Chapter 52: No Survivors |
Instance "Flesh Eating" Evaluation: Grade A...
...S. Reward: 2000 Points.
The letter grade flickered twice, dissolving into a phantom string of red, corrupted code before reforming from an "A" into an "S".
A flicker of understanding crossed Qi Si's mind, and he raised an eyebrow. "It seems the authority of a god-tier NPC is even greater than I imagined."
He had ended the instance prematurely due to his deal, a choice that was bound to cost him some completion points.
If his rating had dropped as a result, the perfectionist in him would have been thoroughly displeased. He would have immediately added the evil god to a mental blacklist titled "Must Retaliate at First Opportunity" and started plotting ways to make the deity's existence miserable.
Unexpectedly, the evil god had been quite considerate, nipping the potential conflict in the bud without any need for persuasion, preventing the worst-case scenario from unfolding.
True End clear for "Flesh Eating." Reward: 2000 Points.
Worldview Deciphered: 100%. Reward: 2000 Points.
In the pitch-black space, only the silvery-white text of the final settlement rolled methodically before his eyes.
Qi Si yawned, silently running the numbers.
He had learned from the game forums that each instance had a base point value calculated from various factors. All other rewards were then awarded as multiples of that base score.
From the looks of it, the base score for the "Flesh Eating" instance was double that of "Rose Manor."
He wasn't sure if it was because there were more players, or because of its closer connection to a "god," or perhaps it was simply because this was his second instance, and the rewards were meant to increase with each one he cleared.
For now, Qi Si couldn't quite grasp the logic. From his perspective, the mechanics of "Flesh Eating" were actually simpler than those of "Rose Manor." While the initial chaos of having eleven players had been disorienting, the instance's overall difficulty hardly justified a base score twice as high.
Of course, if the rewards did indeed increase over time, that would be excellent news for him.
After all, his goal was fixed. Higher rewards meant fewer instances to clear, which would effectively reduce the chances of him losing interest in the Weird Game before he saved up enough points.
The thought of one day growing bored with the game, yet being forced to hold his nose and carry on—trapped by sunk costs and the tantalizing promise of a granted wish—was a truly depressing prospect.
The settlement text continued to scroll.
Became the sole survivor. Reward: 1000 Points.
Achievement Unlocked: "Gazing into the Abyss" (Initiated contact with a god-tier NPC). Reward: 500 Points.
Achievement Unlocked: "Follower of the Evil God" (Struck a deal with a specific god-tier NPC). Reward: 500 Points.
Achievement Unlocked: "No Survivors" (Became the sole survivor through deliberate action). Reward: 500 Points.
Qi Si narrowed his eyes.
Points were only awarded the first time an achievement was triggered. This was his first time seeing the "No Survivors" icon, which meant he hadn't been the only one to make it out of the last instance.
Who else had lived? Chang Xu or Lin Chen?
The details of the "Rose Manor" instance replayed in Qi Si's mind, the branching possibilities solidifying from the haze of memory.
Shen Ming died on the first day, Liu Qingye was killed by Zou Yan, and then he killed Zou Yan in the end...
At the time, worried he was running out of time, he had gone straight back to the garden to deal with Anna and Annie's remains before witnessing the collapse of the old manor. He had naturally assumed that anyone buried inside was as good as dead...
But it was entirely possible that the moment the "Instance Cleared" notification appeared, the instance had ended. Everything that followed was akin to a cutscene, incapable of inflicting any real harm on the players...
"Is Chang Xu still alive?" Qi Si mused, rubbing his chin as an ominous feeling crept over him.
His inexperience in "Rose Manor" had led him to leave behind quite a few loose ends. Anyone who wasn't a complete idiot could piece things together after reviewing the events a few times.
In the "Flesh Eating" instance, he had directly used Chang Xu's name. If word of that got out, it would be easy for a perceptive person to make the connection. At the very least, Chang Xu himself would definitely suspect him.
What was more troublesome was that if they were to meet again soon, given Chang Xu's strength, he would have no way to refuse if the other man demanded the Fate Pocket Watch back.
Once something was in his possession, Qi Si would rather toss it into the sea to feed the fish than return it to its original owner. His personal dictionary only had two entries: "self-serving" and "maliciously entertaining."
The old adage that "nice guys finish last" was deeply ingrained in his worldview. The very idea of letting someone else get the upper hand was enough to make his stomach turn.
