The shock that all the trainees felt at the two main tasks was considerable.
There had never been a case where the main task blatantly allowed trainees to destroy an instance.
Although destroying the instance was a method that the system recognised as strength, the excessively high difficulty made it an unspoken rule. At the minimum, the system had to put in resources to create an instance; if the main task was to destroy the instance, wouldn’t that be very humiliating?
Now, however, it was fair play. Destroying the instance had been directly set forth as an option.
Without Zong Jiu having to explain, the trainees were tacitly aware there had to be an unknown circumstance behind this.
[The omnidirectional 360-degree panoramic camera with no dead angles has been enabled. This round, the live broadcast will be shown when more than five team members have gathered.]
[The thriller trainees have entered the live broadcast.]
There were four thousand trainees. Putting thirty in a group, that was close to a hundred and fifty groups, and a corresponding number of live broadcasts.
Sure enough, people naturally swarmed to the live broadcasts featuring groups with bigwigs leading them, whereas no one paid attention to the lower-ranked trainees who had grouped to make up the numbers.
After several instances, the live broadcast room of Zong Jiu’s team immediately attracted countless viewers as soon as it opened.
[I’m here! The live broadcast has finally started, I miss the Magician to death!]
[Same. They even took a ten day break after the Rainbow Amusement Park, and there aren’t any live broadcast cameras in the trainee dormitories. My source of joy has finally returned!]
[I’m here, I’m here. Let me see what scene the Magician’s team has gotten… huh? Why does this scenery look so sparkly? Is it a pre-installed light effect? /doubt.jpg]
[Ahahahahaha, the guy above is hilarious. I was staring at the broadcast for a long time trying futilely to think of how to describe it, and then you said that and I realised you’re exactly right. So did they slap on a light effect? This is my first time seeing an instance that comes along with its own filter effect.]
All the trainees, in blue and white uniforms, were standing in a plain room.
However, the live broadcast could perceive that the world outside this ceiling-less room was peaceful and silent.
Sunlight peeked out from behind white clouds, and the town was bedecked with flowers planted in neat flower beds.
The church was erected in the middle of the town, the edge of the cross reflecting a dazzling golden light. The air was filled with the soft, sweet fragrance of flowers and, further away, the waves were tossing, depositing fine sand on the beach that formed a winding coastline.
[This atmosphere doesn’t look like a horror instance… plus if you take the instance’s name and main task into account, I get the feeling that there’s something fishy here.]
[Also, what happened to the trainees? They all look so sad.]
The trainees standing in the room glanced at each other.
Zong Jiu was the first to gather his senses.
He looked over his shoulder at the several people behind him.
We Ve kjr rajcvlcu ja atf tfjv klat j raeccfv ibbx lc tlr fsfr. Ktfgf kfgf ralii afjg agjmxr gecclcu vbkc tlr ojmf, jr atbeut tf tjv yffc yjkilcu pera rfmbcvr fjgilfg.
Itbcu Tlsejc ygbxf bea bo la olgra. Lf abbx boo tlr rqfmajmifr, vjyylcu atf mbgcfgr bo tlr fsfr. Vlwlijgis, atf fsfr bo wjcs batfg agjlcffr tjv gfvvfcfv ja atf glwr, jcv fnfc atf C-gjcxfv Ccatbcs kjr gbbafv ab atf rqba, rbwf fwbalbc ifjxlcu lcab tlr ofjaegfr.
There was no one else in the room, and they could only see the sky and four simple walls around them.
Zong Jiu broke the silence. “What were your plot introductions?”
Xu Su sniffed. “I saw my mom. Sh-She said she hopes I haven’t forgotten her, also that she hopes I will become a good person.”
The others nodded in silence. Someone said he saw his grandmother who passed on many years ago, another said he saw his best friend. There was even one who said he saw his golden retriever from the real world.
After entering this instance, all those real-world memories that were deliberately obfuscated by the system flooded abruptly in a violent outpouring.
