Sheh sealed the vortex off on its own, and Shi Jinzhe used an array to seal off and divide the space, allowing the vortex to enjoy the most luxurious double package deal in history.

Having done everything, they split up and began to work separately.

That night, Shekh checked one instance every three seconds, but by morning he had only checked one-tenth of it.

She got impatient, turned around and left, leaving the players in the dungeon completely bewildered.

"I felt like she was looking for something, and acted like she didn't see us at all."

"That's normal, isn't it? Didn't you just say you lost one of your items? There must be something wrong with the game. Losing items is no small matter. Who but the system could take items from your inventory? But the problem is, the system has no reason to do that."

The third person to speak asked, "Is there a virus? She actually came to help players find their lost items. After all, you can tell she's the boss just by looking at the system icon. If there's a problem, she'll definitely investigate, right?"

A newcomer asked, "Is that so? So the snake on the icon is her? I thought it was just a mascot."

"Whose mascot is so terrifying... I think she's more like a guardian spirit for this game."

"Anything is fine. It wasn't easy for me to find this prop. I've kept it in my backpack for more than half a year and haven't been able to bear using it. If I find out who took it, I hope she can give that thing a good beating."

The four players chattered on and on, unaware that the item they had lost was in Shi Jinzhe's hands.

Twenty-two small golden ring arrays stood upright in the pure white space, with an item being purified in the very center of each array. From a distance, this place looked just like the magical space in a storybook.

The number was much less than expected, which put Shi Jinzhe at ease. For the past six months, he had been checking the game every day, his initial intention being to prevent the old system from leaving any loopholes. Unexpectedly, by sheer chance, he had made it difficult for the black mist to find an opportunity to sneak in.

The fake instance reappeared because it was linked to an item left over from half a year ago, which gave it the opportunity to exploit the situation.

Shi Jin returned to the room in the rest area and had just settled down on the sofa when Shekh entered.

Seeing Shi Jin collapse onto the sofa, she leaned against his back and said, "Let's switch, you go check the copy."

Shi Jinzhe said, "Rest first, I'll go with you later."

Sheikh: "Have you finished checking the props?"

"Yeah, I got back two minutes earlier than you. The item system has all the records. I didn't find many. Apart from one old item, the other abnormal items were only added to the player's inventory in the last three days. It's clear that the fake dungeon only reappeared in the last few days."

After recounting his progress, Shi Jinzhe asked Shehe, "Did you find anything in the dungeon?"

"Two of the dungeons I checked showed signs of invasion, so I went over and absorbed them directly."

Shi Jinzhe turned over to look at Shekh's face. "You weren't affected, were you?"

"No, the [Nothing] skill is very useful, and you've added so many layers of protective arrays, it's just that there are too many checks to finish, I don't want to do it anymore." Sheh was like a paralyzed person, simply giving up, "I quit."

So this is what it feels like to go to work. You work hard all night, thinking you've done a lot, only to find there's still so much left undone.

She's just a snake; this job isn't hers.

Her happy life must consist only of eating and procreation.

"I hate the black fog."

“I hate it too.” Shi Jinzhe hugged Shehe tightly and dragged her to the sofa to lie down together. “The black mist is getting restless. It covets you, it covets the game. It wants more powerful energy. It wants to steal the game.”

Shekh scoffed, "As if someone wanted this stupid game, why would they steal it?"

"You're just lazy. Besides you, there are probably a lot of players who want this."

Does that include you?

"Yes." Shi Jin replied honestly, "I can't say I just want to live an ordinary life now. It's too fake to be without desires. I've already been tricked by this lousy game once. I can't let someone else control it. I'll only feel at ease if it's in my own hands."

"Okay, I get it. People strive for higher positions, and trees...flowers grow upwards."

Shi Jinzhe heard her speak listlessly, so he pulled a blanket over Shehe and said, "Sleep for a while. When you wake up, we'll go into the vortex."

"Hmm..." Sheh rested his head on his shoulder, his head drooping slightly, and went to sleep in a dark place.

Shi Jinzhe sent a message to Bai Weishuang, asking her to watch the game for a few days, and then closed his eyes to catch up on sleep.

noon.

Shehe's body was a little stiff from sleeping. When she opened her eyes, she found herself lying in bed. She didn't know what time Shi Jinzhe had brought her back, but once she lay back in bed, she just wanted to sleep a little longer.

Two hours later, Shekh woke up, hugging his tail, feeling very relaxed.

Smelling the aroma of food, she took a deep breath, flicked her big tail, jumped off the bed, and went straight to find Shi Jinzhe.

Shi Jinzhe brought out the plate and looked up to see Sher sitting at the table, his eyes still half-closed, but his mouth already waiting to eat.

"Your nose is really useful. Eat up, and once you're full, we'll go into the vortex." Shi Jinzhe poured her a bowl of soup. "Let's go in and investigate why the black fog is so kind as to send these people back."

Shekh, his brain still foggy, blurted out, "Maybe it's just to lure us into investigating."

The movement paused at the end of the hour.

That makes sense!

The flaw is the trap. The monitoring of the player's presence made the Black Mist realize that it was highly valued. The game made a lot of preparations to find it, so it deliberately remained silent for a few months, making itself mistakenly believe that this fake instance was the Black Mist stirring up trouble. But in reality, this was just the Black Mist's bait.

Shi Jinzhe: "The black mist is very good at understanding human nature. The more cautious a person is, the less likely they are to give up the opportunity to explore. That's exactly what it's looking for."

Shekh hadn't expected that his casual remark would provide him with an idea, so after a few seconds of brainstorming, he continued, "If it really is a trap, the black mist knows a lot about the players."

She raised her finger. "Two possibilities: either Linlang didn't notice the problem and they were all wiped out, or she did notice and used a ruse to send her out to deliver the message."

Shi Jin turned back: "Now we know, it's the second one."

Sheh nodded and said, "Linlang knows Fu Guanzai. Even if she hadn't run into us today, she would have told Fu Guanzai about this strange thing, and he would have relayed it to us.

"No wonder it grew up eating human emotions, its calculations are quite accurate." Shi Jinzhe thought about not being able to go to the vortex, and simply said, "If it sets a trap, we'll set a trap too."