Chapter 163: Currency System, Real-World Death (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

To prevent the tragedy from repeating.

After downloading and completing the adaptation, Hearing Tong Xin, who had obtained the qualification to play Monster World, decisively changed clothes and ran toward the game pod.

If he fell asleep again at this moment, he would strangle himself upon waking.

As the game pod lid pressed down, his excitement was beyond measure.

"Monster World, here I come!"

Flexible tubes automatically connected to various parts of his body, nutrient fluid gradually submerged his head, his body entered a dormant state, his vision was shrouded in darkness, yet his emotions continued to surge.

This time, no accident occurred.

When the darkness dispersed, Hearing Tong Xin found himself floating before a towering blue crystal wall, and a prompt sounded in his mind:

【Welcome, Challenger, to Monster World. Please begin creating your initial character.】

In the name input field, he used his consciousness to tap the virtual keyboard and typed the five characters "Kindergarten Principal."

After confirming, a prompt announcing the successful naming sounded beside his ear.

Hearing Tong Xin couldn't help but clench his fist and cheer in his heart; the name he wanted most was still available.

The fact was that the player base of Monster World was small, unlike in the Dark Lands where choosing a name easily resulted in duplicates.

Just then, the massive grid-like crystal wall ahead rapidly drew closer.

Most of the cells on the wall were empty, while the bottom two rows, cells 1 through 37, imprisoned Meng Yuan Chu monsters of various forms.

The green light above each cell represented a selectable first-generation Meng Yuan Chu, while the red light represented an unselectable generation above the first.

How to choose? Hearing Tong Xin looked without hesitation at cell number 3, and after his gaze focused, the information of the Gargoyle floated into his mind.

【Gargoyle】:

Initial Level 1:

Meng Yuan Chu Ability: Petrification (Active)

Ability Description: After using the ability, enter a petrified state where movement is impossible, significantly reducing damage from any form of attack; specific effects depend on physical constitution.

Before obtaining the qualification, Hearing Tong Xin had browsed numerous strategy posts on the forum.

He knew that in the game Monster World, the melee style was the most scarce, especially the damage-absorbing Gargoyle style within the melee branch.

In the words of forum players, those who play the Gargoyle style are treated like lords.

Choosing the Gargoyle style inevitably meant enjoying the best resources in the team and being the core focus of development in any group.

Only if the Gargoyle style player could stand firm would there be space for other team members to deal continuous damage.

Before entering the game, he had also exchanged and discussed with his brothers.

He clarified his core growth direction.

He would replace Iron Hammer as the team's damage-absorbing tank, while Iron Hammer, after changing his Star Pulse combination, would pursue the melee damage output style and learn something like Champion Fighter.

Upon completing the selection, the Gargoyle squatting in the containment cell suddenly opened its blood-glowing eyes, which continuously drew closer in his vision.

Its massive body resembled a truck driving straight toward him, filled with a sense of oppression.

Hearing Tong Xin unconsciously tensed his body.

Boom!

【Challenger Prompt: Initial Painful Painful Minghun selection completed. Your starter village space is: Winter Snowfield.】

After a wave of Intense Weightlessness, Hearing Tong Xin's body was enveloped in a layer of white light; when the light dispersed, he found himself standing in a pure white space.

Ahead was a spatial teleportation gate, its center slowly rotating like a vortex.

The six large characters "Winter Snowfield Space" flashed before his eyes.

Looking around, player figures were everywhere nearby.

All the newbies, like him, could not hide their excitement in their expressions.

It could be said that those who entered the game in this round of drawing were the chosen ones who stood out in a competition against the whole world.

At this moment, the regional chat channel was filled with new players shouting for veterans to hug them, lift them up, and carry them to victory.

Hearing Tong Xin muted the voice channel of the region, summoned the function panel, and opened the contact list.

He entered "Xiao Ban Iron Hammer" in the add field and tapped confirm.

Not long after, a prompt announcing the friend request was accepted sounded.

【Challenger Prompt: Player "Xiao Ban Iron Hammer" has accepted your friend request.】

Shortly after, Iron Hammer initiated a video call.

Upon connection, the screen showed several heads huddled together.

Iron Hammer: Hahaha, Principal, you're awesome. Did you open Monster World yourself? How did you manage to get the qualification?

Cute Kid: That's too ridiculous. You missed the first connection, got the qualification snatched and then cancelled on the second attempt, grabbed the Dark Lands on the third, and now you still got the qualification in this fourth, full-network participation qualification scramble. Your luck is absurdly good. Tell me, what's your relationship with the Star Net?

