Online Game: Me, with Unparalleled Comprehension

As he passed by a few tables, his keen ears picked up on the players' conversations.

"...Does the Deaf-Mute Sect even accept people? I've been here for three days, and I still can't get through the gate!"

"Recruit my ass! I've already inquired. That sect is full of NPCs; they don't accept disciples at all. Calling it a sect is just a secluded place for that old guy Wuyazi, guarding his Zhenlong Chess Game and waiting for the right person."

"The Divine Chess Game? Isn't that for playing chess? Who among us knows how to play that?"

"So, it's hopeless. I think we shouldn't waste our time here and should look for opportunities elsewhere."

"Since we're already here, let's wait and see. What if we trigger some hidden quest?"

"That's right, Wu Yazi is the leader of the Xiaoyao Sect, he must have a lot of good stuff on him..."

Wu Feng continued walking, understanding the situation perfectly.

With so many players, all sorts of thoughts and intentions will emerge.

The storyline of Wu Yazi and the Zhenlong Chess Game is relatively obscure in the original novel, but it's surprising that it has attracted so many players in this game.

He shook his head and pushed open the wooden door of room number two in the Jiazi building.

The room wasn't big, but it was fairly clean.

A wooden bed, a square table, two chairs, and the closed window blocked out the noise from outside.

Wu Feng sat down at the table, leaned the Iron-Cutting Sword against the wall, and stretched his stiff neck.

After several hours of running at full speed, even with his current physical condition, he felt a bit tired.

Before long, the waiter knocked on the door and brought the food: a plate of stir-fried green peppers and pork, a dish of stir-fried cabbage, two steamed buns, and a pot of coarse tea.

The dishes looked ordinary, but they were steaming hot and smelled delicious.

Wu Feng first picked up a steamed bun and took a bite, then picked up a piece of stir-fried green peppers and pork with his chopsticks.

The feeling of fullness slowly rises as food is consumed, and the hunger bar in the upper left corner of the field of vision begins to slowly increase.

While eating, they listened to the faint, resentful chatter of the players downstairs.

"I heard someone tried to force their way into the deaf-mute area yesterday, but got kicked out by the traps inside, and their health bar almost dropped to zero!"

"That place is very strange. There are formations on the outside, and people who don't understand Qimen Dunjia can't get in at all."

"How about we team up and see if we can crack it?"

"Forget it, I don't want to lose a level. The death penalty in this game is too harsh..."

Wu Feng stuffed the last bite of steamed bun into his mouth, then drank two sips of tea. His hunger level had returned to above the safe line.

He put down his chopsticks, got up and walked to the window, pushing it open a crack.

It was completely dark outside, and the town's lights flickered in the night.

In the distance, the outline of Leigu Mountain, bathed in moonlight, resembles a crouching giant beast, silent and mysterious.

"It will arrive tomorrow," Wu Feng muttered to himself, closing the window.

He walked to the bedside, and on a whim, chose to exit the game.

---

In the real world, the game's cabin hatch slides open.

The room was quiet, with only the city lights streaming in through the window casting blurry patches of light on the walls.

Wu Feng sat up and rubbed his face. The long hours of gaming had left him mentally exhausted, but physically he was fine.

The feeling of emptiness in my stomach is very real.

He changed his clothes, grabbed his phone and keys, and went downstairs.

The streets were a bit quieter at night than during the day, but traffic was still flowing.

He turned into his usual street and lifted the plastic curtain of the family-run restaurant.

The shop was quite crowded and filled with smoke. He sat down in his usual spot against the wall and glanced at the greasy, plastic-sealed menu.

"Fish-fragrant shredded pork, Mapo tofu, garlic-flavored water spinach, and a tomato and egg soup," he said to the approaching waiter. "And a large bowl of rice."

"Okay, just a moment."

While waiting for his food, he leaned back in the somewhat hard plastic chair, took out his phone, unlocked it, and habitually tapped the official forum app for "Jianghu Dream" with his thumb.

The homepage feed scrolls through information very quickly.

He immediately noticed the number of online users displayed in the upper right corner—[50,327,891].

Wu Feng paused for a moment, his finger hovering over the screen.

Fifty million? He remembered that the last time he checked, there were only a little over ten million people online. How long has it been? How many times has it increased?

He couldn't help but glance at the number again to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"No wonder there seem to be more players everywhere..." he muttered to himself.

Whether it's Dali City, Wanjie Valley, or even Qingshi Town just now, the player density is significantly higher than before.