No one lacked emotion. Before entering the infinite loop, they were members of modern society. It was normal to be emotionally attached—to acquaintances, associates, relatives, friends, and pets.
If not for the system deliberately obfuscating this part of their memories, late at night when gazing at the bright moon, who would not miss the days in the real world?
Even despite how hard life could get. Stuck in a culture that expected the workforce to clock twelve hours a day, six days a week; receiving a stern dressing down from their supervisors—even that was a step above entering this bloody infinite flow universe fraught with homicidal monsters and uncertainty.
During their discussion, Zong Jiu did not wear any expression on his face.
Perhaps it was that his memory had never been blocked by the system, or that he had a different emotional spectrum than others. Either way, he did not share the same emotional upheaval that the trainees were undergoing.
“This is a horror instance. No more than a projection of your memory that the system plucked from your memories.”
The white-haired young man, arms folded, poured a bucket of cold water.
“I know, but…”
Xu Su’s expression turned even glummer. “I’m just homesick. I don’t know why. I normally don’t feel so sad when recalling the past, but when my mom told me that she is waiting for me to go back, I really—”
Really want to return home alive.
While clear that it was no more than a fantasy created by the system from his memories, Xu Su had felt distinct fear.
He knew. Even if he returned to the real world, his mother would definitely say the same thing. He knew her too well.
“Then, keep fighting for your survival.”
The Magician glanced around the room, thoughts veiled behind a blank mask.
Leaving aside the others, the fact that even Anthony with his rich experience as a powerful A-rank trainee was moved spoke lengths about how critical the problem was.
The system would not release the lock on their memories for fun, and it would certainly not provide everyone with a personally tailored plot introduction unless it had a good reason to.
That considered, what was the hidden intention behind this instance? What interference was the system creating by releasing their memories?
Zong Jiu was deep in contemplation as he awaited for the rest of the team to adjust their mental states when suddenly a cursory glance to the floor made him pause.
Sunlight poured into the ceiling-less room, ethereal and warm.
The most common weather seen in horror instances was overcast skies and thunderstorms, whatever the environment. That was the case for both First High School and First High School, and seldom would the weather remain sunny in an instance.
However, the weather now was absurdly pleasant, without the slightest omen of rain looming across the horizon.
But Zong Jiu didn’t focus on that.
His attention was trained on the sunlight rippling on the ground, without the faintest shadow cast by objects.
Including people.
It was not just the people standing in here. Even the paraphernalia around the room had no shadows.
Having followed the Magician’s line of sight, the viewers also captured this point.
[What’s going on? Are there no shadows in this room?]
[It’s not just this room. If you pan out and look outside, you can see that the buildings in this town don’t have shadows as well.]
[Hooooly fuck, I’m out of here, this is too scary. Do you still remember the unshakeable law of horror instances.]
The simplest, unshakeable law of horror instances was that in the absence of mediums and Yin-Yang Eyes, trainees could tell monsters apart by…
Checking for a shadow.
Humans had shadows where monsters did not. It was an iron-clad law that had been drilled into the heads of every newcomer, saving countless lives.
Many contenders had unknowingly been in the company of monsters, depending on each other—until they happened to look down and spotted that the other party didn’t have a shadow. The shock would set in like a bucket of cold water, giving them chills.
There was once an infamous A-rank instance where matryoshka dolls would kill and then replace a trainee. Based on the difficulty of the instance, it should have been a group wipe-out, but little did anyone expect that the monster would go on to commit a grievous mistake… Walking in the sun while chatting with the contenders.
Soon, Anthony also noticed this.
His brow furrowed and he crouched down to touch the ground. “Where are our shadows?”
Just then, all of a sudden, the tightly shut door opened.
Trainees immediately adopted defensive stances, looking towards the door.
“Oh… Relax, I mean no harm.”
A bald middle-aged man in a black police uniform stood at the doorway. Seeing the thirty wary gazes turn towards him, he slowly raised his arms in a gesture of peace.
