Su Ming’an imdiately realized what was happening and said to the young teaching assistant, "It’s okay."
He glanced at the large classroom below, where students of varying ages, both male and female, adults, teenagers, and even grey-haired elderly were fervently writing.
Seeing that he remained silent, everyone looked at him with slight concern.
He looked down and saw several docunts on his lap filled with terms like "Eden," "Dawn System," and "Type Eight Personality" alongside lots of obscure text explanations and so foreign words that the system did not translate. He had no idea where to continue the lecture from.
...What should he do?
In this large classroom, there must be Players who had just possessed students. His silence was equivalent to exposing to all Players that he was not Dr. Aceto.
He wasn’t afraid of these Players, but if other NPCs found out that he wasn’t the doctor himself, that would be troubleso...
Should he forcefully continue the lecture? Talk about philosophy? Psychology? Or maybe the Lighthouse... That probably wouldn’t work.
He knew about MBTI personality types, but the Type Eight Personality here obviously was not the sa thing as MBTI. How was he supposed to forcefully talk about that...
He did not know what Dr. Aceto’s own temperant was like, whether he was the type who liked to suddenly start discussing life experiences while teaching. He could perhaps ramble about so anecdotes...
He noticed that he was wearing a robe akin to a white coat, which resembled a doctor’s outfit more than a scholar’s. A card peeked out from the left pocket of his coat, likely a business card.
"Dr. Aceto," the young teaching assistant said as he walked behind him.
Su Ming’an had not yet reacted when he heard the system notifications of the task follow one after another.
"Ding dong!"
[Welco, Players, to the Ninth World!]
[World Na: City of asurent - Aceto]
[Basic Quest for All Players: Survive, live until the twentieth day.]
[This world is an open type world; there are no fixed advanced quests, Players may explore on their own.]
[This world is an open type world; there are hundreds of Perfect Pass routes, Players may explore on their own.]
...
[Ruler’s Quest: Discover the "Thing of Truth."]
[Quest Reward: "Ruler" status advancent.]
[Quest Failure Penalty: "Ruler" status reverts to Third Rank.]
...
[This world is a competitive world involving ten thousand Players, the instance chat channel will be opened on the fifth day.]
[ssages sent in the channel will be visible to all ten thousand Players simultaneously.]
[The instance chat channel has an information blocking chanism, and certain hidden "specific information" cannot be conveyed.]
[Detected current Player status: Fourth Rank Ruler, number of speaking turns in this instance: unlimited.]
...
[Detected current Player team status, number of team mbers: 5.]
[When team mbers co within one kiloter of each other, team chat opens.]
...
A series of "ding ding dong dong" notification sounds rang in Su Ming’an’s ears.
Similar to the Seventh World, the Ninth World had no specific advanced quests, no specific Perfect Pass conditions; the basic quest was simply to stay alive.
The length of this instance was twenty days, longer than all previous instances.
But one question remains... what is the "Thing of Truth" ntioned in the Ruler’s Quest? The quest only provided a na, making it harder to find than a needle in a haystack.
He glanced at the upper right corner, and a large crowd of viewers flooded into the live stream, as punctual as a clock.
[First!]
[Wow, so it is a technological world... I was actually hoping for an ancient fantasy setting.]
[Then, it evolves into Number One Player with seven spiritual roots slapping his ex-fiancée in the face, exterminating the Demon Sect, and ruling over the fantasy world, right?]
[A fantasy world would probably not co so soon; its power system is too high. It feels like it belongs to the later instances, and I always felt that the fantasy world and the overall style of the World Ga don’t really sh.]
[Was that young man called Su Ming’an Dr. Aceto? Wait a mont, I rember the Ninth World is nad City of asurent· Acto...]
[Ladies and gentlen, a classic question has arrived. Why does Su Ming’an always embody the very core of the world?? Previously, he at least hid it a bit, but this round, it’s revealed at the very beginning.]
[Ready to clobber anyone calling him a traitor, Number One Player is humanity’s Number One Player! All the sneering cynics can drop dead!]
[...]
Su Ming’an noticed the number of participants in this instance.
Nearly three hundred and thirty million people—a staggering number.
He had thought that under the tense atmosphere of the Main God World, where everyone was wary and psychiatric issues were becoming more prevalent, particularly after Eighth World’s SAN-value affecting instance, there wouldn’t be many people participating.
