"At that time, I was wearing the 'Lucky Bracelet' given by Jiang Ye. While riding the red-lit elevator, I accidentally entered a strange secret realm."

"I died in that secret realm. Later, Jiang Ye and Wan Xin dug me out from the Burial Ground."

"As for that secret realm triggered in the red-lit elevator, I thought it would no longer hold any significance after my death..."

"However, when I was lying in the coffin and finally made contact with that senior from the Burial Ground, he was curious about why I was so unlucky..."

"I briefly introduced the 'Lucky Bracelet' given by Jiang Ye, the unlucky constitution of Wan Xin who shares a dual-soul fusion with me, and also casually recounted some of my unlucky experiences."

"Among them, the unluckiest was, of course, accidentally entering that strange secret realm, as it caused my first death."

"But, after hearing my explanation, that senior seemed to have a different idea."

"He demanded that I go explore that secret realm again."

"And as a reward for obeying the command, he gave me some benefits, including but not limited to—"

"Some strategies for that secret realm, and he helped me modify the 'Lucky Bracelet' a bit."

"Since I had many resurrection slots from the Burial Ground, I did as he said, wore the 'Lucky Bracelet', and went to that secret realm again."

"Then, following the strategies given by the senior, I lured away the ultimate Boss of that secret realm. From the Boss's lair, which was the bottom of a giant coffin, I found a spatial passage."

"Then, from that spatial passage, I fell into a new space..."

"I later found out that the space I fell into should be the Giant Pot space."

"However, while inside, I didn't know it was a Giant Pot space;I thought I was trapped in some extreme environment."

"At the very beginning, from the bottom of the Giant Pot space, I could overlook all the chess grids of the entire black ice domain."

"So, your experiences in the black ice domain, I essentially observed them all from a god's-eye view."

"Later, some changes occurred in the entire Giant Pot space, and the range of the black ice domain I could see kept shrinking."

"Roughly around the time you encountered that batch of cross-region seniors in the key Hanging Moon Chess Grid, the range of the black ice domain I could see was limited to that Hanging Moon Chess Grid."

"Later, when you activated the Array Disk, I felt the world spinning... as if the entire Giant Pot space also spun wildly along with the Array Disk you activated."

"During that time, my entire consciousness was thrown into chaos by that spinning sensation. I don't know how long it lasted until I seemed to see the bright moon hanging in the Hanging Moon Chess Grid fall from the sky..."

"In our perception, that falling moon seemed to smash into the Giant Pot space I was in. Yes, it came crashing in from the direction of the pot's mouth."

"At that moment, my chaotic consciousness clearly felt that the moon invading the Giant Pot carried a profound, chilling coldness, and that coldness kept intensifying over time..."

"After that, I completely lost consciousness amidst that terrifying cold..."

"Until not long ago, your voice awakened Wang Lingling, and also awakened me."

Having said this, Yang Wenchao pondered for a moment longer before speaking to Lin Jing:

"So strictly speaking, I should have entered this Giant Pot earlier than you all."

"If I'm not mistaken, Wang Lingling entered the Giant Pot following that moon, not that the moon transformed into the Giant Pot."

At this point, Yang Wenchao had essentially finished explaining his entire experience of appearing in the Giant Pot.

And part of these experiences overlapped with those of Lin Jing and the others.

However, at that time, he observed Lin Jing and the others from a god's-eye view, while Lin Jing and the others were completely unaware of him.

Simultaneously, the part of his experience that most intrigued Lin Jing was naturally the segment unique to Yang Wenchao personally—his experience in the so-called "red-lit secret realm."

After a brief moment of contemplation, Lin Jing directly inquired about the red-lit secret realm.

He first raised a question: "As far as I know, secret realms that appear in the red-lit elevator must be random secret realms."

"So how did you, later on, enter that random secret realm a second time?"

Yang Wenchao directly shook his head: "I don't know either, but perhaps 'misfortune' sent me there again?"

"Because, following the instructions of the Burial Ground senior, I just took that 'Lucky Bracelet' modified by the Burial Ground senior and rode the red-lit elevator once more..."

"Then, very smoothly, I accidentally entered that secret realm again."

Saying this, Yang Wenchao's tone carried a hint of helplessness.

