Chapter 419
The night sky outside began to brighten visibly, as if someone were switching slides on a PowerPoint presentation, or perhaps the starry night was merely a stack of photographs being flipped through by an invisible hand.
When the final bell tolled, the sky had transformed into a brilliant expanse, with a glowing object resembling a ladle hanging above—perhaps this was the sun of this world.
At the same time, all players heard another notification.
【New Surprise Easter Egg Lucky Employee Key Information: Players who obtained the qualification of a divine game player 8,580 years ago in Xinghai and have participated in the divine game fewer than 15 times since then will have a 50% increased chance of being hit by the surprise Easter egg. If hit, there is a 20% chance of randomly losing one divine talent skill.】
This patch seemed endless!
After venting her frustration, Yu Xunge immediately sensed the subtlety of this game participation rule.
It pertained to a rule of the world battlefield. For instance, Yu Xunge's divine game rule stated that if she did not participate in the divine game within 50 days, she would permanently lose her qualification as a divine game player.
In other words, to retain her status as a divine game player, she had to participate at least once every two months.
The flow of time in Zai Jiu was different from that in the world battlefield; time in the world battlefield followed Xinghai time, which had 15 months in a year, with each month having 21 days.
Yu Xunge had been observing this for a long time. She noticed that every time she entered the game, it was always on the 1st, 8th, or 15th.
In other words, Zai Jiu had games every 15 days, which translated to one divine game every 7 days in the world battlefield.
Over the course of a year in Xinghai, there would be a total of 48 games in the world battlefield. Players who participated in fewer than 15 games in a year were almost certainly just passing time, skirting the limits while using the minimum number of games to maintain their qualifications.
This rule was clearly punishing those players who engaged in the game passively.
Recalling the bustling battlefield chat channel that had revived because of her, she felt a vague connection to this change, but dismissed the thought as overly self-centered. She quickly pushed it aside, even feeling embarrassed to mention it to B8017913.
B8017913: "This rule probably has something to do with you."
Yu Xunge: "Huh? Really? Hahaha, you think so too?! Ahem, I mean... I had a vague sense that it might be like that."
B8017913: "…"
【Chapter 545: Divine Game: Nonsense Restaurant 50】
Yu Xunge glanced around to ensure that the rabbit, crab, and octopus were not watching her. She tried to adopt a serious demeanor: "Ahem, tell me more."
B8017913: "…For players, if they ultimately cannot achieve a ranking that matches their combat power, the attributes lost due to divine punishment after a divine game will far exceed the rewards gained."
"If you don't play well, the more frequently you participate, the more you might lose."
"So many players, after believing their combat power is sufficient to protect their power and interests, become reluctant to participate in the divine game."
"My calculations tell me that today's rule is a signal, a beginning. The divine beings want to clean out those who occupy game qualifications but do not enjoy the game and no longer need it."
Yu Xunge: "Hasn't this situation been around for a long time? They can't have just discovered it today."
B8017913: "Because before today, the divine game wasn't boring."
"Even if some players occupied game slots but didn't play much, the divine game was still running, with countless strong players doing their utmost to participate, trying to climb higher and become stronger."
"But your presence has illuminated the dust, making it unbearable for the divine beings."
The rabbit, now back from checking out ten types of tables and chairs, hopped onto the table next to Zai Jiu Xunge. Watching her suddenly fussing over her hair, it asked, "What are you doing?"
Yu Xunge pulled a strand of beast sinew from her backpack and tied her hair into a small bun at the back of her head, then began to arrange the loose strands to make them look more natural and stylish.
She casually replied, "Image management."
Rabbit 4: ?
B8017913: "…"
Yu Xunge found a table with a mirror-like surface to assess her current appearance.
It had been a long time since she had scrutinized herself so seriously. The data panel's various statistics and detailed skill descriptions were far more appealing and worthy of study than her own face.
At that moment, the reflection in the table seemed strangely unfamiliar.
During the early days of her rebirth, her aura was complex and mysterious, a blend of various divine talents that made her beauty appear different each time one looked at her.
The enigma of the Thief God, the coldness of the Undying, the flamboyance and sharpness of the Marksman, the warmth and approachability of the God of Food, along with her own restraint and madness.
