The corridor outside the ward was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
Everyone held their breath, not daring to disturb the operation of the monitoring equipment. The atmosphere was oppressively suffocating.
“Asleep?”
Sun Zhao, the Deputy Chief of the Jiangcheng Special Incident Investigation Department, didn't look well either. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath.
To figure out the laws of the Instance and bring back the bodies of the deceased citizens, the combat squad led by Chen Xi had sacrificed four special operations members.
Of the six survivors, excluding the unconscious Ashima, the remaining five had all undergone comprehensive physical examinations and deep psychological counseling.
Yet, despite numerous experts consulting in turns and conducting repeated tests, even utilizing the nation's most advanced bioneurological research technology, they still couldn't wake Ashima up.
...
“Academician, there's still no anomaly.”
The young researcher responsible for data monitoring reported in a low voice, his tone carrying a deep sense of helplessness:
“Full-body scans, deep EEG analysis, core mental power detection... all indicators are completely normal. There are no organic lesions, no residual trauma, no unknown infections. We simply cannot find the cause of the coma.”
Sun Zhao suppressed the anxiety in her heart, turned to look at Academician Li, and spoke with deep confusion and caution:
“Academician Li, we've ruled out all possibilities. Should we consider an unconventional cause?
A top special forces soldier whose physical strength, willpower, and mental resilience far exceed ordinary people, immediately falls into an irreversible deep coma after escaping, without any external injuries or illness—
this has completely exceeded the explanatory scope of modern medicine. What do you think... is the reason?”
The countless consultations regarding the aberrated states of Lin Hao and Wang Lei had all ended in failure.
The government's understanding of Instances was still too superficial.
Currently, it was known that:
Unknown supernatural Instances existed, and inside them were bizarre rules of killing.
Ordinary people had a chance to awaken special abilities, but the Instances were fraught with danger, carrying an extremely high risk of death.
But as for the underlying logic of player skills, the energy consumption mechanism, the rules of class ranks, and the thresholds for ability backlash—the government was practically completely in the dark about these data points.
There were still too few samples, and they could only grope their way forward like a blind person crossing a river.
...
“All physiological indicators are normal, the body is completely undamaged, with no lesions, no infections, and no trauma.”
Academician Li stared at the steady, waveless stream of data on the screen for a long time before slowly offering a hypothesis:
“Then it isn't a physical illness. Traditional Chinese medicine has a theory regarding essence and qi. This comrade is highly likely to have spiritually exhausted herself.”
Everyone in the room focused their gaze, turning to look at the elderly academician.
Academician Li raised his hand and pointed to an extremely weak fluctuation curve on the monitor that ordinary people would almost ignore:
“Combining the oral testimonies, behavioral feedback, and performance of abilities of all current Instance survivors, we can make a bold deduction:
This unknown supernatural Instance system, in essence, follows a set of survival rules from an otherworldly realm that is completely independent of the real world.
If we treat the Instance as a super virtual game field running in reality, all the missing persons and survivors pulled into the secret realm are players randomly matched by the system.”
“Class Users can cast skills, which distinguishes them from ordinary players. Therefore, Class Users should possess two life systems.
The first is the physical health bar, corresponding to our real-world bodily functions, flesh and blood, and vital signs.
When the health bar reaches zero, the physical body dies, resulting in complete demise.
This is the conventional life system that we can see, detect, and understand.
The second is the spiritual mana bar.”
Academician Li's tone grew increasingly solemn, but the words he spoke overturned everyone's established understanding:
“The mana bar is an energy system exclusive to the Instance. It can be understood as mental power, mana, spell resource, psionic energy, or spiritual power—as long as the concept is understood.”
“Casting skills consumes the mana bar. The mana bar has an upper limit, a reserve capacity, a recovery speed, and cooldown restrictions.”
“The mana bar capacity of ordinary people and low-level players is extremely low, recovery is incredibly slow, and overdrawing it is highly damaging.”
“Once the mana bar is completely depleted and mental power is thoroughly overdrawn, although no physical injuries will occur, an ultimate state will manifest—forced hibernation, a consciousness lock-up.
In other words, the deep, irreversible coma we are seeing right now.”
This brand-new hypothesis perfectly explained Ashima's abnormal state.
“...Yes.”
Chen Xi, who had been standing silently with a cold expression, pursed her lips upon hearing these words:
“It's the Shepherd skill.”
Everyone instantly turned their heads to look at her.
