Chapter 277: Methods of Entering a World Copy

In the public area of the Crimson Courtyard, before the clock tower at the center of the square.

Wu Chang looked up at the large screen atop the clock tower, which displayed the number 36.

There were 36 days left until the World Instance began.

Time was tight, but if they hurried with preparations, it should still be enough.

Ding ding.

Wu Chang's attribute panel flashed a temporary chat message from a player named Blood Thorn.

"I've arrived at the designated location."

Wu Chang walked halfway around the clock tower and saw, on the other side, a disheveled vagrant wearing sleeveless combat gear.

He stepped forward, waved at the man, and said:

"I'm Peace."

Blood Thorn studied Wu Chang carefully and said: "Pleasure to meet you. You look far more ordinary than I imagined."

Wu Chang was wearing the standard player uniform, no different from a newbie just entering the Abyss Game, and stood out for having no personality compared to the wildly dressed players around the square.

Of course, the player uniform on Wu Chang looked unremarkable, but on any ordinary player, it would only prove they were a newbie.

To have personality, you needed capital—only equipped armor would appear visually in the Crimson Courtyard.

Players in the public area all wore extravagant outfits, often not just out of preference but to display their strength.

If you couldn't even afford a full set of the lowest-grade armor, you wouldn't earn respect in the public area.

Wu Chang shrugged and said: "Would being more flamboyant help?"

Blood Thorn answered honestly: "From viewership and buzz, yes. Including myself, everyone is curious what the monster newbie looks like—too ordinary won't satisfy the audience's expectations."

Wu Chang rubbed his chin. He was on this show precisely for buzz and maximum viewership—Blood Thorn's suggestion made sense.

He asked: "How flamboyant is better?"

Blood Thorn tilted his head slightly, gazing at a massive stone golem five meters tall. "As flamboyant as possible—better yet, more flamboyant than him."

Wu Chang said casually: "Easy."

He shed his outer coat, his body slowly expanding—his stature grew taller and bulkier, and behind him emerged vast patches of metallic-scale skin; webs of transparent membrane grew between his fingers; his skin became smooth and resilient, like whale or dolphin hide, yet upon closer inspection, tiny shark-denticled scales covered its surface.

Within a few breaths, Wu Chang's height surpassed twenty meters, equaling the clock tower beside him.

His colossal frame, paired with armor-like, aesthetically perfect scales, made him look like a sea god descending.

The Wasteland Realm players had never seen such a spectacle—they swarmed around him in frenzy, frantically photographing Wu Chang's Sea Giant form.

Wu Chang looked down at Blood Thorn beneath his feet and spoke in a deep, oceanic voice:

"Is this enough? If not, I can grow larger."

Blood Thorn tilted his head upward, mouth agape, staring in disbelief at the giant before him.

This is fucking eight?

No, this is fucking sixty-four days?

You've reached this state in sixty-four days in the Abyss—how many dragon guardians are inside you? He couldn't even imagine it. Aren't you afraid the next fitness circle will bring the news that you're the star of a disaster?

Blood Thorn swallowed hard and asked: "How big can you get?"

With the Sea Giant talent bonus, Wu Chang's strength stat had reached 115 points. To avoid appearing too shocking, he replied modestly:

"This square can't hold it."

Sss.

Blood Thorn was convinced.

He immediately said: "Big enough. Let's head to the studio in this state."

Blood Thorn granted Wu Chang entry permission, gave him the studio's coordinates, and before leaving, shouted to the crowd:

"The main guest of today's 'Every Hot Topic' interview is this gentleman beside me, Mr. Peace. Getting an interview with someone this big is rare—don't miss it, everyone!"

The studio of "Every Hot Topic" was a semi-private space leased by United Information from the Crimson Courtyard; during the contract period, United Information held management rights, and only players granted entry permission could enter.

To interview Wu Chang, the production team had deliberately scaled up the studio proportionally.

Originally, "Every Hot Topic" featured two hosts seated behind a long table, chatting about recent Abyss hot topics while eating and drinking and doing product placements.

But with Wu Chang's inclusion, the two hosts could only stand atop the massive table, as if they were dishes on it themselves; to force themselves into frame with Wu Chang, each host was followed by a camera crew projecting their movements onto a giant screen.

Whether by coincidence or not, the two hosts interviewing Wu Chang were precisely the same two he had met before: Divine Tongue and Blood Thorn.

Because Wu Chang had rushed his queue-jumping, he entered the studio with only three minutes left before live broadcast.

The director had barely time to explain camera angles and positioning instructions—Wu Chang and the two hosts didn't even get to exchange a few words before the director began the live countdown.

