Ding Shuang woke up early the next morning. If things went smoothly today, they should be able to finish the game. The others were still asleep, so Ding Shuang planned to go downstairs and call Guangzi to come up and rest. Last night, Ding Shuang had asked Guangzi to go up and rest, but Guangzi insisted on staying under the tower, and Ding Shuang hadn’t forced him to.

Ding Shuang arrived at the foot of the tower and saw Guangzi sitting on the steps in a daze. She said, “Guangzi, go up and rest. The view is better during the day; you can keep watch from the top of the tower.”

Guangzi nodded and got up to go up the stairs. Suddenly, she felt Ding Shuang pick her up and looked at him tenderly. Ding Shuang smiled and said, “You must be tired after a long night. Let me carry you up.” With that, Ding Shuang carried Guangzi and started climbing the stairs.

While nestled in Ding Shuang’s arms, Mitsuko said, “Kunishin-kun, just as dawn broke, I spotted a person on the rocks by the shore. It looked like Nanahara Akiya.”

Ding Shuang frowned and said, “Ignore him, just pretend you don’t know anything.”

Photon chuckled and said, “Heh, I pushed him back into the sea.”

“Damn! You did a great job, Photon!” Ding Shuang thought to himself, giving Photon a huge thumbs up!

Mitsuko continued, “Kunishin-kun, if you hadn’t told me not to kill people indiscriminately anymore, I would have killed him directly. Pushing him back into the sea doesn’t count as killing him directly, you know.”

“Photon, your understanding is truly at the enterprise level.” Ding Shuang still feigned a sigh and said, “Sigh, don’t talk about it anymore. Let’s forget about it.”

Last night, Mitsuko overheard Noriko’s groans and realized that Kuninobu liked Noriko, but Noriko liked Akiya. At dawn, she went out for some fresh air and found Akiya unconscious on the rocks. For Kuninobu’s sake! Without hesitation, she pushed Akiya back into the sea.

At 6 o’clock, an announcement woke everyone up. Kitano-sensei began reading the list of the deceased, and Noriko listened intently to see if Nanahara Akiya was on the list. Finally, Kitano-sensei said, “This is the latest list of the deceased.”

Noriko visibly relaxed. But just then, Kitano-sensei’s voice came over the loudspeaker again, “Wait a minute, this student made it into this year’s announcement. Nanahara Akiya! He just…”

When Kitano-sensei called out Nanahara Akiya’s name, Noriko collapsed to the ground. The girls around her rushed to help her up and comforted her. Ding Shuang, feigning anger, roared, “Akiya! I’ll avenge you! Kawada-kun! Tell me who chased Akiya last night? I’m going to find him right now! I’ll avenge Akiya! I’ll kill him! Who? Who was it?” As Ding Shuang spoke, he snatched the submachine gun from Mitsuko’s hand and also took her pistol. He looked ready to fight to the death!

At this moment, another group of girls rushed over and pulled Ding Shuang away, urging him not to act impulsively. Noriko, having also calmed down, quickly said to Ding Shuang, “Kunishin-kun! You promised me yesterday! You had to live well! Please don’t act impulsively! Aki is gone, I only have you left! Please don’t act impulsively! Waaaaaah…”

Under everyone’s persuasion, Ding Shuang pretended to temporarily suppress his impulse to take immediate revenge and began to plan the matter in detail with Kawada. At this moment, Chigusa walked over and said, “This place has been designated as a restricted area. We need to leave quickly!” Her eyes were red, clearly from crying, because she had heard Sugimura’s name.

Ding Shuang sighed helplessly. According to the plot, this wasn’t a restricted area today. Perhaps he had saved too many people, altering the storyline. That’s right, Qiu was dead too.

Ding Shuang led everyone to quickly pack their things and move rapidly out of the restricted area. Kawada was puzzled. Although his injury yesterday wasn’t fatal, it should have affected his mobility. But after one night, his injury was almost completely healed. Although the gunshot wound was still somewhat painful, it no longer hindered his movement. Could it be that Guoxin had applied the medicine? Kawada didn’t ask Ding Shuang directly, because he knew there was a listening device in the collar.

