Chapter 165, 142857: "Let me pass, sister."...
An emerald plate hangs in the very center of the spherical library, surrounded by a twisted staircase.
It is the Jade Record, but there is no text. It is just a disguise using the Jade Record that fits the theme of the dungeon.
The Earth was exquisitely engraved on the gemstone plate. Xue Chao could actually drag it with his fingertip, just like an electronic touchscreen.
The planet rotates to the left, revealing an identical shadowy planet, like the other half of the Gemini stars.
Based on memories and information from companions, this is a dark world coexisting with the main world, Earth. The two planets are light and shadow, the front and back of a Möbius strip.
The Dark World has no living beings like humans or animals; it is more like a prehistoric or post-apocalyptic world, with many wonders and spectacle.
But these rugged landscapes are actually the life of the dark world, just like the buildings, corridors, and wooden shelves with life rhythms in the disc world that intersects on the second level.
Between Earth and the Dark World, there exists a narrow crevice where consciousness was accidentally born.
He was too empty; He wanted to create His own world to fill the chaos and dispel the void.
What does a world need?
He targeted the two worlds, combining the wonders of the dark world with the civilization of the main world to create spaces, then captured people to enter those spaces and begin the game.
The so-called game is actually a form of pollution. Game missions are the intrusion of consciousness into the cracks. Successfully completing the main mission completes one round of pollution. After experiencing several rounds of pollution, the dungeon space will fall into the cracks and become a complete part of the crack world, which is the bizarre infinite world we know today.
Popularity is like a progress bar for each instance of pollution.
Points represent an individual's level of contamination. The points earned upon completing the final level mark them, much like those in the instanced spaces, and they are thus permanently labeled as part of this world.
In order to strengthen its control over them, the Crevice Consciousness uses a company management host. As for the players, all guild leaders unknowingly sell themselves to the Crevice Consciousness when they sign the guild leader appointment agreement, becoming half-puppets of the Crevice Consciousness.
The "gap consciousness" can descend into the guild leader's body at any time without being detected, like a second personality hidden deep in the mind, monitoring every move within the guild.
So... from the moment Mingyang became the guardian of the key's secret, this generation had already triggered a death countdown.
The deaths of Mingyang and Pu Fengchun were orchestrated by Him in the shadows. Li Changying's biggest crime was not violating the rules by transferring defeated players to other instances, but rather that the person he hid was the key holder.
The reason Xue Chao didn't kill Li Changying wasn't because he had a lot of influence, but because he was caught in a dilemma and couldn't be sure if Boss Tang was really dead, and he also wanted to know where the library was.
The library has escaped from multiple instances, which were completely corrupted by powerful players attracted by the consciousness of the gaps. The library has also been destroyed several times, but as long as Xue Chao, as the core, is still reincarnated, the library can be reborn.
This time, they've gone under the rug and hidden the original instance again.
Because of the zeroing characteristic of copy number 142857, it has never been able to be completely corrupted, which is also a "difficult problem" that the Crescent Consciousness hates to the core. Even if there are guesses, it can only stare helplessly.
But time is running out for them; for the marginal consciousness, the situation is spiraling out of control... It's time for a change of generation.
There is no definite direction of gravity inside the library; whatever angle of the stairs you walk on determines your current ground level.
He put the book down again, wanting to read more information, since he still had some questions about what the host's job was.
In all his memories, he was a player, never a host.
Without a completely corrupted instance space, the Crescent Consciousness cannot control it. The only place within the instance space that can be completely corrupted by the Crescent Consciousness for monitoring is the shop.
The task is issued and executed by a system. Is the existence of the host merely to further divide them, exacerbate conflicts, and increase drama to accelerate the pollution of the instance space?
And where did the audience come from?
At that moment, there was a knock on the library's only door; the two short knocks were his and Jiang Ming's secret signal.
It's time to go. The library can't last forever, and this place can't be discovered by anyone else, which is why Jiang Ming took over the role of host to prevent the system from spying on him.
The arrogant Crescent Consciousness doesn't pay special attention to the differences among ants. Even if it needs to, it relies on the pollution of the soul to recognize people. Xue Chao's reincarnation had no memories in order to minimize the alienation of his superpowers on himself. His soul was turned back into a blank sheet of paper so that the Crescent Consciousness would not notice him.
The direction of the staircase he was on put his head directly in front of the library door. As soon as he looked up, he saw the woman's hand suddenly slip into the crack in the door. The huge obsidian ring gleamed like a sniper scope, and danger locked onto him.
Xue Chao didn't dodge; instead, he flipped over and fell out of the door: "Jiang Ming!"
The door was pulled open slightly, and the witch's smile held a murderous intent: "He's too busy to take care of himself and has already run away. Of all people to trust, why would you trust a madman at the end of his rope?"
Killing him now might be the quickest way for him to die.
The siblings drew their swords at each other, but waited until the library space was closed before making their move. Liquid gold rushed at them like countless ghostly claws. In front of the boss, the host, who had no superpowers, had very little chance of winning in a head-on battle.
Xue Chao was puzzled. Given Jiang Ming's personality, how could he possibly run away before he had even finished watching this grand show?
The previous instance was the same, as was the final standoff at Nightingale Mountain... Even evil gods have their off days?
But he was also preoccupied with his own problems, and just as Ivy was about to grab him, he shouted, "Do it!"
The chains, like outstretched octopus tentacles, instantly bound the witch—this was the player's special ability!
Strange drumbeats and a hypnotic pocket watch suspended in mid-air followed, disrupting the witch's mind. In the dimly lit villa, the candlesticks suddenly flickered, their flames shooting high into the sky and burning the golden tree branches. Various supernatural abilities and props worked together, catching Ivy completely off guard.
