Realized Game: I Hoarded 10 Billion Defense Towers

After reviewing the situation in the Secret Realm, Zero judged that there was a high probability the NPCs who hadn’t had their memories erased would come to Qing City. Therefore, she secretly used her Ethereum Editor ability to become invisible and lie in wait around Qing City, all while constantly gathering intelligence from the Forum. Just as she expected, she eventually caught him: Divine King Tang San, who was clearly an NPC.

Zero was slightly surprised to find that the NPC who had retained his memories was Divine King Tang San—the very one whose appearance Shen Fei had impersonated in the Secret Realm. She teleported him away at once. Just as Tang San suspected, now that Zero knew about the special area, the first thing she wanted to do was go there and gather more information. I can’t talk about my memories from the Secret Realm, but I can definitely talk about any intel I gather myself. Wanting to warn humanity, after capturing Tang San to act as her guide, Zero immediately used her special "Ethereal Forbidden Break" ability to open a passage into the special area. This was the third ability she had inherited just this evening.

FLASH! FLASH!

After two flashes of bright light, Zero and Tang San found themselves standing inside the special area of the Cloud Dream Swamp.

Sensing he was back in the special area—not the one he was from, but a special area nonetheless—a bewildered Tang San asked in shock, "How did you get in so easily?! Humans are forbidden from entering the special area right now! There’s a barrier up!"

"Let’s go. Don’t even think about running. You can’t escape." Ignoring Tang San’s questions, Zero dusted off her hands and started walking forward.

"I..." Already scared witless by Shen Fei, Tang San hesitated for a moment before scurrying to follow Zero.

I can’t beat her. There’s no way I can beat her. He remembered the Great Chaos Secret Realm, had witnessed Zero use Breaking the Ban to enter the special area, and had seen her wielding two Divine Artifacts. Tang San knew he couldn’t get away. If he dared to run, the Teleportation Gate that had appeared beneath his feet earlier would simply reappear. If that gate opened a few more times, the NPCs in this special area might sense it and come to investigate. For him, that would be even more dangerous. I can’t run. There’s no escape!

Tang San never expected that he, who had originally planned to become the follower of the strongest human player, Shen Fei, would end up becoming Zero’s follower instead.

"Hm?"

A dozen or so seconds later, just as Tang San was adjusting his mindset and starting to think that following Zero might not be so bad, he suddenly saw Zero frown and stop in her tracks.

[Ding!]

[Version 4.2 full update!]

[New Forum datafication fully deployed!!]

[Inter-nation Forum access permissions have been partitioned! Access to other nations’ Forums is now prohibited!]

[Ding!]

[Special privilege player detected on the Forum!]

[Revoking relevant privileges immediately!!]

[Ding!]

[Credit Points issuance authority is now fully rule-based!]

As Zero watched, dumbfounded, the full update to Version 4.2 triggered an immediate chain reaction on the new Forum. She saw that with the update, her privileges on the Forum—which were already rapidly diminishing—were completely revoked in an instant. Moreover, the feature allowing users from different nations to visit each other’s Forums, though seldom used, was also canceled. After the complete update of Version 4.2, the system’s rules had reclaimed authority over the Forum, and the ability for nations to visit and communicate with one another was completely disabled. From now on, the only ways to communicate between nations would be via Divine Artifact Link or the [Ninth World].

[Ding!]

[Player Zero’s indelible contributions to the establishment of the Forum for inter-player communication have been detected!]

[As a special reward, you are granted a unique privilege: The ability to enter other nations’ Forums...]

All her privileges had been revoked, so Zero never expected to be given compensation in the blink of an eye.

[Ding!]

[The full updates to Versions 4.1 and 4.2 have caused major instability!]

[The full reveal and optimization for Versions 4.3 and 4.4 will be postponed. Implementation will occur in ten hours!]

[In ten hours, the corresponding versions 4.3 and 4.4 will be implemented...]

After her surprise, she also saw the notice about the postponement of the rule manifestation for Versions 4.3 and 4.4.

"Let’s go."

The rules had shifted, and her privileges had vanished. After waiting a moment and seeing no new notifications appear, Zero started walking again, heading deeper into the special area. Regardless of how Versions 4.3 and 4.4 might change, her current objective was to investigate the NPCs and Super Bosses in the special area in order to warn humanity. Having abandoned Mist City to avoid Shen Fei, her sole objective now was to find something that would serve as a warning for all human players. Since she was the only human with her memories intact, this was her responsibility.

Although her memories from the Great Chaos Secret Realm hadn’t been erased, just thinking about Shen Fei gave her a headache. For now, however, she had no choice but to seal those memories away and focus wholeheartedly on investigating the NPCs and Super Bosses in the special area.

With a wave from Zero, Tang San, who had already been thoroughly cowed into submission, obediently followed her. The two of them got their bearings and headed into the depths of the Cloud Dream Swamp’s special area, a region spanning tens of thousands of kilometers.

「Qing City, by the Heaven-Reaching Tower.」

After confirming that no other update notifications would appear following the announcement delaying Versions 4.3 and 4.4, Shen Fei focused his full attention on testing his new abilities.

SHIMMER. SHIMMER. SHIMMER.

He activated several newly inherited passive skills, such as Attack Aura and Range Aura. These had originally been Crystal Skills and could now be enhanced.