Chapter 12: Game CG-Abnormal Paradise(More than half a year)

Crunch, crunch, crunch...

Early in the morning, Yu Jin stood before the paper shredder, watching the piece he had just finished as a writing exercise gradually turn into waste paper. He had spent twenty minutes drawing a portrait of Squidward, then decided that if such a thing ever got out, it would drastically lower his standing. So, with a firm stomp of his foot—parting with it reluctantly yet with a hint of pleasure—he fed it into the shredder.

"It's not every day I get first place. Surely I deserve a little slack, even if the prize has absolutely nothing to do with my main line of work."

The truth was that winter had arrived, and Yu Jin, a man plagued by a dormant streak of laziness, had grown just a little weary of his early-morning practice. Still, the time he saved from practice wasn't spent on leisure or entertainment. Instead, he handled work matters. It had been nearly half a month since his last commissioned portrait, and he needed to prepare in advance for the next fine piece he planned to sell.

"Hey? You didn't paint today?"

Miao Miao, quiet as a kitten, slipped into the studio as usual, only to see Yu Jin just finishing a phone call. The drawing board stood empty, though a few paintbrushes sat nearby.

"I did paint! Of course I painted! How could I not? You just came a little late—I already put it away in the storage room."

To maintain his lofty image, Yu Jin naturally couldn't reveal the truth. Miao Miao suspected nothing, stepping closer to size him up from head to toe, as astonished as a cat staring at a fish.

"What are you doing?"

Feeling a little creeped out by her gaze, Yu Jin immediately assumed a defensive stance. If this girl suddenly lashed out, he'd have no one to plead his case to.

Miao Miao planted her hands on her hips, her brows knit in confusion: "Are you really Yu Jin?"

"No kidding! If I'm not Yu Jin, what am I? Oh... you mean my game ID in Anomaly Paradise?"

"Exactly! This morning, the girls in my group chat were going crazy talking about it! This one saying how amazing you are, that one saying how incredible you are. I chimed in, saying you get beaten up by me every day, and they didn't believe me. Sigh..."

"Please don't dwell on the past. Face reality. If you log into the game now, you'd be the one getting beaten up by me!" Yu Jin felt he had to protest.

Miao Miao shrugged, unconcerned: "I heard you got yourself a pretty decent set of gear. But if you want to keep it until the official server launches, you still need to get a good ranking on Killing Island. Haven't you heard the saying, 'The bird that sticks its head out gets shot'? Now that you're number one on the scoreboard, who knows how many people have their eyes on you."

"Wait, gear can be kept?"

"Actually, it's not just gear. Stats, skills, even character relationships can all be kept—as long as you're not eliminated early and you manage to secure a certain ranking. Though, just entering Killing Island already grants you one retention privilege. That's what the planning sister in my group chat said."

"Hey! There's such a good deal? Don't worry. The prerequisite for 'the bird that sticks its head out gets shot' is having a gun with good enough aim. Once the beta test ends, you and I will have a nice little score to settle. If you want me to carry you to victory, you'd better show some appreciation."

Miao Miao shot Yu Jin a look, then pulled out today's training plan: "My way of showing appreciation is training hard and improving every day. If your personal skill isn't up to par, no amount of good gear will help. Here—this is today's training schedule. You need to complete thirty sets of..."

...

After finishing a full day of specialized training, Yu Jin didn't go to sleep to recover his energy, because the final assessment required a public livestream. The time was set for the prime slot of nine o'clock in the evening, so there was no need to keep entering the game in the dead of night. It also gave Yu Jin a chance to get to bed early.

But before sleeping, he habitually opened the official discussion group to browse the list of selected players for Killing Island.

The final distribution among the three major organizations showed almost no visible gap in strength. Only a handful of players had obtained six seals; a dozen or so had five; and the rest who barely squeezed into the main roster with four seals were all counting their blessings. After all, a full one hundred and fifty players across the three major scoreboards had reached that level. Those who stood out had done so purely by seizing the advantage of time.

As a result, Yu Jin saw quite a few four-seal players who had earned a spot on the island shouting about their luck on the forums, which in turn drew waves of envy, jealousy, and hatred from those who hadn't made the cut.

Aside from that, most players were discussing how the hidden clues were triggered, which player perspectives were worth watching in the livestream, and just how terrifyingly strong the mysterious "Yu Jin" really was—not only had he obtained six seals, but he'd done it so much faster than everyone else.

Quite a few Foundation players, reasoning through the game's flow, had more or less deduced the gist of it. For instance, Yu Jin's attack power was enough to one-shot ordinary mobs, and he could use credit points to skip the craftsman and alchemist assessment quests, ultimately saving a significant amount of time. Working backward from such conclusions, players estimated that Yu Jin had at least 6,400 credit points on him. That also meant, in the third assessment, he had achieved at least a Perfect rating on Hard difficulty—an exceptionally high result.

