Chapter Sixty-Nine: Antoun

Xie Jing felt a strange sense of wonder.

It was as if he stood at the intersection of two worlds, surrounded by rifts and tears in reality. At times, with the slightest slip, he would find himself pulled into the world of DNF, only to be yanked back by some unseen force.

Just moments ago, he had glimpsed a monster, landed the finishing blow, and before he could even see what loot had dropped, he was whisked back into his own time and place.

He was still standing atop the ruins of the Energy Center. The great black pillar of the Abyssal Party had been unsealed, revealing the white, radiant column within. The summoned demons were all vanquished, not a trace left behind.

In his hand, he held the prize he’d just snatched—a hilt of white and gold. This was the item he had managed to seize.

Barumuk’s Sword, known by players as the Hand-Spun Light.

In the game, the Sword Saint class possessed the formidable Ghost Sword technique—every empty skill slot increased damage by 5%. Paired with the epic shoulder armor from the Magic War set and the Proof of True Manhood, it was the most supreme configuration imaginable!

Xie Jing already had the Proof of True Manhood, worn around his ankle.

But there was a problem—he had no empty skill slots!

Puzzled, Xie Jing examined the lightsaber in his hand and noticed that some of its attributes had changed.

[Barumuk’s Sword: For each skill used, increases damage by 5%, up to a maximum of 60%.]

How insanely overpowered!

Instead of needing to leave skills unassigned, now every skill activated boosted his damage. The amplification was staggering!

He gave the hilt a flick, and suddenly a sharp beam of light shot forth, shimmering with flecks of starlight.

He crouched, gathered his strength, and then—

Draw Slash!

A wave of swordlight, far stronger than before, burst forth, cleaving through the ruins ahead.

He could feel a surge of power resonating from the blade, its brilliance blazing even brighter.

“Perfect!” Xie Jing relished the effect, contentedly stowing away the lightsaber and tossing aside the original Luminous Sword he’d picked up earlier.

He had no idea that, back at the Abyssal Pillar he’d just cleared, Jiuri Beibei stood turning left and right, utterly baffled by what had just occurred.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, I got it all on video! Some mysterious DNF event just happened!!!”

“Hurry, hurry, go find that NPC from the racing quest! Make him compensate you with a Hand-Spun Light!”

“I’m starting to think this game is way more complicated than it seems. Something top-secret must have happened. Everyone, be careful—don’t get whisked away. I’m already hiding my female charac—”

“Is the person above alright? You didn’t finish your sentence...”

The chat was lively with banter. Yet there were some silent, low-level accounts lurking, quietly observing the livestream...

Xie Jing pressed onward. None of the lesser monsters around could threaten him anymore. As for elite mobs and ordinary bosses, they only managed to hold out for a few seconds longer.

In DNF, regular dungeons merely served for grinding experience. Having finally found such a lucrative spot, Xie Jing focused solely on farming, ignoring all distractions.

He pressed forward, monsters pouring in without end, and he cut them down relentlessly. In no time, he gained another level.

And soon, he reached the end of the path.

The sky was dim. Before him stretched a vast, black sea. The sound of waves crashing against rocks filled his ears.

In the distance, lava sprayed and illuminated a dark volcanic crater, black mist swirling about—a colossal volcano.

What a sight it was! The beast before him straddled half the sea, four massive legs like pillars holding aloft mountains on its shell. Deep, rumbling roars echoed, harbingers of destruction and death.

Antuen, the Apostle!

Known by players as the Great Turtle.

Behind its hulking form rose black volcanoes and rolling mountains. Its size reminded Xie Jing of the legendary Kun from the classic tale “Wandering Beyond”—so vast, none could fathom its true measure.

This was the mightiest beast in the game at present!

In the game, players had to form elite teams of twenty, dispel the black mist around Antuen, break its four legs, dismantle the volcanic barrier, and finally shatter its heart to defeat it.

And this was only a projection of Antuen in this dimension, not its true body.

Otherwise, there’d be no way to farm so many Antuens!

Staring at Antuen, Xie Jing assessed himself. Against such a monster, with his current strength, he stood no chance.

He was at least self-aware. His power was formidable, but nowhere near enough to challenge an Apostle who had survived for thousands upon thousands of years.

What was the best course of action?

Looking at the monsters closing in on him again, Xie Jing knew the answer.

Level up! Hunt for epics!

Draw Slash!

Swordlight flashed, cleaving through scores of monsters. Green blood spattered, then transformed into motes of experience that flowed into Xie Jing's body.

That night, the long-dormant Bilibili account of Edward Shate uploaded a new video.

This time, it wasn’t a beautiful young woman on screen, but the enormous head of a turtle.

Those who received the notification eagerly opened the video, expecting a pretty girl, but left disappointed—only the gamers stayed, marveling at what they saw.

“I’ve never seen Antuen’s full body before, now my wish is fulfilled!”

“My mom asked why I’m kneeling while watching this...”

“This is incredible! What quality, what production value! Outstanding!”

In the comments, some observant viewers began scrutinizing the footage frame by frame.

“No way… is this the real Antuen?”

“It looks too real! The cost for such special effects would be astronomical. What are you up to, uploader?!”

“Could another world actually exist?! Is our game for real?!”

The last commenter, upon posting, found their account instantly banned and their comment wiped clean.

There were eyes watching every move made on this video.

Now, under current circumstances, no extraneous rumors could be allowed to spread.

It wasn’t for any other reason—simply a preemptive measure.

…

Three days later, Xie Jing returned to Dark City to resupply, then once more infiltrated the Energy Center to grind.

This time, just as he stepped into the ruins, he heard the sounds of a fierce battle ahead.

A moment later, he saw a region shrouded in eerie violet mist. There, a lithe figure had a monster pinned, kneeling atop it, her delicate fist pounding down again and again until its skull was smashed to pieces.

Finally, the figure, tossing her long white hair, casually shattered a crystal nearby and picked up the precious material, the Demonic Stone, hidden within.

Their eyes met for a fleeting moment as the woman whipped her hair and strode off without a backward glance.

And Xie Jing, almost without thinking, followed after her.