Those who reincarnate must die.

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The firelight flickered as Su Jie sat on the ground of the altar, her eyes still somewhat confused.

The torch in front of her flickered with images, which, upon closer inspection, were all her experiences in the mission world.

Turning to look at the other sectors, only four of the original eight torches remained lit. Besides herself, Gu Shushu and Tong Fei had also returned safely, their torches flickering with images of their adventure in the valley.

In the farthest sector, stood a tall man.

"Zhang Lang..." Su Jie said his name uncertainly. Zhang Lang turned around and nodded at her.

Su Jie looked up at Zhang Lang's torch, the experiences it shone with were completely different from those of others.

There was no Nightmare Valley, nor a cabin in the woods. The background of the experience seemed to be a dark world made of steel and machinery, in which Zhang Lang fought frantically with countless mechanical monsters, destroyed one stronghold after another, and finally arrived in front of a huge core.

The core was similar to the enormous brain with mechanical parts that she had seen last, but much larger and more complex. Zhang Lang seemed to be communicating with that enormous main brain core, and this was the last fragment of his flashing screen.

After watching Zhang Lang's story, Su Jie realized that her own and others' stories had already been played out and they had all received a score from the altar.

苏婕

Main quest score: 300 points

Side quest score: 500 points

Monster kill score: 0 points

Total score for this task: 800 points

Current total score: 800 points

One-line comment: You could actually do better if you didn't care too much about someone.

童飞

Main quest score: 300 points

Side quest score: 500 points

Monster kill score: 60 points

Total score for this task: 860 points

Current total score: 860 points

One-sentence review: As a newcomer, the performance was quite impressive, but you have to be ruthless when necessary!

Gu Shushu

Main quest score: 300 points

Side quest score: 500 points

Monster kill score: 225 points

Total score for this task: 1025 points

Current total score: 1025 points

One-sentence review: Amazing brain circuits and mental strength. I'm looking forward to seeing how you would use your superpowers if you actually got them.

…………

According to the rating description, all three completed the main and side quests. Among them, Gu Shushu, having awakened magic, killed the most monsters and even accumulated 1,000 points, which is enough to draw a reward!

"What does 'truly gaining superpowers' mean?" Gu Shushu seemed dissatisfied with the assessment, raising her hand to try and cast a spell, but here, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't ignite even a spark...

"Don't you understand yet..." Tong Fei sighed, "Your abilities, including the world where that valley is located, are all 'false.' The answer to everything should lie in his experiences."

Tong Fei looked up at Zhang Lang's head; his score had already been calculated.

Main quest score: 300 points

Side quest score: 500 points

Hidden mission score: 1200 points

Monster kill score: 56820 points

Total score for this task: 58820 points

Current total score: 120518 points

One-sentence comment: The mastermind should be glad you were in a rush this time...

Although it was their first time undertaking a mission and they had no concept of normal scoring, the huge contrast between Zhang Lang's score and the others was enough to shock the three newcomers.

"A little more than normal, huh?" Tong Fei sighed. "There's a limit to modesty..."

"Now, can you explain what exactly happened?" Su Jie stepped forward, seemingly uninterested in the scores: "Why is your experience completely different from ours? And what's the connection between that Nightmare Valley and the countless test tubes that appeared at the end?"

"Before that, let's draw the reward first..." Zhang Lang looked at Gu Shushu, "It's not common to get a thousand points on your first mission."

Gu Shushu nodded and, following Zhang Lang's instructions, went to the central torch to draw her prize.

Accompanied by pleasant music, the reward is presented.

Enhancement type: Blood Enhancement

Rarity: Uncommon

Reward Name: Flame Witch

Description: Female only. Modifies the body structure and activates energy attributes, giving the reincarnator an extremely strong ability to accumulate and control fire elemental energy. The ability will become stronger as the reincarnator grows and uses it, and it can be compatible with learning most fire-based spells.

Note: Trying to strike up a conversation with me? You'd better watch out!

…………

This enhancement caught Zhang Lang's eye. He had to admit that Gu Shushu was quite lucky, getting a rare-level ability on her first draw... no, judging from the description, this ability was powerful even among rare-level abilities.

First of all, this is clearly an enhancement of energy attributes. Each person can only control one energy attribute, which determines the strength of the energy attribute and basically lays the foundation for the future development direction of this reincarnator.

Energy attributes are also divided into different grades, which are not determined by the nature of the attribute, but by its rarity.

For example, even among fire magic enhancements, there should be distinctions between common, rare, uncommon, and even unique ones.

According to Zhang Lang's experience, in the description of energy attributes, the common level usually means that it has "weak" energy manipulation ability, the rare level basically does not have a prefix, the uncommon level is generally "powerful", and the "extremely strong" description in Gu Shushu's enhancement is usually a unique wording!

However, the fact that it's limited to women suggests that this is probably a performance improvement made to balance the limited audience reach.

Regardless, this is a perfect starter boost.

Gu Shushu was clearly satisfied with the enhancement and immediately accepted it. After a period of painful yet pleasurable physical modification, the sweat-drenched girl raised her hand, and a dazzling flame reappeared in her palm…

"I told you my awakened spells wouldn't be lost!"

Seeing this, Tong Fei shook his head and smiled wryly. As clever as he was, he had already roughly guessed the principle behind this mission. In his judgment, Gu Shushu's ability to draw this enhancement was purely due to good luck...

As for Zhang Lang, because of his ability to accumulate points gradually, he has to save his points, so there are no rewards to draw.

After guiding the new recruits to allocate the attribute points given by the task, Zhang Lang finally began to answer their questions.

