Realm Walker

”Find it. I’ve left everything there,” read the second line of the note.

Zhang Yuanqing stared at those words for a long, long time without speaking.

Bro Bing, oh Bro Bing, you’ve really left me one hell of a puzzle, Zhang Yuanqing mused with a sigh, after which he forced himself to focus on the clues.

Brothers for life. That was Bro Bing’s catchphrase back in eighth grade. If he was just feeling sentimental, he’d never have included it in a coded message.

Six, two, zero, three. A string of numbers. A password?

He read the last line again. Find it. But what is ’it’?

Zhang Yuanqing frowned, mulling it over until his temples throbbed, and he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. It felt like he had been handed a fistful of clues, yet somehow walked away empty handed.

Classic detective novel setup, he grumbled to himself. To keep the secret safe, the loyal sidekick had left the great detective a trail only the two of them could follow, one that would reveal its meaning when the right conditions were met.

Too bad the great detective was still a weakling.

Whatever ’everything’ refers to, it has to be connected to the Demon Lord Character Card that Bro Bing mailed me, his disappearance, and his strange behavior at university. We’re talking about a figure on the level of Demon Lord. What exactly is ’it’? Not knowing is killing me.

He tore the slip of paper into tiny pieces, left the room, and stepped into the bathroom.

With a gurgle, the toilet flushed the shredded fragments away.

***

Lei Yibing’s father kept himself buried in work. Work could numb a person to some degree, blunting the agony of losing a son, but that only highlighted how unbearable life had to have been for Aunt Zhou, a homemaker with no such escape.

Zhang Yuanqing said his goodbyes to her and left Yinping Community. Standing on the curb outside, he waited for his ride and turned things over in his mind.

I definitely can’t tell Squad Leader or Guan Ya about this. I’ll have to investigate on my own, and there’s barely anything to go on. Rushing won’t help. Right now, the most important thing is my second Spirit Realm mission. Leveling up is what matters most.

He was growing ever more aware of how critical raw strength was.

If the multiplayer Spirit Realm wasn’t a death type dungeon, failing to clear it would mean suffering punishment through the loss of experience. One bad run, and his power could actually regress.

Rewards depended on the dungeon’s difficulty rating and individual performance during the mission. At the moment, he was 52 percent through Level 1. Perhaps clearing this second Spirit Realm could push him right to Level 2.

In theory, though, that was impossible.

He had done his homework over the past few days. Solo Spirit Realms offered generous rewards as long as you survived, so in principle, leveling shouldn’t be slow. But veteran Walkers like Guan Ya and Li Dongze had been stuck at Level 2 and Level 3 respectively for ages, and the reasons boiled down to two things.

First, the dungeons they entered weren’t particularly high ranked, and easier missions meant the rewards were nowhere near as extravagant as those from an S-rank dungeon.

Second, victory or defeat in multiplayer dungeons was typically down to a coin toss. To put it bluntly, you sometimes got saddled with deadweight teammates who dragged your score down.

At that moment, his rideshare finally arrived. Zhang Yuanqing pulled the door open, climbed in, and headed home.

”Grandma, I’m back from class!” he called out toward the balcony.

”Your uncle stopped by,” his grandma replied, rinsing a mop in the bucket. ”He wants you to go see him.”

”No thanks. Classes wore me out. I don’t feel like keeping him company for another round of singing and dancing.”

”I hear your aunt recently gave him some money.”

”Grandma, I’m heading to Uncle’s place right now.”

***

A dozen or so minutes later, Zhang Yuanqing emerged from his uncle’s home, thoroughly satisfied. He returned to his room, opened the forum, and found that the reposted thread from the official Nocturnal Specter forum was still pinned at the top. Below it, however, sat a brand new post.

【#Moment of Silence: A Colleague Has Fallen in a Multiplayer Spirit Realm#】

He opened it. According to the post, a colleague from one of the branch offices had received a mission for the S-rank dungeon ”Jinshui Amusement Park” the previous day and had notified his superiors before entering.

More than twenty four hours had passed since he’d entered the Spirit Realm, and he had not come out. The news sent ripples of panic and heated discussion through the forum.

