Thrown back into the river, Ji Shanshui was completely submerged, choking badly on the way down. The tactile sensations in the game were too real—the rush of river water into his nose made him unbearably uncomfortable. He struggled to his feet, coughing violently, pinching his nose hard, desperately trying to blow out whatever was jammed up inside.
But it was useless.
That feeling of something stuck didn’t go away; on the contrary, it lodged deeper, sliding straight down to his throat, as if a mouthful of water had taken up residence in his esophagus, burning and stinging all the way.
He teared up from the pain.
Everything he had experienced today was making him miserable.
He’d thought that getting thrown into a Hidden Instance was a sign of good fortune, but now it seemed nothing more than the opening of the gates of hell.
He could accept being bullied by a big shot like A Leaf Boat.
But these people in front of him?
Ji Shanshui glanced at them. They were just three incompetents—combine all the level symbols on their heads and they still didn’t add up to his own.
“Heh.” Ji Shanshui let out a cold laugh, straightening his back. He finally felt as if he had recovered the confidence he’d lost in front of A Leaf Boat.
“And who do you think you are?” Ji Shanshui looked down on the three standing before him, stepping out of the water with ambitious swagger. In his mind, he was now surrounded by flames, the embodiment of his fury.
But to Scar Tiger and the other two, he just looks crazy.
Soaked head to toe, his clothes clung in patches, and now, sporting a pair of crossed eyes, he marched up the bank looking bold and brash, but had ‘not quite right in the head’ written all over him.
Usually, Scar Tiger would never have picked a fight with someone whose level was clearly higher than his own—wise men know how to bow and scrape their way to the top.
But now, Scar Tiger heard Ji Shanshui’s tone of contempt and felt pure, uncontainable rage at the mockery raining down on him.
He'd already been getting frustrated from fishing in the novice village's river all day, not catching any extra Tuna. Seething as he was, he stepped forward without hesitation and kicked Ji Shanshui.
“You’re the one who’s something!” Scar Tiger shouted, his irritation clear.
Ji Shanshui hadn’t expected such a low-level player—a mere Level 2—to actually challenge him. He fought back at once, swinging a heavy punch at Scar Tiger.
Fighting in the novice village was supposed to be off-limits due to PK Protection, but what he and Scar Tiger were doing right now didn’t count as PK because neither was losing HP. It barely even qualified as a tussle.
Scar Tiger soon found himself nearly unable to fight back, pinned beneath Ji Shanshui. Looking up at his one plump and one skinny underling, he yelled at them in frustration, “What are you idiots doing? Hurry up and help me!”
“Okay, okay!” Fat Pig didn’t hesitate, launching himself like an airborne pancake.
Wham—
All two hundred pounds of him landed squarely on Ji Shanshui, and Ji Shanshui felt his ribs nearly snap under the impact.
“Heh heh, Boss, I—I did good, right?” Fat Pig said with smug satisfaction.
At the bottom of this human pancake stack, about to lose consciousness from being crushed, Scar Tiger had no strength left to speak.
Skinny Monkey couldn’t stand it any longer and pulled Fat Pig off.
Ji Shanshui realized he couldn’t beat these three and took the opportunity to slip away.
“Just you wait, I’ll be back!” he shouted as he left.
After the uninvited guest they’d fished out of the river departed, Skinny Monkey quickly helped the boss, Scar Tiger, to his feet.
Fat Pig knew he’d messed up and tried to atone by standing off to the side with a pitifully innocent expression, hoping it would cool Scar Tiger’s anger.
Yeah, right.
Scar Tiger gave Fat Pig a good kicking before finally venting his anger.
“B-boss, are we, uh, still fishing?” Fat Pig, thick-skinned and cheery, didn’t mind the beating, and now smiled as he sidled up to Scar Tiger with a question.
“Fishing my ass!” Even Scar Tiger finally realized, “We’ve definitely been duped!”
Not catching one fish could be blamed on bad luck.
Not getting any all night might just mean the Tuna, like little kids, stayed in with their parents after dark and didn’t come out.
But not catching a single one after a whole day—Scar Tiger thought, well, that's just stupidity.
“That brat, A-Xing, actually dared to trick me.” Scar Tiger’s eyes flashed with anger.
“Boss, isn’t this A-Xing?” Skinny Monkey pointed at a System Notice on the World Screen for Scar Tiger to see.
“Yeah, Young Master With Money, that’s him.” Scar Tiger stared at the line. “And this Yuchi Xi, he must be the guy in black from that day.”
