Survival in an apartment, starting with a stroke of luck on a plane

Even more terrifying, as Lin Yu grasped the dagger, a chilling, bone-piercing mental shock, filled with hatred and madness, surged up his arm and instantly flooded his mind.

"Ah!" Shadow Assassin let out a painful groan, his movements faltering, his eyes flashing with chaos and rage.

Right at that very moment.

Lin Yu suddenly pulled back his right hand, wielding the Demon-Slaying Sword, changing the thrust into a sweep. A crescent-shaped golden sword aura tore through the air and roared out.

【Shadow Thorn】was ultimately experienced and, enduring the excruciating mental pain, retreated rapidly, leaving several afterimages that scattered in all directions.

Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!

Several afterimages were instantly annihilated by the sword energy, but his true form was not able to completely evade it. The sword energy, carrying the power of thunder and fire, swept across his chest, and his protective energy shattered like paper.

A deep, bone-revealing wound appeared, blood gushing out. His face instantly turned ashen, and his breath rapidly weakened.

"No...you..." he managed to utter a few words, his eyes filled with disbelief. Then his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground, turning into white light and disappearing.

Another platinum-level player has died.

The Lava Beast and the Frost Witch were terrified. Their five-person ambush not only failed to quickly eliminate their target, but two of them were killed in the blink of an eye.

This witcher's strength is simply outrageous.

"Lava! Retreat!" the Frost Witch screamed, having completely lost her will to fight.

The Lava Behemoth let out a furious roar of resentment, but it knew that the situation was hopeless.

He took a deep breath, and the molten lava light around his body surged to its maximum, as if he had transformed into a miniature sun.

"Hellfire - Annihilation!"

He slammed his fists into the ground, and dark red hellfire surged outwards like a raging tide, temporarily forcing back the tangled vines and slightly blocking Lin Yu and Jin Ling.

Without hesitation, the Frost Witch crushed a high-level teleportation scroll. Her body was enveloped in a bright blue light, and she instantly disappeared from her spot, teleporting to a distant floating island.

After unleashing this desperate attack, the Lava Beast dared not linger for a moment. Under the cover of flames, it turned and ran wildly, its figure flashing rapidly between the stone pillars until it disappeared from sight.

The Holy Warrior had already begun retreating when Earth Roar was instantly killed, and now he has long since fled far away.

The encirclement and attack by five platinum-level players ended in a crushing defeat, with two killed and three fleeing in disarray!

Lin Yu did not choose to pursue.

The three of them fled in different directions, so catching up with even one wouldn't make much difference. Besides, even if a Platinum-level character is running at full speed, it would be difficult for him to catch up, so there's no need to waste his energy.

He contained the energy surging around him.

The symbiotic willow vine slowly retreated underground, leaving behind only the scars of battle and the still-burning embers of hellfire.

The scene was deathly silent.

The team members who had just escaped the barrier and the spikes were all staring at Lin Yu in disbelief, as if they were looking up at an invincible war god.

Five...five platinum-level ambushes...the big boss single-handedly killed two of them.

This record is terrifying!

Within the channel, the 9527 players, who had been worried after receiving news of the attack on Lin Yu's team, quickly received the latest battle report.

When the news spread that "the Witcher fought four Platinum-level players alone, killing two and forcing three to flee," the entire 9527 community channel first fell into an eerie silence, and then erupted into a tidal wave of cheers and exclamations!

"My God! The Witcher is awesome!!"

"Incredible! This is a true powerhouse!"

"Hahaha! 9002's small fry, dare to ambush us? We're just delivering ourselves to your doorstep!"

"Points! Look at the leaderboard! It's jumped up again!"

"We won! We've got this challenge in the bag!"

Morale instantly soared to its peak!

All players of 9527 firmly believe that, under the leadership of the Demon Hunter, victory will surely belong to them.

In contrast, the 9002 community channel was completely silent and filled with unbelievable panic.

The news that the five platinum-level players had suffered a crushing defeat despite their combined ambush, while not enough to destroy all their confidence, was enough to silence them.

[Lava Behemoth] remained silent in the channel for a long time before finally sending a message with difficulty: "Witcher... his strength far exceeds expectations, he's probably not far from being at the Diamond level."

The ambush plan failed, the game's end time is drawing ever closer, and the point gap is widening significantly. We're requesting the boss to step in and completely crush this guy; otherwise, we're certain to lose this neighborhood merger battle.

"I see. You're really useless. I have to handle even this small matter myself. I didn't accumulate much energy while 'sleeping' in the previous world."

Soon, a message appeared in the channel.