Kawada, familiar with the terrain, told everyone to head to the shrine first, where there were buildings and cover. Ding Shuang and his group of 11 arrived at the shrine without incident. Ding Shuang said to everyone, “Everyone, hide here for now. I’ll go check the surrounding area. Kawada-kun, please protect us!”

Kawada refused Ding Shuang’s suggestion, saying, “No, it’s too dangerous for you to go alone! I’ll go with you!”

Ding Shuang asked, “Then who will protect them? They only have three weapons! If they are discovered, they’ll be doomed!”

Kawada thought for a moment and said, “Then I’ll go, you stay and protect them!”

Ding Shuang said, “No! Your injuries haven’t healed yet!”

Just as the two were arguing, a huge explosion was heard not far away! Ding Shuang was startled. Was the plot moving so fast? It was only around four o’clock, and only Tong Shan was left outside? Ding Shuang started counting the dead, and indeed, only Tong Shan remained!

Ding Shuang said to Kawada, “Kawada-kun! Let’s hurry and see what happened at the explosion site. I just calculated that not many classmates survived. Mitsuko, Chigusa, protect them!”

After saying this, Ding Shuang left a pistol behind and left with Kawada. On the way, Ding Shuang left a fine steel throwing knife for Ding Shuang, who was hiding in the shadows.

On the way to the explosion zone, Ding Shuang handed the submachine gun to Kawada, saying, “Kawada-kun, you were injured before, so please use the submachine gun. I’ll use the pistol. I’m so sorry I injured you!”

Seeing that Ding Shuang trusted him so much, Kawada took the submachine gun and secretly decided that he must protect him and make sure that he and everyone else survived to the end.

The two arrived at the scene of the explosion and saw flames shooting into the sky! At the edge of the flames, a person staggered along. That person was Kiriyama!

Ding Shuang raised his hand and fired a shot that instantly blew Kiriyama’s head off. Kawada, standing nearby, hadn’t even reacted before it was over. Kawada was shocked by Ding Shuang’s exceptional marksmanship. After a moment, Kawada picked up a twig and wrote on the ground.

Fortunately, the system has a built-in translation function. Kawada wrote in Japanese, but Ding Shuang saw in Chinese. Just like when Ding Shuang conversed with others, they spoke Japanese, but Ding Shuang heard Chinese. Ding Shuang spoke Chinese, but others heard Japanese. This only works in the secondary world; in the real world, Ding Shuang doesn’t have such a useful translation function.

After reading Kawada’s words, Ding Shuang nodded. The two found the bodies of the last three people near the warehouse, confirming that besides the eleven of them, no one else on the island had survived. They returned to the shrine and informed the women of the current situation.

As night fell, the group lit a bonfire in front of the shrine and began to discuss what to do next. Ding Shuang suggested, “Since we’re going to die anyway, why not fight them instead of waiting to die?” Everyone agreed and decided to storm the military base the next day.

That night, Qiancao came to Ding Shuang and said, “Guoxin-kun, I don’t mind what happened before, but you have to make it up to me! It hurt so much last time!”

Ding Shuang was taken aback. “Fine, as you wish!” Ding Shuang gave Qiancao a perfect experience. Later, the other eight women also came to Ding Shuang one after another, all claiming that they had a decisive battle the next day and didn’t know if they would survive, so they wanted to have some pleasure before they died. Ding Shuang knew that it would be over the next day and he would have to leave, so he satisfied all the women. Satisfying Guangzi took the longest—that tormenting little devil!

Early the next morning, the group began packing their belongings, preparing for battle. Just as they gathered in the shrine’s main hall, Kawada pulled out a submachine gun and pointed it at them. The group exclaimed, “Kawada-kun! What do you want to do? Why are you pointing a gun at us?”

