Interlude 1 of Chapter 38: This is really too low-key.
The man was completely oblivious to Nanmen Jue's strange expression, still staring dumbfounded at the scrolling blood-red banner. The banner scrolled in the darkened hall for a full two minutes, ensuring that all the reincarnators had memorized every word on it, before the lights slowly came back on.
"Holy crap, who is this Nanmen Jue? He single-handedly destroyed an entire cycle of reincarnation worlds? How did he do that?"
"Has anyone seen this name before? Is it a newcomer?"
"Are you an idiot? How can a newbie destroy the world! How are other people supposed to compete?"
"This...this seems to be the first time the main god has made a server-wide announcement..."
"I've been here for several years, and in my memory, those few heinous criminals on the red list were just on the wanted list. This is the first time that they've made such a big fuss and let everyone know about it."
"Fifty thousand points...that's fifty thousand points! And an orange-tier item! My god, do you know how hard it is to get that item?!"
"At least take a picture! Can't we just avoid these terrorists if we can't handle them?"
The hall erupted in chaos. Many people came out from the rest areas and gathered in the circular corridor, chattering excitedly. In an instant, the atmosphere was electric, and everyone was discussing only one topic: Nanmen Jue!
The scene was incredibly lively, as if a grand event was being held across the entire space.
The person who had spoken to Nanmen Jue snapped out of his daze and, filled with excitement and fear, asked in a trembling voice, "You, you just came out of the cycle of reincarnation? Have you seen this Nanmen Jue before?"
Nanmen Jue: "..."
Nanmen Jue: "Never heard of him. You want to kill him for a reward?"
“This kind of madman is not someone we little Karami dare to mess with. Those who dare to go after him must be at least purple or orange level, or even gold level…” The man’s eyes lit up, a greedy look flashed across his face, but then he smiled bitterly, “It seems that the four major guilds will be in a lot of trouble… 50,000 points, plus orange items, that’s no small sum.”
The color tiers of items are the same as the point tiers, divided into green, blue, purple, orange, and gold. Gold weapons are even rarer than gold-named reincarnators, while orange items are generally divine artifacts that can defy fate and are coveted by everyone.
Nanmen Jue's eyes darted around, and a slightly shy smile appeared on his face. "Big brother, actually I'm just a newcomer who has just lived through a world. There are many things I don't understand about this space. Would you be willing to spend some time telling us about them?"
The man was nearly blinded by Nanmen Jue's smile, nodding repeatedly: "Good, good, so you're a newcomer? No wonder I've never heard of you before..."
Nanmen Jue thought to himself, "You've already heard about it, and now the entire Main God Space has probably heard about it."
Her smile grew even gentler, and she seemed to radiate a pure and holy light, attracting several glances from those around her.
Those gazes included amazement, scrutiny, malicious assessment, and greed. The man opposite him changed his expression and pulled Nanmen Jue by the arm, heading towards the stairs.
“Come with me.” He lowered his voice and said, “You don’t know this because you’re new here. Everyone in this space is black-hearted. One wrong move and you’ll be doomed. Especially someone as good-looking as you, you have to be extra careful.”
Nanmen Jue feigned a look of confusion and fear, "What would they do?"
"They will... Sigh! Aren't you quite old?"
Seeing his sympathetic gaze, Nanmen Jue lowered his head. "Yes."
The man went up to the second floor and sighed, "He looks too young... The God is really a scoundrel, getting more and more outrageous, how could he even drag a child into this?"
Looking into Nanmen Jue's sincere and gentle eyes, he gritted his teeth and said, "Well, it's fate that you met me as soon as you entered this space. I'm definitely older than you, so just call me brother. I'll try my best to protect you."
"Hey, brother," Nanmen Jue called out sweetly and softly, "What should I call you, brother?"
The person who was supposed to be called "brother" was stunned. He looked at Nanmen Jue with a dreamy gaze and a silly grin on his face. "Hehe... my name is Guan Junren."
"Brother Guan."
Nanmen Jue readily called out, but did not introduce himself. Guan Junren was already overjoyed and pulled Nanmen Jue up to the third floor, where he placed his hand on a door.
“As long as it’s an empty room, you can stay anywhere,” Guan Junren explained. “Like this, you put your palm on it to read the information, and then only you and the people you allow can enter the room.”
