In the ward of the Medical Department, Ji Zizai crunched on a candy, the sound echoing in the quiet room.
“So, the theme of this instance is ‘playing house.’ Does that mean you failed to clear it?”
Zhao Bainiao nodded, her expression somber.
“I failed. I remember falling ill and turning into a puddle of blood. I thought I was going to die, but instead, I was just kicked out of the instance area.”
Ji Zizai raised an eyebrow.
“No losses at all?”
Zhao Bainiao’s face twisted into a strange expression.
“Actually, there were. I realized I was missing ten colorless crystals.”
Colorless crystals were an extremely precious resource, often used as a form of currency among ability users.
Among the special agents sent to disrupt the instance’s creation, it seemed only Zhao Bai’niao had carried a sufficient amount of crystals.
So, was poverty the force behind this instance?
For the Special Affairs Bureau, the loss of crystals was regrettable, but the thought that those crystals could serve as substitutes for death made it seem worthwhile.
After learning the details of the instance, Ji Zizai swallowed the last bite of his candy, stood up, and took the coat handed to him by Fu Shouzhong.
He patted Zhao Bainiao’s shoulder and said, “Rest well, and remember to write a report for me.”
Zhao Bainiao couldn’t help but feel that writing a report was hardly an activity one would engage in while resting.
As he was about to leave, Zhao Bainiao suddenly spoke up.
“Minister, don’t you think the new instance in the suburbs is somewhat similar to the previous escape room instance?”
Ji Zizai’s expression remained unchanged; he had already made a similar connection.
“Indeed, there are some similarities.”
Back in his office, Ji Zizai found a new email in his inbox, sent from the Core City, an area that used cross-city networks.
Ordinary residents mostly used local area networks within their own districts.
Cross-district networks were expensive and required additional permissions, so they were rarely used.
The content of the email was brief:
“Known. Suggest merging the newly discovered instance with Instance 002341 for research. Cannot rule out the possibility of new abilities emerging. Sender: Ren”
Ten seconds later, the screen quickly turned gray, and the email self-destructed, leaving no trace in the inbox, as if it had never existed.
For Zhao Bainiao, the time from midnight to dawn had been thrilling, but for the ordinary people of Sanjiaorong City, it was just another ordinary night.
***
Apartment 403, Sunflower Residence.
Xu Dengming slept soundly until almost ten o’clock.
Sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, warm and languid.
Already awake due to her internal clock, Xu Dengming rolled over.
She hadn’t scheduled any extra work for herself today and wasn’t eager to get out of bed just yet.
After opening her eyes, she reached under her pillow for her phone.
Apart from some part-time job listings, there was nothing of substance in the school group chat.
As for Wang Yanxing, there had been no news yet.
It seemed she would still be in the hospital for a few more days before she could recover and be discharged.
After a night of rest, the mental exhaustion caused by the instance had mostly recovered, and the familiar sensation of hunger returned.
Xu Dengming got out of bed, first boiled some water, and then went to wash up.
While brushing her teeth, she casually opened the system panel.
Overnight, her balance of colorless crystals had increased by two.
Xu Dengming was pleased to see her crystals increase from time to time, but she was also curious about how the system earned crystals.
If it was about releasing games, she couldn’t imagine who would be willing to download and experience them.
It was probably more like forced buying and selling.
And with her limited understanding of “Unhatched Fire,” Xu Dengming was quite skeptical.
If something could benefit her, the system would surely gain something as well.
After washing up, the water in the kitchen had boiled.
Since Xu Dengming hadn’t bought any food when she came back, today’s meal was still bread soup.
Considering she had missed breakfast, she added an energy bar to the pot while boiling the soup.
The steaming lunch was served on the table.
While sipping her bread soup, Xu Dengming studied her newly acquired skill.
With her previous experience, Xu Dengming first used an experience package to upgrade the level of [Foreknowledge] to 5.
Judging by the name, [Foreknowledge] seemed similar to [Eye of Observation], but the former was more targeted in peering into the future, with a longer time span.
When using [Eye of Observation], Xu Dengming could only see the short-term fate trajectory of a target.
With [Foreknowledge], she could see situations days or even months ahead.
Xu Dengming remembered that the doll in the instance could not only foresee the future but also interfere with it.
However, perhaps due to her insufficient level, she couldn’t do that yet.
Like the doll, the more Xu Dengming understood about the target, the more accurate her foresight would be.
In addition, she couldn’t just predict out of thin air.
If she could obtain an item related to the target, the success rate of the skill would greatly increase, and the closer the item was to the matter she wanted to predict, the clearer the vision would be.
After understanding the function of the new skill, Xu Dengming began to practice.
