Su Fu’s next plan was quite simple: to have every test taker, as much as possible, personally deliver a death notice belonging to their own “character.”
After Lin Zhao’s mental breakdown, Su Fu barely had to persuade him; he somewhat dazedly agreed to cooperate with Su Fu’s subsequent “arrangements.”
General Huo Qubing was surprisingly easy to deal with too.
He just gave her a deep look and directly approved it.
As for who would deliver the notices from then on, it was entirely up to Su Fu.
Returning to camp, Su Fu opened the multiplayer channel.
She found that, holy moly, a day had passed and quite a few people were already in respawn cooldown.
A rough count put it at least twenty to thirty.
“How did so many die?”
“How did they die?”
She quickly scrolled through the chat logs and found:
[Brothers! Wait for my news, I’m going to fight Huo Qubing for three hundred rounds!]
[Hey wait, no using divine power! Otherwise, isn’t that bullying?]
[Don’t worry!]
And then, nothing more.
It was said that this warrior kept his promise and didn’t use any divine power, purely wanting to spar with General Huo in spear techniques.
The result was that General Huo knocked his weapon away in one exchange and cleanly sent him to see Yama within three moves.
Then there were two more who didn’t believe it and wanted to try the stunt of taking the enemy general’s head in the midst of ten thousand troops. Their fate was the same.
Next came an even bigger deal.
[Brothers! I found the Anomaly’s lair! Looks like a big boss! Anyone want to team up and go kill it?]
The result was obvious. According to teammates who narrowly escaped, they didn’t even see the shadow of the lair before being crushed by peripheral Anomalies.
Some died mysteriously because they were too curious and went into some forbidden area.
One tried jumping off the city wall to see if it would trigger a hidden plot.
Su Fu: “You guys really… you really know how to die recklessly, relying on respawn.”
But then again, this enriched the list of candidates for the subsequent delivery mission.
“Come on! Chesia! Time to work!”
Chesia was eager. “Alright, alright! Wait for my good news!”
Soon, a few newly resurrected test takers found that they had received a special mission.
Then they excitedly discussed it in the group:
[Brothers, I’m back! That Huo Qubing is way too fierce! Good thing I could respawn, otherwise I’d have lost big!]
[I also got a mission? It’s mysterious, did you guys get one?]
[Hehe, after I respawned, I was also notified of a special mission!]
[Me too! Wait, could this be a hidden mission only available after respawn?]
[Maybe. @Lin Zhao, did you do it too?]
[Lin Zhao: …I did.]
[Wow! What mission? Give us a hint?]
[Lin Zhao: …You’ll know once you do it yourself.]
[Something’s wrong, seriously wrong! After you came back, you started repairing the city wall, but before, you didn’t want to repair it the most!]
[Lin Zhao: You talk too much.]
After saying that, he deliberately stopped replying. No matter how everyone pressed him, he just buried himself in building the wall, leaving everyone to imagine wildly.
[What’s going on? He’s too weird.]
[Don’t you think he’s completely changed since he did that mission?]
[Wait! Could he have found the key method to clear this dungeon?]
[How is that possible? He came back and started repairing the Great Wall. Can repairing the Great Wall clear it?]
[Liar! There must be some secret we don’t know!]
[Repairing the city wall to clear it? Then I might as well challenge Huo Qubing again! (Dog head)]
Everyone was guessing, confused.
Then those test takers who had received the special mission stepped forward.
[Xi Yu: Brothers! Since Lin Zhao won’t talk, let’s go explore ourselves!]
[Mu Wei: Exactly. I’ll see what this so-called special mission is all about.]
[Ding Qi: When I come back, I’ll be sure to tell everyone the news!]
[Alright, alright, go! We’ll wait for your good news!]
With that, these brave souls, carrying a mixture of tension and excitement, set off in high spirits.
The others in the multiplayer channel waited eagerly, hoping to get first-hand information when they returned.
Many clever test takers also tried to accept the mission, but all were rejected without exception.
This made many believe that the mission could probably only be taken by resurrected test takers.
Some people pretended to gather around Lin Zhao, trying to see what was wrong with him.
