Lucky billion players, you've never seen one before / I can accumulate my own luck

The A-grade item, "Truth Surpasses All," is incredibly intelligent to use.

Xiao Zhen is considered the "item spirit" of this item, capable of actively filtering out information useful to its owner from a massive amount of past information.

The things people who have lived in this area have said, the messages they have sent on their phones, the information they have searched online, the maps they have looked at... all of these are considered past information.

Aside from the lack of transparency in people's thoughts, Xiao Zhen can access almost everything that has ever existed and everything that has ever happened.

Therefore, it can directly provide answers to general information-related questions... well, only when it is used by him personally.

If it were anyone else using it, Xiao Zhen probably wouldn't even bother with them.

Fan Xiao then asked, "Is it a partitioned world?"

"No, this is a dungeon world."

"Oh? Such a huge dungeon world... No wonder it's an A-rank dungeon, it's almost as big as a complete zone."

"Master, if you are looking for a high score, Xiao Zhen suggests that you do not look up too much information before the dungeon opens."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Fan Xiao continued, "Was I the first one to arrive?"

“Master was the first to arrive in this area,” Xiao Zhen suggested. “Master, please expand your activity area. I’ll help you scout out if there are any other players.”

Just as Fan Xiao was about to agree, he suddenly noticed the player panel pop up.

The screen above displays a notification that the instance has been opened.

The "Four Worlds' Dreams" instance is now open.

[Background Information: On July 19, police discovered 27 human corpses, pale and decomposed, at Yanghu Park on Shuixian Street in Linglong City; on July 22, 32 residents of Building 10 in Yangguang Residential Area, Huoshan County, were found dead in their beds, their bodies dismembered; on July 26, swarms of sharks gathered on the east coast of Dayu Port, launching suicide attacks on tourists playing on the beach, killing 13 people; on July 30, the urban legend of "Mary's Phone Call" murders occurred in Heiyan City...]

Bizarre and unusual deaths are occurring frequently, and the world seems to be turning strange, as if some unknown terror is descending. Is all of this a distortion of human nature? Or a decline in morality?

Welcome to my hot topic, "Your Heart." I'm your host, Xiaoming. Before we begin, please allow me to solemnly remind all listeners—be careful of anything that seems amiss around you!

【hint:】

1. Not all myths are false.

2. What you see as the truth may not be the truth.

3. What others give up may be what you need.

[Instance Quest:]

1. Survive

2. Save the world

"..."

Fan Xiao frowned slightly and looked at the aloof beauty and the bald giant not far away—the two of them were frozen in place, motionless, as if they had lost consciousness.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the activity of the "will energy" within these two flesh-and-blood creatures had decreased, making it insufficient to support their movement.

At the same time, Xiao Zhen, who had been chattering away, stopped talking, and the prop sensor disappeared... This was a sign that the prop's usage rights had been blocked.

And his spirit... Fan Xiao felt his mental strength had dropped to an unprecedented low, as if a mountain was pressing down on him, making it impossible to activate or mobilize it properly.

Even physical performance has declined significantly.

"The power was suppressed... no, not only the power, but the psionic effects were also suppressed, so that's why the flesh and blood creatures stopped moving..."

Fan Xiao quickly deduced his current situation.

This instance seems to be able to suppress supernatural powers in every way.

Judging from his current mental activity level, he can only exert mental power at a level close to B.

The ability to break through the limits of psionic energy is currently unusable.

The psionic effects were also suppressed.

"S-class psionic energy should be unaffected, but my mental state has been suppressed, which has indirectly reduced the usage time."

Fan Xiao made further speculations.

Of course, this is just speculation, and he currently has no intention of verifying it.

In dungeons where supernatural powers are restricted, it's best not to use your powers recklessly, lest you trigger some crisis mechanics.

It's best to leave the verification to other players.

Fan Xiao felt a little regretful.

The plan to infiltrate other players' teams using flesh and blood creatures was doomed before it even began.

He doesn't even know if any other players have entered this area.

"Let's go gather some intelligence first."

Fan Xiao glanced at the aloof beauty and the bald giant who stood motionless, as well as the small surveillance fleshy ball that fell from the sky. Then, he ignored... or rather, discarded them, and walked forward along the street.

As he walked, he observed the shops along the street.

There was a mobile phone shop not far away, but he had no intention of going in.

The background information for the instance mentions a piece of intelligence: on July 30th, a murder case based on the urban legend "Mary's Phone Call" occurred in Blackrock City.

When Xiao Zhen answered his question, she mentioned that the city was Black Rock City.

Actively taking over a phone is tantamount to actively courting death, isn't it?

"Three game hints. The second and third have no clues yet. The first one... is it a reminder for players to pay more attention to the mythology of this world?"

"The frequent bizarre deaths... could this be some kind of mythological revival plot?"

"There's also the first dungeon mission, which is to survive, but there's no time limit... that immediately increases the difficulty."

As Fan Xiao walked, he pondered and analyzed the dungeon information on the player panel.

The survival time required for survival-type dungeons is generally from the start to the end of the dungeon, and the time is basically fixed. No specific number is given here... If we speculate, it probably means that this dungeon does not have a clear closing time.

It might be very long.

It could also be very short.

The exact timeframe depends on the specific situation within the instance.

The psychological pressure suddenly increased...

