Chapter 245: A New Target
Inside the instance, because of Xing Ye and Yan Qiao's injuries, Ji Ning had no attention to spare for anything else. She didn't even remember how they finally entered the castle, only coming back to her senses once she returned to the Wooden Cabin.
She immediately sent them messages, asking about the two men's physical condition.
Xing Ye: It's nothing, my wounds are all healed.
Xing Ye: How is Xiao Yan? He's in much worse shape.
Before this, Xing Ye had always called Yan Qiao by his full name. Ji Ning noticed the change in address; it seemed the experience of fighting side by side had given Xing Ye a bit of goodwill toward Yan Qiao.
Probably appreciating that ruthless drive Yan Qiao carried.
Ji Ning had been scared by Yan Qiao too. With such severe injuries, he'd kept fighting the opponent's attacks with only one hand left, never abandoning his teammate to retreat. Whether it was the formidable willpower or the guts to face death unflinchingly, it was worthy of admiration.
Yan Qiao replied to her: All better.
His reply was so short, Ji Ning still couldn't set her mind at ease, until she saw him send a second message.
Yan Qiao: You were crying so heartbroken, like you'd lost your husband. Of course I wasn't going to let anything happen to me, don't worry.
Yan Qiao: I have to keep a close eye on you, in case that bleeding-heart sympathy of yours goes and pities someone else.
Well, she'd worried for nothing. He still had the energy to tease her; seemed his body was fine. Ji Ning was finally relieved.
After that, Ji Ning sent Xing Ye every last guess and question she'd had during the game. Including the tailor-made plot setups, the rigged game direction, and the influence of popularity values.
Ever since entering the Survival Game, Ji Ning always sought out Xing Ye whenever she had questions. He had taught her so much from his experience, so the bond between the two of them was far stronger than what she had with anyone else.
Xing Ye's reply was simple, but also very blunt: We're like people forced to participate in one situational live broadcast after another. Everything serves the ratings.
What he meant was, whether it's the instance theme, player roles, the male-to-female ratio, or anything else, all of it would be altered to boost ratings.
Xing Ye: Moreover, this situation has become more and more obvious ever since I met you.
Xing Ye: I think that's a good thing.
Ji Ning very much agreed with Xing Ye's point.
If the system were dead and the arrangements held no pattern, she might never have seen him again after that first time.
After talking with Xing Ye, Ji Ning suddenly felt everything become clear.
If the system and the people behind it wanted to use them to earn ratings, then of course she could also leverage that very point to achieve the development she wanted.
Ji Ning opened her personal info interface and checked her ranking.
Name: Ji Ning
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Measurements: 83, 52, 89
Number: 6
Points: 3680
Popularity: 4270
Achievements: Points Leaderboard Rank 91, Popularity Leaderboard Rank 29
Instances Completed: 12
Next Instance Countdown: 11:45:08
Instances Remaining Until New World Entry Ticket: 18
Exchange Identity: Insufficient Points, Not Activated
Ji Ning looked from top to bottom and realized her measurements had changed. Her bust had grown, her waist had shrunk.
But then again, she was still young, her body still in its developmental stage. Being regularly nourished by her men now, affecting her estrogen, it was only normal for her chest to get bigger.
With the completion of the 12th instance, Ji Ning's points had increased, and her Points Leaderboard ranking advanced step by step.
What was worth mentioning was that her popularity had gone up quite a bit. Her Popularity Leaderboard ranking jumped directly from 34 to 29, surpassing a female player ranked ahead of her.
This speed was fast, but it still wasn't enough. Ji Ning silently resolved to perform even better in the coming instances.
Only by having more popularity, a higher ranking, would her instance resources and chances of reuniting with Xing Ye and the others become better and more frequent.
Moving her gaze downward, Ji Ning's eyes rested on that one line that had never changed from the very beginning: "Exchange Identity: Insufficient Points, Not Activated."
She slowly rubbed her fingers together, deep in thought. This sentence definitely referred to exchanging for an identity after entering the New World. As for what kind of identity, she had a vague guess.
Although at present, all players could only go back and forth between the Wooden Cabin and the Survival Game instances, unable to form any connection with the outside world.
But judging from the known conditions, there were people—even many people—watching them just like a variety show.
And these instances, these role assignments, weren't things a heartless machine like a system could manage.
So, what Ji Ning could estimate existed were: an "audience" identity, a "director" identity, a "screenwriter" identity.
If higher-level identities required more points to exchange for, then Ji Ning hoped all her upcoming instances would be high-star, high-difficulty ones. She still hadn't encountered a single five-star instance up to now.
According to Xing Ye, one five-star instance rewarded 600 points—150 more than a four-star instance, and 300 or even more than a three-star instance.
She was so hungry for that!
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