Chapter 210 – The Collapse of Hegemony (Part 3)

The instant clearance of the Harp Illusion left Passing Master, March to Liangzhou, and No. 4 Coffin Shop—the non-core members—absolutely stunned. Even though they were already accustomed to the Ghost Server Legion’s style of having no style at all, the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, who had spent a full day and night without catching up to the Ghost Server’s pace, was still reeling in shock. While the former came to the realization, “Yep, that’s totally something the Ghost Server would do,” the latter was still stuck in disbelief over “the only female member of the Ghost Server Legion, Drink Your Sister 3X, completing the harp melody at a speed that would make Bolt look like he was riding a flaming wheel.”

“Could you really keep up with the video’s tempo?”

“Did you really not make a single mistake with the notes?”

“Are you seriously the only one playing, or were there seven or eight others helping you mash the keyboard?”

To these questions, Drink Your Sister 3X answered succinctly—yes, yes, and yes, all true.

Eventually, the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, having recovered from their shock, collectively bestowed upon Drink Your Sister 3X an honorary title—Six-Fingered Harp Demon.

After bidding farewell to the Harp Illusion, they were welcomed by the Chaos Illusion.

Unlike the dreamlike quality of the Princess’s Dream, this layer was clearly a bedroom—luxurious chairs and tables, a sofa embroidered with golden threads, a retro metal bed draped with curtains—all giving off an aristocratic European vibe. It was a beautiful bedroom, if one had to nitpick… it was just way too messy!

The luxurious chairs and tables were cluttered with all sorts of oddly shaped medicine bottles and jars. The golden-embroidered sofa was draped with plants that could either be herbs or just dead leaves. The retro metal bed was piled with gear and accessories that defied any class categorization. The floor was strewn with bizarre odds and ends.

Unlike the straightforwardness of the previous layer, this one left players guessing about what they were supposed to do. From the current scene alone, there seemed to be multiple possibilities. Thus, the twenty players stood around, observing for a long while, not daring to act rashly.

“Let’s hear everyone’s thoughts,” Don’t Stop the Meds suggested.

X was the first to respond: “I just scanned everything with my mouse and noticed that all items seem to be selectable. So maybe we need to pick out a few specific items to pass?”

Scholar Lu disagreed: “If we’re supposed to pick out items, there should at least be some hints. But aside from items being selectable, there doesn’t seem to be anything else we can interact with.”

Dutch Souvenir chimed in: “Could it be like one of those dress-up games for girls, where we each have to pick out a few pieces of gear to assemble a complete set?”

Rain Ceases countered: “Then what’s the deal with the medicines and miscellaneous items? Are they just useless?”

Little Willow added: “I’m more curious about how Dutch Souvenir knows about dress-up games for little girls =_=”

Don’t Stop the Meds sighed. He was the one who should be curious—why did he even hold out hope for these guys?!

Thousand Mountains, however, remained silent, as if he had actually figured something out. Noticing this, Don’t Stop the Meds directly called on him: “Thousand Mountains, what do you think?”

No Birds Over a Thousand Mountains thought for a moment before replying, “If every single item can be selected, then the only possibility is that clicking on an item will spawn a mob. Clear all the mobs, and we pass.”

Don’t Stop the Meds: “…Are you sure?”

Thousand Mountains: “Well, it could also be elite mobs, depending on the item’s value… Yeah, that must be it!”

Where the hell did this confidence come from?!

“Ghost Server,” Don’t Stop the Meds, having already given up on his own team, turned to their allies, “What do you guys think?”

Ghost Server Legion Leader: “Feels like we just cleared a dungeon, and the boss exploded into a room full of loot for us to pick up as we please~\(≧▽≦)/~”

Where the hell did this blind optimism come from?!

Before Don’t Stop the Meds could even finish his silent scream to the heavens, the two rows of skill and item quick slots at the bottom of the screen suddenly vanished. In their place was a densely packed list of names—some familiar, like Great Recovery Pill, Speed Scroll, Heavenly Lake Core, Etwell’s Staff of Light—and others completely unheard of, like Bunny Ear Candy, Dream Creek Wandering Physician’s Top, Withered Flame Bracelet, Eight Treasures Pill, and so on. At the top of the list were the 26 letters of the alphabet, serving as an index for names starting with those letters. Without using the index and simply scrolling down, the list displayed ten names per row, stretching on for… an infinite number of rows =_=

Don’t Stop the Meds: “What the hell is this?”

Your Uncle: “The Commander said the room was full of loot for us to pick up, so I just…”

Don’t Stop the Meds: “Picked something up?!”

Your Uncle: “Don’t be so mean! It’s rare for me to be able to loot without any guilt TAT”

Thousand Mountains: “Oh, so it wasn’t about spawning mobs.”

