There is One New Rule Every Month Globally

"Um..."

In the office of the Snow Sea Project Team floating above Blue Star.

An employee tentatively approached leader Jin Buhuan and started, "Boss, are we going home now?"

Last time Blue Star had captured the Monument, everyone was exhilarated.

But this time, suddenly, there was no such feeling, and the main reason was the lack of a sense of participation.

Feeling as if they hadn't done anything, the big prize had somehow just landed in their pockets, creating an unreal sensation that left the staff of the project team in a sort of mental daze.

"Going home..."

Shaken from his reverie, Jin Buhuan stood up and walked around the office, looking at each employee. They were all looking at him with expectant eyes. What had they all been striving for all these years?

Wasn't it to pay off their gaming debts as soon as possible and reclaim their player identities?

To regain the freedom that belonged to them?

But today.

Three unconditional S-grade Free Passes allowed them not to worry about repaying the debts at all; simply using these three opportunities would let them regain the player identities they had once lost.

It could be said that they were only a step away, just one step away from achieving their goal of many years.

Everyone was waiting, waiting for him to give the order to return; then, the office would erupt with excitement and roaring cheers, like a volcano on the verge of eruption. With just one word from him, it could burst forth instantly.

However...

"..."

After making eye contact with each of his excited employees, Jin Buhuan remained silent for a long while before finally saying, "I'm sorry, everyone, we can't go home yet."

As his words fell.

In the office, each employee's face registered an incredulous shock.

Why couldn't they go home?

They had all been working hard every day; wasn't this the day they had been waiting for? Now that the conditions were met, why couldn't they go home?

Why!

Before anyone could voice their questions, Jin Buhuan raised his voice again, "I know you all don't understand, but please, listen to me. We have reasons we can't leave."

"What will happen to Chen Yi and Blue Star if we leave?"

"The game has rules that state once a sponsoring project team leaves partway, there won't be a new team to take over. Everything will be managed by the game's automated procedures."

"First of all, wouldn't this possibly make Chen Yi resent us? When we reclaim our identities as players, we regain our freedom. But it also means that if Chen Yi wanted to take action against us, we would have no protections afforded by our status as project team employees."

"Do you think you can withstand Chen Yi?"

"Secondly, even if we go back home now and return to being players, what then? But if we can support Chen Yi until the end, and then return to our player identities, armed with Chen Yi's friendship, wouldn't we live much better lives?"

Jin Buhuan's powerful words echoed through the office.

The countless employees exchanged glances and returned to their seats in mute accord, clearly in agreement that Jin Buhuan's decision was the right one.

But... they still couldn't feel happy about it.

They had longed to go home for so long, and now, when they could finally go home, they just couldn't do it.

"..."

Seeing all the employees back at their stations, Jin Buhuan slowly took his own seat and, with a hint of fatigue, closed his eyes.

They couldn't possibly go home now.

Without the Snow Sea Project Team, Blue Star being automated by the game's procedures could lead to unpredictable events, and he had no idea what might happen.

He had to see Blue Star through to the end. Even if he couldn't earn Chen Yi's friendship, he at least couldn't let Chen Yi bear a grudge against them.

...

Outside the Annihilation Starfield, things were bustling.

Many players were eagerly admiring the newly erected Monument—the fourth one in the Annihilation Starfield. In the whole game, they were the only players who had four Monuments.

There was no one else.

They were unique.

This brought great pride to the players of the Annihilation Starfield when traveling across other starfields.

"289 Zenith-series Air Food Props..."

A Black Star player, holding a drumstick and chewing, began to count on his fingers as he mused over his calculations.

"A Zenith Radiance costs 10 million Points, and 300 of them would need 30 billion Points."

"With the premium on Zenith Radiance, it probably costs about 60 billion Points."

"Damn..."

This player looked at his last map earnings in a daze, less than 30,000 Points from a B-grade map that took him three days. By this progress, to earn 30 billion Points...

He was bad at math and couldn't figure out how long it would take.

But at the very least, it would probably take over a decade.

"..."

Thinking this, the player couldn't help but twitch at the corners of his mouth, filled with bewilderment, "Isn't Tuberculosis Rabbit a novice player? Where did he get so many Points from? 30 billion Points—damn, could all the maps during the Novice Period add up to that amount of earnings?"

"That's just too outrageous?!!"

...

On Awesome Starfield.

Sitting next to Li Yi, Wang Qi laughed upon hearing the announcement. "Li Yi, Tuberculosis Rabbit is so much stronger than you. You earned a billion Points during your Novice Period, but Tuberculosis Rabbit must have earned hundreds of billions of Points."