“How could A-Xing manage to meet someone as high-level as A Leaf Boat?” Scar Tiger couldn’t figure it out.
Skinny Monkey was quick on the uptake. He opened up the game forum and instantly found the post Ji Shanshui had made about the Dual Blacks.
“Boss, look at this.”
Scar Tiger glanced over, and the centipede on his face seemed to writhe again, his scarred wrinkles twisting as his mouth broke into a broad grin.
“Hahahahahaha! Hahahahaha!”
Scar Tiger’s laughter was smug and gleeful.
“Ha, ha!” Fat Pig joined in for a couple of beats and then turned to the also-laughing Skinny Monkey. “Monkey, what’s so funny? Why’s the boss laughing?”
“You’re hopeless.” Skinny Monkey glared at Fat Pig. “Dual Blacks, and on good terms with A-Xing—it’s got to be that woman A-Xing picked up.”
Fat Pig’s mind supplied the answer immediately. That woman A-Xing called ‘Little Jiang,’ she always waited on the sidelines, pale as paper, whenever A-Xing came to take jobs from the boss.
“But what’s so funny about that?” Fat Pig still didn’t get it.
“You—” Skinny Monkey was absolutely exasperated by this pig’s IQ. He took a deep breath and explained patiently, “Right now the entire forum is speculating about A Leaf Boat, about who she really is.”
“Some say she’s from a noble family, a hidden heir, others insist she’s some bigshot with a secret identity who dyed her hair and changed her eye color. Still others claim she’s the Empire Military Academy's Belle, the Queen’s niece, Second Prince’s Fiancée, whose spiritual power and genes are both at SS Level.”
Skinny Monkey grinned.
“But only we know—A Leaf Boat is just a gutter rat from our trash planet.”
“If we leak this, then—”
“Who said we should let them know?” Scar Tiger interrupted with a sly smile. “Holding onto a trump card like this, why waste it on others?”
“Boss, what card?” Fat Pig was confused.
“Boss, you mean…” Skinny Monkey ignored Fat Pig and spoke directly to Scar Tiger.
“A-Xing’s got no money, there’s no way he can smuggle himself off this planet. So, all we need to do is track them down here on the Wasteland.”
Scar Tiger’s eyes shone—he already envisioned their bright future.
“When the time comes, we'll capture A Leaf Boat, keep her under our control, and force her to work for us day and night in the game.”
“Then, we’ll become the most powerful people in the game.”
“We’ll trample all those so-called upper ring players under our feet!”
When Scar Tiger had finished his grand declaration, Skinny Monkey clapped enthusiastically, and Fat Pig, only half comprehending, felt himself getting fired up too.
The three discussed briefly, logged off, and decided to speed up their efforts to catch A-Xing and Jiang Ye in the real world.
In the game world, A-Xing and Jiang Ye were completely unaware of Scar Tiger’s schemes.
They were busy splitting up their recent rewards.
With the boss gone, the dungeon sky, which had been perpetually shrouded in gloom, suddenly cleared. The clouds vanished, and the expanse of blue left their moods lifted with every glance.
Jiang Ye decided to divide the three pieces of Legendary Equipment evenly. The bow was a perfect fit for Yuchi Xi, while A-Xing was particularly fond of the stylish cloak. That left the Wolf King's Treasure—a mysterious item—which ended up with Jiang Ye.
“I can’t believe I actually got the quest, so now we can run this dungeon again,” Yuchi Xi marveled, holding the bow.
“Yeah. I thought Ji Shanshui was going to ruin everything for sure,” A-Xing said.
“We cleared the dungeon really fast this time.” A-Xing was impressed. “Little Ye, your Pet Snake was amazing.”
“Alright, alright, no need to lay it on thick,” Jiang Ye waved her hand. “Actually, we all got in thanks to you, A-Xing.”
“Must be fool’s luck. Why did you go out in the middle of summer to buy winter clothes?” Jiang Ye teased.
“Me!” A-Xing sulked, a little irritated, but remembering the gift he was planning for Jiang Ye, he just hummed and shook his head, refusing to argue.
“So what’s the plan now?” Yuchi Xi still sounded worried. “This is blowing up fast.”
“I only wish it was bigger,” Jiang Ye said, flopping down and letting Fan Xiaoche and He Xiaoshang play in the forest. The two little ones bounced off happily.
“What do you mean?” Seeing how leisurely she was, Yuchi Xi and A-Xing relaxed as well, sitting right down on the ground.
Spring sunlight filtered through the trees, with butterflies flitting by. For a moment, it actually felt a little like a picnic.