Don’t Stop the Meds: “Is that what we should be focusing on right now?!”

The Dutch Chamber of Commerce members didn’t understand why their leader was freaking out, just like they didn’t understand why Little Lucky Charm picking up an item caused the bottom of the screen to turn into a massive list. But there had been too many inexplicable things happening tonight, so they decided to… Let it go╮(╯_╰)╭

Amid the chaos, Birdy suddenly asked: “Uncle, what did you just try to pick up?”

“I didn’t actually succeed,” Your Uncle said defensively. “I just double-clicked, but instead of the system prompt asking if I wanted to loot it, this list popped up.”

Birdy: “Then what did you double-click on?”

Your Uncle: “That Speed Scroll next to my feet on the ground.”

Birdy: “What does the scroll look like now?”

Your Uncle: “No change. But maybe because I clicked it earlier, the whole scroll is highlighted blue now.”

Birdy double-clicked the list a couple of times to confirm before instructing Your Uncle: “Click on ‘S,’ select the fourth item in the eighth row—Speed Scroll—and click it once.”

“Got it!”

The Deputy’s orders were absolute. The Commander might occasionally mess up, but the Deputy never would. Your Uncle quickly scrolled down the list, locked onto the term “Speed Scroll,” and clicked it with his left mouse button!

[System] Speed Scroll, cleared successfully.

As the system prompt flashed, the Speed Scroll on the ground disappeared, and the words “Speed Scroll” on the list vanished as well, with the remaining names shifting forward to fill the gap.

Next, following Birdy’s instructions, Your Uncle selected a few common miscellaneous items and clicked their corresponding names on the list. Just like before, the system prompt for successful clearance appeared, and the items on the ground and their names on the list disappeared.

At this point, the task was clear—

Rain Through the Woods: “Huaxia Match-3.”

His teammates disagreed with the name, because looking around the room, there weren’t two identical items anywhere. The dream of finding four of the same item and happily clearing a whole row from the list simply didn’t exist =_=

Unlike the solo battle of the Harp Illusion, the Chaos Illusion was a team effort. To put it simply, the Harp Illusion was like a closed-book exam—everyone had their own paper, answered independently, and their scores didn’t affect each other. But as long as one person scored 100%—meaning they completed the harp melody perfectly—everyone passed. The Chaos Illusion, on the other hand, was like an open-book exam where everyone worked together on the same paper. If you successfully cleared an item, it would disappear from everyone else’s screen as well. And when the last item disappeared, restoring the room to order, the Chaos Illusion would be cleared.

With a clear battle plan, the Dutch Ghosts wasted no time, each searching for familiar gear, medicines, and miscellaneous items to clean up. Sometimes, two people would pick the same item—whoever clicked faster would claim the credit, while the slower one had to find another target.

The power of twenty people was immense. In less than ten minutes, 80% of the room had been cleared. The Dutch Ghosts would have been thrilled to see the tables and chairs finally revealing their original forms, but—

Mocha: “I seriously can’t clear any more. I don’t recognize a single thing left.”

Mad Lad: “Can someone tell me what the hell this shit-yellow thing is? Is it cloth armor? Iron armor? A vest? What’s its damn name?!”

Rain Ceases: “We’ll just have to click through the names on the list one by one to test them…”

Scholar Lu: “I’d rather die.”

438: “It’s so weird. We’ve been working hard for so long, clearing a bunch of names, but the list doesn’t seem any shorter…”

X: “Because it’s freaking endless! What we’ve cleared is like scooping a ladle of water from the ocean—completely useless!”

War of the Gods: “This list is like the bricks of the Great Wall—if we test them one by one, we’ll be here till the end of time.”

Little Willow: “So what do we do now?”

Don’t Stop the Meds: “We’ll just have to click through the names on the list one by one to test them.”

Scholar Lu & War of the Gods: “That’s what we think too.”

You two flip-flop way too fast!!

Just as the Dutch Ghosts were at their wits’ end with these bizarre illusionary items, almost ready to spam the World Chat with their frustration, someone beat them to the punch—

[Constellation] Liaodong Iron Cavalry: Why must you force a martial arts champion to embroider?! WHY?!!!

The Dutch Ghosts exchanged glances, seeing the same thought reflected in each other’s eyes—Iceborn and Silence had entered the Harp Illusion =_=

The fact that Iceborn’s team could enter the Harp Illusion meant they had defeated the Imperial Sorcerer, but no system message about anyone obtaining purple-tier gear had appeared in the World Chat, meaning their boss drop was terrible. While the Chaos Illusion was driving them mad, Iceborn’s team wouldn’t fare any better when they reached it. But the Harp Illusion, which had stumped Iceborn, had been a breeze for them…

With comparison came motivation!

