Infinity, The Arcade Age

In the Nightmare Space's central hall, Qin Ming and Ghost Lady stood in a corner, watching as the surrounding adventurers were engulfed in white light, disappearing one after another.

The two exchanged a quick glance and a nod before they, too, were consumed by the light and vanished.

Just before disappearing, Ghost Lady froze for a moment, her face a mask of confusion as she looked upward.

Elsewhere, in a room within the Nightmare Space, a blindfolded girl's expression mirrored Ghost Lady's, filled with astonishment. A system notification chimed in her ear.

"Ding! Silver Plotline Item—Linked Scroll—has failed. The target is entering an Advancement Mission and cannot be followed."

As the scroll in her hand disintegrated into shards, the blindfolded girl sighed in exasperation.

"Great. The tracking attempt failed, and I wasted a silver item for nothing!"

Turning to face a figure in the shadows, she shrugged and spoke.

"Boss, they're in an Advancement Mission. We can't follow."

From the shadows emerged a familiar face—Gale, Qin Ming's old nemesis. Though previously killed, Gale had since been resurrected. His face was dark with frustration, his confusion palpable.

"An Advancement Mission? That can't be right. He hasn't even completed ten missions yet!"

"Beats me. Maybe he's helping someone else. What's the plan now?"

"...We wait. Wait for the next mission. He can't always be on an Advancement Mission!"

Gale tugged at his collar, revealing a hideous scar on his chest. His expression twisted with rage, his voice seething with determination.

"I will settle this grudge, no matter what!"

The blindfolded girl glanced at Gale's furious demeanor and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She wanted to remind him that last time, even with three against one, they had failed miserably—two of their team members had been killed instead.

Now, with their attributes reduced by 20% as a penalty for failure, and Gale having just been revived, the odds of defeating Qin Ming were even slimmer.

More importantly, Gale's brother had explicitly forbidden further retaliation. In fact, his brother seemed unwilling to provoke Qin Ming at all.

The girl thought, If we can't beat him, and even our backers don't want to antagonize him, why are we still pursuing this vendetta?

Her thoughts became even more scornful: Does he expect another revival token if he dies again?

Tucking her hands into her sleeves, the blindfolded girl resolved to keep her role minimal. She would provide coordinates and reconnaissance, but she had no intention of risking her life against that monster again.

Qin Ming, a lone wolf who had completed only four missions, had managed to kill Gale, an adventurer backed by a squad with eight completed missions under his belt. If Gale was foolish enough to go after him again, he was on his own.

Unaware of this failed pursuit, Qin Ming stepped into the mission world alongside Ghost Lady. She, too, seemed to have received a notification from the Nightmare Space but chose to keep it to herself.

She decided to hide the matter for now. If Qin Ming discovered that someone was targeting him, it might affect his willingness to help her in the Advancement Mission.

As their vision cleared, Qin Ming and Ghost Lady found themselves in a patch of tall grass.

Before they could get their bearings, the bark of a nearby tree peeled away, revealing a string of glowing text.

Mission World: Three Kingdoms II—Act IWorld Difficulty: B-grade

Participants: 2

Main Mission: Defeat Act I Boss: Li Dian.

Mission Completion Rewards: 5,000 points, 5 free attribute points (Advancement Successful).

Mission Failure Penalty: Loss of 5,000 points (Advancement Failed).

World Description:

"Late Eastern Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms era begins. As Wei, Shu, and Wu engage in epic battles, the Five Tiger Generals of Shu boldly launch a preemptive strike against Cao Cao's million-strong army."

A B-grade difficulty world, with only two participants, offering massive rewards and penalties.

Qin Ming's expression grew serious. Worlds of this difficulty were rare; the only comparable challenge he had faced was in Fatal Fury.

However, Fatal Fury was an open-world format where the presence of all plotline characters inadvertently inflated the difficulty. In contrast, Three Kingdoms II was a structured challenge mode. This meant the enemies would be formidable from the very start.

As the text disappeared, Qin Ming and Ghost Lady exchanged glances before stepping cautiously out of the forest.

No sooner had they emerged than a squad of soldiers appeared in the distance, marching their way.

The soldiers, fully armed, spotted Qin Ming and Ghost Lady immediately. Their expressions darkened as they raised their spears and bellowed, "Halt! Who goes there?"

Without waiting for a reply, the ten soldiers charged forward. Eight carried spears, while two were armed with bows.

Qin Ming swiftly dodged an arrow and countered with a Sonic Hand Slash, his signature move slicing through the air.

The attack struck one spearman, shattering his weapon, but failed to pierce the armor of those behind him. Instead, it left a narrow gash in the first soldier's armor, eliciting a pained scream.

Qin Ming's eyes widened in disbelief.

A grunt survived his Sonic Hand Slash? What kind of nonsense was this?

Realizing something was off, Qin Ming activated the Dinosaur Goggles to scan the soldiers' attributes.

Name: Wei Spearman

Strength: 15

Constitution: 15

Agility: 10

Spirit: 5

Skills:

Spear Thrust (C-grade)

Leaping Slash (C-grade)

Description: "The basic soldiers of Wei. Individually, they may not be strong, but their numbers make up for it!"

Qin Ming stared at the stats, his face grim. These were basic soldiers? Their attributes rivaled the elite enemies of his first Cadillacs and Dinosaurs mission!

This was no ordinary group of grunts. They were essentially a squad of elite monsters.

"So this is the difficulty of an Advancement Mission…" Qin Ming muttered.

(End of Chapter)