There is One New Rule Every Month Globally

Chapter 185 This can no longer be called a Heart Demon, it should be called the Heart Demon Emperor

"Actually, I'm one of the lucky ones."

Sword Without End had almost fully recovered by now and lit another cigarette; he didn't put it in his mouth but just clamped it between his fingers, "I've told you that the title I bear was earned in a B-level map, right?"

"That was a map that focused on Heart Demons."

"The process was much more complicated than this time."

"It would throw you into the memories that trigger your Heart Demon, repeatedly, until you let your guard down slightly before moving on to the next stage."

"There was another man who entered that map with me."

"From Black Trench City."

"His Heart Demon, I remember it vividly to this day!"

"His Heart Demon was getting locked up."

"Getting locked up?"

Tuberculosis Rabbit raised an eyebrow in confusion, "That can count as a Heart Demon?"

"Yeah, the specific story is quite complex, involving a rather niche community, internally known as the Alphabet Circle."

"'S' as in 'Skill' and 'M' as in 'Cat'."

"In this community, the 'Cat' often feels safe and stimulated through accepting whips, slaps, choking, and other methods from their 'Skill'."

"..."

Tuberculosis Rabbit swept a glance at Chen Yi, who hadn't noticed their conversation, and cleared his throat with a quick cough, "I do have some understanding of this area, but I never got too deep into it, mainly because Yi doesn't quite fancy it."

"But what does that have to do with getting locked up?"

"Don't rush, let me tell you the story slowly. After a lot of trouble, this guy finally found a 'Cat.' They arranged their first meeting in a park at night to start the training."

"On the night before, this brother was so excited!"

"He was searching for techniques online, grooming his appearance."

"The only thing he found puzzling was that this 'Cat' never chatted with him online, preferring to say, 'Let's talk when we meet in person.'"

"Without any suspicion, he met the girl in the park, and right on seeing her, she said, 'Hit me, slap me across the face.'"

"Who could resist that?"

"Especially a vigorous young man."

"This guy was trembling with excitement, and in front of the camera, he slapped her several times. The girl's cries sounded especially pitiful, and she fainted, which led to her calling the police."

"In the end... for provoking trouble, it took 20,000 for the settlement."

"He was incarcerated for 15 days."

"After getting out, this guy was almost in a half-monk state, avoiding girls and skipping out of their way. In that map, he went through his Heart Demon ordeal many more times than I did."

"..."

As Tuberculosis Rabbit's face froze in anticipation of the story to come, it suddenly stiffened into an expressionless silence. He paused for a moment before saying, "It makes sense for such an experience to leave a Heart Demon."

"There's another guy whose story is even more bizarre."

Sword Without End, seemingly addicted to storytelling, eagerly began, "There was another guy who entered the map with us, I like to call him Old K."

"After the game upgrade came out, a lot of people started to let loose, and he styled himself after a character from CS:GO called Old K, pulling a flesh-toned stocking over his head as if he was a bandit."

"Let me interrupt, the thing on Old K's head wasn't a stocking."

"I know, but this guy had a stocking on his head, do you know what his Heart Demon was?"

"This guy had it the worst; out of all of us who went into that map, he was the most miserable one."

"He was an emergency room doctor. One day, he received an unconscious female patient in a rush to the emergency room."

"On closer inspection, he realized the patient was his own wife."

"On even closer inspection, he saw that his otherwise courteous and traditional wife had a tail inserted behind her, which had caused a tear and led to her unconsciousness."

"After an investigation..."

"His wife had only married him to complete a task set by her 'Skill'."

"After the incident, they chose to divorce. The wife left without taking anything, not even the children. She had indeed grown to have feelings for Old K over the years and felt ashamed to face him and his family."

"After the divorce, she committed suicide by jumping off a building."

"But that's not the end of it."

"When this guy talked to the one from the story before, he shockingly discovered that Old K's wife was the same woman who had blackmailed the previous guy. That woman had blackmailed the other man because her 'Skill' ran out of money and needed some cash."

"Still not the end, soon after the divorce, the 'Skill' was found, and it turned out to be Old K's colleague."

"But that colleague had died in a car accident years earlier, so how could he have been remotely controlling Old K's wife? There was no way he came back from the dead. Upon further investigation, it turned out that Old K had found his colleague's phone years ago and discovered a very compliant 'Cat' on it. He couldn't resist and started playing along."

"To avoid exposing himself..."

"Over the years, Old K never used voice messages, video calls, or photos, and always used a voice changer."

"So it was that Old K, still single, remotely controlled this former colleague's 'Cat' to marry a decent man, and the 'Cat' obediently approached Old K, leading to their marriage."

