Chapter 26: Peace Year After Year

Half a month later, Wu Chang entered the Mist Square once more. The newcomer who couldn't even tell directions had become as familiar with the place as if it were home.

The more he learned about the Abyss Game over these past days, the more fear he felt toward it.

According to many forum speculations, the Abyss Game's first large-scale recruitment of players was twenty years ago.

Information from before that was sealed away layer by layer by the major powers. How long the Abyss Game had actually existed was something only a very few people likely knew.

When facing the Abyss Game, one could never be too cautious. Before, he had no choice, but this time, before entering an instance, he had to be fully prepared.

He first went to the official trading and storage area and withdrew a custom full-body soft leather armor set.

"Item Name: Earth Lizard Leather Armor."

"Item Grade: D."

"Item Skill: Thick Hide."

"Skill Description: When equipped, grants partial defense, effectively resisting attacks from sharp weapons. When the wearer stands on the ground, grants partial elemental resistance."

The Earth Lizard Leather Armor is one of the best cost-performance armors in the early game; ordinary players can use it all the way through B-grade instances.

Players can craft this item themselves. The raw materials are easy to obtain, and a full five-piece leather armor set only costs 6,000 Tarnish Silver Coins.

After the leather armor came three vials of inhalable potion.

The Abyss Game's health potions are nothing like the health potions in MOBA games that you must bring at the start, or the single-player game potions that auto-refill on save.

The Abyss Game has no resurrection. Life is the most precious thing. Items that can quickly restore HP, or even restore HP during combat, are extremely high priority.

"Item Name: Heal Type I."

"Item Type: Consumable."

"Item Grade: E."

"Item Description: Restores 30% of HP upon use, capped at a maximum of 15. Continuous use within half an hour has halved effect."

Three vials of recovery potion usable in combat—even an E-grade potion costs 2,400 Tarnish Silver Coins.

Thinking of it this way, the "Whisper of the Nameless" he obtained from the Doctor's Grudge was even more precious than he had imagined.

That was high-end merchandise you couldn't find on the trading house.

He spent another 5,000 Tarnish Silver Coins to upgrade his spatial backpack to one cubic meter.

In games before, he had always prioritized expanding his backpack slots first thing.

If backpack slots are sufficient, not only can you carry enough supplies, but with proper use, the effect rivals spatial magic.

15,000 Tarnish Silver Coins is an absolute fortune for a newbie who just entered the Abyss Game, but when you actually spend it, it doesn't last long.

One set of Earth Lizard Leather Armor, three vials of Heal Type I, plus ten paid articles packed with solid intel, and a hundred bullets that could be brought into the instance—and his account was emptied.

Staring at the "Tarnish Silver Coins: 0" on his status panel, Wu Chang took a deep breath and muttered that this time he had to make a big haul.

All preparations complete, he chose to enter the instance.

"Matching instance for player. Player current level: 8. Instance difficulty match probability: F-grade: 10%; E-grade: 50%; D-grade: 40%; C-grade: 0.1%."

"Match complete!"

Wu Chang's vision blurred, and he appeared in an unfamiliar mountain forest.

"Successfully entered 'Desolation—Plane 76271'."

"Instance Name: Peace Year After Year."

"Instance Type: Solo Survival Instance."

"Instance Difficulty: C."

"Official recommended minimum exploration level: 10. Players should proceed with caution."

"Instance Status: On the Verge of Losing Control!"

"Main Quest 1: Go to Huaigu Village and attend the New Year Exorcism Festival."

"Main Quest 2: Defend Huaigu Village and complete the New Year Exorcism Ritual."

Wu Chang clicked his tongue. He just knew this damn game wouldn't let him off easy.

The paid articles he had purchased mentioned that the recommended level for F-grade instances was 0-5, E-grade was 0-10, D-grade was 5-15, and C-grade was 10-20.

Generally speaking, a level 8 player rarely gets matched into a C-grade instance, and even if randomly assigned to one, it would only be an ordinary projection instance unaffected by contamination.

But the system had matched him directly into a real instance—a C-grade instance on the verge of losing control.

This was definitely the Abyss Game's "special treatment" for him.

Taking advantage of the invincibility period right after entering the plane, he quickly surveyed his surroundings.

He was dressed in Xia Kingdom ancient-style clothing—fitted at the waist with bound sleeves, a jade-inlaid silver crown on his head, thick-soled leather boots on his feet, a light, soft, warm fur coat over it all, and a long sword slung diagonally at his waist. He looked every bit the young hero of a major sect.

Player Nickname: No Beef.

Player Level: 8 (500/1900)

Title: Perfectionist

HP: 20

Strength: 20

Agility: 15

Endurance: 15

Energy: 0

Inspiration: 84

Will: 62

Free Attribute Points: 0

Tarnish Silver Coins: 0

Skills: Mamba Iron Elbow, Firearm Use (Proficient).

Items: Silver Dawn, Fortune Goddess's Favor, Whisperer's Echo ×1, Mortal's Poison, Secret Knight Order Newbie Handbook, Earth Lizard Skin Armor, Healing Type-I ×3.

Talent: Transcendence.

Just as only money spent counts as money, only attribute points added count as attribute points. After several days of study, Wu Chang distributed all 35 free attribute points.

Completing obsessions could increase Inspiration and Will, and since he currently had no skills that required energy, he allocated all his attribute points to Vitality, Strength, and Agility.

A vitality four times that of an ordinary person meant that, as long as he didn't suffer an instantly fatal wound, he'd have time to take a swig of Healing Type-I and pull himself back from the brink.

