Chapter 164: [Passing the Imperial Examination] End of the Instance
Bai Cha held back none of her power.
Even up to the very last second of the system broadcast, she fired off yet another strand of dodder vine.
Mother Han turned back to look at her once more.
Bai Cha offered a gentle nod.
“I will take her out of the game.”
[Teleportation successful—]
Her figure vanished from the opposite rooftop.
Yet the slaughter among the crimson demons was far from over.
This instance had irrevocably changed.
[Congratulations! You have successfully cleared the large-scale instance “Passing the Imperial Examination with Flying Colors.” Your performance in this instance was outstanding, earning an S-rank rating and a reward of 1,600 points!]
[Congratulations! You have successfully leveled up to C6 Rank Player.]
[Your “Bane of Ghosts” tag has been upgraded to LV4. Equipping it can intimidate certain ghosts and monsters—after all, a vexing existence like you is enough to give any ghost a pounding headache just looking at you.]
[Due to the profound impact you exerted upon the NPCs in this instance, the instance “Passing the Imperial Examination with Flying Colors” will be closed, while simultaneously undergoing modifications and upgrading into a new instance.]
[As a key contributor to the birth of the new instance, you have received an Invitation Card. When the new instance is born, you may enter the game via the Invitation Card to experience the new instance mode.]
[You have received an evaluation from the teachers in this instance: “Three-Good Student.”]
[Equipping this title grants you the blessing of a Three-Good Student in school-themed instances.]
[You have received a blessing from Han Yingying: “May you learn to express yourself as well.”]
[Having slain 6 crimson demons in this instance, your “Demon Hunter” tag has been upgraded to LV7. That extra 0.5 stems from your influence over Han Hong-mei—an exceptional Demon Hunter should naturally make demons fight on her behalf.]
[Your “Demon Hunter” tag has been updated to: Demon Hunter [Torn to Shreds] [Must-Kill Target] [Beguiler].]
[Do you have any further questions?]
“No.”
Bai Cha was teleported back to the game hall.
As usual, she prepared to leave.
“Bai Cha?”
A voice called her to a halt.
Bai Cha looked back to find Xiao Xiao.
“Sister Xiao, did you just come out of an instance too?”
Xiao Xiao nodded. “You too? It looks like you’re ranking up really fast now. Are you grinding instances or…?”
Bai Cha glanced over at the Game Town. “Let’s find a place to sit down and talk.”
“Alright.”
Although this was only her second meeting with Xiao Xiao, with less than a month having passed since the last time, it somehow felt like an eternity had slipped by.
After all, the experiences inside the instances were far too intense—the kind of events that would never unfold day after day in reality.
If not for the subtle allure the game constantly projected, and if not for those forces pushing her forward, she wouldn’t have felt an ounce of aversion toward the game.
There was a coffee shop inside the Game Town.
Indeed, several players were seated inside.
It could hardly be described as relaxing, though; every now and then, someone would check the livestreams on their personal interface.
Bai Cha and Xiao Xiao ordered a cup of coffee each, costing merely a few points.
Even if it was just a few points, however, it remained quite precious to the vast majority of players.
“Sister Xiao, do you know about that matter with Xu Ming-wang?”
Xiao Xiao knew, of course. “I do, though I don’t know too many details… Wang Xu-ming was him, right?”
Bai Cha nodded.
“Many people say he was targeted by the game for sabotaging an instance… Truth be told, I don’t know much about the inner workings of the game. Sister Xiao, how long have you been in the game?”
Xiao Xiao thought it over and said, “It’s been three years now, I suppose… Sigh, three years in the blink of an eye.”
She had no idea when these days would ever come to an end.
She didn’t enjoy this thrill-seeking life at all; she much preferred a plain, ordinary existence.
“Then do you know who has stayed in the game the longest, and for about how long?”
Bai Cha could have brought these questions to Shen Qingchen as well, but when facing Shen Qingchen, she always felt a subtle sense of restraint.
Besides, his experience and capabilities surpassed hers in every aspect, and by nature, she couldn’t extend her trust to someone right away.
Crossing paths with Xiao Xiao now, Bai Cha simply asked her directly.
“I’m actually not too sure about that, but I’ve chatted with others about this before, and there used to be discussions on the forum as well…”
Xiao Xiao pondered for a moment before saying, “I heard the longest one stayed for about fifteen years. It was one of the former rank-one players on the leaderboard, named… what was it again?”
She racked her brain for a long while before shaking her head in defeat.
“I think there was a ‘Bai’ in the name, or was the surname Bai? I can’t remember, nor do I recall where I saw it. Later when I tried looking for it intentionally, I couldn’t find that thread anymore.”
She had merely stumbled upon it at the time, and when she tried searching for it later, similar information was nowhere to be found.
“Fifteen years…”
“Yeah. Hasn’t the current Shen Qingchen been here for nearly ten years too? Nine years now, right?”
A trace of emotional reflection washed over Xiao Xiao’s face.
Truth be told, facing such a vast stretch of time, she didn’t know if she could hold out until then.
“I heard that once you upgrade to S9, you get an opportunity to leave the game. I don’t know if that’s true or false…”
Yearning shone brightly in Xiao Xiao’s eyes.
“Pfft, keep dreaming. If upgrading to S9 meant you could leave, why hasn’t Shen Qingchen left yet?”
A player seated nearby overheard their conversation and scoffed in disdain.
Bai Cha didn’t grant him so much as a single glance.
“Let’s go, Sister Xiao. We can talk outside.”
The player’s face turned dark as he spat toward their departing figures, muttering under his breath about how they would kick the bucket in the game sooner or later.
“Ignore guys like that; Game Town is full of them,” Xiao Xiao comforted, worried Bai Cha might be upset.
“I know. Once they get back to reality, they wouldn’t dare utter a single word.”
Xiao Xiao let out a soft laugh. “True enough. Shall we find another spot to chat?”
“No need, let’s meet offline?” Bai Cha looked at her with a smile.
Xiao Xiao patted her shoulder with a hint of gratification. “A lot of people in the game aren’t trustworthy, but that doesn’t mean no one can be trusted.”
For a newcomer, keeping one’s guard up was good; for someone who had cleared several games, maintaining a peaceful mindset was what mattered most.
It was wonderful that Bai Cha didn’t need her to remind her of that.
“I’ll message you offline to make plans.”
The two departed from the game one after the other.
The moment Bai Cha returned, experiencing the sudden drop in her physical capabilities, her mindset didn’t suffer as severe a breakdown this time.
She was never someone prone to self-destructive emotions to begin with.
However… she hadn’t brought that single daisy out for the time being.
She wasn’t entirely certain what the so-called instance modification entailed.
Her original thought was that if an instance closed—or even if it were simply cleared—she would likely never return.
Because unless special means were employed, players couldn’t repeatedly enter an instance they had already cleared.
If the instance still existed now, however, was Mother Han inside still alive?
Unlike her previous instances, she didn’t know the actual residential address of Mother Han and her daughter in this one.
Although she could research relevant news reports, given that Mother Han was a divorced single mother whose sole focus in life revolved around her daughter, she likely had no other relatives left.
For an ordinary person like herself, uncovering a more detailed address or cemetery location regarding them would be far from easy.
Thus, that daisy remained stored inside her game inventory for now.
She wanted to check things out after the instance completed its update before making a decision.
Ding—
A message notification popped up on her phone.
It wasn’t from Xiao Xiao, however—it was from Shen Qingchen.