⤷ Bitter Days Past: I’m about to enter a multiplayer Spirit Realm soon too. I’m terrified.

⤷ Call Me Queen: There probably won’t be a strategy guide anytime soon, so you’ll just have to pray for the best. But there are so many multiplayer Spirit Realms out there. You won’t be that unlucky.

⤷ Long Road Ahead: Queen, the odds may be slim, but if you do get matched into it, you’re as good as dead. And S-rank Spirit Realms are nearly impossible to clear. Give it a year or two without a guide and who knows how many people will die.

⤷ The King Has an Ailment: Are there any exceptionally talented colleagues at the Transcendent tier? Freelance practitioners count too. People like that have impressive track records, so the Spirit Realm is more likely to assign them to S-rank dungeons. They might actually be able to clear it. Bitter Days Past, just keep your eyes glued to those people and you’ll be fine.

⤷ Bitter Days Past: Great idea!

Given the enormous number of Walkers overall, there were plenty of people in the same boat, all facing imminent Spirit Realm missions. They piled on the likes, agreeing wholeheartedly with the last suggestion. In their eyes, genius players at the same tier mattered more than Stewards or Elders, because those higher-ups couldn’t enter low-level dungeons.

Zhang Yuanqing scrolled through the comments, forming his own opinions as he went.

Yinshan Ghost School and Xinfeng Reservoir have already been cleared. Jinshui Amusement Park is a multiplayer Spirit Realm open to all classes. Even though it’s S-rank, theoretically, the odds of it being cleared are higher than a Nocturnal Specter-exclusive dungeon. Long Road Ahead clearly didn’t pay attention in math class.

That was when a notification popped up from his messaging app. Wang Qian, his informant from Slaughter Cessation Palace, had sent a message.

Wang Qian: Can you get your hands on the old strategy guide for Jinshui Amusement Park?

Zhang Yuanqing: Are you entering a Spirit Realm soon?

Wang Qian: My next one is a Musician-exclusive dungeon, and it’s not anytime soon either. I’m telling you this because if you can get the old guide, there’s money to be made.

Zhang Yuanqing: How so?

Wang Qian: I’m sure I don’t need to remind you about the anomalies in the Nocturnal Specter exclusive dungeons. Jinshui Amusement Park is a Transcendent-tier multiplayer Spirit Realm with the widest possible audience. On the black market, the old strategy guide is already going for 300,000 yuan.

Dungeon strategy guides were classified as strategic resources, one of the pillars that official organizations were built on. They represented the accumulated wisdom of countless official Walkers who had risked their lives to compile them.

In all his years, Zhang Yuanqing had never even seen 300,000 yuan in one place.

Wang Qian: A channel I’m connected to is buying up old guides. You’re a member of an official organization, so if you can get one, I can sell it for you. Seventy-thirty split.

Seventy percent would be 210,000 yuan!

Zhang Yuanqing: I have one!

Zhang Yuanqing fired off the reply on pure instinct, then immediately recalled the message.

Wang Qian: ?

Zhang Yuanqing: I do have an old copy, but it’s not for sale.

Wang Qian: Why not?

Zhang Yuanqing: I don’t want to make that kind of money.

Wang Qian didn’t push the issue. From what he could tell, Yuanshi Tianzun came from a comfortable background and had a solid moral compass. That was actually a good thing. Nobody wanted to do business with someone who was cold-blooded and ruthless.

Zhang Yuanqing: How much would a new strategy guide for Jinshui Amusement Park be worth?

Wang Qian: An S-rank dungeon guide commands astronomical prices, but there’s no standard rate. You’d have to negotiate directly with the buyer. Though I’m guessing someone at your clearance level wouldn’t have access to an S-rank guide anyway.

A Transcendent-tier S-rank dungeon was a completely different beast from a trial realm.

Wang Qian: I’ve got a patient. Let’s chat later. If you change your mind, remember to hit me up. I’m strapped for cash lately.

Wang Qian had been struggling for money recently. A doctor’s salary wasn’t much to begin with, and the Morality restrictions eliminated most avenues for making a windfall.

The idle conversation reminded Zhang Yuanqing of the Jinshui Amusement Park guide that Li Dongze had sent him. His curiosity about the dungeon was growing.