Nanmen Jue raised an eyebrow slightly. "They're quite concerned about privacy."
"As for the view inside the room, you should think about it before you come in." Guan Junren opened the door, and a scene of a Hawaiian beach came into view, with bright sunshine and a gentle sea breeze, which made Nanmen Jue pause in surprise.
"This is possible?" She was genuinely surprised.
"Isn't it a bit too sunny?" Guan Junren looked up at the scorching sun, then at Nanmen Jue's fair face, and pulled her out again, "Let's do it again."
Upon entering again, one finds a spacious and comfortable single-level apartment, exuding luxury in every detail. From the balcony, one can also enjoy a view of the bustling river.
"this."
"This was designed according to the standards of a first-rank official." Guan Junren led Nanmen Jue inside, smiling quite smugly.
He hurriedly pulled the curtains open wider. Nanmen Jue glanced around the room briefly, then sat down on the sofa with an air of nonchalance.
When Guan Junren turned around, he saw her sitting upright with her knees together.
Guan Junren placed a bottle of apple juice in front of Nanmen Jue, slightly apprehensive, "I'm sorry, because I love drinking this, I only redeemed this one."
Nanmen Jue smiled and said, "Thank you, Brother Guan. I really like apple juice."
Guan Junren breathed a sigh of relief, watching Nanmen Jue's slender hands pick up the apple juice, his eyes seemed to sparkle with dreamy little stars.
"...Cough." He mentally slapped himself and composed himself.
Nanmen Jue glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, but in reality, he didn't even touch the glass to his lips; he simply held the juice in his hand.
"Brother Guan, if other people can't enter their rooms, can they fight in the lobby?"
This is extremely important; it will determine how she will live in the hall from now on.
“Theoretically, there’s no prohibition, but people generally don’t do it,” Guan Junren said. “The main god is right here. No matter what kind of injury you get, you can exchange it for repair on the spot. Fighting back and forth is just a waste of energy.” He lowered his voice. “Those who really want to kill someone will wait until they enter the cycle of reincarnation.”
Then, as if afraid of frightening Nanmen Jue, he quickly explained, "Not everyone wants to kill others. There are many people like me who just want to live honestly!"
Nanmen Jue suddenly smiled gently, "As long as there's no conflict of interest, right?"
The voice was captivating, yet it carried a chilling, venomous quality, as if a poisonous snake were coiling around it. Guan Junren froze, looking at Nanmen Jue in surprise.
Nanmen Jue remained obedient and well-behaved. "Then how do we exchange items with the main god?"
Guan Junren came to his senses and said, "Oh, once you enter your room, you can make your selections on your own panel. It clearly shows what's available and how to redeem it."
"Oh." Nanmen Jue nodded obediently, his eyes more innocent and pure than a rabbit's. "Then, Brother Guan, this space is so wonderful, with mansions to live in, food to eat, and the ability to travel everywhere. Can we live here forever and never enter the cycle of reincarnation?"
“To be honest, I’ve thought about that too, but it won’t work.” Guan Junren’s smile turned bitter. “After passing through a cycle of reincarnation, you can rest for a period of time, up to fifteen days. During this time, you can actively enter the cycle of reincarnation if you want, but if you haven’t entered by the fifteenth day, you will be… obliterated.”
The cold, hard verdict of annihilation was entirely within Nanmen Jue's expectations.
Nanmen Jue suppressed the cold smile on his lips and looked somewhat frightened, so Guan Junren comforted him again.
"Fifteen days is a bit short, but you can use points to strengthen your body, or you can enter the training ground of the main god for training. That training ground is a great thing! The flow of time inside is different. If you spend a day inside, you only spend an hour outside. It's just a bit expensive..." Guan Junren scratched his head, "One thousand points per hour."
Nanmen Jue's eyebrows twitched.
She hadn't forgotten that in the world she had just passed, the main quest only offered 10,000 points. Exchanging for an extra day would cost 1,000 points? Probably not many reincarnators could afford that.
The image of the main god as ruthless and cruel became more and more ingrained, and Nanmen Jue asked again: "Brother, have you ever heard of... the Ouroboros guild?"
She had offended three guilds at once and didn't know which one to ask first. After thinking it over, she decided to pick the one whose style she disliked the most and with whom she had the deepest grudge.
