Chapter 68: A Powerful

Inside the building at 333 Roman Avenue, the once boisterous atmosphere abruptly stilled as the pile of wolf heads cut through the noise. Every adventurer in the hall widened their eyes, frozen in terror at the sight before them.

No one spoke. No one laughed. In the storm of rumors, ridicule, and scorn, any rebuttal seemed frail and powerless. Only irrefutable truth could strike back with force—nothing silences mockery so effectively as undeniable fact.

“How... how could this be real...” Fang Zhong murmured, his face ashen. He staggered back a few steps in despair, nearly falling.

Across from him stood Rhine.

Rhine was even more stunned. He had dismissed that reckless gambler as a brash upstart, never imagining such overwhelming strength lay beneath. To challenge a hundred wolves alone—what kind of power was that?

Could it be...?

A chill ran down Rhine’s spine, a reaction mirrored by the others. Yet as vice president of the guild, Rhine quickly regained his composure, secretly pleased and already scheming. This young man, so formidable at such an age, would surely prove limitless in the future.

If he befriended him now...

With that thought, Rhine strode confidently past the mound of wolf heads, seizing Li Xin’s hands in a hearty grip and letting out a booming laugh.

“Yiran, my boy, you are truly worthy of the honor of being called an adventurer. I, Rhine, am the first to welcome you!”

The crowd snapped out of their daze, each lost in thought. Yet the prevailing sentiment was one of contempt for Rhine’s opportunism.

Zhou Hailong glanced at Fang Zhong, his eyes conveying a silent message that finally calmed Fang Zhong.

“Yiran, since you have completed the task, I will keep my word. I, Fang Zhong, shall personally grant you the title of adventurer.”

“No, I should do it!” Rhine protested passionately, arguing his case.

His intentions were obvious to Li Xin, who truly wished to avoid any conflict with Rhine, though he favored Fang Zhong more.

After a brief pause, Li Xin smiled gently. “Vice President Rhine, this wager was between me and Vice President Fang—let him handle it. We have a long future ahead. As a newcomer, I have many questions I wish to ask you.”

The crowd muttered to themselves, privately thinking Li Xin was a sly little fox.

Rhine, seeing there was no more to be said, smiled as he handed over his business card. Li Xin accepted it carefully, tucking it into his inner pocket, giving Rhine all the respect due.

The rest was the formal procedure. With over 300 adventurers as witnesses, Fang Zhong personally oversaw the registration, helping Li Xin fill out his adventurer’s information and issuing him all the necessary gear and credentials.

Was that all?

No, clearly not.

Suddenly, Fang Zhong proclaimed in a loud voice, “Yiran, for completing a quasi-S-rank mission alone, the guild has decided to promote you directly to C-rank adventurer and award you the Orange Freedom Medal!”

A gasp rippled through the guild hall, erupting into an uproar.

To rise to C-rank after a single mission—this was surely unprecedented in the history of adventurers.

And most remarkable of all: he hadn’t even been an adventurer before this.

At that moment, Li Xin’s mission interface appeared before him.

Ding!

Mission for waitress Lily completed.

“Reward: 10,000 merit points, 500 combat power.”

Ding!

Branch system quest completed; Adventurer Subsystem unlocked.

“Reward: 50,000 merit points, 1,000 combat power, 2,000 adventurer points.”

[System Message]: Preparing for game version upgrade upon mission completion. Please prepare in advance to avoid data loss.

[System Message]: As the player who unlocked the Adventurer Subsystem, you have received a special reward: Original Offline Mode.

Original Offline Mode—no restrictions or losses.

Li Xin was momentarily taken aback. Though he had anticipated something of the sort, it came so suddenly that he was caught off guard.

“Would you like to display your personal information publicly?”

No.

Ding!

[Server-wide Announcement]: Congratulations to player ** for completing the first branch instance mission. The game will undergo an emergency version upgrade in 30 seconds. Please prepare to avoid data loss. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Beep, beep, beep...

The crisp, urgent system alert sounded like the scythe of a soul harvester, mercilessly rattling every online player’s heart. What was this new branch instance that had just appeared? No clues were given, and now there was an emergency version upgrade.

For those who happened to be training in military camps or idly passing time, an upgrade was nothing special.

But for those in the midst of missions, it was pure sabotage. Worse still, many hadn’t even noticed the urgent message and were still fighting valiantly against their enemies.

Enemies—be they human or beast...

At that same moment, across the vast Jialin Continent, countless players watched helplessly as control of their characters was snatched from them, forced offline and slain by enemies in an instant. As their screens went black, they could almost see the failed mission notification popping up.

Li Xin took off his helmet, leisurely lifted a cup of tea, and walked to the window, leaning against the sill and gazing at the river of lights across the night. There were too many mysteries in this game—though he was blessed with the wisdom of the “King of Games,” he couldn’t yet see through all its secrets.

Without enough information, speculation was empty. All would have to wait until more data emerged.

Suddenly, the door was flung open. Wang Xiaoqian dashed in, brimming with excitement. She clapped him forcefully on the shoulder.

“Ow, that hurts,” Li Xin grimaced, teasing, “Looks like your arm’s all better. Does that mean I can finally get ready to leave? This trip’s a bust anyway—I need to get back to the shop.”

“Better? Go back? In your dreams! You’re not leaving until I say so,” Wang Xiaoqian retorted, nose wrinkled and imperious.

Before Li Xin could reply, she exclaimed, “Li Xin, who was that amazing? Completing the main branch quest! I wonder what new system will appear after this emergency upgrade?”

“And what about the rewards for such an impressive quest? Must be generous, right? Oh, if only I’d been the one to finish it, hehe~~~”

There was nothing of the legendary heroine about her now. Wang Xiaoqian was simply a clever, beautiful heiress with sparkling eyes full of mischief and greed.

Goodness, what a greedy soul.

Li Xin grumbled inwardly, but of course he couldn’t admit that the person she envied was actually himself. Not that he was forbidden from saying so, but it was hardly wise—who knew if the heroine wouldn’t be seized by temptation and try to snatch his rewards?

“Heh, I bet that person’s over the moon right now.”

“You think so too?” Wang Xiaoqian sighed, full of regret.

“Alright, enough daydreaming. Go grab your laptop—let’s check the forums. Maybe we’ll find something useful,” Li Xin suggested, feigning helpfulness.

Wang Xiaoqian’s eyes lit up, and she smacked her forehead. “Crap! You’re right, how could I forget?”

Without another word, she dashed off to her bedroom.

Leaving Li Xin standing there, wounded for ten thousand points of damage, amid the chaos.