At 7 AM, Mo Tan, for the first time in a while, got out of his gaming pod, feeling completely exhausted, body and mind.
This wasn't because he hadn't gotten full mental rest during the game; in fact, the quality of the gaming pods produced by Wu Zui Company was incredibly high. Most Innocent World players rarely felt any discomfort after their daily gaming sessions, maintaining full energy when going to school or work. While this detail wasn't initially noticed, it has now been confirmed by a large number of players, and various 'industry conscience' arguments have begun to sprout up on major gaming forums...
It's important to know that even though it was already 2049, the human body's burden from mental simulation games had still not been completely resolved. Under normal circumstances, while replacing normal sleep with mental connection games wouldn't cause immediate problems, over time it would still burden the player's mind, and this burden often led to extreme consequences.
For example, problems like sleeping in class due to poor sleep quality would lead to a decline in teenagers' academic performance, rampant failures in exams, teachers getting massive headaches, and parents flying into a rage. This would then escalate into social phenomena like domestic violence, running away from home, loneliness, selling oneself to pay debts, cross-dressing, returning home in glory, and a collapse of moral values...
Hmm, as for incidents like brain death caused by gaming, those wouldn't happen. After all, such a revolutionary technology, once officially presented to the public, would certainly be safe. The kind of plot where a player is trapped in the game world due to some malicious bug or network ghost, desperately leveling up and wildly picking up girls, wouldn't happen in reality.
Of course, equipment that almost completely eliminates such side effects is, so far, only something Wu Zui Company can produce. Well, at least in the civilian sector, that's certainly true.
So, even if Mo Tan played for a full twelve hours yesterday, theoretically, he should now be in a state of full energy, as if he had just undergone deep sleep.
"But even if this gaming pod is really amazing..." He slumped on the sofa and stretched, muttering weakly, "Who could be full of energy after losing more than twenty matches in a single night?!"
That's right, Mo Tan, who hadn't logged off since going online in the Arena last night, hadn't left the Arena. His current record was twenty-three matches, one win, and twenty-two losses.
By the way, out of those twenty-two losses, twenty-one were consecutive defeats, and as for that sole victory, I'm sure everyone has guessed it: he got it from that brother named Great Light Knight Kevin...
Although the opponent's stats in all aspects were higher than his, and the battle process was very difficult, Mo Tan ultimately defeated Kevin after that incredibly cool manual dodge.
Then he started a losing streak, not winning a single match until he logged off.
And there was only one main reason for his failures: insufficient hard power!
As a new player with insufficient average playtime, Mo Tan's strength, even in the beginner practice Arena of the Tianzhushan Grand Arena, was absolutely among the worst. This meant that no matter how hard he tried, it was difficult for him to stop his losing streak. Under absolute disadvantages in all aspects, including but not limited to strength and speed, he couldn't even defeat a chicken!
But he was by no means empty-handed...
In just one night yesterday, the character 'Mo' had steadily become the strongest of Mo Tan's three (known) characters, and not by a small margin.
You see, every match would give him a certain experience reward, regardless of win or loss. It was a reward he could get as long as he tried his best to fight.
Of course, the prerequisite was 'trying his best.' Mo Tan had also tried directly confronting an opponent far stronger than himself in a certain match before. As a result, after being defeated without suspense, he only received a pitiful few experience points. But when he truly gave his all, an opponent of similar strength and the same defeat could still bring him a large amount of experience...
So he kept fighting in the Arena until the game time ended. Although the process was difficult, the gains were enormous!
However, to avoid suspicion of padding the word count, we will not go into detail about his character panel for now. Let's return to the story.
Mo Tan slumped on the sofa and rested for about ten minutes, but although it was called resting, he was actually organizing the insights gained from the large number of battles last night. Perhaps this kind of thing isn't important in other games, but Innocent World is not that simple...
As mentioned before, the same skill in the hands of two different people can very likely have two different effects. Even if both sides have exactly the same level, attributes, and even equipment, there will be considerable differences depending on the degree of mastery. Mo Tan had actually deeply experienced this during his previous losing streak.
