When he got to the top floor, he found that there seemed to be more players here than he thought, and there was chatter and bargaining everywhere. After observing for a long time, he finally squeezed into an item modification machine and chose to process [Ordinary Iron Rod] into a crowbar.
While waiting, he heard several players chatting and exchanging gossip. He glanced at them and found that they were all players who had modified their bodies.
One person said, “Hey, did you see that the number one on the leaderboard has been replaced again!”
“Damn, who are these sickos?” The audience was shocked, “Last time Playing the flute or Listening to the flute, whatever that name is, directly got full clearance within four days, so what about this one?”
Someone immediately jeered at him: “What do you mean listening to the flute?” The ID is only two words! The newly replaced one also seems to be a two-word ID, but I didn’t get to take a closer look. The Heresy Interrogation Society is about to die of anger that another spot has been taken.”
The rest of the crowd laughed unscrupulously: “Ptooey! What Heresy Interrogation Society? As soon as you hear the name, you know it’s a bunch of dead houses. It’s better to call them the FFF group! Besides, their strength is already not comparable to that of Divine Creation and Blazing Ambition. It’s normal that they were unable to stabilize their positions.”
Wen Zheliu’s brows slightly moved. He put a silver coin into the instrument, took the freshly baked, simple, modified crowbar, and walked out. Before leaving, he took a look at the distant steeple, where a little golden light shone brightly amidst the blue light.
He smiled, went down to the first area, and purchased the investigator suit he had had his eyes on since earlier. Then he chose the item the system allowed him to choose and joined Du Zijun and Xie Yuanyuan downstairs.
“What took you so long?” The black-haired and fair-skinned girl was holding a slender cigarette in her mouth, and her appearance had greatly changed. The originally long and shiny black hair was cut into clean short hair, and the white dress was replaced by a black leather jacket, black military pants, and military boots. The frosted army belt around his waist was hung with two guns, left and right, with different shapes and cold luster. The innocent girl was almost turned into a cold-blooded killer.
“You got a haircut?” Wen Zheliu was surprised.
Du Zijun scratched his forehead indiscriminately, frowned, and said: “Yeah. This is the appearance I’m stuck with now. It’d be too troublesome not to cut it.”
Xie Yuanyuan also changed into a whole new set of equipment. The light gray suit and small leather boots have a medieval ranger style, and there is also a dagger on his waist. Wen Zheliu could tell that he was going to take the route of stealth and assassination. Xie Yuanyuan smiled sheepishly and said, “Although my online name is Little Transparency also has spring, I carefully thought about it and found that my physique still has an advantage.”
Du Zijun’s face darkened for a moment when the online name was mentioned. He still couldn’t find the name change card in the mall. Even if he asked the NPC, their reply was still “Sorry, the local mall doesn’t provide name change service for the time being”. He’s afraid this shameful name will have to stay with him for a long time.
At this time, Wen Zheliu also changed into the investigator suit he bought. The clear-cut and tidy dark brown single-breasted trench coat is paired with a snow-white collar shirt, a light brown waistcoat, and a pair of brown breeches of the same color scheme. The square scarf at the collar is pinned with a vintage silver tie pin. As for the shoes, he wears a pair of lace-up Martin boots. The young man has a fair and handsome face, a tall and slender figure, clear eyes, and a black knight’s cane… He doesn’t look like an investigator but rather like an elegant gentleman who goes out for a picnic.
Although it is said that people need clothes, sometimes clothes also have to be rendered by people. Although the name of his outfit is not very auspicious, it has a very good attribute. Not only can it stabilize the spiritual value, but it also has a lot of benefits for integrating into the world and increasing participation value, but the price is a bit expensive.
Du Zijun gave a rare teasing smile: “No wonder your brother nagged me to watch you… everything is ready?”
Wen Zheliu patted his pocket with confidence and said, “Yeah, let’s go!”
The group then picked up the selected reward items and leisurely walked towards the exit of Dongcheng District.
Sitting on the suspension vehicle, Wen Zheliu suddenly said, “By the way, I heard a few people chatting just now; it’s likely the information about the group who followed us the other day.”
“Who?” Xie Yuanyuan asked curiously.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Wen Zheliu nodded: “Yes, from what I just heard on the way here, the Heresy Interrogation Society has the most direct interest in us because us ascending the chart has squeezed out many of their places. However, their foundation is still shallow. It seems that neither strength nor leadership have impressed the crowd.”
