Ren Suo's fantasy, of course, would never come true.

However, he could understand why. After all, if one could simply AFK to farm before battling bosses, what challenge would be left in the game? In old RPGs, if the protagonist wanted to level up, players had to control them to grind Strange Creatures!

Yet the Rebel could increase his abilities just by being AFK, meaning the player wouldn't have to do anything. If he could AFK indefinitely, Ren Suo would definitely keep the Rebel AFK until he became the world's number one, dominating everything before letting him emerge.

AFK is truly a fantastic feature... Ren Suo sighed and began the second level.

He didn't know how many levels there were in the game, but he had a hunch it wouldn't be more than three.

Fusion game, fusion game... The first level seemed to be from the unfinished game, "Battle Girl," that Ren Suo had obtained. If the Rebel hadn't summoned an Assassin to desperately block the evil organization's assault, the people in the banquet hall alone surely wouldn't have been enough. In that case, the Lady of Light would have had to step in personally. Wouldn't that effectively make her the Battle Girl?

Then the second level might be related to "Non-Human Loli."

As for whether there was a third level, that was hard to say.

The familiar Rebel appeared on the screen. For some reason, his 25 pixels kept shaking, as though quivering. A dialogue box popped up immediately: "Please remember, all the joys bestowed by Destiny are accompanied by equal pain prepared behind them."

Eh? Why is he begging for mercy right from the start?

Ren Suo thought about it. Is the Rebel angry?

At the beginning, the Rebel's schedule was just sleeping, slacking off, or daydreaming for entertainment. I made him turn over a new leaf and start anew, so he got angry? Who would've thought the Rebel was so childish? He doesn't understand my good intentions at all—I'm doing all this for your own good!

Ren Suo looked at the system record. Since the AFK period was over, the Rebel's Cultivation for the past few days had been summarized:

"Rebel's work total: 132, Rating: Good, Effect: Received unanimous praise from companions."

"Rebel's learning total: 2,252, Rating: Excellent, Effect: Acquired the Skill 'Proficient in English'."

"Rebel's Cultivation total: 3,888, Rating: Excellent+, Effect: Fully mastered the Spell 'Gauze Clothing'."

Eh!?

Ren Suo then returned to the 'Equipment Interface,' only to find that the Rebel had equipped 'Gauze Clothing' at some point.

A flicker of doubt crossed his mind—Did I ever equip this for the Rebel? But he quickly disregarded these minor details when he saw two permanent skill icons appear behind the Rebel's character icon.

'Gauze Clothing: Proficiency 103%, can cast spells without hindrance (automatically defends when attacked). The Rebel learned this spell quite quickly.'

'Proficient in English: Proficiency 86%, capable of oral communication (directly translates dialogue). The Rebel is quite diligent in learning.'

The Rebel is a lot like the Truth Seeker; he can learn abilities from the 'Equipment Interface' on his own... Ren Suo reflected.

In that case, the Rebel does have potential. But compared to the Truth Seeker—who learns anything instantly, masters it quickly, and can even innovate upon it—he probably can't compete with the Adventurer who possesses the 'High-Energy Alchemy Hand,' at least in terms of potential...

But he's surprisingly sensible, knowing to learn English. Not bad, not bad. Now I won't have to consult an Oxford Dictionary for manual translations.

However, the Rebel had become slightly stronger, so Ren Suo felt he shouldn't push too much, merely grumbling internally about why he couldn't use Krypton Gold to make the Rebel stronger.

At that moment, Ren Suo carefully examined the hallucination the Rebel was in. A vast darkness still covered the screen, with only the room the Rebel occupied being lit. In the room, there were stalls, urinals, and an Elf Girl standing there urinating...

Why is it a restroom again!

A restroom is one thing, but why is there an Elf Girl urinating in the restroom?

Incidentally, Ren Suo knew it was an Elf Girl (all 25 pixels of her) because he immediately had the Rebel investigate, which prompted a pop-up:

Elf Girl A: "What, haven't you seen an Elf pee before?"

Ren Suo: ...I dare you to show it to me in 4K.

After Elf Girl A finished urinating, she went to a bucket of water beside the door to wash her hands, then left the restroom. But soon, three other characters, whom Ren Suo couldn't identify by their pixelated appearances, entered. He had the Rebel strike up a conversation:

Supreme Skeleton Magician B: "Damned humans, don't block the way!"

Green-haired Cyclops Swordsman C: "Hmm? If you want to fight, let's take it outside."

Blonde Quilt King D: "...I don't know you. And no, I'm not in the wrong place."

The Blonde Quilt King had a feminine hairstyle, but he also stood to urinate...

Ren Suo watched, bewildered. What kind of place is this?

Just then, an NPC appeared in the restroom and approached the Rebel to speak:

Friend Z·Silver Armored General: "Rebel, haven't you transformed yet!?"

What? The Rebel can transform too!? He actually has such a cool ability?

Friend Z·Silver Armored General: "You didn't do anything in the dressing room? It's too dangerous to transform outside; it's safer to do it here. Hurry up... Never mind, I'll cover for you. Go ahead and transform."

What this Friend Z said made a lot of sense. Generally, transformations involve a few seconds of CG animation, making it very dangerous to transform mid-battle. When Ren Suo played games, he always desperately wished the protagonists could kill the boss during its transformation. However, the reality was that the protagonists would merely utter exclamations like, 'Ah, how could the boss...' or 'Is this... could this be...?' while passively watching the boss complete its transformation.