"Phew, that's enough!" He stood up briskly, went into the kitchen to casually make himself some breakfast, and then went out with the feed he bought yesterday. For the past two days, Whirlwind Charger and Pioneer Speed, the siblings, had almost been living downstairs at his place, and Mo Tan himself was very happy to take good care of them during this time.
After all, these two cats had often been looked after by Mo Tan since they were young, and even under his 'chaotic neutral' and 'Absolute Neutral' personalities, he liked them very much.
...
Half an hour later, Mo Tan returned home with a completely different lazy demeanor than when he left. Before putting the cat food and dog food into the cabinet, he casually took out two pieces and threw them into his mouth.
"Tsk tsk, I always feel like it tastes better than that 'Azure Dragon Emerging from the Sea' meal I just had." He complained about the boiled vegetable leaves he had made earlier as he walked to the computer, deftly opened his slightly disguised email, and then, as expected, saw a whole page of unread emails sent within half an hour.
Although the sender's address was unknown, based on the content, it was undoubtedly the 'SUN' named Shuang Ye in the game.
'What's wrong with you? Why did you suddenly stop responding!'
'Are you there? Are you there? Are you there?'
'Why did you suddenly faint? Were you poisoned or something?'
'Wait, I understand. You logged off, right? But it manifested as your character fainting in the game, and you didn't turn into a white light and disappear. So, if we leave the game or disconnect in front of an NPC, our bodies in the game won't disappear, right?'
'Tsk tsk, if those orcs want to do something indescribable to your body, will you feel pain somewhere when you log back on?'
'Just kidding. I told Xi Luo that you fainted because you were injured while escaping earlier and were too exhausted. They've already settled your body.'
'Hmm, I tried poking your... you get the idea, with my staff, and as expected, the system blocked it. So, in this 'fainted' state, nothing too excessive should be done to you.'
'When you see this, reply to my email quickly! If you really plan to help report the news to that Holy Mountain, then hurry, the sooner you set off, the better!'
'@￥%&&*%'
Mo Tan silently read through each of these emails, then deleted them all. He then began to trace the sender's address with an extremely unrigorous attitude, and after successfully cracking several virtual addresses, he immediately chose to give up.
"This level of tracking is enough." Mo Tan chuckled after clumsily covering his tracks, "If you want to see it, I'll show it to you ~"
Then he got up, made himself a cup of coffee, and leisurely hummed a tune in front of the computer with his email open, waiting for something...
Sure enough, two minutes later, a new email appeared in his inbox again, and this time it had an address.
'Scum, you call yourself a hacker with that level of skill?'
There was only one sentence on it.
Mo Tan expressionlessly typed about a thousand words of highly insulting remarks into the input box, admired it for a minute, then expressionlessly deleted it. Then, while deliberating, he slowly replied: 'This is just a hobby for me, I didn't expect you to be a computer expert! I'm really sorry for suddenly disconnecting last night...'
"I feel like a pathetic chicken." Mo Tan clicked the send button, then rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, laughing, "By now, you should have found all the information about 'Mo Tan,' right? Hehe, I hope you like this carefully prepared gift."
In fact, Shuang Ye did not disappoint Mo Tan. She had almost found out all his information on the very first day she got Mo Tan's email. Although the superficial intelligence had equally superficial disguises, this level of obstruction clearly couldn't stop that little girl.
Coupled with that very clumsy trace just now, Shuang Ye was already able to successfully connect the four identities: Black Vatican in Innocent World, Mo Tan in the real world, a hacker with average technical skills, and a certain otaku living in B City.
However, unfortunately, none of the above content had anything to do with BLACK, which is Tan Mo in Innocent World.
"The best way to hide a secret is to put it openly within the other party's field of vision." Mo Tan let out a flirty whistle, revealing a mischievous smile, "Those who share hardships, colleagues, and those who know you inside out are very trustworthy. It won't be long before the choice between gradually stripping away your disguise or winning in the 'game' will be in my hands ~"
He took a small sip of coffee, then opened the second new email he had just received.
