Chapter 88: Becoming an Orphan

Most of the remaining monsters were eliminated by the remaining players. Now the only worrying battlefield is Li Ziyue and Zhang Lian.

The snowflakes and the strong wind seemed to be sucked into that area. The white snow fog was like a tornado that built an inverted cone barrier. Everyone could only see the occasional flash of dazzling silver light above, but no human figures were seen.

Liu Yuche was in a high position. As a sniper, he was born with good eyesight and was the only one on the scene who could clearly see the battle situation.

She narrowed her eyes slightly and her expression gradually relaxed.

It seemed that her help was no longer needed over there.

Duan Jiayi came over without knowing when.

"Li Ziyue is not a person with obvious character flaws. As far as I know, the overall survival rate of players in the dungeon he was in was extremely high," Duan Jiayi frowned, "Why is he hated by so many people after he fell into disgrace?"

The folding fan flew rapidly in the air, and then landed safely in the man's palm.

Wherever the fan passed, the thick ice layer broke instantly, and most of the monster's arm was cut off.

Li Ziyue looked normal, indifferent as if he were a god who didn't care about worldly matters.

Duan Jiayi's eyes moved slightly: "Is it because of jealousy?"

"That's a reason, but it can't be all due to jealousy," Liu Yuche stopped moving and exhaled a breath of pure mist: "People's hatred and malice towards others can originate from jealousy, but behind the persistent hatred there must be deeper emotional disputes or..."

"Benefit."

Duan Jiayi looked at Liu Yuche.

Liu Yuche neatly gathered her short hair behind her ears. She took out a pack of cigarettes from her system backpack and used a match to light them. “Six or seven years ago, the information gap between players was even more serious than it is now.”

"Players' virtual worlds need to submit points regularly to maintain stability, but infinite dungeons are inherently very dangerous. Even if players have gone through the 'school' selection, novice training, and senior experience sharing, it is not surprising that they will suddenly die if they are slightly careless in a certain link." She looked at the burning cigarette and saw milky white smoke rising slowly. "There is no way. In dungeons, human life is worthless."

"Do you play games?" Liu Yuche asked suddenly.

Duan Jiayi was stunned: "Play a little bit."

Liu Yuche curled his lips and said, "In the past, the number of infinite dungeons that could be opened at the same time was limited. Only a certain number of players were allowed to participate in a dungeon at the same time. It's a bit like a game server that is full. If it is full, you can't enter."

"In fact, most players can only afford 'simple dungeons'. Although simple dungeons give fewer points, the mortality rate is very low. Players can accumulate enough points to keep the world running normally by continuously playing simple dungeons."

"But there are few simple dungeons, so it's hard for players to squeeze in. With more players than players, they have to challenge normal or even difficult dungeons in order to gain points."

Cigarette butts burn in the night like bright sparks.

"Normal and difficult dungeons give a lot of points, but the survival rate of players is very low. In this situation, a big boss came up with a compromise - I will take you through the dungeon, and after you pass it, you give me most of the points you get."

"The big guys get points, the rookies continue to survive, and cooperation brings win-win results. This is a good idea," Duan Jiayi pondered. "Hasn't this model of cooperation already appeared in dungeons? Dungeons allow people in the same virtual world to play dungeons together."

Liu Yuche laughed: "How can there be so many predecessors alive? When most players are sent into the virtual world, the first thing they need to do is to attend the funeral of their predecessors."

"At that time, there was a popular saying: You start out as an 'orphan' and your survival depends entirely on a miracle."

The ashes from the burning quietly fell into the snow.

"At the beginning, it was indeed a charity event where big guys helped rookies, and it was based on mutual consent, but people are always greedy."

"Some dungeons offer generous rewards for clearing them, but the rewards for the process are quite average. Later, someone discovered that through this transaction, they could turn novice players into their temporary 'deposit machines'."

"If you think about it carefully, you will know that the rookie players are in a passive position in this transaction," Liu Yuche held a half-smoked cigarette in the corner of his mouth, "because what they want is to survive, and the big guys just want points. Points can be taken or not, but human life is only one."

"When the boss asks you to hand over all your points, will you hand them over or not?"

She closed one eye and adjusted the position of the sniper rifle: "When the status of the two parties in a transaction is unequal and there is no third party to maintain the balance, a fair transaction can easily turn into exploitation of one party by the other."

With a "bang", the bullet flew out from the muzzle and killed half of the still struggling monster.

"When many players at the top of the leaderboard were quickly accumulating points in this way, Li Ziyue suddenly appeared."

"He didn't use such dirty tricks, but he still quickly rose to the top of the rankings. And as long as he was in the dungeon, other players didn't need to do anything."