“Deceased players disguised themselves as living people to call for help. To save them, Ashima cast the skill 【Felt Tent】 twice in succession within three days.”
Chen Xi's face was pale, and deep sorrow was hidden in her eyes:
“She wasn't injured. She just... completely drained all the mental power she could use to cast her skills.”
A dead silence fell over the room.
Everyone present was highly intelligent, and they immediately connected the two facts: 'players need mana to cast skills' and 'Ashima cast her skill twice in a row.'
To use a game as an analogy, Ashima, a level-two novice player, cast her skills consecutively, causing her mana bar to empty.
Humans are actually incredibly resilient.
If a leg is broken, it can be reattached and they will live.
Even if a head is severely injured, it can be stitched up in surgery.
During surgery, even if the abdomen is sliced open, the damaged parts inside removed, a couple of pieces of fat sliced off in the process, and the belly stitched back up, they won't die.
Yet, just two skill activations could plunge a special forces soldier into a deep sleep.
How fragile humans are.
How cruel the Instance rules are.
...
“...This is the hidden rule governing the operation of the entire Instance and player system.”
Academician Li let out a long sigh, his tone incredibly heavy:
“Player skills might have level locks, cooldown locks, mana locks, usage limits...”
“For low-level players, skills are a luxury, a trump card for survival. They must carefully manage how they use them.”
The members of the Special Investigation Department all had solemn expressions, a heavy sense of despair creeping into their hearts.
As the first group of people to directly face this catastrophe, they understood the terrifying hidden dangers behind this better than anyone else.
A brand-new operating rule and system.
Currently, there were fewer than thirty known Instance survivors nationwide.
Is this truly the first time Instances have appeared on Earth?
How terrifying are the unknown Instances and unknown ghosts lurking in the shadows?
Are there high-level players? Are there skills with no cooldowns? Are there zero-consumption abilities?
Do items, medicines, or skills that can replenish the mana bar exist?
They knew absolutely nothing about this.
The entire supernatural system was a complete shroud of mist to everyone, even to the government.
The government only knew a tiny bit more than ordinary people.
The sacrifice of four soldiers this time was the best proof.
Before the Instance, everyone was equal. Even the strong could die for various reasons, and even the weak might survive due to sheer luck.
When the massive wave of the era crashed down, no one could avoid it.
...
“First, centering on Jiangcheng, investigate the supernatural incidents breaking out in the surrounding provinces and cities.”
Sun Zhao quickly made a decision:
“An Province has already requested our assistance. Thirty people in the province collectively vanished after making wishes.
Our people speculate that there is a high probability they have all entered a newly born Instance. Once the Instance ends, a batch of new low-level players will inevitably emerge.”
“We must figure out the rules, accumulate data, and find a way to establish a balance before a larger disaster erupts.”
The researcher immediately responded, “Understood! Executing immediately!”
Meanwhile, Chen Xi stood outside the glass wall, placing her hand against the glass.
The next second, her eyes widened in surprise, and she spun her head around in sheer ecstasy. “She's awake! Ashima is awake! Doctor!”
Inside the ward, the short-haired woman opened her eyes and slowly yawned.
It was as if she had just taken a nap.
...
【Thirty people mysteriously vanished across An Province; the eerie Wishing Livestream Room has been banned across the entire internet.】
【A nationwide internet cleanup campaign has been launched; all supernatural content has been completely taken down.】
【Multiple departments are jointly supervising the major supernatural disappearance case with the highest priority.】
When ordinary people casually opened any app on their phones, a dense cluster of trending search terms with red 'Hot' tags rushed at them:
#30 People Collectively Vanish in An Province [HOT]#
#Eerie Wishing Livestream Room Investigated Internet-wide#
#Families of the Missing Speak Out, Demanding the Truth#
#Are the Jiangcheng and An Province Disappearance Cases Linked?#
#Official Response: Investigation Fully Underway#
#Rumors of Human Longevity Experiments Debunked#
#Late-Night Strange Livestream Room Warning#
...
Of the top twenty trending search terms, seventeen were related to the An Province disappearance case.
The level of popularity was on a completely different level, completely crushing all entertainment and social news.
The official announcements of top-tier celebrities, which usually dominated the trending searches, were pushed down hundreds of places.
The view count of the top search term had already surpassed twelve billion, with discussions exceeding eight million.
And this view count was still climbing at a terrifying speed.
...