[Lava Behemoth] was overjoyed upon seeing this and quickly replied, "Boss, all you need to do is keep that guy locked up for the rest of the game, and we can handle the rest."

……

The game has reached its sixtieth hour.

With Lin Yu's team relentlessly sweeping through the ranks and the fighting spirit of all players in 9527 being fully ignited, the lead of 9527 on the leaderboard has expanded to an extremely exaggerated level.

The resistance in the 9002 neighborhood became weak and scattered, and it seemed that they had given up hope.

Lin Yu's team had just finished wiping out a player squad and had made a huge haul.

The team members' faces were filled with the joy of victory.

However, Lin Yu never let his guard down.

He knew the game wasn't over yet.

The biggest ace in 9002 neighborhood, that mysterious diamond-level player, has yet to show his face.

Just as he was putting the last large energy crystal into his storage space—

Without warning, the entire group of shattered floating islands began to shake violently once again!

The sky, as if stirred by an invisible giant hand, began to slowly rotate, forming a massive vortex.

On the battlefield, regardless of whether they were friend or foe, all players involuntarily stopped what they were doing and stared in horror at the sky.

An instinctive fear gripped everyone's heart.

Lin Yu looked up, activated his Heavenly Eye (pseudo), and gazed at the center of the vortex.

He saw it.

The vortex in the sky spun slowly, and at its center, a blurry figure gradually became clear.

He was a young man wearing loose, dark purple pajamas. His face was ordinary, even showing a hint of languor from not having woken up properly, and his black hair was casually draped over his shoulders.

He hovered there, seemingly merging with the shattered void around him, emanating a mysterious and profound aura, which was the diamond-level aura that Lin Yu had vaguely sensed earlier.

He yawned widely, rubbed his eyes, and his gaze seemed to pierce through the distance, landing precisely on Lin Yu with a scrutinizing and… somewhat helpless expression.

"Hey friend," his voice rang out directly in Lin Yu's mind, with a slightly lazy tone, "I'll keep you company for the rest of the time."

As soon as he finished speaking, the space around Lin Yu suddenly distorted and changed.

The floating island he was on, along with himself, seemed to have been forcibly "peeled" out of the original void by an invisible hand.

The surrounding scenery faded and blurred rapidly, eventually settling into a strange, pure white, boundless space.

His squad members, Jin Ling, and even the fragments of the floating island beneath his feet, all vanished.

It was as if he was the only person left in the whole world.

He tried to sense the apartment and the golden feather, but all connections were blocked by an invisible force, becoming extremely weak, as if separated by countless worlds.

Fortunately, the faint connection between him and the statue of the True Lord still exists, which means he can use [Borrowing Power] at any time.

"A spatial isolation barrier?" Lin Yu felt a chill run down his spine, but he remained calm.

He attempted to activate [Spatial Leap], and the skill flashed, but his body remained stationary, as if the space here had been completely locked.

He activated the Demon-Slaying Sword again, unleashing a sword aura that shot into the void. The sword aura flew out, but it disappeared into the pure white background without even causing a ripple.

Even with the Heavenly Eye fully activated, the field of vision remained a pure white expanse, revealing no energy nodes, structural weaknesses, or traces of the caster.

This barrier is seamless, as if it were part of the void itself.

"It's no use." That lazy voice rang out again, once again directly entering Lin Yu's mind.

In the pure white space not far in front of Lin Yu, light and shadow distorted and condensed into his figure.

He had his hands tucked into his wide sleeves, looking utterly bored.

"This is my [Void Barrier], independent of the main battlefield. Here, I am the rule. By the way, my ID is Void Walker." Void Walker yawned: "Of course, there's no need to bother trying to attack me. I'm just an illusion here. My real body is still dozing outside. Maintaining this barrier isn't too strenuous, just a bit boring."

Lin Yu stopped his futile attacks and calmly looked at the phantom.

He wasn't very surprised; the other party was a diamond-level expert, so it wasn't unusual for them to possess such abilities.

He assessed his own condition and found that he possessed abundant magical power and all his trump cards.

I estimated the remaining game time again, and there were still nearly twelve hours left.

There is still enough time.

Since there was no immediate hope of breaking through by force, and the other party didn't seem to intend to make a move immediately, but instead showed a willingness to communicate... Lin Yu decided to observe the situation first.

"It seems you're not in a hurry to deal with me," Lin Yu said, his voice exceptionally clear in the quiet space.

"In a hurry?" The Voidwalker Phantom tilted his head, a half-smile on his face. "What's the rush? Fighting is exhausting. I'm the kind of person who would rather lie down than sit, and sit than stand."

"It's much better to keep you locked up here so everyone can chat peacefully. As for those people outside, let them fight it out themselves."

