Chapter 65: Meng Yuan's Mission

In the real Order Restorers' space, Meng Yuan stepped out from the trial instance.

Can Shang didn't look at him, still focused on the players' performances.

Only when the last player returned to reality did she turn and ask, "How are you progressing?"

Meng Yuan carefully considered his wording. "It's alright. At least I can sing on stage for an hour without breaking character."

Can Shang, pausing her hand from munching on chips, reluctantly replied, "… Well, that's definite progress."

She waved her small hand, and numerous trial instances before her began to rewind, replaying the players' actions from last night.

"It's already the second day. The players have made progress, but they're still far from forming a cohesive strategy.

"This instance is different from previous trial instances that have a clear main storyline; here, numerous clues are interwoven.

"In this real historical fragment, identities can be switched, anyone can be altered, and the amount of information to analyze has multiplied compared to before.

"Even with the help of the memory fragment talent, the difficulty has spiked.

"I wonder how many more days it will take the players to crack this trial instance."

Meng Yuan sat down on a stone chair. "The one thing we don't need to worry about is the players.

"I think you should be more concerned about me, the genuine Order Restorer.

"For example, giving me some special tutoring or something."

Can Shang glanced at him. "If I could, I would've done it already."

Meng Yuan, feeling a bit disappointed, asked, "I've always been curious: as a guide, what exactly are you?

"This trial instance is a perfect replication of the historical fragment created by the Order Restorers' powers.

"So, logically, previous Order Restorers should have entered this historical fragment. As a guide, shouldn't you know how to crack this historical fragment?"

Can Shang shook her head. "No, I don't know.

"Each historical fragment is different because the demons don't alter the same elements every time.

"A trial instance utilizes the Order Restorers' power to fully replicate the historical fragment, allowing the Order Restorers to understand the demons' alterations comprehensively. Then, we temporarily revert the entire historical fragment to the demon-invaded state using the Order Restorers' powers, changing everything from the beginning.

"So, every failure in a historical fragment requires a significant amount of Order Restorers' power to reset to the starting point. It's quite costly.

"Of course, if it's the same historical event, the original historical memory can be retained. But my powers are severely weakened, just like you didn't inherit the original memory.

"Once we correct this historical fragment, we'll regain the real historical memory and solidify it."

Meng Yuan nodded. "Got it.

"Looks like I just need to work harder to avoid dragging the players down…"

As an official Order Restorer, Meng Yuan also had to enter the historical fragment with the players.

After all, he served as the driver; without him, others couldn't enter.

Lacking confidence in his combat skills, Meng Yuan concluded that the most suitable character for him in the historical fragment was likely Su Xianjun.

With his "talent skill advantage," he should have no problem portraying Su Xianjun and singing on stage.

However, there was another issue.

Meng Yuan needed to secure a spot on the perfect-clear leaderboard.

Since the player selection was fair, open, and transparent, each player would receive an overall rating after clearing the trial instance.

Factors affecting this rating included historical accuracy, compatibility with the character, and the time taken to crack the trial instance.

In short, the smoother the resolution and the closer to the real character's personality, the higher the score.

Each player could see this score while clearing the instance, and only the highest scorer could enter the real historical fragment to complete the ultimate challenge with 100% pain feedback.

So, what if Meng Yuan couldn't make the leaderboard?

He'd have to resort to some backdoor manipulation...

But that wouldn't look good.

As an official Order Restorer with access to players' guides and talent skill advantages, if he still couldn't outperform the players, he might as well find a rock and smash his head in.

So, Meng Yuan had been busy in recent days, enduring the hardships of the trial instance just like the players.

Initially, he'd worried whether the players could adapt to the Order Restorers' identities and perform well in the instance, spending much time monitoring their progress with Can Shang.

Now that the players had proven themselves, Meng Yuan could relax a bit and focus more on himself.

"Alright, let's see if the players have come up with any new strategies."

Meng Yuan began browsing the forum…

Meanwhile, Zhao Haiping had just woken up.