Upon hearing this, Guan Junren's face filled with terror, and he almost jumped up. "You've encountered the Ouroboros?!"
Nanmen Jue nodded: "I met one."
Guan Junren was even more terrified: "You offended him?"
"No." Nanmen Jue smiled innocently.
"That's good, that's good..." Guan Junren patted his chest and said very seriously, "Listen, there are many guilds of all sizes in this space. It's hard for solo players to survive if they don't stick together. There are four of them that are the largest and definitely not to be offended."
"They are Ouroboros, Entropy Ash, Crimson Church, and a rather special one, Iron Drill."
Nanmen Jue's eyebrows twitched again.
Even if she considered that the three guilds she had offended might not be small guilds, it was still too outrageous that they were all from the four major guilds. So, she had offended three of the four major guilds in her very first world?
"The most ruthless of them all is Ouroboros," Guan Junren continued. "From top to bottom, Ouroboros are all madmen. They even accept red names! So they are not afraid of killing people. They even divide the bodies after killing someone. In short, their style of doing things is outrageous."
Nanmen Jue's expression darkened, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes.
No wonder there's a tool to hide names; he's a repeat offender.
"What about the others?"
“The others… Crimson Church is the most mysterious and difficult to join, but everyone in it is a master. Legend has it that to join, you need at least a purple name or higher, and you need an insider's recommendation. As for Entropy, they are more inclusive? They basically recruit anyone except red names, so they have the most members, but they haven't been recruiting recently, apparently because they have enough. As for Iron Drill…” Guan Junren showed a troubled expression, “It’s hard to say. They only recruit women, and if you are a woman, you can basically get in by applying, except for red names. They also seem to be the most united guild. If anyone touches one of their members, they will be hunted down to death by everyone.”
Nanmen Jue's fingers trembled slightly as he held the cup. "Truly... united."
Her tone was somewhat self-deprecating, but Guan Junren didn't notice it. "This space... sigh, we've entered the apocalypse, so we don't need to care about the rules we used to follow. Everything here requires points, and we barely survive each time, earning very little. Even if we join these big guilds, we're not guaranteed to survive. So you have to be extra careful. Relying on yourself is the most reliable thing to do."
Nanmen Jue's gaze fell on his face. "So, which guild did you join?"
Guan Junren was immediately a little embarrassed. "Although I said that, I still joined a small guild. There's no other way; it's too hard for newcomers to survive in this world."
Nanmen Jue recalled Ding Zihao, who was torn in two vertically. His name had no suffix, and he died so silently. If she hadn't rushed out at that time, if she hadn't told Zhang Chuxi, even the reincarnators in that world wouldn't have known that such a person existed.
Nanmen Jue chuckled, and seeing Guan Junren's puzzled look, she shook her head and fixed her gaze on him, "One last question, Brother Guan, we can exchange back to reality, right?"
No matter how well she pretends to be obedient, her inherent aggression will unconsciously show, subtly and completely. Guan Junren rubbed his arms and suddenly felt a little cold, but he didn't pay much attention to it.
"Yes, the time flow ratio is the same as inside the space, one to one, but it costs one thousand points every day."
"What if they don't come back? Or will they be eliminated?"
"It's still annihilation, and the death will be extremely gruesome..." Guan Junren's face paled slightly. "I heard there was a case where someone didn't return by the appointed time, so they just exploded in front of their parents and relatives..."
Nanmen Jue recalled that he had indeed seen similar news, such as a man inexplicably exploding himself. At the time, the media characterized it as a terrorist attack, saying that he had swallowed a bomb beforehand.
She nodded slightly, indicating that she understood. "Thank you for your help, Brother Guan. This information is very useful to me."
"Are you leaving already?" Guan Junren stood up reluctantly. "Where are you planning to stay? How about we exchange contact information? We both cleared the game today, maybe we'll be teleported into the same world in fifteen days."
Nanmen Jue looked at this idiot who had invited her in and then acted as a tool to answer questions, without ever thinking to ask her name. He couldn't help but chuckle.
"Let's chat privately first," Nanmenjue said. "I'll let you know through the system once I've chosen where to stay."
