Chapter 90
Would-be scapegoat number seven: That’s right!
Although we haven't been able to contact the person yet, because that person's health value has not dropped to a dangerous level, everyone is worried but not particularly anxious. After all, there is no use in being anxious.
Of course, they didn't do nothing. When they created the group yesterday, they each added their own emergency contact after the member name. After failing to contact No. 11, they immediately sent a private message to No. 11's emergency contact.
Upon learning that his cousin was missing, Zhou Fan, the player who was contacted, quickly went to several places where his cousin often went to look for her, but couldn't find her. Worried that something had really happened to his cousin, he quickly logged off and called her in real life.
"What? She fell asleep in the holographic cabin?" Zhou Fan called his cousin seven times in a row, and the call was finally picked up on the last time. However, the person who answered the phone was not his cousin, but his cousin's mother.
"Yeah, you have something to talk to Yaqi about? Will she cause you trouble again? Don't worry, talk slowly, I'll call Yaqi out now."
"No trouble, but... well, there is some trouble. People in the game think she might have been kidnapped and have been contacting me, asking me to help find her. Since she wasn't..."
"I've been kidnapped!" Zhou Yaqi, number 11, yawned as she was woken up and took the phone from her mother's hand. "I'm sorry, brother, I've caused you trouble. I'm really fine."
"What a joke! You're saying it's okay even if you've been kidnapped!"
"What? I was just kidnapped in the game." Zhou Yaqi took out a Bluetooth headset and put it on, then threw the phone on the table.
"You've been kidnapped, and you're not worried?"
"Why are you in such a hurry? It's just a game!" Zhou Yaqi slumped over the table and began replying to messages from her would-be scapegoats one by one: "It's my account that was kidnapped, not me. So what if something goes wrong?"
"If something goes wrong, then of course..." Wait, that's true. So what if something goes wrong? Even if the account is gone, isn't the person still alive and kicking in real life?
"Brother, you've been in the game for so long you've forgotten the real world outside." After comforting her friends, Zhou Yaqi picked up the jelly on the table, lay down on the sofa, turned on the TV, and turned the volume down to the lowest setting. "At least I remember to go out for a walk every week. What about you? You haven't left the house in two months, right?"
"I did that because..."
"I understand. You're working hard in the game day and night to start a business. You only eat nutritious meals offline, and you maintain a moderate amount of exercise and fitness habits every day. You're afraid that your physical condition will deteriorate and you'll be banned from the game..."
"…What do you want to say?"
"What I'm trying to say is, you're too nervous! Life in real life is already so tiring, and it's even more tiring in the game." Zhou Yaqi threw away the empty packaging bag and stretched out on the sofa. "We can't treat this as a game because the world we face is real, and the people are real. But have you ever considered that we ourselves are actually fake?" Was there any trace of Zhou Yaqi's birth in the other world? No, but Zhou Yaqi was indeed active in that world.
"I don't have time to discuss philosophical issues with you. If you wake up, go online and tell your group friends. I have something else to do, so I'll hang up first." Zhou Fan frowned and hung up the phone.
"I told you before, you're still online! My account is almost ruined." Zhou Yaqi took off her Bluetooth headset and jumped off the sofa. "This indigenous family is so arrogant and domineering... Ha! It looks like my account is going to be ruined. But before I cancel it, I have to let you reckless guys see what it means to be the Fourth Calamity and enforce justice on behalf of Heaven!"
"We're looking for players who aren't afraid of losing their accounts. Let's join a suicidal rescue operation for the Fourth Calamity." Bei Qiao, who had just finished dinner that evening, saw this quest on the Chamber of Commerce's quest interface: "Rewards, a certain amount of merit... Oh my, someone's about to do something big."
After the Fourth Calamity quest was released, it quickly became a top-ranked task. Unlike other quests, the poster didn't include a reward, only a certain amount of merit. However, this quest passed the system review, meaning that completing it would indeed earn merit. Although no one could clearly explain the specific purpose of this merit, it was unclear.
As soon as the Fourth Calamity mission was released, the mission group instantly flooded with people. This type of mission didn't appear very often, and as outsiders, players didn't easily interfere with the karma of the Otherworld. If they wanted to enforce justice and issue the Fourth Calamity mission, they would first need to become a victim in the Otherworld.
This prerequisite seems simple, but it's actually quite difficult. First, the perpetrator must be an indigenous person. Second, the victim must not have engaged in any trolling or incited indigenous people to harm them. Finally, when setting up the Fourth Disaster mission, indigenous people who haven't harmed them cannot be targeted unless they are evil, have a karmic debt, and have some connection to the perpetrator.
