Chapter 30

Chapter 30 Hiding Identity. (Minor Revision at the End)

Ning Rong slept for about three hours before waking up. After waking, she curled up in bed, bought [Key Points Inside the Match], and first gave the barrage comments sent by the audience a rough read-through. After reading them once, she indeed extracted quite a lot of useful information.

The game had indeed updated its version.

She was not the only one who possessed a hidden identity.

Among these barrage comments, what concerned her most were the audience mentions of [Endless Domain] and [Wilderness]. She had seen both names on the overall rankings before, but because she had thought she would not have much interaction with that group for the time being, she had not looked into them further.

But now, she was inexplicably concerned about these two seniors.

She sent Yan An a message asking about the detailed situation of those two people, but at this hour Yan An should still be on the plane, so he did not reply to her.

She glanced at the rankings. Because it had already passed midnight when she left the game, the data had not updated yet. On the newcomer rankings, she was still in ninth place, while Chi Juan was in tenth.

After reading [Key Points Inside the Match], she learned that Chi Juan had directly left the game through a prop. The other party had abandoned her teammates without hesitation and chosen to escape alone. This kind of prop could not be bought in the shop. It could only be obtained after the three-month beginner protection period, by clearing games.

And it was not guaranteed to be obtained.

The reward props dropped by the game were all random.

From this, it could be seen that these escape props were extremely precious. Even Chi Juan probably could not produce a second one.

There were many shop props, but in the later stages of the game, the role shop props could play would also become smaller. For example, life-saving props like substitute dolls were purchase-limited. Even if one had money, they could not be bought without limit.

This was probably why players like Wan Shui stayed up late and entered instances seamlessly one after another. Because if they did not seize an advantage in the early stage and grow stronger as quickly as possible, they would become very passive in the later stage.

This time when Yan An came over, Ning Rong also planned to talk with him about Chi Cheng and Chi Juan, father and daughter. In the game, she had not had much contact with Chi Juan, nor had she done anything.

Chi Juan knowingly tried to cling to Zhou Yujing even though he had a girlfriend. At most, that only showed she had low morals and a crooked worldview. Compared to that, her father Chi Cheng maliciously blocking player props was even more vile.

At around ten o'clock, Zhou Yujing woke up, and Ning Rong also received a message from Yan An.

He had arrived in A City and asked where to meet.

Ning Rong gave him the name of a hotpot restaurant near the school. She happened to be hungry too, so they could chat while eating in a private room.

It would take Yan An about half an hour to get there from the airport. It would also take about the same amount of time for her and Zhou Yujing to wash up and change clothes. It was just right, and no one would need to wait for anyone else.

While Ning Rong was applying a facial mask, Yan An was probably in the car and had time to reply to her earlier message.

[Yan An: Endless Domain belongs to the national main team, Wilderness is the head of the largest domestic organization. Both of them have made many contributions for players. What's wrong? Why did you suddenly ask about those two?]

After reading this passage, Ning Rong suddenly realized something.

Perhaps the fact that Endless Domain and Wilderness were on bad terms was known only to the audience with a god's-eye view and the two of them personally. Even the people in the national team did not know.

She wanted to know information about these two seniors in real life, but she knew clearly that even though she was currently the most promising newcomer, she still had no authority to ask Yan An to tell her that information.

Because compared with her, a newcomer, the information of those two seniors obviously needed more protection.

Thinking of this, Ning Rong was no longer anxious to ask anything else.

They would talk about the details after meeting.

Just as they finished changing clothes and were preparing to go out, Ning Rong's phone suddenly rang. She lowered her head and glanced at it, discovering it was an unfamiliar number calling.

Normally, Ning Rong did not answer unknown calls. Who knew whether it was someone trying to sell products? If it was, then answering the phone would just be a waste of time. But this time, Ning Rong did not know why. She answered almost instinctively.

The second the call connected, a hurried voice came from the other end. The person seemed to be calling hastily while running.

"Young Miss, be careful!"

After saying that sentence, the call was hung up. Ning Rong's heart tightened, and she immediately called back, but when she dialed again, the other end already gave the notification that the phone was powered off.

That warning telling her to be careful was not spoken quietly, and the content was especially unusual. Zhou Yujing beside her also heard it.

His brows sank, and his voice tightened.

"Who was the one who called?"

Ning Rong did not speak.

Even though many years had passed since their last meeting, and the other party's voice had changed quite a bit, Ning Rong still recognized the caller's identity at once—

The personal assistant of the man who was nominally her father.

Why had this assistant suddenly given her such a phone call? Was someone going to make a move against her? Because of what?

Where was her father?

