before. He now had 3136 points.

Before the battle, he had 126 points left. He gained 4000 points by leveling up four times and received a first-level achievement reward of 200 points. After that, he spent 300 points on a protective shield, 800 points on ten healing scrolls, and 90 points on six rockets. So he had 3136 points left.

While it seemed like a lot, he couldn’t afford to spend recklessly. Both he and Bai Er and Shu Ai were now at a stage where they needed to consume a large number of points to wash their Divine Marrow. Washing Divine Marrow itself didn’t cost any points, but the minimum requirement to unlock the “Super Body” profession, which was the lowest level profession, was 3000 points. Zou Yidao mentioned that Super Body and Alien were the most common professions because they had a low points requirement to unlock. Although Guoshi (National Official) and Shenzhi (God’s Enforcer) had low points requirements too, being a Guoshi involved spending a lot of points on buying and feeding gu, while Shenzhi took a long time to accumulate enough points. On the other hand, Han Bin had instantly unlocked the most powerful profession, showing how many points he had exploited from other players.

Qiao Jingting thoroughly read the explanations of the five professions, and he was particularly interested in Alien and God’s Enforcer. Although he had mockingly called Zou Yidao a “turtle,” his strength was truly astonishing. If he chose Alien, he could easily gather 4000 points by killing a few shallow-water crocodiles. However, choosing God’s Enforcer would take much longer. Also, using those extra 4000 points to strengthen himself or buy powerful weapons seemed more cost-effective than choosing a powerful profession.

Zou Yidao had also mentioned that there was no distinction of superiority among the professions. Although God’s Enforcer appeared stronger at first glance, it would be futile if one didn’t know how to use it. Super Body seemed to be the weakest, but it was the only profession that could become a king in the game. Alien was neither superior nor inferior, seemingly somewhat awkward, but if someone happened to possess the genes of an ancient fierce beast, they could potentially transform into a Tyrannosaurus. Guoshi had low attack power but played an extremely important role in a team, and the strength of a Gu Shi depended entirely on the strength of the gu they controlled. In short, Zou Yidao advised them not to blindly believe in the superiority of professions. Any profession had the potential to become strong or weak.

After repeatedly reading through the information, Qiao Jingting still couldn’t make a decision. In the end, he exited the platform, determined to rest and think things through later.

He slept for a day and a night.

When he woke up, Heart Moon Fox was completely restored. The previous night’s fire had left no traces at all. However, some people had truly disappeared.

Qiao Jingting sat on the edge of the bed, dazed for a while, then rubbed his head and got out of bed. After freshening up, he bought a set of clean new clothes to change into.

As he walked out of the room, he saw Zou Yidao and Bai Er sitting at the table eating, while Shu Ai was organizing the bookshelf with her back turned to him.

“You’re all awake,” Qiao Jingting yawned.

Shu Ai turned around.

Halfway through his yawn, Qiao Jingting’s mouth hung open with astonishment.

Standing in front of him was a beautiful girl with long ink-black hair and porcelain-white skin. She was dressed in a simple white shirt and tight jeans, tall and slender. Her bright eyes had a hint of stubbornness, and her cherry-colored lips were slightly pursed, showing three parts shyness and seven parts charm. She had a clear and pure aura, but also a rare touch of heroism. She looked like the dreamy first love of many men, genuinely stunning. And the hideous burn scar that previously covered half of her face was gone.

“Shu Ai,” Qiao Jingting couldn’t believe his eyes. In the past, he had never looked closely at Shu Ai’s face, not out of disdain, but to spare her from any discomfort. She had a naturally beautiful face, and it was no wonder she needed to hide it in such an extreme way.

Shu Ai smiled openly, “Can’t recognize me?”

“Uh, at first, I didn’t recognize you, but congratulations on restoring your face,” Qiao Jingting replied.

Shu Ai instinctively touched her own face and said, “Han Bin is dead, and I feel like I have the ability to protect myself now.” She stole a glance at Qiao Jingting.

Zou Yidao, with a chicken bone in his mouth, said casually, “Yeah, this girl is pretty good-looking, just a bit small-chested.”

Shu Ai was not offended and retorted sharply, “Whether they’re big or small, why do you care? It’s not like you can touch them.”

Zou Yidao burst into laughter without shame, and Qiao Jingting joined in, giving Shu Ai a thumbs-up.

Bai Er remained uninterested, focusing on eating.

Sitting at the table, Qiao Jingting quickly devoured his food.

After finishing his meal, Bai Er calmly said, “I washed my Divine Marrow last night.”

This statement left everyone stunned, and they all looked at him.

“What profession did you choose?” Shu Ai asked.

“Super Body,” Bai Er replied, “I had just enough points.”

Zou Yidao was somewhat surprised and asked, “Aren’t you planning to save some points and exchange for a more powerful profession?”

“I researched for a long time last night, and many things look better than they are,” Bai Er’s eyes were steady, showing no doubt about his choice, “I only need one thing, and that’s speed.”

Qiao Jingting showed admiration on his face, “I think that’s great. You’re already quite powerful and know what suits you.”

“Speed is the essence of martial arts,” Zou Yidao nodded, “It makes sense, Super Body suits you well.”

“I plan to leave the newbie village,” Bai Er stared directly at Qiao Jingting.

Qiao Jingting smiled, “Yes, it’s time. I hope that when we meet again one day, we won’t be enemies.”

“Are you trying to drive me away?” Bai Er squinted his eyes.

Qiao Jingting was a bit confused, “Huh? Aren’t you the one who wants to leave?”

Zou Yidao held back a laugh and pointed at Qiao Jingting with his finger, “They say you’re a brainless bimbo, but you still won’t admit it.”

Qiao Jingting felt a bit embarrassed and coughed lightly, “Bai Er, I can see that you’re used to being alone and don’t need anyone to take care of you. If you’re willing to join us on this adventure, that would be great. But I won’t force you to prove yourself by owing me a favor. We’re brothers for a day, and if you want to do something, do it. I won’t impose.”

Zou Yidao smiled as he looked at Qiao Jingting, his eyes filled with admiration.

Shu Ai was watching Bai Er. Having witnessed Bai Er’s strength, no one wanted to let such a powerful companion slip away.

Bai Er spoke clearly, one word at a time, “I want to capture a city and make it our base. I need your help.”

Qiao Jingting clapped his hand heavily, showing a carefree smile, “What a coincidence, I was thinking the same thing.”