Fantasy Game: Infinite City

"Tread. Tread."

On a misty morning, the sound of horse hooves echoed on an empty stone road.

A carriage was slowly moving along the cobblestone road. Nothing seemed strange. The driver looked very young and dozed off from time to time. Fortunately, the two horses pulling the carriage seemed to be very familiar with the road, so even if the driver was not very attentive to driving, nothing would go wrong.

“I’ve never seen this copy before.”

"This is normal. After all, this guild tournament, in addition to using a new mode, was also specially designed for the tournament. It's normal that we haven't seen it before."

"I just don't know what the background of this copy is. Do you want to guess?"

In the carriage, four people were sitting face to face. They belonged to three guilds that participated in the guild competition. The number of guild members in this copy was exactly three. This copy was temporarily replaced because it was specially used by Infinite Company to identify cheaters. Therefore, there was no introduction to the background story at the beginning of the copy. The four players who have not yet arrived at the copy area are making their own guesses about the background of the copy.

"Based on the decoration of the carriage and the fact that we used the carriage itself, the background timeline of this replica should be in the Middle Ages or a similar period."

"I think so too. Look outside."

One of the players drew aside the curtain on the carriage and could see the cobblestone road outside. There were no street lights on either side, and the buildings they occasionally passed by basically had no power systems. In one of the houses they passed by, there was an old man feeding his guard dog with a very old-fashioned lantern. Although the carriage was moving all the time, it was not very fast, so they could see that the old man was wearing a coarse cloth robe, which should be very old.

"Our clothes are the same, completely Gothic style, but compared to the original Gothic style clothes, what we wear is obviously more suitable for activities. Combining these, what can you think of?"

"A period of witch hunting with a magical twist?"

"Or a bounty hunter targeting monsters?"

"That's probably it, at least it's almost like that."

"If that's the case, we'll have a lot of work to do. After all, in the Infinite City dungeon, one of the most difficult dungeon types is the one with a magical Gothic background."

"Although the possibility is very high, it is not completely certain. After all, we don't have any weapons on us."

Several players sitting in the carriage checked themselves and found that, not to mention any decent weapons, even the jewelry they used to decorate their bodies were basically some fragile expensive metals or gems. There was nothing that could be used as a weapon.

"But it's hard to say. Maybe we can get weapons and other things only after we reach the real dungeon area."

Among the four players in the carriage, there was a female player who did not speak. Through the curtains on the carriage that had been opened earlier, she observed that they were actually on a road all the time, constantly repeating the same path. For example, the old man who had just fed his guard dog had finished feeding the dog and was walking back to the house slowly with an old-fashioned lantern.

Although the new mode of the copy will convert or block the original professional skills, as well as weapons and abilities that do not conform to the current copy settings, some permanent passive abilities that do not destroy the immersion of the copy do not seem to be affected too much. They will only be relatively balanced to a certain value, but they will still be effective overall. The player who discovered that the carriage was constantly looping on the same path has such a permanent passive skill.

"Skill name: Deep into the spirit world"

"Skill type: permanent passive skill"

"Duration: N/A"

"Cooling time: 12 hours"

"Skill Range: x6 Maximum Attack Distance (excluding specific skill range)"

"Skill Effect: Detect a certain degree of "disharmony" factors"

"Feature 1: For spirits and energy bodies, the effect is doubled. The position of spirits/energy bodies that are not higher than your own level is automatically marked, and the unit's camp is marked. Area attacks from neutral and friendly camps will not be effective against you. Area attacks caused by enemy unit camps will reduce damage by 70%, and you cannot use a single attack to kill."

"Feature 2: You can choose to appease a spirit/energy unit whose level is ≤5 higher than yours, with a 40% chance of success. After successfully appeasing, the unit will become a friendly unit during the appeasement period. The appeasement duration is calculated by the size of the player's energy bar. The higher the level is above yours, the more energy is consumed per minute. The basic consumption value is energy points per minute."

"Feature 3: After the death of a player with this skill, a Sanity test can be performed. If the test is passed, the player can possess a nearby friendly unit. If the possessed unit is still alive after a certain period of time, the player will have a chance to revive. The percentage of health/energy after resurrection will be automatically calculated based on the strength of the possessed unit, with a maximum value of 300%. After resurrection, the health/energy value exceeding the player's own will not disappear over time, but cannot be replenished until it is consumed."

