Chapter 403: Game?
After placing the gem pendant belonging to Qiu Ruxin into the storage equipment, I began to attempt to attach the summoning runes of my reverse summoning spell onto objects, which is not something that can be achieved by simply solidifying spells in the room arrangement as I had done before.
Such methods cannot last long; they will fail for various reasons within a few days, or they might be one-time-use only. How can I feel at ease with that?
So I wanted to utilize some other means, such as… alchemy.
……
In the unknown world.
“Customer Service! I’ve been waiting at home for your feedback for several days! Why can’t I log into my account? It shows an error when I try to log in. Do you know how much money I’ve spent in this broken game? I’m a prestigious V3 member!” A young man is currently lying in a gigantic sci-fi capsule chamber, with the half-open hatch revealing his angry face. A semi-transparent floating window in front of him is displaying “Connecting.”
“I’m sorry, esteemed V3 Explorer sir, but it shows here that your account in ‘Sinful Star’ has been permanently deactivated due to improper operation. The All Worlds Terminal reminds you to avoid interacting with malicious bugs or system vulnerabilities during gameplay. It shows this is the first occurrence for you, and your credit level is good, the All Worlds Terminal will not pursue your action further regarding the damage to public property.”
“**! It’s obviously a heap of bugs in your broken game! I encountered a hidden storyline! Do you understand? And you’re blaming me? What kind of logic is that! Huh?”
“You only have the right to use the various game platforms provided by the All Worlds Terminal. We only provide you with game services. The account and its virtual data are public property, and the All Worlds Terminal will provide you with intelligent legal education.”
“Get me a human customer service representative!”
“The issue you are currently experiencing does not reach the standard for transferring to a human representative…”
“I don’t care! My brother-in-law is a game architect!” the young man exclaimed angrily.
“We will send you a personal information authorization confirmation. After identity verification, we can transfer you to the necessary…”
“Stop! Stop! Stop!” Hearing this damned automated response, he quickly interrupted. If he disturbed his brother-in-law because of this, he feared his sister would skin him alive.
After shutting down the customer service, he remained lying in the capsule, sulking.
At this moment, his mind was filled with the figure of the powerful young girl he encountered in the game a few days ago, who claimed to be the Catastrophe Witch and a traveler from another world!
This is definitely a hidden task!
Now that his account had suddenly been deactivated, it truly made him restless. He had been writing a guide about the game ‘Sinful Star’ these past few days, but calling it a guide is just showing off because ‘Sinful Star’ claims to be a 100% realistic open-world game. All players share an open map, and any hidden storyline tasks are non-repeating—even tasks can be interrupted midway, etc.
He obtained the account for ‘Sinful Star’ through his brother-in-law’s connection. The game accounts published by the All Worlds Terminal cannot be registered casually; they have limited slots, especially when the game first opened. Some game slots had only a single-digit availability, granted only to true gaming elites.
The so-called membership ranks go from V1 to V10, and this isn’t something that can be simply upgraded by topping up; only by reaching a certain threshold in spending and game contribution can one be promoted.
Although this ‘Sinful Star’ has been released for decades, no one has met the conditions for clearing its mystery-like challenges. Even a once-great elite and his team stirred up a world-class war within the game, dragging many countries into the chaos, but they still didn’t meet the game’s completion conditions. This illustrates how difficult it is to clear the game.
Currently, the official reward for clearing this game is astronomical! This is not just about money; it’s about the issue of upgrading membership levels! Unconditional promotion of two levels!
This kind of temptation makes even those who know they cannot succeed yearn for it; it’s a leap through social classes!
The young man thought about it and ultimately vented his frustration on the equipment hatch in front of him.
Then the image of that hidden storyline resurfaced in his mind. He couldn’t swallow his anger; he directly pulled out a transparent screen and opened his contacts.
He wanted to contact his brother-in-law; after all, contacting him privately is different from being transferred through the All Worlds Terminal!
Although he couldn’t guarantee his brother-in-law would help him retrieve his account, at least he could report a frustrating bug, providing him with some kind of achievement.