But they only found him silently carrying bricks, his movements more earnest than anyone else’s.
Wait, what’s going on here?!
Soon,
The test takers who had gone earlier returned.
The result? Without exception, these test takers who had been clamoring to investigate before they left all came back silent and withdrawn.
Dazed.
Just like Lin Zhao, without a word, they joined the ranks of those burying their heads in repairing the wall.
No matter how others in the channel pressed them for answers, they just shook their heads or outright ignored them.
As if… possessed.
At that moment, the entire online channel exploded.
[What’s going on? Why does everyone who takes the special mission come back like this?]
[I think this must be related to clearing the dungeon!]
[Definitely, they must have discovered some earth-shattering secret but don’t want to tell us!]
[But… they didn’t do anything special, did they?]
[Exactly! After coming back, they just honestly repair the Great Wall like those NPCs.]
[What secret could that hold? Ahhh! I’m dying of curiosity!]
[I can’t stand it anymore. I’m going to die once and see what’s really going on!]
[To be honest, I have no clue right now. I’ve torn the entire camp apart and haven’t found anything special.]
[How the hell are we supposed to clear this crappy dungeon?!]
[Maybe… maybe we should all try repairing the Great Wall together? Who knows, if we repair enough, we might trigger some hidden plot?]
[No! I can’t stand this confusion!]
[If I don’t get to the bottom of this, I won’t be able to sleep!]
[It’s just one death, right? Just one life. Anyway, we respawn infinitely. Let’s go and find out!]
So, driven by intense curiosity and a determination to uncover the truth no matter what, another batch of stubborn test takers went.
The result?
After coming back, they were exactly the same as the previous group.
Now, the online channel was filled with countless question marks:
[???? Is this reasonable, guys?]
[This… now I’m really, really, really curious to the point of exploding!]
[What the hell is going on?! Guys! Can someone give me an explanation?!]
[Guys, I just got my best buddy drunk…]
[???? What the heck? What kind of random stuff is this?]
[…Listen to me. My best buddy just went all out and came back from the mission. I got him drunk and squeezed out some reliable info!]
[Spill it! I can’t sleep!]
[He said… he said, to clear this dungeon, you absolutely have to do the special mission once!]
[Oh my god! Seriously? What kind of mission is this?]
[How can it have such a huge impact? Why does everyone who does the mission change completely?]
[He flat-out refused to say what the specific mission was!]
[He just kept repeating nonsense like “too real,” “can’t take it,” “so that’s how it is.”]
[I really don’t get it. Before they left, they were all stubborn and cocky, but after coming back, they’re all tight-lipped and won’t say a word.]
Just then, a burly man with the ID “Tietou A’nan” stepped forward:
[No more! I have to know today what the hell this damn special mission is all about!]
[I really can’t stand being kept in the dark like this. It’s just one death, right?]
[Don’t worry, I swear that after I come back, I’ll tell you everything that happened!]
[…How many times has this been said now?]
[Honestly, I’m immune to this kind of talk now.]
[Tietou A’nan: You guys just wait! I’ll keep my word!]
So Tietou A’nan, with the toughest mouth, went.
Then he came back.
Completely dejected, wilted.
He became just as silent and withdrawn as the others, burying his head in repairing the wall.
Everyone was thoroughly shocked. The special mission became a legend throughout the camp, talked about everywhere.
“Did you hear? Even Tietou A’nan fell for it!”
“What did it do? Someone with such a tough mouth changed after coming back?”
“Could it be brainwashing?”
“Impossible! With Tietou A’nan’s personality, who could brainwash him?”
“I bet ten Contribution Points he saw something he shouldn’t have!”
“No kidding! But what is it?! It’s driving me crazy!”
Meanwhile, those who had gone quietly pulled Tietou A’nan into a small group:
[Great Wall Vigil]
When Tietou A’nan found himself added, the frustration, anger, and regret he had been bottling up finally found an outlet.
Without even looking at who was in the group, he immediately opened fire:
[Tietou A’nan]: @Lin Zhao, are you trying to kill me?!
[Tietou A’nan]: You goddamn bastard! Why didn’t you tell me before?!