Drunk Milk: Principal is undoubtedly the child of fortune. Although the process was arduous, this is how many times it's been? I now suspect you have a blood relation with the Star Net and they opened a backdoor for you.

Hearing his brothers' teasing, Hearing Tong Xin's face broke into a brilliant smile:

"Stop it. If the Star Net were really my relative, I'd ban all of you tomorrow. Hurry up and come carry me to level up."

Iron Hammer: Principal, don't leave the space; I'm afraid you'll die instantly outside. Wait for us to arrive at the Winter Snowfield region. Today, three of us drew a buff; we'll carry you then.

Principal: Hurry up.

After hanging up the video call, Hearing Tong Xin chose to listen to his brothers and stayed in the space to wait.

Through the group chat, he had already learned in advance that the game had a "resurrection cooldown" setting; if he died upon leaving, it would be his brothers waiting for him.

Just then, a game prompt sounded in his mind:

【Challenger Prompt: Player "Xiao Ban Iron Hammer" invites you to join the Kindergarten Guild. Accept?】

"Accept."

【Challenger Prompt: Successfully joined the guild "Kindergarten."】

【Challenger Notice: Player Iron Hammer is transferring the Guild Leader position to you. Do you accept?】

"Yes."

Instantly, a guild option appeared on the function panel.

Opening it, he could see the names of all members of the Kindergarten, along with the Star Vein combinations and Painful Painful Minghun levels displayed to the right of each name.

While waiting, ripples appeared on the teleportation array ahead, and figures emerged one after another from the spatial vortex.

The warrior at the forefront wore Crimson Flame Battle Armor, the armor seeming to flow with scorching lava.

The magic-class players following behind all wore identical deep-blue Xing Chen Fa robes, the golden runes Mian Lao Yin on them occasionally flickering with faint light, with wisps of crystalline decorative energy drifting out, like mist swirling around their bodies.

The ones who arrived were precisely the brothers of the Kindergarten.

Hearing Tong Xin glanced at his own black cloth garment, then compared it to his brothers' splendid outfits, unable to hide the envy in his eyes.

"Hahaha, Director, you look so weak."

"Hmph, you newbie over there—don't kneel when you see us veterans, or we'll block the entrance and kill you."

"Director, believe it or not, I could crush you with one little finger, hehe."

Facing his brothers' teasing, Hearing Tong Xin decisively raised his middle finger in response:

"Don't get cocky, it's just that you entered the game a few days earlier than me—hurry up and take me to level up."

"Let's go, let the Adopted-Father Squad carry you to greatness." Iron Hammer stepped forward and threw an arm around Hearing Tong Xin's neck.

Hearing Tong Xin tried to struggle, but found that his strength before Iron Hammer was like a mayfly shaking a tree—no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't push him:

"Damn, you're so strong."

"Obviously, my main Painful Painful Minghun is already level 48. I could take on ten thousand newbies like you."

Just as everyone was joking around and preparing to leave the space to head to the Frost Snow Plain region for hunting, newbie players nearby who were also wearing black cloth garments crowded forward:

"Big bro, I just heard you guys say you're power-leveling—can you take me along?"

"Buddy, since you're power-leveling anyway, one more won't hurt—take me along, will ya?"

"Big brother, take me with you, I can pay 100 credit points per hour."

Facing the requests of the starving newbie players nearby, Iron Hammer decisively chose to ignore them.

The Director was their good brother of many years, and had been the core of the team in previous games too—though they teased each other normally, their bond ran deep.

But newbie players of other races had no emotional foundation with them, so they couldn't be bothered to pay attention.

Leaving the newbie village space, a chill swept in, freezing Hearing Tong Xin until he couldn't stop shivering. He immediately followed his brother's tip and switched to Gargoyle form—his stats instantly rose and the chill receded.

What unfolded before his eyes was a scene of heavy snowfall, the world shrouded in a veil of pure white.

Countless snowflakes drifted down from the hazy gray sky, and the howling wind swept up countless white flakes, dancing wildly through the air.

Distant mountains and nearby trees were all cloaked in a thick layer of silver.

The realistic scene made Hearing Tong Xin exclaim in amazement:

"The realism of this modeling is seriously badass."

"The even more badass stuff is still coming. The best part of this game isn't sightseeing—at least not for us. The best part is this."