Don’t Stop the Meds: “Alright, listen up. We’ll use the ‘Block-Filter-Category-Comparison Method’ to screen the list. ‘Block’ means each person takes a letter—the remaining six letters will be dealt with last. ‘Category’ means we’ll first narrow down the general categories of items, then filter the list by quickly skimming past obviously irrelevant names and focusing on those that match the category. For example, take that mustard-yellow thing by the bed. Even though we can’t tell what class it’s for…”

[System] Dark Gold Assassin’s Top, cleared successfully.

Don’t Stop the Meds: “Oh, someone recognized it. Could’ve cleared it earlier. Next, that accessory next to the top. Even though we don’t know its stats…”

[System] White Moon Bracelet, cleared successfully.

“…Can you at least let me finish before showing off?! Last example—that pile of green powder in the corner. Even though none of us have seen it before, it’s definitely not gear or an accessory. It must be some kind of material or special medicine. So when screening your assigned letters, you can ignore gear and accessory names and focus only on materials and medicine.” Don’t Stop the Meds paused here, noting that no one interrupted and no strange system messages popped up. Satisfied, he continued, “Okay, I’m done. Now, everyone can pick their favorite letter and—”

[System] Jade Ore Fragment, cleared successfully.

“WHO THE HELL IS IT?!” Don’t Stop the Meds had tried his best to restrain himself, but no—this guy was just too damn annoying!

Not just Don’t Stop the Meds, but even the others were curious. The last three items cleared weren’t just rare—they were practically unheard of. Who could possibly have such encyclopedic knowledge…

“Uh, sorry, was I interrupting?” The voice belonged to No. 4 Coffin Shop.

Though the words were apologetic, the tone was completely flat, as if the content could have been replaced with “Cabbage is on sale today” or “The weather forecast says there’ll be smog tomorrow” without any difference =_=

Feeling absolutely no sincerity, Don’t Stop the Meds gritted his teeth: “What do you think?”

Coffin Shop: “I apologize for the first two times.”

Don’t Stop the Meds: “And the last one doesn’t count?!”

Coffin Shop: “You said to wait until you finished. I did.”

Don’t Stop the Meds: “…”

If it had been anyone else, Don’t Stop the Meds would have already torn into them with every insult in the book. But Coffin Shop’s words carried no hint of provocation or mockery—just a calm, almost numb narration. If he got worked up now, he’d just look petty. One of the essential qualities of a great Legion Commander was “Don’t kick a kid, and don’t hit a deadpan face.” Damn, was it too much to ask?! TAT

Taking a deep breath, Don’t Stop the Meds suppressed the tears threatening to spill and shook his head, regaining his composure. Slowly, he regained his leadership demeanor: “Coffin Shop, aside from you, everyone else has already cleared the items they recognize. So I’ll give you five minutes to wrap up—clear everything you know, and then we’ll start the Block-Filter-Category-Comparison method.”

Coffin Shop: “Deal.”

[System] Tiffany’s Spoon, cleared successfully.

[System] Singles’ Day Balloon, cleared successfully.

[System] Chaplin Candy, cleared successfully.

[System] Gold Dust Powder, cleared successfully.

[System] Sanxingdui Armor Bracers, cleared successfully.

[System] Western Cowboy Leather Shoulderpads, cleared successfully.

[System] Aletsch Glacier Necklace, cleared successfully.

[System] Purple-Spotted Peony, cleared successfully.

[System] Banana Wood, cleared successfully.

[System] Astragalus Root, cleared successfully.

[System]…

[System]…

[System] “Clear the Chaos Illusion” quest completed!

[System] Welcome to the Demonic Illusion.

[System] quest updated: “Clear the Demonic Illusion”!

As Coffin Shop steadily cleared those bizarre items at a pace as even as an automated script, the Ghost Server teammates had a vague premonition. So when they actually cleared the stage, they merely felt admiration—Coffin Shop really was impressive. But the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, who had no prior context, only saw this near-silent, almost invisible zombie suddenly go god-mode, wielding a broom like a monk sweeping the floor, tidying up the room in no time—and their worldview was updated along with the quest…

Are you actually a human-shaped encyclopedia of Huaxia Online?!

Don’t Stop the Meds had no energy left to muster any emotion, his voice dripping with exhaustion: “Hero, give me a reason.”

“Oh,” Coffin Shop replied easily, “I buy and sell stuff every day, receiving and shipping goods. I’ve seen a lot of things over time, so I just remember them.”

Don’t Stop the Meds didn’t want to argue, but the competitive streak in his soul refused to concede so easily: “Every day? Over time? Ha! Then when do you dungeon? Level up? Farm gear? Don’t tell me this is how you play the game!”

Coffin Shop: “I don’t need to play the game. I’m a merchant alt.”