[Tietou A’nan]: It turned out to be making me personally deliver death notices and pensions to my own family?!
[Tietou A’nan]: My character—his dad was only sixteen, a kid with peach fuzz! His old man was a disabled veteran, and his old mother was a medicine junkie, bedridden with illness!
[Tietou A’nan]: And the worst part is both sons died! And both of them were my characters!!!
[Tietou A’nan]: I delivered two notices!!!
[Tietou A’nan]: I saw with my own eyes his crippled old man fainting on the spot when he heard both his sons had died in battle!
[Tietou A’nan]: I saw with my own eyes his dying old mother clutching the death notice, crying her heart out, screaming “My son!” over and over!
[Tietou A’nan]: Goddammit! Who came up with such a crappy special mission!
[Tietou A’nan]: Whoever designed this mission, can you sleep at night? Don’t you feel guilty?
[Tietou A’nan]: Don’t let me find out who it is!!!
The culprit, Su Fu: Numb, really.
Every new member who joins the group has to go through this.
She calmly closed the group chat and went to sleep.
The next day, when she opened it again, she found that Tietou A’nan had sent a string of messages in the middle of the night.
[Tietou A’nan]: …I really am a damn bastard!
[Tietou A’nan]: Too cruel! Whoever designed this mission, your move is too cruel! Sob sob sob……
[Tietou A’nan]: Guys, is there any way to… resurrect that previous character?
[Tietou A’nan]: Please! I’ll do anything to bring him back!
Unfortunately, of course not.
The other veterans in the group also surfaced, consoling him with a tone of world-weary experience.
[The dead can’t come back to life, even if it’s a character in the dungeon.]
[With that effort, you might as well get up early and lay a few more bricks.]
[Exactly, Brother A’nan, look on the bright side.]
[Tietou A’nan]: I… I can’t! Every time I close my eyes, I see the old couple’s despairing eyes!
[Tietou A’nan]: I got up at five this morning to repair the wall. I’m going to make the entire Great Wall impregnable!
[So early? Then I’ll go too!]
[Count me in! If I don’t patch that gap in the eastern section today, I’m not human!]
[Turning it into a competition, huh? Fine, I’ll get up at four tomorrow!]
Su Fu watched Tietou A’nan, who was guilt-ridden and getting up in the dead of night, and thought, “No way?”
It’s already having this big an impact?
And this isn’t even the real killing blow yet.
When the day comes that this Great Wall is truly restored through the joint efforts of all test takers and NPCs.
According to General Huo Qubing, there will be a final battle.
At that time, facing an anomaly backlash possibly several times greater than before, not only the wall but even the people might be completely wiped out.
By then, can these people still handle it?
In reality, this dungeon wasn’t hard for Su Fu.
She already had the Great Wall, personally entrusted to her by Qin Shi Huang, hoping she would protect the land of China and the people on it.
But if she could clear it so easily, why would she choose a multiplayer dungeon?
Consider that everyone participating in this dungeon is the cream of the crop of this era.
So why not take this opportunity to let each of them personally participate and experience the most tragic yet glorious saga of guardianship belonging to Chinese civilization?
Let them understand a civilization that was once glorious but has risen and fallen several times in the river of history.
Truly become curious about this civilization and worry about its future fate.
In the process of lighting the torch, understand the torch.
She thought, after such a trial, wouldn’t these elites develop some… special feelings for Chinese civilization?
When the day comes that the gates of the Divine Realm open again and the Chinese Pantheon returns to the Star Sea.
She doesn’t expect many to immediately convert to worship China.
But at least, they will have a positive attitude, willing to accept and understand.
Thus, paving the way for China’s return to the Star Sea.
In fact, the Great Wall is just a drop in the ocean of China’s five-thousand-year brilliant epic.
There’s so much more of the profound and extensive Chinese culture to showcase.
Music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry and lyrics.
Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Legalism, the Hundred Schools of Thought.
Mechanical ingenuity, the wonders of craftsmanship.
Pick any one, and it would be enough to leave these elites speechless with awe.
Anyway, let’s start by giving them a little taste of the Great Wall shock!