"Hmm?" Ren Yifei reached out and pressed his temples.
Revenge has begun.
"Player!" The guide spirit's voice returned, "Something's wrong! Someone has used a forced game card on you." And it's a high-level dungeon!
"I know. These forced game cards aren't easy to get, are they? They must be worth a lot of money."
"You still have the mind to worry about this?"
He stood up, facing the wasteland: "Relax. Even without this mandatory card, I would still check out the high-level matches. The opponent essentially wasted a very valuable item; isn't that something to be happy about?"
He had only been here for a month, but the desolate wilderness before him gave him a sense of home and comfort, as if the hustle and bustle of the outside world had nothing to do with him.
In fact, this place is no different from the entertainment industry. For various interests, they scheme and plot against each other in the entertainment industry, using both open and covert methods, but little do they know that Ren Yifei doesn't care about any of this.
All he ever wanted was a space where he could breathe freely, a stage where he could perform freely, nothing more.
Oh, it would be even better with some delicious food.
But the people outside didn't see him like a wolf, but like meat; they were either resistant and wary, or they were greedy and longing.
Even if he says he's not interested in fame and fortune, those people won't believe him. They'll project their own feelings onto him, thinking Ren Yifei is ambitious, and will continue to harass him and disrupt his work.
Therefore, there's no need to pay attention. When the "Black Rabbit" rises to a high position one day, and he says the same thing again, these people will have no choice but to believe it.
It's just repeating the path that the entertainment industry has already taken.
"Aren't the players worried?" The guide spirit found it strange that he was in such a good mood. It was already abnormal that he wasn't angry, but his mood index was actually rising.
Is this something to be happy about?
"You can be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against thieves for a thousand days. Since that person has invested so much, they naturally wouldn't mind investing a little more, like having someone ambush me in the instance. They can run away on their own, saving me the trouble of searching for them. Isn't that great?"
Ren Yifei stretched: "Let's continue our previous topic. Can the Ghost Card be upgraded again?"
Seeing that its host really didn't take it to heart, the guiding spirit felt relieved: its host was a 100% Grand Slam player, what was it afraid of?
"Because players haven't been in the Wasteland for very long, I haven't thought to tell them about this. Once they enter the high-level matches, the players will be clearly categorized. The high-level matches are a watershed moment."
High-level players have moved beyond simply 'survival'; they now have new pursuits regarding items, skills, and special cards.
Players no longer play games for shell coins or items; they complete levels to find the most suitable 'SSR cards' and then nurture them into the strongest deck, like raising a child. Every high-level player has a core set of legendary cards.
Among them, the high-end welfare dungeons are the most popular because they may drop super rare limited edition SSR ghost cards.
"To increase Ghost Card's favorability, high-level players will build beautiful castles for Ghost Card, hire attentive maids, and fulfill Ghost Card's various wishes. In order to improve Ghost Card's abilities, high-level players will also work hard to farm high-level dungeons in order to obtain upgrade cards specifically for Ghost Card."
According to the guide spirit, there is no one more "player" than high-level players, who are all addicted to raising pets and cannot extricate themselves.
Ren Yifei listened in a daze, recalling the daily routines of those unscrupulous game merchants who induced players to spend money on in-game purchases.
Want your daughter to have limited-edition outfits? Pay up!
Want your son to have even cooler gear? Pay up!
Want to dominate the competition and become the top scorer? Then spend some money!
Goodness, did the developers of Wasteland just copy the whole thing from the game?
He was wondering why high-level players, who could make a fortune in a single game, were still so keen on entering dungeons. It turned out there was a carrot dangling in front of them.
Capitalists are indeed heartless; they have a whole set of tricks to coax people into spending money.
Players who enter high-level matches to learn skills, players who enter high-level matches to get equipment for their daughters and sons, players who enter high-level matches to search for their dream love cards... What kind of crazy people are these high-level match players?
Ren Yifei, who plays games, sighed as he played the role.
