As the mission start information exploded in Zhou Ming's mind, he felt a sudden brightness around him, and a rather peculiar "sense of reality" abruptly emerged.
It was as if an invisible barrier had stood between him and this world, and now that barrier was lifted, allowing Zhou Ming to fully integrate into his surroundings.
At the same time, Zhou Ming's hand suddenly felt heavier—a wallet had appeared out of thin air.
Not just him, but the other reincarnators also found a wallet in their hands, the only difference being the style.
Zhou Ming opened the wallet. Inside were a stack of banknotes and a few cards. He pulled out the card with his photo on it and saw the name printed there: Zhang Wei.
Zhou Ming: "…"
Evidently, this was the identity the Main God had arranged for him in this world.
Besides the ID card, there was also a room card for the Midsummer Coast Hotel (room number 704 printed on it), a credit card, and a black card of unknown purpose.
Finally, there was a photo of a very attractive Caucasian girl, appearing to be in her early twenties. She had a sweet smile and was full of spiritual energy.
Flipping the photo over, a name was written on the back with a marker: Adele Bronses.
Clearly, the girl in the photo was the mission target—the person they were to protect for the next ten days.
This judgment wasn't based solely on a simple deduction from a photo; it was also because Zhou Ming could see the girl from the photo not far away.
She was lying on a beach chair, engrossed in a magazine. Her waist was stretched, her curvaceous figure fully displayed, and her fair skin shone as brilliantly white as pearls, attracting the fiery gazes of many men on the beach.
However, despite such a charming and lovely beauty, no man dared to approach her for a chat.
The reason was simple: surrounding the girl were four burly men in beach shorts, bare-chested, showing off their muscular physiques. They were glaring vigilantly at every man who tried to get close.
"Are there other bodyguards protecting her? Are they teammates from the same faction as my plot identity, or a different group of people?"
Zhou Ming mused, withdrawing his gaze from Adele.
"Is your mission time only ten days?"
On the other side, after listening to the few newcomers describe their mission content, Yu Man said indifferently, "You're lucky. The first world's mission won't be too difficult. In fact, thanks to the beginner's welfare, if you handle it well, you can significantly improve your strength in just one mission world… So, let's first make contact with the plot characters. The mission has already begun."
The six walked toward Adele. Along the way, taking advantage of those few minutes, the four newcomers briefly introduced themselves.
The clean-cut man with glasses was He Yunxiao, 24 years old, working in the IT industry.
Another unremarkable man was Zhang Changlin, a college student.
The only woman among the four newcomers was Zhao Ting, also a college student.
As for Zhou Ming, given that his current body was only 16 years old, he had to play the role of a high school student—and he played it quite happily.
The approach of the six quickly caught the attention of the four burly men. One of them was about to step forward to block them but was stopped by Adele, who was lying on the beach chair.
The diligent burly men no longer obstructed them, allowing them to walk up to Adele. However, most of the four men's attention was now focused on the six.
The six had barely arrived in front of Adele when she spoke first, her tone somewhat impatient.
"Didn't you say you would protect me from the shadows? Now you've openly come out in broad daylight—haven't you all exposed yourselves?"
"Honestly, none of you look like well-trained, advanced bodyguards. If my uncle hadn't recommended you…"
The murmuring girl then pointed at Yu Man and Yang Zhisheng, asking, "Who are these two? Your new colleagues?"
As soon as these words left her mouth, Zhou Ming's heart jolted.
Yu Man and Yang Zhisheng—were the identities the Main God arranged for them not bodyguards protecting Adele?
Since Adele recognized the four newcomers, if the Main God had also arranged bodyguard identities for Yu Man and the others, there would be no need to go to such lengths, creating a plot where Adele didn't know them, right?
If that was the case, what exactly was their mission? And did their missions conflict with those of Zhou Ming and the other three?
This mission type was team cooperation, but no one knew if this cooperation applied to all reincarnators or just the four newcomers—especially since the two veterans had different missions from them.
"Yes, we are technical support personnel." Before anyone else could figure out how to explain, Yu Man spoke, smiling brightly.
"Although the two of us are auxiliary personnel not on the combat roster, it's necessary to greet you, our employer, in advance—to avoid unnecessary trouble in subsequent actions."
The girl on the beach chair shrugged, saying indifferently, "Whatever you want. It's not like I'm paying… I'm going back to the hotel."
Yu Man nodded. "Then we will continue our original actions, trying not to appear in front of you."
The group gradually walked away, and Yu Man and Yang Zhisheng's expressions quickly turned cold.
"Yu… Sister, what happened?"
Seeing the change in expression of the two experienced reincarnators, Zhao Ting, the only woman among the four, asked cautiously.
The few newcomers didn't understand what had happened, feeling bewildered and a little uneasy.
Only Zhou Ming thought of something and said thoughtfully, "There's a problem with the identities the Main God arranged for us."
