“Our country’s modern Closed Beta records began a hundred years ago.”

“People were continually being selected to enter Instances, and missing person cases increased by the day. But at that time, our country happened to be in a tumultuous era, so these cases didn’t attract much attention. People were more concerned with the social situation at hand.”

“The most bizarre thing was that during the twenty years of the first Closed Beta, the Spirit Calamity Game could not be known by the outside world. Any non-player who learned of its existence would die a mysterious and sudden death, almost like a virus.”

“Only a small number of lucky individuals who made it out of the Instances alive began to secretly record these events, hoping to reveal the truth to future generations.”

“Back then, the word ‘game’ wasn’t part of it.”

“They only called it… Spirit Calamity.”

As he spoke, Xiezhi’s expression grew somewhat melancholic.

He could only imagine how many pioneers had to face the irregularly descending Spirit Calamity Game Instances while simultaneously trying to stabilize the country.

Both in the open and in the shadows, they were trailblazers who shed their blood and sweat, planting the seeds of a great tree for the generations to come.

Now, the shade of that tree was vast enough for them to rest under.

Their contributions were immeasurable.

Yet few knew their names.

“The second Closed Beta was fifty years ago, and it lasted for ten years,” An City’s Director picked up where he left off. “By this time, the existence of the Spirit Calamity Game could be known without issue, but the number of players was small, so the news basically remained within our circle.”

“Then came the Third Closed Beta ten years ago, which only lasted for five years. That’s when Old Xie and I became players.”

“By then, the player base had reached a considerable scale and began to organize, hiding among ordinary people. We became a part of this society.”

“‘Spirit Calamity’ also gained the suffix ‘game,’ and special Instances like the Non-lethal Type and competitive types came into being.”

With that, the An City Director sighed. He seemed to be reminiscing about the eventful years of his past.

He never thought he’d already been a player for ten years. His youthful days were truly gone.

Xiezhi, however, didn’t share this sentiment. He continued, “We are now in the fourth Closed Beta, which has only been going on for two years. This is also the Closed Beta with the most selected players.”

“The Closed Beta has now ended.”

“The Spirit Calamity Game has officially announced that the Open Beta will begin in fifty days. Did you not receive the notification?”

Xiezhi was a bit puzzled. He remembered it was a server-wide announcement just a few days ago.

After listening to the history of the game’s arrival, Wu Wang’s mind raced, rapidly analyzing everything.

On the surface, however, he answered calmly.

“Of course, I received it.”

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have left the deep mountains and ancient forests where I’ve been recovering from injuries for the past five or six years,” he said, his tone tinged with helplessness. “I just wanted to come out and see what the situation was like.”

Recovering from injuries for five or six years!

Xiezhi and the An City Director immediately latched onto the keywords. They exchanged a look, confirming their shared thought.

If their guess was right, this youthful-looking boss was likely a player from the Third Closed Beta, just like them, not someone who was chosen in the last two years.

He must have been seriously injured for some reason.

He hid away to heal, continuously clearing Instances on his own, and gradually gained his current strength.

Following that, Wu Wang asked a few more trivial questions, mostly to understand the current state of the player base, which further convinced the two of their judgment.

“So that’s how it is…” Wu Wang muttered, nodding to himself.

“That’s the situation,” the Director said. “By the way, may I be so bold as to ask, was the Nightmare-level Solo Instance, 【Chronicle of the Desolate Village】, cleared by you, boss?”

The An City Director’s eyes filled with anticipation. He had answered all of Wu Wang’s questions without holding anything back. Even for the parts he couldn’t remember clearly, Xiezhi, the meticulous workaholic, was there to fill in the gaps.

Now it was their turn to get some confirmation.

Wu Wang raised an eyebrow.

“It was me. Is there a problem?”

Whatever it is, aim it all at me, Yan Shuangying! Don’t mistake anyone else for me! Yan Shuangying holds 【Xiaochuan】! Professional scapegoat!

“We’d like to make a deal with you,” Xiezhi said, his tone serious. “Or rather, we would like to represent the Abnormal Affairs Bureau to establish a partnership with you.”

The moment Wu Wang heard the word “deal,” he was on the verge of a PTSD episode. The image of a certain Black-hearted Penguin involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

He blurted out, “A deal? I’m not buying Q Coins!”

Xiezhi was speechless.

Come on, man! Why does your train of thought always go off the rails? How does the mood change so drastically mid-conversation?

He suppressed the urge to roast Wu Wang and explained, “We’d like you to provide the clear process for 【Chronicle of the Desolate Village】 as research material for a walkthrough. Rest assured, we will offer a reward that will satisfy you.”

Nightmare-level Instances had an extremely low clear rate, which made researching them all the more difficult. This walkthrough was exceptionally important.

