Jiang Yan had just wanted to ask what this thing was for and why it had appeared here, but a strange and inexplicable sense of dread pulled his gaze back to the sky that was still collapsing. He saw that as the players poured in their strength, the golden web grew far tougher, yet the collapse of the dungeon remained irreversible, and chunks of data glowing a ghostly blue continued to fall from the sky. As more and larger data blocks fell, the golden web holding up the sky gradually tightened. The threads, under extreme pressure, grew thinner and thinner, lighter and lighter in color. It was clear it was reaching its limit. “No…” Jiang Yan instinctively looked toward the [Divine System] on his personal system panel. It was a primal instinct embedded in his DNA, prompting him to draw on the players’ power of belief. At this moment, the players floating beneath the golden web were arguing in the flurry of falling rose petals about why Jiang Yan, who should have already become par...
At this moment, Chun Bai Cheng could no longer be called pure white.
[P/s - Chun Bai Cheng mean Pure White City]
The sky remained dark red, and the spreading white fog hadn’t dissipated. The monsters surged out, destroying most of the buildings, leaving behind nothing but ruins.
Gu Zhan entered a broken alleyway and sat at its end.
He raised his right hand, and thankfully, his star map watch was still securely on his wrist.
Gu Zhan closed his eyes for a moment, and the next second, he entered the star map space.
No matter how dark it was outside, the star map space remained bright and calm.
But this time, something seemed different.
Gu Zhan opened his eyes and found himself inside a room. He was lying on a soft bed, surrounded by curtains, with walls adorned with intricate patterns.
The style reminded him of the Black Raven Mansion from the previous dungeon.
Gu Zhan propped himself up. His chest still hurt, and he pressed a hand to it as he got up and walked to the window, looking outside.
It was a church.
So, was this his room now?
Gu Zhan turned back, realizing that if he understood correctly, this would be where he would appear after each transfer.
That was fine by him.
He sat back down on the bed, but before he could do anything else, he heard footsteps outside the door.
The door was pushed open, and Xiao Xiu, Sun Jingqiu, and Qin Yue entered.
Of the three, Qin Yue’s voice was the loudest: “Boss, are you alright?”
“Ugh…” Gu Zhan was already feeling unwell, and Qin Yue’s shout made it worse. He immediately covered his forehead.
Xiao Xiu, without hesitation, slapped him on the back, warning, “Don’t shout, it’s too noisy.”
Qin Yue looked somewhat intimidated by Xiao Xiu, immediately falling silent.
Gu Zhan asked, "Has there been any unusual activity in the space?"
"No," Xiao Xiu shook her head.
Gu Zhan asked again, "What about the residents outside? Were they summoned out?"
Xiao Xiu exchanged glances with Sun Jingqiu, and after a moment, Xiao Xiu stepped forward, saying, "Although we’re not sure what’s going on, there’s definitely nothing. You’re injured, so you should focus on resting, not worry about others."
"I'm fine." Gu Zhan could feel his body rapidly recovering since entering the star map space. From the initial tightness in his chest, where speaking was difficult, his condition had already improved significantly.
"That’s still not okay. Who knows if your energy has been depleted?"
Xiao Xiu pressed Gu Zhan back onto the bed, sighing. "You may not realize this, but humans and monsters are different. Humans have physical bodies, so no matter how much energy we use, as long as we don’t die, we’ll eventually recover. But monsters are made of energy. We have different abilities and can change forms, but once the energy is depleted, the monster will disappear, with no chance of recovery… You should still be careful."
Gu Zhan hadn’t expected monsters to have such issues. He also wondered if Hai Chao’s people, trying to infiltrate the monster camp, were aware of this.
Gu Zhan rubbed his brow and said, "Mo Tuo once said that players’ existence is related to how you gather energy. What exactly do you gain from players’ actions?"
Xiao Xiu replied, "Fear, despair, hatred… all intense negative emotions, and a few strong positive emotions, like the joy of surviving a life-threatening situation."
"No wonder," Gu Zhan muttered softly.
No wonder dungeons are so dangerous. A single misstep could cost you your life, making humans constantly immersed in despair and fear.
Gu Zhan didn’t want to comment on whether this world’s system was fair. He just nodded, acknowledging that he understood.
"Just lie down for now. Once you’ve fully recovered, you can go back," Xiao Xiu said. "We won’t disturb you."
Qin Yue looked at Gu Zhan, seemingly wanting to ask something.
But due to Gu Zhan’s condition, he stayed silent and was pulled away by Xiao Xiu.
Gu Zhan slept for a long time. When he woke up, all his discomfort had vanished.
He opened the system and saw that the red cloud had lost a stronghold, while the opposing faction gained one.
Hai Chao’s people were clever, knowing they couldn’t directly confront the guild, so they devised a more insidious plan.
Clearly, the attack on the guild’s territory had severely affected the state of Yu Ye Zhou and the others.
Gu Zhan wondered if the others had managed to retake the stronghold.
Maybe from the start, they shouldn’t have stayed in the guild. Everyone should have gone to the stronghold.
It was still too careless.
While Gu Zhan was sitting on the bed looking at the map of strongholds, the door was suddenly knocked.
"Come in."
He responded aloud, and Qin Yue carefully opened the door and walked in.