“Hey… Hello? Brother-in-law?”
“Mo Fei? Why are you contacting me at this time? Didn’t I say not to bother me with unimportant stuff?” A somewhat impatient voice came from the other end.
“Brother… Brother-in-law, I really have something to talk to you about! Really! This time it’s not about the game!”
“Go ahead…” Upon hearing the other party’s sincere tone, the man referred to as the brother-in-law began to calm down and asked, “If it’s not important, your sister will come home and deal with you!”
“Of course, of course! Um… brother-in-law, do you still remember that game account for ‘Sinful Star’ you gave me earlier?”
“What’s wrong? Something happened?”
“Well… brother-in-law, I encountered a hidden task in that game, and then my account was forcibly deactivated, isn’t that some kind of bug? There were no system prompts at all!”
“A hidden task? Your account was deactivated?” Hearing this news, the other party’s voice heightened, as if he had heard something unbelievable.
“Yes… yes… but the All Worlds Terminal didn’t come looking for me! Really! I didn’t cause any trouble…” He continued to emphasize he didn’t cause any trouble because he could hear his brother-in-law’s change in tone, and at this moment, he somewhat regretted calling.
“What hidden task did you receive? Quickly tell me all the details! Don’t leave out a single detail! Hurry!”
“Huh?” Hearing his brother-in-law say this, he was a little taken aback, thinking he was really in trouble. “Um, brother-in-law, this hidden task shouldn’t be something that internal players…”
“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask! Got it? Just tell me the process!” The other party’s voice came back with an undeniable tone, tinged with a hint of urgency.
And realizing this reaction, the young man quickly caught on; seeing how anxious his brother-in-law was, this was indeed a significant matter.
Maybe… he could even get some limited edition game qualification from his brother-in-law, just thinking about it made him giddy.
After briefly explaining the situation to his brother-in-law, the young man let out a sigh of relief as he finally spoke his mind.
Even though the whole matter boiled down to encountering a girl who claimed to be the Catastrophe Witch and being unexpectedly disconnected by her methods.
“Um… brother-in-law… that rumor shouldn’t be true, right? Game intelligence awakening, NPC…”
“Why are you still believing in this at your age? I understand your situation; the rest of the matter is none of your business.”
“Wait! Brother-in-law, about my game account… can’t you pull some strings… and get it unblocked? Hahaha…”
“Unblocked? It’s already a relief I’m not pursuing your responsibility! Don’t even think about getting your account unblocked, not to mention you shouldn’t even think about touching this game anymore. What a hassle! I’ll get you a different game account later; don’t bother me.”
After saying all this, the brother-in-law hung up directly, leaving no room for any pleadings.
Looking at the screen that showed the call had ended, the young man felt despair over the unblocking of his account!
Without an account, what use is a hidden task? He felt as if his heart was breaking! Perhaps the breakthrough in ‘Sinful Star’ was precisely this hidden task!
But fantasies are fantasies; since his brother-in-law could do nothing about it, he understood he was out of luck. To make up for this deficiency, he opened a forum dedicated to discussing game guides that he often frequented. This time he was going to write a new task guide!
And it would be a guide to hidden storylines!
Even though he had been penalized, there’s bound to be countless people going crazy for the opportunity of a hidden task, so he set it up for paid viewing, titled “Hidden Task” as the keyword.
Since he had no chance himself, it was better to make a quick profit, as someone else might indeed find the “Catastrophe Witch” and get penalized!
As for whoever accomplishes this hidden task, maybe he could even develop some relationships.
After all, he was the first to discover the hidden task, and many details only he knows. Although indeed he didn’t know what those details were, he was good at weaving tales! He was somewhat of an experienced guide writer, after all, and had some fan base.
Soon, an article titled “’Sinful Star’ Surprises with Hidden Task: Catastrophe Witch May Become the Key Breakthrough!” appeared in this popular forum, attracting a lot of attention.
“What is this? Charging such a high fee? Going crazy over money?”
“Isn’t ‘Sinful Star’ just a regular game? How does it relate to the Catastrophe Witch?”
