Chapter 633 Welcome to the Special Theater

Chapter 633: Welcome to the Special Theater

The exclamation came from Lu Jinyan, the novice player whose own talent made him barely noticeable.

And that shout instantly drew everyone's attention.

As a complete newcomer who hadn't yet awakened any personal abilities, Lu Jinyan had actually managed to pull the legendary S-rank Ability Blind Box from the vending machine without completing the pity system!

This meant that as long as he completed his own ability mutation, he would immediately possess two abilities, becoming one of the very few human players capable of wielding dual abilities.

For any player, this was undoubtedly a rare advantage in the nightmare game—whether for future clearance or long-term survival, it opened up countless possibilities.

"Little Lu, your luck is just insane." Zhou Shirong stood beside him, his tone carrying unmistakable envy but also genuine happiness. "How do you feel right now?"

It would be a lie to say he wasn't jealous, but the two had worked together throughout this game, building good teamwork and trust, and had become friends.

"I... I don't know how to describe it." Lu Jinyan opened his mouth in slight confusion, his face showing the daze of someone still adjusting to reality. "I thought there'd be something like a gacha capsule rolling out of the machine... but the blind box kind of seemed to go straight into my body."

"But I can feel it just sitting there, like a box that hasn't been opened yet."

Lu Jinyan breathed a sigh of relief—after all, if the vending machine actually produced something physical like a blind box capsule, as a newcomer with almost no presence, he'd have no way to protect this precious extra ability.

He touched his chest, as if confirming that the power was there.

"So incredible..." Lu Jinyan's expression shifted to surprise and delight. "I think... I can understand what Mr. Pei meant earlier by 'the flow of energy.'"

He looked down at his hands, as if truly sensing something.

Hearing this, the others looked even more astonished.

According to Pei Zhan, it was only through practicing the method of "Meditation" that he gradually learned to feel the flow of energy within his body. But now, just because the blind box Lu Jinyan drew entered his body, he had already crossed that threshold?

"That makes sense. Many things in the nightmare world are essentially composed of power." Su Bai also showed interest in this. "The way you obtained the blind box unexpectedly let you sense the presence of power—that's an unexpected bonus."

Once you understood the nature of the world beneath the crimson moon, many things became easy to explain.

Especially for powerful eerie entities, the power of the crimson moon could even be thought of as threads for weaving, code for programming, and bricks for building.

So-called S-rank Ability Blind Boxes were more like forcibly stuffing another already-woven, programmed, and constructed power into a human player's body.

"In fact, if Mr. Lu isn't in a hurry, it might be better not to open that 'box' just yet." Su Bai, though not deeply connected to the other players, had remembered their names.

"Opening it now would give you an ability right away, but if you rely too much on a power obtained from outside, your own innate ability might be affected, and improving it will get a lot harder—that'd be a real waste."

"Mr. Lu's talent is strong, and you've already felt the flow of energy. With the help of 'Meditation,' you should be able to mutate your own ability soon. How about opening the 'box' only at that point?" Su Bai offered his advice.

"I understand!" Though a newcomer, Lu Jinyan could sense that Su Bai was different from the other players, and that Wen Ya and the others really trusted Mr. Su, so he gladly accepted the suggestion.

"What a lucky guy." Chu Qianren, another newcomer, sighed. "I got a major ability boost, but I still feel like I'm one step short from actually having an ability."

"Don't worry." Wen Ya, a veteran, smiled comfortingly. "At this point, one morning you might just wake up and find your ability has already awakened."

When she first entered the game, Wen Ya had seemed somewhat aloof, but to close friends, she was much more warm.

To Su Bai's surprise, Pei Zhan ultimately gave up on drawing a blind box and instead spent a large amount of points he had saved at the weapon vending machine to exchange for a short sword.

"Pei, you're just giving up on a second ability?" Xiong Yi was still hesitating.

"Didn't you hear what they just said?" Pei Zhan looked appreciatively at the short sword from the vending machine. "Abilities gained through external means might be hard to improve, and trying to improve both might end up hindering both. That would not be worth it for my 'sword.'"

"Instead, I'd rather make my 'sword' sharper. The boost I got earlier plus this sword already make this trip more than worth it." Perhaps because he had seen existences far more powerful than himself, Pei Zhan's arrogance had mellowed a bit.

"Crash—!"

Another round of crashing sounds like a building being torn down rang out, followed by the familiar mechanical voice reaching the players' ears:

"Dear residents of the nightmare world, we regret to inform you that this internship will be terminated due to certain force majeure reasons. As compensation for the contract termination, each of your internships will be graded as 'Excellent' and you will leave the Nightmare Spiral Tower."

"You may now choose whether to remain in the nightmare world to continue exploring, or return to the real world immediately. Dear residents, if you choose to stay in the nightmare world, you will be sent to a relatively safe area. If you choose to return to the real world, you'll go back to where the game started."

"Wait! I haven't... give me three more minutes—!" Amid the mechanical voice came Xiong Yi shouting loudly.

"Please speak clearly... Bzzt... Bzzt..."

The administrator's voice didn't surprise Su Bai, but oddly, the usual announcement got cut off before it finished by a crackling sound like electricity.

The sound seemed both close to Su Bai and very far away—something he'd never experienced before.

Su Bai had expected to hear the voice of the strange administrator, Mr. Yu, and perhaps gain some information related to the Director's script.

But what made him freeze was the voice that then entered his mind:

"Welcome to the special theater of #$%@—"