"If you have the chance, please upgrade Grandma Chunzhi! 100% affinity is rarer than a limited-edition SSR. If you can upgrade her all the way to SSR, it will save you a lot of trouble," the guide spirit emphasized again. Affinity is harder to obtain than upgrade cards.
"Of course, your Ghost Card's favorability is far above average, and its SR rank can go toe-to-toe with SSR rank, so you don't need to worry too much about upgrading it."
"Hmm." There was no worry at all.
Ren Yifei remained calm, while the other players who had been thrown out were all shocked and dizzy, and immediately went to report the situation to their respective factions.
"Sister, we must take down the Black Rabbit! He's terrifying." Xiao Qi was the girl with glasses from before; in reality, he was a handsome science and engineering student. He was telling their eldest sister, 'Wenli,' the founder of the academy, about his experience in the game.
"If genius is forged from one percent talent and ninety-nine percent perspiration, then what Nian Tianxi lacks from Black Rabbit is that one percent talent." Xiao Qi actually placed Black Rabbit in such a position, far above Nian Tianxi, the current representative of the disguise style.
"He must have had some special experience. A young man in his early twenties doesn't have enough experience to support this kind of acting skills, but he can."
Once is a coincidence, twice is luck, three times is possible, four times is absolute. The Black Rabbit definitely has the ability to crush all disguised tactics.
No wonder Nian Tianxi was on high alert, even hiring assassins. It's just a pity that the people he found were useless. Even the people sent by Ke Bei, that control freak, failed miserably.
To deal with the black rabbit, we'd probably need to hire a more sophisticated assassin.
The most elite assassin in the Wasteland is 'Butterfly,' one of the top ten, who lives in the wasteland. His hobby is killing.
Ordinary assassins are just people who take money to solve problems for others, and that person treats it as a pleasure in life.
Nian Tianxi couldn't afford that price, so he went to hire 'Butterfly'.
Wenli looked at Xiaoqi, who was unusually excited, and laughed: "What is it about him that makes you all so obsessed with him after just one meeting, wanting to bring him in and even vouching for him yourself?"
"Some people are just too brilliant; they are destined to shine in this world," Xiao Qi said earnestly.
"Alright, I understand. I'll try my best to get this person, but don't be too disappointed if I don't succeed. After all, we're not the only ones vying for this person."
Meanwhile, another player was reporting his game progress, but he was purely an observer. He wanted to stir things up, but couldn't find anyone to help, so he simply lazily played through the entire instance.
Fortunately, he quit his job, otherwise look at what happened to those people, they would be buried under grass by now.
"That's a ruthless guy," he commented. Because players can no longer kill each other after identifying the 'ghost,' they have to eliminate any players hostile to them before the final reveal. Isn't that ruthless?
Chen Shen, resting his chin on his hand, asked, "How confident are you in getting him to join us?"
"Zero," the subordinate replied.
"What do you mean?" Chen Shen asked curiously. Surely her influence couldn't be completely devoid of charisma? Even if her influence lacked charisma, wasn't she herself worthy of following?
"Since Black Rabbit can handle the dungeon by himself, why bother with cooperation? He doesn't need anyone else; on the contrary, others need him. It's unfair from the start. I don't think anyone who can enter the Desolate Corner is a saint with great love in their heart who sacrifices themselves for others."
"Furthermore, if he were looking for someone to collaborate with, the news would have spread long ago, but there hasn't been any, has there?"
Chen Shen interlaced his fingers: "If we didn't know, that would be one thing, but now that we know there's such a talented newcomer, how can we pretend we don't know? Even if we can't join, there are other ways to cooperate. We can find out what the other party needs."
"We don't resort to trickery or force. The more friends we have, the better."
Chen Shen's words were pointed; indeed, she was mocking Ke Bei from the underground city.
The underground city at this time.
"Chang Yan is dead." A subordinate brought the tragic news.
