The poison-warding pearl shone brightly, and the silver pillar's light waves dispersed the poisonous fog layer by layer. Of course, none of that really mattered.
None of that mattered to these two Bosses.
"Wishing you success in everything, stars shining upon you, all your wishes fulfilled, and may all your dreams come true!" One Boss, two blessings evenly distributed, and then the action list was activated.
The bait players who had stayed in the room began retreating and running out, leaving the room to those players to fight. The fence-sitter team hesitated for a moment—then saw a sight they would never forget, one that made them wish they could gouge out their own eyes! If heaven could give them another chance, they would definitely turn around and leave, never looking back.
The corpse ghost knelt on one knee before the poison toad, confessing its love with deep affection, speaking tender, lingering words—yet the poison toad remained a toad. Only, it stood up, its plump, warty legs twisting as it stepped forward—randomly triggering a magical girl's singing and dancing routine!
Both Bosses looked utterly miserable. Before Mu Anqi could even pull the trigger, before Chen Niannian had fully raised her hand… before any other player could launch an attack, they cried out in agony: "Kill us! Give us a quick death!"
At those words, Mu Anqi and the others were stunned. The scene… was indeed eye-searing, but she hadn't expected that the two performers themselves would be the ones who couldn't take it. They were already monsters—so what if they danced together and exchanged a few sweet words… was it really that unbearable?
This game's monsters seriously lacked self-restraint.
The players who had been visually polluted couldn't stand it anymore either. Chen Niannian's voice trembled: "A-are you going to do it, or should we? I… I can't look for another second."
Mu Anqi was silent for a moment. Seeing that the two Bosses were completely hopeless and begging for death, she raised her rifle and fired, mowing down the ghost corpse and the poison toad.
They dropped a severed right arm of the ghost corpse and a basketball-sized toad corpse.
With that, the sacrifices were complete.
Mu Anqi and her team checked their items, went up to the sixth floor, and placed all the loot dropped by the Bosses onto the altar. Then they lit incense and candles, offering silk and a ritual text. At first, Mu Anqi and the others wondered whether they should read the text aloud—after all, they didn't know the proper order for the ritual—but then they thought: this is just part of the storyline, setting it up should be enough. The Bosses were already dead, so the game should be ending soon anyway.
Mu Anqi divided the stack of spirit money among her teammates, and each of them burned quite a bit. When the last piece of paper money was finally consumed, the flames suddenly flared up violently, as if triggered by something, and engulfed all the items on the altar in fire.
The flames spread, igniting the cloth strips on the sixth floor. Mu Anqi and her team stood beside the coffin, yet the fire curved around them, as though an invisible barrier was protecting them. Amid the roaring blaze, the vast ancient tomb-apartment seemed to transform into a gigantic burning grave, and the flames cleansed everything—
[Game Cleared: Ancient Tomb Apartment. Evaluating Rank——]
[Rank Evaluation: S (You have earned the reverence of the monster Bosses!)]
[Passive Triggered! You have gained 2500 Clear Points]
[Drawing Formal Player Clear Reward Item——]
[Ding! Congratulations, Player has obtained [Alcohol Disinfectant Spray]]
[Alcohol Disinfectant Spray]: No special effect.
[Special Mark Detected!]
[Beep! Please enter the next game within seven days! (Or you will be forced into the game after 168 hours)]
[Return to Nirvana Space?]
No.
The game ended, and the Ancient Tomb Apartment vanished. At the very instant they received the game notification, they found themselves standing on the empty ground where the tomb apartment had once been built.
"This time after clearing the game, I finally unlocked the special shop."
Their teammates all stayed for a while, while the other players were nowhere to be seen—probably already returned to the Nirvana Space.
Mu Anqi curiously asked, "What are your plans now?"
"Save up points. Master wants to go play in the Cultivation Realm," Xia Yun scratched her head. "As for my old world… the me there was nothing special anyway. I'd rather stay here, keep training in powerful sword techniques, and once I have enough points to enter the Cultivation Realm, maybe I can become a sword cultivator."
"I'll probably save points here too. If… if I really manage to save enough someday… maybe I'll go travel through other realms with Si Suying?" Zhao Gu scratched her head, looking unsure about her own future. As for ordinary resurrection—sure, she'd had decent luck when alive, but nothing like those born with divine fortune. She was quite content with her current life: she'd added Si Suying as a friend, even drew a Link Card after one game, and after using it, every time she returned to the Nirvana Space, she and Si Suying would end up in the same channel… Life right now was pretty good. Of course, if only the Nirvana Space didn't force them into a new game every seven days, it would be even better.
She couldn't let go of the memories from the games, nor did she want to forget the people she had met within them.
Such bonds… who knew if they were part of Nirvana Space's design as well?
Players who could unlock the special shop were all strong. They either possessed great power, or had trustworthy friends and teams, accumulating precious memories through one game after another… and all of that wasn't something easily given up.
Si Suying didn't speak—she simply took Zhao Gu's hand quietly. Her cold, expressionless face wavered slightly, her eyes dodging Mu Anqi and the others' gaze…
A shy kitty!