Of course, in return, the boss also had to watch the protagonists transform. This must be what they call a dirty deal.

Who would have thought the magical world inside this game was so scientific, actually knowing to find a safe restroom for transformation!

Under Friend Z's cover, the Rebel's body erupted in a bright light. The next second, his clothes transformed into a suit of pitch-black heavy armor, his appearance changed drastically, and even his nickname altered—

Rebel·Painted Face Person!

Friend Z·Silver Armored General: "Great! You've finished transforming, and your strength is sufficient. You can join me to fight in the Secret Realm Dungeon!"

Holy shit, we can even raid Secret Realm Dungeons? Is this game actually an online game!?

However, Ren Suo checked the system information, and it only said, "Rebel transformed into Rebel·Painted Face Person," without any indication that the Rebel's strength had changed... Are the effects of the transformation just something players are supposed to know by default?

Speaking of which, this Friend Z seems to be friends with the Rebel, right? But the Rebel's other friends all have such grand names, like White Emperor, Female Demon, or Female Knight... How come when it's your turn, you only get a pathetic NPC name like Friend Z?

So the Rebel followed Friend Z out of the restroom. In an instant, the remaining dark fog on the map dispersed, revealing an extremely bustling and lively scene—

So many people! And many of them look incredibly powerful!

So many strange buildings! Magic Towers, Demon King's Palaces, Monasteries, Caverns... People were bustling in and out of them!

In the distance, there seemed to be a large, deep blue portal, with countless powerful figures gathered outside, watching as other figures flickered within it!

Ren Suo was bewildered, and even the Rebel seemed stunned. Friend Z took a couple of steps, noticed the Rebel hadn't followed, and said, "Hurry up and follow, it's almost our turn for the dungeon!"

Ren Suo had the Rebel investigate Friend Z. Seeing an inquiry option, a dialogue box popped up, and Ren Suo hurriedly asked, "What is this place?"

Friend Z·Silver Armored General: "What nonsense are you talking, Rebel... This is the Multidimensional Plane Exchange Meeting, which only occurs periodically. Humans and powerful beings from various dimensions can trade items and exchange insights here. It's an indispensable and significant gathering.

Those Magic Palace Sanctuaries are where merchants from the Multiverse have gathered Secret Treasures to sell. Meanwhile, humans and powerful beings attend this gathering in search of treasures that resonate with them. Even though the treasures here are quite expensive, they don't hesitate to buy them.

Of course, not all humans are wealthy. Some poorer humans might not buy treasures, but they deeply admire the powerful beings, and merely seeing them is incredibly exciting."

Ren Suo looked around and realized there really were quite a few ordinary humans in the scene, all dressed uniformly in white shirts and black trousers, looking so neat they almost had 'Ordinary Person' displayed above their heads.

Rebel·Painted Face Person: "Then what is the Secret Realm Dungeon?"

Friend Z·Silver Armored General: "Because there are quite a number of participants in the Multidimensional Plane Exchange Meeting and many powerful beings present, the convergence of Popularity Energy has generated countless resources. These resources, in turn, become Secret Realms, allowing powerful beings like you and me to form teams and challenge Secret Realm Dungeons. And because Secret Realm Dungeons are born from Popularity Energy, the challenger teams that perform best within them, thereby obtaining the most Popularity Energy, will be rewarded with the most resources, honor, and precious treasures!"

Wow...

Ren Suo quickly made a note of this place. He had no idea such a hardcore place existed in this world—a Multiverse where countless powerful beings gathered to trade, exchange insights, and even team up for dungeon raids, with many ordinary humans allowed to spectate!

Naturally, Ren Suo had no doubts about the reality of this game—once he cleared it, the game would surely become reality.

That means this Multidimensional Plane Exchange Meeting definitely exists. And with so many participants, it must be quite famous. I absolutely have to find a chance to witness this unbelievably fantastical place in person!

So this world actually has such incredible gatherings. I've really been too shortsighted... Ren Suo couldn't help but sigh.

「 」

Roughly 75 meters away from Ren Suo, in another dormitory room, Zhao Huo was furiously typing on his keyboard.

The more he typed, the angrier he got. In the end, he couldn't help but grab his phone and make a call:

"What do you mean? Everyone rehearsed for so long, and you decide to bail on us at the last minute!?"

"Going on a trip with your girlfriend... So what if you have a girlfriend? Is that supposed to be impressive? I have a fiancée!"

"Where am I supposed to find someone on such short notice!?"

"A college student? Summer vacation is over! Even if I went back to the anime club, it would be too late! The con is only a few days away; there's no way we'd have enough time for rehearsals. Besides, most people can't fill your role—you're a First Transformation Cultivator!"

"We agreed to put on the coolest, most dazzling, most epic stage play, but you... sigh..."

"...Everyone's so busy with work; we might not get another chance... It's rare that we're both Cultivators. Together, we could have definitely amazed everyone..."

"...Never mind, I was out of line just now. Remember to invite me to your wedding; I'll definitely give you a big red envelope."

"But I get it. For an unlucky-looking guy like you to find a girlfriend is truly a blessing from heaven, I understand..."

The other party hung up first. Zhao Huo slightly raised an eyebrow, then sighed.

Either I change the script, or I find a Cultivator with a lot of free time to take his place... What should I do...