Night’s Nomenclature
Chapter 15: Covered Under Dark Clouds

At first, Qing Chen was still planning to make a conversation. He hadn’t expected Nan Gangchen’s mood to take a full 180-degree turn.

Just then he was scared out of his mind, and now he was already planning to be the protagonist of the new world?

What else could Qing Chen say? I guess… as long as you are happy…

Nan Gengchen started to discuss with Qing Chen in a serious manner, "What if, and I'm just speculating here, I'm lucky enough to transmigrate there and bring back some high-tech goods? Do you believe they'll sell for a lot of money?"

"I don't know," said Qing Chen, "You might not even be able to bring much back."

"What?! Look, they even have brought back robotic arms or something," he remarked."Don't worry, when I grow rich, I'll treat you to a fancy lunch,"

Qing Chen was well aware of the dangers of the other world. He wanted to keep it a secret but as Nan Gangchen was his friend, he also wanted him to return safely, so he said, "You see, there could be dangers for the transmigrators. I believe it is ideal if you exercise caution."

Nan Gengchen was silent for a few seconds and then asked, "Where do you want to eat when the time comes?"

Qing Chen: "…"

Nan Gengchen was already daydreaming about his life of luxury, oblivious to the fact that one could not just bring things back from the other world.

Just thinking about it was enough to make Qing Chen want to chuckle: Gengchen enters a restaurant and removes a mechanical arm, slamming it on the table while ordering two bowls of noodle. That would be an interesting scene to witness…

Suddenly, someone in the class wondered out loud, "What decides if someone gets to go to the other world or not? So many have already transmigrated, but why haven't I seen anything here yet?"

Nan Gengchen whispered in reply, "Maybe only true talents and geniuses can…"

Qing Chen raised his eyebrows as he listened.

More and more news about transmigrators started piling up, both locally and globally.

Slowly, Qing Chen concluded two things:

The first: all transmigrators saw a 6-hour countdown before they left and a 48-hour return countdown while there.

To put it another way, everyone was transmigrated at the same moment and returned at the same time.

Additionally, around midnight, someone claimed that he hadn't transmigrated but had seen a 48-hour countdown on his arm.

This should be the second group.

Next time, the first group and the second group would be transmigrated together.

The second pattern he noticed was that everyone who was transmigrated fit into the category of younger people aged between 10 and 35 years old.

Suddenly, a girl said, "Hey, someone is live-streaming her mechanical arm on a broadcast. Take a look. I'll send the link to the class group chat."

These days, everyone has a phone, and everyone in their class was in a chat together.

The classmates all clicked into it and found that the person was in fact showing off a mechanical arm.

But… Qing Chen felt something was off, because this was the first time he had seen such a plastic-like arm…

As a result, the person didn't even last beyond two minutes before the arm fell onto the floor with a loud clang…

"What kind of crap is this? Such clickbait!"

Qing Chen wanted to burst into tears laughing. He should've known that there would be people wanting to take advantage of this sudden trend.

New that he was thinking, he guessed that Nan Gengchen was not the first group that got transmigrated at midnight, or else, he wouldn't have been so scared.

There were two possibilities: one, the number of individuals who could be transmigrated at once was limited, and a new person could only be added after an existing one died; or the other possibility, which was that the number of transmigrations was unlimited.

This would mean that the number of people that could transmigrate was constantly expanding and more would be added in the future.

As for now, no one knew how many transmigrators there actually were.

Gradually, all the classmates arrived in class, and someone exclaimed, "There are also people here in Luo City! I saw one in my WeChat moments1WeChat Moments is somewhat similar to Instagram stories where the user can post a photo collection and a caption for friends to see, but the message is only limited to people in one's WeChat contacts."

Upon hearing this, all the students gathered around him.

In the video from the WeChat Moments, a teenager looked stressed. There were strange mechanical lines, they appeared to be made with such care that they seemed exceptionally lovely.

The teen's grey steel ankle was visible as he walked, which was spotted by someone.

Both of his legs had to have been replaced with mechanical limbs.

The person taking the video wanted to get a closer shot, but the young boy already jumped onto the roof and disappeared into the sea of houses.

A girl in the class exclaimed, "So handsome!"

"I so wish that someone from our class can transmigrate so we can ask about the other world ourselves."

The girl's words reminded Qing Chen that there was indeed a person who got transmigrated from this school. It was Yongli Corporation CEO's son, Huang Qixian.

He remembered that the person should be in First-Year Class 7.

Qing Chen never saw Huang Qixian again after the guards took him away. Huang Qixian had to have returned, even if he was dead.

With ten more minutes before class would start, Qing Chen walked out of the classroom and went downstairs to the first-year classrooms.

It seemed like there was a celebration in Luo City Foreign Language School. Everyone, including the teachers, was discussing the news.

You could bet that none of them knew that a transmigrator was beside them right now.

Qing Chen looked at those people and suddenly felt a sense of isolation. He felt that he was no longer the same as everyone else.

