Abyssal Wanderer.

Yunzhuan Mountain is shrouded in a faint, ethereal atmosphere year-round. When viewed from afar, the mountain appears half-hidden in a sea of ​​clouds, with only a few green peaks visible, resembling islands suspended in the sky.

The mountain is covered with ancient trees that look as if they have been growing for thousands of years. The branches of the trees are twisted and gnarled like dragons and snakes, and the canopies block out the sun.

Wearing a purple Lolita dress and pink buckled shoes with wings, Hoshino walked barefoot up the 9,999 white jade steps leading to the mountain gate. Patches of purple bamboo lined both sides of the steps, dew clinging to the leaves and reflecting the shimmering sunlight. Occasionally, a disciple would pass through the bamboo grove, the wind rustling the leaves as their robes fluttered, creating an atmosphere that only enhanced the tranquility.

The mountain gate is carved from a single piece of white jade, standing over three zhang tall. Cloud patterns and cranes are carved on the gate, the brushstrokes ancient and simple, exuding an indescribable mystery. Above the gate hangs an ancient plaque with the four large characters "Yun Zhuan Tian Shu" (Cloud Seal Heavenly Pivot), the characters simple and unadorned, each stroke seemingly containing the ultimate truth of heaven and earth.

This set design is quite ingenious—it not only makes visitors feel ethereal and otherworldly, but also cleverly conceals the loading time of the program by showing the process of climbing the steps.

More importantly, this Immortal Gate skin mod only costs 20 Aureans per month.

Thinking this, Hoshino Hikaru stopped in the open space in front of the mountain gate, leaning on his magic wand, and then entered the password that the other party had given him earlier into the gate. Immediately, he saw a wisp of green smoke rise.

The wisp of smoke condensed in the air, sometimes transforming into various auspicious beasts, sometimes forming a formation of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, and finally solidifying into the image of a refined swordsman in green robes.

"Ah... it's Fellow Daoist Hoshino. It's been a long time. What brings you to my Cloud Seal Mountain today?"

The man cupped his hands in greeting.

Didn't you ask me to meet you here? It's not like I'm the one who rushed here.
Hikaru Hoshino resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and then complained:

"Kumiko, even if the servers you set up in the Nord resettlement area are all broken, you don't have to cancel the function of skipping cutscenes, do you? You really made me walk more than nine thousand steps."

This is Kumiko Furuzuki's private domain, that is, her personal network. Normally, while he was climbing those steps, the other party could activate various ice wall programs to defend against enemies, but today he clearly came to discuss matters, yet this guy still forced him to climb nearly ten thousand steps, which is really not the way to treat a guest.

Being addressed by her real name in a private setting made Kumiko a little flustered, and she quickly said:
"In Yunzhuan Mountain, please address me as Daoist Yunzhuan. Just like I wouldn't call you Junjie Zhang here, you should still observe this basic hacker etiquette!"

"But your online name is Gu Changsheng, and you even claimed to be a rogue cultivator without any sect or school? When did you become Yunzhuan Daoren?"

Hoshino Hikaru was puzzled by the tunnel.

Although he wasn't very familiar with the world-building and settings of those fantasy web novels, he had done his research on Kumiko Kozuki's self-description.

"Ah... no, Gu Changsheng is my real identity, no, my first disguise; while Yunzhuan Daoist is the identity I use to control the Yunzhuan Sect. Outsiders don't know that Gu Changsheng is the true master of Yunzhuan Mountain, which is the second disguise... that's how it's set up."

Got it, Gu Changsheng was the person he maintained in front of his family and classmates before his transformation, right? He would never reveal his true identity until the very end.

After some thought, Hoshino Hikaru came to a similar conclusion by comparing the settings of magical girl works.

Although it wasn't quite clear why she respected these settings so much, Hoshino Hikaru still said:
"I'm so sorry, I was really being presumptuous... Anyway, could you please open the gate? We need to go inside and discuss what happened earlier, right?"

Kumiko fell into an awkward silence.

After a long pause, she finally spoke:

"Wait for me a little longer, the restriction will be lifted soon..."

Hoshino Hikaru carefully considered her words before cautiously asking:

"The blockade Icarus left behind shouldn't be so severe that you can't even control your own private domain, right?"

"It's under control...it just will take some time."

Kumiko Furuzuki said hesitantly.