But their conversation wasn’t exactly warm and soothing.
“You must have noticed, a lot of players want a shot at this dungeon, but they just don’t know how to get the quest,” Jiang Ye said.
“So… you plan to sell the information about how to get the quest for a high price?” A-Xing’s eyes lit up. “We could rake it in. Maybe finally get enough money…”
“You’re that hard up?” Yuchi Xi asked.
“Isn’t everyone?” Jiang Ye grinned, then turned to A-Xing. “But I’m not planning to sell it at a high price.”
“This Hidden Instance isn’t really that valuable. What makes everyone so desperate for it is that, at this point in the game, it’s the only one of its kind—everyone wants to be first.”
“If we only sell the info to one person, we only get paid once. Plus, nobody else gets to experience it. And even then, that person could just pass on the quest condition to others, making our info worthless.”
“That’s true,” A-Xing frowned. “But you haven’t explained—if it’s not a high price, how much are you planning to sell it for?”
“One gold coin,” Jiang Ye replied.
“What?!” Yuchi Xi and A-Xing exclaimed in unison.
Yuchi Xi stared at Jiang Ye in disbelief. He never expected the big shot to be this kind of person.
Seems he’d underestimated her before.
Look at that awareness.
Willing to give up profit just so more players can enjoy the game.
A Leaf Boat wasn’t just motivated by greed after all!
“No, I don’t agree,” A-Xing shook his head. “That’s way too little. Xiao Ye, don’t forget why we’re doing this—we’re in this to make money, not run a charity.”
“Letting more players have fun is nice, but it doesn’t pay off.” A-Xing pressed his lips together. “If it’s just one gold coin, I can’t support it.”
Yuchi Xi knew he wasn’t really part of this decision, so he kept quiet, watching A-Xing and Jiang Ye.
He turned to look at Jiang Ye again.
“Let me finish,” Jiang Ye laughed helplessly. “We’re selling it for one gold coin, but it’s not just as simple as that.”
“What do you mean?” Both Yuchi Xi and A-Xing were curious.
“We can post on the game forum, publicly sharing the Hidden Instance’s quest trigger and strategy. Players only need to pay one gold coin to access it. But the content will be visible only to the player who purchased it—they can’t distribute it directly, not unless they paraphrase it themselves.”
“So, earn a lot from a little!” A-Xing clapped. “That’s a great idea.”
“The Ocean Collector has a huge player base. To most players, one gold coin isn’t that expensive—especially since NPCs will reward some just for completing quests.” A-Xing started muttering to himself, “If even half the players buy, we’re rich!”
“Wait, no!” A-Xing’s smile froze. “The idea sounds good, but isn’t the quest process really simple? As soon as one person reads the guide, they could just teach everyone else.”
“Our info still isn’t worth much,” A-Xing concluded, sighing again. “So that doesn’t work either.”
“A-Xing, the valuable thing isn’t how to get the quest or enter the instance,” Jiang Ye said.
“It’s how to clear it,” Yuchi Xi finished, eyes bright.
“Bingo!” Jiang Ye snapped her fingers.
“But the way we cleared it isn’t really replicable,” Yuchi Xi said in a low voice. “Not everyone can use a pet to get past the second stage.”
“So, it’s all about how to write the strategy. We just need to lay out the instance mechanism and monster fighting techniques. As for the second stage—that’s up to fate.”
“In fact, if you trust your teammates, you can try running each path at full tilt with speed boosts and potions and see who reaches the end first.”
“I’ll make sure the guide thoroughly explains the puzzle of the second stage,” Jiang Ye shrugged.
“Isn’t that worth a gold coin?”
“I get it,” A-Xing’s eyes glinted. “As long as the strategy is detailed and tricky enough, players will have to buy it, even if they already know how to get the quest or enter the instance. Not everyone is smart enough to memorize and retell every point.”
“Actually, if they did copy and distribute, that’s copyright infringement. The game company would recover any earnings for us,” Jiang Ye said—she was well aware of these rules.
“And when running a dungeon, every party member should have read the strategy and have the same understanding of it to progress efficiently,” Yuchi Xi added.
“Exactly.”
Jiang Ye stood up, stretching.
Sunlight outlined her silhouette in gold. She turned back to the seated Yuchi Xi and A-Xing, smiling as she explained.
“So, I think it’s perfectly feasible to charge one gold coin. Besides, thanks to Ji Shanshui’s antics, we even got free advertising. And A-Xing, how could you call it deliberately making a guide complicated? I’m just writing it as carefully and thoroughly as possible to avoid misunderstandings.”