Xu Su’s eyes widened incredulously. “Uncle?”
His surprise was not his fault, for the person in front of him was the spitting image of his uncle who was a police officer, from the occupation down to the appearance.
“Rascal, you’re here too. Long time no see.”
The middle-aged man waved at him jauntily. “I’ll catch up with you later. Let me first explain to you all what is going on here.”
It was only then that Xu Su was jolted back to reality, dropping his arms by his sides.
He mentally reminded himself that this was a fantasy, an illusion, entirely fake. Thereafter, he raised his head again.
His uncle began to explain, “This is the City of Goodness, a beautiful land that cannot be expressed by language. As for the specific situation…”
He tossed them a wink. “You’ll find out when you head outside later.”
Every expression turned odd, but nobody spoke.
Immediately after, Xu Su’s uncle dropped a massive bomb.
“We know where you have come from, we also know what horrible and terrifying life-and-death situations you have been through, going through round after round of survival tests. Including the contenders watching the live broadcast. Yes, we know everything.”
A single stone stirred a towering tide.
Let alone the trainees, the viewers in the live broadcast were silent for a second before erupting in huge noise.
[WTF, what is going on??]
[The people in a horror instance are aware that they exist in a horror instance? And know about the existence of the infinite loop?]
[Holy shit, they even know that they are being broadcast live and know that we’re watching them. I just got a chill going up my back.]
[This is my first time seeing an instance that plays out like one with matryoshka dolls, with the trainees’ identities exposed at the start. What the heck is happening? Those on the forum were spot-on with their guesses. This instance is deserving of its S-rank difficulty. I literally gasped.]
“Please do not worry, we have absolutely no malicious design.”
Noticing their shaken and incredulous expressions, the police officer smiled guilelessly.
“Geez, I guess it’s a tough pill to swallow when I say it like that. How about this? Come outside with me and check out what the town looks like. You’ll understand, then.”
The shock that all the trainees felt at the two main tasks was considerable.
There had never been a case where the main task blatantly allowed trainees to destroy an instance.
Although destroying the instance was a method that the system recognised as strength, the excessively high difficulty made it an unspoken rule. At the minimum, the system had to put in resources to create an instance; if the main task was to destroy the instance, wouldn’t that be very humiliating?
Now, however, it was fair play. Destroying the instance had been directly set forth as an option.
Without Zong Jiu having to explain, the trainees were tacitly aware there had to be an unknown circumstance behind this.
[The omnidirectional 360-degree panoramic camera with no dead angles has been enabled. This round, the live broadcast will be shown when more than five team members have gathered.]
[The thriller trainees have entered the live broadcast.]
There were four thousand trainees. Putting thirty in a group, that was close to a hundred and fifty groups, and a corresponding number of live broadcasts.
Sure enough, people naturally swarmed to the live broadcasts featuring groups with bigwigs leading them, whereas no one paid attention to the lower-ranked trainees who had grouped to make up the numbers.
After several instances, the live broadcast room of Zong Jiu’s team immediately attracted countless viewers as soon as it opened.
[I’m here! The live broadcast has finally started, I miss the Magician to death!]
[Same. They even took a ten day break after the Rainbow Amusement Park, and there aren’t any live broadcast cameras in the trainee dormitories. My source of joy has finally returned!]
[I’m here, I’m here. Let me see what scene the Magician’s team has gotten… huh? Why does this scenery look so sparkly? Is it a pre-installed light effect? /doubt.jpg]
[Ahahahahaha, the guy above is hilarious. I was staring at the broadcast for a long time trying futilely to think of how to describe it, and then you said that and I realised you’re exactly right. So did they slap on a light effect? This is my first time seeing an instance that comes along with its own filter effect.]
All the trainees, in blue and white uniforms, were standing in a plain room.
However, the live broadcast could perceive that the world outside this ceiling-less room was peaceful and silent.
