Chapter 30: Instance Clearance and Settlement
Li Zhi found it somewhat amusing but didn't explain, simply smiling and saying, "Never mind, I won't fight with a child over candy."
Li Jianxi lowered his eyes and said nothing more.
After collecting the bones, the two walked back. They had come in a hurry, but Li Jianxi slowed his pace on the way back. The moonlight stretched their shadows long; if not for the wrong time and place, it would have truly felt like a leisurely night stroll.
Li Zhi actually wanted to ask him if he remembered what happened in the last instance. This NPC had exuded a sense of disconnect with "Horror Variety Show" since his appearance. Even with the friendly NPC setting, Li Jianxi's displayed goodwill towards players still puzzled her.
Would the [Ghost] system, which was full of malice towards players, really put such a player-aligned NPC in an instance? Or did the [Ghost] system not mind friendly NPCs helping players to maintain plot consistency?
But she hadn't yet fully grasped the instance's mechanics and was afraid that speaking rashly might violate some rules, so she didn't ask much.
The two returned to the Jin family residence. The Eldest Mistress, who had just given birth and was still very weak, had already tidied herself up and changed into clean, appropriate clothes. Although her face was pale, her spirits were good, no longer appearing as manic as before. "Once you've blessed the child, I will take her and leave this place."
The Jin family had reaped what they sowed and was now destroyed. She heard that her husband, father-in-law, and all those with whom she had lived day and night were dead, yet she felt no sorrow. Instead, she felt a sense of relief and satisfaction, as if a great revenge had finally been achieved.
When they cruelly snatched her daughter and drowned her in the basin, she had longed for this day, longed for their retribution!
It was only sad that she and her daughter could start new lives, but the former mistress and her child would forever remain here.
After hearing her words, Li Zhi thought for a moment, then turned and walked towards the pond filled with lotus flowers in the mansion.
The night was very deep. Typically, this would be the most dangerous time in an instance, but in this particular instance, the ghosts were not as insidious as human hearts.
Because the night temperature was low, a thin layer of mist hung over the pond. Li Zhi squatted by the pond, extended a finger, stirred the bone-chilling water, and called out, "Mistress, care to chat?"
Silence. The wind rustled the lotus flowers in the pond, creating soft lapping sounds.
Li Zhi sighed. "We're leaving soon. If you don't come out now, no one will perform rituals for you and your child in the future to help you cross over."
Another ripple of water. The pond before her showed no change, yet Li Zhi acutely felt a chill at her back.
She spun around abruptly. The female ghost, with her face covered by long hair and dripping wet all over, was indeed standing behind her, extending a pair of wet hands entwined with water weeds. By her movements, it seemed she intended to push Li Zhi into the water. But because Li Zhi turned back so suddenly, her pushing motion awkwardly froze in mid-air.
Li Zhi: "............"
Female ghost: "............"
"I was trying to help you," Li Zhi said, in a hurt tone. "And you actually wanted to kill me."
Female ghost: "..." Although her face couldn't be seen, Li Zhi felt her expression must have been quite awkward. She silently withdrew her hands, and a faint, eerie voice came from behind her black hair: "I didn't... I just wanted to scare you... You scared me twice..."
Once was when Li Zhi came at her with a cleaver while she possessed Zhao Luan, and another time was when Li Zhi shoved the talisman pouch at her while she was peeking through a small hole in the window.
She remembered it all!
Li Zhi couldn't help but laugh.
At her feet, three ghost infants were crawling around. One crawled to Li Zhi, trying to hug her ankle, but was picked up by the female ghost, who patted the child's head warningly. The ghost infant indeed stopped crawling aimlessly and just circled her feet.
She couldn't be a mother and take care of her children while alive. After death, she could finally reunite with her children.
"Take them and leave," Li Zhi said. "In your next life, you will surely be mother and daughters again."
Faint sobbing sounds came from behind the black hair.
Based on her experience from the last instance, Li Zhi guessed that once the players blessed the safely born child, they would be directly teleported out. So, she first called Li Jianxi over to perform rituals to help the former mistress and the three ghost infants cross over, then returned to the courtyard for the final blessing.
In the swaddling clothes, the baby girl slept soundly.
The Eldest Mistress held her, her eyes filled with love. The child had come into this world through countless dangers and received the most sincere blessings; her future life would surely be smooth and prosperous.
"Thank you."
The Eldest Mistress bowed to them, holding the child, then turned and left with firm steps.
The moment she stepped out of the courtyard, everything around them blurred again. Li Jianxi, just like last time, stood quietly there, about to disappear along with the surrounding scenery.
Li Zhi suddenly spoke, "Li Jianxi, will we meet again?"
Through the blur, Li Jianxi's expression seemed somewhat startled.
Unfortunately, Li Zhi couldn't hear his answer. Her consciousness dipped for a moment, and when she was clear again, they appeared in the safe house.
The safe house was still the same as before, with no changes, likely a fixed segment. There were five of them when they cleared the instance, but now only four remained in the safe house: Li Zhi, Chi Yi, Tian Mingjie, and Zhao Luan. The other person had clearly been eliminated.