"You must be very curious as to why I fell asleep after entering the mission, why my experiences are different from yours, and why the ending of the mission presented a completely different scene..."

"The root cause of all this is that Nightmare Valley itself is a nightmare!"

"Nightmare?" Su Jie and Gu Shushu were somewhat surprised, but Tong Fei had already made his judgment and nodded.

"Actually, the mission world we're going to this time is set against the backdrop of a war between humans and artificial intelligence. In the end, humans were defeated and imprisoned in test tubes by artificial intelligence, which uses the computing power of human brains to maintain the operation of the mechanical empire. In order to make humans work willingly, artificial intelligence connects the consciousness of all people together and creates a virtual world so that they believe they are still living in a wonderful era dominated by humans."

Simply put, it can be understood as people all over the world sharing the same dream. Artificial intelligence calls it a beautiful dream.

"A brain in a vat..." Gu Shushu quickly understood, then revealed an excited expression: "How exciting!"

Zhang Lang continued, "But there are always some humans who, even in their dreams, can vaguely sense something. These people are a hidden danger that disrupts beautiful dreams. Therefore, once discovered, the artificial intelligence mastermind will filter them out and use various reasonable plot arrangements to throw them into a certain scene, creating monsters that should not exist in reality, and eliminating them. This kind of scene is a nightmare."

"So that's what the name Nightmare Valley means?" Tong Fei stroked his chin, analyzing, "The background of our entry into this world is that we're the targets to be purged? So escaping Nightmare Valley is essentially escaping the purge of artificial intelligence? No wonder it's worth so many points!"

Zhang Lang nodded: "So your experience in the valley was actually a dream... That's why Gu Shushu can use superpowers. After all, it's a dream. As long as your brain believes it, nothing is surprising." As he spoke, he looked at Gu Shushu: "However, to be able to awaken such a strong ability so quickly, your brain circuits are indeed not quite normal."

"What? So I'm not the chosen one after all..." Gu Shushu was a little disappointed, but seeing the abilities she now possessed, the girl excitedly started fiddling with the fireball in her hand.

"Then why did you faint?" Su Jie pressed.

Zhang Lang tapped his head: "Because the way we enter the world is by directly replacing a human in a test tube, our bodies and brains need to be connected to various devices to communicate with dreams... My head is a bit hard, so the devices can't be inserted, and I didn't dream at all. The one in Nightmare Valley was just an image created for me by the Dream System, but without any soul being injected, it was put into a state of sleep."

Zhang Lang offered an explanation that was easy for a newcomer to understand: In reality, the tasks arranged by the altar prioritize the teleportation of reincarnators. No matter how high their attributes are, it's not difficult to insert a tube into their brain when they're teleported in. At most, reincarnators with extremely high water and wood attributes might instantly sense something is wrong and escape the nightmare.

However, Zhang Lang is different. Because of his ability to return to simplicity, if he is not in a state of emptiness, he can even be immune to the altar's summoning and teleportation. All supernatural forces can be shielded from his body, so he cannot access the Dream System.

"So you entered that world while you were awake?" Su Jie frowned. "Then how do you explain the glowing head at the end?"

"That was a backdoor I asked the mainframe to open for me so you could escape your dream..."

"Please? Open the back door?" Su Jie was even more confused.

"Is it that negotiation from the flashback you just experienced?" Tong Fei looked at Zhang Lang. "But judging from those battles before, you went to great lengths to see the mainframe."

Zhang Lang nodded: "Although you are together in the nightmares, your real bodies are scattered all over the world, and I can't find them. I can only look for the root of the nightmares."

As he spoke, he glanced at the few extinguished torches: "But it seems we didn't manage to rescue everyone."

"Don't blame yourself." Tong Fei recalled his own horrific state in the nightmare: "We should thank you for coming back alive."

Zhang Lang looked at Su Jie: "It's alright, at least those we wanted to save were saved..."

Su Jie blushed slightly and lowered her head.

After telling the story, Zhang Lang looked at Tong Fei: "I've answered your questions. Now it's your turn."

"Even in a dream, your reaching out seems a bit abnormal."

Although Gu Shushu's magic was more exaggerated in terms of actual ability, it was more due to the abnormal brain circuits of a "mentally ill" person... Gu Shushu was enhanced in her dream, but Tong Fei showed no such signs. The qualities he displayed were definitely not those of a newcomer!

Su Jie and Gu Shushu also looked at Tong Fei, equally curious about the boy's skills.

Tong Fei hesitated for a moment: "Would you believe me if I said I've practiced martial arts?"

Zhang Lang looked into his eyes, paused for two seconds, and then snorted: "If you don't want to talk about it, then forget it. As long as you can protect your teammates, being strong is not a sin."

At this point, Zhang Lang checked the time: "It's about time to get back to reality. I need to remind you before I leave."

"I entered this altar using a special item to help my friend through a difficult time. I won't be with you for the next mission; you'll have to solve anything on your own. If you encounter any problems, you can find me in real life."

The three nodded in agreement, with Gu Shushu being particularly excited: "You know... there are other reincarnation sites in our university town? I want to start a Yunzhou University Town Reincarnation Fan Club, that would be so much fun!"

"No!" Zhang Lang warned, "Some reincarnators will do anything for profit. Apart from trustworthy teammates, it's best to hide your identity in reality, including mine. Also, my code name in the altar is Hunter. If we meet in mission worlds in the future, don't call me by my real name."

Zhang Lang's tone was calm, but for some reason, it conveyed an undeniable firmness.

The three nodded, exchanged contact information, and then left the altar.