Kawada coldly said, “That’s how this game is played. I’m sorry, there can only be one winner, and that’s me!” With that, he pulled the trigger of his submachine gun!

Ding Shuang screamed in anguish, “We have a traitor among us!”

The system protested in Ding Shuang’s mind, “Host, how am I supposed to translate this?”

…

Ding Shuang and Ding Shuang returned to the real world, and the plot remained unchanged after Kawada fired the gun. The only difference was that Ding Shuang saved Kawada’s life. Standing in a restroom stall in the mall, Ding Shuang asked the system a question, “What will happen to Guangzi and the others?”

“It will be temporarily frozen. Once the host meets certain conditions, they will be able to see them again.”

“What are the conditions?”

“Host, your current permissions are insufficient to inform you of the required conditions. Please improve yourself as soon as possible.”

Ding Shuang sighed, composed herself, and began to review her gains. 10,000 experience points, 16,000 travel points, and ten bronze, silver, and gold lottery draws each. Time to draw some; her luck seemed pretty good lately. Ding Shuang decided to use all the lottery draws she had.

I drew 51 prizes of various levels, and got 16 empty prizes. 6 E-rank and 14 F-rank prizes were all junk. I put the furniture in my love house and the daily necessities in my backpack.

With six D-rank rewards and three skill upgrade cards, Ding Shuang upgraded his Sword Control, Archery, and Suppression skills respectively. He also received two D-rank secondary world travel tickets, which could be used to travel into D-rank worlds without spending travel points. Finally, he gained a D-rank medical skill, equivalent to a newly graduated rookie doctor.

Four C-level rewards, one voice changer trial card (3 days). Two weapons: a golden jade sword and a rapid-fire crossbow. But here comes the worst part: a C-level skill, Object Manipulation! It allows you to control one random object! The worst part is, it converted my Sword Control and Staff Control skills into skill learning cards, causing me to lose two skills that allowed me to control multiple swords and staffs, and gain a skill that only allows me to control one object! Even worse, the Sword Control skill I just upgraded with a skill upgrade card was replaced! I lost hundreds of millions!

Four B-grade rewards, including two pills, both previously obtained from draws. Ding Shuang consumed the upgrade pill, instantly leveling up. She kept the “Can’t Die Pill” safe for future use. A bottle of poison, costing five thousand lives, could be applied to weapons; those below level 50 would die instantly from bloodshed. Those between levels 50 and 100 would lose half their strength. It was useless against those above level 100. Ding Shuang estimated the amount was enough to apply to the Golden Jade Sword twice and to the Steel Throwing Knife ten times. A B-grade driving skill, since she already had an A-grade one, was converted into a skill learning card. Ding Shuang planned to secretly use it on Ding Fei the next time she saw her; then she would feel much more at ease letting her ride a motorcycle.

The grand lottery gave Ding Shuang an S-level artificial intelligence, a negotiation AI. Ding Shuang can install this AI on any of her electronic devices, enabling it to negotiate with others on her behalf. Ding Shuang thinks this AI is utterly useless. Who is she, a nobody, supposed to negotiate with? Talk to her boss about a raise? Her boss has been good enough to her; how could she bear to let an AI bully her?

While checking his interface, Ding Shuang discovered that his “Desire Emperor’s Heart Manual” was about to level up; he just needed to have sex with one or two more girls to level it up again. His bartending skills had also unknowingly reached A level. He guessed it was because he had entered a state of enlightenment while bartending for Wan Xialiu.

Ding Shuang, currently in a toilet stall, figured she still had plenty of time and decided to find another secondary world to travel to. Right, single-player games should also allow for travel, so Ding Shuang asked the system, “What level of world is Diablo 2?”

“Host, are you referring to the game or the novel? The game is F-rank, and the novel is SS-rank.”

“Why are there two levels? If I choose the game, can I not choose the novel? What’s the difference between the two sub-worlds?” Ding Shuang asked.