Zhou Yaqi, who issued the task, said: "Because the servants of the Cen family were ordered to kidnap and try to kill me, I decided to go after the entire Cen family. Is that okay? Killing someone means killing them. I'm not a murderer. As long as the other natives don't get involved, I won't play the role of collective punishment."
Once these prerequisites are met, the rest becomes much simpler. In short, the Fourth Calamity is here, ready to be deployed. As long as players aren't afraid of losing their accounts and don't commit any crimes themselves, they can team up and embark on chivalrous actions.
Player A: When was the last time I saw the Fourth Scourge quest? Last month? That's so exciting! The quest location is only three days away from me. Can I apply to join it?
Player B: Have you decided not to keep the account anymore?
Player A: Whether I want it or not... I'll go there first and make the decision later.
Player C: Why is it in Lordan this time? I'm in the south and can't make it there!
Player A: Then just bless us mentally, hahaha!
Player C: I just don't believe it! If you're brave enough, wait for me in Lordan City. I'll leave now and try to catch the final blow!
Player A: Hey, come on over here!
Player C: Just wait for me!
Due to the large number of participants in the Fourth Calamity mission group, the chat room automatically split into two parts. According to system regulations, the lower half of the chat room could be used for free discussion, while the upper half was only for discussion of mission-related matters.
Player A: I have successfully registered and have already set off. What should I do now?
Zhou Yaqi: Let me prepare myself mentally first.
Other players: What kind of mental preparation are you doing?
Zhou Yaqi: Okay, I just logged in and confirmed that the people who kidnapped me are from the Cen family. Damn, it hurts so much!
Player A: ...Thank you for your hard work. Where are you? Let us rescue you first.
Zhou Yaqi: I want to leave too, but I don’t know where I am. I can only be sure that I am still in Luodan City.
Zhou Yaqi: I was taken away on the street in a sack, and my final destination was probably around the street where I was kidnapped... How long does it take a carriage to travel that distance in an hour?
Player B: Draw a circle with the distance a carriage can travel in one hour as the radius...this range is too large.
Player C: At least the street where the sack was placed can be ruled out. A carriage running for an hour should have reached another part of the city.
Player D: Can you confirm whose carriage this is? Maybe one of us has seen it before?
Players living in Lordan City, through their discussions, gradually pieced together the route of the carriage that carried Zhou Yaqi during her abduction, and circled the location on the map where she might be held. Players in other cities couldn't directly participate in this quest, but they helped consolidate the scattered information sent by Lordan players, extracting and integrating it, striving to contribute to this mission.
Some players in Lordan City were worried about having their accounts scrapped and did not want to participate in this mission. Zhou Yaqi did not force them, but only suggested that they should not be alone during this period and should reduce the frequency of going out, and wait until everything was settled before doing anything else.
There are also some players who are not in Lordan City who are not afraid at all. After discovering this mission, they started packing their bags and prepared to go on a mission to enforce justice.
Zhou Yaqi: A friendly reminder: plan your route well before leaving. It's best to find someone to give you an alibi to prevent the indigenous people from guessing your involvement based on the route you took.
Other players: Got it!
After posting the quest, Zhou Yaqi contacted Ning Pan, the player who had previously been looking for a makeup artist. Although she had confirmed that their kidnappers were all from Luodan City with the surname Cen, Cen was a prominent surname in Luodan City, and she couldn't be sure if her kidnappers were the same group looking for a scapegoat. Therefore, she decided to include both groups in the side quest, as none of them were innocent.
After exchanging information, Zhou Yaqi was wondering whether she should go online again to collect more information. At this moment, she received a message from Bei Qiao.
Qiao Qiao: Hello, I have a message here, I don’t know if it will be helpful to you.
Bei Qiao was referring to the news that the cat demon Huazhi had been kidnapped and nearly killed. When she'd seen this quest before, she'd remembered that Huazhi had also escaped from Luodan City. She quickly searched through the transfer history to find her in-game business card and sent her a message.
Huazhi, who was forced to study, didn't dare to talk much. She only agreed to let Beiqiao tell others about the previous incident and hurriedly closed the forum. Even so, she was still caught by Teacher Mao.
"Stand up with your paws up!"
"Meow..." Huazhi stood up against the wall with a wronged look.
Zhou Yaqi: Thank you for your message.
Zhou Yaqi: So the Tan family over there is related to this matter?
Qiao Qiao: I’m not sure, Huazhi’s original words didn’t include these.
Zhou Yaqi: Okay, then do you want to participate in this mission?
Qiao Qiao: I haven't decided yet, but I might find a chance to check it out. Best of luck.
Zhou Yaqi: Thank you.
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