Chapter 37: A bounty of ten million real-world currency sends the entire server into a frenzy.

The plan for the Gate of the Abyss had just been finalized, and before Lin Ye could even set out, a piece of news exploded across the entire server.

[Bounty Announcement] An anonymous player is offering a 10,000,000 real-world currency bounty for killing the player "Ye" once. The bounty is valid for 72 hours, and any player can participate. After the kill, claim the bounty by providing a system screenshot. Note: This bounty is guaranteed by the Black Market Guild; the bounty has been frozen and is absolutely authentic.

10 million real-world currency.

Not game currency, but real-world currency. 10 million.

The entire server went completely insane.

[world channel]

[Player "Wocao Wuqing": Holy crap! 10 million real-world currency?! You get 10 million for killing one person?!]

[Player "Brick-Moving Expert": Who is this? So rich? Willing to spend 10 million?]

[Player "Invincible Sword God": It must be those people who were dealt with by Brother Ye before. Materials merchants, remnants of the Heavenly Temple, or people from the Black Market.]

[Player "Yes Little Follower": Brother Ye, be careful! The whole server is going to kill you!]

[Player "Onlooker": 10 million! That's enough to last me a lifetime! Brothers, charge!]

Less than ten minutes after the news spread, thousands of players had accepted the bounty. From the Novice Village to the Main City, from wilderness maps to dungeon entrances, people carrying weapons were looking for Lin Ye everywhere. Some were lone wolves, some were in groups, and some even had their entire guilds mobilized.

Fatty Wang looked at the messages on the world channel, his legs turning to jelly: "Brother, 10 million! The whole server wants to kill you!"

Lin Ye sat by the window on the third floor of the Commoner Supermarket, snacking on virtual melon seeds, his expression calm: "What's the rush? It's not like I haven't been hunted before."

Su Qinghan frowned: "This time is different. Before, it was Zhao Kai, Qin Wentian, and those people—at most a few hundred. Now, the entire server is hunting you. No one can resist the temptation of 10 million real-world currency."

Qin Wentian also walked over, his face grave: "A bounty guaranteed by the Black Market Guild is no joke. They have a complete bounty system. Those who accept the bounty get intelligence support from the Black Market, and even supplies of equipment and potions. Every move you make will be watched by them."

Lin Ye raised an eyebrow: "Black Market Guild? Is that the underground trading market you mentioned before?"

"Yes. The largest grey-market power in the Main City. They do everything—contract killing, reselling accounts, power-leveling, and hacks. Their influence spans the entire server; even the officials can't do anything about them."

Lin Ye smiled: "Interesting. I've been wanting to meet them."

"Are you crazy?" Qin Wentian said anxiously, "The Black Market isn't Zhao Kai, nor is it me. They have endless money, endless people, and endless methods. If you fight them, you won't come out on top."

Lin Ye stood up and brushed the dust off his body: "Who said I was going to fight them? I'm going to make them slap their own faces."

"What do you mean?"

Lin Ye opened his Talent panel and pointed to the newly unlocked effect—Rebound Decay: Converts received attacks into a Decay Debuff and rebounds it back to the attacker. Rebound stacks = 10% of attack damage. Group Rebound: Expands the rebound effect to all attackers within 50 yards.

"With this, whoever comes dies."

Qin Wentian gasped as he looked at this effect. He naturally knew what this meant—whoever attacked Lin Ye would get the debuff. The harder the attack, the heavier the debuff. And it wasn't single-target; it was group-target. If one hundred people attacked simultaneously, one hundred people would be hit simultaneously.

"This Talent... is just too ridiculous," he couldn't help but say.

Lin Ye smiled: "It's not ridiculous, it's professional. Let's go to the Main City Square. Let the whole server see what a real rebound is."

"Are you really going?" Su Qinghan grabbed him, "There are at least thousands of people looking for you outside. Going by yourself is too dangerous."

Lin Ye patted her hand: "Don't worry. Don't I have you all?"

Su Qinghan was stunned for a moment, then let go and sighed: "Fine. Anyway, following you, I've gotten used to causing trouble."

The four of them walked out of the Commoner Supermarket and headed toward the Main City Square. Players along the way saw Lin Ye, were stunned at first, and then their expressions became complex—there was greed, fear, and hesitation.

The temptation of 10 million real-world currency was too great, but Lin Ye's terror was also well-known. The previous batches of people hunting him had all been dealt with until they were completely submissive. If they rushed up now, wouldn't it just be throwing their lives away?

Some hesitated, but there were also those who weren't afraid of death.

The first to rush up was a level 25 assassin with the ID "Shadow Blade". He stealthed his way behind Lin Ye and stabbed him—

[System Prompt: You attacked the target [Ye], triggering the Rebound Decay effect. 50 stacks of Decay Debuff have been applied.]

Shadow Blade's HP bar dropped by 50% instantly. He screamed and turned to run. But the debuff damage was 50% of maximum HP per second; he died in two seconds.

"Ding! Player [Shadow Blade] has died, level dropped: Level 25 → Level 20."

He stood up at the respawn point, looking at his 5-level drop, his face deathly pale.

"What... what the hell is this?!"

The second to rush up was a level 28 Mage with the ID "Fireball Mage". He stood in the distance, conjuring a large fireball, and hurled it at Lin Ye—

The fireball flew in front of Lin Ye and exploded. Then, red numbers of the debuff appeared above Fireball Mage's own head. 50 stacks, 50% HP loss per second. Three seconds later, he fell to the ground.

The third, fourth, fifth...

In just ten minutes, hundreds of players who rushed up to attack Lin Ye had died. The respawn point in the Novice Village was packed with people, all cursing up a storm.

[world channel]

[Player "Shadow Blade": Holy crap! What kind of hellish Talent is this? Hitting him is the same as hitting yourself?!]

