Chapter 18: An City and the Contest Begins

“We’re here,” Wen Fengqi says, standing on the wooden ship, gazing ahead.

The sea’s mist clears, revealing the faint outline of a coastal city.

An City, like Twin Islands, matches real-world scale.
Though Yun Shi sees its post-disaster state, traces of its former glory remain.

The ship nears the port—a makeshift dock, the real one submerged alongside the city’s famed resort.
The iconic logo of An City’s world-renowned grand hotel peeks above the water.

“It’s a hidden dungeon, a 25-man raid called [Ocean Source Hotel],” Cherry says, noticing Yun Shi eyeing the logo.
“It was found in beta but never cleared.”

Jiang Shu adds, “More like, couldn’t even get there.”

The dungeon’s entrance is underwater.
A 25-man team can’t even reach it without drowning en masse.

Yun Shi nods, intrigued.
In a realistic game world, accessing an underwater dungeon is a puzzle.

The ship docks.

NPCs from An City’s Dawn Base guard the shore, recognizing Wen Fengqi.
After a brief exchange, one leads Yun Shi’s team to the base.

Dawn Base is the hub for An City’s survivors, surrounded by thick, high walls built by high-level earth and metal ability users.

It’s a relatively peaceful base.
Joining is simple for normals: register, pass a security check for parasitic mutants, not weapons.
Ability users must pass a test to prove their strength, earning access to lucrative daily NPC quests.

The test: clear 10 mutant monsters roaming An City’s streets, solo or in a team.

For Yun Shi’s group, it’s trivial.
A short distance from the base, they spot the monsters—humanoids, unlike [Snake Woman].
These lack any human reason, just bloodthirsty beasts.

Level 20, low health, they drop coins.

Coins, unlike gold, don’t drop on death and can’t be traded.
They’re used for skill/weapon upgrades, gem enchanting, and gear repairs.
Gold, tradable and convertible to Star Coins, covers upgrades when coins run short.
1 gold = 1000 coins; coins can’t convert back.

Gold comes from recharging, quest/dungeon rewards, exploration chests, or robbery.

After the test, the team splits at the base.

Yun Shi hunts for NPCs selling armor patterns.

His purple bow and accessory are equipped, control-breaking ultimate upgraded, and attribute gems set aside for the weapon once he finds a crafting NPC.
He’s betting on tomorrow’s “Contest,” though it stings to use his gear himself.

Thankfully, per Bo He’s advice, he’s selling [Bear Island] clear videos for 10 Star Coins per view.
He planned 5-8 coins, but the “Contest” announcement spiked demand for dungeon clears.
Raising the price was smart—he’s earned 80 Star Coins in half an hour.

He knows the profit won’t last.
Soon—maybe hours—someone will share a free guide, tanking his sales.

Dawn Base is vast, and finding the sewing NPC takes time.

At level 20, players can learn life skills here—sewing, among others.
But learning isn’t guaranteed.

The game’s ability user-normal tension persists.
Normals, unable to fight, rely on base protection but pay a price.
Life skill NPCs, mostly normals, guard their crafts, wary of teaching ability users.

Yun Shi’s not greedy for multiple skills.
He buys sewing patterns from the NPC—they’re for sale.

With patterns, he grinds proficiency, crafting white-quality armor first.
Low-stats, unsellable to players, but NPCs buy them as clothing despite the low price.

After 10 white pieces, he unlocks green-quality crafting.

Green armor sells on the base’s trading post—player or NPC exchanges, auction or fixed price.
Yun Shi’s level 20 green armor won’t attract players, so he lists it on the NPC exchange for 3 gold each.

At higher proficiency, he crafts blue-quality armor.

Blue requires more materials, unavailable in the player exchange but plentiful in the NPC one.
With few players in An City, Yun Shi buys all needed materials, exhausting his energy to craft 24 level-24 blue armors.

Fifteen go to the player exchange at 20 gold each; five to the NPC exchange for auction.

After listing, he does base quests or hunts mobs, then logs off to rest.

Next day, Yun Shi wakes, washes, and logs in.
An City’s player count has surged, everyone grinding levels.

An hour before “Contest” at 7 PM, Yun Shi visits the exchange, listing new gear at 25 gold.
It sells out fast.

He converts his gold to Star Coins and heads to the event NPC.

At 7 PM, “Contest” begins.

All registered players teleport to the arena—An City, but smaller.
It’s filled with traps, low-damage mobs with special effects, and buff items.

Rules:

1. Stay in bounds; leaving eliminates you.
2. Survive 1 minute for 10 points; eliminate a player for 50% of their points.
3. Last 10 minutes show top 10 players’ coordinates.
4. Game ends at 9 PM, lasting two hours.

“Game starts in: 3, 2, 1! Begin!”

Yun Shi bolts from the starting street, heading for the city’s highest point.