In the comnts, soone was discussing this, saying that since the Eighth World had already introduced a SAN value setting, the Ninth World following it likely wouldn’t feature SAN values, hence the eagerness to participate.
Soone also summarized the experiences with the instances. The style of World Replicas is arranged in a sequence of one from the "Bright State" followed by one from the "Underworld." The Fifth World Ming Hui and the Seventh World Pulaya are significantly more "warm and healing" than the Sixth World White Sand Paradise and the Eighth World Do.
So this Ninth World Acto... should also be a warm and beautiful world.
"Ding dong!"
[The Ninth World is a "specific developnt type instance," providing significant enhancents to firearms specialization and skills, and considerable boosts to scientific side strength. It reduces other types of abilities to so extent.]
...
Su Ming’an understood the aning of this hint, which amounted to a certain "world style."
In a world where developnt trends are fixed and styles are sowhat consistent, abilities that vastly overshadow the world’s standards cannot exist.
For instance, in a fantasy world, if every player used airplanes and cannons, distributing AK47s to all martial artists, the whole scenario would be unwatchable.
The highly advanced Ninth World in terms of technology and firearms is not suitable for magical power.
This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for him.
He possessed two Purple Grade firearms unique in the World Ga. Having browsed forums and understood other powerful players, no one else had two top-tier guns like he did.
Together with his AI wristwatch Ada, the Ninth World might represent a significant boost in scientific aspects for him, potentially compensating for his weaknesses.
Additionally, his status was evidently very high, and the City of asurent was even nad after him, which could be considered a ceiling-level position and might even compare to Ming Hui’s Holy Initiation position back then...
He thought this way, but his field of view started to move.
Strangely, he himself had not moved at all, not even stood up.
"Gurgle..."
He heard the sound of wheels rolling and turned his head to see the young assistant slowly pushing the chair he was seated in out of the room.
"The doctor needs to rest, you guys can self-study for now," said the young assistant to the classroom. There was no complaint in the classroom; instead, so students stood up and volunteered to let the doctor rest properly, saying they could continue teaching the rest.
The sound of students lecturing resud in the classroom, accompanied by the flipping of pages. In this place, the atmosphere of learning was incredibly dense, and the respect for education was distinctly evident.
...But Su Ming’an felt bewildered.
Why was the assistant pushing him? Was he sitting in... a wheelchair?
He listened to the "gurgle" of wheel rotation that started under the chair and tentatively moved his legs.
...They didn’t move.
He imdiately grabbed the sides of the chair with both hands, trying to get his legs to move, but there was still no response.
The legs felt like they weren’t his own, completely uncontrollable. He removed the docunts that were on his knees and touched his legs, but he could not feel any sensation.
...This couldn’t be happening.
He had wondered why a doctor would sit while lecturing and thought the doctor might have been tired and needed a rest. But was it actually because he couldn’t stand up?
The young assistant next to him said softly, "It’s okay, Doctor. Once the ’Dawn’ brain is repaired... it will definitely offer a solution to your physical problem."
Su Ming’an opened his mouth to speak but coughed out loud instead.
Under the astonished expression of the assistant, he lifted his hand and saw the bright red blood sprayed on his snowy white coat and even on his fingers, so bits looked like fragnts of organs.
He was even more bewildered.
He was coughing up blood.
Although his health bar was still safely at 2270 points in the Bright State, without a drop decreasing, nor did he see any bleed-out debuffs, he was indeed coughing up blood.
...What kind of body was this?
Was it still possible to switch?
The condition of the character’s body affected the player himself. When he had incarnated as Qin Wang in the Fifth World, he often felt bone-chilling cold. But this did not affect his ability to utilize his own strength, his health bar was still his own, and the defensive power was the real defense calculated with equipnt.
This was a state where the player’s values and the original character’s physical condition were fused.
...But with these legs unable to stand, it was severely affecting his ability to fight.
He couldn’t expect Ming to carry him in fights all the way, could he?
He glanced at the young assistant pushing the wheelchair behind him.
The assistant, dressed in a white coat similar to his, had an eastern-looking face, and wore a na tag that read ["Dream Making" Group Doctor Assistant • Qin Shaoli].
A panel popped up.
["Dream Making" Definition: An organization pursuing the aning of life and spiritual freedom. Advocates extracting human DNA for coding and preservation.]
