Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Prepare to Welcome Violent Storms.

[Counterfeit money! It must be counterfeit money!]

[Have you ever seen fake bills with texture this good? Stop joking.]

[These two game banknotes are obviously real, but then the question is—where did her game currency come from?]

[It’s basically from her initial skill, right? But what kind of initial skill just directly gives money? How come I’ve never heard of such a skill?]

[Not sure. Keep watching.]

Lu Wen tactfully voiced the sentence everyone in the livestream wanted to say. With a face full of shock and worship, he said,

“Sis, you really are worthy of being my sis! You’re amazing!”

Ning Rong glanced at him.

She had no intention of exposing her trump card, nor did she want to stand out too much for now, so she casually brushed it off.

“Just a sleight of hand.”

“Ah?” Lu Wen scratched his head. “Hehe, even sleight of hand is already very impressive!”

[…]

[Lu Wen said he was a low-tier player. His self-awareness really wasn’t wrong.]

[He actually believed that?]

[Suddenly realized that if the little newcomer wanted to, she could probably fool this low-tier player until he limped.]

[There really are players whose skill is sleight of hand, but sleight of hand absolutely can’t conjure game currency. That skill isn’t considered powerful at all—it’s very ordinary. It has no ability to create game money.]

[So what exactly is her initial skill? I’m getting more and more curious.]

Ning Rong had no idea she was currently under the curious gaze of many livestream viewers.

After preparing the lodging fee, she stepped forward and knocked directly on the door.

The sound of “knock knock knock” was especially unusual in the silent night. The moment the knocking began, barking dogs could be heard all around the village. The shrill barking came one after another, adding several more layers of mystery and eeriness to the night.

After knocking, there was no response from inside.

She persistently continued knocking, and this time, she knocked much harder.

If the earlier knocking had been gentle wind and fine rain, then the knocking now was like crashing waves and stormy seas.

[This little newcomer is truly brave.]

[Even veteran players who cleared several games probably don’t have her courage. The more rules of the game you encounter, the deeper your understanding becomes, and the easier it is to hesitate. I just hope she really has the confidence to back this up.]

[All I can say is, 6.]

After a while, an impatient voice finally came from inside the house.

“Who is it this late at night?”

The moment he heard that irritable tone, Lu Wen instinctively moved to stand behind Ning Rong.

As a no-longer-rookie newcomer who had already cleared two games, he knew very well that when an NPC showed signs of being bad-tempered, they usually also displayed considerable aggression. Even if the first day of the game was absolutely safe, that did not mean the days after would be free from being targeted by NPCs.

Maybe they had already made it onto the NPC’s hated-player list.

Offending NPCs in the game was extremely unwise.

He instinctively tugged at the hem of Ning Rong’s clothes, reminding her to be careful.

Facing forward, Ning Rong did not turn back. She waved her hand.

“It’s fine.”

Clearly, she looked younger than Lu Wen, yet standing behind her, Lu Wen felt a strange sense of security.

To be fair, his sis had a delicate little face, but this physique—even he felt inferior to it. It felt like she could beat two of him by herself. Only after standing behind her did Lu Wen realize she was three or four centimeters taller than him.

Lu Wen, who was only one meter seventy-four: …

Oh ho, his sis’s height was truly something.

While Lu Wen’s thoughts ran wild, the front door was suddenly and roughly yanked open from inside.

A man in his early fifties appeared in their sight. His hair was graying, his eyes were white-heavy, and he looked like someone very hard to deal with.

“In the dead of night, what are you making a fuss fo—”

The rest of his words stopped abruptly the moment the village chief saw the two one-hundred-yuan bills.

Ning Rong handed the banknotes to him.

“Lodging. And while you’re at it, help treat the injury he got from being bitten by a stray dog.”

The village chief’s attitude changed instantly.

“Good, good, please come in, both of you.”

[???]

[Impossible! Absolutely impossible!]

[Even if she used two hundred game coins to pave the way, an NPC’s attitude shouldn’t change this drastically before and after. I remember clearly that before, a veteran player ranked pretty well on the overall leaderboard tried to curry favor with an NPC in a certain game instance. That veteran offered 5k game coins, and still failed to win over that NPC—instead the NPC became furious from humiliation! And now? Two hundred game coins can make the village chief treat her nicely?]

[How did she do that?]

At this moment, a colored bullet comment slowly drifted past in front of the livestream audience.

[She activated a skill just now.]

The viewers: ???

[What? She only just activated a skill now?]

[Then here’s the question: where did her game coins come from? Everyone knows skills have cooldowns. If she only activated her skill just now, then the game coins couldn’t have come from the skill.]

Then that colored comment floated by again.

[Not too sure, but this skill looks very interesting. Its upper limit probably won’t be low either.]

The viewers: !!!

What did that mean?

Did that mean it had very high potential?

Then compared to Rewind?

Unfortunately, the viewer with colored comments did not reply again.

—

Ning Rong really had activated a skill just now.

The moment she activated it, she saw a more detailed description beneath [Money Can Make Ghosts Push the Mill].

[Bold words! If you have money, you really can do whatever you want!]

Below that line was another row of small text.

“The premise is that you always have money in your pocket.”

After seeing it, Ning Rong looked thoughtful.

So simply spending without earning would not work. Clearly, she would have to find ways to make money generate more money. Once she ran out of money, this skill obviously could no longer be activated.

But that problem could wait until after this game ended. Right now, she knew too little. Only after gathering more information could she make more suitable choices.

After entering the village chief’s house, the village chief asked Ning Rong and Lu Wen to sit on chairs first.