Elsewhere, inside the private club Wu Chang had just left, over a dozen high-ranking Juzhixu Sect members gathered, staring at the intelligence transmitted by Xu Dejun, their faces grimly pale.

The sudden, unexplained severance between the Rational Realm and the Wasteland Realm had already raised alarms, and they had prepared for the worst.

But seeing Xu Dejun's report, they realized their reason had restrained their imagination—the reality was worse than they'd feared.

A young man with thick knuckles and four or five scars across his face slammed his fist onto the conference table, cracking it with the impact of Abyss-made materials.

"How dare those bastards do this!"

An elderly Taoist with white hair and beard, looking ethereal, spoke: "They've already done it—what's the point of asking why? The priority now is to calm down and devise a response."

Though Longmei spoke with transcendental detachment, the cracks on the table before him were more numerous than those made by the scar-faced youth.

Cough cough cough.

A frail man still wearing a down jacket in May suddenly burst into a fit of violent coughing, drawing everyone's attention.

Sensing he had become the focus, Leng Shan—the Juzhixu Sect's strongest breaker of impasses in the Wasteland Realm—showed a hint of apology, then smoothly said:

"I'll follow Elder Hou's lead—no need to ask my opinion."

As the others debated, Hou Jingchuan, who had been sitting with closed eyes in thought, opened his eyes and said:

"We must reclaim absolute control of the Wasteland Realm Bureau in the shortest time possible—no repetition of the Hongmeng Divine Palace attack. First, make a list and bring all the Evolution Faction members and their planted moles under control."

"After we finish dealing with our side of things, go remind the other three guys."

The young man seated in the mid-tier position, clad in bright silver dragon-patterned armor, said: "Will notifying Bai Ta and the Western Alliance cause backlash?"

Hou Jingchuan said: "Unlikely. They're sharp enough to know—hold the Wasteland Realm, and Bai Ta and the Western Alliance remain their families' domains. Lose the Wasteland Realm, and the denizens of the Abyss's second layer descend, and they'll have to beg for even a sip of broth."

As the murmurs gradually faded, Leng Shan, who had earlier claimed he had no opinion, suddenly began coughing again.

After a few coughs, he raised the tablet in his hand, which was playing a video: the scene showed Wu Chang transforming into a Sea Giant, leaving alongside Blood Thorn.

"I have a question: why did Peace suddenly demand an interview? What does he want?"

More than the Evolutionists or the Orderists, Leng Shan focused on Wu Chang; as a Breaker, he harbored boundless curiosity toward this mysterious new player who had broken the Moonlight Sanatorium in a trial instance.

Upon hearing Leng Shan's words, everyone fell into thought.

The intelligence delivered by Xu Dejun was unencrypted—either he trusted Peace's integrity and believed Peace wouldn't snoop, or Xu Dejun had already told Peace everything, or at least permitted him to read it.

Of these two possibilities, everyone leaned toward the latter.

The intelligence Peace had obtained, and its severity, far exceeded Hou Jingchuan's original estimates.

If he exposed all of this live on the show, it would plunge the entire Wasteland Realm into chaos.

Chang Mei asked: "Should we cut today's broadcast?"

Hou Jingchuan shook his head. "No. Let him go ahead and stir things up."

It's already too late. Wu Chang, by transforming in the plaza and announcing Blood Thorn, has already drawn massive attention.

Shutting down the broadcast now won't just anger Wu Chang—it'll ignite players' curiosity. When Wu Chang says something later, it'll spread even wider and more effectively.

He sounded like he was convincing everyone, and himself, adding: "I trust Mr. Xu's judgment."

In the public area tavern of Crimson Courtyard, as the countdown of 3, 2, 1 ended, "Hot Topics Every Episode" officially began.

Today was unlike usual—the tavern was packed with players, so crowded that finding a spot to stand was difficult; seats bought from scalpers had been bid up to 100 Decayed Silver Coins.

Sitting in the tavern to witness Peace's interview had become a status symbol.

As for the slow, weak, and poor comrades, they could only crowd outside the tavern's open area, watching the live stream on large projectors.

Only minutes had passed since Peace transformed in the plaza, yet news of his interview had spread like wildfire across the Wasteland Realm.

Who is Peace?

He's the player who broke a B-rank rampaging instance during a trial; he's #1 on multiple Breaker leaderboards, with a cliff-like lead; he's the ruthless type who made the four major organizations unite to declare war on him and ban him from "Hot Topics Every Episode," yet days later he walked right into the studio.

Who wouldn't be curious what such a player—already destined to become a legend—would say during an interview?

