"Why is there still so much live time left after this instance goes black screen?"
"Is this person dead or not? It seems like there was a similar situation when he went through the instance before."
"What on earth is going on? Ugh, it’s killing me to not be able to chat more outside."
In the past few days, the people in Chun Bai Cheng have been acting mysteriously, often gathering in groups of three to five to discuss something that seems not to be publicly acknowledged.
The last time Yang Lin went to the bar for business, she saw players huddled together, neglecting even dancing and flirting.
She actually knew about that matter…
After all, the protagonist of the incident was someone she knew.
But unlike the confusion and doubt of these people, she felt more worried.
Their rental at the bar had not yet been canceled, and the guild had not fully resolved the issues, so most people were still here discussing things.
Yang Lin quickly went upstairs and entered the room, finding Yu Ye Zhou and Xu Yu already there.
The two men were frowning, staring at a segment of video playback.
It was completely black, with nothing visible.
Yang Lin took just one look and knew this was a recording of a live stream.
Normally, recording a live stream isn’t allowed, and people shouldn’t discuss the live content in private.
Perhaps because this recording was essentially a black screen, unrelated to the live stream content, it somehow got recorded and spread among people.
Those who didn’t understand the situation couldn’t make heads or tails of the footage.
But those who had seen the live stream and participated in that instance could instantly tell what was going on.
Not long after Gu Zhan entered the "Curse of the Kripper" instance, his live stream abruptly went black.
All the live content was hidden, but the stream didn’t end.
The black screen is a shielding mechanism in the game that appears in situations where live streaming is inconvenient.
However, it was unprecedented to have such a long, large-scale… even lasting until the end of the stream without being lifted.
Unfortunately, no one in the guild had completed that instance.
But they still heard about it, since they knew the person involved.
Players always find ways to bypass the system’s rules and discuss matters privately.
"What’s going on?" Yang Lin asked, deeply concerned as she entered.
Yu Ye Zhou kept his eyes glued to the screen of his personal terminal, trying to find something different in that darkness.
But sadly, black was just black; there was not even a shadow of a person, nothing to see.
"What instance did he enter? Is it because of the instance or because of someone?" Xu Yu asked.
Yang Lin replied, "I don’t know either."
She hadn’t been to that instance, and she hadn’t even had the right to watch Gu Zhan's previous live stream.
Yu Ye Zhou shook his head. "It shouldn’t be related to the instance."
Though he hadn’t been there himself, many who had said that the instance wasn’t like this…
It was just a… particularly tricky instance.
The trickiness of instances like this was nothing new in "Beyond the Rules."
But having a player's live stream go black screen certainly had nothing to do with trickery.
If one had to say, it should be "tricking the game."
Yang Lin sighed and said, "Could it be that our guild hasn’t even started and it’s already over?"
That statement carried a hint of dark humor.
Having experienced countless things in the instance, they probably found it hard to respect death.
Yu Ye Zhou smiled wryly. "I don’t know. Judging by the time, he should be coming out soon. Let’s wait a bit."
The black screen live stream had ended; Gu Zhan was either dead or on his way back to the hive.
Yang Lin sighed again and sat down beside the long table, activating her personal terminal.
But shortly after she took her seat, a name on her friends list suddenly lit up.
Yang Lin's eyes brightened. "He’s out! He’s not dead!"
This news instantly injected a spark into the lifeless office, prompting Yu Ye Zhou to impulsively stand up.
"Let’s go to the instance entrance to welcome him!"
However, he quickly realized that this world had too many instance entrances; they had no idea where to go to welcome Gu Zhan.
But Yu Ye Zhou didn’t want to sit down anymore.
He found it hard to calm his emotions and ultimately made an irrational decision: "Message him, ask where he is, and we’ll go find him."
"Okay." Yang Lin also didn’t want to wait around.
She really wanted to know what had happened.
As soon as Gu Zhan appeared, all the preparatory members of the guild sprang into action.
They had just left the bar when Sang Yue also came over.
At this point, Gu Zhan finally replied to Yang Lin’s message.
It was a very short sentence.
"Back at the hive, see you tomorrow."
Yang Lin: "…"
He really doesn’t care about anyone’s well-being at all!!
Even knowing that this was just Gu Zhan’s nature, at this moment, Yang Lin couldn’t help but curse.
She showed the message to the others.
"What should we do now?"
Sang Yue looked at it for a while and said, "How about we head back? He just came out of the instance and must be really tired; he might not want to entertain us."
Though usually, Gu Zhan probably wouldn’t want to entertain them either.
"Alright." Yu Ye Zhou could only lead the others back, saying, "Let’s see him tomorrow; give him a day to rest."
---
While Yu Ye Zhou and the others were concerned about Gu Zhan’s safety, they didn’t realize that Gu Zhan didn’t actually not want to meet them.
Rather… it was simply that the situation wouldn’t allow it.
After leaving the instance, he was startled to discover that the energy he had absorbed from Mo Tuo had not vanished!
He unexpectedly came out of the instance together with him.
This body outside the instance was even worse than the one inside!
He wasn't even a Mage!
From the moment he left the instance, he felt a restless energy surging inside his body, causing him to feel hot.
Every inch of his skin became extremely sensitive; even the breeze stirred the energy waves beneath his skin.
He felt like a jar filled to the brim, where even a slight shake would cause its contents to spill out.
