My players are too fierce!

Tavern.

Emma sat on the sofa opposite Roland, holding a cup of hot coffee, and fell asleep.

She had never felt such warm firelight before.

In the hive, the overhead light is cold and incandescent, and the corridors are lit by eerie green torches.

I really want to... stay here forever...

The long-standing defenses crumbled under the firelight, followed by a profound exhaustion.

Roland did not disturb Emma.

As someone who has been through it all, he knows very well the allure of the spark.

[Cognitive Filter New Account Application: 7]

[Task Completed: New Official Takes Office (First Stage)]

[The prize pool module is now open!]

[Current Ashes: 11 units]

[Premium Prize Pool: 100 units of Ash/time]

[Intermediate Prize Pool: 10 units of Ashes/time]

[Basic Prize Pool: 1 unit of Ash/time]

The boss that the three had previously defeated provided a large amount of ash.

Aside from reserving 4 units of Ash for new players, 1 unit is used for emergencies such as resurrection.

Six small prizes, go all in!

【Ruixin Tea & Coffee (Random Flavor) x3】

[Low-level attribute conversion rune x1]

[Low-Level Cognitive Filter Enhancement Rune x1]

[Bound Contract]

The ashes formed three cups of blue deer coffee in Roland's hands.

He casually picked a glass and took a small sip.

Yes, a coconut latte, exactly as I remember it, without ice.

It is not a fake.

[Low-level attribute conversion rune]

[Effect: Converts one point of flesh or spirit attribute between each other. A maximum of three low-level conversion runes can be used per person.]

[WARNING! Each low-level attribute enhancement rune will double the resurrection cost!]

Players have only two attributes: flesh and spirit.

Flesh and blood are the foundation of matter.

Spiritual essence is the vessel of the mind.

Sacrificing spiritual essence to enhance flesh and blood does not directly increase the strength of the physical body.

According to the system's explanation, it refers to all the effects applied to the physical body, as well as the body's adaptability to various equipment and skills.

In short, later on, some skills and equipment require flesh attributes, while flesh attributes provide bonuses to some skills and equipment.

The same applies to spiritual attributes.

Currently, all three of his players have two zeros in their attributes, which is very balanced.

...If it can be 0, then can it also be a negative number?

interesting.

Unfortunately, this thing is useless to him. He'll just have to try it on another player later.

[Low-Level Cognitive Filter Enhancement Rune]

[Effect: Increases the player's cognitive filter resilience. A maximum of three low-level cognitive filter enhancement runes can be used per player. The effect is irreversible.]

In Roland's understanding, the resilience of the cognitive filter might be equivalent to the player's "level".

The effect is simple: it increases sanity and survivability.

After a moment's thought, Roland concluded that the strength of the cognitive filter was well-suited to represent a player's level.

The longer a player plays, the more resistant they become to the erosion of their sanity.

Yes, that makes sense.

It can also increase player engagement...

The pen strokes made a rustling sound on the paper.

"Hmm..."

The silver-white cat ears twitched slightly.

This tiny noise woke Emma.

Snapped--

Seeing this, Roland slammed the notebook shut and placed it on the small round table.

The noise completely woke Emma.

"Now let's talk about your problem, little Emma."

Confused—Alert.

Emma's focus snapped back, her gaze sweeping past the notebook in front of her, her vertical pupils fixed on the black-robed man before her.

Like a wildcat, she dropped her coffee, flipped over the sofa, and distanced herself from Roland.

The dagger was drawn and aimed at Roland.

"Oh, young lady, you can't waste coffee."

Roland was a little angry when he saw this.

Don't waste coffee even if you don't like it!

We need to teach that disobedient kitten a lesson.

I got up and walked towards the kitten behind the sofa.

"Don't come any closer!" Emma shouted.

In the spiritual realm, where only black and white exist, Roland appears as an unremarkable yet somewhat exquisite gray figure.

He held the dagger in one hand and reached into his robe with the other.

She had already prepared for the current situation.

"Just one more step, and I'll...I'll..."

The hand frantically groped around at its side.

Where...where...

Where's her bag...where's her bag?!

"Is this what you're looking for?"

Roland grinned as he carried a crudely made, patched, yet very sturdy bag in his hand.

"Or are you looking for this?"

Roland held an exquisitely crafted rune in his hand.

He wasn't as careless as those three young players.

He knew very well what to do with prisoners of war.

Even if the prisoner looks completely harmless.

"You, you, you..."

Her face was pale.

The fear of having all escape routes cut off far outweighs any possibility of shyness.

For every step Roland took forward, she took several steps back.

Like an inexperienced tango partner, their steps were hurried and chaotic.

In the end, she retreated to the corner.

The windows had been boarded up, leaving her with nowhere to escape.

Emma's legs buckled, and she collapsed to her knees on the ground.

The dagger slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

She remembered the books she hadn't finished reading in her little apartment, and the blood feud she hadn't avenged...

Tears fell uncontrollably.

No matter how precocious or strong she is, she cannot change the fact that, under the immense terror of life and death, she is essentially just an underage child.

"Kill me! Please... give me a quick death..."

Roland stopped in his tracks.

He glanced at the fear and despair on Emma's face and understood what she was thinking.

Oh, I've been mistaken for the bad guy.

That's good, it saves us the trouble of talking later.

He casually tossed his bag and stones aside and squatted down in front of Emma.

"Two choices," Roland held up two fingers, "to submit, or..."

"die."

Emma stared blankly at Roland with tear-filled eyes, and after a long while, slowly nodded.

"Alright, sign this," he said, conjuring up an ancient, unassuming contract scroll made of an unknown leather as if by magic. "With your blood."

Emma did as she was told.

The contract turned into ashes, and the fireplace seemed to breathe, sucking in the ashes.

Emma felt a warm current flowing through her body, gently enveloping her limbs...

It wraps around the organs.

It's like... basking in the sun.

sun?

She was a little confused as to why she would think of this word from ancient legends.

However, Miss Emma clearly didn't have time to be confused.

"Come, little girl, change into this," Roland smiled and took a set of clothes from the box next to the fireplace.

Black...white...lace...?

"For the next period of time, you'll be working for me, keeping the tavern clean. Can you manage that?"

"Can I refuse?"

"I'm afraid that's not possible."

-

Earth, Shanghai, a detached riverside villa.

Empty wine bottles were carelessly piled up in the corner of the room, and the air was filled with a strong, pungent perfume smell.

A short, shirtless young man lay alone on the coffee table in the center of the living room, his eyes closed.

Ring ring—

The alarm clock rang.

He squinted as he turned off the alarm clock, about to lie down, when he seemed to remember something.

Open QQ —

Group announcement: Brothers, log in! Get ready for a dungeon!