"Follow the arrangements of Li Ziyue's team. Just listen and win. Li Ziyue will handle everything."

Liu Yuche put out the cigarette and looked towards where the storm was most intense.

Duan Jiayi understood: "So that's how it is."

Li Ziyue's actions six or seven years ago undoubtedly cut off the financial resources of some players at the top of the leaderboard, which was the original reason why they hated him.

It would be fine if Li Ziyue just speed-run the dungeon himself, but he also taught novice players in the dungeon without reservation.

At that time, information was severely blocked, and veteran players with more points did not necessarily have quick reactions or smart thinking. The capital they used to suppress novice players was their experience in fighting in dungeons.

Experience is accumulated through hard work. In addition, players themselves are very cautious. Most people value experience more than their lives, so naturally they won’t say much.

Some dungeon sections are not difficult, their only advantage is that they are novel and the ideas for cracking them are unusual. At this time, if you have experience, it will be easy to pass them.

If an ordinary person were to do this, it would be like throwing a small stone into the sea, which would not cause any splash. However, Li Ziyue was different.

He is the number one on the points list that all players will remember when the points are settled every month. For many novice players who cannot find this person on the points list, Li Ziyue is no different from a god to them.

His words were like an imperial decree, spreading from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred among the novice players. Over time, the big players found that the people around them had changed.

Their first reaction when they encounter desperate situations is to think positively rather than blindly seek help.

People who can think may not be worth mentioning now, but they will grow to a very terrifying level in the future.

There are at least twenty players who have taken first place in the ranking list, and Li Ziyue is the only one who has personally increased the overall survival rate of players in the dungeon.

As a result, other people whose interests were damaged hated him to the core, but they had to swallow their anger because of the strength of him and his team.

Then, the "Advanced Pseudo-Human Copy" opens.

Li Ziyue fell rapidly from a great height and lost everything overnight.

What awaits him is not only the huge setback after failure, the guilt of losing friends, and the depression of no longer having confidence in his own abilities.

There are also people who hate him and take revenge on him even more severely.

Looking back now, Liu Yuche feels that it was a miracle that Li Ziyue was able to come out of that extremely dark period.

The people he once helped were too weak to speak up for him, and the people whose financial resources he once blocked banded together to suppress him without hesitation.

As time went on for a few more rounds, the rookie players who were grateful to Li Ziyue lost their guiding light, were squeezed out by the upper levels of the leaderboard, and died one after another.

No one remembers his kindness anymore.

Most of the players who have lived until now have ill will towards Li Ziyue. Li Ziyue's past has been maliciously tampered with by them, making players who do not know the truth think that Li Ziyue is a mediocre person who relied on his seniors and folding fans to get to the top of the scoreboard.

Liu Yuche shot and killed the last strange beast in the copy, and then heard a loud noise coming from the other side, so she turned her head.

The long monster was exhausted, and its body's regeneration speed could not even keep up with the breaking. At this moment, all its thin strips were curled up underground, and it seemed that it was not far from complete death.

Li Ziyue stood aside expressionlessly, some deep red blood splattered on his cheek and clothes, but the folding fan in his hand was still pure white.

The wind made his expression even calmer and more stern, which was very different from Li Ziyue who usually tried to blend in with the crowd without making a sound.

When he held the folding fan in his hand, he seemed like a different person, and his back even straightened a little.

Some things that he had lost and deliberately suppressed seemed to come back.

Liu Yuche thought.

What is it.

The arrogance unique to teenagers.

…

[Account Remaining Coins: 189]

Li Ziyue exhaled lightly, feeling the endless fight between his hot body and the cold environment.

When people calm down, their senses become extra sharp. He felt a little dizzy from the wind, and there was an unspeakable heaviness in his heart.

why is that.

The trunk of the long monster in front of him completely softened. Li Ziyue lowered his eyes and saw a blood-red object in his palm.

Another blood-red mass was on Zhang Lian's side. The monster had received fatal damage. Logically, the system should have popped up a reminder that the mission was completed soon.

The weather is too cold and the system is stuck?

Having not used a folding fan for a long time, even he himself felt strongly uncomfortable at this moment.

He only felt a rusty smell in his throat, his knees suddenly became weak, and his internal organs seemed to be running rampant in his body without any reason.

His heart contracted in an instant, and the rapid heart palpitations made Li Ziyue unable to help but spit out blood.

His vision blurred for a moment, and in a trance he could only see Zhang Lian's shadow coming towards him. Then a very sharp red light lit up from the thing in his hand.

“Crack!”

Li Ziyue heard clearly that the crystal pendant hanging on his chest, which contained the most painful memories of him and Zhang Lian, was broken.

No one present knew what had just happened.

Snow fog rises.

Li Ziyue's figure disappeared without any warning.