1.2 Some things are destined to be remembered

The pair pushed open the door and entered. The players who had arrived earlier turned their heads at the sound, only to return to their own affairs once they saw the newcomers. The gathering of strangers made the atmosphere somewhat oppressive.

Walking into the building, Wu Chen and Baili Yan finally caught a glimpse of the remnants of high-tech civilization. Large areas wrapped in polymer materials, ubiquitous streaming light screens, soft light strips circling the perimeter, scattered service robots, and incredibly comfortable ergonomic chairs—all of this was clearly something Wu Chen was intimately familiar with.

"Near-future sci-fi," the female player said, having returned with her meal.

"It is the near future." Wu Chen was also convinced that the attributes of this current plot world were compatible with his own.

Although he had lost most of his previous memories due to the "Fire Kindling," his basic common sense and fundamental judgment remained intact.

The so-called "near future" is simply a high-tech era that has emerged from the real world, only slightly advanced. The gap is no greater than the distance from a laboratory to mass production.

For example, flexible screens that replaced paper had long been mass-produced in the real world. New players were unfazed, and veteran players were accustomed to them.

"Aren't you hungry?" Baili Yan gently set down his tray and sat across from Wu Chen.

"No." Wu Chen had no appetite. Especially being a newcomer, his heart was full of uncertainty and anxiety about this collapsing plot world. Moreover, annihilation was following closely behind, and death was like a shadow. Perhaps the service area would be reduced to dust before he could even finish a meal.

"This should be the first safe house," Baili Yan said, noticing Wu Chen's unease.

A safe house, or safe zone, was not difficult to understand.

"Are you sure?" Wu Chen asked, half-doubting.

"Not certain," Baili Yan smiled, then focused on his meal.

With nothing to do, Wu Chen also got up to get food. When he returned to his seat with his tray, a married couple sat at the adjacent table.

After exchanging greetings, Wu Chen asked first: "Do you two know which specific plot world this is?"

"We have no idea either," the male player shook his head.

Wu Chen asked again: "How does one save oneself?"

The male player thought for a moment and said: "Return to the Sanctuary before the world is completely shattered."

"Annihilation takes time," the female player lowered her voice deliberately. "Destruction is a process."

This was not hard to grasp. It takes time for a world to go from fracturing to total destruction. By accumulating wealth and returning to the Sanctuary before the world is annihilated, one can complete their redemption and escape alive.

"Besides, some things are destined to be remembered," Baili Yan said, tapping his forehead.

He meant that the guardians of the world were also doing their best to delay the tolling of the funeral bell. Both the players and the world were stubbornly resisting fate.

"Exactly," the player couple said, clearly encouraged by this.

"How many resource points are needed to complete the self-rescue?" Wu Chen asked again.

"I don't know," the male player shook his head. "I heard that the 'Exiled Lands' use Sanctuary Coins."

The female player added: "Nowadays, almost no one calls them 'resource points' anymore."

In other words, ever since the Sanctuary shattered, the original system had also collapsed. According to the couple, the resource points Wu Chen was familiar with had long been minted by players into Sanctuary Coins.

One resource point was equal to one Sanctuary Coin.

Once upon a time, the right to mint currency was a privilege only high-level Lord-tier players could obtain. Exclusive Sanctuary buildings with minting functions were called "Mints." They could mint currency based on resource points, and the greatest use of these coins was as chips for the Goddess's Playground.

Sanctuary Coins were clearly the product of the Brotherhood's Mint, and they had successfully replaced resource points after the Sanctuary shattered. Wu Chen had not been deeply involved in the plot lines following the collapse because, during his previous nine "Fire Kindlings," the entity known as Zero had always had Die Wu send him back to a plot node before the collapse in an attempt to prevent it. However, without exception, all nine attempts failed. Thus, for the tenth transmission, Die Wu took it upon herself to send Wu Chen back to the time after the collapse.

For players, the Sanctuary before and after the collapse were clearly two worlds as different as heaven and earth.

After some thought, Wu Chen placed the Sanctuary Coin he had accidentally obtained on the table.

"My god..." Unexpectedly, the mere sight of a single Sanctuary Coin caused the couple to gasp and cover their mouths.

"You don't have any?" Wu Chen realized.

The couple shook their heads repeatedly. The female player tried to explain: "Only VIP players who have overdrawn their Sanctuary assets have the privilege of a self-rescue."

If one had "overdrawn their Sanctuary assets," how could they possibly have any Sanctuary Coins left?

Wu Chen was convinced: "This was something I obtained by chance after I arrived."

"That must be it," the couple nodded repeatedly. There are always lucky ones.

The key was, what could a single Sanctuary Coin actually do?

"Follow me," Baili Yan seemed to know what Wu Chen was thinking.

Wu Chen took back the coin and followed Baili Yan to a vending machine. At a glance, it sold only souvenirs—dolls, models, trinkets—and it seemed no one had patronized it for a long time.

"Insert the coin," Baili Yan pushed Wu Chen forward.

Sensing a player nearby, the vending machine activated on its own. No mobile scanning, no facial recognition required.

Wu Chen inserted the coin.

The coin clattered into the slot. The vending interface opened.

Various creations born from the near-future sci-fi world were displayed in a dazzling array. The price for everything was one coin.

"Wait!" Just as Wu Chen was struggling with what to choose, the couple hurried over to stop him.

Seeing Baili Yan look alert, the man waved his hands repeatedly before even getting close: "Don't buy anything."

"Why?" Baili Yan was confused.

"Go to the maintenance station and upgrade your vehicle," the man explained hurriedly.

Their eyes met. Wu Chen and Baili Yan understood simultaneously: "Right."

When Wu Chen drove his AE86 into the maintenance station, Baili Yan and the couple were standing by a circular platform, beckoning him over.

Beside the circular platform stood a machine similar to the vending machine. It had a similar interface, with the same coin insertion and return slots.

Wu Chen parked the AE86 in the center of the platform. Under the expectant gazes of the others, he inserted the coin.

Almost the moment the coin hit the bin, a holographic image of the AE86 appeared on the interactive interface.

Once the progress bar finished, a pop-up appeared: "Confirm Sanctuary creation: Do you wish to upgrade the plot node?"

It wasn't "upgrade the vehicle," but "upgrade the plot node."

The male player explained again: "The so-called 'plot node' can be understood as 'save files' from different stages. Without exception, we all come from the near-future sci-fi compatible world, but the vehicles we bring in are from a past save file. We can load new files individually by 'upgrading the plot node.' We repeat this until the vehicle is 'promoted' into an exclusive Sanctuary asset."

"So, the existing conditions remain unchanged, and only a new save file for this car is loaded?" Baili Yan understood. It meant that everything else remained the same, except for the AE86.

"That's right," the male player breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, any Sanctuary creation can have a new file loaded individually without any cascading effects," Wu Chen also grasped the concept.

"You could say that," the man said, though he didn't seem entirely certain.

"Let's try it," Wu Chen tapped "Yes."

The pop-up vanished, and a new one appeared: "Please wait."