Hikaru Hoshino pursed his lips, then said:
"How about we chat in my private chat instead?"

"How can that be? What if the ice wall you build isn't enough to defend against that female demon's spying..."

"Kumiko Kozuki..." Koji Changsheng objected vehemently.

Hoshino Hikaru pondered, "No matter how ingeniously this ice wall is constructed, it's useless because your data processing center is so weak and inefficient..."

But to protect the young girl's pride, he coughed lightly and said:

“I previously purchased the simulated experience of the all-natural Earl Grey tea from the Century Era. Wouldn’t you like to try it out in my private space?”

"I already said... wait, what grade of Earl Grey tea is it?"

…………

I never thought there would actually be kids these days who would be lured home by a cup of tea...

Looking at the man in the blue robe holding a teacup with a contented expression, Hoshino Hikaru couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"Alright, I've already set the ice wall to the highest security level. Even if that guy named Sita is a Depth 7 Coordinator, it's unlikely he could eavesdrop on our conversation without triggering an alarm."

Seeing that the atmosphere was right, Hoshino Hikaru tapped the table and got straight to the point.

But in response to his words, Gu Changsheng put down his teacup and immediately put on airs, saying:
"Are you sure there are no problems? In my opinion, your expertise in formations is far from sufficient. Back in Nord, I was refining the server right under your nose and you didn't even..."

That's enough!

Upon hearing this, Hoshino Hikaru's forehead twitched violently, and any little bit of goodwill she had previously developed towards the girl vanished instantly.

He slammed his hand on the table, interrupting the other person.

"Is this the time to talk about this?! Or can you help me upgrade the ice wall now?"

"Hoshino Hikaru said with a displeased look.

"Why are you getting so worked up when I'm just telling the truth..."

Startled and shrinking back, Gu Changsheng muttered something, then said:

"Okay, okay, let's just say that the Deep 7 adjuster wasn't some kind of hacking specialist... But that doesn't explain how she knew everything about our conversations via the secret channel the next day. And how she was able to hack into the brain-computer interface and control our words and actions even when the Ice Wall wasn't working at all."

She wanted to complain about something more, but seeing Hoshino Hikaru glare at her, she instinctively shrank back and said somewhat aggrievedly:
"In short... Sita definitely didn't have good intentions in asking us to go to 'Paradise' with her!" Although she had heard her say this before, Hoshino Hikaru couldn't help but ask:
"Why? Didn't you say before that, apart from the Nord Resettlement Area, 'Paradise' was the most likely place to bring down that hidden 'Heavenly Dao'? Besides, Icarus asked you to go to Paradise to break the seal he left for you... I thought you would definitely go there."

After the crisis in the Nord resettlement area was resolved, the woman who called herself Sita approached them.

She first said that the two wizard-level hackers had been corrupted by the Dionysian architecture during that online war, and that if they continued to remain under the watchful eyes of the gods, they might meet with certain death. She then claimed that she could help them cleanse themselves of the corruption, but they would have to go with her to that "paradise" in South America.

That "paradise" was also the headquarters of the Bacchus Cult.

Of course, despite all that she said, Sita had no intention of consulting them whatsoever—after that almost threatening conversation, they had quite consciously said goodbye to Nord's relatives and friends. Hoshino Hikaru even held a graduation live stream, ending the broadcast in tears under a red carpet laid out by countless red SCs (Note*).

Looking back now, the fear and pressure that this Depth 7 Coordinator brought them was immense. It actually led them to abandon everything they had and leave Nord with that seemingly suspicious Depth 7 Coordinator.

Upon hearing Hoshino Hikaru's earlier question, Gu Changsheng's expression immediately darkened. She remained silent for a long time before finally speaking:

"Don't you have any relatives or friends around you who have chosen to join 'Paradise'?"

Hikaru Hoshino shook his head.

“My parents are very old-fashioned. Let alone ‘Paradise’, back then, even if I played games for a while, they would whip me with a belt like a spinning top… It’s impossible for them to spend all their savings to enjoy the virtual reality of ‘Paradise’.”

"I see..."

Gu Changsheng forced a smile, then said:
"Materialists...that's good, they won't fall for those religions. But I have to correct one thing: to join Paradise and enjoy eternal bliss, you don't just have to donate all your wealth, you have to donate everything you have."