Sunlight peeked out from behind white clouds, and the town was bedecked with flowers planted in neat flower beds.
The church was erected in the middle of the town, the edge of the cross reflecting a dazzling golden light. The air was filled with the soft, sweet fragrance of flowers and, further away, the waves were tossing, depositing fine sand on the beach that formed a winding coastline.
[This atmosphere doesn’t look like a horror instance… plus if you take the instance’s name and main task into account, I get the feeling that there’s something fishy here.]
[Also, what happened to the trainees? They all look so sad.]
The trainees standing in the room glanced at each other.
Zong Jiu was the first to gather his senses.
He looked over his shoulder at the several people behind him.
We Ve kjr rajcvlcu ja atf tfjv klat j raeccfv ibbx lc tlr fsfr. Ktfgf kfgf ralii afjg agjmxr gecclcu vbkc tlr ojmf, jr atbeut tf tjv yffc yjkilcu pera rfmbcvr fjgilfg.
Itbcu Tlsejc ygbxf bea bo la olgra. Lf abbx boo tlr rqfmajmifr, vjyylcu atf mbgcfgr bo tlr fsfr. Vlwlijgis, atf fsfr bo wjcs batfg agjlcffr tjv gfvvfcfv ja atf glwr, jcv fnfc atf C-gjcxfv Ccatbcs kjr gbbafv ab atf rqba, rbwf fwbalbc ifjxlcu lcab tlr ofjaegfr.
There was no one else in the room, and they could only see the sky and four simple walls around them.
Zong Jiu broke the silence. “What were your plot introductions?”
Xu Su sniffed. “I saw my mom. Sh-She said she hopes I haven’t forgotten her, also that she hopes I will become a good person.”
The others nodded in silence. Someone said he saw his grandmother who passed on many years ago, another said he saw his best friend. There was even one who said he saw his golden retriever from the real world.
After entering this instance, all those real-world memories that were deliberately obfuscated by the system flooded abruptly in a violent outpouring.
No one lacked emotion. Before entering the infinite loop, they were members of modern society. It was normal to be emotionally attached—to acquaintances, associates, relatives, friends, and pets.
If not for the system deliberately obfuscating this part of their memories, late at night when gazing at the bright moon, who would not miss the days in the real world?
Even despite how hard life could get. Stuck in a culture that expected the workforce to clock twelve hours a day, six days a week; receiving a stern dressing down from their supervisors—even that was a step above entering this bloody infinite flow universe fraught with homicidal monsters and uncertainty.
During their discussion, Zong Jiu did not wear any expression on his face.
Perhaps it was that his memory had never been blocked by the system, or that he had a different emotional spectrum than others. Either way, he did not share the same emotional upheaval that the trainees were undergoing.
“This is a horror instance. No more than a projection of your memory that the system plucked from your memories.”
The white-haired young man, arms folded, poured a bucket of cold water.
“I know, but…”
Xu Su’s expression turned even glummer. “I’m just homesick. I don’t know why. I normally don’t feel so sad when recalling the past, but when my mom told me that she is waiting for me to go back, I really—”
Really want to return home alive.
While clear that it was no more than a fantasy created by the system from his memories, Xu Su had felt distinct fear.
He knew. Even if he returned to the real world, his mother would definitely say the same thing. He knew her too well.
“Then, keep fighting for your survival.”
The Magician glanced around the room, thoughts veiled behind a blank mask.
Leaving aside the others, the fact that even Anthony with his rich experience as a powerful A-rank trainee was moved spoke lengths about how critical the problem was.
The system would not release the lock on their memories for fun, and it would certainly not provide everyone with a personally tailored plot introduction unless it had a good reason to.
That considered, what was the hidden intention behind this instance? What interference was the system creating by releasing their memories?
Zong Jiu was deep in contemplation as he awaited for the rest of the team to adjust their mental states when suddenly a cursory glance to the floor made him pause.
