“Bang!”
“Bang! Bang!”
“Bang, bang, bang!!”
[Your score: Ten rings, ten rings, ten rings... ten rings. Perfect score of 100.]
In the shooting range, the cold air from the central air conditioning drifted down from above. Chen Xi could clearly feel her sweat evaporating.
She exhaled deeply, put the firearm back in its place according to the regulations, and casually grabbed a white towel hanging to the side, pressing it against her face.
Ever since she awakened the class 【Constable】, Chen Xi could clearly feel that her physical fitness had improved.
A physical examination had also confirmed her suspicion.
Not only had her muscle density increased, but her bone density had also improved.
“Captain Chen, First Meeting Room in ten minutes.”
The duty officer next to her, Xiao Zhou, handed her a phone, looking at the data displayed on the screen with a mixture of awe and envy.
A perfect bullseye every single time.
Who wouldn't be envious of that?
Although Chen Xi's skills were classified, many in the bureau had already secretly speculated that she might possess some sort of rare offensive skill.
“Alright, I'll be there as soon as I change.”
With a thin layer of sweat still on the tip of her nose, Chen Xi unlocked her phone and quickly browsed through the video clips in the news. Her expression turned exceptionally grave.
When she opened WeChat, her Moments was also packed with countless new updates.
Someone had posted a pixelated photo of Jiangcheng University with the caption, “I told you those missing people ran into ghosts.”
Weibo was even more exaggerated; it had completely crashed, and she couldn't even tap into it.
The hashtags #UnidentifiedCreatures and #OfficialWarningToStayAwayFromSupernaturalPhenomena were burning red-hot at the top of the trending lists.
In an unprecedented turn of events, the Weibo hot search list actually went completely blank for half an hour.
...
Ten minutes later, the large conference room of the Special Investigation Department—or rather, the Special Investigation Bureau—was already packed with people.
Behind the long conference table, the meeting's title was projected onto the screen.
A faint aroma of tea drifted through the air, mingled with the bitter scent of instant coffee.
Sitting in the main seat was Commissioner Lin Zhenghong. On his left was Director Sun Zhao of the Special Investigation Bureau, and on his right was Chen Xi, the newly appointed Chief of the Special Investigation Bureau's Operations Department.
Registered core players like Su Ya, Yang Asha, Yang Hexuan, Jiang Chen, Ding Feifan, Tan Moli, Weng Yang, and Lin Jianguo were also sitting up straight, looking solemn.
Zhou Hui sat at the very edge of the table, leaning forward slightly with a serious expression.
Beside her, the seat belonging to Ouyang Qiu was completely empty.
The surgical costs for Zhou Hui's daughter had already been resolved, and they were currently waiting for a matching donor. Furthermore, all subsequent expenses would be covered by the Special Investigation Bureau through their special talent security channel.
Sitting here, she felt a mixture of gratitude and the realization that she had no other choice.
Zhou Hui and Ouyang Qiu had also completed the hidden quest “Child in the Womb, Dish on the Plate” (Part 1).
Perhaps because they had only assisted and had not faced The Cat-Faced Old Lady head-on, neither of them had received a dedicated class weapon.
Zhou Hui had received a random pet egg of silver quality, while Ouyang Qiu had obtained the artifact 【Endless Medical Kit】 and five portions of grave-side moss.
Zhou Hui had originally wanted to hand the random pet egg over directly, but after learning that the Instances were not one-off events and that veteran players could be forcibly teleported in again—
She decided to join the Special Investigation Bureau.
Zhou Hui admitted to herself that she didn't have any grand ambitions, nor did she want to become some sort of superhero.
She simply wanted to watch her daughter grow up safe and sound. Now that she had official backing, she felt much more at ease.
The two young men sitting opposite her presented a stark contrast in demeanor.
Jiang Chen leaned forward, his eyes shining with an intimidating brightness, his face filled with an uncontrollable fanaticism.
It seemed that if not for the strict discipline of the room, he would have already raised his hand to question Chen Xi.
Wang Lei, on the other hand, looked completely dazed, his gaze blank, as if he had not yet recovered from the terror of the Instance.
The seat with the name tag “Kang Xiaojia” was also empty.
Minors required guardian consent to attend the meeting, and since today was Wednesday, she had to be at school.
These three were the most peculiar among all the players—they had cleared the Instance by exploiting a bug.
In the 《Old Lady Huang's Birthday Celebration》 Instance, the other two teams of players had spent their time searching for clues and choosing factions.
These three, however, hid during the day and drove around the village at night. Wang Lei had even accidentally killed a human-faced rat, which led to him being classified as joining the "cat faction."
Aside from Zhou Chang, who was killed by the Night-Weeping Mother, the three of them had stubbornly survived until the end of the Instance.
