The four completed their mission and were teleported out of the dungeon, and Lu Qiuchen was sent back to the Great World along with them, appearing beside the group.
โฮฒ, I want to go back. Is there still any danger around the Broken Space?โ
Having learned the earth-shattering secret from Zhang Cheng, Lu Qiuchenโs heart was eager to return to the Dragon Clan.
That succubusโs plan had succeeded; her suspicion of the Dragon Clan had grown heavier, almost wanting to rush to the Eldersโ Council to demand an explanation from Odurin.
But that was just a thoughtโsuch an action could have serious consequences.
Suppressing the impulse in her heart, Lu Qiuchen understood that what she needed to do now was level up and develop, and get out of the Beta-speaking Dragon Clanโs control as soon as possible!
But she couldnโt level up inside the game; she had to return to the Reality World.
โThe playerโs login area still contains danger sources; the exit game function is disabled.โ
Betaโs words made Lu Qiuchen sigh in her heart. If the Flame Demon King guarded forever, would she never get out?
Just as Lu Qiuchen was pessimistically mulling over this, she received a system notification about a server shutdown and update.
Server maintenance? What should I do? Can I still stay in the game?
Lu Qiuchen silently asked Beta her question.
โDuring server maintenance, Beta will temporarily suspend services. Special playersโ activity range will not be restricted. Please rest assured to enjoy the game.โ
Before Lu Qiuchen could relax, she recalled that succubus commander had easily breached the gameโs firewall, and it seemed the other party had already set their sights on her. Without Beta during maintenance, she was quite worried about her safety.
She voiced her concern to Beta, who paused slightly before replying, โBeta has upgraded the system firewall; defensive capabilities have greatly increased. Please rest assured to enjoy the game. The player meets the safety zone entry criteria and is now granted access to the low-level safety zone. In case of emergencies during the game, the player may choose to enter the low-level safety zone.โ
Lu Qiuchen was helpless; bound by the system, she could only accept this arrangement. She was also a bit curious about this so-called low-level safety zone. Judging from the name, it should be the gameโs core area?
Since she couldnโt return to the Eternal World now, couldnโt communicate with other players, and couldnโt level up in-game, Lu Qiuchen suddenly couldnโt think of what to do.
Does the Broken Space inside the game also have a Demon Realm Gate? Would the Flame Demon King appear there?
Right, it was Odurin who pulled her from the game into Reality; the Odurin inside the game was very likely his counterpart in Reality, or perhaps Odurin was controlling everything from behind the scenes?
It must be so!
Lu Qiuchen thought of the dragons like Fia and Andola whom she met inside the game, but once she transformed into a Dragon Clan member, those dragons immediately recognized her; the gameโs Dragon Clan must correspond to the Eternal Worldโs Dragon Clan!
So she could completely tell Galef about her situation in-game, have Galef force the Flame Demon King back in Reality, and then return herself.
But that would expose her identity and purposeโฆ
If the Dragon Clan and the system were the designers behind all this, it seemed she hadnโt kept anything from the Dragon Clan at all?
Could this be why Odurin didnโt trust her?
Based on the information she had, Odurin had deep connections with the Eternal Group behind the system. The things Galef said before were full of holes unless Odurinโs cooperation with the system was a secret from Galef.
But this possibility was too slimโif even the enemy Demon Clan knew this, how could Galef, an elder of the Dragon Clan, not know?
Thinking this through, Lu Qiuchen gave up on asking Galef for help.
Currently, the Dragon Clanโs attitude toward her was ambiguous, making it hard to understand Odurinโs true intentions. It was better not to act rashly.
Moreover, a new doubt arose in Lu Qiuchenโs heart: if she killed a dragon in the gameโs Great World, would the corresponding dragon in the Eternal World also die? Or could it work the other way around?
Unable to figure it out either way, Lu Qiuchen gave up thinking and decided to return to Dragon Island to observe before making any decisions.
Glancing back at Zhang Cheng, Lu Qiuchen activated spatial teleportation and disappeared before the fourโs eyes.
Zhang Cheng was not discouraged by Lu Qiuchenโs cold attitude upon leaving. After all, she hadnโt cut ties with him, which was already a good result.
If they wanted to restore their former closeness, he would have to work harder!
First, he would focus on his work and try to mend their relationship through actions! Zhang Cheng made up his mind.
At noon five days later, after a full 24 hours of maintenance, Eternal launched its brand-new version.
Players, who were nearly experiencing withdrawal symptoms, flooded into the game instantly.
While players explored new features and the entirely new main quests, Lu Qiuchen was sound asleep in the Dragon Island lair, having slept for several consecutive days.
After returning to Dragon Island, Lu Qiuchen found it deserted. She searched the entire island and then flew to the Northern Continent, but no intelligent life could be seen, not even wild beasts.
Seeing her guess was wrong, Lu Qiuchen headed toward the Demon Realm Gate.
