Chapter 3.2: Game Start

     At the same time they arrived, the sky shone brightly.

    The passenger bus rushed out of a black hole and was speeding over a towering arched bridge, and they could see a town full of houses from below it.

    [Welcome to the game base.]

    [Please explore the game base by yourself with the help of the game sub-system and open the first mission dungeon copy within a week.]

    [I wish you a happy game.]

    After the bus stopped at the gate of the city gate at the end of the bridge, the five people carefully got out of the bus.

    On the opposite side of where their bus was parked, a circle of light threw three people out.

    One of them was a woman covered in blood and missing an arm. She was lying on the ground, clutching a photo with one hand, crying silently.

    Her crying was silent and not ferocious, but the despair and pain heard from it were very contagious.

    Because of the things that happened on the bus, none of the five people yelled recklessly, nor did they rush forward.

    Until the woman’s tears washed away the blood on the photo, revealing a sunny and handsome man’s face, Ning Su glanced behind him, then stepped forward to help the exhausted woman who was missing an arm.

    He looked at the photo and said, “This man is very handsome.”

    The woman smiled while crying, “He was my husband. This was the photo he game me before he died. He secretly took it before entering the dungeon.”

    

    Ning Su: “Were both of you from Qiucheng?”

    The woman grabbed the photo and smiled idiotically. “Yes, we studied in Qiucheng and also got married there.”

    Ning Su: “Hmm.”

    The woman cried and laughed while looking at the person in the photo. Seemingly insane, Ning Su glanced at her again, and walked towards Zhu Shuangshuang, who was silently waving at him to return.

    “We just came here and understand nothing, so we should be careful.” Zhu Shuangshuang said.

    Ning Su nodded.

    The five people walked into the city gate and formally stepped into the game base.

    The city was indeed full of people, but they were not common people one would see at normal times.

    They wore all kinds of clothes, including normal suits and shirts, as well as exotic clothes, such as magic robes and Taoist clothes.

    Some of their eyes were hollow and numb, some were crazy and fiery, and some were terribly calm, as if they had come down from countless battlefields.

    “Hi! Are you new here?” A young man in a pink shirt interrupted their observations.

    “Are you confused?” Pink Shirt said enthusiastically, “Let me explain things to you.”

    Was there such a good thing?

    They didn’t believe it.

    There were quite a few people with the same enthusiasm. There was also a person in front of the high school student and the man in the suit who was trying to explain things to them, and even dragged them to a booth.

   The pink shirt saw their tough defenses and spread his hands. “I’m not lying to you. If you don’t believe me, you can open your system page. What I’ll explain is included in the novice guide. I’m just going to explain it to you more clearly and concisely. Since you all arrived here, you should all know that you have to play the game under the guidance of the system.

    “In fact, you have to clear these dungeons one by one. You will get a new life by clearing them. There is also a reward for clearing these dungeons. Depending on your performance and luck, you may get skills or weapons. The most basic thing is points.

    “Points are very important, they are the currency circulating in the entire game and game base, you can use points to buy props in the system shop, strengthen your body and skills, and also use it to meet your basic needs in the game base.

    “After you entered the game, you can’t go back to the real world until you pass a certain level. Which means, outside of the dungeons, you have to live on the game base. You need to buy a house and eat here, and you need points for basic necessities. So what should you do if you don’t have any points?”

    Pink Shirt looked at Ning Su, Zhu Shuangshuang, and Su Xiangsheng, waiting for them to ask curiously.

    After waiting for a long time, the three looked at him indifferently or blankly or in a trance.

    The pink shirt got stuck, and just continued: “You should join a club!”

    “Show your player panel to the club. As long as you fit in with the club, you can join them, and the club will provide you with temporary accommodation and food for a few days.”

    After saying this, he thought the three of them would be very excited.

   After all, they all know that the selection of players through the bus drive was definitely not a small scene. The frightened newcomers must especially want an organization to join at this time.

    But no one spoke.

    Little Taoist: “Ah, it’s so embarrassing. What should I do?”

    “...”     

    After he said that, Ning Su had no choice but to say, “It’s so troublesome. Can’t I just go to the dungeon? Can you eat and drink for free? You don’t need points to buy a house, right?”

    Pink shirt: “…”

   “Dungeons are hell! Do you know how scary they are?” He pointed angrily at the woman holding the photo outside the city gate and said, “Just now, didn’t you talk to her? Did you know that 30 of them went to a copy of a dungeon, and only three of them came out in the end, and two of them were even disabled? Most people would die if they go in!”

    Everyone else wanted to delay going inside a dungeon until the very last second. He had never seen a newcomer who bothered to go to one as soon as they arrived here.

    “Don’t you want to live for two more days?!”

    Zhu Shuangshuang asked: “Then, if we don’t join clubs, does that mean we don’t have a place to sleep if we don’t have points?”

    The pink shirt glanced at her, and he laughed, “Yes. You can sleep over that bridge. But a young girl like you... well. Although the system does not allow killing inside the game base, there are no other regulations aside from that. Let me tell you, this is not a peaceful society ruled by law. You don’t know what people who face the fear of death every day will do. This is also the benefit of joining a club. No one would dare touch you if you have a backing.”

    “I’ll explain the rest to them.” Ji Mingrui, the man in the suit, interrupted the pink shirt and said, “So, if you could leave.”

    After the pink shirt left cursing, Ji Mingrui said to them: “What he said earlier is true, but there is a problem with sharing the player panel. You won’t be allowed to join that easily. Some would just defraud you with personal information. Player data is very important. If someone with a bad heart knew about it, it’s like handing them a knife to stab you. You must protect the privacy of your data.

    “However, signing to a club does have an advantage. To disclose your player panel to the club database is a guarantee of loyalty, and the club will then train you based on your data. It is great to join a big club. They can not only train you but also share to you their experience in breaking through the dungeon levels, as well as leading people with a high ability to pass them.”

    “I have already figured out the method to determine whether it is a reliable club or if it’s a fraudulent club like where that pink shirt just now belonged. It directly depends on the player panel.

    “A real reliable club would first disclose their conditions for recruiting members. If the requirement is to have an attack power of over 80, the players must first determine whether they meet the requirements, and then go to them, sign the system contract first, and then they would look at the panel. If you meet the conditions, they will definitely accept you.”

 

   They looked at him unanimously, with admiration and surprise in their eyes.

    In just a few minutes, so much information had been collected.

    Ji Mingrui looked at these three pairs of eyes and paused. “I’ll get some points first.” Before leaving, he said to them: “This is the end of our friendship.”

    They understood. He only told them this because they entered the game on the same bus. They were like fellow villagers, but he didn’t plan to stay with them after.

    After Ji Mingrui left, the high school student, Fang Qi, also left.

    Zhu Shuangshuang asked him: “Fang Qi, where are you going?”

    He was wearing a high school uniform and was only eighteen years old in his third year of high school, which could make anyone worry.

    Fang Qi pulled the zipper of his school uniform, tucked his chin into his collar, looked up at the people coming and going at the game base, and murmured, “I’m going to find someone.”

    “Huh?” Zhu Shuangshuang was at a loss.

    Didn’t they know no one since they just arrived here? So, how come he was looking for someone?

    When Fang Qi was on the bus, except for the conspicuous school uniform, he was inconspicuous in every way. He was not the kind of person who would stand up for justice and would scream in fright when he saw a dead body. At this time, his eyes showed firmness, which made him look a little different.

    He glanced back at them, “Goodbye.”

    When they entered the base, it was sunset.

    Fang Qi’s blue and white back uniform, among a group of wounded people, melted into the golden sunset and drifted away.

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