The system allows for communication within the space, and it is highly confidential, ensuring that no personal information will be revealed. She had already added Zhang Chuxi to study the system before, so adding another one wouldn't be a problem.
The two added each other on private chat, and Guan Junren beamed with joy as he escorted her to the door.
Before leaving, he looked around furtively and whispered, "Anyway, be careful. You're too beautiful, it's easy for people to have perverted thoughts about you. And it's not safe for men in here either."
"I understand." Nanmen Jue gave him a genuine smile. "Thanks."
As Guan Junren watched her leave with reluctance, she turned and departed, her expression growing increasingly playful.
A crow silently landed back on her shoulder. She calmly walked down the corridor, went up one more floor, and randomly chose an empty room to press her palm down.
Inside the door was the interior design of her own home.
Nanmen Jue casually sat down on the sofa, opened the system panel, and in the private chat interface, the flame icon representing Guan Junren was lit up, and there was only one grayed-out icon.
The profile picture is a Black Forest cake.
Nanmen Jue stared at the avatar for a few seconds before looking back at the panel.
After completing a world, the content on the panel has changed slightly. The quest interface has temporarily disappeared, the private chat interface is unavailable in the reincarnation world, and a shop has been added in addition to the original points interface.
As she opened the online store, she asked, "How's the information coming along?"
"The leader of the Iron Drill and his gathering place are on the fifteenth floor, the Ouroboros are on the eighty-eighth floor, and the Entropy Ashes are on the seventy-sixth floor," the crow said in human language. "It seems the leaders of the latter two are not here."
Nanmen Jue stared at the mall interface, looking astonished.
The crow complained, "Why are you making me do chores as soon as you get back?"
"I'm your contractor, so helping me survive would also benefit you." Nanmen Jue glanced at him. "The Supreme God now knows that I'm bound to you, which is why he's trying to kill me using these methods. Don't you think you should give me some compensation?"
The crow said weakly, "...He may not think that I am bound to you, but since you are the only one who survived in that world, He wants you dead."
Nanmen Jue paused in his swiping. "Oh? You just survived in a world where you exist, so you want to kill me?"
The crow nodded. "He must have been furious to announce your whereabouts to the entire world, so that everyone would come and kill you."
"Well, I am a little curious." Nanmen Jue casually adjusted his posture and stared straight ahead. "Isn't this space the domain of the Supreme God? Isn't the Cycle of Reincarnation also created by the Supreme God? Why can't He just kill me or find you directly, instead of going through all this trouble?"
The crow got stuck, a noticeable unease flickering in its usually calm, beady eyes. It opened its beak and sneered, "Bullshit! How could this space belong to it!"
"Is that yours?"
"...It's not mine either." The crow's passion was only fleeting. Although his tone was a little more volatile, it no longer had that strong human energy. "I can't explain too much to you right now. In short, this space doesn't belong to Him. He's just using it. So His authority isn't that great, including in the cycle of reincarnation. So don't worry, He won't suddenly rush out and kill you."
“With an entire space of reincarnators eager to hunt me down, I can rest easy.” Nanmen Jue sneered, then turned his gaze back to the panel.
Knowing it was in the wrong, the crow nestled down nearby, its fluffy feathers tucked away, and remained silent.
He remained silent, but Nanmen Jue had something to say. Pointing at the panel, she asked vehemently, "What's going on? Why is there only this much in the shop?"
The overwhelming array of props she had imagined, leaving her overwhelmed with choices, did not materialize. The store had very few items, and she quickly scrolled to the bottom.
The top row contains the body stats, and below that are a few items, mostly green and blue, with only one purple one!
Nanmen Jue was stunned. Was the main god so stingy? Couldn't he spend his money?
The crow hadn't expected this situation either, and paused for a moment before saying, "Is it because your level isn't high enough to see higher-level content?"
"Nonsense."
Nanmen Jue carefully browsed through the items. They were all very basic in function. For example, the sprint slippers could increase speed by five points. Another example was "Keep Away from Living Beings," which was literally what it said: humans could approach, but the undead could not. The undead were living beings... What kind of nonsense was this? This was a blue item, but it could only be used once.
In fact, most of these are currently disposable, or have extremely low values or durability.
Nanmen Jue's head was spinning. She pulled back to the chat interface and sent Guan Junren a cute emoticon.
The other side quickly replied with an emoticon.