However, their rewards were also the lowest among all the players.
Aside from the basic survival points of ten per day, they received no items, skills, or classes.
Initially, Jiang Chen had been somewhat self-satisfied, believing he had found a shortcut to clearing the Instance.
It wasn't until he later coordinated with other players that he learned about the Clay Sculpture Ghost Shop inside the Instance, where one could purchase goods using points.
His regrets ran incredibly deep at that moment. For three consecutive days, he had blocked the Special Investigation Bureau agents, asking if he could enter the Instance just one more time.
...
“Now that everyone is here, let's begin the meeting.”
Director Sun Zhao tapped the table, and the conference room instantly fell silent.
“You should have all seen the news by now.”
Sun Zhao's voice was not loud, but it carried immense weight:
“It has been over a month since the first Instance appeared at Jiangcheng University.
We have paid a heavy price to go from being completely clueless to figuring out some patterns.”
She looked toward the technical department officer on the side:
“Xiao Du, present the patterns we've summarized so far to everyone. Everyone, listen closely. These are experiences we bought with our lives.”
The officer nodded, opened the documents in his hands, and pressed the clicker.
Four clear items popped up on the projection screen, each followed by case notes.
“Currently, based on the experiences of the twenty-three registered players, we have summarized four verified core patterns.”
“First, players enter Instances in two ways: active triggering and forced pulling.
Localized Instances are actively triggered. When ordinary people approach an Instance anchor point, there is a probability of being pulled in.”
“Remote Instances, like The Wishing Livestream Room, fall under random forced pulling. There are no geographical restrictions; as long as you make a wish in the livestream room, you will be teleported.
Currently, we have confirmed that even ordinary people who have never entered an Instance before can potentially be randomly and forcibly pulled in. The probability cannot be calculated at this time.”
A quiet gasp rippled through the audience.
Jiang Chen's eyes shone even brighter, while Wang Lei's face paled slightly, and he lowered his head even further.
“Second, and most importantly:
Veteran players who have entered an Instance will be forcibly sent into a new Instance every seven days.”
The officer's voice paused slightly:
“We have already verified this pattern with three players.
In other words, once you enter an Instance even once, it's like boarding a train with no option to get off.
Each cycle lasts seven to fourteen days, continuing until the player finds an item to escape the Instances, or... dies.”
The conference room fell into a dead silence for several seconds; even the sound of breathing grew faint.
Quite a few people clenched their fists tightly, their knuckles turning white.
This was especially true for the first-round veteran players.
They knew that the next person to be forcibly pulled into an Instance could very well be themselves.
...
“Third, after players exit an Instance, they will return precisely to the location they were at before entering, with a time difference of virtually zero.”
The officer continued:
“Whether it is a localized Instance or a remote Instance, both conform to this pattern.
For example, a player who entered an Instance from their dorm room will find themselves back on their dorm bed upon exiting.
A player pulled in through a livestream will appear back in their original spot upon exiting.
This point is crucial. It means we can lock down the location of a localized Instance by tracking where a player entered.”
“Fourth, Instances are generally divided into two types.”
Two categories popped up on the projection screen.
“One is the localized anchor Instance. Examples include the old teaching building at Jiangcheng University and the Taiping Cemetery in the west of the city. These have fixed physical coordinates, and ordinary people have a probability of triggering them when nearby.
We have already cordoned off and secured these two locations.
The other is the remote teleportation Instance, such as The Wishing Livestream Room. These have no fixed anchor points and can teleport players across regions, though the players still follow the rule of returning to their original entry point upon exit.”
The officer closed his folder and looked at Sun Zhao:
“That is all for the established patterns. There is also one conjecture that has yet to be verified. Director Sun, should I mention it?”
“Go ahead, let's discuss it together.”
“We were wondering.”
The officer paused slightly, his eyes shining with curiosity:
“If a veteran player actively enters a lower-difficulty localized Instance before their seven-day forced teleportation window, would that override the forced teleportation? It would essentially allow them to bypass a random, high-difficulty Instance.
Of course, this conjecture is currently unverified and carries extremely high risks. After all, we don't have a mature difficulty rating system for Instances yet.”
As soon as these words were spoken, some in the conference room felt tempted.
Naturally, there were also those who opposed it.
“Technically, we cannot predict the exact timing of the forced teleportation, nor can we predict whether actively entering an Instance will trigger an overlap.
If two Instances collide and the player is torn to shreds, who will take responsibility?”
“We haven't even figured out the underlying logic of these Instances yet. All these conjectures are just castles in the air.”
“I think it's worth a try.”
Jiang Chen raised his hand immediately, nearly standing up from his seat:
“I'll volunteer!!”
“Please sit down.”
Chen Xi shot him a glance. The latter pursed his lips and sat back down, deflated.
