An hour passed by without him realizing it.
Huang Yi had been pondering for so long yet still had no clue, and as lunchtime approached, he exited The Second World.
"Lunchtime!" As soon as he left The Second World, Huang Yi heard the guard's voice outside his cell, followed by another bowl of vegetables and rice being handed in.
After carefully hiding the ring he had taken off, Huang Yi slowly walked out.
Lunch was still a simple meal of vegetables and rice, to which Huang Yi had long been accustomed, eating calmly without any expression on his face.
"Next week, your solitary confinement will come to an end, and you'll be transferred to the general cell block," the guard outside reminded him, watching Huang Yi cautiously.
Unmoved, Huang Yi continued to eat as though he hadn't heard.
The two guards outside were slightly taken aback. For most prisoners, this was incredibly good news, as being in a general cell block allowed for chatting with other inmates, making the days less monotonous than in solitary confinement. But now, Huang Yi showed no emotion, no hint of joy, as if nothing could disturb his peace any longer.
What they didn't know was that Huang Yi was no longer considered just a prisoner; his consciousness could enter the vast The Second World. He was no different from free people outside the prison, naturally unswayed by this news.
...
Before he knew it, three days had passed.
In these three days, Huang Yi had been transiting between reality and the virtual world. In Rose Prison, he was a regular inmate; in Heroes' Prison, a player striving for a Rare Quest.
That afternoon, as usual, Huang Yi connected to the login device, but instead of entering The Second World, he went to the forum.
"Associated Press Exclusive Interview: A Retrospective on America's Number One Player [Kid]'s Rare Quest!"
"Great Swordsman [Against-Heaven Mad Sword]: Insights on Defeating the Level 93 Rare Quest BOSS."
"Solo Player [Xingya the Silent]: Quick Strategies for Completing Rare Quests."
...
Upon entering the forum, the first thing he saw were the highly clicked sticky posts, mostly high-level player strategies for Rare Quests, written for others to refer to. Huang Yi had looked through some of these posts before, but since everyone's quests were different, there was limited information to glean, and they were of little help.
According to the official forum statistics, out of the ten billion players worldwide, there were only 5,572 Rare Class Holders, meaning that there was only one among every two million players who managed to complete a Rare Quest.
Some players hadn't completed a Rare Quest but performed exceptionally well and got halfway through, surpassing the 50% mark, qualifying them for a random Rare Race!
However, they could only choose from the Common Classes for their profession. This group consisted of about five million players, which amounted to a mere one in two thousand of the total player base.
This also highlighted the extreme difficulty of Rare Quests, where even managing to complete half was already quite impressive. Huang Yi's quest difficulty was even doubled, making it all the more challenging to complete.
Huang Yi kept scrolling down.
"The Second World's Top Ten Divine Objects!"
At this moment, Huang Yi saw a post that was highly ranked, not marked as a featured post by the moderators, but it had over a billion clicks! Huang Yi clicked to read further.
"My name is [Bai Chi], my Race is Ancient Scholar, and my Class is Explorer. In addition, I've studied the Alchemy Specialty, so I have some research on Treasures. As everyone knows, each country has its own exclusive continent in The Second World, resulting in an astonishing number of over 200 continents. With so many continents, Treasures are as common as the stars, and even I, who have conducted extensive research, can recognize only a very small portion of them. Among the small portion of Treasures that I'm aware of, here are the top ten ranked as follows."
Next, the player named Bai Chi arranged his own list of the top ten treasures, providing a brief description for each.
First Place: Divine King's Crystal
Comment: I don't know what this is either, but I once saw a brief description in the notes of the greatest alchemist, Magic Refiner Silver Water—Divine King's Crystal, the first divine object of all worlds!
Second Place: Tears of the Pantheons
Comment: As the name suggests, Tears of the Pantheons are the tears shed by the gods, and they are the most important ingredient for making divine artifacts. In The Second World, there are only ten known divine artifacts. To obtain additional divine artifacts, one must create them using a large amount of precious materials, and the Tears of the Pantheons are the most essential among them. It is said that the death of Magic Refiner Silver Water was related to a drop of Tears of the Pantheons.
Third Place: Pact of Water
Comment: As everyone knows, once a servant signs a master-servant contract, their life is completely tied to their master. If the master dies, then the servant also perishes. Only if the master lives can the servant survive. Therefore, Pact of Water has become the most precious divine object in the eyes of servants, because it can erase any contract, even those made with gods. Bloodhoof the Ascendant, the last person in The Second World to achieve Divine Enthronement, was once a servant to the Fire God. Later, Bloodhoof obtained a drop of Pact of Water, erased this disgrace, and ultimately achieved divine status.
...
As Huang Yi read on, he realized that the player was merely listing some treasures he knew about, not the ranking of all treasures. The treasures in The Second World were endless, and there were definitely some that surpassed these, unknown to this player.
As he read, Huang Yi suddenly opened his eyes wide when he saw something familiar—
Ninth Place: Tears of Time
Comment: The tears of the God of Time, containing the mysteries of time. After consuming it, one's eyes can mutate, becoming indestructible and capable of seeing through the past and the future.
Tears of Time! Huang Yi immediately remembered the 250-level Hydra, Death Scales, from Heroes' Prison, who had stolen the Tears of Time from the Death God and thus was personally captured by the Death God and imprisoned in Heroes' Prison. He hadn't expected the Tears of Time to be such a powerful treasure, able to transcend past and future!
Half an hour later, Huang Yi entered The Second World.
"Mr. Instakill, you've finally arrived!" As soon as he appeared in Heroes' Prison, Huang Yi heard the voice of Prison Warden Laus behind him.
"Hmm, I'm back." Huang Yi turned to glance at Laus and then started walking toward the stone chamber.
"Mr. Instakill..." At this moment, Laus hurriedly called out to Huang Yi, his eyes filled with urgency as he said, "You only have three months for your mission, time is pressing, please try harder! We'll stay right outside, waiting for your good news!" After speaking, Laus and the four jailers behind him looked at Huang Yi with expectation.
Huang Yi nodded and turned to walk into the vast golden stone chamber.
In the huge stone chamber, keys danced in the air, leaving dazzling trails of light that seemed to never stop. Huang Yi looked up at them as at a splendid starry sky, the stars seemed close at hand but forever out of reach.
Huang Yi lowered his head, and suddenly, his gaze froze, landing on the golden floor!
At that moment, it was as if something flashed through his mind!
Huang Yi crouched down, closely observing the golden floor. Underneath the flurry of flying keys, he squatted there, unmoving, staring at the ground.
His thoughts were like a clue he had grasped. When he pulled hard, he found that this clue had dragged up the entire mystery!
He reflected on everything that had happened during this period, every detail in Heroes' Prison, each and every doubt surfaced! Trivial matters, insignificant details, all linked together, gradually becoming clear, complete, forming the entirety of the mission's picture.
After a long while, Huang Yi finally came to his senses, the corner of his mouth slightly curling up.
He finally knew how to do the mission!