He spoke casually, as if the outcome of the neighborhood merger had little to do with him.

"Are you a Level 2 access user?" Lin Yu suddenly asked directly.

This was his guess; he was already at the diamond level, so it was impossible for him to still only have level one access.

The Voidwalker raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised that Lin Yu knew this, but didn't ask any further questions, nodding lazily: "Yeah, otherwise how could I have so easily pulled you in for a 'chat'?"

You must be one too, right? With your ability to defeat five opponents of the same rank at Platinum level, you've definitely caught the system's attention or been contacted by other administrators.

"I guess so." Lin Yu didn't deny it. He continued, "I just got promoted, and before I even knew what the use of the permissions was, I entered this merged game."

The Voidwalker looked knowing: "You're really unlucky, running into this right after you leveled up."

"It seems you're not too concerned about this merger battle," Lin Yu said casually.

Of course, this is not surprising, since level 2 permissions can exempt users from the penalty of relocating the game.

"I do care? A little, after all, I've lived here for so long, I've developed some feelings for it." The Voidwalker shrugged. "But that's about it."

After all, it avoids the "relocation game". Even if 9002 loses, at most I will just move to a different neighborhood. I might lose some apartment level or something, but I won't be randomly thrown into an unknown area and start all over again like they are.

"If all else fails, I can ask the building manager to reserve my apartment, so," he shrugged, "I lack motivation."

"Administrator application? There's this feature?" Lin Yu was somewhat surprised. Level 2 access had this privilege? How come he didn't know about it?

"Hmm, looks like your guide wasn't doing a very good job." The Voidwalker stroked his chin. "Those big orbs, each level-two player should theoretically have a corresponding administrator to communicate with. My administrator is 9002, a chatterbox, so annoying."

Lin Yu's heart stirred, and he remembered the administrator who had made the deal with him and called himself 9527.

This guy hasn't paid any attention to me since the transaction, and now it seems he's really incompetent. I wonder if the system can report him; if it can, Lin Yu will definitely give him a bad review.

"My administrator hasn't spoken to me since we met once," Lin Yu said with a hint of complaint.

"This is normal, it's not a big deal," Voidwalker continued. "Although the administrators may look like just a big ball of light, they actually have different personalities. Some administrators are very proactive in communicating with players, while others are not."

You might be having bad luck, but it's not a big deal. If they don't come after you, you can go after them; you have that authority.

"Fine, since we both have level two access and have been thrown into this awful game, I'll give you some basic knowledge. We've got nothing better to do anyway."

He seemed to have found a way to pass the time, and his tone became more lively.

"You should have received a hint earlier that you could choose to go to the [Black Mist World], right?" Before Lin Yu could speak, he spoke up on his own, continuing, "The so-called [Black Mist World] is actually all the areas outside the residential area that are shrouded in black mist."

"According to the system rules, after completing the game, ordinary players can only return to their respective communities and cannot actively enter the black fog."

But we Level 2 users are different; we have the authority to 'open doors' and can actively enter the Black Mist world to explore.

Lin Yu listened intently; this was all information he needed to know.

"What's in the world of black mist?" he asked.

"Danger, and...opportunity." The Voidwalker Phantom's expression became slightly more serious: "Countless monster projections roam there, 'leaked' from various game worlds."

These things are troublesome; they cannot be truly killed. Even if you destroy them, they will re-condense in the black mist after a period of time.

Moreover, many of the projectors are quite powerful, with some even reaching diamond-level or higher.

"Unkillable?" Lin Yu frowned; this didn't sound like good news.

"Yes, it's essentially an aggregation of some kind of rules and energy, deeply connected to the black mist itself," the Voidwalker confirmed. "Therefore, in that place, battles are often about expelling or getting rid of enemies, rather than annihilating them. Thus, endurance and survivability are more important than burst damage."

"What about opportunities?" Lin Yu was more concerned about this.

"The Black Mist World is dangerous, but it also hides good things. The bigger the storm, the more valuable the fish." A glint flashed in the Voidwalker's eyes.

"First, kill those monster projections. Although you won't get experience or equipment drops, you have a chance to obtain something called [Source Crystal].

This thing is a pure energy fragment that can be absorbed directly. It can greatly improve the proficiency of knowledge-based skills, which is much more efficient than arduous training in the Time Chamber.

Lin Yu nodded. This was indeed a good thing. After all, to be honest, at present, learning knowledge-based skills can improve one's strength much more than leveling up and increasing attributes.

"Secondly, some special 'resource points' or 'ruins' will occasionally appear randomly in the black mist," the Voidwalker continued.

