Chapter 33: The Third Closed Beta

The moment the person left, Yu Xun'ge turned on every humidifier in her room, filling them with high-grade reveal potions. She ensured there was enough solution to keep them running for a full week before driving away from S City. She headed toward Jiang City, four thousand kilometers away, sticking to backroads whenever possible. She avoided highways, fearing that if she used Apparition, she might materialize directly onto a busy road and be struck by a vehicle—the thought of dying in such an undignified way was truly terrifying.

She treated this as mapping out her path; the more she traveled now, the more locations she would be able to Apparate to in the future. Fortunately, her years of acting had taken her across the country, so she was familiar with most of the cities on her route.

Halfway through the journey, she reached her physical limit. She put on the white-tier belt that granted +1 Constitution, which she had obtained from Su Jinxuan, and frequently stopped to cook herself meals that restored stamina.

She finally arrived in Jiang City on the morning of the 9th. Ignoring everything else, she found a hotel, took a long shower, and slept soundly.

At 7:00 AM on the 10th, Yu Xun'ge made a video call to Yi Qiuguo. She showed both Yi and Yu Qingshan the scenery of Jiang City, asked if they wanted any local specialties, and sternly reminded them to keep her younger brother by his phone all day. After chatting for ten minutes, she hung up.

Once the call ended, she began Apparating toward S City.

With a current Intelligence of 14, her maximum range per jump was only 14 kilometers. Covering over four thousand kilometers—and not in a straight line, since she wasn't on a highway—she estimated she would need at least 300 jumps. Throughout the ordeal, she had to maintain the Disillusionment Charm.

After 50 jumps, she felt dizzy.
After 100 jumps, she felt nauseous.
She stopped to drink coffee to replenish her mana and consumed food that boosted her mental energy.
120 jumps... 150 jumps...
After 200 jumps, she collapsed on the ground and vomited violently for a long time.

It was not yet 8:00 AM, but instead of relief, a chill ran down her spine. She had set out so early and even accounted for rest, yet accidents kept happening. It was as if an invisible force was preventing her from reaching S City. Especially after passing the halfway point, her Apparition began to drift; despite aiming for a 14km straight line, she would veer left, then left again, as if caught in a ghost's trap.

Yu Xun'ge gritted her teeth. *Keep going!*
Yu Xunhuan’s luck was high, but her own Luck stat was currently maxed out!
She would crawl back to S City if she had to. If she couldn't stop Yu Xunhuan from entering the game, she would kill him herself!

After 300 jumps, she was still over 500 kilometers away from S City.
Yu Xun'ge coughed up a mouthful of blood. A "Weakened" status appeared beside her character profile. For the next 24 hours, her attributes would be reduced by 20%.
*Fine. Just fine.*
Yu Xun'ge scraped the blood off the ground into a bag to keep in her inventory, then washed down the blood in her mouth with more mana-replenishing coffee.

9:00 AM. *Still time!*
10:07 AM. Yu Xun'ge reached the outskirts of S City. She replenished her mana, ready to use "Stupefy" the moment she entered Yu Xunhuan’s villa.

10:10 AM!
With blood still in her mouth, Yu Xun'ge Apparated into Yu Xunhuan’s room.
It was empty!
Fury burned in her eyes, but the more urgent and angry she felt, the calmer she became. Even as her body and spirit were wracked with terror and regret, her mind remained ice-cold. She pulled out her phone and used her data to download *World of Warcraft: Rift of Fear*.

*Right.* Yu Xunhuan would never want others to know his God-given talent, not even his parents.
*So, where would he be?*
The Yu family estate?
10:11 AM. Invisible, Yu Xun'ge appeared in Yu Xunhuan’s room at the Yu family home. Empty.
His apartment? No, Ye Dong was there; that was impossible.
*Then...*

Yu Xun'ge left the room, went to the study, drank a Translucency Potion, and passed through the wall. In the hidden room, Yu Xunhuan was sitting on a wooden crate, staring at his phone with a crazed expression of ecstasy.

Yu Xun'ge walked over, and at that exact moment, she saw the moon rushing toward the screen.
Her soul screamed: *Kill him! Kill him now, or he will soar to the heavens!*
Yet, the next second, she was shocked by her own cold, greedy, and frantic thoughts. She realized that perhaps all her justifications—that she wouldn't let him have it too easy, that she wanted an eye for an eye—were just excuses. Perhaps from the moment she pulled [Thief God], or even in her past life, she had been coveting his God-given talent all along. Even though he hadn't revealed his full abilities, it was a talent that could incite the three great families to war, a talent that made the three elite heirs willing to set aside their pride to share him...

She didn't believe Yu Xunhuan was truly that charming, that three top-tier heiresses would forget their dignity just to share him.

Almost instantly, she cast [Wheel of Fate] on him, altering his luck. She left her shadow behind, merging it with his, then slipped out of the secret room and returned to her own bedroom.

Separated by only one wall, she opened her own game. Simultaneously, through her shadow’s perspective, she saw Yu Xunhuan’s game interface and his God-given talent: [God of Food] (SS-Rank).

She felt as if her mind had been split in two: one side cold as ice, the other clamoring with fear, madness, and greed.

Yu Xunhuan’s avatar appeared in Silvermoon City, the capital of the Blood Elves.
Yu Xun'ge logged into her own game, used Disguise to appear as a Blood Elf, and walked past the city gates where "Wanted" posters hung—one of an Undead, one of a Goblin, both looking familiar. She used teleportation to reach Silvermoon City.

It was the third closed beta; the number of players was ten thousand times higher than before. The city was packed, teeming with people. If the main forces of the hostile races hadn't been unable to deploy yet, the major cities wouldn't have been able to hold them all.

Yu Xunhuan’s avatar stood in the massive city, gazing around with curiosity. He passed inns, herb shops, weapon shops, and the statue of the Elven King.

Yu Xun'ge followed his path, walking past the same inns and the same statue. She brushed past the silver-haired Blood Elf avatar and cast "Inspect" on him.

[Character] Xunhuan
[God-given Talent] ?

The next second, she didn't hesitate to use her skill!
She would steal his talent!

[Betting the name of the Thief God, you attempt to steal the talent of the Elven player "Xunhuan."]
[Theft successful—Target's God-given talent rank detected as too high—Theft interrupted!]

Yu Xun'ge walked toward the city gate and opened her mission panel.
Skill 2 of [Thief God], "The Thief of the Thief God is also a Robber's Theft," had turned a dark, unusable gray.
Under [Immortal], a new God-given talent appeared: [God of Food] (SS-Rank) (Fragmented).
When expanded, there were five skills, but only two were lit up.
She had stolen three skills from the Undead Lord at once, yet when stealing from Yu Xunhuan, whose luck was now 1, she had only managed two.

She didn't bother reading the skill descriptions. Instead, she exited the city, found the nearest graveyard, placed the explosives from her inventory at her character’s feet, and clicked to detonate them. A few seconds later, the screen faded to black—[You have died].