[Real World]
[Central Province, Luoyang]
Night had fallen over the land.
The city glittered with neon lights and bustling nightlife.
[Nightfall Bar]
A middle-aged man wearing a black leather jacket, with sharp eyes like a killer and a terrifying scar carved across his face, walked into the bar.
"Same as usual, one Night Rain."
After greeting the girl at the counter, the man sat down smoothly and skillfully lit a cigarette.
His gaze swept across the lively crowd of young people, as if searching for someone.
There was a trace of unease in his sharp eyes.
At that moment—
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
His phone rang.
The man took out his phone, looked at the encrypted number on the screen, and nervously answered.
"Boss, I've followed your instructions and arrived at Nightfall Bar. Where are you?"
So the reason Tyrant showed up here was because of the "boss's" arrangement.
On the other end of the call, the voice, processed through a voice changer, didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point, ["Do you see the fruit knife on the bar to your left?"]
Tyrant instinctively looked to his left and indeed saw a fruit knife placed on the counter.
His heart jolted violently.
He immediately realized: the boss, or someone planted by him, had to be inside this bar right now.
Tyrant hurriedly scanned the surroundings again, trying to find the person.
Just then, the voice on the phone continued, ["Don't try to find me. Next, do as I say…"]
After hearing what the boss said next, cold sweat poured down Tyrant's forehead. He looked again at the fruit knife on the bar, his breathing quickening, his hands trembling uncontrollably.
At this moment, he was struggling inside, as if making a decision.
A decision between life and death.
Even someone like him, who usually killed without blinking, hesitated for a full three seconds before finally making his choice.
"Sir, your Night Rain."
Almost at the same time the girl at the counter placed the freshly mixed drink in front of him, Tyrant suddenly grabbed the fruit knife with his right hand, placed his left hand on the counter, and without hesitation, with a "slash," chopped off his little finger.
"AHHHH!"
He himself didn't make a sound.
Instead, the girl at the counter screamed in terror, covering her mouth as she backed away.
That scream drew the attention of many people in the bar.
The next moment, under everyone's gaze, Tyrant gritted his teeth, dropped the severed finger into the glass, and then drank the entire cup in one go.
That scene shocked everyone present.
"Holy shit! That guy's insane!"
"This… this is way too messed up!"
Enduring the intense pain, Tyrant ignored the stares around him and resolutely put the phone back to his ear.
The voice on the other end came again, ["Not bad."]
["Remember, this is just a small punishment for not completing my task within 24 hours."]
["I'll give you one more chance. If you can't kill Rulebound within a day, it won't be just one finger next time."]
Tyrant clenched his teeth, "Yes! Tyrant will not fail the mission!"
After hanging up, Tyrant pulled out a hundred-yuan bill and slapped it on the table.
Then, under countless eyes in the bar, he walked out without looking back.
———
Back at the rented room—
His roommate, Tyrant Dragon, saw Tyrant return injured and hurried over, "Boss! What happened?"
Tyrant didn't explain, only said one sentence: "If Rulebound isn't dead within 24 hours, we'll die in his place!"
Tyrant Dragon's face turned pale with shock.
At the same time, he felt despair.
"After the previous two failures, people from Paradise, Bloodthirst, Martial God, and Emperor guilds are no longer willing to cooperate with us."
"Rulebound is overwhelmingly powerful, and he's even the vice president of the Divine Nation guild. With just our Storm guild, how can we possibly deal with him?"
Tyrant gritted his teeth, "Those four are useless! Even if they helped, they still couldn't handle Rulebound!"
"The only person who can kill him, there's just one!"
Tyrant Dragon asked in confusion, "Who?"
Tyrant's eyes turned sharp, "The Shadow Sword God, Black Night."
"Black Night's strength is evenly matched with Rulebound. With the support of our Storm guild, we might actually be able to deal with him."
After feeling a bit hopeful, Tyrant Dragon then said regretfully, "But because of that S-grade skill book incident last time, Black Night has already become enemies with us. And Rulebound even saved him back then."
"Even if we offer a huge amount of money, there's no way Black Night would help us deal with Rulebound."
Tyrant's gaze was cold as he said, "Then we use other means."
"If I can't deal with Rulebound, I don't believe I can't deal with just a Black Night."
———
[Guangyue Province, Shuishui City, Yuancheng District]
[First People's Hospital]
Inside the ward—
Lu Ye sat by his daughter Lu Nannan's bedside, patiently telling her a fairy tale.
Before they knew it, it was already 8 p.m.
Thinking about the meeting time with [Mo] approaching, Lu Ye closed the book and said to Lu Nannan, "Nannan, Dad has something to take care of. After I'm done, I'll come back and stay with you, okay?"
Lu Nannan nodded and said obediently, "Okay, Dad, go ahead!"
After leaving the hospital, Lu Ye went to a small hotel next to it.
To conveniently take care of Nannan while still being able to log into Divine Oracle to earn money for medical expenses, Lu Ye had long ago rented a storage room in this hotel at the cheapest price.
Returning to the dark, narrow, barely livable storage room, Lu Ye turned on the computer, put on the Divine Oracle helmet, and logged into the game.
———
[Ding~ Player Black Night, welcome back to the world of Divine Oracle!]
Whoosh!
White light descended.
Just as he logged into Inferno City, a private message suddenly popped up.
[Mianmian Xiaoyu (Lv50 Second Advancement High Priest): "Uncle Lu Ye, you're finally online!"]
"Qin Xiaoyu?", Seeing the ID "Mianmian Xiaoyu," Lu Ye immediately called out her real name.
Among all the clients he had ever helped with boosting, she was one of the few he could remember.
And being remembered meant she was special.
Lu Ye recalled that he met Qin Xiaoyu back in a third-tier main city.
She was only 18, graceful and delicate, yet so mature it made people feel for her.
Her younger sister, Qin Xiaoyue, was ill.
To make quick money for her sister's treatment, she had joined Divine Oracle on a friend's suggestion, grinding materials and equipment day and night for paying players.
Once, after spending half a day collecting materials, they were taken over by a leader monster, the [Goblin Chief].
But she couldn't defeat it.
So she searched online for someone in the same city to help.
And she found Lu Ye, who charged the lowest rates.
Lu Ye took the job, killed the Goblin Chief, and helped her recover the stolen materials.
The standard fee for that job was two thousand yuan.
But after learning about Qin Xiaoyu's situation, that she was earning money to save her sister, Lu Ye returned the two thousand to her.
He didn't take her money.
In the end, Qin Xiaoyu still gave him one thousand yuan, ("Uncle Lu, thank you! But please accept this money. Just treat it as buying some fruit for little sister Nannan. I hope she recovers soon.")
It was that sentence that made Lu Ye remember Qin Xiaoyu.
So Lu Ye asked Mianmian Xiaoyu, ["What's wrong, Xiaoyu?"]
Qin Xiaoyu seemed a bit uneasy.
["Uncle Lu… can you help me one more time?"]
["My friend has been trapped by people from the Storm guild. They're people who once helped me… Uncle Lu, can you come help me save my friend?"]
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