Chapter Seven: Resurrection and Reward

"This isn't the ceiling I'm familiar with." Upon awakening once more, Liu Zong stared blankly at the snow-white ceiling above him. He was well aware that he had already been ejected from the game and returned to the real world.

At that moment, a gentle voice drifted into his ears: "You're awake. It seems you've recovered well. However, you have already died once in the game and are now in a period of mental recovery. Please refrain from entering any games during this time. This is not a warning—please take it seriously."

Suddenly, a bright light enveloped Liu Zong, and a countdown appeared before his eyes in bold red letters: '90 days.'

Such circumstances were nothing new to Liu Zong. According to official sources, despite how closely games and reality had become intertwined, they remained two distinct worlds.

Players controlled their in-game characters with their mental strength. If a player died in the game, their mental strength would be damaged, and they had to recover before they could play again. Otherwise, the severe loss of mental strength could render them comatose.

Therefore, whenever a player died in the game, they would be sent to the hospital and given such a mark. Under its influence, they could only function in the real world and were barred from reentering the game until their mental strength was fully restored.

Liu Zong had anticipated all this when he accepted the mission that would guarantee his death. That was why he had made so many demands of the archer, to ensure that during these three months when he couldn’t log in, he wouldn’t suffer too significant a loss.

Different from others, the moment Liu Zong confirmed his in-game death, he immediately closed his eyes and fell asleep through meditation.

The instant he slept, he found himself in a violet void. The figure at the center of this space seemed much dimmer than before. As soon as Liu Zong entered, the figure began to practice a set of martial arts, the very same moves Liu Zong had mastered since childhood.

Unable to discern what had changed about the figure, Liu Zong withdrew from his meditation and sat up in bed.

After moving around and confirming he was mostly unharmed, Liu Zong stood up, intending to go for a walk. He had been preoccupied with his job placement for some time and hadn’t been home in ages.

Just as he rose to his feet, Liu Chun pushed open the door and entered. To Liu Zong’s astonishment, there was a red glowing dot at the center of Liu Chun’s brow—the very mark of someone recovering from a fatal in-game injury.

Liu Zong hurriedly asked, "Senior Liu, you too…?"

"It's normal. You'll get used to it," Liu Chun replied nonchalantly. "It's not just you and me—every student with dual cultivation in magic and martial arts who participated in the mission is like this."

Liu Zong was taken aback by this, but quickly said, "Never mind, you’d better not say anything more. I don't want to know."

Liu Chun laughed. "You're too cautious. Even if you didn’t ask, I’d still tell you. It’s an unspoken rule—you’ll get used to it eventually."

"Another unspoken rule?" Liu Zong said, a little helpless.

"Of course. It’s all about protecting everyone’s interests. Think about what the school promised every student—each of us gets one run at the five-man dungeon, right?"

Though unsure why Liu Chun brought this up, Liu Zong nodded.

"But the timing of those dungeon runs is obviously arranged by the school. With so many people, some waiting is inevitable. Most students don’t mind; after all, it’s a privilege to get a single shot at a five-man dungeon. But it’s different for us. We contributed greatly to this last operation.

Even though the rewards have been distributed, if they don’t give us an earlier slot for the dungeon, it wouldn’t be fair. But what could we do with an early run? Go for the world's first clear? Do you think we’re strong enough? Do we have a major guild or mercenary group backing us?

We don’t, and the school doesn’t want to risk it. After all, first clears can be sold for huge profits to the big guilds. So, the only option is for us to die once.

But killing us outright isn’t justifiable—so we’re given a mission with guaranteed death, and according to the unspoken rule, we receive corresponding compensation.

By the time our mental strength has recovered, three months will have passed. By then, not only the five-man dungeons, but even the first clears for the forty-man dungeons might be long over. At that point, whatever we ask for won’t matter to them."

As Liu Chun explained, Liu Zong nodded along. He might not have grasped every nuance, but he understood the gist of the current situation.

Suddenly, Liu Chun asked, "What are you planning to do during these three months?"

"Me?" Liu Zong looked up. "I want to go home for a visit. Ever since I started school, I’ve rarely been back. I have no idea how things are at home. And you, Senior?"

"I don’t have anywhere to go. I’ll probably spend three months in the library. I need to take advantage of this rare break to reevaluate my induction ceremony. I still feel there’s untapped potential."

"Same here. After I get back from home, I’ll spend some time in the library too. These past years, I’ve been rushing ahead. I should slow down and think carefully about my path forward," Liu Zong agreed.

Just then, the door opened, and a robot entered carrying a box. It scanned the room and then fixed its gaze on Liu Zong.

"Player number DS-54370681-157, this is your mail. Please sign for it."

Liu Zong motioned for the robot to bring the box over, signed on the screen it presented, and then opened the box.

Inside were several cards. The top two cards were entirely purple, their faces adorned with three silver stars.

The first card bore the image of a massive hippopotamus skull, with information written on the back:

[Skull of the Fallen Behemoth]

[Quality: Lv3 (Purple)]

[Uses: Alchemy, Forging, Architecture, Summoning Sacrifice]

[Description: The skull of a behemoth that perished on the road to the Behemoth Graveyard, still filled with unresolved resentment and unwillingness to return to the earth.]

The second card was a weapon—a dagger that appeared to be fashioned from a giant claw.

[Behemoth Claw Dagger]

[Quality: Lv3 (Purple)]

[Attack: 20–25]

[Attributes: +5 Strength, +1 Agility, +3 Constitution]

[Equipment Trait: Downgrade (This equipment can be used one level lower than required.)]

[Usable Classes: Thief, Assassin, Warrior, Hunter…]

[Required Level: Lv2]

It was clear at a glance—these were Liu Zong’s rewards for ‘slaying’ the behemoth. The skull was the item the archer had promised to handle for him, and the dagger must have been the equipment dropped by the behemoth, sent along as well.

Besides these, the rest were all rewards from the mission: ten units of green resources and a five-man dungeon pass, which everyone received from the academy, plus two items from the Silver-Eagle Twin-Headed Vulture, Caine—namely, a task list called [Caine’s Memories], and a blue-grade Lv2 magical material named [Caine’s Feather].

Lastly came the compensation for the certain-death mission from the Sunlight Squad: four thousand credits and thirty units of green resources, the standard price for student missions with guaranteed death, as well as a hire contract. This entitled Liu Zong to freely hire a team of mercenaries from the Sunlight Squad to escort him through one five-man dungeon.