Having already understood the show's rules, no one asked further questions.
Li Zhi sat on the sofa and poured herself a glass of water. Chi Yi also walked over. After going through such an instance, she wasn't in a good mood, but she still brightened up and whispered, "Zhizhi, Xu Shu said last time that we could discuss exchanging items in advance. Do you need any items? If it's random, I'll buy it."
Li Zhi shook her head. "Choose what you need. Your exorcism cleaver is broken; you need a new self-defense item."
Chi Yi hesitated for a moment, then mustered her courage and said, "I want to team up with you again next time. Can I continue to ask for a team-up card?"
"I have no problem with that, but you need to think it through," Li Zhi calmly looked at her. "If you keep teaming up with me and your abilities don't significantly improve, your popularity will slowly decline, and you might even become my accessory."
Chi Yi sighed wistfully. "I know I can't rely on you too much. When you reach the overall popularity leaderboard, and I'm still a little useless, the audience definitely won't like me. But it's probably a 'fledgling' thing; my first time in an instance was with you, and I only feel secure following you."
She thought for a moment and pleaded, "How about this: you take me one more time. In the next instance, I'll try not to stay with you and rely more on myself to clear it. Three instance experiences should be enough. By the fourth instance, I'll go in alone."
Li Zhi was amused. "You're already stressing about the fourth instance before even entering the third one? What if we don't clear the third instance?"
Chi Yi looked surprised. "How is that possible? In my heart, you're someone who's going to reach first place on the overall popularity leaderboard!"
She had no idea where Chi Yi's inexplicable confidence came from.
A excited voice came from nearby: "The rankings are out!"
All four quickly looked at the screen on the wall, and the mechanical voice of the system sounded simultaneously:
— This round of voting has concluded. Popularity statistics are as follows:
— First Place: Li Zhi. Total Popularity Value: 1,512,630.
— Second Place: Zhao Luan. Total Popularity Value: 931,961.
— Third Place: Chi Yi. Total Popularity Value: 908,743.
— Fourth Place: Tian Mingjie. Total Popularity Value: 432,156.
Although he had expected it, Zhao Luan's face still couldn't help but darken at the result.
Chi Yi looked at her decreased popularity and quietly sighed. In the last instance, she had over a million popularity from her fans' "voting and support," but it had already dropped in this instance.
In the future, this situation would only become more apparent, as Li Zhi had said. When "Horror Variety Show" becomes a commonplace aspect of society, the entertainment industry's existing fan bases will undergo a revolutionary reshuffle.
Audiences will no longer become fans of a celebrity for reasons like acting skills, beauty, or persona. In the future, the only standard for gaining fans will be the ability to clear instances.
People are drawn to power. In this playground of ghosts, only the strong are worthy of their support.
Li Zhi was right; she needed to clear instances herself and show the audience her abilities. They wouldn't like to see a strong person dragging along a useless one, but they would enjoy seeing a powerful duo. Only then would her and Li Zhi's combination truly explode in popularity.
The "nation's first love," who had been immersed in the entertainment industry for many years, deeply understood this pattern.
However, seeing Li Zhi ranked first and her popularity value being double that of the last instance, Chi Yi's complex feelings were quickly replaced by pure joy. "Is there also an MVP points bonus?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the few of them heard the system's voice: "Based on the player's performance in the instance, Li Zhi has received an S-rank evaluation for this round, rewarded with a 1.5x points multiplier. Current instance popularity value changed to 2,268,945; ranking remains unchanged. Total popularity value changed to 2,455,262. Did not enter the top one hundred of the current world's total popularity leaderboard. Players, please continue to strive."
In the last instance, because it was everyone's rookie instance, there were no total popularity or overall leaderboard announcements. Now that they had cleared the second instance, popularity values began to accumulate.
In the last instance, Li Zhi gained over 800,000 popularity points. After exchanging some for the confusing perfume, she still had over 100,000 popularity points left, and now all of that had been added.
It seemed that with each instance cleared, popularity points would accumulate. The more instances cleared, the higher the popularity, and the greater the chance of getting on the overall leaderboard.
In the last instance, Lian Qinglin gained over 2 million popularity points, and after exiting the instance, he ranked in the 80s on the overall leaderboard. Now she also had over 2 million popularity but couldn't enter the top 100.
This only indicated that during the week she rested and the few days she was in the instance, more players had cleared instances. The threshold for entering the overall leaderboard would constantly be refreshed and raised as players continued to clear instances.
Indeed, the competition was fierce.
Someone would constantly clear instances for popularity, rankings, and items. "Horror Variety Show" was destined to become a universal entertainment, infiltrating everyone's lives.
No, not just entertainment. When everything people needed in life, even everything they couldn't get in life, could be obtained from instances, who would still work and study diligently? Just by continuously entering, grinding, and clearing instances, one could obtain everything they desired.
It would even form a new type of profession. There would surely be capital specifically hiring people to clear instances to acquire the desired items for capital. In the future, professional instance teams might emerge; as long as they had team-up cards, they could form their own teams to grind instances.
Li Zhi realized that the [Ghost] system was slowly destroying the order of human society.