"On one hand, Old K was indulging in marital bliss, while on the other, he continued to remotely control his wife to..."

"Stop right there!"

Tuberculosis Rabbit abruptly interjected with a cold voice, "You fuck, let me get this straight! I've lived for decades, and for the first time, I feel completely out of my depth!"

"I know reality is magical, even science fiction, but nobody told me reality is like a fantasy, right?"

"And then?"

"In the end, the whole thing became Old K's Heart Demon."

"Makes sense."

Tuberculosis Rabbit silently nodded, "It makes too much sense for it to be a Heart Demon, it should be called the Heart Demon Emperor. Did that guy ever come out in the end?"

"Don't know, before I left the map, that guy was still there battling his Heart Demon. I don't know if he's finished now, but I guess it's unlikely." Discover exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire

"Sigh..."

Tuberculosis Rabbit silently nodded again, lighting a cigarette and gazing distantly at the dark clouds with a faraway look, he sighed and said, "Your lives are all so rich, compared to you guys, it makes the life I've lived these years seem a bit dull and boring."

"This plot is even more convoluted than the one I encountered last time I entered the Life Theater map."

"Alright."

Chen Yi, who had been examining the map, was the first to speak, breaking the conversation between the two, "Get ready to head to the next ruin, Ruin No. 4, which is the combat-type map Jiaye mentioned."

After Jiaye and Tie Chui and the others successfully cleared this map, they increased its difficulty a bit, making the requirement to clear 5 ruins and trigger a special event.

Currently, the first ruin, which is the No. 3 Cafe Ruin, isn't considered very difficult.

At least, for him and Tuberculosis Rabbit, it's almost no challenge at all.

This map is also a level-based map.

A level-based map means that there are various levels within the map that players need to clear in order to achieve final victory and clear the map ultimately.

And like the other maps.

Such as "Night Widow Village" and "Destiny's Adversary," these maps aren't considered level-based; they only have one condition for clearing.

It's more accurate to say they are Fragmented maps than level-based maps.

They were all standing on a road paved with blue stone bricks, which stretched across the entire Wasteland; this must be the official road mentioned by Jiaye. Stepping off the official road would lead to a random special event.

If one were to fly, they'd be unaffected.

Ordinary people would, of course, try to avoid this special event as much as possible, but since their clearing condition requires that they trigger a special event, they still have to bite the bullet and walk onto it.

Just as Chen Yi activated the sled, preparing to shoot towards the nearest 4th ruin.

Tuberculosis Rabbit suddenly spoke up.

"Yi, the additional map information from my title has come through."

"The information says that if all seven ruins are cleared, each player who passes through the seven ruins will receive a unique mystery reward from the map, with the lowest reward level being... at least B."

"The specific level will be based on the player's performance in clearing the seven ruins."

"The specific reward will also depend on the player's performance."

"Hmm?"

Chen Yi raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued by this reward. The lowest level was B, so there might be A level rewards?

Until now, he had not seen any A-level Props or Skills.

It seemed that this hidden reward was only achievable after the Map Difficulty was raised.

Such as Jiaye and his team, who, after clearing three ruins, would be forced to leave the map, even if they wanted to continue and clear the remaining ruins, they would no longer have the chance.

Only after the Map Difficulty was raised would they have a chance.

Because as long as they didn't trigger a special event, they were not worried about being forced to leave the map after clearing five ruins.

Even if they cleared five ruins and met the condition to be forcibly removed from the map, if the condition wasn't fully met, they would continue to stay on the map.

So the next steps required focus on two points.

First, have the best performance possible within the ruins.

Second, absolutely do not trigger a special event, otherwise, after clearing five ruins and being forced off the map, they'd be forever barred from the ultimate mystery reward.

"Let's go!"

Having clarified this point, Chen Yi didn't hesitate any longer. He activated the sled, nearly parallel to the dark clouds, and shot towards the direction of the 4th ruin!

"Awoo!!!"

Tuberculosis Rabbit stood in the center of the sled, his arms outstretched and face excited, shouting against the howling wind.

He loved this weather.

This weather that made others feel stifled and breathless gave him a feeling of sheer exhilaration!

A few minutes passed.

The sled gradually stopped at the entrance of a movie theater.

This movie theater was also a single-story building, covering a larger area than the cafe, the similarity being that it stood out starkly and sharply against the backdrop of the Wasteland.

The bright strip of lights on the walls of the movie theater appeared particularly warm.

There were no other customers around, only the few of them.

Dark clouds loomed overhead, almost touching the ground.

Chen Yi and the other two stood in front of the theater entrance, looking up at the gigantic screen above the movie theater.