The last sentence of the post was, "Attached is the low copy trigger probability area I have compiled, thank you all for your support." Just as Cheng Tingyu was about to download and browse it, a prompt suddenly popped up on the page—"Please pay forum coins to unlock."
She began to seriously consider whether to organize and publish her previous experiences in the development zone, and earn some tips in the process.
At that moment, a red number "1" suddenly appeared next to an envelope-shaped icon in the upper right corner of the phone's display screen—this meant she had received an internal message.
Cheng Tingyu: "..."
As a complete newcomer with virtually no social connections, Cheng Tingyu had no familiar users on the forum. The private message just now was either sent by the forum's official account or passed on by the inspection team. Her heart stirred slightly, and she immediately clicked to view it.
[System: Dear user, you have received 500 forum points and 500 forum coins from the inspection team. You can check them in "Personal Center - User Balance."]
Almost at the same time, Cheng Tingyu's phone received two more text messages.
[An amount of 100,000 yuan has been transferred into your personal account ending in ****. The current balance is 202,879.24 yuan.]
[An amount of 30,000 yuan has been credited to your personal account ending in ****. The current balance is 232,879.24 yuan.]
The coincidence in timing made Cheng Tingyu immediately realize the identity of the person who transferred the money— the inspection team not only transferred forum points to her but also paid the reward for resolving the Liu Xuehong incident. As for why the reward was split into two parts, it was probably to additionally compensate her for the loss of her props.
After accumulating five hundred points, Cheng Tingyu's forum user level was upgraded to Level 1, allowing him to use the daily task recommendations to search on the bounty board.
——The ones who can log into the Nameless Forum are not only players with special abilities but also ordinary people seeking help.
Newcomers need to fill out their skill preferences before using the task recommendation system. To maintain his persona, Cheng Tingyu unhesitatingly donned the guise of a "flesh and blood" type player online.
Three seconds later, a line of prompt refreshed on the interface—
[System: Suggest choosing the task label: "Bodyguard."]
Cheng Tingyu felt that this was not exactly the same as his expected career path, at the very least, it was completely unrelated.
She deeply regretted the reliability of the F0631 city software.
Cheng Tingyu had no choice but to start manually searching. Fortunately, the number of posts she needed to filter through was not large at the moment. As a newcomer, even though she had just raised her user level, the tasks she was qualified to review were not high-level. Most of them were fragmented and simple, with a significant portion involving errands, escorting, and finding lost items.
Compared to the other two types of tasks, searching for lost items seemed relatively reliable, at least offering a high degree of flexibility. Moreover, as a "Mystic Eye," Cheng Tingyu might be able to see some clues more directly when taking on such tasks.
However, there is yet another problem within this.
Cheng Tingyu's outward persona was related to "flesh and blood," making the task of finding lost items clearly more suitable for "keen eyes" rather than "flesh and blood."
Her gaze moved over the posts and finally settled on an event titled "Looking for Aunt's Corpse, Generous Reward [Lost Items Category]."
The poster only wrote one requirement in the job listing: "physically healthy and strong," which was almost a clear invitation for "flesh and blood" players to inquire. Moreover, the location to take the job was in the outer district, not far from Cheng Tingyu
The citizen who posted the task came from a wealthy family in a central district, named Wei Xusheng. He had a younger sister, and although their parents passed away early, they left behind an inheritance sufficient for him and his sister to grow up. Additionally, with frequent financial support from their aunt, the two of them never really suffered any hardships in terms of money.
After Wei Xusheng became self-sufficient, he once considered bringing his aunt Wei Heng, who lived in the outer district, to live together in the central district. Unfortunately, she refused, so he and his sister could only take turns visiting her.
Last weekend, since it was inconvenient for his sister, Wei Xusheng visited his aunt as usual, only to find that she had already died in her own room.
Wei Xusheng tried to enter the house, but during his exploration, he realized that what once belonged to his aunt had become a replica. He could only issue a task, asking others to help collect the remains. If any forum users were interested, they could message him privately to arrange a meeting place.
Cheng Tingyu's expression turned slightly peculiar after he quickly scanned through the contents of the post.
This task seemed perfectly normal at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it felt problematic in every aspect.
Cheng Tingyu hesitated slightly, but seeing that the system had marked the difficulty level of the post as low, he thought that even if there were issues, they wouldn't be too serious.
The Nameless Forum prioritizes recommending tasks that are close to the user's location. Wei Heng's residence is in the outer district, which is relatively desolate, with few players around. Moreover, the task levels are low, and even with the best possible treatment, it is still an improvement on a low-level basis. For many veteran players, it is not worth making a special trip for this.
Cheng Tingyu casually sent Wei Xusheng a private message saying, "Hello, is it convenient to discuss the task details?" In just ten seconds, the other party responded affirmatively and straightforwardly, providing a meeting place—a fast-food restaurant not far from her.