"The books on mysticism in the special shop are quite interesting," Wu Sansheng said. "There's also a lot of knowledge that transcends the realms of our previous lives. But I can't study those yet—my body wouldn't be able to handle it."
So she wouldn't choose resurrection either.
Mu Anqi rubbed the tip of her nose, growing curious about what was inside the special shop. But that could only be unlocked after returning to the Nirvana Space… General Ji's whereabouts were unknown—she hadn't come to pick her up this time.
"I think I won't resurrect either," Mu Anqi said. "I'm so happy in the games."
Her teammates: "…" They also wanted to experience the happiness of being a rich woman.
Without wasting more time, since Ji Huaichu hadn't come to get her and the other players didn't seem inclined to contact the Ghost King or the Demon King, they directly teleported back to the Nirvana Space. Mu Anqi hesitated for a moment, then called out to General Ji in her mind. On the other side, she seemed to be occupied, replying with a brief "Mm?"
Then came… "Sorry, I just returned from the Black Mirror Vortex… I've just advanced to the third rank of the Kaiyuan stage. Go back to the Nirvana Space and rest first, I need to adjust my state."
"General, are you hurt?"
"Just stepped into a new level—I need to get used to my new strength." Ji Huaichu seemed to give a soft chuckle. "I'm afraid I might hurt you."
"…" Mu Anqi finally felt a bit relieved. Third rank of the Kaiyuan stage, huh? The general had become even stronger. Thinking this, she returned to the Nirvana Space.
[Congratulations, Player! You have completed eight games! ~Special Shop Unlocked~]
The special shop was different from the regular item and weapon stores within Nirvana Space—it appeared directly in her mind. The first best-selling item in the shop was the "Resurrection Card." Using it would allow one to leave Nirvana Space, though all memories of this place would be erased. The item would help you avoid the fatal ending that had originally killed you—for example, in Mu Anqi's case, the car accident. If she used this card, the car would narrowly miss her, leaving her only a bit shaken, able to go claim her lottery ticket and continue living as usual. She wouldn't feel anything strange at all. Of course, everything that had happened in Nirvana Space was real; players might grow mentally stronger from it, but that change would be subtle and unnoticeable.
And such a Resurrection Card only cost 2000 points.
Even an ordinary player, as long as they worked hard and survived through enough games, could hope to return to their original world. It cost 500 points to revive once inside a game, but only 2000 to leave Nirvana Space entirely. Mu Anqi was deeply moved as she turned her gaze to the "Parallel World Travel Ticket"…
A one-day tour in the normal world cost only 800 points, a three-day tour 2200 points, and a seven-day tour 5000 points. On top of that, an additional 1000 + (100 × number of days) points could be spent to bring along a Shattered Mirror powerhouse, though there were some restrictions, and the companion had to come willingly.
In other words, traveling with General Ji to the parallel world where Mu Anqi had once lived would cost 1900 points for one day, 3500 for three days, and 6700 for seven days. Mu Anqi checked and found that she still enjoyed VIP discounts, which meant… as long as she wanted, she could go on a one-day trip to her former world with the General right now!
"Ah, calm down, calm down…" Mu Anqi covered her face. Just one day—what could they even do? She'd better save up a bit more. She was earning points really fast these days—if she didn't act human and just ran dungeons, she was basically a points-harvesting machine. Besides, after this game, she still needed to buy plenty of bullets and consumables. The next game would probably involve entering the Black Mirror Vortex with the General, so she had to stock up on anti-ghost bullets. Now that she was using a rifle, buying a hundred rounds of anti-ghost ammo at once didn't even feel like too much.
The special shop didn't have weapons or tools, but it did have a "World Travel" section. Apparently, after visiting other realms, players could use points to exchange for local money and items there. The cheapest option was the "Ordinary World," a world without any special anomalies. Beyond that, there were worlds of cultivation, magic, machinery, and other strange planes—these were all parallel worlds, likely created by the advanced civilization of Nirvana Space specifically for "vacation and tourism," and they didn't affect the real timeline. Players who visited such worlds were truly just tourists; they couldn't change anything there.
As for the mysticism books Wu Sansheng had mentioned…
Mu Anqi glanced at them but couldn't make much sense of what she saw. Even just looking at the covers gave her an odd feeling in her chest. She looked at the prices—the cheapest one cost only 100 points—but the description was quite interesting:
[The shop only provides reading access to the book. Please read cautiously. If you cannot comprehend it—this is entirely normal. No refunds.]
Aside from that, there were also many "secret manuals"—martial arts techniques, cultivation methods, magic spells, and so on—but all were only available for reading. Each came with a note: [Individual talent varies; failure to learn is completely normal. Once purchased, no refunds!]
Things like these… even if you bought them, you'd probably have to enter the corresponding realm to actually learn them, right? And even if you did learn them in that realm… if Nirvana Space or the Shattered Mirror Continent didn't have things like "magic" or "spiritual energy," then even if you knew the skills, you'd have no mana bar to use them anyway!
No wonder every one of them was labeled "non-refundable."