Chapter 91: Clearance Settlement
The instance ended, and the surviving players were transported to the safe room.
Li Zhi had been carried in Li Feng's arms the entire time. Now that they'd reached the safe room, the immobilizing effect of the prop wore off, and she could move again. Signaling for Li Feng to put her down, she stretched her stiff joints after landing.
Yuan Cheng looked around with lingering fear, his tone complicated. "Shen Zhijian got eliminated."
He'd known his fate, which was why he'd teamed up with Qiao Junyuan in that desperate attempt to drag everyone down with him. Before the [Ghost] system appeared, he too had been an ordinary, law-abiding person.
[Ghost] had destroyed the world's order—and the moral compass in people's hearts.
"Ge, is this your first time clearing an instance?" Qiao Junyuan's earlier revelation had already exposed their relationship. Now in the safe room, Li Zhi saw no need for further pretense.
Yuan Cheng was so shocked he momentarily forgot his grief over Shen Zhijian. "Brother? Li Feng is your brother? Your real brother?" He glanced at the others, realizing with even greater astonishment, "Wait—you all knew except me?"
Meng Hanhan chirped sweetly, "Brother Li Feng!"
Li Feng smiled, patting her head. "You've grown taller." Then he answered his sister, "Yeah, first time."
Li Zhi frowned, about to ask why the authorities hadn't assigned him an experienced player. But she quickly understood—high-popularity veterans capable of guiding newcomers were rare. With demand outstripping supply, the department couldn't provide mentors for every rookie.
For someone as capable as Li Feng, going solo was probably the only option.
Even knowing her brother could handle it, Li Zhi couldn't help feeling a pang of fear. At least they'd been randomly assigned to the same instance this time. Now that Li Feng had props, future runs would be safer.
With no way to contact him outside, these few minutes in the safe room were all they had.
Before the rankings appeared, Li Zhi asked quietly, "Will you come home after this?"
Li Feng shook his head. "Not sure yet. Have to follow orders."
"Mom and Shuangshuang miss you."
He ruffled her hair. "I know. I miss you all too."
"After this clearance, you'll officially be a player, entering instances frequently." She couldn't hide the worry in her eyes, her tone almost pleading. "Ge, can you team up with me for the next few runs?"
Li Feng chuckled. "Want to power-level me?" He hugged her briefly, his voice low but firm. "Have faith in me."
Li Zhi sighed.
She should've known.
This was Li Feng through and through.
Duty-bound, self-sacrificing—always putting others before himself.
"Now that I have props, I'll be fine." Not wanting his sister to dwell, he lightened the mood. "Besides, I want an MVP title too. How can I get one if I'm always following you?"
Li Zhi finally smiled, squeezing his hand. "Remember—Mom and Shuangshuang are always watching."
Your family is watching.
They must never see you hurt.
And never, ever witness your death.
Protecting yourself means protecting them.
Li Feng nodded solemnly.
Both he and Xiang Ling were first-time official players. After speaking with Li Zhi, they began inspecting the safe room. Like the instances, this space was part of [Ghost]'s construct—a subject of investigation.
But the safe room was absurdly simple. Four blank walls without even a crack. Countless official players had scrutinized it before, always coming up empty.
This time was no different. After a silent exchange with Li Feng, Xiang Ling shook her head slightly.
Fu Huan suddenly exclaimed, "Rankings are up!"
Everyone turned to the screen on the wall as the system announced:
—Voting concluded. Popularity stats as follows:
—1st Place: Li Zhi. Total votes: 6,192,108.
—2nd Place: Li Feng. Total votes: 1,237,641.
—3rd Place: Fu Huan. Total votes: 1,039,891.
—4th Place: Xiang Ling. Total votes: 561,013.
—5th Place: Meng Hanhan. Total votes: 391,285.
—6th Place: Yuan Cheng. Total votes: 382,481.
Fu Huan's eyes nearly bulged out. "Holy shit! Six million votes? Li Zhi, you're insane!" She gaped at Li Feng. "And you—over a million on your first run? What's your family's secret? How are you both this OP?!"
