Chapter 206: Ruins of the Sunset

Qi Si returned to Qijia Village, took the fever-reducing medicine, and then lay down on the bed, entering the Game Space.

This time, he spent two hundred points directly, extending his stay by two hours beyond the daily one-hour limit.

He placed the Human Skin Mask over his face, and facing the mirror, molded an unremarkable, particularly refined student face, adjusting his eye color to ordinary dark brown.

After ensuring no trace of “Qi Si” remained, he stepped down from the Divine Throne, walked all the way to the bronze gate of the Divine Hall, and pushed the door open… Eerie Game Player Square, Ruins of the Sunset.

The dark yellow sky reflected the colors of dusk; a blood-red sun hung on the horizon, never setting and never rising.

Broken architectural remnants lay across the ground, and skeletal pillars leaned precariously; the air was filled with lingering dust, and scorch marks mixed with golden slurry covered every corner.

Black high towers rose from the ruins, stacking layer upon layer toward the sky. The six iron doors on each floor were sealed, resembling long-silent isolated tombs.

In the beginning, this place had no name and was just called “Player Square” or “Game Lobby.”

Later, someone gave it the nickname “Ruins of the Sunset,” which was unexpectedly fitting and gradually spread among the player community.

Now, the Eerie Game also recognizes this name.

The centerpiece of the Ruins of the Sunset is a massive golden tree. Its deep, gnarled roots extend like blood vessels into every corner, and its semi-ethereal branches and leaves stretch in all directions. Floating motes of light drift around it, and the soft, radiant glow they emit casts a layer of sacredness over the desolate scene.

Golden, enormous fruits hung from the tree. Through their translucent outer shells, one could see growing vines and figures moving inside.

Below the tree was an enormous plaza where men and women, young and old, in various attires, came and went. Sometimes people vanished among the branches and leaves, and sometimes they appeared out of thin air.

Qi Si emerged from the Game Space and stood beside the trunk in the center of the plaza. As soon as his vision settled, he saw a wisp of a vine phantom dangling from above.

The massive tree growing in the Ruins of the Sunset and the golden plant behind the high-backed chair clearly belonged to the same species, but the tree was far more lush, stretching limitlessly and unrestrainedly through infinite time and space.

After Qi Si focused his gaze, the non-narrative information gently told him the tree’s name—

“The World.”

Beneath the World Tree, a row of stone tablets engraved with player and guild rankings was displayed, their positions slowly shifting.

Qi Si had long heard about them. He walked closer and heard a cold electronic voice sound from the depths of his mind:

【You currently have five First Clear records and one ranking record.】

Although the game doesn’t actively inform players whether they achieved a First Clear after completing a instance, Qi Si had a general idea of which instances he had achieved a TE First Clear on.

Rose Manor, Carnivore, Hopeless Sea, Grand Performance, and Red Maple Boarding School—exactly five.

As for the ranking… Qi Si walked up to the rookie rank, and two lines of prompts refreshed before his eyes:

【This ranking only includes players who have cleared ten instances (excluding the Novice Pool) or fewer, and ranks them based on comprehensive attributes like combat power, skills, and items.】

【Your rank is: 93】

The rookie rank only displays the top one hundred players. Qi Si looked at the bottom of the list and indeed saw a record:

【93. ** (This player has not set a displayed nickname), Male, instances Cleared 4】

Nearly half the players on the rookie rank had asterisks for names, so Qi Si’s record wasn’t particularly conspicuous among them.

The player ranked first was a female player named “Li Yunyang.” She didn’t have much discussion surrounding her on the forums, likely belonging to the type who hadn’t streamed and didn’t have many First Clear records.

The top fifteen players on the leaderboard had uniformly cleared 10 instances. The more veteran the player, the more points and rewarded items they had, which was reasonable.

Qi Si lowered his gaze and saw three familiar names.

【16. Chang Xu, Male, instances Cleared 6】

【49. Dong Xiwen, Male, instances Cleared 6】

【85. Lin Chen, Male, instances Cleared 3】

He roughly understood: combat power held significant weight on this ranking, and the evaluation of item and skill effectiveness likely considered whether they directly helped enhance combat power.

Among them, he wondered what item Lin Chen had obtained after clearing No. 33 Middle School instance with a TE, allowing him to suddenly surge ahead on the rookie rank.

“Looking at it this way, I can’t beat most of the people on the list.” Qi Si sighed faintly.

He had always been self-aware of his combat power, so he was relatively satisfied with the 93rd rank.

In his opinion, he had been in a state where he would instantly collapse upon contact for a long time. His ability to rank now was thanks to the item 【Cursed Pendulum】.