This conclusion earned genuine respect from many players, since a Perfect rating on Hard difficulty wasn't something you could achieve just by wanting it! At the same time, it prompted some players who had been eliminated due to insufficient credit points to speak with a distinctly sour, lemony tone. Remarks like "rich and willful" were everywhere. Some even asserted that Yu Jin's wasteful spending of large amounts of credit points for fame and glory would only make him a laughingstock on Killing Island.

His actions, they claimed, would not only make him a target for everyone but also waste precious growth opportunities. The enhancement chance—half price with a public vault—would be gone once missed, and countless elites would surge past him. Even the solid foundation he'd built before could end up squandering his entire advantage.

Yu Jin brushed off these comments with a smile. Aside from the 1,200 credit points spent on the alchemist being a slight waste, all his other resources had been used where they mattered. That discussion also made him realize that the equipment craftsman's assessment quest normally required a trip to the material warehouse as well. It was only because of the Anomaly Equipment Crafting Voucher that a temporary change had been made, forcing Yu Jin to spend credit points on buying base tourmaline and personally participate in the modification process.

So the time required ended up being about the same as the normal process—only stricter, because of the higher credit point requirement.

"Good thing I got 9,600 credit points in the Forbidden Life Zone. If I'd only had 6,400, I doubt it would've been enough. The extra ten percent discount from the Sun Defender helped a lot too. I pretty much spent every last credit point in the end, so at least I didn't waste this bonus assessment."

Yu Jin sighed to himself, then checked his messages. Quite a few people had contacted him, but the one who'd sent the most was Bei Jiu Jian Nong.

"I don't accept this!"

"Forget surpassing you—I didn't even get first on the scoreboard!"

"Aaaaaah! I'm so mad!"

"Where are you?"

"Yu Jin, if you're still alive, make a sound."

"You're done for! I'm definitely going to kill you in the livestream and prove who the real number-one player is! Don't think I won't tell you—I've already got an anomaly weapon. My damage output has skyrocketed. When it comes to damage, when it comes to burst, if I say I'm second, nobody dares say they're first. And you actually dared to look down on me? You just wait!"

Watching Bei Jiu Jian Nong's messages grow increasingly frantic, Yu Jin casually replied with a "squeak."

Bei Jiu Jian Nong: "Oh, so you're alive after all?"

Yu Jin: "Rest assured, not only am I alive, I'll be the last one alive on Killing Island. As a fellow owner of an anomaly weapon, I don't think I'm any worse than you in terms of damage. Besides, when it comes to toughness, you're a lot frailer than me. Second place on the scoreboard is just as eye-catching—I hope you get the chance to run into me alive."

Bei Jiu Jian Nong: "Anomaly weapon? You actually got an anomaly weapon too?"

Yu Jin: "Is that so surprising? I already have the armor and the token. I don't need the accessory for now, so of course I'd craft an anomaly weapon."

Bei Jiu Jian Nong: "Okay, just give me a moment to calm down. Why is the gap between one person and another so huge?"

Yu Jin: "That's just reality, little girl."

Bei Jiu Jian Nong went silent, as if she really had gone off to calm down. Yu Jin then checked the message from "Yu Lin Bi." This veteran player had yet to finish the article commissioned by the gaming media outlet "Number One Player," and hoped to conduct some additional interviews with Yu Jin. Yu Lin Bi, who happened to be online, didn't pepper him with questions. He mainly asked about Yu Jin's impressions of Singularity's new game and his insights into how to explore it, and took the opportunity to extend membership invitations from several major guilds—all of which Yu Jin politely declined.

After that, Yu Jin continued browsing the discussion group to pass the time, planning to rest once midnight had passed. But to his surprise, Singularity's official channel posted a game CG right on the dot.

"They finished it that fast?"

The trailer had only come out yesterday, and now the full release was already here. Somewhat astonished, Yu Jin immediately clicked the video.

...

At first, the screen was pure darkness. In the background, only the howling of fierce winds could be heard.

Suddenly, a single spark burst into flame, bringing a little warmth and light to the cold, dark scene.

It was a burning match, illuminating the face of a little girl.

Her face was deeply shadowed and bleak. The wind tousled her hair, yet could not blow away the confusion in her eyes.

"The puzzle of reincarnation—how can it be seen through?"

The match's flame wavered in the wind, unable to provide the answer the little girl sought. She sighed, tossing the match down. The camera followed the match as it fell, then swiftly expanded with the rising fire. An image split between light and darkness revealed a solemn altar blazing fiercely, adding a trace of hope and warmth to the face of the shivering girl in the cold wind.

"The end of the world—can it be averted?"

The altar's flames rose with the wind, but were instantly snuffed out by an invisible hand, leaving only scattered embers. Faintly, a few stubborn sparks could still be seen refusing to go dark.

The sudden shift in scene plunged the screen into darkness, only the faint sparks vaguely illuminating the girl's frail silhouette.

In the darkness came a sigh, followed by a helpless question.

"The endless flame—how is it passed on?"

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through, lifting the embers of the altar. Strangely, these sparks, brightened by the wind's assault, were not scattered by the chaotic gale. Instead, they rode the wind upward, drifting across the night sky, across the horizon, until they fell into another vast and boundless world.