After a moment of thought, Lin Jing asked again: "From what you said, that 'Lucky Bracelet' Jiang Ye gave you, in essence, is actually an 'Unlucky Bracelet'?"

Yang Wenchao shook his head: "I don't know, but it certainly didn't bring me any good luck."

"However..." Yang Wenchao seemed to suddenly remember something, pondered for a moment, then added, "That Burial Ground senior seemed quite surprised by that 'Lucky Bracelet'."

Hearing this, Lin Jing fell into thoughtful contemplation and asked again: "Then do you know where Jiang Ye got that 'Lucky Bracelet' from?"

Yang Wenchao remained silent for a moment before giving a relatively clear answer: "Probably obtained through killing and looting."

As he spoke, he looked at Wang Lingling and said: "You should remember too, right? At that time, several cross-apartment players came to our apartment, and everyone in the chat group was panicking."

"But not long after, among the cross-apartment players, the one named Huang Qi died. You were all guessing who killed him."

"Later, I guessed he was probably killed by Jiang Ye. And Jiang Ye's 'Lucky Bracelet' was likely also obtained from that guy."

Of course, Yang Wenchao also guessed that Jiang Ye gained many benefits from Huang Qi.

Such as the incomplete version of the [Clone Replica Mirror] that allowed his rapid growth later, or other heaven-defying items...

In short, in Yang Wenchao's mind, he envisioned a scenario of getting rich through killing and looting.

He regretted in his heart that he hadn't encountered Huang Qi earlier to kill and loot...

As for this part of the experience he mentioned, Wang Lingling certainly remembered and nodded in agreement: "Indeed, if Jiang Ye was already playing dumb and eating the tiger back then, Huang Qi was very likely dealt with by him."

"Huang Qi..." Lin Jing pondered this name, not finding anything particularly special about it.

However, it was basically certain that the [Lucky Bracelet] originating from Huang Qi must have had something special about it.

And a player capable of crossing apartments in the early stages must have been quite powerful.

In Lin Jing's mind, he envisioned Huang Qi as a senior.

At the same time, he couldn't help but sigh at how lucky Jiang Ye was.

Finally, he asked Yang Wenchao again: "That [Lucky Bracelet] should still be on you, right?"

Yang Wenchao looked surprised: "Didn't you say that our time travel this time is equivalent to being formatted into pure newcomers, and everything we possessed cannot be brought to this era?"

The implied meaning was, how could the [Lucky Bracelet] possibly be brought along? 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

However, Lin Jing looked at him, deeply suspicious.

He felt Yang Wenchao's surprise this time was probably feigned.

Because...

"Then don't you find it strange why I was able to take out five [Time-Limited Instant Kill] cards in this era?"

After Lin Jing finished speaking, Yang Wenchao seemed to only then react and asked curiously: "Yeah? Why?"

"..."

Lin Jing gave him a cold glance, almost one hundred percent certain that this guy just didn't want to show him the [Lucky Bracelet].

He wasn't planning to continue this topic. Wang Lingling, standing nearby, guessed:

"You two... do you both have some means given by the Burial Ground senior that allows you to bring things from the future to this era?"

Otherwise, where did those five [Time-Limited Instant Kill] cards come from?

Lin Jing didn't answer. Instead, after thoughtfully looking at Wang Lingling for a few seconds, he suddenly threw a question at her:

"You didn't gain any benefits or information from Lin Ling?"

Wang Lingling's eyes flickered, then she shook her head with a look of confusion: "Of course not..."

However, Lin Jing, Yang Wenchao, and Wang Lingling—these three understood each other perfectly without words.

They all had secrets!

They just weren't willing to reveal them.

Given this attitude, there was obviously no need to press further.

The atmosphere among the three fell silent for a moment. Ultimately, it was Lin Jing who actively broke the silence:

"Regardless of what tasks or missions you've been assigned, the instructions given to me by the Burial Ground senior mainly focus on the period of the 「solar eclipse」."

"And according to the previous life revealed by He Yuliang, we still have quite some time before the 「solar eclipse」."

"So during this time... I plan to focus on improving my strength. What about you?"

Yang Wenchao nodded: "Same here, I need to improve my strength first."

Liu Re also sensed that these three seemed to be hiding some secret.

