Chapter 36-Game Descent: I Am the Sole Player
Chapter 36
"The name ranked 61st on the leaderboard is Cheng Yue! Where does your name rank?"
Bai Shan did not answer.
The car door swung open abruptly. The angry young woman let out a sudden yelp as her feet left the ground — the backpack slung over her shoulders seemed to be hoisted by an invisible pair of giant hands, lifting her along with it.
"Ahhh!"
She was plucked into the vehicle like a toy from a claw machine, the motion impossibly smooth. By the time her feet landed firmly inside the RV, her face still wore a look of utter bewilderment.
Lin Huijun saw all the nearby onlookers staring their way, whispering amongst themselves. Not wanting to explain, she hurried aboard.
"You give directions."
Bai Shan turned to look at the person she had hauled into the cabin and said curtly.
Lin Huijun pulled the door shut and looked at the woman with sincere eyes, trying to smooth things over: "We're not bad people. She's still a minor, so she can be a bit naive and wilful. We're sorry for the offence."
"Just as we agreed earlier — we'll give you canned food and fruit, plus an extra bottle of water. All you need to do is take us to the officials and explain the situation honestly. We'll handle everything else ourselves."
"You — you — what the f... Fine! Head to Central Stadium!"
Having already been dragged aboard these ruffians' lair, the young woman swallowed her curses and chose to stop resisting.
The onboard navigation locked onto Central Stadium. Bai Shan started the vehicle while Lin Huijun stayed in the cabin behind the driver's seat, keeping the young woman company and hoping to learn more about the local situation.
"Miss, we really mean no harm. You can surely understand — this RV is loaded with supplies we worked hard to stockpile. Being told to give it up the moment we arrive... we just couldn't bear it."
Lin Huijun's tone was earnest.
The young woman sighed. "I get it, I do. But I'm just an ordinary person. I didn't make the rules."
"Let me put it this way — if you want to stay in Nanzhou City long-term, you have to follow the local rules. And I mean strictly!"
"You've been through the chaos of the early days after the game's descent. Nanzhou City achieved a survival rate as high as 15% precisely because of strict rules and powerful enforcers."
"Cheng Yue fought her way to 61st in the world, thanks in part to the experience contributed by troublemakers... Of course, besides her, a city of a million people has no shortage of strong players."
Lin Huijun listened attentively, a hint of worry creeping across her face.
As the young woman talked, she quietly sized up the vehicle's interior and the two teenagers.
In this post-apocalyptic world, gauging someone's strength was as easy as gauging someone's wealth used to be — weakness and poverty were as impossible to hide as a sneeze.
Judging by their living conditions and demeanour, these two were probably quite capable. They had the swagger to be arrogant. In another city they might have strutted around unchallenged — but in Nanzhou City... Plenty of strong outsiders had waltzed in thinking they could dominate, only to discover it was like a small-town exam prodigy arriving in a first-tier city — awkwardly humbled.
She wondered how long the rude one behind the wheel could keep up that attitude. Maybe once they reached their destination she would learn to behave, and then they would finally appreciate having her around.
The young woman's mind began to spin. "Even though we had that little unpleasantness earlier — the ride's a bit bumpy, haha — forget about the water and canned food. I genuinely just wanted to help you two out. I'll explain everything to the organisation for you."
Lin Huijun breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much, miss."
"And if you ever need to team up or anything, feel free to come find me. I live at..." The young woman spoke generously, then added, "Oh right, my name is Huang Yuci. I'm probably only three or four years older than you — just call me by my name."
"I'm from out of town too — came to Nanzhou for university. Just between us, I was a huge fan of Cheng Yue even before the game descended. I've got a bit of a connection with her..."
Huang Yuci launched into a rambling chat with Lin Huijun, all traces of her earlier anger gone, as if they were long-lost friends. Lin Huijun patiently played along.
Lin Huijun smiled on the surface, but inwardly she was coming to understand: strength had become the ultimate passport in this world. Bai Shan's methods were rough, but effective.
Bai Shan, seated up front, listened to the background chatter from behind. Her attention remained fixed ahead, glancing now and then at the figures flashing past on either side of the road. Anyone permitted to drive within the city must hold considerable status — otherwise the vehicle would not be drawing this many stares.
The black RV rolled conspicuously all the way to Central Stadium. Huang Yuci, bracing herself against the cabin wall, quietly let out a breath of relief — the nerve-racking ordeal was finally over...
The staff at Central Stadium also wore the red volunteer vests. The only difference from Qianxi Town seemed to be the text printed on them.
"Hey, look — whose car is that? I don't think I've seen it before."
Someone eyed the black vehicle from a distance as it pulled in. Even after it stopped, he could not match it to any VIP's ride.
"Nobody drives an RV, do they? Looks like an off-brand, too... Xiao Pan, get a few guys from the armed squad to check it out."
Huang Yuci, still inside the vehicle, saw a group of people marching over with an intimidating air. She scrambled to get out ahead of the other two, waving her hands and explaining the situation.
"They came in when nobody was at the checkpoint — just blundered straight through..."
Bai Shan observed the scene in silence from inside the car. Some of the people who had surrounded them wore red vests; others were in plain clothes but all had identical silver badges pinned to their chests, projecting an air far more commanding than the red vests.
She guessed the red vests were administrative staff and the Silver Badges were the enforcement arm.
The leader of the group looked torn. Seeing Huang Yuci's desperately ingratiating smile, he finally softened his tone: "Xiao Huang, for your sake, I'll let them go through the normal process. They register their information, hand over what needs to be handed over. As for the vehicle, they can unload their belongings first, and then the organisation's people will take custody of it."
Huang Yuci nodded vigorously. This was the best possible outcome. She waved the two of them out of the car.
