**[Ding! Your team has entered the 'Treasure Cave' dungeon.]**
Inside the Treasure Cave, the atmosphere was dim. Only faint light filtered through the cracks in the rocky ceiling, illuminating parts of the space.
At the entrance of the cave was a narrow natural tunnel, which led directly to a cavernous plaza up ahead. In the weak light, shadows of figures could be seen, all dressed like thieves.
To the right of the tunnel was a river with a frozen surface. If you listened closely, you could hear the faint sound of water flowing beneath the ice.
As Naomi and her team entered, they held their breath, not daring to make a single sound.
They had attempted this dungeon three times already and were familiar with the monsters inside. The creatures were all assassin-type enemies. They didn't follow any fixed patrol routes, and their attacks were unpredictable.
This wouldn't have been a problem on its own, but these thieves had incredibly high perception. The slightest noise would alert them, and once the fight started, they would vanish into stealth mode and immediately target the weaker players in the back.
"Be careful, don't alert them," Naomi whispered as she glanced at the cavern ahead, slowly making her way towards the frozen river.
The team followed cautiously, holding their breath and moving with care.
Once they reached the frozen river, Naomi gave a nod to a petite female mage in the group.
"Meow2, it's up to you."
"Don't worry, Naomi," the mage named Meow2 replied, taking a deep breath and gently waving her staff. A fist-sized fireball appeared in the air and floated gently onto the ice surface.
**Crack!**
As soon as the fireball touched the ice, a cracking sound echoed. The ice began to melt at a visible pace, thanks to the magical energy in the fireball.
Before long, the fireball dissipated, and a hole just large enough for a person to pass through appeared in the ice.
"It worked!"
Everyone was thrilled. Now they could follow the underground river and swim directly to the boss.
"I told you Dustwalker wasn't a scammer, but you didn't believe me," Backstrap said proudly, shooting a smug look at Hunter, daring him to say something now.
"Hmph, just lucky," Hunter muttered through gritted teeth, his pride stung. He couldn't believe Backstrap had actually managed to buy a working strategy. But so what? It was just a small dungeon, not a major one. Nothing to be proud of. The Vance Family had already begun working on larger dungeons—they didn't care about small fry like this.
Naomi, unaware of their thoughts, focused on the task at hand. Seeing the ice melt, she quickly issued orders.
"It will take about half an hour to reach the boss. Make sure to have your water-breathing potions ready."
With that, Naomi leapt into the water.
The rest of the team followed suit, swimming towards the boss's location. Whenever they felt short of breath, they gulped down some of their water-breathing potion.
After roughly thirty minutes, they arrived at their destination: a tall, dark-skinned humanoid figure came into view. It was the boss of the Treasure Cave, the Cutter—Black Rye.
"Everyone get ready. Tanks up front, mages and archers in the back, warlocks buff up."
"Understood!"
With a fireball exploding on the boss's body, the battle began.
The boss wasn't particularly difficult. His attack power wasn't high, and he didn't have much health. The only trouble was that he could go into stealth mode and rapidly heal during that phase, rendering the previous damage useless.
However, this could be countered by a priest's *Light* spell, which would reveal the boss.
Thanks to their coordination, the boss's health dropped quickly. In just thirty minutes, they managed to defeat him.
---
**[Ding! Your team has slain the Cutter. The Treasure Cave dungeon has been cleared in 1 hour and 12 minutes.]**
**[Rating: S-tier.]**
**[Reward: Team points +200]**
**[Note: Boss kill +100, regular monsters +0, new record +100.]**
**[Congratulations! Your team has set a new record for 'Treasure Cave' (Easy mode). This will trigger a regional announcement. Would you like to hide your ID?]**
"No."
---
**[Ding! Regional Announcement, Regional Announcement! (The Northlands)]**
**[Naomi, Qian Duoduo, Backstrap Kid, Lemon… and their team 'G&G' have set a new record for the 'Treasure Cave' (Easy mode) with a completion time of 1 hour and 12 minutes.]**
---
The announcement echoed three times throughout The Northlands, heard by every player in the region, including Ethan.
At that moment, Ethan was still hunting rabbits in the snowy field. After running out of arrows, he had returned to the town to restock. Hearing the announcement, he paused, his expression freezing for a moment.
"So, the boss Backstrap was talking about is Naomi?"
Ethan recognized the name. To be precise, he remembered it from his previous life.
Naomi's guild, G&G, was a top-tier powerhouse, backed by two powerful families: The Vance Family and the Nangong Family. Naomi herself was a top player, ranked as one of the best, with strength surpassing the legendary rank—reaching the mythical tier.
But this woman had quite a temper. She was notorious for picking fights, her personality completely at odds with the elegance her name suggested.
In his past life, one of the archangels under Ares, the God of War, had provoked G&G. Naomi, in a fit of rage, cut him down and even destroyed his body. But she didn't stop there. Feeling unsatisfied, she crossed worlds from Argoth to the celestial realm of the gods and fought Ares himself, nearly destroying his divine kingdom.
After that battle, Ares closed off his godly domain and went into seclusion for a long time.
Following that incident, Naomi's name spread across multiple worlds, and players began calling her the female Ares.
In short, she was a fearsome woman, and on top of that, a great beauty—one with *very* ample assets.
"In my past life, she was a figure I could only look up to. But in this life, I will surpass them all!"
Ethan's heart surged with ambition as he coldly eyed a small rabbit nearby, pouncing on it with ferocity.
---
Meanwhile, Naomi heard the system's announcement and finally felt relieved. They had spent two general skill books just for the chance to set a new record and trigger the regional announcement. This would increase their guild's visibility and attract more high-level players.
After all, in The Northlands, there were plenty of guilds on par with G&G. Just near Dragonspire Mountain alone was the rival guild, Third Heaven. The two guilds had always been at odds, frequently clashing.
Third Heaven had held the previous record for Treasure Cave. But now, with this new strategy, G&G not only surpassed them in reputation but would soon outpace them in gear as well.
"Boss, the loot includes one bronze item and two black iron pieces," Backstrap reported, rushing over with the items he looted from the boss.
Naomi looked at the loot. One of the items was a *Fragment of the Cutter's Dagger*, a standard drop from the boss. Collecting 10 fragments would allow them to forge a silver-tier *Cutter's Dagger*. The other two items were black iron gear, both for rogues.
"Store it away. It's a shame we can only run the same dungeon once a day, or we could farm it again."
Naomi sighed, but then paused, turning to Backstrap as he packed up the loot.
"Backstrap, does this strategy work for all difficulties in the dungeon?"
"No," Backstrap shook his head. "Dustwalker said it only works for *Easy* mode. It won't work on *Hard* or higher."
"Oh…"
Naomi felt a little disappointed. But then again, if the strategy worked for all difficulties, it would have cost far more than 20 gold.
Still, she was now curious about Dustwalker. For someone to have access to this strategy, they must either have special connections or be part of a high-level strategy team. Perhaps he even had strategies for *Hard* or higher difficulties.
"Backstrap, get in touch with Dustwalker. Ask if he has strategies for *Hard* mode or above. No, wait… I'll contact him myself."
As she spoke, Naomi opened her chat interface and sent a friend request to 'Dustwalker.'