The high Strength and Agility, meanwhile, made his Mamba Iron Elbow swing with tiger-like ferocity.

His performance inside instances was hard to say, but at least on the court, the moment he took his position at center, no one dared come within two meters of him.

This kind of physical conditioning should be worthy of his identity as a young hero.

He shook his head, casting the stray thoughts from his mind, and focused his spirit on the present.

Wild mountains all around, no trace of humans besides himself—clearly still some distance from Huaigu Village, the destination in the main quest.

The sky was darkening; spending the night in the wilderness of an instance plane was not a wise move.

The immediate priority was to find a place to rest his feet, get through the night, and inquire about Huaigu Village's location tomorrow.

!

As the surrounding mist dispersed, the instance officially began.

Following the footprints on the ground, Wu Chang returned from the woods to the mountain road. The moment he stepped out, he saw a horse tied to a tree not far away.

He walked over, and the horse affectionately nuzzled his hand.

That was more like it—a famous young hero appearing alone in the wilderness, how could he not have a horse?

It was the end of the year, and snow lingered in the forest, making it easy to distinguish tracks.

He mounted the horse and continued forward along the footprints, until the sky was seven-tenths dark, when he spotted a two-story inn by the roadside.

No sooner had he approached than a waiter eagerly came over.

Though the inn was small, it was fully equipped—within the courtyard was a dedicated stable, and the rooms were divided into three grades.

Wu Chang stood in the inn's main hall. The shop was dim and deathly still; only the sound of bones being hacked came from the back kitchen.

After tethering the horse, the waiter came out carrying an oil lamp, all smiles: "You've traveled a long way, sir, you must be weary in body and beast. Would you like to try our specialty dish?"

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow and asked, "What specialty dish?"

"Our own wind-dried cured meat, stored on the Liang Zi. Just a moment, sir."

The waiter spoke as he took up a bamboo pole and flicked it up toward the ceiling beam.

A human-shaped figure with a hemp rope tied around its neck tumbled down from the beam, swaying in mid-air along the rope.

"A person?" Wu Chang's brow furrowed, and he immediately drew his sword from its sheath.

"Hold on! Look closely, sir, it's a wild boar!" The waiter's face flushed red with fright. He retreated several steps to hide behind a table, then raised the lamp to illuminate the dark shape.

By the lamplight, he could finally see clearly—the thing that looked like a human figure was actually a thin pig whose hair had been singed off. The pork, wind-dried and cured, had an amber-like sheen on its skin.

Wu Chang sheathed his sword, his tone easing slightly, and asked, "Is your meat legitimate?"

"Legitimate, of course legitimate! All bought from the hunters in the mountains. Wild game is different from domestic pork—the flavor is absolutely superb, guaranteed something you've never tasted, sir."

"Then go ahead and serve it as you see fit."

"Right away, sir, just a moment!"

While the back kitchen was busy, Wu Chang waved the waiter over and asked;

"Let me ask you—this desolate wilderness, not a soul around—can you even break even running an inn out here? Or is it that you have other designs?"

The four words "other designs" were spoken one by one, deliberately. The moment he finished, the sound of bones being chopped in the back kitchen doubled in volume—clearly quite displeased by the remark.

The waiter hurriedly explained: "You may not know this, sir, but Baili Huaishan here was quite lively a few years back. Five villages in the mountains, each with its own specialty goods. Merchants trading for mountain wares came year-round—how else could we afford to keep an inn this big?"

"It looks deserted now because of the bandits four or five years ago. The bandits grew powerful, merchants didn't dare enter the mountains, and so it gradually fell into decline."

Fearing Wu Chang wouldn't believe him, the waiter pointed at the wall inside the shop.

There hung a row of wanted posters. The criminals depicted were the various bandit chiefs of the "Heishan Bandits," and behind the posters was stamped the official seal of Jingyuan Prefecture.

Wu Chang tapped his fingers on the table and asked, "Merchants fear the bandits, but you don't?"

The waiter replied with an apologetic smile: "There's only me and the boss in the shop—killing us wouldn't yield much loot. The merchants who've paid their toll money still need us, that's why we've survived. Besides, bandits need to eat too, don't they? Coming down the mountain to buy supplies isn't convenient, so they always need someone to help out."

While they were speaking, a muffled shout came from the back kitchen: "Too much talk! Get back to work!"

The waiter ducked his head and scurried back to the kitchen, returning with a steamer basket of piping-hot buns which he set before Wu Chang. "Try them while they're hot, sir."

Gazing at the waiter's hopeful eyes, Wu Chang was just about to pick up his chopsticks when a nameless wind blew down from the second floor, making his eye twitch slightly and raising a chill across his body.

Something was wrong.

He used his chopsticks to pry open a bun's skin, revealing it stuffed full of cured meat—juicy, glistening, mouthwateringly rich.

He drew a deep breath and squinted for a closer look. Under the effect of his 84 points of Inspiration, the oily sheen receded and the juices dried up.

The fresh, plump wild boar became shriveled, moldy jerky. Within the jerky, he could faintly see clumps of hair and human finger joints chopped into small segments.

Raising his head, the wild boar still swaying from the beam—when it fell into the shadows beyond the lamplight's reach, it plainly revealed an eighty-percent human likeness.

The waiter still wore a broad smile, bowing as he waited by the table, eyes unblinking, his pupils fixed intently on Wu Chang.

"Sir, the buns are getting cold. Try them quickly."

(End of Chapter)