Chapter 51: This Is the One!

In this game, when it came to understanding the system’s rules, Shu Jun Yu could claim second, and no one would dare claim first. There were two forms of shared equipment backup slots: one merely granted storage access, while the other allowed complete usage and lending rights—full authority sharing.

What Shu Jun Yu sent to Ye Jiu was a full authority sharing request, which disregarded an item’s ownership entirely. Of course, Shu Jun Yu had deliberately tampered with the message description, hiding the explanation of the sharing permissions—a trivial feat for an advanced player to deceive a level one newbie this way.

Naturally, if the other party were actually a hidden master disguised as a rookie, even without level boosts or equipment, their prior gaming experience alone would have made them suspect that Shu Jun Yu had played tricks in that sharing request.

This was Shu Jun Yu’s gamble.

He was betting that Ye Jiu wasn’t some hidden expert but a genuine newcomer.

He didn’t know exactly why, but from the first moment he laid eyes on Ye Jiu, he felt it—unlike any other seasoned player, Ye Jiu gave off an entirely different aura.

So Shu Jun Yu believed Ye Jiu had no experience in this game, was a blank slate.

And the moment Ye Jiu finally pressed “Accept,” Shu Jun Yu knew he’d won his bet.

The other party had taken the bait.

There was a soft “click” in his mind—a sound as if the long-coveted chest holding the fragment had finally been unlocked.

Reaching out, Shu Jun Yu’s hand indeed touched the icy, smooth surface of that fragment.

Success! The fragment was his!

As long as he could physically interact with the other’s equipped item in their equipment slot, he’d successfully achieved full authority sharing and could now lend the item to himself.

The next step was simple: just click “Lend”...

But the anticipated system notification—“Lending successful”—never sounded in his mind.

Instead, on the surface of the staff fragment in his palm, a flash of light revealed a line of notification—

[Sorry, this equipment is currently in use and cannot be lent.]

Currently… in use?!

Beneath that, another line appeared:

[This item is a single-use consumable. Once usage rights are activated, the holder must use it within the allotted time; if not, the item will self-destruct.]

[Equipment use—remaining time: 29:02—]

[Equipment use—remaining time: 29:01—]

[Equipment use—remaining time: 28:59—]

In that instant, Shu Jun Yu’s jaw clenched with fury, blood vessels bursting in his eyes.

Watching him fume in near-madness, Wen Nan maintained a breezy, indifferent smile. “I’m just using my own item, Shu Jun Yu. Why are you so upset on my behalf?”

He shook his head lightly. “Even my mother never worried about me as much as you do.”

That the other still had the leisure to joke at a moment like this only made Shu Jun Yu fume all the more.

“Idiot! Do you even know what you just did?!”

This was a staff fragment forged by the Creator God! The only one among the twelve fragments that could be used only once.

It was single-use exactly because, if employed correctly, its power was unfathomable.

If this fragment were applied to the highest-grade items, the devastation caused could destroy or permanently alter the entire game world.

But…

This fool! He’d activated such a priceless treasure on a mere beginner’s trial map?!

There wasn’t a single skill or item on this map worth permanently replicating!

“You’ve completely destroyed the staff fragment!” Shu Jun Yu spat between clenched teeth.

Seeing him pushed to the edge of rage, even the amusement faded from Wen Nan’s expression. His voice turned serious.

“Shu Jun Yu, I think you should first understand: I won this staff fragment in a spin-the-wheel lottery, through legitimate channels. It’s my property.

“How I choose to use my property is my business, not yours.

“You used that so-called gentleman’s agreement to trick me into sharing my equipment slot, while secretly plotting against my fragment. I haven’t even confronted you about that yet.

“To take without asking is theft.

“Before we signed that agreement, I told you—I’m a man of principle: don’t cross me, and I won’t cross you.

“You tried to steal from me but failed. For the sake of our being classmates, I’m willing to let it go this time and forgive you.

“If you’re wise, let’s leave it at that. From now on, we’ll keep to our own paths, never interfering with each other again.”

At this, Wen Nan paused, stepped closer, and spoke each word with quiet warning by Shu Jun Yu’s ear:

“Otherwise, don’t blame me for being merciless.”

For someone like Wen Nan, usually so unconcerned with anything, to suddenly become serious was intimidating in itself.

For a moment, Shu Jun Yu was truly cowed, staring at him in silence.

But soon, the countdown on the fragment snapped him back to reality.

“Hmph! Let me off?” Shu Jun Yu sneered. “You’re at death’s door, yet you still dare boast?!”

Before the words had even faded, his figure vanished on the spot.

In the next moment, he reappeared, hovering in midair.

Clothes billowing in the wind, his ponytail unraveled, hair swirling wildly.

He raised his arm high; his black pupils vanished, replaced by eyes of pure white, threaded with silver lightning.

In an instant, thick clouds shrouded the entire campus, thunder roared, and a crushing sense of oppression left even Wen Nan momentarily stunned.

“What… is this, Zeus’s ultimate skill?!”

But the next second, Wen Nan dismissed that theory—

This was no mere Zeus’s ultimate; it was far more powerful!

All around the athletic field, silhouettes suddenly gathered in ranks, converging on Wen Nan like zombies.

Squinting, Wen Nan saw them clearly: guide characters from the map, NPCs, even some animals that had been hidden in corners…

So, this player’s skill allowed him to summon characters from the map and command them all to attack a target?

That was something.

But—wait, not just that!

Behind those converging figures, Wen Nan spotted even stranger things—

The corpses of animals crushed flat into the ground, grotesquely twisted trees, even… the trash can by the flower bed?! And desks and benches from the classroom?!

Damn!

This guy wasn’t just summoning characters…

He could… command all things?!

This was absurd!

Wen Nan had come prepared with a thorough plan A, designed specifically to handle Shu Jun Yu’s rampage.

But now, seeing Shu Jun Yu unleash his ultimate move, Wen Nan changed his mind.

A plan B sprang to life—

“I want to replicate this skill!”