Naturally, the first thing he did upon waking was to check the forum.

After last night's ordeal, it seemed most players, like him, had been stumped by the two shadow assassins.

The first post he saw was by Chu Ge.

"Major Discovery on the Theater Route!

"Though it's disappointing, after burning through several hundred identity points, I've confirmed that Wang Jinghui wasn't altered—he's genuinely a coward.

"But it wasn't all for nothing.

"According to historical records, Wang Jinghui martyred himself in this battle. However, I found out that he wasn't a martyr in the strict sense; he was actually killed by an Eastern shadow assassin.

"The assassin had been monitoring anyone who escaped from the theater's backroom, mistakenly thinking Wang Jinghui was going to seek reinforcements or relay intelligence, so he killed him.

"In other words, Wang Jinghui couldn't possibly have executed the theater-burning plan.

"So, after eliminating this misleading factor, the only remaining option, however implausible, has to be the correct answer.

"I suspect that the person who carried out the theater-burning plan was Yang Xinyan!

"However, this hypothesis has its issues. In Su Xianjun's memory fragments, Yang Xinyan wasn't portrayed as a hero; his fear of the bandits seemed genuine, not an act.

"This discrepancy really threw me off at first.

"Anyway, I plan to try playing as Yang Xinyan in the next trial.

"This is all I discovered last night. Does anyone have any leads on the traitor?"

Next was a post by Huo Yunying.

"I've basically ruled out Gao Ze as the traitor.

"I took a different route from everyone else; I focused on Gao Ze from the start.

"He fought the bandits relentlessly, ultimately rallying the militia to attack the theater before dying a heroic death.

"I'm leaning towards other members of the militia being the traitor.

"Additionally, those two Eastern shadow assassins have become our biggest obstacle to clearing the instance.

"According to Chu Ge, one of the assassins leaves the theater to chase and kill those who might be seeking help or delivering messages, potentially disrupting our efforts to rally the militia. Meanwhile, I discovered that the other assassin stays on the theater roof, ready to sound the alarm at the first sign of trouble.

"When we attacked the theater with Gao Ze, hoping to catch the bandits off guard, it seemed they were well-prepared, leading to our failure.

"As long as those two assassins are around, completing the theater-burning plan is nearly impossible.

"Has anyone tried killing those two assassins?"

Players praised the "big shots" for their impressive progress, as they had quickly ruled out several incorrect answers.

While most players were still dying repeatedly in the trial instance, the experts were gradually finding the right direction.

As for Huo Yunying's question, no one had a solution.

Defeat the shadow assassin?

Not only was the assassin formidable in combat, but he was also stationed atop the theater, and players had so much to do in the instance that no one would randomly pick a fight with him.

Players lamented that if Huo Yunying had posted a day earlier, some might have tried.

But as they prepared to discuss other topics, one reply reignited their excitement.

"I killed him, but he didn't drop anything useful."

Huo Yunying was shocked, quickly looking at the reply from a female player named Xia Ruoling, who was playing as an assassin.

A female player?!

Huo Yunying was astonished. Was she a hardcore gamer?

Before he could ask, Chu Ge had already replied, "Nothing useful dropped? Does that mean something did drop?"

Xia Ruoling: "Yeah, I found a city defense map on him, but since the city has already fallen, it's probably useless."

Huo Yunying was also somewhat disappointed. Indeed, a mere city defense map wouldn't help in the current situation.

If they'd had it at the start, or if they'd entered the trial instance earlier, they might have used it to identify and reinforce weak points in the defense.

But that was clearly impossible.

However, Chu Ge responded, "No, this is incredibly useful!

"How did you manage to kill the shadow assassin? He was stationed on the theater roof, and even an assassin player would struggle to beat him on his home turf, right?"

Xia Ruoling: "No, I observed him for a long time and noticed he doesn't stay on the roof the entire time; he occasionally leaves.

"I tried following him, but he was very alert and quickly noticed me.

"So, I did the opposite. After he left, I set up an ambush on his return route. It took two tries, but I managed to kill him."