Judging by the situation, Huang Yuci actually carried some weight around here — something Bai Shan had not expected. She had initially assumed the woman was the type to exploit information gaps and extract favours from outsiders.
With the misunderstanding cleared up, the silver-badged personnel left. Huang Yuci stayed outside to watch the car while the team leader assigned a red-vested staffer to escort Bai Shan and Lin Huijun inside the stadium to register.
The lobby at the stadium entrance was bustling with foot traffic. A huge whiteboard was covered edge to edge in dense black writing, and a crowd had gathered around it, discussing animatedly.
[Jin'an District Public Missions
Huxi Street Mutated Rat Swarm (White)
Tianhe Park Mutated Chrysanthemums (Black)
Galaxy Mall Mutated Dog Pack (Silver)
...]
"Excuse me, what do the Public Missions listed up there mean?"
Bai Shan spoke up. The staffer walking ahead let out an "oh" of surprise, fished a crumpled flyer from his pocket, shoved it at the two of them, and said dismissively: "Read this. You'll figure it out."
Lin Huijun leaned her head over, and the two of them read the wrinkled flyer together.
"I see."
After reading the flyer, a faint crease formed between Bai Shan's brows.
In short, Nanzhou City classified everyone by strength into tiers: White, Black, Silver, Gold, and Diamond. Missions were rated using the same five tiers of danger.
Beyond the five tiers, missions were also divided into "Public" and "Special-Class."
Public Missions were open to any registered Nanzhou City player. Although the officials recommended players act within their capabilities, a White Tier player who insisted on joining a Silver-tier mission was free to do so.
Only Special-Class Missions had strict tier requirements: participants had to be Gold or Diamond tier, and needed organisational approval.
As for what the "organisation" was — Bai Shan glanced at the logo printed in the upper-right corner of the flyer: a stylised "X" emblem with "Xu Group" written beneath it.
Bai Shan stared at the X logo for a moment. She remembered this company — its subsidiaries spanned a wide range, primarily active in the real economy: shopping malls, hotels, real estate, and manufacturing operations of all sizes.
The organisation running Nanzhou City belonged to a corporation?
Bai Shan surmised that the company must have seized some opportunity to forge a deep partnership with the local government, which meant there were at least two power factions here. The waters ran deep.
Bai Shan had come to this major city to get a comprehensive look at the state of the game, but things appeared even more complicated than she had anticipated.
At the front desk, when the staffer ordered them to broadcast their names on the local channel and register their names and tiers, Bai Shan felt an unprecedented sense of difficulty.
There was no way to brush things off here the way she had in Qianxi Town. A flicker passed through Bai Shan's eyes as she fixed her gaze on the impatient staffer, who inexplicably felt a chill crawl up his spine.
"Oh, by the way — how exactly are player tiers assessed?" Lin Huijun suddenly changed the subject.
The staffer rattled off the answer as if he had repeated it a thousand times: "Level 5 is White, Level 7 is Black, Level 10 is Silver, Level 13 is Gold, Level 16 and above is Diamond. The thresholds are adjusted once a month based on overall power levels."
"White and Black don't matter much. Once you reach Silver, the organisation issues a corresponding badge as proof of identity."
Bai Shan recalled that four of the people who had surrounded the car earlier wore Silver Badges.
Qianxi Town's mayor, Zhong Xile, was only Level 10 — in Nanzhou City that would place her merely in the upper-middle range. But for Bai Shan at Level 50, Nanzhou City was not much different from Qianxi Town.
Having gathered all the information she needed, the corner of Bai Shan's lips curled into a faint, dangerous arc.
She certainly was not going to reveal her true identity. A trivial matter like registration could be settled by holding a blade to the man's throat.
The flyer crumpled into a ball in Bai Shan's hand. If the staffer tried to call for help, [Tyrannical Command] would stuff itself down his throat before he could make a sound.
"But around here, Silver Badges and Gold Badges are a dime a dozen, and even Diamond isn't the top tier. If you're lucky enough to see someone wearing a Jade Badge — now that is the cream of the crop..."
The staffer spoke with an expression of sheer reverence, oblivious to what Bai Shan's hands were doing. Before long, he snapped back to his duties and demanded: "Quit asking so many questions — send me your names already!"
Lin Huijun shot a quick glance at Bai Shan, but Bai Shan pressed on: "There's also Jade. What are the requirements?"
The staffer's expression soured further. He despised these clueless outsiders who treated him like a customer service rep!
The rebuke was on the tip of his tongue when a sudden commotion erupted in the lobby. Ordinary people queuing for mission details, players who had met the tier requirements to collect their badges, teams heading inside to pick up Special-Class Missions — everyone stopped in their tracks and turned toward the lobby entrance.
"It's Cheng Yue!"
"Didn't she take the Ancient Temple Special-Class Mission? She's back already?"
"My god, she looks nothing like she does on TV..."
Of the million-plus players living in Nanzhou City, only a handful had seen Cheng Yue in person. Most people, just as before, could only admire her through a screen — only now, instead of television or a phone, they gazed at her name on the Top 100 leaderboard.
The staffer at the front desk clearly had never seen her either. He craned his neck desperately, hoping to catch a glimpse of the living legend.
The excited crowd did not lose their composure. They parted automatically, opening a path for Cheng Yue.
Bai Shan followed the awestruck gazes. The first thing she noticed was the gold badge pinned to a black jacket, inlaid with jade — the green gemstone glimmering with a serene lustre.
Her gaze drifted upward, and without warning, her eyes met those of the Jade Badge's owner.
Owing to her profession before the game's descent, Cheng Yue was extraordinarily sensitive to the gazes of others. She was also well accustomed to being watched by tens of thousands of eyes.
But this was the first time she had ever felt a gaze that sent a chill down her spine.
*
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