Saying so, Iron Hammer crouched slightly, muscles taut, and after gathering momentum, his feet suddenly kicked off the ground.

The ground trembled lightly as snow flew in all directions, and his body shot into the air like an arrow leaving the bowstring.

After flying more than ten meters, Iron Hammer's feet landed firmly on the ground, kicking up a spray of snow. His knees bent slightly to absorb the impact, then he straightened his body, standing there like an immovable mountain.

After showing off, Iron Hammer turned his head to look at the envious Hearing Tong Xin:

"Director, this is what I think is the best part—the superhuman experience brought by stat amplification."

"Showing off is shameful—hurry up and take me to level up."

After hearing Iron Hammer's introduction, Hearing Tong Xin couldn't help but roll his eyes, though inwardly he was full of anticipation for leveling up.

He could imagine just how delightful the stat amplification Iron Hammer described would be.

A superhuman experience that existed only in fantasy could become reality in this game.

Braving the howling cold wind, following his brothers as they kept searching, they found a lone monster at the edge of the map's fog zone.

It was small in stature, only reaching Hearing Tong Xin's knee, its entire body covered in fine, gray, semi-transparent fuzz—like an uglified little wild boar.

Hearing Tong Xin activated his Analyze ability at this moment, and the relevant information instantly surfaced in his mind:

【Gray Gu】:

Hunting Level: 1.

Monster Analysis: A low-level monster unique to the Frost Snow Plain region, one of the most common monster types. They exist only to maintain ecological balance. Though weak, Gray Gu will enter a berserk state when facing life-threatening danger, launching a fearless assault.

After reading the analysis information, Hearing Tong Xin suddenly grew interested:

"Don't attack yet, let me handle this one. I finally got into the game—being an experience pack is no fun, let me try out the combat feedback."

Hearing Hearing Tong Xin's words, the Kindergarten players exchanged glances, smiles breaking out on all their faces.

A level 1 monster might seem weak, but it wasn't easy for a starting player to subdue.

Back when they had first entered the game to pioneer content, they had also hunted Cursed Soldiers cooperatively.

Hearing Tong Xin lunged at the Gray Gu at this moment, his Gargoyle form's sharp claws smashing down on the Gray Gu's head.

The strike was heavy and forceful—the Gray Gu was sent bouncing on the spot, a clear bump forming on its head, the skin flushed and swollen, with a hint of bluish-purple at the edges, like bruising spreading beneath the skin.

It was just an inconsequential level 1 monster, but the changes on its head after being attacked made Hearing Tong Xin exclaim how badass it was.

The craftsmanship in the details had truly reached perfection.

He could even see the detailed process of the bump forming.

After landing, the Gray Gu suddenly whipped its head toward Hearing Tong Xin, its skin flushing red as it entered berserk state.

Its hind legs kicked off the ground violently, and catching Hearing Tong Xin off guard, it slammed a headbutt hard into his chest.

"Pfft!"

The instant his body was sent flying backward, Hearing Tong Xin's eyes went wide and he coughed up a mouthful of saliva.

"Hahahaha."

Hearing the laughter beside him, Hearing Tong Xin endured the pain, shed his petrification form, pulled open his cloth shirt, and looked down at his chest—where the headbutt had landed was already flushed and swollen, the blood vessels beneath the skin bulging slightly.

He reached out and pressed lightly, immediately sucking in a sharp breath as the pain returned, like a blunt knife grinding back and forth across his chest.

"Way too real, this physical feedback."

Before Hearing Tong Xin could keep marveling, the enraged Grey Gu pawed the ground with its forelegs, let out a cry, and charged again.

Hearing Tong Xin sprang up and decisively activated his petrification trait.

The Painful Painful Minghun trait was branded into his mind like a memory, as natural to use as breathing.

Once the trait activated, his body surface was quickly coated in a layer of jet-black.

His legs felt as though fused to the earth, and his body became abnormally heavy.

Thud!

This time the impact landed on his body; Hearing Tong Xin could clearly feel the pain feedback, but his body was as if welded to the ground, not budging an inch.

Instead, the Grey Gu that had charged in was instantly rebounded, stumbling back several steps before finally plopping down on its backside.

Its head wobbled slightly, and its gaze turned dazed.

Unlike other games where a stunned enemy gets a swirling icon or some other marker above its head, the monster's performance in Hearing Tong Xin's eyes was so realistic it left no flaw at all.

