Chapter 8 | The Alliance Hired Me to Play Final Boss

He clicked on the post and habitually glanced at the comments.

【Why is this on the trending list again? I remember this summary went viral ages ago.】

【It goes viral every time there's an Awakening Ceremony. It's always for the little cubs and their families to look up.】

【Oho, a little cub? Where's the little cub? Come out and let Uncle have a look.】

【Friendly reminder: although we don't die easily, if you dare lay a hand on a cub, the rules of The Alliance will literally grind your bones to ash and scatter your soul.】

【Why bother telling him all that? He's just a walking bounty!】

You Anomalies are surprisingly hip...

Ren Yi turned his attention back to reading the educational content seriously.

"Hello everyone, I am an Alliance-certified educational editor. Today, I'll give you a quick rundown of our Anomaly Grading system."

"Following the grading systems of most technological worlds we've encountered, The Alliance simply classifies our Anomaly existences from F-rank to S-rank based on danger levels."

"As you know, we Anomalies are individuals with 'Rules' as our core and 'Abilities' as our means."

"Therefore, the grading principle is quite complex, involving rule trigger conditions, the number of rules, ability strength, range of influence, and more."

"But don't worry, the Anomaly Web will evaluate everyone's situation uniformly and display it numerically after your rank."

【Screenshot: Rank E (Progress 1/100)】

"Note that newborn cubs do not have this line. It will appear after your Awakening Ceremony evaluation results are announced and you learn what your 'food' is."

Ren Yi's fingertip paused.

Food.

The word felt unsettlingly out of place here.

"Below is the grading introduction."

"F-rank: Anomalies who have just awakened after their emotions were triggered. They have no abilities, cannot control their form or senses, depend on their families for survival, and can be molded and squashed at will."

"This state lasts only seven days. After the first feeding seven days later, you will upgrade to E-rank."

"E-rank: Anomalies possessing a special ability and their first rule. After upgrading, their form stabilizes, and the main body possesses a certain level of combat power. Note: It is not recommended for everyone to fight with their main body; please judge for yourself based on your own abilities."

"D-rank: The main body's combat power increases, the range of influence expands, and you can strengthen a rule or ability once upon upgrading."

"The above three stages are collectively referred to as 'Cubs.'"

"C-rank: A new basic rule is added, and the main body undergoes a fundamental change, such as becoming intangible or indestructible."

"At the same time, C-rank Anomalies can have their own 'Instances' and can actively summon 'Participants' to enter. For details, please see this post 【Link: Five Minutes to Understand 'Instances'】. "

"B-rank: Abilities and range of influence continue to strengthen. You can possess an energy-form 'Anomaly Domain.' For details, please see this post 【Link: Five Minutes to Understand 'Anomaly Domains'】. "

"A-rank: Possess a physical Anomaly Domain that exists in a different space, allowing you to establish Instances within your own domain."

"S-rank: A new basic rule is added."

Ren Yi read with great interest.

The Alliance's grading was quite simple. The higher the rank, the less information there was. He wasn't sure if the author didn't know or if the authorities were intentionally hiding it.

Ren Yi continued scrolling down and found that the post hadn't ended yet.

"With that, the introduction to ordinary Anomaly grading is complete. Pretty simple, right?"

"Hehe, but I still have some 'top-tier intel' tucked away."

"I wonder if any of you have heard of... Calamities?"

"The 'Calamities' are also Anomalies—the most powerful ones."

"They are difficult to describe in words. Let's put it this way: in some cultivation worlds, Calamities are also known as 'World-Ending Catastrophes.'"

"Do you know why every time we open an Instance in a world, there are some 'Auxiliary Rules' outside of the Instance itself?"

"Sometimes it's killing enough Participants, sometimes it's creating enough pain, sometimes it's converting enough puppets..."

"These Auxiliary Rules are actually defined for that world's 'Calamity,' used to fulfill the conditions of that Calamity's 'World-Ending Rule.'"

"The existence of a Calamity is too great a threat for a world, so these titans cannot enter a world directly."

"When these Auxiliary Rules are executed enough times, the Calamity Countdown will begin."

"Essentially, we are acting as proxies for the Calamity, fighting against the target world's defense mechanism until we open a stable 'entrance' for Them."

"The moment the Calamity descends, our job is done."

"Once the 'World-Ending Conditions' are met, the world is downgraded to a canvas for the Calamity to paint on, a docile orchard waiting to be harvested. At that point, whether to keep it as livestock or annihilate it is entirely up to Their whim."

"By the way, since there might be many cubs reading this post, I'll add one more thing."

"Cubs, do you think we are cruel and insane for using other worlds as food and destroying them at the drop of a hat?"

"Cubs, the world is a cruel place."

"The illusionary realms you experienced during the Awakening Ceremony were likely all different, but the end should have been the same: the sun torn apart, the black tide flooding in, and the world collapsing."

"Regrettably, that wasn't just an illusion."

"That was the state of our former, now-destroyed world."

"If not for the establishment of The Alliance, you, and everything you see, would never have had the chance to come into this world."

"And the culprits are the very 'victims' you were just pitying."

"They might be weak, they might be ignorant, but they are by no means innocent."

"So grow up quickly, little cubs."

"I wish for you to soon become executioners... and guardians."

The post ended there. Ren Yi's gaze lingered on the last few lines for a long time.

"That illusion... it actually happened?" he murmured softly.

The images from the Awakening Ceremony resurfaced, making his chest feel tight.

He had to admit, the Awakening Ceremony had truly become the worst memory of his two lifetimes—a literal psychological trauma.

Of course, he hadn't forgotten his wish.

From the previous news broadcast, he had learned the name of his "enemy."

"One day, I'm going to punch that 'Heart Fiend' right in the face," Ren Yi grumbled.

"Oh well," he laughed self-deprecatingly. "I thought I was going to be a big villain, but it turns out I'm just a big victim."

Ren Yi—at least the Ren Yi of this moment—still retained some of the values of a model 21st-century youth.

This explanation allowed Ren Yi, who had already decided to try his best to integrate into this world, to successfully find a reason to set his mind at ease.

Was this the truth, or just a carefully packaged narrative by The Alliance?

It didn't matter anymore.

He just had to ensure it wouldn't happen again.

Ren Yi put down his phone with satisfaction, only to be met by a familiar pair of eyes.

Ren Man.

"Brother—?" Ren Yi was startled.

When did you get in?

How much of that did you hear?

Wait, don't I have 360-degree vision? Why didn't I see my brother come in?

He immediately realized that while he had 360-degree vision, it wasn't a 360-degree "no blind spot" vision. Ren Man had just been blocked by the phone.