He closed the messaging app, opened his email, and downloaded the attachment.

【Jinshui Amusement Park, Spirit Realm Number: 6203, Difficulty: B, Type: Multiplayer (Death)】

【Main Quest: Experience two or more park attractions.】

【After entering the dungeon, the Spirit Realm will prompt you with attraction options. The park features a roller coaster, a giant pendulum ride, a pirate ship, a haunted house, a Ferris wheel, a detective mystery hall...】

【Most attractions test teamwork and coordination. The mechanics are as follows...】

【The most dangerous challenge is the ghost marriage in the haunted house. The ghost bride will select the most handsome male player as her groom, and the chosen one is immediately eliminated. Therefore, upon entering the haunted house, you must continuously repeat: I’m ugly!

【When every male player is shouting ’I’m ugly,’ the ghost bride will choose at random, at which point it comes down to luck. Female players are the safest and can clear this attraction automatically.】

Zhang Yuanqing read through the mechanics for each attraction carefully. When he reached the ghost marriage section, he thought to himself that mere elimination didn’t sound so bad. This ghost bride seemed far less savage than the one from his trial mission.

The old guide was only a reference and couldn’t be relied upon entirely, but it was undeniably valuable in helping someone quickly grasp the dungeon’s layout. No wonder people were willing to pay a fortune for it.

Suddenly, something occurred to him, and the color drained from his face. His fingers flew across the screen as he scrolled all the way back to the top of the document.

【Jinshui Amusement Park, Spirit Realm Number: 6203.】

Six. Two. Zero. Three.

He froze. For a very long time, he simply sat there, stunned.

Was it a coincidence? Could six two zero three refer to Jinshui Amusement Park? Did Bro Bing hide something inside it?

Zhang Yuanqing shook his head. No, that’s impossible.

Spirit Realm dungeons were assigned at random. On that alone, the logic didn’t hold. What if he never entered Jinshui Amusement Park? Then Bro Bing’s entire arrangement would have been for nothing.

Unless Bro Bing could predict which Spirit Realm he would enter.

And if which Spirit Realm he would enter could be predicted, then his quest assignments weren’t truly random, which meant his entry into Sheling Tunnel carried implications. The idea sent a chill crawling down his spine, and he felt his scalp go numb.

***

After dinner, Zhang Yuanqing washed up early, drew the curtains, switched off the lights, locked his bedroom door, and lay on the bed staring blankly at the digital clock on his nightstand.

The Spirit Realm mission would come before midnight. It always did.

He clutched five or six small blue pills in his hand, feeling the minutes crawl by.

Some unknowable stretch of time later, a familiar chime echoed through his mind.

【Ding. Spirit Realm map loading. You will enter the Spirit Realm in 60 seconds. Your destination is ”Jinshui Amusement Park,” Number: 6203.】

【Difficulty: S】

【Type: Multiplayer (Death)】

【Main Quest: Experience two or more park attractions.】

【Note: Non Spirit Realm items cannot be brought inside.】

【Introduction to Spirit Realm 6203: One day, an unknown figure arrived at Jinshui Amusement Park. She was astonished to discover that after sleeping through long ages of the world, such amusing toys had appeared among mortals. Delighted, she sampled every attraction, and ultimately decided not to destroy the place. Before leaving, she instructed the spirits dwelling within the park to find a young man on her behalf. His name is four characters long.】

It really was Jinshui Amusement Park. Of course it was Jinshui Amusement Park. Ten thousand obscenities thundered through Zhang Yuanqing’s skull.

There was no time to dwell on it. He popped the blue pills into his mouth and dialed Guan Ya’s number.

Per regulations, he was required to report any Spirit Realm dungeon assignment so that his superiors and colleagues would be informed, especially during such a sensitive period.

The call connected quickly, and Guan Ya’s voice came through.

—Every maiden whose beauty sleep gets interrupted deserves a lavish dinner as compensation, she whined playfully.

”Tell Squad Leader I’m about to enter the Spirit Realm. The dungeon is Jinshui Amusement Park.”

—What?! Your multiplayer dungeon is Jinshui Amusement Park? Hello? Yuanshi? Hello? Hello?

She never got a reply.