[WXS: If you are willing to meet in person, I can arrive within twenty minutes.]
[User0765319: OK.]
In the hotel room, Wei Xusheng looked at the latest private message and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Recently, there have been many things happening in the city, and fewer and fewer players have been able to take on tasks. He finally found someone interested in the job of collecting corpses.
Taking a glance at the other user's nickname, Wei Xusheng had a rough idea—this player was using the forum's default nickname, registered for no more than a day, most likely a newcomer.
Newcomers also have their advantages; they are not too picky about work, and they can obtain forum registration qualifications. Being recognized as supporters of the players, they all have a certain level of competence.
Wei Xusheng arrived at the fast-food restaurant five minutes early. As he pushed open the door, he felt a gaze linger on him for a moment. He looked up and saw that the owner of the gaze was sitting by the window, smiling at him.
Although he had not yet introduced himself, Wei Xusheng instinctively believed that this was the player who had taken on his mission.
She was a young and bright person, dressed in a pure black coat, with one half of her face illuminated by sunlight and the other half hidden in shadow.
Wei Xusheng walked over and nodded to the other person. "Hello, I'm the one who just chatted with you privately on the forum." He took out his phone and proactively showed the private chat interface.
Cheng Tingyu smiled, "Mr. Wei."
Wei Xusheng bowed slightly. "Sorry, I'm a bit late."
Cheng Tingyu said matter-of-factly, "I arrived early."
The environment of the fast-food restaurant was not very pleasant, filled with a sense of impending closure due to financial difficulties. Wei Xusheng ordered two cups of hot cocoa. He took a sip of his drink, instinctively clasping his hands together, and then said, "There are some things I didn't write in the post. My aunt had the ability to attract 'disasters.' After she passed away, it affected her living environment, turning the entire house into a replica. I'm an ordinary person, and going in there would be dangerous."
Cheng Tingyu: "You didn't see your aunt's body, yet you are certain she is dead?"
Wei Xusheng was visibly surprised by Cheng Tingyu's question, then he realized and said, "You just arrived in City 0631, right?"
Cheng Tingyu remained silent—apparently, the contradictions she had previously noticed did not imply some unspeakable secret, but were merely related to certain public settings in the area.
Wei Xusheng: "My aunt had taken out a policy with the 'Screwdriver Insurance Company,' a firm renowned for crafting various items with special abilities. After I escaped from the house, I called them and confirmed that my aunt had already passed away."
"As for the inspection team, I have already reported the case, but my aunt's house is very secluded, with few people around, and the formed copy hasn't shown any signs of spreading for the time being. The danger is very low, so according to the normal procedure, they might wait a month or two before sending someone over to handle it."
Cheng Tingyu leaned back in his chair, a hint of contemplation in his eyes.
The other party's brief sentence revealed quite a lot of unknown information.
The only force she originally knew in F0631 City was the Inspection Team, but now there was also the "Screwdriver Insurance Company." According to Wei Xusheng, its business clearly encompassed much more than just what the company name suggested.
In addition, there is the form in which the copy exists.
The two instances Cheng Tingyu had entered before were both a matter of closing his eyes and opening them again, and his whole being would be refreshed into another instance space. However, the residence of Wei Xusheng's aunt was an instance space that existed in reality.
"You just mentioned 'escaping from the house,' I need to hear the details."
Wei Xusheng did not feel strange.
Under favorable conditions, players will naturally fully understand the background of the dungeon.
Wei Xusheng nervously rubbed his hands together and whispered, "Last Friday, I called my aunt and found out she wasn't feeling well. The next day, I bought some fruit and went to visit her..."
The F0631 city covers a vast area; just the distance between the central district and the outer district spans two train stations.
As a resident of the central district, Wei Xusheng could easily buy a ticket to the outer district.
Today, in addition to his usual visit, he had carefully prepared a whole array of arguments, hoping to persuade his ailing aunt to move out of her remote residence and into the central district where medical facilities were better.
After getting off the train, Wei Xusheng boarded a bus and got off about two thousand meters away from his aunt's house—not because he didn't want to choose a direct route, but because Wei Heng's house was a bit too far from civilization.
The trees are desolate.
For Wei Xusheng, whose physical condition was average, the October temperature was already a bit chilly.
He quickened his pace, but the faster he walked, the more pronounced the lingering chill around him became.
Thirty minutes later, Wei Xusheng arrived outside his aunt's house.
This is a cottage with a rustic countryside charm. The bedroom and dining room are on the first floor, and besides that, there is a loft with high ceilings and a basement.
Wei Xusheng was already feeling quite uncomfortable from the cold and was eager to get inside to warm up. He almost shivered as he opened the door to the small house. Just as he stepped into the living room, the light behind him dimmed.
There was no wind around, yet the door chose to quietly close the moment he stepped inside.