"You might find rare materials, blueprints, equipment, skill cards, and knowledge transfers inside."

"However, the location and time of these things are not fixed, it all depends on luck, and they are usually protected by powerful guardians or are in extremely dangerous environments," he added.

"Furthermore, the actual place to use the game currency is within the black fog. I can't explain it clearly in a short time; you'll find out once you go in."

"In short, that place is a high-risk, high-reward hunting ground."

This is perfect for guys like us who find it hard to level up quickly in regular games.

Lin Yu digested this information and gained a preliminary understanding of the black mist world.

"Why are you telling me this?" Lin Yu looked at the Voidwalker: "We are enemies now."

"Enemies?" The Voidwalker scoffed. "Friend, broaden your perspective. A small-scale war combined with a regional conflict? It's just a large-scale 'event' arranged by the system."

The real stage is in the black fog, further behind. There's no deep-seated hatred between us.

Besides, having more friends means having more options. If we meet in the fog, we might even be able to cooperate.

Of course, that's assuming you survive until then and are worth cooperating with.

He paused, then resumed his lazy demeanor: "Besides, fighting with you would be exhausting. My talent is rather unique, and every time I go all out, the cost is quite high. It's best not to fight if possible. It's much more relaxing to just lock you up and chat with you."

Lin Yu remained silent.

So that's why the other side didn't fight.

"So, you plan to keep me locked up like this until the game ends?" Lin Yu asked.

"More or less." Voidwalker Phantom nodded. "I can tell that although you're only Platinum, you have a lot of trump cards up your sleeve. If it really comes down to a fight, I might win, but it will definitely take some effort and be a losing proposition."

"Keeping you locked up here, how the war unfolds outside is up to fate. Anyway, I'm not particularly concerned about whether 9002 wins or not."

He seemed very single.

The two then discussed some details about the Black Mist World, such as common monster types, dangerous environments to be aware of, and some basic survival skills.

The Voidwalker spoke freely and generously.

Time passed slowly as they talked.

While absorbing the valuable information, Lin Yu silently calculated the time.

Soon, there were less than five hours left in the game.

We've gathered enough intelligence.

The Voidwalker was clearly determined not to exert any effort, but only to trap him.

But Lin Yu couldn't just sit idly by and watch the game end like that.

Unlike the Voidwalker, he wasn't indifferent to victory or defeat; after all, who knew if changing neighborhoods would have any impact later on?

Moreover... he also wanted to test just how powerful a diamond-level player could be.

The diamond-level undead in the tower defense game was actually quite weak, with limited abilities, and it was also countered by the True Lord's divine power, making it relatively easy to defeat.

Opportunities to face off against diamond-level players are rare.

"We've had enough of that." Lin Yu suddenly spoke up, interrupting the Void Walker's sharing of his experience on "how to camp comfortably in the black fog."

"Hmm? It's still early." The Voidwalker phantom blinked.

"I should go now," Lin Yu said calmly.

He took a deep breath, and his eyes sharpened.

The next moment, he unhesitatingly played both of his trump cards at the same time.

"Transform into a dragon!"

"Leverage resources!"

boom--!!!

A torrent of energy, far more terrifying than ever before, erupted from Lin Yu's body.

The venomous destructive power from the [Dragon Transformation] skill and the sacred and righteous power poured from the True Monarch statue across the void—two completely opposite forces that should have been in conflict—were forcibly fused together under Lin Yu's unwavering will and strengthened physical body!

"roar--!!!"

A painful dragon's roar echoed throughout the pure white space! Lin Yu's body swelled and deformed violently amidst the interplay of dazzling golden light and profound black light!

Under the cleansing and support of the immense divine power of the True Lord, Lin Yu transformed into a golden dragon over fifty meters long, its entire body covered in dazzling golden scales.

A surge of immense power filled his entire body, and Lin Yu could clearly feel that his power level had now firmly entered the diamond level.

"What?! You actually have diamond-level combat power?!" The Voidwalker's lazy phantom suddenly widened its eyes, its face filled with astonishment and disbelief.

"You should have said so earlier! If you had, I wouldn't have played with you! I even chatted with you for so long!"

His phantom instantly became blurry, and his tone was filled with exasperation.

The golden dragon that Lin Yu had transformed into felt the surging power within him, raised its massive dragon claw, and ripped it apart at the seemingly empty, pure white space in front of it.

"Open it!"

Sizzle—!!!

Like a deafening sound of cloth being torn apart! The incredibly tough [Void Barrier], which could even seal off spatial jumps, was torn open like fragile cloth by the dragon claw containing diamond-level power and the divine power of a True Monarch. The crack was so large that its edges flickered with unstable energy sparks!