However, the corner of Wu Wang’s mouth twitched. He thought about his various actions in the Instance, the connection between his Second Sister and the Instance, the deus ex machina-like appearance of the Black-hearted Penguin, and finally, the conversation between the Crying Face Eccentric and the alluring woman.

Damn! The complexity of this Solo Instance is incredibly hard to explain!

There’s just too much I can’t reveal. Even if I dared to tell you, would you fucking believe it?

“Sorry, but this Instance is too dangerous,” Wu Wang said, feigning seriousness. “Just knowing about some of the beings within could cause Mental Contamination. I don’t want to become a sinner.”

He planned to use the Abyss God as a cover. All he needed was for them to understand that the Mental Contamination was severe and back off.

But unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the expressions on Xiezhi and the An City Director’s faces lit up.

They said in unison, “An Abyss-contaminated Nightmare-level Solo Instance?”

Huh? Sounds like you guys know about the Abyss God’s contamination?

Before Wu Wang could react, Xiezhi pulled his phone out of his pocket, swiped a few times, and handed it to him.

“Did you see this thing in the Instance?” he asked quizzically.

It was a picture of a humanoid behemoth. Where its facial features should have been were two vertical pupils, so exquisitely detailed they were mesmerizing. A closer look revealed that these pupils weren’t grown there, but painted on.

Now it was Wu Wang’s turn to be dumbfounded.

Seen it? I’ve more than just seen it.

The Abyss God and I are old acquaintances! Dude, I have a simplified, condensed version on my wrist right now, and I’m even using Its account to chat with you. What? You wanna meet it? I guarantee you’ll both grow five tentacles, three ears, one tail, and hairy gills.

His stunned silence was not lost on Xiezhi and the Director.

Now, they were even more tempted.

This was the first discovered case of a Nightmare-level Instance being contaminated at the current stage!

Holy shit! The value of this Instance’s walkthrough is still rising! the Director thought.

“Boss! You must give us the walkthrough!” the An City Director pleaded, getting excited.

Wu Wang pondered for a moment. Finally, he sighed.

“I barely escaped that Instance with my life. The value of its walkthrough is no less than that of my dearest friends and sworn brothers!”

“Do you mean… it’s not possible?”

Hearing that, the meaning of his rejection was obvious. A flash of disappointment crossed the An City Director’s eyes.

But to his surprise, the other party spoke again.

“You have to pay more.”

The An City Director blinked. “Huh?”

Wu Wang raised an eyebrow and repeated, “You have to add more money. If you don’t understand, I can translate it for you. It means I need to make a reasonable increase in value based on a macroeconomic adjustment to the current situation.”

“As the saying goes, ‘Hike up the price on the spot!'”

He had figured it out. It seemed giving them the walkthrough wasn’t entirely impossible. He just had to hide the parts he couldn’t reveal and make up some content to fill in the gaps.

Even if the Abnormal Affairs Bureau felt something was off after studying it, he could just argue it was all the Abyss God’s contamination.

A new-era representative of the Sun Ba forum! Just blame anything bad on the Abyss God!

“Then what do you need?” Xiezhi asked. “Items? Or equipment? Or perhaps you need the Abnormal Affairs Bureau to help you with something? Don’t worry, we’ll calculate the extra payment separately. You’ll get everything you’re owed.”

But the next second, Wu Wang’s answer was once again unexpected.

“The requirement for the extra payment is this. You help me find a Nightmare-level Team Instance that hasn’t started yet, and tell me how to get in.”

Wu Wang said this with a deadpan expression.

Xiezhi was dumbfounded, a sound of confusion escaping him unconsciously.

“Huh?”

Come on, man! Who the hell goes chasing after Nightmare-level Instances!

He didn’t know this was what Wu Wang believed to be the fastest way to increase his strength, nor did he know that the other party was desperate to get stronger and smash the Calamity Cult’s dog heads in.

He only knew one thing. This was suicide.

Are Nightmare-level Instances something you can just enter whenever you want? How many fucking lives do you have to be so arrogant!

“You’re… not kidding?”

Wu Wang took a bottle of coke from his Backpack, took a sip, and spoke with disdain.

“I never lie.”

Me! The World’s Only Designated Undying One, the Abyss God’s Account Gundam Pilot, the Spirit Calamity Game Special Strategic Partner, expert at beating the retreat drum and part-time contrarian master.

What’s wrong with wanting to speedrun a few Nightmare-level Instances to grind levels? You got a problem with that?

So what if I’m only Lv. 6? You look down on me that much?

Then I’ll really have to clear a few more Nightmare-level Instances just to show you!

Gonna enter a new Instance soon! This Team Instance, I’m gonna go all out on the showmanship! Pull a great stunt for everyone!