[Player "Fireball Mage": I lost 8 levels! All my gear dropped! Whoever wants this bounty, take it!]

[Player "Invincible Sword God": I told you not to go throw your lives away! You just wouldn't believe me!]

[Player "Yes Little Follower": Hahaha! Another batch dead! Brother Ye is awesome!]

But the temptation of 10 million was too great; a hundred died, but thousands more were lining up.

Someone started thinking— "If we can't hit him directly, what about using crowd control skills? Stun, freeze, root—can't we just control him?"

A level 30 Ice Mage stepped forward with the ID "Frost Queen". She raised her hand and cast Frost Nova, trying to freeze Lin Ye—

[System Prompt: You applied a crowd control skill to the target [Ye], triggering the Rebound Decay effect. 30 stacks of Decay Debuff have been applied.]

Frost Queen's HP bar dropped by 30% instantly. Her expression changed, and she hurriedly drank a health potion. But the debuff damage was true damage; health potions couldn't handle it at all. Three seconds later, she fell to the ground.

"Crowd control skills don't work either?!"

Someone thought again— "What about poison? Poison isn't an attack; it's damage over time. It shouldn't trigger a rebound, right?"

A level 35 Poison Master stepped forward with the ID "Poison King". He raised his hand and cast a handful of poison powder toward Lin Ye—

[System Prompt: You applied a poison effect to the target [Ye], triggering the Rebound Decay effect. 40 stacks of Decay Debuff have been applied.]

Poison King dropped dead on the spot.

"Poison doesn't work either?!"

Someone was desperate— "What about Healing? Heal him? Healing shouldn't trigger a rebound, right?"

A level 30 Priest stepped forward with the ID "Holy Light Messenger". He raised his hand and cast Healing, trying to heal Lin Ye—

[System Prompt: You applied a Healing effect to the target [Ye]. The target is currently not in danger of dying, so the Healing is ineffective. Rebound Decay effect triggered. 10 stacks of Decay Debuff have been applied.]

Holy Light Messenger's HP bar dropped by 10%, scaring him into stopping immediately.

"Healing doesn't work either?!"

The entire server's players were completely convinced. Attacks didn't work, crowd control didn't work, poison didn't work, and even Healing didn't work. This Talent was simply unsolvable.

[world channel]

[Player "Shadow Blade": I give up. I'm quitting this bounty. Whoever wants it can take it.]

[Player "Fireball Mage": I'm quitting too. 10 million is a lot, but you need your life to spend it.]

[Player "Invincible Sword God": I told you earlier, Brother Ye is not someone humans can fight. You just wouldn't believe me.]

[Player "Yes Little Follower": Hahaha! 10 million bounty? Down the drain again!]

Lin Ye stood in the center of the square, looking at the corpses covering the ground, a wicked smile curling the corner of his mouth. He opened the world channel and sent a message—

[world channel] [Ye]: To that friend who put a bounty on me, 10 million isn't enough to spend. Add a bit more? I'll be waiting.

The entire server's players saw this message and laughed like crazy—

"Hahaha! Brother Ye is killing them and then twisting the knife!"

"A 10 million bounty, and they didn't even touch a hair on Brother Ye's head, I'm dying of laughter!"

"The person behind the scenes must be furious!"

Meanwhile, in a corner of the Main City, several players wearing black robes were staring at the messages on the world channel, their faces gloomy.

"10 million couldn't kill him?" one of them said in a low voice.

"His Talent is too wicked. It rebounds all damage and effects; there's simply no way to fight it."

"Then let's change our approach. If we can't kill him, we'll ruin his business. Commoner Supermarket, protection fee package, materials market... bring everything of his down."

"How do we do that?"

The black-robed person was silent for a few seconds, then sneered: "Isn't he going to tackle the Gate of the Abyss? Then let him. Inside the Gate of the Abyss, there are things far more wicked than him."

"You mean..."

"Yes. Leak the intelligence about the Gate of the Abyss to other guilds. Let them fight over it. Once they've beaten each other to a pulp, we'll make our move."

"Good idea."

The few turned and disappeared into the darkness.

Meanwhile, Lin Ye was sitting on the third floor of the Commoner Supermarket, discussing the next steps of the plan with Su Qinghan, Fatty Wang, and Qin Wentian.

"We don't need to worry about the bounty for now. Although 10 million is a lot, no one dares to accept it anymore," Lin Ye said. "Next, it's time to focus on tackling the Gate of the Abyss."

Qin Wentian hesitated for a moment and asked: "Are you really going? I heard that inside the Gate of the Abyss, there are things more terrifying than the Abyssal Lord. Even the officials don't dare to touch it."

Lin Ye smiled: "That's exactly why I have to go. Others don't dare to touch it, so I will. Others can't beat it, so I will."

He took three Abyss keys out of his backpack and weighed them in his hand: "And—I always feel that there's some secret hidden inside the Gate of the Abyss. A secret related to this game."

"What secret?" Su Qinghan asked.

Lin Ye shook his head: "I don't know. But I have a premonition—this game is not just a game."

Qin Wentian was stunned: "What do you mean?"

Lin Ye didn't answer, just looked out the window, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

"We'll know tomorrow."

Early the next morning, Lin Ye took Su Qinghan, Fatty Wang, and Qin Wentian to the Gate of the Abyss.

The black gate still radiated a suffocating sense of oppression, and the runes on the gate flickered with an eerie purple light. Lin Ye inserted the three Abyss keys into the keyholes, and the gate slowly opened—

Inside was an endless darkness.

"Let's go." Lin Ye waved his hand and led the way inside.

The four of them disappeared into the darkness. The Gate of the Abyss slowly closed behind them, emitting a muffled, thunderous sound.