Chapter 171: Bounty

It is human nature to seek excitement, even among the transcendent community.

Amidst the gaze of the crowd, personnel from the Global Occult Coalition (GOC), uniformly dressed in blue suits, finally appeared.

On their left arms they wore their respective national flags, on their right arms the United Nations flag featuring Earth and olive branches, and on their chests hung the GOC emblem—a design based on the UN emblem with an added five-pointed star.

The five-pointed star corresponds to the Alliance's five core principles: Survival, Secrecy, Protection, Destruction, Education.

At the early stage of the Killing Ground's arrival, the five permanent members of the UN recognized the unprecedented danger and opportunity it posed to human civilization, and thus spearheaded the creation of the GOC.

Within its ranks were ordinary members who merely followed their home country's orders and prioritized national interests,

as well as idealists and internationalists who genuinely believed only unified human solidarity could see them through this crisis—and the latter made up no small portion.

This was understandable, for international and class conflicts, however intense, were still conflicts among humans, leaving room for reconciliation and resolution.

But the mutated experiments, monsters, divine abominations, and natural disasters lurking within the Killing Ground, ready to burst into the real world, would never negotiate with humanity.

GOC personnel swiftly laid down building materials to construct a podium, placing tables, chairs, microphones, cameras, and interview lights upon it.

Representatives from major organizations—the Special Affairs Bureau, Whale Song, the FBI's Special Incident Division—took their seats behind the tables.

The GOC representative seated at the center—a woman wearing a white porcelain mask, her badge identifying her as 【Bai Qi】—spoke first: "I'll make two brief points."

Li Cheng, sitting on a beach observation chair, twitched an eyelid, the words instantly reminding him of school leaders' endless, torturously long speeches.

But Bai Qi knew exactly what players wanted to hear, and stuck only to the useful parts.

"One: Following annual tradition, the Killing Ground will issue a standard task to all players within six hours of the tremor. The task's location lies within the Killing Ground's physical realm, offering exceptionally generous rewards, including rare items such as 【Emergency Escape Card】 and 【Large Life Potion】."

Bai Qi's voice was cold and steady, unhurried: "Two: Players who choose to undertake the task will be teleported to a random region within the Killing Ground, most likely far removed from currently mapped areas."

'Far removed' here does not mean dozens or hundreds of kilometers—it could be tens of thousands, even millions or tens of millions of kilometers. Farther than the distance between Earth and its moon.

Under such conditions, communication is hard to guarantee, let alone receiving aid from your guild. Each player is solely responsible for their own safety."

A significant commotion arose among the new player crowd.

The phrase "first responsibility" could also be interpreted as: rely on yourself; don't expect your guild to send rescuers in moments of danger.

"We have to hand over 5% of our rewards to the guild, but get no rescue when danger strikes—what's the point of joining a guild?"

A young man dressed as an elite special forces soldier complained, and many players nodded in agreement.

Bai Qi glanced at him, saying nothing.

In the Slums, those dressed flamboyantly were often the real elites—think bare white tank tops with flip-flops, banana plush suits, naked except for underwear, or white lab coats with dragon heads.

Those dressed seriously, fully armed from head to toe, appearing mysteriously impressive, were typically newcomers below Lv10.

From a new player's perspective, it naturally seemed unfair that the guild offered no rescue.

By the way, Li Cheng had not changed clothes when leaving the 3D warehouse; he now wore a red mechanic's jumpsuit, leather work gloves on his hands, and a giant mechanic's wrench clipped to his belt.

As for Grey Rain, perhaps due to her recent Chinese language lessons, she wore the same Republican-era long gown as Mr. Lu Xun, a cigarette dangling from her lips—though since she was a robot, it was an e-cigarette.

Bai Qi ignored the murmurs below and continued: "Three: Due to random teleportation, players have a chance to discover potential Killing Ground facilities known as 【Hidden Rooms】. Each Hidden Room possesses unique functions, greatly beneficial to human civilization and directly tied to every transcendent's survival."

For example, the 【Slums】 beneath our feet prohibits players from harming each other, providing us with safe refuge;

for example, Whale Song Guild's 【Root Domain】, a supercomputer and signal transmitter that provides network connectivity to players far from the Slums;

for example, the Global Occult Coalition's 【Horn Chamber】, which continuously generates automated guards to hunt monsters roaming the wasteland and prevent them from invading the real world;

Therefore, every newly discovered Hidden Room is a boon to all humanity.

The first to discover and report one will receive a massive reward from the Global Occult Coalition."

Hearing of the reward, the new players' earlier discontent vanished instantly. The special forces soldier exclaimed excitedly: "What exactly?"

Bai Qi smiled faintly: "Any five pieces of Perfect-quality equipment or skills, plus one 【Emergency Escape Card】 and one 【Emergency Call Card】, with the call target being players Lv35 or higher."

The 【Emergency Call Card】 was even rarer and more precious than the Escape Card; when used, it invited another transcendent to join the task midway and assist in completing its objective, without incurring any Killing Ground penalties.

Player populations were arranged in a pyramid according to level.

Over half were below Lv15; Lv15 to Lv20 could be called "experts."

Lv20 to Lv29 were experts among experts, the backbone of major guilds, and roughly the rank of heads of official organizations in a modern city.

As for Lv35 and above, the entire world had barely three hundred such individuals.

With their help joining midway, wasn't that essentially a get-out-of-death-free card?

Some new players could barely conceal their excitement, while others frowned, sensing something amiss.

"May I ask,"

a young man in a suit, wearing a lion mask, raised his hand: "Is the reward granted simply for reporting the Hidden Room's location? Are there no other mandatory requirements?"

"No mandatory requirements."

Bai Qi knew what he was asking and stated plainly: "Around every Hidden Room, vast numbers of automated guards are stationed. Even the weakest Level 0 automated guard is equivalent to a Lv10 transcendent."

Ordinary players stand no chance of entering, let alone eliminating all automated guards and fully occupying the Hidden Room."

All you need to do is survive, return, and report its location—whether to us or any other guild."

The importance of Hidden Rooms to human civilization was self-evident; whichever guild claimed them, it remained a boon to all humanity, and the Global Occult Coalition was willing to pay substantial bounties.

As for how much other guilds privately offered to buy such information—that was their own business.

"Four: the final precaution. In certain cases, the Chosen may encounter Earthlings dragged into the Killing Ground through rifts; these individuals are player candidates. If they complete a task, they gain player status. We hope you will, while ensuring your own safety, lend them incidental protection. All major organizations—including ours—will reward such actions afterward."

Bai Qi said solemnly: "Whether you feel it or not, you all bear the future of human civilization—so don't die."

(End of Chapter)