Sunlight poured into the ceiling-less room, ethereal and warm.
The most common weather seen in horror instances was overcast skies and thunderstorms, whatever the environment. That was the case for both First High School and First High School, and seldom would the weather remain sunny in an instance.
However, the weather now was absurdly pleasant, without the slightest omen of rain looming across the horizon.
But Zong Jiu didn’t focus on that.
His attention was trained on the sunlight rippling on the ground, without the faintest shadow cast by objects.
Including people.
It was not just the people standing in here. Even the paraphernalia around the room had no shadows.
Having followed the Magician’s line of sight, the viewers also captured this point.
[What’s going on? Are there no shadows in this room?]
[It’s not just this room. If you pan out and look outside, you can see that the buildings in this town don’t have shadows as well.]
[Hooooly fuck, I’m out of here, this is too scary. Do you still remember the unshakeable law of horror instances.]
The simplest, unshakeable law of horror instances was that in the absence of mediums and Yin-Yang Eyes, trainees could tell monsters apart by…
Checking for a shadow.
Humans had shadows where monsters did not. It was an iron-clad law that had been drilled into the heads of every newcomer, saving countless lives.
Many contenders had unknowingly been in the company of monsters, depending on each other—until they happened to look down and spotted that the other party didn’t have a shadow. The shock would set in like a bucket of cold water, giving them chills.
There was once an infamous A-rank instance where matryoshka dolls would kill and then replace a trainee. Based on the difficulty of the instance, it should have been a group wipe-out, but little did anyone expect that the monster would go on to commit a grievous mistake… Walking in the sun while chatting with the contenders.
Soon, Anthony also noticed this.
His brow furrowed and he crouched down to touch the ground. “Where are our shadows?”
Just then, all of a sudden, the tightly shut door opened.
Trainees immediately adopted defensive stances, looking towards the door.
“Oh… Relax, I mean no harm.”
A bald middle-aged man in a black police uniform stood at the doorway. Seeing the thirty wary gazes turn towards him, he slowly raised his arms in a gesture of peace.
Xu Su’s eyes widened incredulously. “Uncle?”
His surprise was not his fault, for the person in front of him was the spitting image of his uncle who was a police officer, from the occupation down to the appearance.
“Rascal, you’re here too. Long time no see.”
The middle-aged man waved at him jauntily. “I’ll catch up with you later. Let me first explain to you all what is going on here.”
It was only then that Xu Su was jolted back to reality, dropping his arms by his sides.
He mentally reminded himself that this was a fantasy, an illusion, entirely fake. Thereafter, he raised his head again.
His uncle began to explain, “This is the City of Goodness, a beautiful land that cannot be expressed by language. As for the specific situation…”
He tossed them a wink. “You’ll find out when you head outside later.”
Every expression turned odd, but nobody spoke.
Immediately after, Xu Su’s uncle dropped a massive bomb.
“We know where you have come from, we also know what horrible and terrifying life-and-death situations you have been through, going through round after round of survival tests. Including the contenders watching the live broadcast. Yes, we know everything.”
A single stone stirred a towering tide.
Let alone the trainees, the viewers in the live broadcast were silent for a second before erupting in huge noise.
[WTF, what is going on??]
[The people in a horror instance are aware that they exist in a horror instance? And know about the existence of the infinite loop?]
[Holy shit, they even know that they are being broadcast live and know that we’re watching them. I just got a chill going up my back.]
[This is my first time seeing an instance that plays out like one with matryoshka dolls, with the trainees’ identities exposed at the start. What the heck is happening? Those on the forum were spot-on with their guesses. This instance is deserving of its S-rank difficulty. I literally gasped.]
“Please do not worry, we have absolutely no malicious design.”
Noticing their shaken and incredulous expressions, the police officer smiled guilelessly.
“Geez, I guess it’s a tough pill to swallow when I say it like that. How about this? Come outside with me and check out what the town looks like. You’ll understand, then.”