Meanwhile, he bustled around nonstop. First, he brewed each of them a cup of water. Then he brought out some food for them to fill their stomachs. After that, he immediately went to prepare things for treating the wound.

It could be said that from the moment they entered, the village chief had not stopped moving once.

The flattered and overwhelmed Lu Wen: !!!

Actually, there was something he had not told Ning Rong.

The reason he knew so much about Juan Juan was because he had once happened to enter the same game instance as her before. That had been his first run, and also Juan Juan’s first.

It was in that very instance that Chi Juan used the skill Rewind. At the moment time reversed, that skill stunned everyone.

At that moment, whether it was the players revived because of it, or the other surviving players, all understood one thing clearly—

a rising star was about to ascend.

They had not guessed wrong.

In the end, she really did lead him and the other players to clear the game with zero injuries.

After clearing it, before settlement, they exchanged contact information.

Only...

He had merely obtained one friend slot from a bigshot.

If that had not been Juan Juan’s first instance, perhaps he would never have been able to add her as a friend at all.

Perhaps one day she would even delete him.

After all, there was a wall between low-tier players and high-tier players.

They could never truly play in the same circles.

After adding her, he often saw discussion threads about Chi Juan on the player forums. Countless times he saw her actively replying under various posts.

Many people tried to flatter her.

Many people fawned over her.

Quite a few even begged crying for a friend slot from her.

But strangely enough, he had not shamelessly gone forward to ingratiate himself again.

Maybe because he knew that even if he did, Chi Juan would not pay attention to him.

But Ning Rong did not give him that feeling.

Compared with the proud and arrogant Juan Juan, Ning Rong was gentler, and her emotions were more stable.

That calmness—he did not know whether it came from her life experiences, her initial skill, or simply because her personality had always been like this.

But...

It really made people feel favorable toward her.

—

At this very moment.

Game instance — Absolute Kill.

This was a game dungeon with an extremely high death rate. Fourteen people had entered at the start, and two players had already been lost.

And now, it was only the morning of the second day of the game. Only four hours had passed since the safe period ended.

Which meant one player had died every two hours.

That speed could not be called slow.

Five members from the National Team were discussing countermeasures.

These five had entered together. Aside from Zhou Yujing, the other four had all been sent by higher-ups to protect Juan Juan.

The oldest female player among them wore a grave expression.

“Those two players were both veteran players with experience clearing four games. This game is even more dangerous than we imagined.”

The youngest male player, Chen Chu, grinned carelessly.

“Don’t worry so much, Teacher Dan. At worst, we’ll just have Sister Juan Juan activate her skill.”

The female player shot him a glance.

“Unless it is the most critical moment, we absolutely cannot casually rewind. The most urgent task before us now is to figure out the death triggers. Only then can we avoid them.”

Juan Juan nodded.

“Okay.”

After brainstorming for more than an hour, the group finally had some clues.

Even Teacher Dan, who had looked the most serious the whole time, showed a faint smile.

As long as the probability of clearing the game was not below fifty percent, that was enough.

Now that they had a direction for clearing the game, everyone had the mood to chat casually.

Chen Chu swaggered over, acting loose and unruly, and reached out to sling an arm around someone’s shoulders.

“Brother Zhou, don’t be so cold. Smile a little.”

Zhou Yujing folded his arms across his chest and sidestepped him.

Chen Chu did not mind.

Juan Juan blinked and spoke in a soft requesting tone.

“Brother Zhou, this game is a bit difficult. Can you stay by my side and protect me?”

Zhou Yujing refused directly.

“Sorry. That wouldn’t be convenient.”

Hearing that, Chen Chu clicked his tongue.

“Brother Zhou, is it still because of that girlfriend of yours?”

Without waiting for Zhou Yujing to answer, he continued.

“If you ask me, you’ve already entered the infinite game. You and her aren’t even people walking the same road anymore.”

One was a game player.

One was an ordinary person.

For two such people, breaking up was only a matter of time.

“If you’re not on the same road, sooner or later you’ll drift farther and farther apart. What you need to hold onto is the person beside you.”

For example, Chi Juan.

As for that whatever-useless girlfriend, the farther away she rolled, the better.

The moment Chen Chu finished speaking, Zhou Yujing stood up sharply.

“Whether she and I are walking the same road is not for you to decide.”

After saying that, he strode away directly.

His steps were long, and that clear, elegant back view looked as though it would vanish from their sight the next second.

Seeing how impossible he was to persuade, Chen Chu also became irritated.

“Did I say anything wrong?”

Before he could finish, Juan Juan had already hurried after Zhou Yujing.

Seeing her leave, the other three immediately followed as well.

Watching this scene, the viewers in the livestream ate up the drama with great delight.

[She loves him, he doesn’t love her.]

[Watching players struggle desperately to survive in the infinite game is interesting, but watching their tangled love and hate is interesting too.]

[Love really makes no sense.]

[So does Zhou Yujing actually have a girlfriend or not?]

[Probably not. If he did, he should at least reveal some concrete details, right? But up to now, no one knows her name, how old she is, when they met, or how long they’ve been together.]

[Compared to believing he has a girlfriend, I’d rather believe he made one up out of thin air just to reject Juan Juan. One thing is certain—he truly has no interest in Juan Juan.]

[I think the girlfriend is real. He just refuses to reveal details in order to protect her.]

While the viewers were chatting idly, several comments suddenly appeared in the livestream from people who loved watching chaos unfold.

[Just came over from Zhou Yujing’s girlfriend’s livestream.]

[I only want to say this—Zhou Yujing, prepare yourself to welcome violent storms!]

Everyone: ???