Hearing Tong Xin seized the chance, shed his petrification, stepped forward, and slammed his claws down hard.

But the Grey Gu's tenacity exceeded his expectations—though only a level 1 mob, it had Hearing Tong Xin on edge throughout the fight.

During this process, Hearing Tong Xin, a veteran of other games, gradually got a read on the Grey Gu's attack rhythm.

Having never seen any related guides, Hearing Tong Xin also quickly mastered the correct way to use the petrification trait, trying to use it to counter the Grey Gu's output rhythm.

In Hearing Tong Xin's view, this ability could be understood as the parry from Sin Land.

As long as you kept the rhythm, you could nullify a huge amount of damage and look for chances to counterattack.

Before long, the Grey Gu's stamina ran out and it lost combat ability, successfully slain by Hearing Tong Xin.

Hearing Tong Xin, having ended the fight, slumped on the ground and gasped for breath.

Killing this single level 1 monster had nearly drained all his stamina.

Monster World's combat feedback was far too realistic—on top of that there was even a stamina setting—and this fight had worn him out completely.

Just then, the dead Grey Gu was broken down by an invisible force, turning into crimson airflow that split into several streams in the air and flew toward the members of the kindergarten squad under party mode.

One of those streams merged into Hearing Tong Xin's body, like a warm flood pouring in from the top of his head, flowing slowly down his spine and spreading to his limbs and every part of his body.

"Nice."

The kindergarten squad walked over at that moment, and Iron Hammer at the head said with a teasing expression:

"Principal, how many points for the combat feedback?"

"Full marks, but I'm really beat," Hearing Tong Xin said weakly.

The feeling of total stamina depletion right now was like his body had been hollowed out—every inch of muscle had gone limp, heavy as if filled with lead, and even lifting a hand felt abnormally difficult.

He could only gulp down air to boost oxygen supply, promote further lactic acid metabolism, and ease the fatigue.

He discovered that Monster World, this game, actually had a hundred-percent stamina-consumption feedback.

Other games also had stamina settings, sure, but those were just a number bar that didn't affect the player's movement at all before it ran out.

But in this game, the feedback from stamina consumption was no different from reality.

Next was the 10% pain feedback—even with 90% cut, he could still feel the pain clearly.

He finally understood why the forums had so many players complaining about the lack of melee players.

Compared to the comfy ranged output of the magic players hiding in the back, melee players suffered a double torment of body and mind.

This archetype—no faith or self-destructive streak, and whoever plays it is an idiot.

After resting for a good while, Hearing Tong Xin, having experienced combat, followed the kindergarten brothers toward the fog-shrouded area on the map.

Before long, they found a pack of white giant bears around hunting level 20 in the fog zone.

The brothers' showing-off moment began.

Drunk Milk stepped forward at that moment; his Eagle-Head Demon perception instantly enveloped the monster pack, and as he raised his hand the Xing Chen Fa robe on his body flickered faintly, while ink-black fireballs swelled one after another in his palm like inflating balloons.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In an instant, 15 fireballs rose into the air under perception guidance, precisely striking the giant bears; the ink-black flames blazed fiercely, and the giant bears wailed and collapsed.

From the dead giant bears, clusters of crimson mist rose into the air, split apart, and flew toward the party.

One of those clusters merged into Hearing Tong Xin's body.

Immediately, prompts of his Painful Painful Minghun level rising in succession rang out in Hearing Tong Xin's mind.

A surge of scorching airflow burst out as the crimson energy cluster merged into his body, rapidly spreading to his limbs and every part of him, as if every meridian and every inch of flesh were being scoured by this energy into new life, transformed from the inside out.

The most direct change brought by the Painful Painful Minghun level-up was perception of the outside world.

His vision suddenly became clearer—the texture of distant snowflakes was visible to the naked eye, as if a hazy veil had been lifted from the world.

Next, his hearing and sense of smell were also enhanced.

Finally, his body—as if freed from gravity's grip, it felt light and nimble.

It gave him the illusion that if he took a step right now, he would take flight.

His body let out a roar at that moment; as qi and blood surged, his muscles grew firmer, his bones tougher, and within him it felt as if boundless power lay hidden, ready to erupt at any moment.

"Awesome!" Hearing Tong Xin couldn't help exclaiming.

He finally understood why Iron Hammer had said Monster World's hottest gameplay was hunting and growth.

The direct sensation brought by the stat boost even made him feel his very life form had evolved.

