Maps of different dimensions and hidden quests; all these things were the unknown wealth longed by the players of H&G!
Only players who partied with the quest starter could enter the map of another dimension, or as known commonly own as an instant-based dungeon. Therefore, all the monsters, Bosses, or mission rewards would not be robbed by strangers. As long as they had the ability, they could earn all those rewards…
That was the only point.
During the mission, the number of monsters and the difficulty were fixed. Thus, there would not be any monsters respawning. Besides, the number of monsters would not increase or decrease due based on the number of players who entered… If a monster died, it died. None will respawn to replace it.
For this reason, Qin Ruo was not really worried about the time they would take to find the secret chamber. They could just kill off all the monsters and return to begin their search!
Therefore, the three of them moved along the internal passage and crushed hundreds of Skeletal Warriors in the bottom layer of the castle into fragments. After that, they went up the old serpentine stone stairs to the second floor
The moment he showed his face, two hot waves with a whizzing sound approached him!
*Boom!*
*Boom!*
Two big Fireballs with burning flames and heat waves exploded in front and behind Qin Ruo front respectively. The flames flared, but fortunately, his Aquabarrier had been deployed and it absorbed a certain amount of the Fire Magic. Otherwise, Qin Ruo would have either died or have more than half of his HP gone!
"Retreat!" Qin Ruo shouted at the top of his lungs. Next, he held back the attack and rushed forward.
The two sisters behind him had confidence in Qin Ruo, who had displayed his unbelievable strength along the way. Even the Tier 4 Bandit, Gold Digger Babe, without her previous arrogance, understood this and backed off to the middle part of the stone stairs.
They could now see the monsters that launched the attack; two Level 35 Skeletal Sorcerers. Perhaps the monsters sensed them when they were coming up, so the monsters sniped them in the long corridor next to the stairs.
When two girls saw that Qin Ruo was fine, they had nothing to worry about. Furthermore, he could finish off more than ten Skeletal Warriors in a mere second, what more two Skeletal Sorcerers.
It was no wonder that Qin Ruo could bravely face the Wolves, never backing off. He did not disappoint the two ladies behind him. He stood strong against the attack from the Skeletal Sorcerers and started his counter-attack. A Tier 3 Aquamancer was a natural enemy of a Tier 3 Fire Element monster. Especially now that he had taken precautions, the Explosive Fireballs from the Skeletal Sorcerers would not break his defense at all.
A few of Frostbursts were cast out. As a result, the two Skeletal Sorcerers died instantly. The fight ended without any suspense.
However, when they collected the drops, they made a new discovery. They began to wonder about their fortune. Hundreds of Skeletal Warriors only dropped silver coins that were worth a few gold coins in total, not even an equipment. But, once they got up to the second floor and only killed two Skeletal Sorcerers, they received a Blue Staff with a Red Mana Core in it.
When picking up the drops, Qin Ruo heard Gold Digger Babe murmuring in a quandary, "What with these ghost creature? Why did the Skeleton drop a Mana Core…"
Qin Ruo was amused.
Skeletons were also considered part ghost.
***
After they walked through the left and right corridors next to the stone stairs, the three of them found that the second floor of Specter Castle was smaller compared to the first floor. It only had one walkway—the elliptical corridor on their periphery.
On the outer side of the long corridor, there were many hollow windows, which were used to receive light and ventilation. Light came in, so without the Illuminating Crystal, the distribution of Skeletal Sorcerers and all the wooden doors within the long corridor could still be clearly seen.
Qin Ruo frowned and started to count. Just the corridor on this side alone had more than ten rooms. If they searched the rooms one by one, it could waste a lot of time…
The little Bandit on the side realized that Qin Ruo was in a pinch. She rubbed her hands sinisterly.
"Hehe, Brother Qin, we'll waste a lot of time searching for it that way. But examining whether there's a secret room within these rooms is much simpler, so… Brother Qin, you better finish up all these monsters as quickly as possible. As for finding the secret chamber, just leave it to me since my Thievery skill is at an advanced level. This task is a… small matter!" Gold Digger Babe confidently hit her seductive, ample chest. Little did she know that her action was extremely tempting to men.
Qin Ruo moved his head away unnoticeably and nodded. She was right. The game designer would not design a Tier 3 mission in such a way that it was too difficult. He nodded again and spoke to Little Kitten, who had been silently following behind.
"Sister Lanlan, later when I start the fight, you take care of the back."
"Yes? No problem!"
Little Kitten's eyes lighted up as she promised reflexively.
From the time they did not need the Illuminating Crystal anymore, Little Kitten was at a lost. Qin Ruo was in charge of the battle and did not need her help, while her sister was in charge of unlocking doors. She really did not know what role she needed to play and she could not help any of them. She was in an awkward situation and she was feeling down. When she received the order from Qin Ruo, all of a sudden she felt like she was not that useless after all. At least, she could provide some assistance to them and be helpful in the mission.
She did not know the fact that, under these circumstances, the probability of monsters appearing at the back was very little. Even her sister also realized that Qin Ruo was trying to take care of Little Kitten. He was afraid that she was bored, so he assigned her to this task.
Of course, Gold Digger Babe would figure out his tricks. She pretended as if nothing had happened and followed Qin Ruo. Shortly after, while Qin Ruo was meditating after he eliminated a group of Skeletal Sorcerers, Gold Digger Babe took the opportunity to send him a voice message.
"I didn't expect you to be such a caring person. Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Uh…"
Qin Ruo had a headache when he heard her voice.
Good heavens, why does this little brat like to ask these kinds of awkward questions?
He ignored her.
"Brother Qin, if you don't answer me, I'll get bored… When I'm bored, I like to eat snacks."
Hearing the rascally statement from the little Bandit, Qin Ruo was dumbfounded. If someone disconnects from an instant dungeon, he or she would directly be teleported back to the nearest safe zone.
He had no alternative but to answer her question honestly.
"You have no girlfriend, I knew it! Very good. Chase my sister, let me help you!"
She was worthy of the name "Gold Digger Babe". With her sharp words and troublemaking nature, she could even sell out her sister. Qin Ruo glanced at her speechlessly and looked at Little Kitten, who was unaware of her sister "selling" her.
In the end, in order to avoid the little brat from saying anything more startling, he started to beat around the bush. "Why are you helping me chase your sister?"
"Oh… There's no other particular reason. It's just because my sister's always alone and she's too uptight."
The sudden touching words from Gold Digger Babe's mouth made Qin Ruo size her up again. Her words impressed him.
Hesitating for a long while, Qin Ruo said, "But, you have to respect your sister's choice, you know? It's better to let your sister handle it by herself. Maybe she has someone she already likes."
However, the little Bandit's next sentence showed her true colors, completely revealing her true intentions. "No way. It's not easy finding a brother-in-law who's an expert in playing this game."