When Xue Chao was pulled into the TV by Jiang Ming, he handed his phone to Jiang Ming and typed text in the group announcement, implying that Jiang Ming was guiding players into this layer of the world to work together to stop the boss.
Although Jiang Ming ran away first, he did not disappoint Xue Chao's entrustment.
Rather, it's more accurate to say that once he was certain that it was still him, Jiang Ming trusted him completely and was willing to do anything for him.
They shared the same aspirations, which brought them together.
Ivy sensed the ambush in the shadows, but she didn't take it seriously. She simply didn't believe that these people who had just been killing each other would join forces to fight against an extremely dangerous boss. She decided to follow the host's orders.
The players were indeed skeptical, but if they couldn't kill the boss, they had to complete the main quest. In any case, the two things were almost intertwined. Xue Chao said that if they wanted to break through the space, they had to stop the boss. They wanted to live, so they might as well take a gamble!
If possible, no one wants to kill each other.
But no more than that would be impossible, the risk was too great. However, Xue Chao only needed them to hold Ivy back for a moment.
Ivy's hand was dragged a distance away from the television set, and Xue Chao seized the opportunity to break the restored Möbius strip outwards.
The host's identity was also restored at the same time.
Meanwhile, several expert players also made two preparations. They would help with the main quest suggested by Xue Chao and would not miss the moment when they could deal a fatal blow to the boss. When Ivy suddenly broke free and her dress turned into tree branches and was about to go berserk, Zhuo Yi immediately made a move and stopped her again. At this moment, Han Zheng swung down the mighty sword Tai'a. The sword light cut through the air and was unstoppable!
The Möbius strip was broken, and the entire villa, as a gaping hole, crumbled apart, sending the players flying out in a whirlwind.
Xue Chao caught a glimpse of the sword light, his eyes widened, and ignoring the sharp branches standing around Ivy, he instantly lunged at her to dodge the greatsword. His body was cut by the branches, and his back grazed by the sword light, his flesh tearing open. He grimaced in pain, but smiled at his stunned sister: "He's not mentally sound, and I'm not much better off. Let me have it, sister."
The last word was very soft, just falling into Ivy's ear, causing her to lower her resistance with a complicated look in her eyes. Xue Chao seized the opportunity, and with the help of the strong wind, used the prop rope to throw her out of the villa, letting her fall back into the world of DVDs.
On the panel, the popularity value has exceeded 95 points.
Xue Chao's expression shifted. He had indeed asked Jiang Ming to do something else: to boost the popularity score as much as possible. Among the players were disciples of the God of Joy, and with Jiang Ming acting as the host, they could convey more information to the other players, guiding them to cooperate and implement the plan to stop the boss.
Players from different worlds cooperated and carried out secret operations, greatly arousing the audience's curiosity. When he burst out of the door, his popularity had already exceeded 90 points.
When a player's popularity score exceeds 95 points, they exhibit subtle reactions. Some players are so shocked that they lose control of their expressions and are dazzled as they look at their own stats.
With the memories of his reincarnation, Xue Chao knew why. When the popularity value exceeded 95 points, the instance space was basically polluted, and players could see the comments from the audience without any censored words. The invisible barrier between players and the audience disappeared, and interaction could be completed without a host.
Xue Chao's rope caught the television set, accelerating its descent.
The boss returned to its position, the Möbius strip automatically repaired itself, and began to reset to zero. Before it closed again, Xue Chao was the last one to fall out of the gap.
The popularity score is stuck at 99 points, seemingly desperately trying to push it to the last point, but unfortunately it has returned to zero.
[Congratulations on completing the main quest and clearing the dungeon!]
[The instance is now closed]
In the studio after the settlement, Xue Chao was absent-minded, and the all-seeing eyes that filled the space made him feel nauseous.
Following the procedure, he selected Han Zheng, who had the highest score. Under their watchful eyes, the two exchanged a few perfunctory words and ended the interview.
Back in his dorm, Xue Chao soaked in the black water to recharge, but his thoughts drifted away again, and he almost choked to death in the pool.
He wiped his face in a fluster, his mind filled with thoughts of Jiang Ming. Where had that guy gone? When he was annoyed by him, he would deliberately gravitate towards him, but when he missed him, he would disappear without a trace.
But he could only suppress his frustration and quickly buy holiday vouchers. With the help of the group, the private investigator should have some investigation results.
More importantly, He Yang, as an ally, is the president of the Seven Killers, and his spirit contains a sense of being caught in the middle.
Although, according to their memories, when the president returned to the real world, the Crescent Consciousness was unlikely to follow, for fear of being discovered by the main world's consciousness, their time in the real world was limited, and some information inevitably had to be exchanged in the infinite world. The Crescent Consciousness may have noticed something.
But he couldn't leave; before he could, the system suddenly issued an emergency mission.
The task is issued to all hosts. It is not mandatory. Whoever accepts it can do it. If no one accepts it, then the space will be left to fend for itself. After the space is completely destroyed, hosts will be assigned to conduct a post-disaster investigation.
A boss went berserk, destroying the instance space and disrupting the normal course of the game. The instance host and players lost contact, so a special substitute host was dispatched to bring the game back on track.
The boss goes berserk, increasing the game's difficulty and earning popularity points. Shouldn't the system be happy about this? What's with the act?
Xue Chao was taken aback. Which boss?
It could pose a threat to the instance space and block the room's signal... He remembered his sister's words about being "too busy to take care of himself," and finally realized that it wasn't the instance boss that had gone berserk, but rather the god of joy who had gone to kill the instance boss who had lost control!
He quickly entered the tavern, messaged Fang Tailai, and asked her to help him go back to the real world to find a detective and get the investigation results. He then immediately accepted the mission and entered the game.
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