She thought about what she was curious about recently and decided to first predict Wang Yanxing’s discharge date.
The two were classmates and had been roommates.
Naturally, Xu Dengming had items belonging to Wang Yanxing—when they first moved out to rent apartments, to avoid the trouble of not being able to get into their homes and having to find someone to unlock the door, they had exchanged their front door keys.
Xu Dengming took out the key left by Wang Yanxing and tried to predict her discharge date.
Staring at the key, her clear, black-and-white eyes began to shimmer with a river-like ripple, and a series of vague, hazy images appeared in her vision.
As Xu Dengming tried to focus on those images, she felt her mental energy start to drain away, and before she could see everything clearly, all the images dissipated like mist.
The first attempt failed.
Xu Dengming lowered her eyes to the key in her hand, a thoughtful look on her face.
She then changed the direction of her prediction.
The key had a stronger association with opening doors than with discharge.
This time, she hoped to see when Wang Yanxing would return to the Sunflower Residence.
With the consumption of mental energy, a dark and deep river began to flow slowly in her mental sea.
In the faint silver ripples on the water’s surface, an exceptionally clear image gradually took shape.
“In five days.”
This time, the image Xu Dengming saw was very clear, but there were still many vague and strange shadows around it.
Like looking at the future with scattered vision.
Without needing anyone to explain, Xu Dengming naturally understood the meaning—just as rivers have tributaries, fate is never fixed.
Every tiny choice can deviate the future from its original path.
For now, the most likely event was that Wang Yanxing would return to the Sunflower Residence in five days.
However, human behavior is influenced by so many factors, and those vague shadows represented the variables in fate.
After gaining a basic understanding of the new skill, Xu Dengming temporarily let go of her already diminished mental value.
She took out the [Sparkling Eye Drops] and [Sparkling Eye Drops Enhancer] from her backpack.
Both items were liquid.
Following the system’s instructions, Xu Dengming carefully mixed the eye drops and the enhancer thoroughly.
The eye drops, originally transparent and colorless, took on a deep, dark hue after the enhancer was added, giving Xu Dengming an inexplicable sense of familiarity and closeness.
It seemed as if she was gazing into the deep sea.
[System: Congratulations, player, you have obtained [River of Purifying Sight] ×1.]
The usage of the new item was particularly straightforward in its name.
Xu Dengming lay back, facing the sky, and directly dripped the [River of Purifying Sight] into her eyes.
The river did not flow out from the corners of her eyes but seeped into them bit by bit, penetrating deep into her soul.
[System: Your mental sea has been expanded and can now carry a greater load.]
Xu Dengming knew she was still sitting in her familiar apartment, but in her eyes, the familiar surroundings seemed to have changed slightly.
The strange sensation didn’t last long; in just two blinks, Xu Dengming’s vision returned to normal.
She opened the system panel and noticed a change in her mental value data.
[Mental Value: 140/200]
After staring at the panel for a while, Xu Dengming made a decision.
She had obtained quite a few skill enhancement experience packages.
She kept one intermediate-level package and used the rest to upgrade her current three skills.
[System: Your [Eye of Observation] has reached level 10 and cannot be upgraded further until your mental value meets the required conditions.]
[System: Your [Fate’s Box (Anomaly)] has reached level 10 and cannot be upgraded further until your mental value meets the required conditions.]
[System: Your [Foreknowledge] has reached level IV.10 and cannot be upgraded further until your mental value meets the required conditions.]
[System: Upon detection, the player now possesses three skills at level 10 and has automatically obtained the permanent skill [Intuition].
Note: [Intuition] is a passive skill and cannot be upgraded.]
Xu Dengming raised her eyebrows slightly as she read the refreshed messages.
After a brief study, she found that she was not unfamiliar with the use of [Intuition].
[Intuition] allows the owner to passively see their own special fate for a certain period in the future, just as Xu Dengming had seen the thread of misfortune of a car accident at the crossroads before.
After the upgrade, [Eye of Observation] captures the threads of fate more clearly and meticulously, and the number of targets that [Fate’s Box] can act on has also increased.
Xu Dengming can now preserve the fate of five people at once.
For ordinary people, the maximum preservation time of fate can reach up to five minutes.
She felt that she was gradually mastering an extremely special ability, but there was an obvious disadvantage in these abilities.
After carefully studying the system panel over and over again, Xu Dengming had to admit that all the enhancements she had obtained so far had nothing to do with physical strength.
She belonged to a very typical glass cannon mage archetype.
No wonder every time she drew a prize, the golden prize pool always offered a large number of healing items.
It was clearly a recognition of the user’s vitality.