Ke Bei, who was doing his nails, heard about this and told someone to stop: "Who did this?"
"Black Rabbit".
"He let a disguised assassin kill him?" Ke Bei raised an eyebrow. "He was too careless."
The subordinate, who had inside information, immediately said, "Sir, this is what happened." He recounted the events in detail, as if he had witnessed them firsthand.
It wasn't that Chang Yan was being negligent; it was just that the other person was no pushover either. He had been hiding in the entire instance, and the first thing he did when he finally showed himself was to kill someone as a sacrifice.
"Didn't I tell him to test me? Why did he attack right away?"
After a long silence, Ke Bei coughed a few times, a sickly blush rising on his pale face. He wasn't unaware of the reason, but Ke Bei loathed this possessive feeling.
"Has he forgotten who is the master and who is the slave?"
Ke Bei appeared unperturbed, but his subordinates remained silent, not daring to utter a word in their defense. Chang Yan had broken the rules; his actions had crossed the line. Ke Bei was the king of the underground city, the master of everyone; no one could make demands of him.
"I understand." Ke Bei stood up, the white light in the room shining on his sickly face, and he seemed to be smiling. "He is my man after all, he can't die like this without knowing why."
The infamous hound of the dungeon, Changyan, died quietly.
In this single instance, Ren Yifei directly or indirectly killed three people: Chang Yan, and a pair of assassins who came for him.
They were hired at a high price. The working-class player was responsible for taking the initiative, while the student leader was his partner, responsible for gathering intelligence. They were lovers and partners.
Both players have been playing in mid-tier matches and rarely make mistakes.
Not long ago, someone hired them to kill a player who had only been in the game for a month and was known as the "disguise player," Black Rabbit.
Black Rabbit has become quite famous recently, and the two of them knew about it, having even watched 'Neighborhood's' walkthrough video. So when the employer first mentioned this goal, they hesitated for a moment.
However, the Black Rabbit has only been in the game for a short time, and despite its talent, it lacks experience. Furthermore, its opponents in the neighborhood seem like newcomers who haven't yet adapted to the law of the jungle, and their aggression is not strong.
So after weighing the pros and cons, the two of them accepted the order.
Yet even such an experienced assassin fell to this disguise expert in a single encounter; one died, and the other's life was reduced to '1'.
This is an unprecedented disgrace.
The surviving gamer reported the incident to his employer, only to be berated: "A player who's only been in the Wasteland for a month can't even handle this? How dare you take on jobs?!"
The overworked gamer tolerated it, but he kept repeating one thing: "Boss, let me try one more time. This time, there will definitely be no accidents."
"I'll give you one more chance. If you fail this time, you're dead!" The sugar daddy angrily hung up the communicator.
"That instance was somewhat sinister; it seemed to amplify people's weaknesses. I'm not usually the type to act impulsively, but I acted like a madman back then. Once a person loses their composure, they're not far from death." The working-class player was reflecting on himself; he rarely reflected on himself before.
With all his comrades dead, he has lost an arm, and he has no choice but to reflect on his actions.
The "corporate slave" player has a similar background to Chen Shen from the top ten: he graduated from the Armed Police Academy and later entered the government.
His studies included behavioral psychology, which translates to quickly organizing scattered forces in practice. Therefore, he always makes use of the masses when entering dungeons.
However, compared to Chen Shen, he was still somewhat inferior, so he could only be an assassin and couldn't even squeeze into the top 100.
He sat down, a flash of regret crossing his face: "I never imagined he'd be a player. And no one who fell into that sea came out alive. It was my carelessness, but..."
"It won't happen again next time."
He raised his head, his eyes filled with deep-seated hatred: "He must die."
Author's Note: The daily life of a high-end player in the Wasteland: grinding for levels and spending money to raise pets.
Sa-Learning Technology-Man: Neurotic.
A·Playing a Role·Fei: A lunatic.
You two have no right to s
ay that!