"This stat-amp feedback is way too intense—if I log out now, I bet I won't be able to accept my real-world body anymore."

"You've hit the key point. Now you know why we've been in the game so long — the stat boosts are only part of the feedback. Later I'll let you try some Spirit Food, and once you do, I guarantee you won't even be able to eat normal food back in reality." Meng Wa explained with a grin at this moment.

"What a terrifying game. I heard ancient games all had anti-addiction systems, but this game's setting is basically a must-addiction system… But honestly, the feeling from the stat boosts is amazing — like shedding the shackles of the body and gaining freedom."

Saying so, Tong Xin looked at Zui Nai, who had just used his ability:

"Zui Nai released Ink Flame, right? That ability looks so cool."

"Stay calm, there's something even cooler!"

Meng Wa, who was standing nearby, chimed in, and with a raise of his hand, a dark-red longbow materialized before him.

Meng Wa struck a pretentious pose, reaching out to grip the bow's handle, his fingers lightly resting on the bowstring.

The bowstring was slowly drawn back, and suddenly a blazing ball of fire burst from the bow body, spreading along the bow arms and instantly engulfing the entire longbow.

The flames danced on the bow body but did not burn Zui Nai's hand, rising and falling with his breathing.

As the bowstring was pulled, blood-and-qi energy automatically gathered, and Tong Xin could even see specks of red condensing onto the bowstring.

Thrum!

Whoosh!

The arrow left the string, tearing through the air as it whistled forward, trailing a dazzling streak of blazing firelight.

Wherever the arrow passed, it left a trail of flame, like a fire dragon roaring through the air.

It struck precisely at the chest of a marked giant beast in the distance.

Boom!

The blood-and-qi flames exploded, turning everything within a ten-meter radius centered on the giant beast into a sea of fire, swallowing the beast whole.

The blood-and-qi flames clung like a bone-deep rot, rapidly spreading across the giant beast's entire body, until it finally crashed to the ground amid the firelight and crumbled to ash.

Meng Wa, whose hair had been dyed white, blew a strand of hair hanging by his temple with an indifferent expression, then turned to look at Tong Xin, about to speak.

A snowball flew over and smacked him in the face.

Smack!

"That's enough. I brought you guys along to level me up, not to watch you show off. Don't look at me every time you finish dealing damage — if you keep this up, I'll leave the party and go level up on my own."

The brothers' showing off made Tong Xin feel envious, but at the same time, his teeth itched with frustration.

These bastards had completely treated him as their show-off audience.

"Director, you're too fragile. Without an old acquaintance like you, who would we show off to? It's rare to find someone who gives us such great emotional value — we have to let the brothers enjoy it properly."

Hearing the Director's exasperated scolding, the players of the Kindergarten Squad couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Amid the playful bickering, the missing piece of the team was filled in.

The Kindergarten Squad was only truly complete with the Director. Although the Director was very weak right now, he was always the leader of the Kindergarten Squad in their eyes.

They believed that powerful Director would return soon.

Going forward, the Kindergarten Squad's resources would also be focused on the Director, helping him grow quickly.

……

Meng Yuan Chu Altar.

Qi Sheng's gaze withdrew from Tong Xin.

Before this, he had no impression of this player at all.

But an hour ago, he heard a faint, devout prayer sound echo in his mind.

Driven by curiosity, he followed the guiding consciousness and descended.

After scanning all the records and information about Tong Xin online, Qi Sheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

It turned out this was one of the players he had recruited in the early days.

Looking through the records, Tong Xin's experience could only be described as fantastical.

When he sent out links to the Kindergarten Squad under the identity of a welfare officer, Tong Xin kicked him out of the group chat, then fell fast asleep.

At the time, he had sent links to multiple groups simultaneously. Slots were limited, and once they were sent out, he paid no more attention. By the time Tong Xin wanted to get a slot, they had all been snatched up.

The second time, Tong Xin actually managed to grab a game slot.

This time Qi Sheng had an impression.

He remembered the guidance saying at the time that after obtaining the slot, the player never chose to activate and use it.

Qi Sheng didn't know the specific reason, and didn't have the patience to wait.

He only knew that the player who got the slot wasn't enthusiastic. Since an empty slot couldn't create value, it naturally had to be reclaimed.

So Tong Xin missed the game slot he had distributed for the second time.

The third time, by mistake, he grabbed the Dark Lands…..