Even in the pure white city, this state was quite dangerous.
Using his willpower, Gu Zhan exhausted the last bit of his strength to return to the hive and collapsed as soon as he entered.
After lying on the cold ground by the door for a while, his body gradually recovered. As soon as he awakened, he saw a message from Yang Lin.
In this state, it was naturally impossible for them to come over. After recovering, Gu Zhan activated the watch and entered the space within the watch.
As soon as he entered, he was blinded by the sunlight above, and the dim place he was used to suddenly became bright, which was quite disorienting.
The residents in the space were also at a loss. Xiao Ling was okay, but Sun Jingqiu and Xiao Xiu could not appear under the sunlight at all.
As soon as Gu Zhan appeared, Xiao Xiu ran over with a large cardboard box, seeking help.
"Woo woo, brother, help mommy and Auntie Xiao Xiu!"
At that moment, Gu Zhan realized what the energy inside his body was for. It seemed like his body had established a certain connection with the sun above. He tried to mobilize the energy within him, and the sun changed accordingly. Soon, the heat and brightness decreased.
He then attempted to move the sun towards the west, and surprisingly, it really did feel like the sun was setting.
Gu Zhan gradually began to grasp the method and started to set rules for the sun.
With day rising and setting, it became slightly dimmer. After all, what inhabited this space were either monsters or ghosts.
As seconds ticked by, Gu Zhan's state changed from initially sweating profusely to gradually getting used to it.
The overflowing energy within his body was slowly absorbed by the sun above. Whether it was controlling it or setting rules for it, both required energy as support.
In turn, Gu Zhan’s body also began to return to normal.
He didn’t know how long it had been, but he finally finished adjusting the sun.
The space within the watch gradually returned to its original state.
Xiao Xiu and Sun Jingqiu finally emerged from the house. Xiao Xiu wiped the sweat from her forehead and, still feeling nervous, said, "The tool you just got is quite powerful."
Upon hearing this, Gu Zhan couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly.
This was a tool? It was clearly the death warrant left for him by Mo Tuo.
Gu Zhan adjusted his breathing and calmed the pain in his body.
"It’s not a new tool, but you can use it to grow vegetables." Once he was completely calm, Gu Zhan stood up.
Seeing that he seemed to still be a bit unsteady on his feet, Sun Jingqiu stepped forward to help.
Gu Zhan, however, raised a hand to stop her. He quickly straightened up and walked towards the central plaza.
Sun Jingqiu and Xiao Xiu were already used to Gu Zhan visiting the space and inevitably stopping by the plaza, so they didn’t follow.
Gu Zhan approached the fountain sculpture and found that it had changed again.
The statue in the center, which originally resembled the mental hospital director boss from the first instance, now bore the likeness of Mo Tuo himself.
Its expression was ambiguous, with half-closed eyes, seemingly looking at the ground, yet also seeming to look at Gu Zhan.
The texture of this sculpture was similar to that of the one the church members had created after deducting 160,000 points from Gu Zhan, and it looked quite ominous.
Especially with Mo Tuo's face on it.
His so-called tool was clearly issued by the system, yet it had inexplicably established a connection with the monster.
This watch must have taken something from Mo Tuo; that was why the monster kept staring at him, even going so far as to violate the instance rules to meet him.
Gu Zhan stared at the statue for a while and suddenly noticed that Xiao Xiu was standing quietly in the corridor, watching him from a distance.
He waved to Xiao Xiu, who slowly walked over.
"Is there something you need?" Xiao Xiu asked softly.
Gu Zhan inquired, "Do you monsters have anything particularly special that symbolizes power?"
"Um, tokens? Yes, there are some. But some of these tokens exist in reality, while others may just be definitions or concepts... For example, I gain enhanced strength when it rains or when there's water, and I need to return to that river to recover when I'm injured, but the river's water also brings me pain."
Xiao Xiu looked at Gu Zhan and asked, "Did you obtain the power token of Number Two? Actually... I’ve always been curious why there’s a statue of Number Two in your space, especially since he doesn't seem to be here."
Gu Zhan replied, "He doesn’t go by Number Two; he has a name."
"Ah..." Xiao Xiu was even more surprised. "You know his name? You’ve met him?"
Gu Zhan turned the question back at her. "Do all you monsters have names? Is Xiao Xiu your name?"
Xiao Xiu nodded. "Everyone has a name. Even monsters without names will give themselves one. After all... most monsters have their own stories and a past life like me and Sun Jingqiu, so of course they have names... Only those born as monsters only have numbers, not names."
Xiao Xiu seemed to find this very interesting, and as she spoke, she laughed. "But they’re so strong yet have no names; how pitiful! So even monsters with only numbers will give themselves names, but they value their names greatly and rarely share them with others. At least... I didn't know Number Two's name before."
After hearing this, Gu Zhan simply remarked, "That's a strange rule."
Xiao Xiu looked at Gu Zhan curiously, feeling he had many secrets.
But strictly speaking, he was now her "master."
"You can't pry into your master's secrets."
Xiao Xiu suppressed her curiosity and quietly stood by.
Gu Zhan stood for a while longer before leaving. Before he went, he handed her and Sun Jingqiu a hoe and a shovel, reminding them, "Now that the sun is out, you can plant more vegetables."
Xiao Xiu: "……"
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