“Feature 4: After resurrection, all positive and negative effects on the player will be dispelled. No more effects can be obtained within five minutes.”

This permanent passive skill looks very intimidating, but in fact it is very restrictive. The first two characteristics can only be used on units such as spirits/energy bodies. In various copies of the Infinite City, although there are many enemies of this type, most of them are low-level grass groups, which are basically useless to players. Those useful spirit/energy body units basically exist as hidden bosses, and most of them are twice or even higher than the player's level, so they cannot be used.

The reason why this player chose such a skill was mainly because of its last two characteristics: dispelling all negative effects and resurrection. Moreover, during the period of possessing a friendly unit, everything that happens can be seen and heard, and in this state, he will not be attacked at all.

But even though the last two features look great, they do not make this skill a wheelchair skill, because in previous gaming experience, players of the same level as you can only get 5% of your own health/energy after resurrection, and players who are twice your level can only provide about 20%. So even if it is a resurrection skill without consumption, the long CD time makes choosing the unit to possess a skill a technical job.

To maximize the effect of this skill is a big challenge for the players who use it. It requires players to have accurate and quick judgment, a sense of the overall situation, and good or above reaction ability. Coupled with the cost of learning this skill, almost no one in the entire Infinite City player group will choose this skill, even though to some extent, this skill can indeed be regarded as a wheelchair.

The player who used this passive skill and discovered the moving carriage with abnormal movements was a person he had met once before. She was Su Wen, whom Han Zu had met once in the dungeon in Chuangu County. She was also the woman who worked as a forensic doctor in Q City before the accident in Q City.

After moving back to China from Q City, Su Wen quit her job as a forensic doctor for some reason. Since she came from a relatively well-off family, she became a full-time player in Infinite City. Moreover, she was a good worker and had won many commendations and bonuses. In addition, her daily expenses were not much, so even if she did not rely on her family, the savings she had would be enough for her to spend for a long time. Infinite City, in another sense, was also a place where she could make money.

Although the carriage seemed to be circulating on this empty stone road, Su Wen did not notice any spirits or energy bodies around.

“Maybe there’s something wrong with the road itself.”

"What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing."

Su Wen did not participate in the discussion with the other three players, but observed the young driver driving the carriage in front through the open communication window. The driver looked short and should be a teenager. Judging from his dress, he should be a child from a poor family who came out to work for a living. Su Wen used his skills to observe him and did not find anything unusual about him. The driver should have gotten up too early and did not get enough sleep.

The two horses pulling the carriage were strong and tall, with shiny hair, and looked well-fed. Although the carriage was not very luxurious and could even be considered relatively simple, it could be seen from the condition of the horses that the carriage must belong to a wealthy owner.

"Boom."

"what?"

There was a slight knocking sound on the carriage. It was the sleepy young driver who accidentally hit his head. The knock was not serious, but it woke him up. The young driver rubbed his eyes, took out a worn water hose from his waist, took a sip, shook his head, and then tightened the reins again.

The two horses pulling the carriage seemed to sense the driver's state. Even though the young driver did not make any movements, the two horses gradually quickened their pace.

"Tread. Tread. Tread."

The speed of the carriage gradually increased, and the sound of horse hooves on the stone road became more rapid. Su Wen noticed that after a few minutes, the carriage came out of the previous cycle and started to move forward normally.

There was no time, and the players didn't know what time it was. The sky was still foggy. Although it was not dim, it was not bright either. The temperature was just right, and the fog made people feel drowsy, just like the inexplicable feeling of laziness and fatigue that appeared when a rainy day came. In addition, the players' clothes were very comfortable, and the four players in the carriage, including Su Wen, had gradually begun to doze off.

The carriage was still moving steadily, and the players in the carriage gradually fell asleep. Just when Su Wen, whose eyelids were drooping, was about to fall asleep, a sudden pain in her mind forced her to wake up passively.

"Number of players: 8/55"

The sudden pop-up system prompt immediately made Su Wen alert. She rubbed her swollen head and looked at the other three players who were already asleep in the carriage. They soon began to glow. That was the glow of being teleported away after dying in the dungeon. After the glow, Su Wen was the only one left in the carriage. However, the young driver in front of him didn't pay any attention to what was happening in the carriage.

