Chapter Twenty-Four: The Day Wanderers and the Holy Calamity Society

Baihe District, Quanan Building.

Chen Qi wiped away the scent of blood with a towel and changed into a comfortable casual shirt.

After resolving the “Umbrella Holder” incident, Chen Shi of the Daylight Society invited him and the Calamity Messenger to their base in Baihe District, Daylight City.

It was almost time.

He glanced at his phone and made his way toward the appointed private room.

Along the way, Chen Qi observed the people in the building. A few, like him, were Travelers, but most were ordinary people, with quite a number of armed personnel carrying guns.

Even within such organizations, Travelers were still rare as phoenix feathers.

Thinking it over, with so many people in the world and only ten thousand beta testers at the start of the New Sun Game, these ten thousand, scattered across the globe, then into Daxia, and further divided among various regions, meant that in any given place, players were actually very few.

Chen Qi knocked on the door and entered a conference room in minimalist white.

Inside, besides a large round table, there was a big screen and many bookshelves stacked with documents and laptops.

At the moment, only the Calamity Messenger sat there, alone.

She looked rather aloof. Chen Qi gave a slight, polite hum, careful not to be rude:

“Hello, Calamity Messenger.”

At least he had a companion.

He sat beside her, inwardly admitting that in situations like this, having someone else in the same predicament was indeed a comfort.

The Calamity Messenger kept her head down, fingers tapping rapidly on her phone screen.

Was she playing New Sun Game?

“Hello, Night Traveler.”

As soon as Chen Qi sat down, the Calamity Messenger turned slightly away, preventing him from peeking at her game content.

…

Busted for his little ploy! Chen Qi also opened his phone to check the status of the New Sun Game chat group.

Both the Textile Apprentice and Watchdog had been silent for a long time; doubtless, they had run into trouble as well.

At that moment, voices came from outside.

Old Yu hurried in, straightening his formal suit.

Yu Xian, also known as Old Yu, was the captain of the Daylight Society branch, responsible for liaison with higher-ups and one of the original launch players.

He’d once been a very stern old man, but ever since taking up surfing the internet for missions, he’d started resembling a mischievous elder.

“Xiao Chen, impressive! You completed the mission swiftly and even took out the Umbrella Holder!

I’ll make a note of this for you. You keep up your captain’s presence, and I’ll take care of drawing in the fish.”

No, please… Chen Shi felt the cold sweat on the back of his head and quickly objected:

“No, this mission had nothing to do with me. I did nothing—it was all the newcomers. These two are not suitable for bait.”

…So the implication was it was the newcomers who killed the Umbrella Holder!

Old Yu shot him a look; he couldn’t help feeling everyone wanted to play him for a fool lately. After all, he was one of the first top players, not to mention his high status before becoming a player.

Yet, because of investigating that “Existence,” he’d fallen from grace; now, both online and in real life, his authority was gone.

The two entered the private room, seating themselves directly across from Chen Qi and Calamity Messenger, exchanging glances.

One had a cold, iceberg demeanor; the other, who had just killed the Umbrella Holder, was the local captain—Chen Shi looked a bit flustered.

Don’t be afraid; you’re the veteran here, Chen Shi told himself, and took a deep breath before speaking first:

“Greetings. I imagine you both have many questions.

As to how we know you’re Travelers? And how we found you?

It’s because the person beside me is the so-called ‘Fishing Elder’ from your New Sun Game mutual aid group.

From the moment you received your activation codes, Old Yu began organizing a team to collect information on the four of you.”

Chen Shi continued,

“In New Sun Game, the spawn point corresponds geographically to Earth, so the chances of encountering foreign players in New Metropolis District 8 are quite small.”

Chen Qi tapped the table; so, the other two newcomers—Watchdog and Textile Apprentice—weren’t here due to regional differences.

Wait, that also meant this Officer Chen Shi in front of him was from New Metropolis District 8.

And the Fire Umbrella.

