Chapter 515: Dungeon & Fighter, This Game is Free?!

"What on earth happened?! Why did it go black?!" She was on the verge of losing her mind; just as Cloud was unleashing his Omnislash, right at the peak of her mounting excitement, a sudden darkness enveloped her vision.

Pulling off her virtual reality headset, Theia found herself beneath the dark, heavy glares of a surrounding crowd.

After all, most possessed the natural wariness of being blindsided, keeping a thread of divine sense anchored to the outside world.

"It's just a movie, what's all the shouting about?"

"Fussing over nothing!"

Boss Fang spoke up: "Please refrain from making loud noises in public spaces."

"..." This woman from the Western Polar Region was at a loss whether to obsess over the interruption or to simply jump up and strike him.

It was thoroughly vexing.

Only then did she finally remember her true purpose—she had come here to seek a master, so why on earth was she watching this kind of thing?!

Yet, the moment the thought crossed her mind, a sudden realization struck her; she had inexplicably comprehended a massive store of combat techniques, and if she were to wield a greatsword now, her prowess would be a veritable quantum leap from before!

"How is this possible?!" The shock and exhilaration in her heart surged past all measure.

This sensation was precisely like the legendary combat memories left behind by ancient paragons within her clan; if one could digest such memories, the advancement gained would be absolutely unimaginable.

Moreover, she had just witnessed Cloud perform a "martial technique" of terrifying magnitude; she had only seen half of it, but if she watched it to completion, could she actually learn it?!

Her face flushed with excitement as she prepared to resume watching.

"Quick! Quick, help me activate this spiritual artifact!"

Boss Fang replied with utter composure: "It's useless to turn it on now."

He pointed to the time displayed on a nearby cultivator's screen: "It's twelve midnight. The shop is closed."

"..." In an instant, Theia resembled a furious tigress, her pearly whites grinding with an audible screech.

"By the way, anyone who assaults the proprietor or causes trouble in this establishment will be permanently banned from service." A single sentence extinguished every last possibility.

Boss Fang gestured toward the shop door: "After you."

"!!!" She was practically ready to detonate.

Her expression shifted rapidly through a kaleidoscope of colors, until finally...

She spat out a string of foreign gibberish and stormed off, looking thoroughly vented.

"Boss, what did she say?!" Jiang Xiaoyue had played a bit late today and had only just logged off; she watched Theia's retreating figure with a look of pure bewilderment.

"Who knows," Boss Fang scratched his ear carelessly, "probably praising this proprietor for being brilliant, mighty, majestic, and domineering."

"..."

...

The sales of *Final Fantasy* were gradually climbing toward the nine-hundred mark; after all, given its steep price, many would be reluctant to part with a hundred crystals just to test the waters if it weren't for its sterling reputation.

The next morning.

Boss Fang had only just unbarred the shop doors.

Suddenly, a wave of palpable hostility rushed at his face.

Rubbing his bleary eyes, he caught sight of roughly a hundred warriors from the Western Polar Region, blocking the entrance with murderous intent.

Judging by their clan crests, most belonged to the Red Dragon and Black Dragon clans; as for the Frost Dragon clan... because several of their high-ranking members had been thoroughly thrashed and were still nursing their wounds, very few had come.

"What are you all doing?" Boss Fang questioned. "Are you unfamiliar with how this shop handles troublemakers?"

Leading the throng were Theia, Luo Piaoling, and the elders of the two great clans.

Theia stepped forward with an arrogant swagger, resting her hands on her hips as she spoke to Boss Fang in a heavily accented, mangled dialect: "We want to watch *Final Fantasy*! We want to watch it now! Let's see you try and stop us again if you have the nerve!"

Boss Fang simply slammed the door shut and slapped a notice on the inside glass: "Proprietor resting. Closed this morning."

Nalan Hongwu and his companions, who had just arrived, saw their faces instantly darken: "...What is the meaning of this?!"

The patriarchs of the Tang, Wang, and several other grand clans had traveled thousands of miles with great difficulty, intending to enter and log on: "Why is the door shut?!"

Gu Tingyun always arrived exceptionally early, and given his excellent mood over the past two days—having had a brilliant time playing StarCraft with the cultivators of the Desolate Sea Realm—he had timed his arrival perfectly with opening hour.

"What is going on?! Why hasn't it opened at this hour today?!"

"Resting? What kind of flimsy excuse is that?!"