In Reality, the place where the Demon Realm Gate stood was empty, with no thousands of demons nearby.
Judging from this, the official launch of Eternal really was just a game.
Then what exactly had she entered during the beta testโgame or reality?
Lu Qiuchen had been full of confidence in her previous guess, but after being repeatedly crushed by Reality, she felt powerless, and her mindset suddenly exploded.
Anyway, Iโm just a washed-up dragon. My guesses are never rightโeither Iโm slapped in the face or Iโm on the way to getting slapped.
โFull of power but burdened with countless system restrictions, trapped in a conspiracy and played around by the hidden mastermind.
In another world, my last reliance is actually the mastermind behind everything, and on Earth, Dead Partyโs Father is an accomplice.
Even in another world, I rarely have chances to turn the tablesโalmost always on the losing endโฆ
Being above legend-level strength is still far away, and even if I could go back to Earth, what then?
Can I hide all this forever? Knowing so many secrets, as long as the Eternal Group exists, Iโll never have peace.โ
Lu Qiuchen recounted her miserable plight, even her parents no longer cared about her and had started raising a new alt account, which made her shed tears.
If she were the protagonist in a story, this would definitely be a torture theme, and the author must be a heartless villain!
Who could she rely on now? Zhang Cheng? She felt his resolve but relying on him to save her wasnโt realistic, and after being rescued, how would she face his father?
Might as well choose to be a useless dragon, start slacking off from now on, never do main storyline quests again.
This body can be controlled by Beta however it likesโฆ
As she once read: as long as Iโm useless enough, no one can exploit me.
Lu Qiuchen returned to the lair and fell into a deep sleep.
At this moment, Beta suddenly appeared, detecting the playerโs unstable mindset and beginning a scan.
Unbeknownst to Lu Qiuchen, a faint black mist rose from the silver dragonโs body.
Lu Qiuchenโs sudden burnout mindset was actually caused by a seed of lies planted by the succubus Lan Erweis before she escaped.
After losing control over Lan Erweis, this seed fed on the negative emotions inside Lu Qiuchenโs heart, culminating in this outburst.
No one expected that much of the resentment and anger in Lu Qiuchenโs heart had been eased by Zhang Chengโs explanation.
The seed mostly absorbed Lu Qiuchenโs deep-seated helplessness, and the resulting emotion was only a desire to give up.
After Beta removed the seed, Lu Qiuchenโs previously resentful and sorrowful heart became peaceful.
Lu Qiuchen slept until Betaโs alert sounded.
โMain storyline quest updated. Please cooperate with Beta and enter the dungeonโฆโ
After Beta reminded her twice, Lu Qiuchen was finally awakened and, still groggy, was brought into the dungeon.
Shaking her head to clear her mind, Lu Qiuchen felt incredibly comfortable and was puzzled by her previous burnout mindset.
How could I have been so possessed?
Checking the game logs, she found out it was that succubus commander causing trouble.
Cold sweat broke out, and she felt a flicker of gratitude toward Beta.
Though Beta always acted unreasonably and restricted her in various ways, it was reliable in matters of mental healing.
Well, letโs see the task this timeโฆ What is this? The gameโs storyline planner must be seriously ill to have me, a pureblood giant dragon, summon a Bone Dragon?
Thatโs an insult to corpses! Arenโt you afraid Iโll summon it and immediately tear apart this skeleton body?
Oh, so in the story background Iโve always been controlled by the Demon Clanโฆ Wait, why didnโt I know about this?
If Iโd been controlled by the Demon Clan before, I would have been dead and buried long ago! The giant dragons on Dragon Island wouldnโt have tolerated me.
Lu Qiuchen questioned this absurd, idiotic plot, and Beta explained:
โAfter the player completes Chapter One of the main storyline, player permissions will be fully unlocked. Please actively cooperate, as this is a necessary process to redeem the boss.โ
โWhat permissions will be unlocked?โ
Lu Qiuchen didnโt care about the redemption; she actually liked being the boss. What caught her attention was the previous sentence.
โAfter cooperating with Beta to complete all of Chapter Oneโs main storyline quests, the game communication function will be unlocked for the player. The player will then experience all functions except for the leaderboard.โ
This was an unexpected surprise!
Lu Qiuchen had thought she could escape the systemโs shackles, but never imagined it would be this way.
Though the restrictions were not completely lifted yet, just being able to communicate with other players would be far better than now!
Suddenly filled with motivation, Lu Qiuchen decided not to care if the storyline was idiotic.
To gain freedom as soon as possible, she would push forward!
โGive the orders! What do you want me to do?โ Lu Qiuchen was eager to begin.
โSacrifice the soul fragment of a young dragon to transform the dragon corpse into a Bone Dragonโฆโ
โThe writer is so twisted~ Poor young dragon soul, I rescued it only for it to become a sacrificeโฆโ
Though she complained, Lu Qiuchen still diligently followed Betaโs orders, preparing actions for the dungeonโs performance.