Clang! Clang! Clang!

A grand opera was about to begin.

The lanterns and candles in the Main Opera Building flared to life, as numerous as the stars. They hung everywhere, illuminating the entire building with a brilliant glow.

Even without electric lights, the view was clearer than one might imagine and possessed a unique charm.

Beneath the curtain, the rapid clang of gongs and drums echoed, brewing a tense atmosphere before the opera even began. It promised to be a thrilling, heart-pounding performance.

The audience below the stage was nearly empty, holding only Wu Wang and the troupe leader.

Watching the troupe leader slowly raise a cup of hot tea and take a sip, Wu Wang couldn’t help but ask.

“Excuse me… where is the Prince?”

After returning from his talk with the other players backstage, he had learned about their three Side Quests.

【Side Quest 1 – At least five players must survive the first performance】

【Side Quest 2 – Assemble the souls of the fragments】

【Side Quest 3 – Recognize your own position】

The three quests seemed somewhat vague. Only the first one was relatively clear.

In a word, survive!

As for the latter two, no one yet knew what “souls of the fragments” were.

However, when Wu Wang heard Xiaoxiao mention the quest, he couldn’t help but think of the remnant soul attached to his own wrist.

Considering its previous reaction to the Prince’s name, ‘Xiang Yu’, he suspected the other players’ quests were related to the soul he possessed.

The last quest was far too vague. The meaning of ‘position’ was inscrutable.

The simplest interpretation was that they needed to recognize which Role Category their character belonged to, be it Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, or Chou.

But that seemed too simple.

As for a deeper meaning, no one could make heads or tails of it.

Unfortunately, Wu Wang hadn’t managed to find out the content of the Main Quest.

He could ask about Side Quests indirectly, probing to see if the others were interested in completing them. After all, they were optional.

But the Main Quest was different. Asking about something that was mandatory for clearing the game would immediately arouse the other players’ vigilance.

Wu Wang returned to his seat. The accompaniment started, signaling the opera was about to begin, but the Prince was still nowhere to be seen.

This gave him a bad feeling.

The troupe leader shook his head, laughing helplessly.

“Hehe, there’s something you don’t know. His love for opera isn’t just limited to watching, but also to acting. Total immersion!”

“But as the Prince who guards the frontier, he can’t very well go on stage as a mere actor. It would cause a scandal.”

“Why do you think he booked the entire opera garden? To make sure this never gets out.”

“You ask where he is? He’s in the play.”

Clang!

Just as the troupe leader finished speaking, the surrounding gongs and drums paused.

The red curtain slowly parted.

The players entered from the left side of the stage, one by one. They were in full makeup and costume, with flags on their backs.

Though they each had a different Role Category, they all looked like martial role actors now. Each held a weapon, like a broadsword or a long spear.

A nervous look was on every player’s face.

Whoosh!

A sinister wind swept past the moment they appeared on stage.

It blew on the surrounding candles and lanterns, making them sway wildly as if they might be extinguished at any moment.

In the audience, Wu Wang’s expression grew grave.

He was shocked to find that the environment around him was changing. The already large stage seemed to extend infinitely, transforming into a vast battlefield in the blink of an eye.

He could faintly feel the dust kicked up by galloping hooves.

“Holy crap! Is this what total immersion means?”

It wasn’t just Wu Wang who was dumbfounded. The players on stage were even more bewildered.

From their perspective, they couldn’t even see the audience seats anymore. It was as if they had all been instantly transported to some vast, empty battlefield.

The surrounding sounds of gongs and drums gradually transformed into the stirring, reverberating sound of real war drums.

The neighing of galloping horses and the faint scent of blood in the air made it impossible to distinguish reality from illusion.

“A lone rider to crush Cao Man!”

A line of sung verse resounded throughout the entire battlefield. The deafening sound, filled with majesty and killing intent, made all the players furrow their brows.

They were shocked to find their Spirit attribute starting to slowly decrease.

“Is this some kind of Mental Contamination?” Xiaoxiao asked in a low voice.

Zi Jin shook her head.

“No, it’s not contamination. It’s a pure Mental Impact. This person… is very strong.”

Hearing this, everyone’s expression changed drastically.

If it were Mental Contamination, they could explain it away with some special ability.

But a pure Mental Impact meant something else entirely. It meant the opponent was so powerful he could make an ordinary person’s legs tremble and nearly cause them to faint with just a single shout.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

The sound of the war drums quickened, shifting from a slow beat to a rapid one.

Everyone scanned their surroundings, vigilant for the appearance of an enemy.

How could they not understand now?

This play… had become real.

Or rather, they were now experiencing the events happening within the play. If they died here, they would be truly gone.

Bang!

In the distance, a swift horse leaped out from a cloud of dust.

On its back sat a powerful and mighty figure in the role of a Wu Sheng, a martial hero.

His facial makeup was simple, mainly consisting of sharp, black-lined eyes and a light red base. He wore a white python robe with blue borders, a Fuzi Helmet, and thick-soled boots. Several white battle flags protruded from his back.

In his hand, he wielded a Bright Silver Spear with a tassel of white silk. Its head was unsharpened, and its tip was semi-circular.

The sight made everyone tremble. The aura of an ancient general galloping across a battlefield surged toward them.

In the audience, Wu Wang frowned and blurted out.

“Changbanpo? Zhao Zilong?”

What was before him was clearly a traditional piece from Beijing opera, 《Changbanpo》, also known as 《The Lone Rider Savior》.

The story was about the hero Zhao Zilong charging alone into an enemy camp seven times to rescue his lord’s infant son, Ah Dou.

However, the one playing Zhao Zilong was none other than the Prince, Xiang Yu, the very man Wu Wang had been looking for.

His portrayal was different from the normal depiction. In addition to the Bright Silver Spear, he also had that astonishingly large broadsword hanging from his waist. Because of his Jiangshi features, the ashen complexion and fangs beneath his makeup were still visible.

The steed beneath him was also frighteningly large, easily supporting the Prince’s burly frame. Compared to the distant players, the horse was as shocking as a prehistoric behemoth, its galloping hooves striking the ground with the percussive impact of war stomps.

In this scene, it meant the players were not the Shu Army’s heroes, but the pursuing soldiers from Cao’s Army.

This was a classic combat scene.

In other words… the Prince was going to single-handedly shatter them.

“Holy crap! You guys are toast!”

As Wu Wang’s sarcastic comment left his mouth, the Prince’s Bright Silver Spear shot out like a swimming dragon.

In an instant, a trail of silvery-white lightning exploded among the players. The moment the spear tip hit the ground, the battlefield floor cracked apart, followed by an explosive shockwave.

Boom!

In just one exchange, all the players were thrown into the air by the blast erupting from the ground.

“Is that a fucking spear thrust?”

“Isn’t that an RPG rocket!?”

At that moment, everyone finally understood the Side Quest.

Now, they had only one goal.

Survive