Zhao Weilai turned to Chen Xi, her gaze clear and upright:
“Chief Chen, I have a tentative suggestion.
We can compile the difficulties, rules, and deadly hazards of all discovered Instances into a database and make it public to players.
Right now, the player base is too small. Every death is a permanent loss. If the situation in Tokyo were to happen within our borders—”
Everyone understood her unspoken words.
If an Instance invasion occurred within Huaxia and supernatural horrors descended upon reality, the players would undoubtedly be the first line of defense to stand against them.
Therefore, nurturing and protecting players was of paramount importance.
Sun Zhao finally summarized the meeting:
“Let's set the conjectures aside for now and lower their priority. Now, onto the main business: our subsequent work arrangements, which consist of three matters.”
“First, we must strengthen player training.”
Her gaze swept across all the players present:
“All registered players—and I mean all—will participate in full-time training starting tomorrow.
Physical fitness, combat, emergency response, folklore knowledge, and psychological counseling.
The Special Investigation Bureau will provide the complete curriculum. With the seven-to-fourteen-day Instance cycles, no one knows what the next one will look like when they enter.
The more everyone trains now, the better their chances of survival.”
Quite a few people relaxed their tight expressions.
None of them were professionals, and they had never received any proper training.
Clearing Instances had relied entirely on luck. Having professional training was a positive development for everyone.
—Some of those present could not for the life of them understand the mindset of Kang Xiaojia's guardians.
With supernatural horrors invading reality and Instances descending upon the world, their daughter had awakened the precious 【Physician】 class. Instead of rushing to send her for training to save her life, they actually forced the child to go back to school?
Did they think Instances were some kind of summer camp?
Their brains weren't just filled with mush; they had to be stuffed with donkey hair.
...
“Second, the recruitment of official squads.”
Sun Zhao's tone softened slightly:
“We will establish official action squads on a voluntary registration basis.
Players who join will receive official civil service status, comprehensive social benefits, and a salary matching special positions. Their family members will also enjoy security benefits.
There will be extra allowances for executing missions, as well as access to internal point exchange systems.
As for those unwilling to join, we will not force you. We will treat everyone equally. All Instance intelligence and warning information will be shared completely without holding anything back.”
This was a plan the authorities had discussed for a long time.
They could not force anyone, as coercion could easily backfire.
However, they could not simply allow players to roam free outside either.
Every player possessed extraordinary abilities. If someone were to cause major trouble down the line, no one would be able to handle the fallout.
“Third, the construction of a technical platform.”
“The technical department is rushing to develop a dedicated platform for players, which is expected to go live for closed beta testing in three days.
It has four core functions. First, player identity verification—one account per person—to ensure all users are genuine players and prevent impostors.
Second, an Instance intelligence database. All Instance guides, rules, and hazards uploaded by players will be fully public and searchable.
Third, a player communication zone where users can form teams and exchange information.
Fourth, emergency assistance and location-based warnings. If a localized Instance fluctuates, a warning will be sent immediately to nearby players.”
Sun Zhao paused. The technical personnel in the room looked even more troubled:
“First, we cannot monitor remote Instances, so we won't be able to provide warnings for them.
Second, player location services will be forcibly enabled.
Third, platform security. Currently, we cannot be sure whether entities from the Instances—such as that rat-person—might crawl through the network. Therefore, the firewall must undergo rigorous, repetitive testing.
Going live with the closed beta in three days is already the result of the technical department working around the clock. There will definitely be plenty of bugs, so we ask for everyone's understanding.”
“Thank you for your hard work, technical department.”
Sun Zhao nodded and looked around the room:
“Those are the three matters. For training, assemble in the training room tomorrow morning at eight. Those who wish to register for the squads can sign up with Captain Zhao after the meeting. If you have any questions, raise them now.”
...
In her rented apartment, Song Mo stretched lazily, looking with satisfaction at the prototype of the new Instance before her.
【Limited Instance Name: 《London Death Subway》】
【Script Grade: Mid-Grade Supernatural】
【Core Carrier: Centenary Resentment of Great Britain + Low-Grade Spirit Material * 1000 + Historical Legacy】
【Instance Location: London (Reality Mapping)】
【Instance Background: In 20**, a last-train subway car numbered 73 on the London Underground Central Line deviated from its scheduled track, entering an abandoned section sealed by the City Hall.
This is a death train that only appears in the dead of night. The passengers on board are all lost souls from hell.
As living humans who mistakenly boarded the train, players must carefully observe the supernatural rules and strictly abide by them to return to the mortal realm at the terminal station.】
【Instance Capacity: 150 players】
【Consuming 500 Screenwriter Points, creating... Creation successful. Reality preview in progress. Rewards will be distributed after the first clear of the Instance—】
Rate on N.U.
