Three days can be a long time.

Long enough to give Helen Keller plenty of light. Multiply that by ten, and it’s enough for a blitzkrieg on Poland.

Three days can also be a short time.

Wu Wang lost himself in the hustle of the 【Spirit Calamity Plaza】, spending his days appraising items and raking in cash.

Fortunately, he hadn’t run into the mysterious witch again. Still, the oppressive aura of the Tarot Society’s President lingered. Even after three days without a sighting, Wu Wang couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.

However, since neither 【Vision of Truth】 nor 【Eye of the Prophet】 detected anything unusual, he could only chalk it up to the psychological trauma she’d inflicted.

But none of that mattered. After three days of work, he had made a fortune.

At the same time, a strange rumor began to circulate in the 【Spirit Calamity Plaza】.

Players were inexplicably finding that their Calamity Coins had decreased. The amount missing was oddly specific, too. Every person was short exactly 766 Calamity Coins.

When they took out items that needed appraising from their inventories, they found a sticker on them. Besides the appraisal details, it bore an additional sentence.

“I took an extra hundred as your Q Coin top-up.”

Not only that, but rumor had it the famous information broker, 【Wan Shitong】, had been stomping her feet in anger lately. She was determined to find the person leaving the “Q Coin top-up” notes.

With the help of the 【Clown’s Red Nose】, Wu Wang had managed to make a huge profit without revealing his identity.

“Alright, time to notify them to come pay their debts.”

He walked into the 【Continental Hotel】 and booked a large conference room at the front desk, one big enough to hold nearly fifty people. Wu Wang then sent the room number to each of the players who owed him.

The moment the messages went out, a woman wrapped tightly in a long coat appeared at the door.

Her speed was so surprising that Wu Wang couldn’t help but ask.

“Did you set up a home in the 【Spirit Calamity Plaza】? How did you get here so fast?”

After spending three days here, Wu Wang had picked up on some of the plaza’s rules. For example, players could not remain in the 【Spirit Calamity Plaza】 for more than five cumulative hours.

Once a player’s time hit the five-hour mark, they were forcibly logged out and returned to reality. They then had to wait through a five-hour cooldown before they could enter the plaza again.

This meant it was impossible for someone being pursued or investigated in the real world to hide in the plaza indefinitely. The flow of time here was identical to the real world, a restriction perhaps meant to prevent players from abandoning reality entirely for the game.

He had heard that special items could extend this time, but he had yet to see any. For the time being, Wu Wang didn’t need one anyway.

It seemed the 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire】 might have given him a small privilege when opening the passage for him. Wu Wang discovered that the five-hour limit didn’t apply to him.

Aside from a quick trip back to the 【God-Forsaken Land】 on the first day to pack some 【Void Yellow Sand】, he had basically stayed in the 【Spirit Calamity Plaza】 the entire time. The game system offered no objection.

It made sense. If he were kicked back to the 【God-Forsaken Land】 every five hours, he would have long since turned into 【Void Yellow Sand】 like any other player. There would have been no point in the Spirit Venerable saving him in the first place.

“I happened to be trading with another player here at the 【Continental Hotel】. I came straight downstairs when I received the message.”

Wan Shitong said faintly. She took a seat closest to Wu Wang.

She wasn’t lying. As an information broker, she often frequented places like the 【Continental Hotel】 for private transactions. She even had an 【Exclusive】 trading room here, a gift from the hotel as part of a past deal.

“As for the trade for the 【Void Yellow Sand】, just stay behind after I’ve collected the debts.”

Wu Wang said, crossing his legs.

A flash of excitement crossed Wan Shitong’s eyes. Yan Shuangying’s words confirmed it. He really had gotten his hands on the 【Void Yellow Sand】. Her only question was how much he had. Would it be even half of what her hourglass contained?

The excitement lasted only for a moment before her expression returned to its usual calmness.

“Mm, no problem.”

Her tone was extremely flat, as if she were buying vegetables at a market. In her mind, however, she was frantically repeating a mantra.

Stay calm, stay calm!

Master said the biggest taboo for a merchant is letting your feelings show. No matter how much you desire something, as long as it’s still in someone else’s hands, you have to act like you don’t care.

That’s the only way to prevent them from jacking up the price. Master also said he never got the short end of the stick, all thanks to his composure.

Wu Wang smiled as he looked at the text that appeared above her head.

【She is determined to get this trade!】

Yoho, just as I thought. She comes from the same stock as that black-hearted Penguin. They both say one thing and mean another!

He had ripped off her master before. It was the disciple’s turn now.

Fall into a pit, gain a wit, right? Then you’ll just have to fall into another one!

Just then, Yun Ze appeared at the conference room door.

“This is the place, right? Good evening, Big Boss Yan.”

“How good is it?” Wu Wang retorted.

“…”

His single sentence shut Yun Ze down completely. He silently found a seat and said no more.

As time went on, other players began to arrive one by one. Unsurprisingly, no one dared to skip the meeting.

After all, in their eyes, this wasn’t just a transaction with a single player. It was repaying a debt to the 【Spirit Venerable of the Sea of Desire】.

Over the past three days, the indebted players had gathered to discuss this very matter. Logically, a being of the Spirit Venerable’s stature had no use for ordinary items and equipment. Why would She be interested in things from players at their current stage?

And why, just before leaving, did She declare that the player named 【Pending Death】 was the true 【Saint Son of Desire】? She had even sent the Saint Son’s 【Private Tutor】 to collect the debt.

Based on all this, they came to a single, imagined conclusion. These items were all to prepare the 【Saint Son of Desire】 and his 【Private Tutor】 for an 【Instance】!

But when on earth had the players 【Pending Death】 and 【Yan Shuangying】 caught the eye of the Spirit Venerable? Why had they never heard of them before?

Or could it be… that all the players who had encountered them in the past had been silenced?

This deduction sent a chill through their hearts.

They connected this to the fact that the Spirit Venerable had almost openly revealed their identities this time and even stated Her intention to come to the real world.

So, the approach of the Open Beta is causing some unknown changes in the Instance worlds?

From this perspective, the best way to understand these changes before the Open Beta was through 【Yan Shuangying】. This realization made them place even greater importance on repaying their debt.

And so.

The biggest scam in the history of the Spirit Calamity Game.

Began.