However, judging by the level of interaction on the forums, there were tens of thousands of active players at any given time, and the pool of instances was bottomless. Without a teaming item, the chances of running into a familiar face in a random match were not very high.
Once he entered the official pool, the time limits for matching into an instance would be much more flexible. One would have to coordinate their entry times to even have a chance of ending up in the same instance as a specific person.
Qi Si archived the redundant information, tucking it away in a corner of his mind palace, his gaze lingering on the "Became the sole survivor" line. This must be the extra reward Liu Qingye had mentioned for triggering the "minimum death count" mechanic.
A reward of 1000 points wasn't huge—only half of what he got for deciphering the worldview—but it certainly wasn't small either.
In a scenario where one didn't decipher the worldview and received a low evaluation grade, the sole survivor bonus could easily surpass all other categories and become the lion's share of the total reward.
Ultimately, few players were willing to expend the energy and take the risks necessary to decipher an instance's worldview. It was a path that was thankless and offered no guarantee of success.
It was easy to imagine that, guided by the point algorithm and filtered through countless instances, players would gravitate toward two extremes.
They would either become vicious predators, aiming to kill other players, or they would be timid prey, hiding in corners and trying to survive through sheer caution.
When you put these two types of players together, you'd inevitably create a "wolf and sheep" chase dynamic. Slaughter and escape would happen simultaneously, the entire process steeped in blood and cruelty.
As his deduction reached this point, Qi Si stroked his cold fingers and chuckled to himself. "An excellent design. You just need to cultivate this crucible for a while, create a complete production line, and you can continuously harvest an endless supply of evil..."
Then another thought occurred to him, and he shook his head with a sigh. "It's been thirty-six years. A fair amount of evil must have been generated by now, right? Can't that poor evil god use any of it? Why is it still so fixated on what little I have..."
Total Reward: 8500 Points. Deposited into your account.
The cold, electronic voice cut through his meandering thoughts. Qi Si snapped back to reality and saw the total points in the upper left of his vision change to [13000].
It was still a long way from a million, but a five-digit number was a definite improvement over four.
The introductory posts on the game forums said that the shop would unlock once he became an official player. Although he didn't know what was in it, accumulating some capital beforehand was always better than being strapped for cash later.
The system notifications continued to refresh.
Congratulations on obtaining the transferable item "Ghost Driver's Recorder" from the "Flesh Eating" instance. This item will be temporarily stored in your inventory and can only be accessed within an instance.
Name: Ghost Driver's Recorder
Description: The Ghost Driver hates interacting with humans and can only prerecord his words to play for his passengers. Now, the Ghost Driver can't find his beloved recorder. The Ghost Driver is very angry!
"So there are items like this?" Qi Si was a little surprised.
The recorder was just an ordinary recorder. When he had swiped it, he never imagined it would be an item he could take with him.
Of course, he couldn't use it for now. The inventory tab would only appear on the updated system interface after he became an official player. At the moment, he couldn't see a trace of it.
Congratulations on perfectly clearing the "Flesh Eating" instance. You have been awarded the following item: Evil God's Finger Bone.
A new line of text appeared.
Following it, a small, translucent finger bone materialized out of thin air.
The items from his deal with the evil god would only be delivered after he cleared his third instance. This finger bone was clearly a reward from the instance itself.
The bone floated before Qi Si for two seconds before dissolving into a golden light that seeped into his right hand, fusing with his own skeleton.
Qi Si's eyes lit up.
With a name like "Evil God's Finger Bone," and the fact that it could merge with his body, it couldn't possibly be an ordinary item. It might even be a growth-type item that would remain useful late into the game.
Was the Weird Game really this generous?
Qi Si lowered his gaze to his little finger. Two seconds later, the description text appeared over it:
Name: Evil God's Finger Bone
Type: Item (Bound, cannot be transferred by any means)
Effect: Converts the taste of any meat dish into that of a vegetarian dish.
Qi Si's smile faded.
He moved his gaze down and read the last line.
Description: The evil god believes your trip to Su Clan Village has left you with an aversion to meat. For the sake of your dietary health, He has generously replaced your original reward item with this one as a token of appreciation for your efforts.
Qi Si stared intently at the item information, his eyes scanning the description over and over until every word was seared into his memory.
After a long silence, he let out three perfectly measured, dry laughs and said through gritted teeth, "My dear evil god, you can't possibly think you're being funny, can you?"
Comments 2