Why had her father not made this call himself?

Was it because he did not want to, or because he could not?

Everything had come too suddenly, with no cause or explanation beforehand, only that abrupt sentence: "Be careful." Even though Ning Rong was usually extremely steady-minded, she was still somewhat affected at this moment.

Zhou Yujing tightened his grip on Ning Rong's hand. The warmth of his palm continuously passed into her hand. "Rongrong."

Ning Rong was only stunned for a few seconds before quickly recovering. "Let's go meet Yan An first."

Zhou Yujing paused in surprise. "Yan An? That chief assistant from the national team?"

"Mm."

Endless Domain got into trouble, Wilderness was secretly searching for Endless Domain's children in real life, preparing to vent his anger on them...

Together with the sudden phone call from her father's assistant...

All of this made it impossible for her not to think too much.

But would it really be what she was thinking? She had met that nominal father of hers very few times. They could hardly be considered to know each other. She only knew that he had been developing his business in Harbor City these past years...

Before Ning Rong could figure anything out, a thirty-second countdown appeared in her mind.

[The other party has used a forced team-up item.]

[Countdown thirty seconds...]

[About to enter A-rank instance—"Amnesia." Please prepare, players.]

Ning Rong: ???

There was too little time left. In her haste, Ning Rong could only quickly send Yan An a brief message.

[Someone used an item on me. Talk later.]

Yan An: ???

When he received the message and was about to reply, he discovered that her current status had changed from idle to—in game.

When Ning Rong opened her eyes again, she was already inside a luxurious villa.

Although the villa was decorated with exceptional extravagance, every corner gave off a sense of age. Judging from the furniture and the slightly yellowed walls, this villa was clearly already quite old.

The villa had eight floors in total, along with a basement. Because the space was too large, it seemed somewhat empty and silent. For a moment, the entire villa felt as if she were the only person in it.

[???]

[Why did the little newcomer enter another instance so quickly? Doesn't she need rest?]

[Look carefully upstairs. This is an A-rank instance. Newcomers under beginner protection can only enter at most B-rank instances. Clearly, someone deliberately messed with her.]

After entering the game, while Ning Rong was still looking around, someone suddenly rushed down from the second floor.

That person's hair was disheveled, clothes messy, covered in oil stains, and the hair looked matted as if it had not been washed for a long time. A foul stench drifted over from far away. The person looked insane, muttering nonstop, "Who am I? Why am I here? I want to leave this place! Leave!"

With numb eyes, she staggered past Ning Rong. As Ning Rong stepped aside to make room, she looked up and saw Zhou Yujing, who had entered the game with her.

Zhou Yujing quickly walked to her side and told her what he had just discovered. "This game instance seems completely different from the ones I've played before."

[Of course it's different. This is an A-rank instance.]

[A-rank and B-rank instances are on entirely different difficulty levels. No, seriously, who exactly has targeted the little newcomer?]

[It's over, it's over. The little newcomer didn't enter an A-rank instance with absolutely no preparation, did she? A newcomer I had just taken a liking to—don't let her die in this game!]

While Ning Rong and Zhou Yujing were speaking, the new player who had entered the game at the same time as them slowly walked over.

He looked very young, around eighteen or nineteen years old. The way he looked at Ning Rong was as if he were sizing something up.

From his tone, a trace of surprise and disdain could be heard.

"I thought you were a complete newcomer. Didn't expect you've already cleared two games."

"Since that's the case, then there's no need for me to waste more words. Presumably, you also understand your current situation."

The moment those words were spoken, Ning Rong knew that the one who had used the item on her was the person in front of her.

She heard herself ask calmly, "We shouldn't know each other, right?"

Seeing that she had entered an A-rank instance without emotionally collapsing, and that her emotions had remained stable the whole time, he tilted his head, somewhat surprised.

"We really don't know each other, but... you don't need to know too much either."

Ning Rong suddenly asked, "Was it Wilderness?"

Was it Wilderness who sent you?

He looked at her in some surprise. "You actually... forget it. In any case, you won't survive this game."

After saying that, he spread both hands and said calmly,

"Skill Seal."

At the exact moment his words fell, Ning Rong discovered that her most commonly used skill—[Money Can Make Ghosts Turn Millstones]—suddenly had a chain appear over it. The chain moved slowly like a swimming fish, sealing that skill of hers.

And in the upper right corner, there was also a seal countdown—

72:00:00

This skill could actually forcibly seal her [Money Can Make Ghosts Turn Millstones] for a full three days!

Hidden identity...

Ning Rong realized with absolute clarity that she had encountered a player who, like her, possessed a hidden identity!