“The rest is Divine Creation and the Blazing Ambition… Since they’re here(in UV), I guess Sword Like a Dream, DK, and White Night in the Underworld are also here…” He fell into deep thought and said, “This is kind of troublesome. Not only do we have to deal with NPC, but also fellow compatriots because of ranking…”
Xie Yuanyuan was a little confused: “What Divine Creation, what Sword Like a Dream? Is it team names?”
“You don’t know?” Du Zijun was a little surprised: “These are all star teams. Some of them are even supported by N-Star itself, and they have a lot of connections. Anyone who has been to Nova City should have known them.”
Xie Yuanyuan still looked confused as he scratched his hair, “Ah, is that so? That’s probably because I wasn’t interested in any of this before, and no one talked to me about it. I’m really not very familiar with these people.”
Both Wen Zheliu and Du Zijun choked a little. What kind of life did this child live before…
By the 24th century, the amount of time people spent in the virtual world had greatly exceeded that of reality. As the exchange ratio between game currency and real money is equal, a large number of professional players are active in Nova City. Private teams, studios, clubs, and even contracted companies have sprung up like mushrooms to join this new era of gold mining boom.
And more professional players with high levels, good conditions, or outstanding personalities have emerged wave after wave and have become the objects sought after by the public. Among them, domestic clubs such as Divine Creation, Blazing Ambition, and DK all have professional planning teams delegated by N-star to participate in the guidance; White Night in the Underworld, Sword Like a Dream, Jiangshanxiao, etc. are said to be family businesses; individual studios with unknown backgrounds but strong capabilities are too numerous to count, including the Heresy Interrogation Society heard by Wen Zheliu just now.
“Oh…” After hearing Wen Zheliu’s general introduction, Xie Yuanyuan understood a little bit, “In other words, we still have to compete with these big teams.”
“Yes,” Wen Zheliu sighed, “this is also expected; after all, so many big companies and star clubs are coming in to seize the first opportunity. No one thought that Theresa would cause such a slip. A good number of top players have now become our terminators… we’re already suffering, but we still have to fight these giants head-on.”
Du Zijun grinned: “Being robbed of the ranking by a few unknown casual players, I’m afraid they’re now dying of anger.”
“Then what should we do? Shall we give up?” Xie Yuanyuan also became distressed.
“Give up?” Du Zijun raised his eyebrows sullenly and said, “I don’t have this word in my dictionary. After I go back, won’t the owner of these clubs obediently roll over and call me grandfather? Let me tell you, at a time like this, what should be grasped in the hand is to be grasped to death; not even the slightest chance can be missed, understand?”
“Du…Zijun is right.” That was close. Wen Zheliu almost called out Sister Du, “When we get to the later stage, we need higher-grade items, and that’s when the ranking becomes important. At this speed, once we pass the third world, the top 100 players can each pick an item of A-grade or above from the mall. Whoever gives up because of fear is equivalent to giving up a chance to save their lives, so we must not give up!”
“…Okay!” Xie Yuanyuan plucked up his courage and nodded his head heavily, “Definitely not giving up!”
While talking, they had crossed half the city and arrived at the exit. The portal that ran between the entire city gates was immense, swirling with waves of light like the color of the deep sea.
When verifying his identity through the gate, out of some delusional expectation and selfishness, Wen Zheliu sandwiched his dog tag between his index and middle fingers, while pressing his thumb tightly against He Qin’s dog tag. After swiping once, he immediately pressed two fingers and the thumb, then brought out the other dog tag and swiped a second time with lightning speed.
The NPC in the law enforcement suit glanced at him suspiciously. Without changing his expression, he shook He Qin’s dog tag into his cuff and replied with a sincere smile: “Sorry, my hand slipped.”
[Dear players, welcome to Uncanny Valley. I wish you a pleasant journey.]
[Start scanning… Identity verification has been completed. Confirmed starnet ID: Wen Di, ID name: Wen Zheliu, Activation sequence: 4697800. No abnormal fluctuations were detected during scanning. We have confirmed the loading connection for you. Please wait.]
