I’d Like to Keep a Low Profile, But My Strength Won’t Allow It!

【Accept Invitation】

【Do Not Create a Conference Room for Now】

Wu Wang made his decision without a moment's hesitation.

He'd actually noticed the 【Conference Room】 option appear on his panel when he hit Level 10, but he'd been with Zhuge Yue ever since and hadn't found the time to investigate.

Now that she was offering a tour, he wasn't about to pass up the opportunity.

After all, no matter how much of a psycho this woman was, she was still a powerful Spirit Calamity Player. Her level was definitely far beyond his own.

Just as he'd sought out Baili Dao to learn about Instances, having a guide was always a good thing.

Swoosh!

Wu Wang's vision went black.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a luxuriously decorated courtyard enclosed by six houses, each with a different exterior design.

Creeak.

Zhuge Yue walked out from a door that looked like it belonged to a haunted house.

She began to explain, "After entering the Spirit Calamity Plaza, you can create your own conference room."

"Of course, it won't look this nice at the beginning. All decorations have to be bought from the shop with Calamity Coins."

She paused. "Hmm, wait a minute... I remember who you are now!"

Zhuge Yue suddenly recalled where she'd seen the ID 【Pending Death】. It was on the shop's notification board not long ago! He was the first person in the entire game to successfully haggle with the electronic shopkeeper.

"Well, little handsome guy, it seems your secrets are piling up."

She narrowed her eyes, her gaze as sharp as a predator that had just locked onto its prey.

A chill ran down Wu Wang's back.

Crap, I forgot about that!

His ID, “Pending Death,” could hardly be considered obscure anymore. After all, his successful haggling had resulted in a server-wide announcement.

Barring any surprises, Wu Wang was likely the only person in the entire game with a permanent 10% discount at the shop. There were already several posts on the app discussing just how 【Pending Death】 had managed it.

"It's fine," Zhuge Yue said with a lighthearted smile. "I said I'd uncover your secrets myself, so I won't resort to coercing you with force again."

To her, this was just a minor interlude. It wasn't like she was short on Calamity Coins.

"Let's get back to the conference room and the Spirit Calamity Plaza."

With that, Zhuge Yue pointed to a building that looked like a factory warehouse.

"That's the 'rear warehouse' that comes with the conference room. It's used to store items and equipment that don't fit in your backpack."

Realization dawned on Wu Wang's face.

He knew the 【Backpack】 had limited capacity, which was why he had to carefully select his gear for every Instance. Otherwise, he would have moved an entire arsenal in long ago.

He'd never understood where high-level players stored all their accumulated loot. So this was the answer, a 【Rear Warehouse】 in the 【Conference Room】 that unlocked at Level 10.

"Besides the rear warehouse, the conference room's main function is a place to trade with friends or just shoot the breeze," Zhuge Yue said, waving a hand.

Two bags of chips appeared in her grasp. After handing one to Wu Wang, she walked to the front of the courtyard.

She stood before a virtual gate of projected blue light and knocked on it.

"Every conference room has one of these blue screen gates. Walking through it takes you to the Spirit Calamity Plaza."

With that, she lifted her leg, ready to step through.

Wu Wang stopped her.

"Wait, what's with all these houses?"

Hearing this, Zhuge Yue raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Oh, that's because my other sisters and I have different tastes," she said. "So we each built our own house."

"The haunted house from just now is mine. If one of my other personalities enters the conference room, they'll appear in their own rooms."

Wu Wang was speechless.

He had just checked the shop. Creating another house in the conference room cost 100,000 Calamity Coins. The decorations for the courtyard probably weren't cheap, either.

Goddammit! A Nightmare-level Instance only rewards a few thousand Calamity Coins!

Is she filthy rich, or just bored out of her mind?

"Let's go. I'll take you to the Spirit Calamity Plaza to see the world," Zhuge Yue said, grabbing Wu Wang's wrist.

With a strength he couldn't possibly break free from, she dragged him through the blue screen gate.

Ding!

A system notification sounded.

【Connecting you to the Spirit Calamity Plaza】

【The Spirit Calamity Plaza is a large public area. To avoid disputes and conflicts arising from regional language and cultural differences, the system has automatically equipped you with a translator.】

【Friendly Reminder: Please refrain from any acts of violence in the plaza. Violators will be punished with compulsory measures in accordance with the "Regional Management Regulations".】

When the notification ended and the light returned, Wu Wang was completely stunned.