Nalan Hongwu stroked his beard, sensing that matters were far from simple: "This sort of situation has occurred once before, back when those brats from our Desolate Sea Realm woke the boss up in the middle of the night. Could it be...?"

The moment he spoke, the patriarchs of the grand clans and Gu Tingyun immediately turned hostile gazes toward the surrounding crowd: "Who did it?!"

Good grief! The faces of the Western Polar Region warriors twitched in unison.

"Well... we still have matters to attend to, we shall return to the guild house first."

Run!

They beat a hasty retreat.

"You lot, freeze right there!"

The local cultivators wished nothing more than to drag them all back and beat them to death.

"What do we do now?"

"Should we call for the boss to open up...?"

"Disperse, disperse, we'll come back this afternoon." Nalan Hongwu clearly had no desire to call out; having experienced this once before, he didn't care to try a second time.

...

When the shop reopened in the afternoon, the warriors of the Western Polar Region were inexplicably much more well-behaved.

Over a hundred warriors filed in one after another, amidst a flurry of whispered discussions: "What on earth happened today?!"

"I haven't the slightest clue... I was just walking down the street when I was jumped and beaten. How is the public security in this city so atrocious?!" a warrior from the Western Polar Region grumbled, his face a canvas of black and blue.

"...I couldn't even tell what martial technique they used; my vision suddenly went black, and before I knew it, I was ambushed."

"I want to go back to the Western Polar Region... why is Lingzhou so perilous..."

Walking at the front, Theia's face was a mask of sheer awkwardness.

Luo Piaoling looked thoroughly plagued by a headache, a few fresh abrasions visible on his own countenance: "Just keep a low profile..."

What in the world was this? How did he end up taking collateral damage again?

The hundred-odd individuals obediently purchased membership cards one by one and went to their stations.

And at this moment, Fang Qi finally cast his eyes upon the system interface:

New Quest: A New Online Game (Completed)

Quest Description: Unlock more worldviews to activate this game.

Worldviews Required: Please unlock more sci-fi worldviews (total number of sci-fi games/movies must reach 5, with an average sales volume of 1,000); please unlock more magical worldviews (total number of magical games/movies must reach 8, with an average sales volume of 1,000).

Quest Rewards: *Dungeon & Fighter* Virtual Reality Fully Remastered Edition, Lucky Treasure Chest (Large).

Currently, the shop's older games and rules had been compiled into a large chart affixed to the wall.

Only the new games would be written upon the small blackboard.

And today, upon the small blackboard, the space once reserved for Final Fantasy was swiftly claimed by a newcomer: Dungeon & Fighter. Its activation price was listed as free.

By this time, the majority of the cultivators had already waited an entire morning, and they now jostled past one another to enter the shop, only to suddenly spy a fresh title added to the chalkboard.

Free?! Mo Xian and the other girls who had arrived in a group cried out in immediate astonishment, Boss, this game... is free?!

Fearing her eyes deceived her, she widened her gaze to look once more.

Beneath it ran another line: Simply click to open on the computer to enter the game; no activation required.

Nalan Hongwu and his companions had also finally managed to enter the shop to play, just then passing by the counter.

...Hmm? Could it be that this kid Fang has actually found his conscience?

The space before the counter instantly erupted into a clamor.

This aroused Sia's intense displeasure; yesterday her own loud complaints had resulted in her computer being shut off, so why were there so many people making a racket today?

She had only a tiny sliver of Final Fantasy left to watch, which she finished shortly after. Removing her virtual headset, she walked over, eyeing the crowd gathered around the counter with curiosity.

Boss, is this new game truly free?! a cultivator from Yuanyang City asked with utmost caution.

At that very moment, the Jiuhua City branch and the Half City branch were also inscribing this new game upon their respective small blackboards.

Does this game really require no money to activate?! Not a few people felt as though they were dreaming. One had to understand that even Resident Evil required five spirit crystals to activate, which might mean little to the high and mighty, but for ordinary players, five spirit crystals was no small sum.

This was especially true for those like the Jiuhua Army; their daily gaming was funded publicly, and most of them only played Legend, hesitating for a long time before buying any other game.

And now, a free game had actually appeared?!

Sia's eyes narrowed slightly. Over the past two days, she had gained a rough understanding of these games; with the older titles, everyone was already a master, and wouldn't someone as proud as her find herself inferior at every turn upon entering?

This was particularly true for online games; it was said that the factions within Legend had already solidified.

But a new game was different, for everyone would begin from the exact same starting line.

Should she... give this game a try?!