Look at this lineup: a first-class control-type rich lady, a first-class evil god little sister, a first-class sword cultivator boss, plus a first-class good person.
This team was simply a nightmare for ghosts.
After three or four waves of sneak attacks in twos and threes, the ghosts finally wised up. Maybe they realized that this level of attack couldn't bother them at all, so they started holding back for a big move.
The best method to trap players—the ghost wall—also lost its effect. The ghosts of the Eternal Night Forest discussed among themselves and decided it was time for a mass assault! They hadn't expected Mu Anqi and her group to move so fast. Didn't they see Sheng Wujie under their harassment, despairing of life and returning to the Red Team to die? As a result, the remaining players of the Red Team couldn't be stopped if they wanted to clear the game.
"Everyone focus! Put in twelve parts of spirit!" the ghosts cheered themselves on. "If you're injured, retreat. This is the final attack! If we can't deal with the Red Team, that's fine—there's still the Blue Team and Yellow Team waiting for us to torment! We can draw lessons from failing to intercept the Red Team and flexibly apply them to the Blue and Yellow Teams. Just do your best, everyone!"
So, as Mu Anqi and her group drew closer and closer to the edge of the Eternal Night Forest, a bone-chilling yin wind suddenly swept out from its depths. Countless sounds of laughter, crying, and chattering mixed together and echoed—
The "artificial little sun" was thrown by Mu Anqi onto a big tree, instantly lighting up a wide area like a streetlamp.
"…Good grief." Mu Anqi stared at the suddenly revealed, densely packed black shadows, thinking to herself that there must be at least a hundred ghosts here, right? Wasn't this the legendary Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts?! "Run! Fight as we run! Fang Xunjiu, just throw your cards randomly—once there's enough, do group control!"
The exit was right in sight; who would want to die together with this swarm of ghosts?
Another little sun was thrown forward to illuminate the path. Seeing the shadows emerge ahead, Mu Anqi pulled out her handgun, unleashing a storm of bullets. Her right hand fired the gun, while her left hand took out crudely crafted grenades from her storage ring, tossing them behind her in the gaps between shots.
"Dark power slumbering in my bloodline, awaken! I am the supreme evil god, submit, tremble!—Burn everything away! Evil God's Flame!"
Compared to Fang little sister, who had to deliver her lines with full momentum to launch an attack, Xia Yun silently controlled her life-bound sword, clearing out ghosts ahead to carve a path. If the ghosts gathered in groups, she would send out a sword formation.
"Secret Technique · Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers!"
Fang Xunjiu generated a huge handful of Good Person Cards and, as if gone mad, flung them all behind him. Of course, this wasn't really a skill nor any kind of actual secret technique, it was just that since little sister spoke her lines with such momentum, he couldn't help but make up a name to join in.
"Be a good person to the very end!"
The ghosts lucky enough to receive a Good Person Card suddenly experienced a feeling that no ghost had ever felt before—"ascension." As their worldly desires and emotions were stripped away from their bodies, they stood there in a daze, wearing expressions of transcendence.
The moment they rushed out of the forest, sunlight gradually spilled onto them. The darkness receded into the forest like a tide. Blue sky, white clouds, sunshine, fresh air… Fang Xunjiu plopped straight down onto the grassy ground, letting out a satisfied sigh.
[Game Cleared: Eternal Night Forest. Level evaluation in progress—]
[Level Evaluation: S (Blue Team and Yellow Team players say: very pissed)]
[Passive Triggered! Obtained Clearance Points: 2000]
[Drawing official player clearance reward item—]
[Ding! Congratulations, player has obtained [Ordinary Insulated Cup]]
[Ordinary Insulated Cup]: A cup that can keep things warm. They say it goes even better with goji berries~
[Special Mark Detected!]
[Beep! Player must enter the next game within seven days! (Or will be forced into the game after 168 hours)]
[Return to Nirvana Space by teleportation?]
Looking at the prompt, Mu Anqi thought for a moment, then pressed "No." After that, she turned to Xia Yun and the others: "Quick, quick, quick, add each other as friends!"
The four players gathered together and finished adding one another. Mu Anqi thought for a bit, then pulled them into a group chat. "I also know another player who got recruited. How about we add them in too? If you guys know other players, we can pull them in as well. In the future, we can team up to clear out Black Mirror vortexes."
When everyone said they had no problem with it, Mu Anqi pulled Wu Sansheng into the group and briefly explained the game they had just played. Fang Xunjiu and the others also cooperated nicely, each giving a short self-introduction in the chat.
"Should we rename the group?" Xia Yun suggested.
"Player Task Force?" Fang Xunjiu blinked and asked.
Xia Yun: "…"
Fang Yunjun hesitated, wanting to say something but holding back in the end. After all, if she suggested something like "Demon King Squad"… people might laugh at her.
They discussed for a long while but couldn't reach a conclusion. Finally, everyone sighed, gave up, and just changed it to "Special Investigation Unit." Anyway, it kind of looked convincing enough.
With the game over, most of the items in the storage ring had to be left behind. Mu Anqi cleared out the box and set it by the edge of the forest—after all, once the game ended, the ghosts would clean up and restore things.