Li Feng wasn't surprised by his numbers. He knew most of his votes came from riding Li Zhi's coattails. For official players, surviving the first run was the goal—high popularity was rare.
Xiang Ling, also debuting this run, had only garnered around 500,000 votes—similar to Tan Manyu's performance last time.
Breaking the million mark was entirely thanks to Li Zhi. Without him, her numbers might've been even higher. This was precisely why Li Feng had wanted to keep their relationship hidden—he refused to steal votes meant for his sister.
Seeing Li Feng's tally, Li Zhi relaxed slightly. Over a million votes should be enough for two props. Combined with the clearance reward, that made three—more safety measures to ease her mind.
After the rankings, the system announced the MVP:
—Based on in-instance performance evaluation:
—S-Rank Player: Li Zhi. Reward: 1.5x coefficient. Adjusted instance popularity: 9,288,162. Rank unchanged.
—Total popularity now: 18,597,557. Current world ranking: 36th. Keep up the good work.
This was Li Zhi's first time breaking into the global top 50. As long as she maintained her performance, she wouldn't drop out.
Higher popularity meant higher rankings—and getting closer to [Ghost]'s schemes.
Staring at her name on the leaderboard, Li Zhi smiled faintly.
She looked forward to that day.
Before entering the reward space, Li Zhi instructed Meng Hanhan, "Your points will likely only cover one prop. Prioritize something for self-defense that works inside instances."
Her own reward would surely be the heart medication for Granny—the whole reason Meng Hanhan had joined. No surprises there.
Meng Hanhan nodded eagerly.
Soon, they were pulled into their respective reward spaces.
As her teammates vanished, the system's mechanical voice echoed:
—Popularity settlement complete. Distributing clearance rewards based on player's deepest desires.
Li Zhi examined the glowing props on the panel before her. One stood out—simply named "Headphones."
She tapped to claim it, and a lightweight white headset materialized in her hands. Surprisingly buoyant, as if made of air. Its description appeared in her mind:
—Mysterious headphones. Usable only in instances. Allows hearing of supernatural sounds at night.
—Warning! Crossing the boundary between realms carries consequences! Use with caution!
Li Zhi's interest was piqued.
Only works in instances... hears sounds not of this world.
Meaning it could pick up ghostly communications—potentially revealing key clues or plot points to boost clearance rates.
But such an overpowered item came with a catch. The vague "consequences" warning was clearly meant to deter use. Would ghosts detect the eavesdropper? Drain mental stamina? The uncertainty itself was the scare tactic—most players would shelve it indefinitely.
Li Zhi, of course, was not "most players." She pocketed it without hesitation.
If the system thought a little ambiguity would stop her, it had another thing coming.
The panel flickered erratically, as if short-circuiting from her attitude, before displaying three random props:
—Shape-Shifting Clay: In-instance use only. Mix with a drop of blood to create an identical clay duplicate. Obeys creator's commands, mimics speech/actions. Dissolves if exposed. Cost: 899 points.
—Breath-Holding Pill: One-time use. Works in reality/instances. Enables 30-minute breath-hold. Cost: 399 points.
—Teleportation Talisman: One-time use. In-instance only. Instant relocation within 1km (must pre-mark destination). Cost: 399 points.
The clay intrigued Li Zhi most. A fully functional decoy could split her workload—scouting ahead or taking hits if needed. Well worth the price.
With only three options again, she'd have to wait until her next clearance to see if breaking 20 million popularity unlocked new privileges.
Exchanging 1.7 million votes for 1,700 points, she purchased all three. The system updated her stats:
—Adjusted total popularity: 16,897,557. World rank unchanged. Keep striving.
Losing over a million votes without dropping ranks confirmed her theory—higher tiers had massive gaps between placements. At this level, a million was a rounding error.
Emerging from the reward space, the group was all smiles.
Meng Hanhan rushed to Li Zhi, eyes brimming with happy tears. "Zhi-jie! I got the medicine! Granny's going to be okay!"