"Ding! The Winter Competition has officially concluded! The top fifty adventurers are: An Xiaomei, Lister Lado, Angelina Main, Lu An'an…"
"The countries to which these adventurers belong will receive materialized versions of the treasure chests and resource cards from their backpacks. Each adventurer will also receive individual rewards, as well as thirty minutes of communication time with their immediate family members."
An Xiaomei's harvest this time was abundant. Thanks to her efforts alone, the Dragon Nation materialized one million square kilometers of ocean territory, one thousand mu of grassland, one hundred thousand dairy cows, ten thousand wild chickens…
"Ding! Congratulations, Adventurer An Xiaomei! You ranked first in this Winter Competition and are hereby awarded two Advanced Resource Chests!"
Before long, An Xiaomei eagerly opened her reward chests and obtained: Hidden Map Fragment ×4, Silver Sword ×2, Water-Avoiding Pearl ×1, Energy Stone ×24…
Two minutes later, An Xiaomei saw her son, Yang An—his eyes were red and rimmed with tears.
He moved his lips, as though gathering his courage, and said softly, "Mother, you've already done more than enough. Your son only hopes that one day you can return safely."
To Yang An, his mother had already given her all for the nation—there was no need for her to keep risking her life like before.
As a soldier, Yang An could sacrifice himself for the country. But as a son, he couldn't bear to see his mother constantly trapped in danger.
Touched by her child's concern, An Xiaomei nodded gently. Then, she and Yang An spent some time talking privately.
"Um, Ms. An," a cautious voice interrupted, "I'm a national expert from the Dragon Nation. I'd like to take this opportunity while you're speaking with your son to ask about some survival techniques—if that's okay?"
The speaker's tone was tentative, as if afraid to offend her.
"It's fine. As long as I can help the country, I definitely will!"
For the next twenty minutes, An Xiaomei and the expert exchanged questions and answers. She kept silent about her personal secrets, but for everything else, she shared openly—knowing that the data would later be compiled and passed on to other Dragon Nation adventurers.
A year later, An Xiaomei finally gathered the remaining two pieces of the hidden map. The game transported her to an underwater world.
Fortunately, thanks to the Water-Avoiding Pearl and diving suit she had previously obtained, she experienced no discomfort there.
After overcoming three layers of trials, she entered the final Secret Realm Hall.
Inside, An Xiaomei used a Memory Playback Orb and witnessed the history of this game world's original inhabitants:
The strange monsters she had encountered before were once docile and harmless. But as the original humans' greed grew unchecked, regional wars erupted more frequently, further devastating the environment—ultimately giving rise to these monsters.
The Heavenly Dao, unable to bear seeing its children's living space destroyed, sealed away a portion of humanity as fire-seeds of survival.
Since it could not intervene directly, it created the National Destiny Game, hoping to use adventurers as a means to save the continent.
"Ding! Congratulations, Adventurer An Xiaomei, for discovering the Final Ultimate Secret Realm. Your last mission—place the map fragments you collected onto the puzzle before you to activate the formation that suppresses the aberrant monsters."
Following the game assistant's guidance, An Xiaomei carefully assembled the puzzle.
Once it was complete, a burst of seven-colored light flashed—and all adventurers received the same message:
"Brave adventurers, you may now return to the real world. Cherish the resources materialized for your nations—if they are wasted again, you will fall into an irredeemable abyss."
But An Xiaomei's message contained an extra line of gratitude:
"Due to your outstanding contributions, the Energy Stones and materials in your backpack may be brought back to the real world. You have one month to retrieve items from your backpack space. Special items will be recovered immediately."
When An Xiaomei and the others returned to reality, their contributions to the Dragon Nation's prosperity were so great that the state took full responsibility for their lifelong care. Their names were recorded in national history as the National Destiny Adventurers.
Thanks to these adventurers, the Dragon Nation possessed the world's largest territory and the richest, most diverse resources—rising to become the undisputed global superpower. The other nations could only retreat and live peacefully in their own corners of the world.