"It is everything in the literal sense."

In response, Hoshino Hikaru recalled the information he had learned about "Paradise" in the past, and then said:
“That doesn’t make sense. I remember ‘Paradise’ only provides physical body management services for people who are addicted to virtual reality for a long time… but most of the people who are managed end up losing all their money. And after the Bliss Order changed its name to the Bacchus Order, it seems that their religious aspects have been banned.”

Although the original Elysium was indeed a religious organization, and their expansion among the people was so rapid that it even attracted the attention of the Olympian Order.

However, after ascending to become a member of the gods in the name of the Bacchus Order, although they still bore the name of the "Order," they never conducted any public missionary activities again. As far as Hoshino Hikaru knew, the religious factions within those orders were completely cut off and became universally reviled.

I wonder where that underground religious organization called the "Cult of Dionysus" is making its fortune these days...

"Everything in the literal sense?"

"Hoshino Hikaru repeated."

“Those who are addicted to the virtual reality of the amusement park will first use up all their savings in their accounts; then, they will sign property mortgages; after all their fixed assets are used up, they will go to their immediate family members outside to ask for money... They will show them what they look like now and tell them that if they don’t pay, they will have to use their prosthetics, implants, or even biological organs as collateral.”

Gu Changsheng said in a low voice:
"Because the right to dispose of one's body is solely in one's own hands, relatives outside the park can only choose to pay or not pay; they cannot forcibly pull their loved ones out... But even if, in reality, relatives help renew their subscriptions until they become fed up and give up completely, those inside the park will not be willing to leave that artificial paradise."

Then, they will continue to sell everything they still have.

First come the memories derived from personal experiences. Copyrights based on personal experiences are often the first to be sold because they seem the least important and cheapest. But in reality, within the park's internal pricing, this is the most expensive resource a person can have.

These could be processed into human-like models, or fed to certain customer service AIs to make those large models more "human-like".

Then there's the brain's computing power—while the self-awareness enjoys the relaxing services of the amusement park, many brain regions are actually idle. This idle computing power can be used by the park to decipher technology, or requisitioned by certain modifiers to participate in certain cyber attack and defense operations.

Then there are prosthetics, implants, and bio-organs.

This doesn't need a detailed explanation; it's similar to the black market for selling prosthetic bodies and organs, but the channels are more legitimate and the pricing is fairer.

Absolutely honest and fair pricing, with absolutely fair and reasonable prices.

Furthermore, as the body is continuously disassembled, the maintenance costs for the user's body will decrease accordingly. Therefore, although most people's prosthetics and organs don't fetch much money, this process can greatly extend the time users can enjoy the park's services.

By selling itself off in this way, the user will ultimately only be left with a "brain in a vat" that enjoys all kinds of pleasurable experiences.

At that point, they will have nothing left to sell except the users' consciousness itself.

However, by choosing to sell the biological brain along with the product, they can gain the right to enjoy eternal bliss within the park.

The final destination of those brains in vats was the headquarters of the Bacchus cult in the former Uruguay region of South America.

There, they will merge into true bliss and become a part of Bacchus.

After listening to Gu Changsheng's account, Hoshino Hikaru couldn't help but slightly open his mouth.

If you only look at the official promotional materials of the "park", you would have no idea that this service can "eat" a person so efficiently with zero waste.

Compared to their missionary activities during the Elysian Order period, the Bacchus Order's efficiency in operating under capitalism after ascending to the status of Olympian gods is simply too high.

Looking at Gu Changsheng... no, looking at Gu Yue Kumiko's depressed mood, Junjie Zhang seemed to realize something.

But before he could say anything, his ice wall sensed an unusual fluctuation.

"Who goes there!"

Purple light enveloped him like silk, and Junjie Zhang swiftly transformed into his battle form. Holding a magic wand, he leaped up and landed on the roof of the fairytale cottage.

The place where he had previously sensed the presence of someone was now only a wisp of mist about to dissipate.

…………

Sita was surprised to find that the Nyx Factor she emitted could not detect any fluctuations in his consciousness at all, despite him constantly interrupting her.

That brat on the Theseus path...

Sita couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Because he was afraid of being read by himself, he directly activated the "Pegasus" zombie switch to shut down his consciousness.
Could this kid's consciousness be trying to probe into the network to gather information about those two "wizards"? (End of Chapter)