Chapter 145: Player Forum

Seeing the familiar name on the public screen, Ji Linmo pondered for a moment, tapped it with his finger, and sent a question mark.

[Player Ji Linmo: ?]
[Player Lin Bufei: Oh, my god! Isn't this my big bro? The little brat is still alive?]
[Player Lin Bufei: Come on, son, give your dad a kiss (˘³˘)♥]
[Player Lin Hao: This is not a wasteland, please respect yourself, player.]

After a few seconds of silence, the forum quickly refreshed with several new messages.

[Player Niu Junjie: Wait a minute, Lin Bufei? The Lin Bufei who sold me fake cigarettes in the last instance?]
[Player Niu Junjie: Damn it! You're done for. Let me tell you, your enemies are everywhere!]
[Player Niu Junjie: If you have the guts, come to the entrance of the restaurant, and see how my companion and I beat you up!]
[Player Niu Junjie: Oh please, Mr. Niu, I don't know you. It must be a coincidence of names. I am a girl, you know (✿◡‿◡)]
[Player Liu Miao: Stop fucking pretending! Lin Bufei, come to the City of Night, I'm going to carve you up!]

In an instant, waves of commotion swept across the public screen, with everyone joining in to denounce him.
Yet Lin Bufei could be called the god of typing speed. Not only did he hold his own against a crowd of critics, but he even found time to squeeze in emoticons amidst the chaos.

Seeing the situation escalating, Ji Linmo silently typed out a line of text and sent it to the forum.

[Player Ji Linmo: Sorry, the player named Lin Bufei just now, you seem to have the wrong person. I don't know you.]
[Player Lin Bufei: Hehehe, you can't do this to me (╬▔皿▔)]

However, as more and more players discovered that in this instance they could freely send messages on the forum, many top players simply started doing business.

[Player Li Xiaoming: Paying heavily for weapon-type props, can be trade for skill points. New top players, come quick!]
[Player Liu Xiao: Don't listen to them, new top players! Skill points cannot be exchanged. Join our Abyss Guild and get free instance props!]

Noticing yet another familiar name appearing on the forum, Ji Linmo raised his hand and closed the forum, which was refreshing almost every second.
Although he really wanted to reunite with Lin Bufei, judging by the latter's notorious reputation, reuniting might not actually be a good thing...

"Little bro, your accessory is so unique~"

An eerie voice drifted into Ji Linmo's ear from his side.
The man raised his head and saw a female ghost with disheveled hair and a bloody human skin draped over her body, standing right in front of him.

"Do you always wear something so unique?"

The female ghost hooked her finger into the dog collar hanging around his neck and shook it.

?!

Ji Linmo frowned. Only then did he realize that the collar was still hanging around his neck!
Noticing that the gazes of quite a few people around them were being drawn over, Ji Linmo hurriedly reached up to untie it.
However, the moment his palm touched the collar, he froze.

—The leather buckle to release the collar was gone.
Damn it! Was this something only Qin Feng could undo? Where on earth had that little madman gone?

Seeing that removing it was futile, the man simply looked at the female ghost expressionlessly and stuffed the swaying chain in mid-air into his pocket.
"It is quite unique. It's my personal hobby, do you mind?"

Ji Linmo's unconcerned and composed demeanor actually startled the female ghost.
The brows and eyes beneath the ghost's human-skin mask curved into a smile, becoming exceptionally pleased.

"How could I mind, little bro? Not only are you handsome, but I also really like your personality. Would you like to play a game with me?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the female ghost shook her rotting, scantily clad body and abruptly pulled on the iron chain in her hand.
A half-dead man was dragged out from the dark house behind her, looking very much like a player.

"Handsome, I see you've just arrived in our City of Night, right? Usually, wanting to play a game with me requires three keys."
"Now, as long as you're willing to give me one key, you can participate in the game!"

The female ghost lifted her hem in high spirits, revealing a bunch of keys hanging around her waist.
—Red keys about as wide as a person's finger, which didn't look special at all.

Did the so-called keys act as currency in this instance?
Hearing this, Ji Linmo couldn't help feeling a sense of doubt.

"You mentioned participating in your game... Can you tell me the rules of the game?"

But the female ghost only smiled eerily.
"You'll only know once you go inside."
"However, as long as you can win my game, you will win six keys, and I will also return your key..."

It was then that Ji Linmo noticed:
Along both sides of the alley before him, all sorts of malevolent ghosts stood near shops or houses, tirelessly soliciting players.

"Come play a game! My game definitely won't kill people!"
"Beat me, and you can get 10 keys!"

In the City of Night right now, quite a few players were already lingering among the alleys, cautiously choosing games to play.

However, Ji Linmo glanced at the time and decided to prioritize finding Qin Feng.
—After all, he couldn't possibly walk around wearing a dog chain the whole time.
If an acquaintance were to see him... the consequences would simply be too horrific to imagine.

Just at that moment, a prompt suddenly popped up in front of all players.

[Advanced Players Real-Time Ranking]
[1st Place: Wu Suowei (7 keys)]
[.......]
[50th Place: Ji Linmo (0 keys)]
[Warm Reminder: The rankings will be updated in real-time every 12 hours.]

Ji Linmo looked at the player displayed in first place, his eyes deepening. He hadn't expected that in such a short while, someone had already obtained 7 keys.
Did this mean the person named Wu Suowei had participated in the games of the malevolent ghosts in the alleys and won?

At the same time, above the most magnificent building in the City of Night—the towering hotel—a skull suddenly opened its wide mouth and emitted a bizarre sound.

"Dear gamers, the City of Night warmly welcomes your sincere arrival. On behalf of all citizens, I welcome you..."

Accompanied by the skull's mouth opening and closing, a completely emotionless voice came from the air, carrying a chilling static.

"Next, we will explain the player rules of the City of Night. Please listen carefully."
"First, every midnight, the city will tally the number of keys in your possession. The bottom 7 players in the rankings will die."
"Second, the person who manages to collect 50 keys first can clear the instance ahead of time and receive rich instance rewards."
"Third, when the alarm sounds, players can choose to enter the restaurant for sanctuary."

"Then, the game officially begins. I wish you all a pleasant time."

Accompanied by eerie laughter, the skull slowly closed its mouth.
The player forum instantly became even more lively.

[Player Niu Jing: Oh my god, how did the top-ranked Wu Suowei pull that off! It hasn't even been 5 minutes, and he has seven keys?!]
[Player Li Xiaoming: Big bro, please share how you get keys at the start! Many games require keys just for entry, right?]