Fan Xiao tensed up even more and quickly planned out three tasks: to investigate the deaths mentioned in the background introduction; to research the mythology of this world; and to find other players.

As he passed a small convenience store, Fan Xiao went inside, pretending to examine the goods and observing the currency used by customers at checkout... It was game currency?

He didn't buy anything and quickly left the convenience store, catching up with the customer who had just paid and walked out—a short young man.

"Hey bro, you dropped your money."

Fan Xiao chased after the young man and called out to him, handing him a hundred-yuan game coin.

The young man was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized what he had done. He accepted the game coins and said with a sudden realization, "I was wondering why I felt like I was short a bit of money when I took out my cash to pay earlier. Oh, I lost it! I thought I had forgotten to leave a hundred at home. Thank you, thank you!"

"..."

"You just paid with your phone..." Fan Xiao saw through his lie but didn't say anything, maintaining a friendly smile as he said, "Brother, do you know where the library is? I'm here as a tourist and I'm not very good with maps. I'm getting completely lost in these streets."

"Wait a minute, let me take a look."

Since he had accepted a bribe, the young man immediately took out his phone to check the map, then zoomed in and showed it to Fan Xiao: "Look, it's quite close. Go straight for seven intersections, then turn right and go two more."

“That’s pretty close,” Fan Xiao said. “Thanks, brother.”

"It was nothing, no need to thank me."

The young man waved his hand.

Fan Xiao smiled and took the opportunity to chat with the young man about tourism, and soon he got basic information about Black Rock City.

Blackrock is a large city with a population of nine million, and its government structure is basically similar to that of his hometown.

There might be many subtle differences, and he couldn't go into detail about them right away... After all, he only spent a hundred yuan, and he couldn't possibly pester the other party for several hours.

There are many cities in this world, but only one country... or rather, there is no concept of a country. The organization that unites all the cities is called the Human Federation, headquartered in Bright County, not far from Blackrock City, about 300 kilometers away.

Every federal resident has an identity ID card, which they generally do not carry with them unless absolutely necessary.

After chatting for a while, Fan Xiao and the young man parted ways, a question forming in Fan Xiao's mind: "Am I considered a Federation resident now? Does the instance assign identities to players? If so, I might need to find my identity as soon as possible. If not... I might need to get an ID card?"

There's far too little information about this dungeon on the player's panel!

Currently, he has absolutely no clue about the game hints and dungeon quests.

It seems he can only passively wait for danger to strike and then extract information from it... That won't do; he needs to be more proactive.

So he asked for directions to the library.

Researching death incidents, exploring myths, and finding other players—all three can, barring any unforeseen circumstances, be done in the library.

The first hint in the instance is "Myths are not all false," so if a player enters here, they will definitely head to the library immediately.

Everyone thinks that if we just meet up, we can easily get it done; there's no need to go out of our way to find someone.

Surely an A-level player can't be so stupid, right?

Furthermore... the humans here communicate without any abnormalities, just like real humans, very naturally. They are probably not simple AIs, but most likely living, breathing people.

Fan Xiao glanced at the time on the panel—6:50 PM.

The sky was getting slightly dark.

The date displayed is August 10th, which is more than half a month after the starting event date "July 19th" mentioned in the dungeon's background description.

Fan Xiao silently quickened his pace.

After crossing five intersections, he suddenly felt a strange sensation in his body and stopped in his tracks—his pocket suddenly felt hard.

Don't get me wrong, he meant the sudden feeling of something hard... that something had quietly appeared in his pocket.

Fan Xiao reached out and pulled it out; it turned out to be a mobile phone.

The top part is the screen, and the bottom part is the function keypad and numeric keypad; it's a very old model.

At that moment, the phone vibrated and rang suddenly after he held it in his hand, and the caller ID on the screen showed that it was from a "non-existent number".

Yes, the caller ID field simply displays the words "number not in service".

Making a call from a non-functional number, Miss Mary doesn't even bother to pretend... *Whoosh*—Fan Xiao threw the phone away and continued on his way.

Before I had taken more than a few steps, I felt something hard in my pocket again.

The vibration and ringing noises kept going on and on.

"...I didn't activate any luck-boosting abilities, I'm just experiencing normal bad luck?"

Fan Xiao was speechless. He took the phone out again, pried open the back cover, and removed the battery... It didn't work; the phone was still ringing.

He stomped on the ground again and crushed it... The next second, he felt a hard object in his pocket for the third time.

The ringing continued.

Fan Xiao frowned, pondering how to handle the situation.

After thinking about it for a while, he simply ignored it and continued walking forward, letting his phone do whatever it wanted.

According to the basic law, it will probably hang up automatically after ringing for a while...

“I am Mary.”

The call was answered automatically.

A cold, childlike voice came from the pocket: "I was just 20 kilometers behind you. Because you didn't answer the phone, I teleported 10 kilometers in a state of extreme anger. Now I'm 10 kilometers behind you, and we'll be able to meet soon."

After saying that, the phone call ended.

He was speechless.

Damn it... Is this even possible? Not answering the phone and then teleporting?

"If you can't afford to play, you don't have to!"

Fan Xiao made a comment, but wasn't overly worried.

The dungeon has only just begun; even in a psionic dungeon, it's impossible for a fatal crisis to occur right at the start.

Miss Mary should be easy to deal with.

He simply took out the old cell phone that Miss Mary had given him and made do with it, then started browsing the internet... Wow, it can actually access the internet?