Bustling crowds moved endlessly. People of all skin colors mingled in a plaza so vast its borders couldn't be seen. Countless skyscrapers projected a dazzling array of neon lights. The din in his ears almost made him think he had arrived in some major international metropolis.

But the advertisements on the skyscrapers reassured him this wasn't a real place, with slogans like "Limb modification, just 998 for a pop," "Instance bodyguards, satisfaction guaranteed," and "Forget the daily store, come check out the black market."

He had assumed the so-called 【Spirit Calamity Plaza】 would be like the central squares in online games, a place where players showed off their cool mounts and fashion with awesome titles floating under their feet. That was what a game plaza should be.

This place, however, was filled with modern architecture. Coupled with vehicles that could fly through the sky and burrow through the ground, it felt different.

Wu Wang even saw a maglev train fly directly from the ground up to the height of the twentieth or thirtieth floor!

Who would have thought this place would be so cyberpunk?!

Whoosh!

A flashy motorcycle came roaring over. Completely ignoring the panicked players scrambling to get out of its way, it came to a hard stop right in front of Wu Wang.

His mouth twitched as he watched the woman on the motorcycle. She wasn't even wearing a helmet, and the ID 【Zhuge Yue】 floated above her head.

She shouted at him, her voice cloyingly cutesy and dripping with insincerity.

"Little handsome guy~ Didn't you say you wanted to take me home to play?"

The way the people around them looked at Wu Wang grew increasingly odd.

Just as Zhuge Yue had said before, you'd be hard-pressed to find a Spirit Calamity Player who didn't know who she was. Seeing her motorcycle approach, everyone had dodged out of the way without even thinking of confronting her. Arguing with her was just asking for bad luck.

Now, their gazes, filled with a mixture of pity and morbid curiosity, were fixed on Wu Wang. They mourned for this player who had been targeted by Zhuge Yue.

Bro, you're so screwed!

Zhuge Yue whispered, "I studied psychology, you know. I know exactly how to embarrass someone."

"How about you tell me one of your secrets, and I'll stop teasing you in public?"

Unexpectedly, a crazed smile slowly spread across Wu Wang's face.

He plopped himself down on the back seat.

Then, in a voice of feigned shock, he shouted, "What? A thousand for one go? And that doesn't even get me the whole night?"

At this, the expressions of the other players instantly changed. They looked at Zhuge Yue with a hint of fear. Of course, they knew it was fake.

But they couldn't help but feel a sense of solemn respect for this guy with the ID 【Pending Death】.

Awesome, bro! You're the first person to dare tell a dirty joke to Zhuge Yue in public.

This dude really isn't afraid of death! Hope someone tends to your grave next year.

Wu Wang leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Embarrassing, isn't it? I studied politics. I know exactly how to ruin someone."

He added in a sickly sweet tone, "Oh wait~ your reputation is already in the gutter, isn't it?"

Faced with a cutesy, insincere voice even more cloying than her own, Zhuge Yue's face darkened. She had actually been bested at her own teasing game!

Without another word, she twisted the throttle. With a roar of the motorcycle's engine, the two of them shot forward, their figures instantly blurring into an afterimage. Clearly, this motorcycle was no ordinary machine.

The players on the roadside just stared at each other, completely dumbfounded.

Hold on, did Zhuge Yue really just take him with her?

Holy shit! That psycho took a loss and didn't even retaliate?

Normally, shouldn't she have immediately logged out to dox him offline? Did the sun rise from the west today?

In their astonishment, someone had already braved death to post on the app.

【Shocking! The Untold Story of Zhuge Yue and Pending Death!】

Among the gossiping crowd, one person remained frozen in place.

Pending Death... Isn't that the rookie Baili Dao recommended? He's friends with Zhuge Yue?

That psycho has friends?

Then maybe I can use him to sound her out... to find out what she's really planning in Mingyang City.

The person furiously brainstorming was none other than 【Xiezhi】.

He had been on his way to the plaza's black market to see if there were any suitable items he could buy to trade with 【Yan Shuangying】. But he never expected that the moment he logged in, he would witness a scene that made his brain short-circuit.

"Log out! Log out!"

"Baili Dao, get to my office, now!"

"I'm suddenly very interested in that rookie you mentioned!"

"We have to find a way to win him over!"