Nanmen Jue: Brother Guan, why are there so few items in the shop, and none of them are high-level?
Guan Junren: It's very difficult to get items here. The shop refreshes randomly, and the probability of getting mid-to-high-level items is already very low. Large guilds will arrange for people to camp out and snatch them.
"Is that so?!" Nanmen Jue's eyes darkened.
In terms of manpower, she can't compete with scalpers no matter what, and besides, she can't possibly be stationed in the mall 24/7.
Thinking this, her gaze suddenly turned to the crow beside her.
Xiao Nuo, who was preening her feathers: ?
Little Nuo slowly raised her head and pointed at herself with her wings: ?
Nanmen Jue smiled gently. "Xiao Nuo, you know how important it is for me to hide my name now, right? Since you can't keep secretly helping me cheat, you'll have to put in more effort to keep an eye on things for me."
"...My initial feeling was right after all." The crow recalled the ominous premonition that arose when it saw Nanmen Jue's fox-like smile when it first bound itself to her. Now it had become a reality, but it really couldn't refuse.
"And those purple, orange, and blue ones, take them all as soon as they show their faces." Nanmen Jue said, waving his hand to buy all the items that appeared in the store, then pulled up his body data and tentatively increased it.
Feeling relaxed, her body had never felt so relaxed before. Nanmen Jue felt as light as a swallow and yet incredibly strong. She stared at her well-defined hands, somewhat stunned.
As for the only purple one, it was already taken when Nanmen Jue sent a message to Guan Junren.
The crow asked, "Would you buy it no matter how expensive it is?"
"I'll buy it no matter how expensive it is." Nanmen Jue came to his senses. "I'm so poor right now that all I have left are points."
She opened the panel's homepage and saw a gleaming gold number prominently displayed in her points column.
953500.
From a complete novice to a top-tier celebrity, Nanmen Jue only needed one world.
Because Nanmen Jue erased the entire world, she only saved people; as for the existing radiation monsters in the world, they all became the souls of hers.
Although most of the monsters died in that radiation wave, the points awarded by the world were still considerable. When he first appeared, Nanmenjue had more than five million points.
At that time, the "Return to Reality" button, which was something all reincarnators longed for but could not reach, had already lit up, but Nanmen Jue didn't even glance at it.
She scrolled up her body data, watching it as she went, and found that her points were dropping at an alarming rate. Even after using up more than four million points, her data was still not full.
How terrifying.
A single task only grants five thousand, and the reincarnator has to level up, buy items, and save up one million to return to reality.
She needed to save some points for emergencies, and it wouldn't be easy to adapt to having her physical stats raised too high all at once. So she stopped, turned off the panel, and stood up.
Name: Nanmen Jue
Age: 18
Base values: (Maximum value is 100. Below 50, the system will enter an alert state; below 30, it will enter a dangerous state; below 20, it will enter a critical state.)
Health Points: 79
Spirit Value: 90
Endurance value: 78
Agility: 81
Strength: 74
Speed: 82
Spirit: 93
Physical Strength: 78
This is Nanmen Jue's current physical data. Each level upgrade in the later stages will require an extremely high amount of points.
She roughly estimated that the average score should be above 70, which is roughly the level of a Gold Rank. Currently, there are only four known Gold Rank members in the entire Reincarnation Space, namely the leaders of the four major guilds.
I don't know their exact strength.
"Where are you going?" The crow flew to her shoulder. "Are you going to train? Your physical stats have just improved, and you need high-intensity training to match them. I told you before that I could help you with this."
"I need to go back to reality first," Nanmenjue said.
Upon hearing this, the crow flew back to the sofa. "Then I'll wait for you here."
Nanmen Jue squeezed her fingers. If she weren't squeezing her own fingers, but an ordinary person's fingers, she had no doubt that she could snap them in two.
"They're truly terrifying inhuman," she murmured.
She shook her head self-deprecatingly, first finding the daily necessities option in the shop. These weren't considered props; the selection was dazzling. She exchanged for a men's casual suit and put it on. Then she found the option to "Temporarily return to reality." Just as she was about to press it, Guan Junren's message popped up again.
"Hey bro, come out here! Three out of the four major guilds have been handing out flyers; they're all looking for Nanmen Jue!"
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