All these clues brought him back to someone—the Tracker who first found him.

Chen Qi scrolled through his records; the Chen Shi before him was likely that very Tracker at the game’s beginning.

Chen Shi went on,

“If you have questions, feel free to ask.”

At this, the Calamity Messenger pulled two sheets of paper from her small black bag, well-prepared, with a list of questions.

She wasn’t usually this anxious, but the New Sun Game had profoundly shaken her worldview, not to mention she’d just witnessed a murder scene.

Though outwardly calm, she hadn’t recovered her composure.

When overly nervous, she needed a script and some chocolate to speak.

Chen Qi spoke first:

“Senior Chen Shi, I’d like to ask—what exactly is the Daylight Society? And what about the Umbrella Holder—the so-called Holy Calamity Association?”

Knew you’d ask that. Chen Shi smiled, opened his laptop, and operated the large screen:

“Mind if I go into detail?”

“Not at all.”

Chen Shi stood, turning on the big screen with a remote, displaying a world map.

“Regarding the Holy Calamity Association and the Daylight Society, we have to start from the early days of the game’s launch. In the beginning, the first group of players received activation codes and became players.

At that time, even though they’d gained special abilities from the game, their strength was still within human limits.

Even without firearms, many players could still be subdued.

However, due to the ‘World Silence’ phenomenon, though these players had begun to step into the spotlight, the authorities in various countries hadn’t yet noticed the Travelers.”

World Silence phenomenon?

What was that? Both Chen Qi and the Calamity Messenger cast curious glances at Chen Shi.

He explained,

“World Silence is a fancy term coined by the Daylight Society’s higher-ups.

Think about it—why is there almost no news about New Sun Game in any media?”

Chen Qi pondered. Take the massive black fog conjured by the Umbrella Holder earlier—covering that up would be quite difficult.

Chen Shi said,

“Simply put, World Silence means that ordinary people will rationalize the Travelers’ extraordinary actions.”

At this, a blazing fire umbrella appeared in his hand.

“If I were walking down the street and someone saw this umbrella, they’d be amazed.

But after a while, they’d just think it was a fluorescent umbrella, or that I was a performance artist.

As for the black fog just now, people might see it as air pollution, or a trick of the light—there’s no need for us to deliberately cover anything up.”

Just as NPCs in the game can’t recognize them as players, so too can’t ordinary people in reality see them for what they are.

Cognitive modification—what a forceful method!

Chen Qi asked curiously,

“So, are Travelers lonely?”

He thought about it—such cognitive modification can’t be solid. Most of the people he’d just seen weren’t Travelers.

Chen Shi answered,

“Not exactly. This cognitive modification has limits. With increased frequency and severity, it can be broken.

For example, if you’re a frail fourteen-year-old girl and you beat up your gambling-addict father with New Sun Game powers for ten days straight, his cognitive modification will probably break down.

Such phenomena allow some ordinary people to discover our existence.

Of course, it’s best not to act too outrageously—otherwise, their perception of you could become problematic.

In the Daylight Society, many are ordinary people aware of these events.

And I expect, with the upcoming mass open test, this phenomenon may disappear altogether.”

The Calamity Messenger nodded. No wonder she, who kept up with the news, hadn’t noticed a thing.

Seeing they had no further questions, Chen Shi put away the fire umbrella and continued:

“It’s precisely because of this phenomenon that, in the early days of New Sun Game, almost no one stopped the original players from acting in reality as they pleased.

Over time, players whose abilities far exceeded human limits emerged.

These top players established organizations in their respective fields, which quickly took root and caused major incidents.

Eventually, governments around the world noticed the existence of Travelers, and recruited both players and military personnel, setting up organizations to handle Traveler-related incidents.

In Daxia, the organization dedicated to these events is our Daylight Society.”

The Calamity Messenger committed all this to memory; it matched closely with her own theories.

“So the Holy Calamity Association was formed by players before the Daylight Society?” she asked.

Chen Shi nodded.