In fact, if only survival probability in instances were considered, Qi Si could rank very high; a string of Veteran Players in the middle of the list who cleared 10 instances might actually fall off the list entirely.

Although strategy, knowledge, and puzzle-solving abilities cannot be quantified, they are undeniably important in instances. While Qi Si’s abilities in these areas might not be comprehensive or top-tier, he could certainly be ranked in the first echelon.

The newly acquired 【Crimson High Priest】 Identity Card grants him the ability to gain faith and convert it into power, and the 【Soul Contract】 skill allows him to bring powerful players under his command. His weakness in combat power might not be unbridgeable through these means.

Items like his 【Rose Heart】 and 【Human Skin Mask】 might seem to offer little combat bonus individually, but they have excellent synergy, allowing them to cooperate and link together, helping him carry out deception and exploit others.

An amoral person naturally gains an advantage early among law-abiding crowds, and even the strongest player can be killed by a sneak attack with a small razor blade.

If the one hundred players on the rookie rank were put into a instance free-for-all, Qi Si was confident he could survive to the end through operations no normal person would think of.

Of course, ranking on the list offers no point rewards, and since he was anonymous, a higher or lower rank made no difference to him.

He wondered, however, if someone might connect his clear records and the number of cleared instances, discerning a pattern within the complex anonymous information to pinpoint his existence?

Qi Si fell into contemplation… The periphery of the plaza, far from the World Tree’s main trunk, was circled by European-style buildings constructed from flagstones and dead branches, creating a post-apocalyptic wasteland atmosphere.

These structures were mostly built spontaneously by players to earn points essential for survival. They were filled with gambling, erotica, and other entertainment not permitted by Federal Law, making the area bustling and lively.

At two o’clock in the afternoon, Liu Yuhan entered the Game Space on time, and before long, she received coordinates sent by Qi Si via a Soul Leaf.

Following the leaf’s guidance, she entered the Player Square, traversed the streets of the Ruins of the Sunset, slipped into a quiet alley, and entered a private room in a restaurant.

On the square dining table, there was only a plate of green vegetables and two bowls of rice. A refined young man in a white shirt sat behind the table, lost in thought, resting his chin on his hand.

Seeing her enter, the young man smiled gently at her: “Yuhan, long time no see.”

The tone of his voice was exceptionally familiar—Liu Yuhan would never forget it. She belatedly realized that the young man before her, wearing a strange face, was Qi Si.

He had only cleared a few instances, yet he could already change his appearance?

Liu Yuhan inexplicably thought of the phrase “No-Self Mark, Sentient Beings Mark.” Apprehensively, she sat across from Qi Si, her hands resting stiffly on her knees.

Then she heard the young man say with a smile: “I hope you join the Jiuzhou Guild within a week—I trust that with your reputation, you won’t be rejected.”

She suddenly looked up. The young man, wearing a youthful, student-like face, spoke the cruel words: “If you haven’t succeeded in one week, you will be erased.”

The crimson Contract scroll materialized in the air, with new golden writing added as a supplemental clause on the last line.

Liu Yuhan saw her own pale face reflected in the young man’s hazy, indistinct eyes, and her complexion grew even whiter as the final word was completed.

She recalled that a week ago, when she desperately joined the Balance Church, the recruiter had also told her: “We hope you can join the Jiuzhou Guild as soon as possible.”

She had remained silent and slipped by then, never intending to actually execute this mission.

During her rookie period, she had interacted with the Jiuzhou Guild and always felt it was just another high tower requiring endless climbing. Having just escaped from endless climbing, she only wanted to breathe freely.

Now, times had changed. While her reputation meant she didn’t have to climb from the bottom like ordinary people, she still didn’t want to join, didn’t want to become a shameful mole.

Jiuzhou, no matter how much decline it showed, was ultimately the “Lighthouse” in the players’ hearts; although their ideals were ethereal, they were once her lifelong pursuit… Liu Yuhan swallowed, speaking hoarsely: “I have cleared twelve instances, and I have eighty-eight left.”

“Isn’t that perfect?” Qi Si tilted his head, his smile unwavering. “By joining a major guild like Jiuzhou, perhaps you can find a way to deal with me early—who knows?”

How could that be possible? Even if I found a way, you could kill me just by having a thought… Liu Yuhan thought bitterly, lowering her head in silence. After a long moment, she heard the young man lower his voice, speaking in a seductive tone: “Let’s make another deal.”

Golden vines drifted in the void, and the blood-red scroll, which had only recently faded, solidified once more.

The demon presiding over the Contract smiled eerily: “As long as you can find concrete evidence from public information that can pinpoint my identity, I will release you early.”

“Records, rankings, forums… you’ve always been good at analyzing these things, haven’t you?”