Chapter 143: X-rank Game

Every time a God-level Player is born, the Dream Management Bureau holds a coronation ceremony for them, and you are no exception.

At 21 you became a God-level Player, and your name spread across the streets again; at the coronation ceremony, not only Yu Xiaomo and Liu Delie attended, but even your mother was invited to come.

Everyone was shocked that you achieved God-level status at such a young age, and they were equally shocked by your mother's beauty.

And when your mother was asked how she educated you, she said something very 'Versailles'.

"I didn't really manage you after elementary school!" she said; such a Versailles remark left you speechless, but upon reflection it really is true.

Aside from the troubles caused by your frail childhood physique, your parents didn't worry much elsewhere; along the way, it was Yu Xiaomo and Liu Delie who accompanied you all the way.

Yu Xiaomo, lacking the full-game strategy badge, postponed becoming a God-level Player; Liu Delie, feeling his strength insufficient, went to study more magic.

As for you, before deciding to become a God-level Player you had already prepared everything; your Nightmare army can now simultaneously command five hundred, the number under your control has reached ten, and most of your Nightmares are already powerful bosses; your strength has long surpassed Bai Zhou, making you the first among the new God-level Players.

Over the next few months you have been researching how to clear the X-rank Game, but according to the available data, completing it still seems far off.

After all, other games notify you of the specific clearance conditions, like obtaining a badge and such.

But the X-rank Game is different; it gives only one clue, and that clue is hopelessly vague.

This sentence... I feel like I've seen it somewhere before.

At this moment, Zhang Jie has already put on the handsome God-level Player uniform; although it's not as good as the windbreaker he obtained when commanding Nightmares, it truly matches Zhang Jie's temperament.

At this moment, he looked at the sole task left on the system panel and fell into contemplation.

'Final Mission: Step forward, ascend the throne!'

Indeed, it's just this short sentence; it seems like a clearance condition, or perhaps a step, and all of this feels utterly mysterious.

"What on earth does it mean..."

"Could it really be just what the system says—find a throne and sit on it?"

"Isn't this just pulling nonsense?"

Zhang Jie felt that this was absolutely not as simple as he imagined, after all, this is an X-rank Game.

"Never mind that; there's no administrator in the Nightmare, and you don't even know how this game came about, do you?"

"This thing doesn't look like a trap, does it?"

Zhang Jie was utterly suspicious; just then, the study door knocked, and his mother walked over with a fruit plate, gently rubbing his head.

"You've been researching all day, and you're still not sleeping?"

"Cough, I'll go in a moment, I'll go in a moment..."

Zhang Jie speechlessly curled his lips; he's how old already, why are they still treating him like a child...

Since becoming a God-level Player, Mother has moved together with me into this heavily guarded villa district.

Lately, Mother seems to worry about me a lot, often dropping by the study to check on me, which makes me unaccustomed.

"What are you looking at! Now that you're grown, I can't manage you anymore?"

Zhang Jie's mother, annoyed, reached out and tapped his head.

"No, nothing's wrong; I'm already a God-level Player, staying up late isn't a problem..."

"You still dare to talk back?"

"I don't dare, I don't dare..."

Zhang Jie's mother stormed off angrily, leaving Zhang Jie embarrassed and standing there.

After a while, he scratched his head, turned, and stepped into the nutrition pod.

A good nutrition pod lets you rest while acting in dreams, equivalent to having two extra times compared to others; one can only say this thing is a tool for the overachiever, a nightmare for workers.

Who would want to be exploited even in their dreams....

As consciousness gradually immersed, Zhang Jie once again arrived at the familiar street.

The difference is, at this moment a large golden emblem rests on his forehead: 'God-level Player'.

Although it's showy, it's actually somewhat embarrassing...

"Forget it, let's first go find Bai Zhou; whatever the X-rank Game is, we need to go in and see before saying anything."

"You want to go in? Sure, you're currently cooler than me."

Bai Zhou still looks as gentle as a spring breeze, but the words he speaks are not like that.

Zhang Jie was speechless; Bai Zhou and Zhang Jie formed a team and headed together into the 'Nightmare'.

Opening his eyes, what met his gaze was a prosperous street devoid of people, with countless Nightmares wandering about, appearing extraordinarily strange.

If you didn't know, you'd think the Nightmares had invaded again.

"Is this the X-rank Game?"

"How is it so like Dream Online?"

Bai Zhou's body was surrounded by a dozen or so light giant swords; in an instant they cleared the surrounding Nightmares, leading the way ahead as he walked and explained.

"It's not Dream Online."

"This place is more like... the Real World."

"A world completely corrupted by Nightmares."

Zhang Jie:!

Zhang Jie carefully observed the surroundings and found that this place is indeed different from Dream Online; although both are extremely close to reality, Dream Online's physics engine and holographic projection systems still differ greatly from reality.

"This is the outer region; you should also know the clearance conditions. We've searched everywhere here and found no throne."

"There is, only a single teleportation gate."

Saying this, the two figures arrived at an apparently ordinary shop; Bai Zhou casually gestured, and a teleportation gate immediately appeared.

"Our current progress is stuck at the second layer."

"This teleportation gate was once guarded by a powerful Nightmare; it took us, decades ago, sacrificing four God-level Players to finally slay it."

Bai Zhou spoke these words with some gravity; Zhang Jie nodded, and he finally learned the exact manner of death of those four God-level Players.

Suddenly he thought of something, turned his head to look at Bai Zhou.

More than ten years ago? Bai Zhou's current age...

Although the deaths of the four top‑tier players are regrettable, Bai Zhou's age is obviously more intriguing.

"Ask whatever you want to ask."

"Then I'll boldly ask: how old are you this year?"

Bai Zhou:....

"In this second‑layer world, we still haven't found any clue leading to the next layer...."

Zhang Jie:?

No, don't ignore what I'm saying!!!

As the two entered the teleportation gate, the scenery before their eyes shifted instantly from an urban style to a wasteland style, and the surrounding Nightmares suddenly became strong, each one as if they'd taken Viagra.

"If we need to explore, let's start from here."

"But be careful, the Nightmares here even I...."

Boom!

A Nightmare was smashed to pieces by Zhang Jie's punch, and Zhang Jie looked at him puzzled.

"What were you going to say?"

Bai Zhou:....