After taking the bus back to the rental house, Wang Zhifan washed and changed his clothes, and before he knew it, it was eleven o'clock at night.

He felt that he had been quite busy today, and with his Spirit feeling a bit fatigued, he decided not to train but to entertain himself a bit before getting a good night's sleep to welcome his first day free from the worker's identity.

Lying on the rather flat and hard single bed, Wang Zhifan played with his cellphone for a while and soon found that various online platforms, such as news sites and video sites, were all populated with public messages from Xia Country recruiting players, prominently placed in popular or pinned positions, just like what he heard being announced on the bus.

The sites were bustling with activity, with many citizens curious about why the authorities suddenly offered enticing benefits to recruit players, thinking Xia Country might be trying to start some e-sports industry, unable to comprehend the situation. Some actual gamers explained properly, but most people didn't believe them, dismissing it as boring folks gossiping on the internet.

"This video actually exposed the web link to the player's forum, but you can't directly access it; exposing it is useless. No wait, is the video host saying you can now directly enter?"

When Wang Zhifan found info about the dark web player forum he frequently visited in a network video, he was immediately intrigued, and quickly entered the corresponding website in his phone browser to confirm. In less than a second, he was on the very familiar forum interface.

"Can you really enter? Has the Government turned the player forum into a public website and unlocked the mobile version?"

Browsing the player forum, which had once been a hidden dark web site, directly on his mobile for the first time, Wang Zhifan felt extremely novel. He immediately began reading various posts on the current forum, discovering a lively atmosphere, with hundreds of new posts emerging every second, mostly made by visitors or newcomers.

"Heard this is the player's base camp, a newcomer just after signing up for the auditions."

"Anyone knowledgeable explain why the authorities suddenly did this? Are we going to follow the esports powerhouse route in Xia Country?"

"I heard on many sites that the players here aren't ordinary video game players, but those with high-tech virtual reality. Is it true? If so I'm signing up right away."

"Haha, unexpectedly Xia Country officials stooped so low, making a nationwide player audition; utterly irresponsible and wasting our taxpayer money!"

"Don't sign up! Don't sign up! Don't sign up! Being a player is extremely dangerous! You could die suddenly every week with no way out! Trust advice from a Lv10 veteran player!"

"Why so many visitors today? Did the forum get hacked?"

"Visitors, for everything you want to know, please come into this thread and ask, and I will answer in detail."

"Made me laugh! Is this some large-scale community art experiment by the officials? Some say becoming these players means venturing into a real Otherworld weekly; it's hilarious. If Xia had such technology, we would have unified the world long ago, not using it for games! You think you can fool three-year-olds!"

...

After watching the lively player forum on his mobile for a while, Wang Zhifan had no intention of getting involved because he knew very well that many things are hard to believe without personal experience.

He soon silently recited the special Meditation Skill from the Great Dream Saber Scripture to enter sleep and began high-quality sleep, and in the blink of an eye, it was morning of the next day.

"Your Industrial Bank account… Received 2100 national currency… From account name… Xia Country Special Administration Bureau Dongjiang Second Bureau…"

Upon opening his eyes in the morning, Wang Zhifan first saw a new text message received on his phone by his pillow. It was a bank notification.

"2100 for yesterday's overtime work? It's the most I've earned since I started working, enough for a day of shooting range practice... but soon these mere two thousand bucks will only be small change to me, as the day I become Fu isn't far off."

Finding that a decent amount had been added to his miserably empty bank account, Wang Zhifan felt a small thrill but quickly realized such a reaction was inappropriate as he's no longer purely a poor man, and his days of poverty are foreseeably ending.

After waking up, washing up, and finishing three large bowls of beef noodles with extra beef at a breakfast shop outside in one go, Wang Zhifan returned to his cramped rental house, closed the doors and windows securely, dressed properly, and prepared to begin his most anticipated daily activity.

But before entering the instance today, he specifically picked up the phone and sent Chu Wei a message, inquiring about something he cared about.

"Wang Zhifan: Ah Wei, any news on Liao today? Did he return to work?"

Wang Zhifan was asking about Ah Liao. Yesterday morning, when he went to meet Chu Wei, he learned from her that Ah Liao had disappeared, realizing he might have died in the instance. If so, Ah Liao would be the first player he knew in reality to die in an instance, a particularly young player, causing a twinge of sentiments.

Originally, Wang Zhifan planned to enter the instance after sending this message and check Chu Wei's response afterwards, but this time, he hadn't yet tossed the phone onto the nearby bed when he received a message from Chu Wei in return.

"Chu Wei: Fan, unfortunately, it's confirmed that Ah Liao perished in the instance, determined by the bureau using special tools this morning. I hope you're not too sad; such events aren't uncommon in our player community—let's consider Ah Liao went to heaven ahead of time."

"Really gone? No surprises allowed, the player community truly is tragic."

Reading Chu Wei's reply, Wang Zhifan felt somewhat heavy-hearted, even though he knew his current prowess in the player community should be one of the strong ones, and the chances of dying in an instance were small; he still felt that becoming a player was likely not a good thing for an ordinary person.

"Wang Zhifan: Yeah, Ah Liao must've gone to heaven… You don't have to work that hard in the future; let's all take care."

After replying to Chu Wei, Wang Zhifan locked his phone and tossed it onto the bed next to him, then stood by the bed, closed his eyes quietly for two seconds to adjust his mindset, and began the day's instance with his mental power.

It's evident that knowing someone who died in an instance couldn't frighten him. He understood his current strength well and knew of possible dangers in the instance but still judged that the profits within justified taking such risks.

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