novelbin Chapter 21 Update Preview
Chapter 21 Update Preview
The basement of the old house.
A pale golden halo silently spread out.
Jiang Yuan stepped out of the portal, and the halo behind him flickered slightly before shrinking into a point of golden light and dissipating into the air.
He didn't leave immediately; he stood there, staring thoughtfully at the spot where the circle of light had disappeared.
The glow at the edge of the boundary gate has changed; it looks somewhat different now.
A thought struck him, and a small, fluorescent blue character popped up before his eyes.
[Gate of Realms: Cooldown 05:59:52]
The last few seconds are decreasing frame by frame.
Six hours?
It used to take twelve hours, but now it's been halved! Jiang Yuan was overjoyed.
The improvement of the Gate of Boundaries was greater than he had anticipated.
The statement on the panel that "Power enhancement will unlock new features for the Boundary Gate" is not just empty talk.
Besides the cooldown time, he vaguely sensed that the maximum weight limit for passing through the portal should also have increased.
Although he had never come close to that limit when he moved supplies several times before.
Gangwon walked up the narrow wooden stairs.
The wooden planks used to hide the sun were lifted, and sunlight streamed in through the window.
The old house is still the same as before.
He took out his phone and turned on the screen.
【09:27:15】
【XNUM X Year X NUM X Month X NUM X Day】
"The time should be about the same on both sides," Jiang Yuan muttered to himself.
It's daytime in the other world too; the flow of time seems to be the same in both worlds.
He calculated that about four or five hours had passed since he entered the basement last night.
The time spent in the cave roughly corresponds to the time that passes in reality.
He put his phone on the table and took off his clothes, which were covered in ash and blood.
The wound on my right forearm, pierced by spider silk, has scabbed over.
A dark red scab covers the skin, and pressing it with a finger only causes a slight soreness. At this rate, it should fully heal in less than a week.
I took a shower with the water I had prepared beforehand to wash away the blood and grime, and then changed into a clean white short-sleeved shirt and sweatpants.
That protective vest got several tears from the silk threads during the battle with the Spider Queen, so it's probably unusable now.
"The Frostclaw tribe should have forging capabilities; we can get some equipment from them."
He folded the protective vest and stuffed it into the canvas bag, then put the kerosene torch and crossbow under the table.
Then I picked up my phone and called a ride-hailing service.
Destination: Songhai City Gymnasium.
……
On the taxi.
The driver was a talkative middle-aged man. Once on the highway, he started talking about gas prices, housing prices, and his son's college entrance exam this year.
Jiang Yuan sat in the back row, responding half-heartedly while keeping his eyes glued to his phone screen.
He first opened the dormitory group chat.
I have several unread messages, the latest one being from this morning:
[Song Zihao: Tianma Circuit Day, took it for a spin, the tires need changing.]
A picture followed.
Several sports cars were parked on the side of a winding mountain road. Song Zihao squatted down next to them and gave a thumbs up.
Behind him, several young people were unscrewing water bottles and taking pictures of the clouds on the mountain ridge with their phones.
Below is Zhao Peng's "Brother Hao's Life: My Dream!"
Jiang Yuan scrolled up and browsed through it; it was all just idle gossip and jokes.
He then opened the game group.
The Oracle Intelligence Agency's group messages have already reached 999+.
When he clicked on it, he found his screen was flooded with a single message.
[The game is about to be updated, opening up new maps and new dungeons!]
Jiang Yuan was startled and didn't even have time to read the comments in the group. He quickly clicked into the Oracle Forum.
Sure enough, at the very top of the Oracle Forum homepage, there was a pinned post.
The poster field is blank, and there is no profile picture; it looks like an automatically pushed notification from the system.
The post was very short, just a few lines:
The Oracle will receive its first version update in as little as half a month.
This update will open up some new maps and corresponding dungeon areas.
[The exact update time is subject to change.]
The replies below have already gone through more than ten pages.
[Night Rain's Rustling Sound: Finally, an update!!]
[What can I do about your arrogance: Almost no one has even explored the hidden map in Graystone Town, and now a new map is being released?]