“Yeah, this is just an open world of a different technological civilization. The style doesn’t even match!”
“The one above seems to know a lot. You wouldn’t happen to have that game qualification, would you?”
“Not at all, just an opening day player.”
“Great big shot! Respect!”
“Old Deng! Since you’re an opening day player, how old are you? Quickly pass me your account to play!”
“Anyone have the guts to pay to check what’s inside here?”
“I’m a grievance type, this guy is screwing people over.”
“Screwing people over? I’m out of here…”
“The one above is silly, those who advise against it are definitely real deals not wanting to share, don’t be brainless.”
“Are you dumb? He’s saying this on purpose to protect himself from being cheated.”
“Okay, okay, you want to play like this? Do I lack that little bit of money?”
“If you don’t want the money, you can give it to me. I’m short…”
The young man watched as the comments kept piling up with each refresh, along with notifications of money received, feeling absolutely delighted. However, thinking about the rewards after clearing the game, he felt a sudden sense of emptiness…
Though he knew he didn’t have the ability to clear it, that sense of luck still lingered.
He had no idea which guy this task would end up benefiting, wishing that he would also be dealt with by the Catastrophe Witch leading to account deactivation!
He jumped out of the game capsule as he had just quarreled with customer service and lost face with his brother-in-law. At this moment, he had no mood to continue playing.
With a wave of his hand, a video opened. The default view displayed news, and he prepared to watch an anime.
“The Real Protection Association has once again formed a gang to interfere with the national strategy team, causing significant resource losses. We once again remind everyone, game data is all virtual, please do not become overly immersed in the virtual world at the expense of others’ interests…”
……
In the small world.
After several days of research, I finally completed the crafting of this alchemical item using alchemy!
Although this alchemical item has the only effect of automatically utilizing a pre-set rune to initiate a summoning ceremony, one cannot say it’s useless, can they?
Furthermore, I created a “charging” structure so that an ordinary person like Qiu Ruxin could use it, but this structure is somewhat unstable, so even I don’t know how many times it can be used.
I had initially considered adding a function that would allow for automatic recharging, but I found that implementing this feature was a bit tricky. While it’s not impossible, it would take me even more time, which wouldn’t be worth it.
Looking at the little gadget, now an alchemical item, in my hand, it’s merely a decor piece from a hotel room.
“Let’s test the effect.” I gently pinched it and shook it slightly, and then extraordinary energy radiated from it, with a rune appearing above it.
Soon, complex ritual patterns began to outline around it, and without hesitation, I casually tossed it into a spatial passage.
Feeling the anchoring point I had just teleported to, the clear “coordinates” resonated with the phenomenon of the reverse summoning spell.
I waved my hand, and the reverse summoning spell was cast, wrapping around me and pulling me in, while the spell’s summoning circle beneath my feet shone brilliantly.
This highlights the difference between reverse summoning and teleportation spells.
After casting the teleportation spell, I could choose whether or not to teleport or what to teleport, but this reverse summoning spell, once cast, will “capture” whatever has been caught by the spell effect. This process cannot be resisted, and if one struggles strongly, they might even end up in spatial turbulence.
The next moment, my figure appeared on the top floor of the hotel.
And the decor piece beneath my feet stood centrally within the summoning ceremony.
I quickly picked it up; it seemed like this was a success.
If even such a fragile hotel room decor piece can withstand this method of crafting, then surely Qiu Ruxin’s pendant will also be fine.
Thinking of this, I waved my hand again to create a teleportation space passage. After passing through, I returned to my hotel room once more.
Sure enough, short-distance teleportation is indeed convenient for this spell.
As for the reverse summoning spell, its effects are truly a bit tangential; the only highlight… perhaps is that it allows for traversing between two worlds across the void.
I sat back down at the desk, which had turned into my workstation, taking out the green pendant Qiu Ruxin had given me earlier.
However, after holding the pendant carefully and examining it closely for the first time, I suddenly noticed something strange!
“What’s going on… Spirit Vision, this is…”