"Boss," he hesitated, calling out to Gu Zhan, standing by the door and saying nothing.
Gu Zhan quietly watched him, his tone calm: "What’s wrong?"
"It’s just… well," Qin Yue hesitated for a while before finally deciding to speak, "I’m still worried about the president and the others. Can you let me out? I want to help."
Qin Yue, now a monster, was calm living in this dungeon space.
But his worry for the people outside made it hard for him to truly feel at peace.
The situation had occurred so suddenly that Gu Zhan hadn’t had the time to properly arrange things for his people.
Although Qin Yue had turned into a monster, he could still help the guild.
Gu Zhan said, "You might encounter some danger once you leave. I’m not sure yet what the consequences will be if a monster dies. You might even die… If you want to go out, be extra careful."
Qin Yue immediately nodded, "I understand, I won’t let the boss worry!"
Gu Zhan nodded and said, "I’m going to the town first. You can come with me when I leave."
Qin Yue had no objections and obediently followed Gu Zhan.
Gu Zhan got out of bed and went to the church’s hall, where he learned that a teleportation point had been set up to make travel to the town easier.
Standing in the teleportation point, Gu Zhan still couldn’t quite believe it. This space didn’t feel like a dungeon—it seemed like an independently functioning world.
Mo Tuo had once explained what dungeons were like—monsters controlled by the will of the system. Perhaps turning it into a self-sustaining small world wasn’t impossible?
Gu Zhan and Qin Yue walked around the town. The residents still saw him as the pope of the church, leading their lives. But their attitude wasn’t as fervent as before. While they watched from a distance, they still made room for Gu Zhan and Qin Yue to pass.
Qin Yue said, "Xiao Xiu and Sun Jingqiu come here every day to interact with the residents, and since they can visit the church anytime, the residents’ attitude has calmed down a lot."
Gu Zhan asked, "How do they usually live?"
Qin Yue replied, "There are about two hundred households. There’s farmland next to the town, so they can be self-sufficient. The rest of their supplies can be created with magic."
Gu Zhan looked up at the endless fields outside the town.
"Have you explored the outskirts of this space?"
When Gu Zhan first obtained the space, he had gone to the outskirts. Back then, the area wasn’t large, and it was basically just the psychiatric hospital. But now, things were different.
Qin Yue nodded, saying, "We’ve been. You can walk really far. Beyond the town and fields, there are forests and wilderness. There’s no real distinguishing feature. We entered the forest and walked for days but couldn’t find an edge. When we turned back toward the town, we quickly arrived back at the town. Xiao Xiu said we might have gotten lost in the forest."
Gu Zhan nodded, indicating he understood.
This might be the dungeon’s protective mechanism, which also implies that the space here is vast, but it will require some time to explore.
After briefly walking around the town, Gu Zhan decided not to let the residents out. Even though this was a dungeon, most of the people here were "ordinary humans" with no special abilities.
"Let’s leave it at that. Follow me, Qin Yue."
Gu Zhan led Qin Yue out of the space, and they landed in Chun Bai Cheng, both surprised by the change.
The sky was even darker than when Gu Zhan had left, and players with flight abilities occasionally flew overhead.
The whole land felt tense and desolate.
As soon as they landed, Gu Zhan contacted Yu Ye Zhou, but there was no reply. Gu Zhan didn’t waste time and told Qin Yue, "Let’s go straight to the stronghold."
The map had been blurred, but Gu Zhan had been to the stronghold before. He knew the way, so he led Qin Yue directly.
After walking for a while, Gu Zhan suddenly stopped by a depression in the ground. He grabbed Qin Yue and frowned. "Something’s not right."
"What?" Qin Yue asked, confused.
As they spoke, they felt a slight tremor in the ground. Then, a massive figure slowly walked past them.
Such a size could never belong to a player; it had to be a monster!
Gu Zhan felt tense, but Qin Yue, now a monster himself, was unfazed by the sight of another monster. Monsters didn’t fight each other for power because killing other monsters wouldn’t provide the abilities they sought, and such a fight would consume their energy.
But Gu Zhan still felt something was wrong. He stood still, observing.
Soon, the enormous creature emerged from the mist, and the two sides almost crossed paths. The monster moved slowly and didn’t seem to intend to attack Gu Zhan or Qin Yue.
They were supposed to pass each other and go their separate ways.
However...
The problem was that on the creature’s shoulder sat a "person."
He looked so familiar.
As Gu Zhan made eye contact with him, memories of his first days in the game flooded his mind. He had been chased all over the psychiatric hospital by the director, who had been transformed by Mo Tuo.
No.
This person… looked very much like the director of the psychiatric hospital.
Mo Tuo, the narcissistic monster, even when impersonating others, would transform his appearance to resemble his own. But he probably couldn’t shake off the constraints of his original monster form, as his facial features were different now.
"…"
Then this person, who looked so much like the director…
Before Gu Zhan could react, the director of the psychiatric hospital recognized him first. He shouted at Gu Zhan, "It’s you!!"
The voice was filled with anger.
Gu Zhan: "…"
Monsters didn’t typically fight each other.
But if there was personal enmity, that wasn’t necessarily the case.
Gu Zhan grabbed Qin Yue and pulled him backward. "Run!!"
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