After learning the specific reason, Qi Sheng felt this player was rather pitiful.

At the same time, remembering that he was a core member of the Kindergarten Squad, a top-tier player team in the game, he made an exception and gave him an extra slot.

If it were truly allocated by probability, Tong Xin would never have won the draw.

After a brief observation, Qi Sheng withdrew his gaze from the Kindergarten Squad.

There were more important things waiting for him to do next.

During this period, he had browsed the forum and summarized a large number of issues regarding player needs.

Among them, there was one long-standing issue that he felt it was time to address.

There had always been a voice on the forum saying that the game lacked a currency trading system linked to reality, meaning every time they wanted to purchase Shou Shou Jili, they had to go offline to transfer money, and had to memorize bank card numbers and the names of trading players.

The transfer process was complicated, and every time it wasted a lot of time.

Qi Sheng had noticed this problem.

Time added up, and as the player base kept growing, the time wasted on transfers would only increase, squeezing out time for development and growth.

Now that Monster World's official website had officially launched, it had opened up a channel connecting Monster World to the outside world.

Adding a currency trading system linked to reality wasn't difficult either.

It didn't need the Star Net's approval at all—the Guide could handle it on its own.

Having an idea, Qi Sheng set to work immediately.

Before long, the currency trading system was complete.

This system was linked to the banking systems of every race in the Earth Alliance.

After testing and opening the new feature, a brand-new trading interface unfolded before Qi Sheng's eyes like a painted scroll.

The overall layout of the interface was clean, with navy blue as the main color, paired with bright gold lines outlining the borders and dividing sections.

The upper half of the interface was the real-world currency field; tapping the small icon on the right allowed one to choose the currency for the trade.

Earth Coins, Credit Points, Moon Coins… any currency could be used for trading.

Which specific currency to use for the trade was to be negotiated freely between both parties. The lower half of the interface was the Shou Shou Jili input field, where players could edit the amount of Shou Shou Jili to be traded.

This trading system took a 1% transaction fee.

But the fee was taken from the side receiving the Shou Shou Jili.

As for the real-world currency the other side received, Qi Sheng had no intention of taking a cut—in his eyes it was worthless, not even worth taking for free.

A lock function was also set before the trade was completed, letting both players confirm the trade item information one more time before the transaction succeeded, preventing accidental taps that could cause loss of benefits.

After the trade was completed, the buyer's bank card balance would be automatically deducted and transferred to the seller.

If the buyer's bank card balance was insufficient, the trade would be canceled directly.

Once the new feature was implanted into the Challenger System, it could greatly shorten the process of buying and selling Shou Shou Jili, completing trades across distances in a short time.

Next, Qi Sheng set up a Shou Shou Jili consignment box on the right side of the interface.

Players wanting to sell Shou Shou Jili could set the currency and price they wanted, then list it directly on the consignment column.

Players in need didn't need to communicate; if they felt the price was right, they could pay and buy directly.

To ensure the trade proceeded normally, once a player set up a consignment, that Shou Shou Jili would be frozen until the consignment was canceled or bought by another player before it could be used.

After testing the operation and transfer and confirming it ran perfectly, Qi Sheng began building the second update content.

He planned to link the "Live-Stream Function" content from the forum to the Monster World official website.

Every day on the forum, large numbers of players started live streams.

Players who hadn't yet obtained game qualifications could use the live-stream content to understand Monster World in greater detail.

Laying a foundation for rapid growth after obtaining qualifications and entering the game.

Linking the live-stream function to the Monster World official website wasn't difficult.

In terms of settings, he marked viewers who hadn't obtained qualifications as "tourists," with names being a string of numbers; they could send bullet comments and comments, but couldn't provide Shou Shou Jili tips.

It was foreseeable that once this feature went online, every player's live-stream room would be flooded with a large batch of tourists pointing fingers from afar, giving long-distance "guidance" to veteran players.

So he added a permission setting for players currently streaming, allowing them to freely ban tourists who had no permissions, preventing situations where tourists caused trouble in the comment section and bullet-comment area of live-stream rooms.

At the same time, he also added a piece of content to the live-stream function.

A new Live-Stream Popularity Ranking was added, located on the left and right sides of the forum's main page alongside the Forum Hot Posts Ranking.

Among them, live streams by strategy-guide players would receive more popularity weight than live streams by other types of players.

For example, Stream A was a strategy-guide player, Stream B was a content-clown player.