When all was done, Xia Yun and the others each teleported back to the Nirvana Space. Mu Anqi touched her storage ring and took out General Ji's token. The token was faintly warm; she didn't know if it was because she hadn't returned to the space right after the game and was still chatting here with the other players, making General Ji a little displeased.
"General, I'll head back to Nirvana Space first," Mu Anqi said softly. "I'll tidy up and then come find you."
There was no reply, no reaction. Mu Anqi touched the gradually cooling token, smiled a little, and teleported back.
…
What's the very first thing to do after returning to Nirvana Space?
Of course—take a bath!
In the Eternal Night Forest, even when sleeping they had to take turns keeping watch. Where was there any chance to properly bathe and change clothes? Mu Anqi had been feeling extremely uncomfortable these past few days, and it was only by thinking of Sheng Wujie's miserable state that she managed to endure it.
So, the moment she returned to Nirvana Space, she immediately rushed straight into the bathroom, washing herself clean in pure bliss.
After changing into fresh pajamas, Mu Anqi lay down on the recliner, body and mind filled with comfort. Lazily, she opened her skill panel and began her usual routine of drawing for skills.
[Spend 200 points to acquire a random skill?]
Yes.
[Ding! Congratulations, you've obtained the skill: Blessing and Curse! Detection shows the player already possesses this skill—Blessing and Curse has been automatically upgraded.]
[Blessing Curse]: Speak a four-character blessing phrase/idiom to the target, which can randomly cause the target to immediately perform a random action/movement, or randomly draw one from the preset action/movement list and complete it. Note:
1.During a single game, blessings cannot be repeated. (After all, blessings must be sincere, not mass-produced.)
2.The movements listed in the action/movement table must conform to player behavior rules and human physical limits. Actions such as self-harm, suicide, self-detonation, etc., are prohibited.
[Action/Movement List for Blessing and Curse]: 10 slots available.
That meant she could now think up an action or movement, write it into the table, and next time when blessing someone, she could choose to have it drawn directly from these options? Brilliant! Wasn't this just another way of forcing a designated action?!
Mu Anqi's eyes lit up, and she quickly wrote in the first slot: "Headstand and spin 300 times!"
Rejected?!
Mu Anqi really couldn't understand—what part of that didn't meet the requirements? Spinning 300 times wouldn't cause instant death, right? She thought about it, then tried changing it to 200 times, only to be rejected again. She lowered it to 100. Still not approved?!
Grinding her teeth, Mu Anqi changed the number to 99, then 90… Step by step, she gave in, until finally, when she tried 50 times, a prompt finally popped up.
[Entry Successful!]
Mu Anqi imagined it for a moment—doing a headstand and spinning fifty times… Well, maybe it wouldn't make someone bald, but dizziness was guaranteed. Not bad at all.
For the second action… Mu Anqi thought of that magical macho man, and so she happily wrote down the devilish phrase: "Imitate a magical girl transformation—singing and dancing while doing it, and blow a kiss at the end."
The system seemed to hesitate for a moment, but still judged it as successful. After all… there was no real danger in that action.
Mu Anqi grew interested and began seriously thinking about the remaining eight slots. Like the first one, actions that carried a bit of risk required more complicated checks, but the magical girl example had opened the door to a whole new world for her.
"Randomly perform a street dance routine while rapping a random song."
"Randomly pick a ghost and make a heartfelt love confession—kneel on one knee and speak no fewer than ten lines of sweet talk." When she wrote this one, Mu Anqi had originally thought about writing "Randomly choose a lucky ghost to hug and kiss," but then she realized that might be too cruel for the player. After all… in the Shattered Mirror Continent, who knew what kind of ghosts might show up.
Touching her conscience, Mu Anqi continued thinking, then wrote: "Do fifty sit-ups in a row while loudly counting each one."
Looking at the five actions she had written down, Mu Anqi suddenly wondered if she might have gone a little overboard. But then she remembered that [Blessing Curse] could be used at random as usual when facing ordinary players. Only when encountering someone like Sheng Wujie would she need to pull out the action list. Thinking that way, Mu Anqi wrote down: "Backflip double jump into the air, 720° side spin, then split upon landing." It was mercilessly rejected by Nirvana Space.
Uh, maybe the 720° spin was a bit too much to ask? But wasn't this supposed to be a forced action? How would you know it couldn't be done unless you tried! Mu Anqi scratched her head, then obediently wrote: "Backflip, land in a split, and recite a random ancient poem."
"Do squats until you loudly shout out the ten things/stuff you fear the most."
"Stand at attention in military posture without moving until you've confessed five lies you've told recently."
"Do 50 push-ups in one go, then say to a random male player: 'Baby, look how amazing I am.'"
"Dance closely with a random male player, then lift his chin and say: 'Little minx, you've gotten me fired up.'" [T/N: Slamming fist on the pillow this one's the best hahah!]
When writing down these actions, Mu Anqi imagined the target as Sheng Wujie the whole time, while the "random male player" was substituted with the magical macho man. Just thinking about Sheng Wujie being forced to do these actions made her burst out laughing with delight.
As soon as she filled all ten slots, Mu Anqi couldn't help but rub her hands together impatiently, already looking forward to the next game. She really wanted to see the scenes of players actually carrying out these actions…
Author's Note: What bad intentions could Mu Anqi possibly have? She's just a pure, cute, kind, lovely, and slightly nosy little money tree, that's all.