...It sounded like a questionable organization.
He glanced again at the corner of the na tag showing on his own chest and, taking advantage of Qin Shaoli’s blind spot, fiddled with it to see the text on the inside.
He didn’t need to see it clearly, as a system prompt automatically popped up.
[Na: Yasa Acto
Identity: "Dream Making" Group’s Chief Executive, City Lord of the City of asurent.
Personality: Intelligent and wise, gentle and steadfast, with strong leadership abilities, a rare genius in the Ruined World in a hundred years.
Physical condition seems to be poor.
Persona: MBT (Dawn Type Personality)]
...
It seed that this world was called "Ruined World," and "City of asurent" was one of its cities and a major stage for player activities.
The world seed very vast, similar to an open world with no boundaries; even if players left the "City of asurent," they could still survive.
Su Ming’an was pushed by Qin Shaoli through a corridor assembled with machinery, heading towards the interior.
The glass doors on this side had an automatic recognition system, and the two moved through them unobstructed, only hearing the "beep beep beep" of the recognition sound.
The green light flickered above, sowhat dazzling.
Su Ming’an had noticed that there were no open-air areas here, no windows either, and the walls were all made of icy white chanics, conveying an extrely cold tallic style.
Around him, there were nitrogen tanks and hydraulic-like equipnt, with gray-black water pipes arranged like long serpents across the ceiling. There were also nurous ventilation shafts with missing railings, which seed to lead sowhere mysterious.
Along the way, he encountered many people in white lab coats who, upon seeing Su Ming’an, generally showed a respectful deanor, slightly bowing and greeting him as "Doctor."
From the physiques and healthy complexions of these people, it was evident that this area was not lacking in survival resources; there was sufficient food supply, at least enough to prevent starvation.
Adhering to the principle of "speak less, err less," Su Ming’an remained silent as Qin Shaoli pushed him to the innermost room.
This was the living area, and the innermost room was heavily secured, passed through four or five glass doors that required verification.
Upon entering the room, Su Ming’an saw a starkly decorated hall. Dr. Aceto’s living area was very large, not only with a bedroom but also a hall, a reception room, a personal lab, and a study room among others.
He was beginning to suspect that this place was underground, as he had not seen any windows along the way, though he had seen nurous air purifiers.
This place must be the core of the City of asurent, likely built underground for secrecy.
Qin Shaoli helped him to a sofa, during which Su Ming’an spat out a mouthful of blood.
His white lab coat was almost soaked to red.
...He must quickly find a way to heal this body; the ga chanics wouldn’t be deliberately unfair, there must be a way to heal, and it might even bring considerable benefits.
Right, there was also Lv Shu... Lv Shu was his follower, who, by reason, should have been transported not far from him and would likely et him soon.
"Doctor, should I call Xiao Te over?" Qin Shaoli asked.
"Hmm... let him co over," Su Ming’an said.
He didn’t know who Xiao Te was, but eting another person would provide more information.
He leaned on the sofa, suddenly hearing a sound, sowhat like the noise of chanical fitting.
[——Doctor, welco ho. Would you like a cup of coffee?]
He imdiately opened his eyes, but saw nothing.
[Doctor, I am Xike.]
Suddenly, he saw on his right wrist, a watchband gradually appeared, opposite to the one on his left wrist.
It had always been there, only now it was gradually manifesting.
A white figure appeared on the illuminated screen of his right wrist, faceless.
Clearly, this was an AI, seemingly Dr. Aceto’s personal AI.
Su Ming’an realized that the character he was inhabiting really had a high status, not only with assistants to take care of him but also an independent intelligent AI, a perfect living environnt, and even the status of the top city lord.
Everyone loved him, respected him, with no survival crisis whatsoever.
...This was an excellent start.
As Xike appeared on his right wrist, the voice of Ado suddenly sprang from his left wrist: "——Not good! Darn it! Another AI has arrived and it looks much smarter than . Am I going to be replaced——!!"
Su Ming’an was about to tell Ado to shut up, then he heard Xike’s voice:
[Doctor, although it might spoil the mood to say this now...]
[But still...]
Su Ming’an raised his eyes to the white figure on his right wrist.
The AI Xike looked at him, its voice slightly fluctuating:
[...everyone still hopes that you die.]
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