This shared secret made him and Wan Xin feel like two outsiders.

This feeling made him quite unhappy.

However, improving strength was also the most important thing in his mind.

So, regardless of what secrets these three were deliberately hiding, he directly asked:

"Then in this era, how do we improve our strength? For example, is there any way to let us stably obtain SSS-grade talents?"

Yang Wenchao rolled his eyes at him but also turned his gaze towards Lin Jing.

Lin Jing said straightforwardly: "Given our current identities, there are mainly two ways to improve strength—"

"The first is to use the Contribution points we earn by handing over time during our nightly 「Dreamland」 moments to exchange for items with the Boss."

"Oh, right. According to what was revealed during the conversation between He Yuliang and Du Yuheng, the Boss in 「Dreamland」 should be an existence similar to a Nomadic Merchant."

"So from him, we can exchange for all sorts of good things. Such as equipment and items, attribute fruits, skill scrolls, even talent stones, comprehension fruits..."

"Of course, the prerequisite is having enough Contribution points."

"These five youths had quite a lot of initial time, so after handing over their initial Assets last night, they should have received quite a few Contribution points."

"However, because they returned to the dormitory too late last night, almost right at zero o’clock, they didn't have much time left to exchange for benefits from the Boss."

"Tonight, we can go exchange a wave with the Boss to steadily improve our strength."

"And we can also try our best to earn survival stones during this morning. That way, when we hand over another batch during the 「Dreamland」 moment, the Contribution value will be higher, and we can exchange for more things."

Before Lin Jing finished speaking, Liu Re grew impatient first:

"So you're saying we can only improve our strength after entering 「Dreamland」 tonight? What if we encounter danger today??"

Lin Jing ignored him and continued: "The second method of improving strength isn't through trading. It's during our work period in the Forest of Oddities, either by leveling up through fighting monsters, or relying on luck to dig up some opportunities..."

When mentioning the word "opportunities," Lin Jing meaningfully glanced at Yang Wenchao again.

After all, if Yang Wenchao really still carried that [Lucky Bracelet]...

Then he likely wouldn't get any opportunities but would instead encounter continuous misfortune.

Yang Wenchao, however, remained expressionless, as if he really no longer had the [Lucky Bracelet] on him.

In contrast, the moment Wan Xin heard the word "opportunities," he couldn't help but get a headache, his face filled with despair.

He could only pray in his heart that in this era, having even changed his physical body, he should no longer have the unlucky constitution of being possessed by the God of Misfortune... right?

But then again, his unlucky constitution could bring prosperity to those around him.

To some extent, that was also a kind of luck, right?

At least the seniors wouldn't drive him away, right?

Lin Jing, of course, didn't drive anyone away.

These five people, whether by old identity or new identity, were originally a group.

And mainly, after obtaining the memories of the glasses-wearing youth Yi Min, and after understanding Du Yuheng's "reincarnation dreams" and He Yuliang's "previous life"...

Lin Jing developed some strange thoughts about this world.

It was as if, in the grand scheme of things, some things in the world were already destined.

For example, it just happened to be these five youths who latched onto Jiang Ye;

And it just happened to be these five youths whose identities were replaced by the five of them...

These seemingly destined coincidences made Lin Jing even start to believe in causality.

So he decided to maintain this team of five people, and they would work together in the Forest of Oddities.

Of course, the so-called "work" referred to tackling those random instances.

Random instances also had random difficulty.

Charging in recklessly would likely result in a very high mortality rate.

Lin Jing thus sought the opinions of these temporary teammates:

"So now, do we directly find instances and level up by fighting monsters ourselves? Or do we follow the original plan of these five youths, first find a way to reunite with Du Yuheng and He Yuliang, and then tackle instances under their protection?"

This question was raised, and the four of them almost unanimously chose an action plan different from the previous five youths.

Liu Re reacted the most strongly: "Are you kidding? The current us are equivalent to having seized the bodies of five youths! And that Du Yuheng who can read minds could see through our secrets in an instant, right?"

"Moreover, relying on mountains, mountains may collapse;relying on people, people may flee! What obligation do Du Yuheng and He Yuliang have to protect us?"

"If we really tackle instances with them, then once danger arises, we'll only be used as Cannon Fodder by them!"