Even a casual tip he drops could benefit ordinary players immensely; if he outright revealed his exploits, it would be a blessing to all, immeasurable merit. As the broadcast switched to the feed, Wu Chang's massive form immediately filled the screen; only the two red circles marked by the director revealed the familiar Divine Tongue and Blood Thorn.

Before the interview began, the two launched a standard product promotion; Wu Chang sat silently in the background like scenery, making no move.

But players soon noticed, beneath the product links in the live stream, a line of small text.

"Extra fee required to display nickname during interview: flat rate 100,000. No extensions."

Five minutes later, after the product promotion ended, the interview officially began.

Divine Tongue opened: "Viewers at home have surely noticed—today's episode differs from usual, because our guest has a rather robust physique. To accommodate him, we had to alter the studio's design."

"Our guest today is Mr. Peace—the man behind me and Blood Thorn."

Wu Chang smiled at the camera, revealing his nickname as he saw the 100,000 Decayed Silver Coins added to his account.

"Jinxiu Trading House pays high prices to buy back ancient relics from instances."

"Hello everyone, I'm Peace."

Seeing Wu Chang's unique nickname above his head, the tavern crowd cross-referenced it letter by letter with the leaderboard—then cheers and whistles erupted.

!

"Hot Topics Every Episode" is awesome—they actually invited the real deal! Don't they fear the four organizations smashing their dinner plates?

Just for their guts, I'm buying whatever they're pushing today.

Divine Tongue asked: "Mr. Peace, many of us—including myself—are curious about your nickname. Why did you choose 'Peace'?"

"Because I dislike fighting. I like bringing peace wherever I go, eliminating conflict—that's why I chose this name," replied a somewhat naive Knight of Discord.

Blood Thorn beside him asked: "Rumors say you grew so strong because you exploited a glitch. What do you have to say about that?"

Wu Chang asked: "Have you ever seen the Abyss at 4 a. m.?"

Blood Thorn replied: "Every day."

Wu Chang shook his head slightly. "I haven't. Because when I train, I don't even have time to check the clock."

"My current strength comes entirely from carefully observing instance details, relentless hard work, and a slight edge in talent. I advise everyone not to believe rumors about glitches. If you work steadily and put in the effort, one day you'll be like me."

Blood Thorn tugged at his lip. "Mr. Peace is quite humorous."

…

As a mature program, "Hot Topics Every Episode" followed a relatively fixed interview rhythm and flow; as each stage concluded smoothly, the Orderists inside the club gradually relaxed.

The new player named Peace seemed to harbor no ill intent—merely accepting the interview straightforwardly.

Could his interview be nothing more than a way to force the Administration to publicly respond, while refusing any concrete reward?

Not just others—even Hou Jingchuan, who had personally interacted with Wu Chang, began reevaluating him.

Just as he was about to speak, the interview on screen reached its final segment.

On the program, Divine Tongue said: "Next, we enter our most anticipated interactive segment—reading live comments."

"We'll select top-voted comments from the stream and invite Mr. Peace to respond. I must remind everyone: to protect the guest's rights, any comments involving personal attacks will be flagged by our backend—we'll lock the player's ID and IP, and relay the information to Mr. Peace."

"The Abyss is not a lawless zone. Please watch your words."

Wu Chang smiled. "If any player truly does that, I'll personally visit their door and deliver them a gift of peace."

At these words, the already sparse taunts and insults vanished instantly—no one dared post another, fearing it might be upvoted by onlookers, only to have Peace knock on their door later with "gifts."

Quickly, the first top-voted comment was selected.

"Host, host, your strength is undeniable, but it's too reliant on effort—is there any simpler, faster way to level up?"

After the Divine Tongue finished reading the barrage, his gaze turned to Wu Chang.

Wu Chang shrugged and replied:

"There are brothers who have it—this method isn't the only one. Right now, there's an opportunity."

"Did you see the countdown on the public square? That countdown concerns a world-level special instance. When it ends, the instance will open, and players with access rights can enter. If you survive until the instance ends, your strength will increase dramatically."

"Obtaining access rights is simple: just preserve your chance to enter the instance, ensure at least one attribute exceeds 70 points, or any two attributes exceed 50 points, and enter the Crimson Courtyard at midnight—this will activate the next instance as an access instance."

"If you complete the access instance alive, the system will send world instance access rights to the first ten thousand players based on completion rate."

"If I were you, I'd seize this opportunity, prepare thoroughly, and strive to secure a world instance access right."

After Wu Chang finished speaking, not only were the viewers stunned, but the production team of "Every Hot Topic" was stunned too.

Dude, it was just a joke—did you really say it out loud?