“Once this is up, with new players joining all the time, maybe it’ll become a steady source of income.”
“Plus, everyone saw me post the Quest Reward on the World Channel during that fight with Ji Shanshui. I’m sure there are plenty of tempted players.”
“To most people, a gold coin for a chance at opening a treasure chest and getting Legendary Equipment is the most cost-effective lottery ticket ever.”
“Gaming is about playing together. The moment one player gets something amazing for a gold coin, everyone else thinks, ‘If they got it, I want it, and if they can do it, so should I.’ That’s about as common a mindset as you can get.”
“Everything’s out in the open for just a gold coin. Plus, it’ll earn us a lot of goodwill, and should stop people from constantly pestering you two about getting the Hidden Instance or clearing it.”
“People believe more in what they pay for than what they get for free. So one gold coin is the perfect price.”
Yuchi Xi looked at A Leaf Boat, smiling with her eyes curled, and suddenly realized how naïve he’d just been.
He’d been wrong.
This woman—
She was a money-making monster! A master of scheming!
In a short time, she’d already mapped out every player’s mindset.
What a terrifying ability to read people.
Yuchi Xi couldn’t help but feel he’d made a good choice.
Standing by A Leaf Boat’s side rather than against her might be the best decision he could ever make in the game.
Where Yuchi Xi felt awe, A-Xing was already gazing at Jiang Ye with worship in his eyes.
“Xiao Jiang, you’re incredible!”
“Oh, please—it’s all from learning from the boss,” Jiang Ye replied cheerfully.
“So… right, right!” A-Xing coughed, reining in his starry-eyed look, trying to change the subject. “Let’s go with that plan. Should we each leave the instance now and take care of our tasks?”
“Wait.” Jiang Ye stopped A-Xing. “There’s one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“Scar Tiger.” Jiang Ye’s expression turned serious. When she wasn’t smiling, she was as distant and forbidding as a deep, icy pool.
“Ah!” A-Xing ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “Good point. That guy isn’t stupid. He’s definitely figured things out by now. And our names are everywhere, he’ll know about us eventually.”
“He wouldn't—!”
A-Xing’s heart skipped. He quickly checked the forums—no exposé in sight. He scoured the in-game chat, but Scar Tiger had been absent for some time.
The World Channel was still full of people talking about the rewards A-Xing, Jiang Ye, and Yuchi Xi had gotten for clearing the dungeon.
No one was discussing Jiang Ye’s real identity.
A-Xing didn’t feel any relief—the frown on his brow only deepened.
“There’s no way he’s that kind. Maybe he hasn’t figured it out yet?”
“Hard to say,” Jiang Ye replied, unfamiliar with Scar Tiger’s type. “We’d better get moving. Between what I’ve saved and what we make from selling the guide, we should have enough pretty soon.”
“Sorry, can I ask—are you two trying to save up for a ticket off this planet?” Yuchi Xi couldn’t help but ask.
“How did you know?” A-Xing stepped back, suddenly wary.
Seeing his reaction, Yuchi Xi pressed his lips together.
“Yuchi, did you hear Scar Tiger say something during our last live stream?” Jiang Ye recalled.
“Yes,” Yuchi Xi nodded. “I heard him say you were trying to scrape together enough money to leave the planet—I wasn’t sure at the time, but after hearing your conversation today, I am now.”
“I think you should leave as soon as possible. The faster, the better.” Yuchi Xi spoke with conviction. “Scar Tiger will definitely try to find you in real life and control you.”
The moment he said that, even Jiang Ye gave Yuchi Xi a wary look.
“How do you know that?”
Yuchi Xi gave a wry smile.
“Because—” He lifted his hand and peeled off the Mask he’d always worn.
As the black cloth came away, A-Xing and Jiang Ye were both taken aback.
Yuchi Xi’s face, the lower half, bore a scar,
A centipede, as if parasitizing his skin.
Ugly, twisted, deeply unsettling.
It writhed with every expression, as if it truly lived under his flesh.
If it were just a scar, A-Xing wouldn’t have minded. On the Wasteland, what scars hadn’t they seen? But what mattered was that Yuchi Xi’s scar was almost identical to Scar Tiger’s.
Same size, same kind, just in a different place.
A-Xing was so shocked, he slapped a hand over his mouth and stared in stupefied confusion, as if massive question marks were floating over his head.
“No way. How is this possible? You and Scar Tiger—are you working together?”