【Location: Huaicheng, An Province. My childhood friend is on the missing list! Just last week, he was complaining to me about his low salary and wanting to get rich quick, and how his boss was a piece of work. Yesterday, his parents called the police. Their home security camera caught him sitting on the sofa playing on his phone in the middle of the night. The screen suddenly went black, and the guy just vanished! Not a single trace left! The police were completely dumbfounded when they arrived!】
【Can we stop saying they ran away from home? Thirty people, ranging from a sixteen-year-old student to a fifty-eight-year-old street vendor—spread across thirteen cities in the province, running away at the exact same time? Use your brain, is that even possible?】
【I work in cybersecurity. Inside info: they can't track the IP of that Wishing Livestream Room at all. It's like it appeared out of thin air. The tech department is about to go bald from pulling their hair out, and they still haven't found the source.】
【Could it really be a new tactic by northern Myanmar scam syndicates? Specifically targeting people looking for shortcuts, then kidnapping them remotely and smuggling them out?】
【But smuggling thirty people out at the same time is too ridiculous. There isn't a single checkpoint record.】
【No matter how ruthless northern Myanmar is, they can't make people vanish on the spot. This is clearly not something humans can do. Can we please face reality?】
【There have always been things in this world that science can't explain.】
【Feels just like the Jiangcheng University haunting. Both are completely baffling.】
【My mom just called me and told me not to play on my phone tonight. She said a grandson of an old lady in her square dancing group also went missing. She's crying her eyes out, saying she'll hang herself at the entrance of the police station if she doesn't find her grandson.】
【Rumor has it that it's a secret scientific research project, specifically kidnapping ordinary people to extract longevity substances from their brain marrow to extend the lives of top elites... It sounds absurd, but what if... The more I think about it, the more terrified I get.】
【Please, official accounts, stop just posting 'under investigation'! Can we get some actual progress?】
【Yeah, thirty living people vanishing into thin air, the public really has zero sense of security!】
【I was staying up late working on a proposal that night, and around three in the morning, I actually came across that livestream. I thought it was spam and swiped away immediately. Thinking back on it now sends shivers down my spine!】
【Any metaphysics experts here care to weigh in?】
【I asked my master, and he said there's an issue with the ley lines in An Province. A rat spirit has emerged and is sucking people's souls, probably trying to achieve immortality.】
...
【Can we stop with the feudal superstitions? I think there's a high probability it's a new type of cybercrime, using some kind of hypnosis or drug technology to remotely control the victims to leave on their own. It's just that the method is so stealthy it hasn't been detected yet.】
【I'm a community grid worker. We got an emergency notice this morning to check door-to-door for recently missing persons and to survey if anyone has encountered strange livestream rooms. It's super formal, feels like things are way more serious than what's being reported in the news.】
【Can we stop with the organ trafficking theories? Matching, operating on, and transporting the organs of thirty people without leaving a single trace is impossible. Use your brains.】
【I'm a high school senior. Our class meeting today was specifically about this. Our homeroom teacher told us to uninstall all niche short-video apps and made us hand in our phones after 10 PM. I kind of don't want to hand mine in.】
【Could it be that a portal to a parallel world has opened? These people were sucked into another world? Maybe they're still alive, just unable to return.】
【Doesn't the conscience of those claiming it's a publicity stunt hurt? Thirty families are involved, and their relatives are waiting at the entrance of the police station. Who would use their own family members' lives to hype up a topic?】
【I think the government should release the details as soon as possible. The more they cover it up, the easier it is for rumors to spread. The rumors are getting scarier, which is actually bad for stability.】
【Just received a warning text from my mobile carrier. It's the first time I've ever received this kind of safety alert.】
【Then it seems things are indeed very serious. Everyone, be careful lately.】
Song Mo put down her phone. The threads connecting the three Instances came together in her mind, and a new plan slowly unfolded.
She had known long ago that as the scale of the Instances expanded, turmoil would inevitably arise.
She just hadn't expected that the disappearance of a mere thirty people would stir up such a massive storm.
Because according to Song Mo's plan, the general public wouldn't find out about the existence of Instances until she had created at least her tenth Instance.
In the end, this world had been peaceful for far too long.
People had long grown accustomed to science and order. Once something beyond their comprehension appeared, panic would spread like wildfire.
She rubbed her fingertips together and looked at the 《Old Lady Huang's Birthday Celebration》 Instance once more.
Within the three mirrored instances, new changes seemed to have occurred.
...
...
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