Especially the host, Divine Tongue, and Killing Wave—their shock was written plainly on their faces, because they knew Wu Chang was likely telling the truth.

As celebrity players with ties to the Four Organizations, they'd heard rumors of the world instance through their own channels.

But the Four Organizations treated the world instance as their exclusive domain, forbidding outsiders from touching it—even they only knew to try their luck just before the countdown ended, without knowing the exact method.

They never expected Peace not only knew, but knew it so clearly—and had just announced it to everyone.

They couldn't imagine how the Four Organizations would go mad after today's show, nor how the Wasteland Realm would erupt.

They couldn't even imagine whether their show would be branded as an accomplice and purged by the Four Organizations.

Killing Wave forced a smile worse than crying, pleading: "Mr. Peace, is this real—or some new kind of prank?"

Mr. Peace, please stop your magic. Even if it's true, say it's fake—so we can at least save face on this show."

Wu Chang acted as if he hadn't seen Killing Wave's expression and said: "It's real. I spent considerable effort obtaining this intelligence from the Four Organizations."

"By the way, the world instance has appeared many times—but have you noticed why you can barely find these four characters on player forums, and why no one tells you what the square's countdown means?"

"Because this intelligence is monopolized by the Four Organizations. In past world instances, nine out of ten slots were hoarded by them through information asymmetry. So I found this practice intolerable—and I'm giving it to you for free."

"This may be your only chance in life to turn things around. Whether you seize it depends entirely on you."

Wu Chang's follow-up response sent the barrage into another frenzy—just as the next highly-upvoted barrage was about to appear, "Every Hot Topic" was cut off.

It wasn't the Administration's doing—it was a joint demand from the other three organizations. Using their combined majority stake, they seized control of the studio's systems and forcibly terminated the broadcast.

If Hou Jingchuan hadn't bought some time, the show would have been cut the moment Wu Chang finished his first sentence.

Wu Chang looked at the pale-faced production team and said: "Don't worry—they won't harass you over this. I guarantee it."

For the show's abrupt end, Wu Chang actually found it more satisfying than a normal conclusion.

He'd already said everything he needed to say. What happens next depends entirely on how badly the players want to improve.

He revealed the method to obtain world instance access rights precisely to weaken the Four Organizations' control over the world instance.

He believed Hou Jingchuan could win. He believed the Order Faction might one day control the Wasteland Realm's Administration. But he didn't trust—and didn't intend to trust—the other three organizations.

The best way to deal with them was to let countless independent players gain access—and make those players enter the world instance with innate hostility and suspicion toward the Four Organizations.

With such a large, uncontrollable force in play, the other three organizations would find it extremely difficult to act—efforts would yield minimal results.

And muddying the waters only helped him operate more freely.

Inside the tavern, the players were nearly insane.

At first, the players didn't believe Wu Chang's revelation. With the setup of "My strength comes entirely from effort," they couldn't be sure if he was telling the truth.

But when the show was cut off mid-broadcast, the intelligence instantly became credible.

If it weren't true, why would they dare not let Wu Chang finish speaking?

As public sentiment intensified, some Uncle Party members timely spoke up—they, like Divine Tongue and others, had heard rumors of the world instance, just not in such detail.

As fragmented pieces of intelligence emerged, they increasingly confirmed Wu Chang's claims, rapidly elevating his status among independent players.

Peace is someone you can trust—he actually reveals secrets to improve your strength!

On the other side, more devastated than "Every Hot Topic," and more frenzied than the independent players, were the Four Organizations whose information monopoly had been shattered.

Among them, Hou Jingchuan and others differed from the other Four Organizations' elites—they felt shock and rage, but also a tinge of guilt.

After all, it was they who approved Wu Chang's interview.

Among them, Leng Shan was the most relaxed. He was merely a cold, emotionless breaker of stalemates, concerned only with Wu Chang and how to break the instance. As for the world instance intelligence, he didn't care—and even found it slightly amusing.

Peace is truly a monster newcomer—he always comes up with new tricks.

He said: "Now that things have escalated this far, what do we do?"

Hou Jingchuan was the first to recover. He took a deep breath and said:

"This is actually an opportunity. While the Rational Realm's intelligence hasn't reached us yet and everyone is in chaos, I'll convene an emergency meeting, citing the leak of critical intelligence, and summon the Evolution Faction for an urgent strategy session."

"You've seen how the Rational Realm handled it. Now it's our turn—the Order Faction to take the initiative. They did the first move; now we'll do the fifteenth. I plan to use this meeting to seize control of the Evolution Faction's people."

"Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise. Perhaps this Peace friend has just given us a golden opportunity."

(End of Chapter)