It wasn't an illusion; there really were more people.

He couldn't help but think to himself: This game is ridiculously popular.

I swipe my thumb across the screen, browsing the forum posts.

Discussions about the "Four Evils," "Duan Yu's Kidnapping," and "Anonymous God" still occupy a large portion of the page, but their popularity has waned compared to a few days ago.

After all, new things happen in the game every day, and players' attention shifts very quickly.

He clicked on a post whose title contained the word "Western Xia".

The poster claimed to be a player born in the Western Xia Dynasty, and wrote in the post:

[Breaking news! The Four Evils have returned to the Western Xia capital! Duan Yanqing, Ye Erniang, and the Crocodile God of the South Sea all look disheveled, especially Duan Yanqing, whose face is ashen. Yun Zhonghe hasn't returned; it seems he's truly dead. The atmosphere inside the First-Class Hall is tense; they're probably discussing revenge.]

There were quite a few replies below:

"Duan Yanqing got his comeuppance? Who did it? An anonymous big shot?"

"Of course, who else could it be but him?"

"Now the Four Villains have become the Three Villains, haha!"

"The anonymous big shot is awesome! But messing with Yipintang will probably make things difficult for him in Xixia territory from now on."

"What's there to be afraid of? That big shot might not even be going to Western Xia."

Wu Feng read through the list one by one, his expression calm.

Duan Yanqing and his men retreating to Western Xia was within his expectations.

With Yi Deng holding down the fort in Dali, they can't gain any advantage, and staying there only increases their risk.

"The storyline involving Duan Yu has come to an end," he thought to himself.

However, it's a bit of a pity.

During his trip to Dali, although he unexpectedly learned the One-Finger Divine Skill, killed Yun Zhonghe, and gained many benefits, he did not see the two important female characters from the original work—Mu Wanqing and Zhong Ling.

What would Mu Wanqing, that fiery-tempered girl, and Zhong Ling, that quirky little girl, be like in the game?

"It doesn't matter if I go take another look when I have time." He shook his head, dismissing this insignificant thought.

Scrolling down the forum, most posts are about asking for teammates, seeking guides, showing off equipment, and complaining about the difficulty of quests, with little of any valuable information.

Occasionally, there are a few posts analyzing how to acquire advanced martial arts skills, but upon clicking on them, they are all just unfounded speculations or outdated information.

It seems that although the player base has grown explosively, only a very small number of people have actually accessed the core content of the game and have access to useful information.

He closed the forum, swiped his thumb, and opened the "Jianghu Supper Exchange Group" that he checked almost every day.

The moment the icon lit up, several notification sounds rang in succession.

He clicked in, and the first thing that caught his eye was the number of group members—2017/5000.

When I checked last time, there were only about 500 people, right? It's only been a few days and it's already reached 2,000?

He quickly glanced at the group chat history.

The screen is filled with messages about receiving money:

Buying gold! Silver at 1450 per tael! Bulk discounts available! All trading methods accepted! Guaranteed reputation!

"Buying gold long-term! Rates based on the highest market rate! Any amount, any quantity! Instant transfer!"

"Professional gold dealer! 1450 exchange rate! Supports small to large amounts! Safe and reliable!"

"1450! 1450! Silver only! No copper coins! DM me if you have any!"

……

Wu Feng raised an eyebrow as he looked at the string of numbers "1450".

Gold prices have risen again?

He remembered that the price Luo had quoted him before was 141 for 100 coins and 1410 for 1 tael of silver. Only a few days later, it had risen to 1450.

And now they don't accept copper coins anymore, they start with silver?

This increase is quite dramatic.

He scrolled through the chat history and found that the price of gold had been slowly climbing since yesterday, and by this evening, it had broken through the $1450 mark.

More and more new bosses are joining the group, and the calls to buy gold are becoming more frequent, indicating that the competition is fierce.

"It seems the surge in the number of players has driven up the demand for gold coins..." Wu Feng thought to himself.

The more players there are, the greater the demand for in-game currency.

Especially for wealthy players and large guilds, their thirst for gold coins is almost limitless in order to quickly improve their strength, buy equipment, and build their power.

When supply falls short of demand, prices naturally rise.

He now has twenty taels of gold and more than four hundred taels of silver in his backpack.

Based on a ratio of 1450, twenty taels of gold is equivalent to 200 taels of silver, totaling six hundred taels of silver, or 87 pieces.