Then every additional viewer in Stream A's room added +2 popularity, while every additional tourist viewer in Stream B's room added +1 popularity.

After all, he opened external live streams to enhance outsiders'—potential players'—understanding of Monster World, shorten the familiarization process for new players after entering the game, and let them learn some real stuff in advance.

After completing the setup of the two pieces of content, Qi Sheng posted an update notice in the game.

【Challenger Notice (All Channels): The game is about to undergo an update. The update contents are as follows】:

Update Content 1: Currency Trading System.

Feature Introduction: Players can perform Shou Shou Jili consignment and Shou Shou Jili purchase operations in the currency trading function. The feature is linked to the real-world banking system, and the amount will be automatically transferred after the trade is completed.

Note: If the bank card balance is insufficient, the trade will be automatically canceled.

Note: Consigned Shou Shou Jili will be deducted and frozen, and cannot be operated or used.

Note: After the Shou Shou Jili trade is completed, 1% of the Shou Shou Jili obtained by the buyer will be deducted.

Update Content 2: Live Streams Opened.

Feature Introduction: After this update concludes, forum live-stream rooms will be linked to the Monster World official website. Players who haven't obtained game qualifications will enter live-stream rooms as tourists. Players who start streams will gain the permission to ban tourists (can one-click ban all tourist comments). At the same time, a Live-Stream Popularity Ranking has been added to the forum.

Comment Section:

God King: Finally here. Buying Shou Shou Jili before was way too tiring. The sellers now basically only do small amounts, every trade I had to memorize a long string of bank card numbers, several times I got it wrong and had to log back in to memorize them again, could only let the guild management help me handle it. Now I can finally complete trades in the game without logging off. I'm giving this update a perfect score, full praise.

Bing Xin Jing Er: I'll give the update content praise, but what kind of shady move is the dog official pulling now? Why doesn't the currency trade take a cash cut, but takes the buyer's Shou Shou Jili? We paying players are buying because we lack Shou Shou Jili, and yet you still take 1% of the Shou Shou Jili. Dog official, drop dead (Cafeteria Battle Neck Pinch Shake. jpg)

Stir-Fry Muscle Master: Think we have too much Shou Shou Jili on us? What's the meaning of taking Shou Shou Jili? If you took 5% cash I could understand, but taking Shou Shou Jili is just too much. Suggest changing the setting.

Taste My Broken Shoe Holy Light Slash Holy Light: This time Monster World is basically fully open to the outside, even the external currency system is online. Feels like the game is getting more and more fun, all kinds of convenient settings really make you feel the game is growing, every update is a step of progress.

National Class-One Protected Waste: So when are you going to nerf the Earth-Thought Overlord's intelligence? Apart from the treasure chest monster behavior being praiseworthy, all the other settings of the Earth-Thought Overlord are too much. Can't you change the player-spraying setting? Every time it sprays me my blood surges with rage. Last time it actually had an evil spirit get right in my face and say my "chicken" was small—I really want to punch the Overlord's head off. Who told you to set up a villain like this?

Sky Border Rogue: Hahaha, the poster above is killing me. The Earth-Thought Overlord's trash-talking tactics really are getting more and more brilliant. Last time a tank player in our group got into a trash-talk duel with an evil spirit and went into full red-temp mode, got scolded until smoke was coming off the top of his head. But actually there's a way to counter the Overlord's tactic: when it sprays, don't curse the evil spirit, curse the Earth-Thought Overlord. The Overlord will also go red-temp and control the evil spirits to gang up on you. Mutual harm—everyone loses.

Holy Light Has Betrayed Me: You obviously haven't realized what the biggest problem with this update is. After the live-stream function opens to the outside, a huge wave of cloud players is about to enter the battlefield. Get ready to be sprayed. Even though they haven't played the game, they definitely understand the game better than you do. I guarantee plenty of live-stream rooms will have this line: "Streamer, do you even know how to play? That's not how you do it" (silly. jpg)

……

The currency system had just gone online, and several trades were quickly completed.

Basically, as long as Shou Shou Jili was listed for sale, if the price was within the market range, it would be snapped up instantly.

After observing the trend of a few trades, Qi Sheng stopped paying attention.

And after the official website linked the live-stream function, a large batch of "tourists" entered in a short time.

Just as the forum players had predicted, the tourists' enthusiasm was unleashed in the live-stream rooms, swarming through every room; the bullet-comment count in the vast majority of live-stream rooms exploded by a hundredfold, and the traffic was still surging.