“Host, the novel’s subworld is more complete than the game’s subworld. If you choose the game’s subworld, you’re essentially giving up the opportunity to access the SS-level novel subworld. In the game’s subworld, you’re essentially playing a single-player game, while in the novel’s subworld, you truly live within the subworld. If you give up the novel’s subworld, you won’t be able to obtain the Diablo subworld through the ultimate quest; you’ll only be able to enter the Diablo II game subworld.”

Ding Shuang thought for a moment. He hadn’t read the novel, couldn’t access it at the moment, and wasn’t interested in Western fantasy worlds. He figured it was better to complete the game, get the rewards, and quickly improve his strength. Ding Shuang asked the system, “System, is the time in single-player games not synchronized with the real world?”

“Yes, host. In the real world, you will only be gone for one minute.”

“Alright, let’s get to the Diablo 2 game world as soon as possible!”

A flash of white light, and Ding Shuang and Ding Shuang disappeared from the real world.

Ding Shuang opened her eyes, and the game difficulty selection screen appeared before her. Normal, Hard, and Nightmare were the three difficulty levels. Ding Shuang asked the system, “System, what’s the difference between these difficulty options?”

“Host, the higher the game difficulty, the greater the reward. We suggest you choose Normal difficulty, which is equivalent to an F-level sub-world. Hard difficulty is equivalent to a D-level sub-world, and Nightmare difficulty is equivalent to an A-level world.”

“If I choose Nightmare mode, does completing the game mean I’ve essentially completed an A-rank sub-world?”

“Host, you’re dreaming. The reward might reach Rank A, but clearing the game only counts as clearing an Rank F world. Based on your current strength, we suggest you choose…”

“Nightmare!” Before the system could finish speaking, Ding Shuang immediately selected Nightmare difficulty. As a child, Ding Shuang loved watching his father play this game. After his parents passed away, playing this game became his sole form of entertainment for several years; he was extremely familiar with it.

After selecting Nightmare difficulty, you enter the character selection screen. No need to think too much, it’s Blizzard’s favorite Paladin, of course. After selecting the character, a flash of white light and Ding Shuang enters the Rogue Encampment.

Upon arriving at the Rogue Encampment, Ding Shuang heard the system’s voice, “Host, why are you in such a hurry? Why didn’t you let me finish explaining how to choose the difficulty level?”

Ding Shuang asked curiously, “What’s wrong? I can communicate with Baal even with my eyes closed, don’t worry.”

“Host, you might still think you’re playing a game. Although you’ve entered a game world, and everything around you is a perfect recreation of Diablo 2, you only have one life! There’s no option to press ESC to continue if you die. If you die, you die, and you’ll be found dead in a mall restroom.”

“What the hell? Isn’t this the same as Overwatch? In Overwatch, if you get killed, you just respawn in the spawn room, right?”

“Host, Overwatch is an incomplete secondary world where the flow of time must be consistent with the real world. Diablo II is a complete secondary world; you’ll see soon enough. Aside from the storyline, this secondary world differs from the game.”

Ding Shuang couldn’t help but worry. She stopped paying attention to the system and began to experience this world. Indeed, just as the system said, it was completely different from the game. First of all, there were no game data or panels. She did have her own panel, but it was exactly the same as the one in the real world, except that she had an extra skill book in her inventory, from which she could learn paladin skills.

After Ding Shuang used the skill book, something familiar appeared on her panel: the skill tree! Ding Shuang felt a little relieved; at least she had something she was familiar with.

Ding Shuang’s current level is 22, the same as in the real world, and she has 21 skill points. After allocating her skill points, the system’s ultimate mission will begin.

“Ultimate mission issued: Kill Baal. Mission rewards: 100,000 experience points, 100,000 travel points, and 10 Platinum Lottery draws. Mission failure: Annihilation! Due to the host’s selection of Nightmare Mode, you cannot leave this world until the mission is completed.”

Damn it! What a nightmare! We’re not allowed to leave until we clear the level!