'Why did you suddenly disconnect?'
Mo Tan scratched his chin, then glanced in the direction of the kitchen, and briefly replied: 'Food poisoning, stomach ache.'
Although his disconnection yesterday wasn't due to this, Mo Tan had often gotten food poisoning from failed new recipes from those experimental dishes ~
'You're ruthless. Remember to log on early today. That's all.'
Shuang Ye clearly didn't want to continue chatting with him.
Mo Tan shrugged, then began browsing the forums, but this time his search speed was clearly much faster than before, and it was very targeted...
...
7 PM
"【Your mental connection has been detected. Personal information is being synchronized...】
【Connection complete. Character information is being read.】
【Welcome back, Absolute Neutral Black Vatican. Innocent World will be loaded soon. Good night.】"
...
When Mo Tan regained consciousness, he found himself lying in a decent room. The decor was somewhat rough but not shabby, suggesting that Xi Luo had ordered someone to bring him here after he fainted.
'Come directly to the council hall when you log on.'
Shuang Ye's message came quickly; clearly, she had also logged on right on time today.
Mo Tan didn't rush to leave; instead, he first opened his inventory to check the rewards from the previous hidden quest.
First, a set of priest-specific weapons...
【Ode Holy Cross】
Weapon Type: Main Hand - Set
Quality: Fine
Attack Power: Extremely Low
Attributes: Intelligence +6, Constitution +3, Holy Light spell effect increased by 3%
Equipment Requirements: Priest/Cleric class, Holy Light Lore Level 3, Intelligence 15
Set Effect: 【Ode Holy Cross】 + 【Ode Holy Scripture】 — Increases casting speed by 5%, Constitution +3
【Note: Well, first of all, congratulations, this thing does have some attack power, but please note that its damage will absolutely not be much stronger than any rubber band. Secondly, the little figure on this cross is not named Jesus or Lord; it's just a model we made based on the little figures we usually stick pins into for leaders. Wait, someone's knocking, I'll go open it first...】
Mo Tan: "..."
【Ode Holy Scripture】
Weapon Type: Off-Hand - Set
Quality: Fine
Attack Power: Extremely Low
Attributes: Intelligence +3, Constitution +1, Mage Strength +1%
Equipment Requirements: Priest/Cleric class, Holy Light Lore Level 2, Intelligence 10
Set Effect: 【Ode Holy Cross】 + 【Ode Holy Scripture】 — Increases casting speed by 5%, Constitution +3
【Note: No note, as the designer of this set was beaten by colleagues and sent for medical treatment.】
Mo Tan chuckled, equipped these two quite good main and off-hand weapons (the cross was wrapped around his hand, the scripture tucked into his waist), then sighed softly and took out from his inventory...
【Ned's Dog Tag】
Quality: Special
Effect: ???
【Note: A weathered dog tag. Its owner was a foolish resistor.】
...
【Krab's Dog Tag】
Quality: Special
Effect: ???
【Note: A frequently lost dog tag. Its owner is a careless oaf.】
...
【Salazar's Dog Tag】
Quality: Special
Effect: ???
【Note: A clean dog tag. Its owner is a quiet, reserved person.】
...
【Yinna's Dog Tag】
Quality: Special
Effect: ???
【Note: A dog tag covered with useless carvings. Its owner is a bit of a literary and artistic clumsy girl.】
...
Mo Tan held the four small iron tags in his hand in silence for a long time, then carefully put them back into his inventory and left the room.
Meanwhile, in the eastern part of the Innocent Continent, in a small town south of Misha County.
A cute little girl was sitting in front of the local church, humming hymns with a smile, until a young female priest rushed out and led her back into the church.
Not far away, countless people with festering bodies were wailing in pain, and the Holy Light occasionally summoned by the clergy among the crowd had no effect whatsoever.
A priest, exhausted to the point of collapse, swayed as he stood up, staring blankly at the surrounding scene of misery.
"Gods above... what did these innocent people do wrong..."
Chapter 92: End