The outside world was full of hungry, waiting mouths—players who hadn't obtained qualifications. They watched the live streams immersively through the game pod from the Guide's perspective.

The fully realistic scene experience is far more fun than experiencing Monster World firsthand.

The number of tourists is surging; every livestream room has tourists wailing, asking when their turn for Monster World game qualification will come, wanting to play this game.

Some tourists, full of malice, furiously cursed at the players currently livestreaming, demanding to know on what basis they got game qualifications, why couldn't it be themselves.

All sorts of meaningless comments also provoked backlash from many veteran players, but the sheer volume was too overwhelming to even manage banning accounts.

The only thing that could be done was one-click mute of "tourist" comments.

The cloud players the players had anticipated also quickly appeared.

Based on their days of forum observation, they were like commanders standing on high ground—though they had never personally set foot on the battlefield, they knew the situation inside out through intelligence, endlessly analyzing players' actions and commenting on the state of the world.

In one livestream player's words: "Damn it, even when I'm eating a spiritual delicacy, someone tells me my way of eating is wrong, that I have to follow their method to make it taste better. Good thing the game doesn't require taking a shit, otherwise even the angle I'd raise my ass at would be criticized as wrong, not satisfying enough."

These cloud players quickly accumulated a pile of titles on the forum.

For example: Theory Master, Cloud War God, Virtual Dreamer, Comment Section Philosopher, Wandering Cloud Poet, Strategist Behind the Screen.

Scrolling through player-generated content, Qi Sheng continuously gathered player feedback to better carry out the next round of updates.

Just then, feedback from the Guidance surfaced in his mind.

Qi Sheng's gaze immediately shifted, arriving at the depths of the dense forest on the Prismatic Mist Coast.

His eyes locked onto a figure with greying hair collapsed on the ground.

Though advanced in years, his appearance was frozen in the game; his initialized body's strength was no different from a normal player's.

The elderly player had chosen a melee build; before falling, he had been following his team in combat against a group of monsters.

In an instant of Qi Sheng's thought, the scene seemed to rewind.

He saw the elderly player, who had been charging forward with his team, suddenly wear an expression of extreme agony; his steps slowed, then he abruptly collapsed limply to the ground.

This immediately caught the team's attention; after gathering close, they discovered the elderly player seemed to have fallen into a coma.

His consciousness shifted to Earth, to the elderly player's location, and the scene rewound.

Qi Sheng saw the pale-blue game pod emit an alarm, urgently contacting the nearby medical station.

The game pod automatically opened at this moment, and the Challenger System also sent the elderly player's consciousness back to his body.

The elderly player struggled to sit up, his hands weakly resting on the edge of the game pod, fingertips trembling slightly, as if wanting to grasp something but lacking the strength to hold on.

At this moment, a sharp pain struck his chest, as if an invisible hand had tightly clenched his heart, causing his breathing to suddenly become rapid, his face to turn pale, and fine cold sweat to continuously seep from his forehead.

He tried to raise his hand to cover his chest, but his arm felt as heavy as if filled with lead, unable to move.

His lips parted slightly, wanting to call for help, but only a faint breathy sound emerged.

The pain grew more intense, like countless knives cutting into his heart; his vision blurred, the scene before him gradually dimming, a buzzing sound reached his ears, as if the whole world was drifting away from him.

Finally, his breathing stopped, his chest no longer rose and fell; the room fell silent, with only the wind outside gently stirring the curtains, making a faint rustling sound.

His life came to an end at this moment, like a lamp that had burned out, quietly extinguished.

Before the medical station's rescue team could arrive, the elderly player had already died of a heart attack.

Seeing this scene, Qi Sheng couldn't help but frown.

This was the first real-world player death incident in Monster World.

The cause of the player's death had nothing to do with Monster World; it was entirely a heart attack caused by the aging of his real-world body.

It was foreseeable that in the future, as the player base continued to grow, real-world death cases would occur frequently.

Once he recruited all of Earth's lives into the game, with over 15 billion players, death incidents would occur in reality every moment.

"Guidance, can resurrection be done?"

【Yes, by consuming Shou Shou Jili, but it's not recommended.】

Hearing this, Qi Sheng fell into thought.

Before this, he truly hadn't considered this question—how to handle the accounts in Monster World of players who died in reality.

Should they be resurrected in reality? Or should the account be broken down and recycled? Or perhaps...?

(End of this chapter)