"Huh?" Everyone was a bit surprised. He Yunxiao was the first to ask, "What are you talking about? Can the Main God make mistakes?"
Zhou Ming glanced at him and said indifferently, "It's not that the Main God made a mistake, but that the Main God set a trap in the identities arranged for us."
"Adele knows us, which means that before we entered this world, the identities the Main God arranged for us were already performing the task of protecting Adele."
"So, it's highly likely that the assassins who want to kill Adele have already started their actions against her. Perhaps before we entered this world, the identities we are playing have already secretly clashed with the assassins."
"Even when we just went to greet Adele, the assassins could have been hiding in the dark, observing us—and might still be monitoring us right now."
"Adele said that before, all of us were protecting her from the shadows, never showing our faces. However, because we, who just entered this world, are completely unaware of our situation, we've very likely been exposed now."
"What was once a situation where both we and the assassins were in the dark has now become a situation where the enemy is hidden and we are exposed. We know nothing about the assassins, but it's very likely that the assassins are already aiming their sniper rifles at us."
Zhou Ming's words sent shivers down the spines of the few newcomers.
He Yunxiao and Zhang Changlin nervously looked around, as if trying to spot the hidden assassins with their own eyes.
Zhao Ting cast a pleading look at the two veterans, seeking some comfort from them.
The two veterans looked at Zhou Ming with some surprise. Yu Man clapped her hands and praised, "Very good, newcomer. You have a lot of potential."
Yang Zhisheng then said, "Don't worry. Newcomers participating in their first mission are under beginner's protection for the first twelve hours of the mission and will not suffer damage from within the mission. So even if everything is as he said, the assassins won't immediately act against you. That gives you some time to adapt."
Zhou Ming also said, "What I just said was just a guess. Maybe I guessed completely wrong, and the assassins can't always be watching Adele."
The calm demeanor and comforting words of the three gradually soothed the other three, though they still felt somewhat uneasy.
"Adele is going back to the hotel. Come on, let's follow her," Yu Man suddenly spoke, breaking the somewhat heavy atmosphere.
The group followed Adele from a distance. Although they knew they might have been exposed, they still held onto a sliver of hope, pretending to be passersby and not approaching Adele again.
The group of six walked along the beach and, from a distance, saw the Midsummer Coast Hotel billboard and the magnificent hotel building.
Although the name Midsummer Coast sounded a bit rustic, the hotel was a genuine five-star establishment.
From the numerous buildings and facilities—including the hotel—and the people coming and going, it was clear that this beach, whose exact location none of the reincarnators had even figured out, was indeed a tourist resort.
About ten minutes later, the group arrived at the hotel.
"My room number is 708, Zhang Changlin is 707, Zhao Ting is 706, He Yunxiao is 705, Zhang Wei is 704 (Zhou Ming used his identity name for this world—it's unknown if the others used their real names), Yang Zhisheng is 703."
"Now, in our respective rooms, there should be personal items belonging to the identities we are playing. So let's disband for now, go back to our rooms, and search to see if we can find anything useful—preferably weapons."
"Half an hour later, we'll gather in my room to discuss the next course of action. Any problems?"
Yu Man offered a reasonable arrangement, and everyone agreed there were no issues.
These newcomers, who had been living peaceful lives not long ago, were suddenly thrown into this unfamiliar world, with assassins lurking in the shadows, eyeing them menacingly.
The few of them had been in a state of anxiety and panic. Although they were somewhat reluctant to temporarily separate and be alone, the sense of security that finding a weapon would bring outweighed everything else.
Even Zhou Ming needed some alone time—there were several questions that urgently needed verification.
Could Gu be mobilized in this world? Could consumed true qi be restored?
The laws of this world and the Gu World were completely different, and Zhou Ming could only explore them bit by bit.
Entering room 704, Zhou Ming did not rush to examine himself. Instead, he thoroughly searched the entire room first.
He found no monitoring or recording devices like pinhole cameras, temporarily confirming the room was safe.
Then he found suitable clothes and a firearm. After changing, he picked up the gun and skillfully performed a series of actions—loading, unloading, checking the safety.
Whether in his previous life or this one, this was Zhou Ming's first time touching a real gun.
However, thanks to the special beginner's buff "Firearms Lv1" given by the Main God, Zhou Ming, touching a gun for the first time, felt incredibly familiar with the weapon in his hand.
The M9, also known as the Beretta 92, uses a short-recoil barrel, a falling-block locking system, and a single/double-action trigger design. It is fed by a 15-round detachable magazine. It measures 217mm in length, weighs 1.1 kg, and has a muzzle velocity of 390 meters per second. Its structure is simple, its mechanical action reliable, and it is very convenient to use.
In the entire room, there was only this one firearm.
This clearly did not fit the character's profile. Zhou Ming knew this must be the Main God's arrangement: initially, they would only be given this level of weapon support. After that, they would have to find better weapons themselves.