In the past, he might have focused on his studies. He spent all his time reviewing, studying, and preparing for tests.

But now, his path didn't seem to belong to anyone.

When Qing Chen arrived in Class 7, he approached a boy wearing glasses and asked, "Hello, is Huang Qixian here today?"

"No, I haven't seen him yet," replied the student.

"Ok," Qing Chen nodded, "Do you know where he lives?"

"Hmm… I know that he lives in Yinrun Garden, but I'm not sure exactly where he is. Do you need him for anything?" asked the student, "When he gets here, I can relay your message to him."

"I don't have anything specific, thank you." Qing Chen then thought, Huang Jixian might not be able to come today.

The boy could be so traumatized that he had gone crazy.

Qing Chen returned to the class deep in thought. The first class was math class, but no one was in the mood for a lesson.

In the second half of class, Tian Hailong, noticing that none of the students were paying attention, decided to joke around with the students, "Seems like no one wants to learn math now. I must get one of those mechanical arms if I want to get your attention, don’t I?"

In the classroom, this elicited a lot of laughs. Tian Hailong then stopped lecturing and began conversing with the class about current events.

If it was just any news, teachers and students might not have to be like this, but now it was something different.

During the entire class, Nan Gengchen had been on his phone the entire time. During break, he suddenly handed his phone to Qing Chen and said, "Look, He Xiaoxiao[3]{Pronounced like hello but only keeping the first syllable} just uploaded a new video!"

"He Xiaoxiao?" asked Qing Chen, puzzled.

"He's a well-known UP master2Similar to a youtuber but for any type of content site. It is short for Upload Master, which just means someone who uploads content liked by the majority. He is regarded as an expert in the gaming world. In his videos, he searches for hidden surprises and details such as a hidden plot, legendary weaponry, secret abilities, and more. He has a ton of friends." Qing Chen was a studious person, so Nan Gengchen knew that he most likely wouldn’t be familiar with a UP master like He Xiaoxiao, so he decided to explain everything.

Nan Gengchen continued, "A few hours ago, he released a gameplay strategy talk, but no one ever heard about the game he was talking about this time, but he still made it sound so real. Now with the transmigration things, people realized that this video is about strategies for the new world! He must be one of the transmigrators too!"

The video has nothing but a black background and white subtitles.

"Because this game is rather unique, I can't show you the actual footage of the game," a youthful and husky male voice remarked in the video. I call this game… ‘The Inner World’.”

"The world we are in right now is called the Outer World."

"I have just recently entered this game, therefore the knowledge available to me is rather restricted," He Xiaoxiao continued quietly.

"For the time being, there are no legendary weapons that I know of nor ways to obtain them.

"Currently, there are three known career paths. The first is to use technology to transform oneself. This can be purchased directly at the Mechanical Hospital.

"The price of mechanical limbs is relatively expensive, and I have not yet found any glitches that can get you a ton of money instantly. In general, selling organs seems to be the best way to obtain cash, but I don't recommend anyone trying it out.

"The second option is to join the Taboo Tribunal and receive a genetic injection; one can be reborn with new powers. However, I haven't yet found the NPC for this organization, so it is still a mystery.

"Prison 18 is the third and final recognized career path." You must locate an NPC named Li Shutong, this is currently the most promising career route with the most potential.

"If there are other career paths that I know of in the future, I will share with you at once."

As the video ended, Qing Chen felt his life was cheated upon.

He was sure that it was a real world, and he could even bring back his wounds.

But now, this man called He Xiaoxiao just made this whole world sound like fantasy and grinding it like a game!

He even called Li Shutong an NPC so that one could obtain career paths!

He didn't know what He Xiaoxiao's identity was in the Inner World, but Qing Chen could confirm that Li Shutong must be famous in the Inner World. So famous that He Xiaoxiao could hear the name within 48 hours of entering.

And now, He Xiaoxiao told the world that Li Shutong was the most promising career path.

Nan Gengchen to his side muttered after watching the video, "Why do I feel like I got clickbaited again. You need the fortune to purchase mechanical limbs, and the Taboo Tribunal couldn't even be found. Even if someone was able to find Prison 18, it's a prison, after all, we can't just go in and take a tour."

Suddenly, Qing Chen thought that the influence of this video was quite big. Perhaps when he transmigrates back to Prison 18 in seven days, there would be people rushing in trying to find Li Shutong?!

However, if someone tries to treat Li Shutong as an NPC, he or she would not have a happy ending. At the very least, he would be very confused.

The hype for the other world lasted well into the afternoon.

All of this changed when news broke that a young guy from another country, who had been identified as a transmigrator, had been discovered dead at his house. His mechanized limbs vanished.

The news hit the world like a bolt of lightning, and everyone's mood was cast into a dark cloud.

• 1WeChat Moments is somewhat similar to Instagram stories where the user can post a photo collection and a caption for friends to see, but the message is only limited to people in one's WeChat contacts.
• 2Similar to a youtuber but for any type of content site. It is short for Upload Master, which just means someone who uploads content liked by the majority