[Wildbone Refuses to Give Up: The person upstairs is talking about the "Frostclaw Tribe"? Apart from that "Primordial," no one else has ever been inside. I even suspect it's fictional.]
[YinYinYangYang: Hehe, they're a Tier 3 expert, don't talk nonsense.]
[Innocent Young Man: New Dungeon! New Dungeon! New Dungeon!]
[One-hit kill: Will we be able to play online this time? I've stockpiled so much stuff to sell, I'm going to starve if we don't turn on online soon.]
……
Jiang Yuan scanned the replies from everyone.
Everyone has high expectations for the update.
Oracle game does not have an online multiplayer mode.
Although the players on the forum all spawn in the same Graystone Town map, they cannot see each other.
Everyone is fighting alone in their own world.
This is why the information exchange is so valuable and why they are so active on the forum.
But for him, the update meant something else entirely.
Others log into the game normally, but he is an "illegal immigrant," unlike the other players.
What impact will the game update have on him?
Jiang Yuan frowned in thought.
At that moment, the phone's incoming call screen popped up, with the words "Dad" flashing on the screen.
Jiang Yuan answered, "Hello, Dad."
"Son, how are you doing over there?" Jiang Guoping's hoarse voice came through the receiver, as if he had just woken up.
He works the night shift and usually catches up on sleep during the day.
"It's going well. I'm starting to see some job prospects; today's the last interview."
"Really?" The voice on the other end of the phone rose noticeably. "Great! Did you discuss the salary? How much?"
Jiang Yuan thought for a moment and replied, "Nine thousand."
"Nine thousand?" Jiang Guoping's voice rose another octave, followed by a series of questions:
"What company? Where is it located? Are you already renting a place? You need to dress formally for the interview, do you want to come back and get some clothes...?"
"Dad," Jiang Yuan interrupted him, "I have something I want to tell you. The salary for this job is decent, and I'd like to negotiate with Anxin to see if we can apply for a loan repayment extension so we can save the old house."
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
The highway guardrails outside the window receded one by one, leaving only the buzzing sound of tires rolling over the road.
"Dad also wants to save it." Jiang Guoping's voice deepened:
"I know you're reluctant. But have you thought about it? Even with a salary of nine thousand yuan and a debt of nine hundred and eighty thousand yuan, it would take you eight or nine years to pay it off, even if you didn't eat or drink. What will you do then? Gone for good? You won't get married?"
Jiang Yuan said, "The old house itself is worth some money. Besides, the real estate market has fallen so much now, maybe it will recover in a couple of years."
Although he knew the chances of the housing market recovering were slim, his words struck a chord with his father.
When the old house was valuable, my father was reluctant to sell it, partly because he thought the property value might rise back up.
But the market has continued to fall until now, to the point where even an auction might not be enough to cover the debts. I still hold onto a sliver of hope for a recovery.
Jiang Yuan knew this, though his father never said it.
"Focus on your interview first. The job isn't finalized yet; we'll see if you can keep it later." Jiang Guoping's tone softened, but he immediately added:
"Dad can work for a few more years, and he can pay it back. We'll pay it back slowly."
He was persuaded by Jiang Yuan.
Jiang Yuan responded and hung up the phone.
The guardrail outside the window receded rapidly.
The car exited the highway and turned into Songhai city. After driving for another twenty minutes or so, it stopped in front of the city stadium.
Jiang Yuan paid the fare and got out of the car.
This was his first time visiting the Songhai City Gymnasium, and it was bigger than he had imagined.
The gray-white exterior walls are painted with blue decorative lines, and a red inflatable archway about half a person's height stands at the entrance, with the words "2026 Songhai City Archery Open" printed on it in white.
Three or four long tables were set up next to the archway, where staff wearing blue vests were verifying identities and issuing number tags.
Many of the participants were still gathered in the open space at the entrance.
Most of them were men, ranging from young people in their early twenties to middle-aged men in their forties.
Several people wearing the same red team uniforms stood together, with the team logo on their chests reading "Songhai Archery Club".
Xiao Shuang was also there, still with her hair in a high ponytail, carrying a gray-blue bow bag, talking to a male teammate wearing glasses next to her.
Jiang Yuan glanced at it and walked straight to the registration desk.