[Recording player information…]
[Player Name: Wen Di]
[Level: 16]
[Experience value: 62306500]
[Strength: 14 (+8), Stamina: 24 (+7), Agility: 17 (+9), Spirit: 18 (+12), Authenticity +5]
[Inventory: dog tag with complicated patterns, secret black box a, secret black box b, predictive compass, simple crowbar, wilderness survival kit, experience supplement x1, health recovery potion (medium) x300, stamina recovery potion (medium) x300, mental calming supplement x20, food box x5, water bucket x5]
[Coin: 13 gold, 53 silver, 172 copper]
[Equipped items: dog tag, investigator suit, knight cane, Jenny’s pendant (unknown)]
[The second world access is in progress. Counting down to 10, 9, 8, 7…]
When the countdown reached zero, Wen Zheliu was already immersed in a familiar sense of weightlessness and was descending. He adjusted his body in mid-air and landed forcefully and skillfully on the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.
While waiting for the darkness in front of him to gradually fade away, he immediately covered his eyes, allowing the dazzling light from the outside world to be filtered through his fingers.
This place has a western desert-like scenery, with hot winds blowing the withered and yellow weeds on the ground. The sun is scorching hot and drooping low, causing the dry and sizzling air to distort and quiver. Not far away, a rough asphalt road meandered forward, leading to an unknown distance.
Wen Zheliu was by himself, not knowing where Du Zijin and Xie Yuanyuan had landed. He swallowed, took off his outerwear, and rested it on the crook of his arm while taking out a bottle of water from his backpack to moisten his lips.
He had miscalculated. The temperature change in the second world is quite different from that in the first world.
[The side quest has been updated: Rendezvous with your companions (01)]
The sudden system prompt made Wen Zheliu feel a little bit annoyed. Why is the quest so similar to the First World?
But no matter how much he complained, he still needed to find those people. He mulled over it for a while and decided to walk straight along the road. After braving the scorching sun and high temperature for about ten minutes, he finally saw a station sign in the distance, and… is that a bus? A bus with most of its paint peeling off?
Wen Zheliu is a little uncertain; after all, this kind of transportation that relies on gasoline is too far away from their era and can only be seen in certain retro-themed amusement parks, film and television archives, and museums. He quickly walked over and faintly heard the sound of talking coming from inside.
This should be the place.
He carefully stepped on the platforms exposed by the open, narrow car door, and all of a sudden, several pairs of eyes looked up at him in unison, but no one opened their mouths to greet him first. Du Zijun and Xie Yuanyuan were sitting in the last row. After seeing him, Du Zijun didn’t show much reaction, but Xie Yuanyuan quickly waved and beckoned him to come and sit down.
[Side quest: Rendezvous with Companions (11) has been completed. ]
[Rewards: 100 experience points and 120 copper coins. The rewards have been sent to your inventory.]
“What’s the matter? Why are you so late?” Du Zijun asked. He was in much worse condition than Wen Zheliu. He was dressed in all black, and his jacket was leather. At this moment, he had already taken off his outerwear and put it aside, revealing his black sleeveless vest and a pair of snow-white, slender arms.
“The landing place is a little far away.” Wen Zheliu replied in a low voice. At this moment, including him, there were already nine people sitting in the car. The remaining five strangers were men and women, and there was even a little boy who looked no more than thirteen or fourteen years old, playing with his fingers without a care in the world.
He couldn’t help being stunned: “Why is there a child?”
“Don’t underestimate children.” Du Zijun leisurely glanced over, “Sometimes, children are the worst.”
Xie Yuanyuan interjected: “Why didn’t the follow-up quest come out? Are there more people?”
The sound of stairs being stepped on came from the car door.
[The main quest has been updated: enter the mission location (01)]
Wen Zheliu turned his body sideways, folded the coat, and put it aside. Suddenly he heard a gasping sound from a girl in front of him as well as the discussion stirred up by the newcomer as he walked by.
Du Zijun rolled his eyes and said: “Okay, now you’re the strongest one here.”
Wen Zheliu: “?”
Before he had time to speak, a shadow suddenly enveloped him. He was taken aback, but the person who just came had already bent down and put one hand on the back of the seat beside him.
“Hey, little dummy, look up?”
Translator’s note:
He’s back. 
Thank you biki for the ko-fi.
Baby, your husband is here!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
He’s back
Thanks for the chapter
Thanks for the update 🤣❤️
Reunited!! 😍
Eeeeee hes here!!!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IT’S HIM