Su Wen frowned and opened the window of the carriage to let the air in, which made him feel much more energetic.

"There are 55 players, and only 8 are left. It seems that this dungeon is not as simple as we thought."

"Tap! Tread!"

“Tread…Tread…”

As the carriage continued to move forward, soon, through the window of the carriage, one could see that a number of stone roads or dirt roads gradually converged into a very wide main road. This main road, even in the context of the current story, was somewhat special. It was paved with pebbles. Normally, a main road of this scale should be paved with stone slabs, or directly a repaired dirt road.

Just as they were about to drive onto the main road from the cobblestone road, the sounds of other carriages were heard on other branch roads. The sounds came from two carriages, one was traveling relatively fast and the other was traveling relatively slowly. The speed of the carriage that Su Wen was in was exactly in the middle of the other two carriages.

Soon, the three carriages were driven onto the main road. According to the difference in speed and distance, the three carriages traveled at different speeds. Under the control of three different coachmen, the carriages gradually separated and continued to move forward along the main road paved with pebbles.

A few minutes later, the carriage that Su Wen was in began to slow down and finally stopped at the end of this unique main road. On the side of the carriage, facing the direction of the carriage door, was a magnificent manor covering a large area. The place where the carriage stopped was exactly where the gate of the manor was located. Two exquisitely made metal doors were open, with servants standing respectfully on both sides, and someone was ceremonially pulling the door. A middle-aged man in a butler's uniform stood respectfully in the center of the open manor gate, followed by several maids and two muscular bodyguards.

"Sir, we are here. Please wait a moment, I will open the door."

The young coachman knocked gently on the carriage, then jumped down from the driver's seat, walked to the door of the carriage, took a sedan chair from the driver's seat, placed it under the carriage, and then opened the door of the carriage.

"Tip the driver: yes/no"

Su Wen lifted the hem of her Gothic-style skirt, stepped on the sedan chair, and got off the carriage. When her feet just touched the ground, the system suddenly popped up a prompt. Su Wen didn't think much about it and chose "yes". In her judgment, the carriage and the coachman might play an important role.

After choosing to reward the coachman, several shiny, heavy gold coins were directly refreshed in Su Wen's pocket. There were three in total. Su Wen did not hesitate at all. He took out all three gold coins and handed them to the young coachman.

"Here, thank you for driving the carriage smoothly."

"May the original owner bless you! Kind lady!"

When the coachman took the gold coins, he was obviously stunned for a moment, and then an excitement and gratitude that was hard to conceal appeared on his face. It seemed that before Su Wen, no one else had tipped this young coachman.

After taking the gold coins, the young coachman saluted Su Wen and returned to the carriage. At the request of the butler, he left the gate of the manor with the other two carriages waiting here. The other two carriages were empty, which seemed to indicate that they had arrived earlier than him and should have already entered the manor.

Su Wen looked at the two sides of the manor gate. On the left wall, there was a hand-polished tablet with "No. 175 Paulson Street" written in Gothic style. Apart from that, there was no name of the manor building or the name of the owner, which was very special.

"Welcome to the manor, noble lady, please follow me."

The butler bowed to Su Wen, and Su Wen nodded in return at the right time. Then he followed the butler's instructions and entered the gate of the manor.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the closed gate of the manor, which was guarded only by bodyguards.

"Uu..."

A sturdy horse stopped outside the gate of the manor. A tall man wearing a long trench coat and a top hat, who looked like a macho version of Van Helsing, jumped off the horse and slapped the horse on the butt. The tall horse neighed, ran into the fog and disappeared. The man pressed down his top hat and walked towards the gate of the manor. He did not greet the bodyguards inside the gate, but just knocked on the metal gate and stood there, as if waiting for something.

After a while, a maid came trotting over with her skirt lifted up, opened the gate of the manor, exchanged a few words with the man, and took him into the manor. However, unlike the players who were brought into the manor before, the man was taken to other buildings by the maid.

As the man entered different buildings, there was a sudden fluctuation in space at the location of the manor gate. Then, the manor gate disappeared, replaced by a towering wall. The two bodyguards inside the gate just turned around and didn't notice anything unusual.

"Boom!"

A flash of lightning streaked across the sky, and dark clouds gathered together, together with the thick fog, making the sky a little darker. But it was strange that even though there were dark clouds and thick fog, there was no sign of heavy rain coming.