Li Ang's astonishment did not interrupt the continuous broadcasting of the System's notification.

"Starting from 21:00 tonight, 12 players will be divided into six two-person squads to compete within the boundaries of Yin City."

"After the mission begins, an invisible barrier that only targets the 12 players will appear on the periphery of Yin City. Players outside the barrier will continuously lose Sanity Value. The barrier will shrink inward at random intervals and directions. This shrinkage will occur a total of six times."

"Each player will receive a wristwatch. This temporary item will be fixed to the player's body, unable to be stored in the inventory slot, and cannot be taken out after the mission ends."

"Within Yin City, special items will be randomly refreshed. The wristwatch will display Yin City's 2D virtual map, the current barrier range, the next shrinking range of the barrier, special item locations, and the precise location of the other teammate within the team."

"Once players from different teams approach within 1,000 meters of each other, a spherical Space Art will form, centered on the player. Only players within the mission can see the Space Art. Within its range, players cannot cause substantial damage to the terrain, landscape, or non-player entities."

"The Space Art moves with the player and dissolves once the distance between the opposing players exceeds 1,000 meters or one of them dies."

"Surviving until the barrier has shrunk six times is considered mission completion."

"During the mission, players cannot seek help from entities outside the mission boundaries. Any attempt to seek assistance will be prevented at the causal level."

"Mission rewards: There are no overall completion evaluation rewards for this mission. For each enemy player killed, you can obtain 300 Experience Points and 1,000 Game Coins, as well as loot one random item (skill, equipment, or item) from the opponent."

"Mission failure penalty: None."

"Accept/Reject"

"If no confirmation of acceptance is made within 5 minutes, you will be deemed to have automatically forfeited the mission. The System will transfer the mission trigger to another player."

Rows of mission briefings emerged before Li Ang's eyes. At the bottom hung a digital clock counting down from 5 minutes.

Miss Chai noticed the change in Li Ang's expression immediately and asked with a frown, "What's wrong?"

"A mission has arrived."

Li Ang turned away from the balcony and walked into the living room. With Miss Chai's help, he quickly packed up his equipment and items, then entered the bathroom and used the Origin of Life to alter his appearance.

This regular mission was unlike any Li Ang had ever experienced.

The way it was triggered was strange, the settings were complicated, and it involved a large number of players. From the setup to the rewards, it all exuded an aura brimming with malice.

The mission is called Moon God Crown... but there's absolutely no information about the Moon God or the crown in the mission briefing. Perhaps we will have to wait until the mission progresses to a certain extent before the underlying connection is revealed. The time is now 8:25 PM, and there is about half an hour left before the mission starting time at nine o'clock. The shrinking of the invisible barrier dictates that the range of player activity will become smaller and smaller, forcing direct encounters.

Eliminating enemy players not only grants high Experience Points and Game Currency but also allows you to loot one random item. Assuming the opponents are players like me, above Lv10, it's very likely they possess items of Excellent or even perfect quality. If successful, the gains could possibly be more substantial than completing a high-difficulty scripted mission. However, due to the chain of suspicion, when opposing players encounter each other and a Space Art is produced, they will most certainly strike first to eliminate the opponent as soon as possible— If the time drags on and the Space Art persists, other teams of players will track them and lie in wait outside the spherical barrier, ready to ambush the survivors as soon as the barrier disappears. And if a special item that randomly respawns within the map range is powerful enough to be taken out of the scenario, the intensity of this mission could be even more terrifying.

The setting that prevents seeking help from the outside world eliminates certain players' reliance on their influential connections to gain an advantage. The condition that survival through six barrier contractions equates to mission completion also prepares Lone Wolf Players to immediately flee once they finish the mission.

During his contemplation, his appearance had transformed. He now looked like a short-haired delinquent with fierce, upturned eyes, bearing no resemblance to a kind person.

Considering the generous mission rewards, this mission is worth doing.

As the five-minute time limit for accepting the mission was about to expire, Li Ang finally clicked to confirm acceptance of the mission.

It wasn't yet 21:00, and players hadn't been issued wristwatches, so there was no need to worry about revealing his location just yet.

Although Li Ang's Triangular Bone Tipped Spear was currently unusable, he still had various other firearms at his disposal—thanks to the existence of the Space Art, Li Ang didn't have to worry about the implications of abusing large-scale destructive weaponry.

Moreover, he had Chaichai, who had just completed an upgrade.

A thousand days of raising Chaichai were for this moment of need; now, Chaichai alone, piloting the Qinge Armor, could easily overpower a bunch of average players who had scraped their way up the ranks, not to mention she could also use the Blood Clan Crowbar.

Li Ang made up his mind. After completing his disguise, he walked out of the restroom.

From his bedroom closet, he took out a pile of brand-new clothes he had bought online. (To facilitate disguises, Li Ang regularly purchased a variety of new clothes online, stuffing them into the closet for when they were needed.)

At present, the strongest defensive equipment he had was the recently unboxed, Excellent quality defensive gear, the Dusk Cloak.

This cloak's defensive effects were quite impressive, especially in a nighttime environment, where it could passively enhance the wearer's stealth ability.

The Dusk Cloak's Silent Night Special Effect, combined with the Face-Changing Mask's ability to hide one's aura, could completely merge Li Ang with the darkness, making him difficult to detect.

The only problem was that the cloak's appearance was too conspicuous. The current mission was set in the real world, and it was very likely he would face direct confrontations with other players. If someone were to remember his appearance and put out a bounty for him in the real world, it would be troublesome.

And it would be somewhat awkward if he encountered opponents in future scripted missions.

Hmm....

Li Ang quickly laid several pieces of clothing on the floor. He picked up a pair of scissors and, SNIP SNIP, cut away at the material, sewing the Dusk Cloak into the lining of a One Piece-themed cosplay uniform he had bought from Taobao.

Yes, this cosplay uniform was like the one worn by marines in One Piece: the white uniform with "Justice" emblazoned in large characters on the back.

Li Ang put on a red suit, then draped the Dusk Cloak, now disguised as a marine uniform, over his shoulders. Posing as an ordinary cosplay enthusiast, he examined himself in the mirror.

After confirming nothing was amiss, he packed some clothes into his inventory slot and had Miss Chai leave the Qinge Armor and enter the Soul Pulling Coil.

It was time to head out.