Now, those qualities seemed to have settled, revealing her true self.
She had always thought she was disguised well, like a deer targeted by a hunter in the forest—alert yet harmless, allowing her enemies to lower their guard while she waited for the right moment to strike back. But upon closer inspection, it seemed otherwise.
In truth, she had a gentle, intellectual appearance, tinged with a scholarly air. In the past, no matter what hairstyle she wore, she always looked like a research-type person who spent years in a lab.
Two years had passed, and while that scholarly air remained, it had been infused with a sharpness. Even now, as she gazed at herself, her eyes held a sense of scrutiny and exploration.
There was no deep-seated bitterness; her face still bore the lingering smile from her chat with B8017913, but now it was tinged with a hint of mischief—looking like someone who might be up to no good at any moment.
Coupled with her frequent battles on the edge of life and death, and clashes with strong opponents, her posture, gaze, and presence were now filled with an imminent sense of combat, as if she were ready to run, fight, destroy, or kill at any second.
Yu Xunge muttered softly, "…I look like a dangerous troublemaker."
That said, Zai Jiu Xunge clearly looked quite pleased with herself. Rabbit 4 didn’t understand but decided to head out to gather supplies.
Before leaving, it asked, "Do you need any ingredients?"
Yu Xunge blurted out, "Tingzhou Mirror Goose."
After 190 days of research and practice, that was indeed the highest-scoring dish she could currently make.
Rabbit 4: "…"
It looked exasperated as it went to find the octopus barrel to collect the money for supplies. The latter divided the various currencies it had received, excluding skill icons, giving half to Rabbit 4.
With a money bag twice the size of Rabbit 4 standing before it, Rabbit 4 remarked, "Is that all you're buying?"
Octopus Barrel: "If it's not enough, just go steal some more. Find a few players to turn into ingredients."
Even if all that money was spent, the revenue and restaurant ranking wouldn’t change. But if the event package got lost on the way, wouldn’t that be a waste? While it didn’t lack money, it didn’t see the need to dip into its own funds for Rabbit 4’s work.
Rabbit 4 thought about it too. After stuffing the mountain-sized money bag into its belly pocket, it headed out, just as it brushed past customers in the food street.
At that moment, the guests who had entered the food street after the business hours began to arrive at the location of Restaurant 353.
They were a group of variously dressed figures, all resembling… fruits?
There were Zai Jiu, Mai Mang, Ze Lan, and some unique vegetables and fruits from different worlds that Yu Xunge had learned about in cooking class with Teacher Bai Xiong.
Most of them were just over a meter tall, reminding Yu Xunge of the robotic vendors in the Diamond Miner Market.
Just then, an orange cherry stopped at the entrance of Restaurant 353.
Yu Xunge immediately looked up at the cherry's stem—there was a stem! It wasn’t that one!
Little Seahorse had already taken the new menu Yu Xunge had drafted in advance to serve the guests—this menu was based on the ingredients available in the restaurant after her cooking class.
Yu Xunge decided to retreat to the kitchen…
Little Seahorse quickly delivered the menu to the kitchen, as it was now fully responsible for serving the guests.
Yu Xunge: "Where's Mai Mang Crab?"
Little Seahorse: "Left, what's up?"
"Oh, really? Never mind." Yu Xunge glanced at the menu and began to get busy.
B8017913: "Are you planning to rank before or after 8,000?"
Yu Xunge: "That’s not the key issue anymore. Our restaurant might not even make it to the first round of eliminations."
B8017913: "Looks like you’ve thought of that too."
Yu Xunge: "Talking to you is always so easy."
Clearly, they both understood the crux of the problem.
For event packages, players above Abyss level, and cosmic wanderers, the safest and least costly approach in this game was to become a black market player.
Become a black market player just before the hourly elimination system starts, remain a black market player for over an hour, then snag a position cursor before being expelled to the Dark Food Street, and finally become a black market player again before the new round of eliminations begins.
In other words, using the black market identity to skip the elimination kills, bypass the surprise blind box, and avoid the special penalty of +1 kill count.
Most players confident in their combat power would likely do this; they wouldn’t leave their fate to "random."
But therein lay the problem: how to minimize the losses from being killed?
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