Upon seeing this line of yellow text, Give Me Medicine and Ji Tang fell into a bout of silence.
"This domain is… something like a dungeon?" Ji Tang, who hadn't played an online game in years, croaked hoarsely.
"Seems like it," Blossoming Strokes replied blankly.
Ji Tang helplessly gesticulated several times, yet he had no idea how to summarize what he wanted to say or where to even begin with his questions. He could only look toward Blossoming Strokes…
As the saying goes, reputation precedes a person. Though the players were divided into three factions and had been competing for the position of mayor, when it came to troublesome quests, players, regardless of their loyalties, wouldn't waver in their trust for Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy.
The reasons were rather simple. These two ladies weren't just intelligent but also had high moral standards; those with good character were always more popular than others.
"Seriously… the event announcement is so misleading!" Blossoming Strokes exclaimed in frustration. "I thought the non-attackable monsters were the civilian NPCs affected by the 'corruption.' Never would I have imagined they'd be the advanced NPCs, and on top of that, this vague description of 'successfully repelling the corruption'… who in their right mind would associate that with a dungeon?!"
"This is ridiculous!" Give Me Medicine vented his frustrations as well. "Was it necessary to hype up the dungeon like this? Is it even worse than Archmage Angela's quest! Can't they just explain the process in the announcement? Are the damn devs thrilled to see us players die countless times?"
Ji Tang: "…"
Even though it had been many years since he last played an online game, as a millennial, Ji Tang still knew what a "dungeon" was.
Having dungeons in a multiplayer online game is normal, but how is it possible… in this game?!
Isn't this game an "alien planet"? Aren't the NPCs in the game considered "encounters with aliens"?? How, how can there be dungeons?!
Ji Tang simply couldn't understand.
Blossoming Strokes, on the other hand, seemed more open-minded about it. "Oh, well. It's not the first time the devs have been this despicable. This place is… huh?"
The "dungeon" space the three found themselves in appeared as a forest that seemed to lack any distinct features. At first glance, it resembled the wilderness outside of Exile Town.
But when Blossoming Strokes looked more closely, she realized something wasn't right.
During the expedition quest, players realized that the Taranthan Wastelands, where Exile Town was situated, though not explicitly stated in the background setting, had a relatively low geographical elevation. It was probably located in a temperate region—the vast wilderness was filled with common southern trees like palms, camphors, and cedars. There also wasn't any sign of accumulated freezing in the marshes.
Of course, it was most evident in the civilian NPCs' attire. Although the female NPCs had been all bundled up initially, they didn't seem to be wearing thick clothes like padded coats; they had all been single-layer clothing.
But now, when Blossoming Strokes casually surveyed the surroundings, it was practically deciduous trees all around.
"Given the game's attention to detail… could this design be hinting that the storyline within the dungeon doesn't take place in Taranthan but rather somewhere further up north?" Blossoming Strokes muttered.
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Give Me Medicine simply didn't make sense of this line of mumbling.
Ji Tang suddenly raised a finger to his lips. "Ssshh—"
The other two looked at him, and Ji Tang made another gesture, indicating that they should hide in the shrubs. He then took the lead and stealthily moved into the cover of the foliage.
Blossoming Strokes and Give Me Medicine followed suit.
The three had just stealthily crouched in position when they heard the sound of leaves being crushed underfoot.
Crunch… crunch…
Srrrkkk—
The former was the sound of footfall, and the latter… sounded like something heavy being dragged through the thick layer of fallen leaves.
The three exchanged glances, then cautiously peeked their heads out.
Through the tangled underbrush, they saw a boy in a duckbill cap and a thick gray woolen coat who seemed as if he had stepped right out of a nostalgic 19th-century European film. The boy carried a shovel on his shoulder and was dragging a heavy woven bag, slowly making his way toward the bushes where they were hiding.
Astonishingly, this youth was someone they were all familiar with.
Though his face was youthful and he seemed rather flustered, his facial features and contours were unmistakably those of Hal Maxwell, the assassin instructor.
Even more startling was that the woven bag dragged by the younger version of Hal was oozing blood…
Ji Tang was shocked, Blossoming Strokes absolutely dumbfounded, and Give Me Medicine's jaw dropped. At that moment, all three of them had the exact same thought:
Hal was once a criminal who murdered people?!
Ji Tang's eyes narrowed at once.
At that very moment, the younger version of Hal, burdened by the weight of the woven bag and the large shovel, stumbled and fell.
The bag he clutched tightly came loose, and a hairy arm slipped out from the opening and draped over Hal's ankle.
"Aarghh!" Young Hal kicked the arm away and crawled back in panic.
"It wasn't me, Jim! It wasn't me who killed you! I just took their money to bury you—"
A blooded and rather young-looking face slowly revealed itself from the bag's opening…
"No! No!" Young Hal, now on his butt, cried as he retreated. "It wasn't me, Jim! Don't come for me! It had nothing to do with me!"
The direction to which the younger Hal retreated was the bushes where the three players were hiding.
Just a moment ago, the three players had thought that they would be about to witness the so-called "Inner Demon Domain," which referred to Hal's past misdeeds of burying bodies (or getting paid to do so). Little did they realize how far off their interpretations of it were…
From the woven bag came a crawling, bloodied corpse of a young man, who appeared to be around the same age as the younger Hal.
Once the entire upper body of the shambling corpse exposed itself, another head abruptly sprouted from its chest.
This head emerged like a beanstalk, forcing its way out from Jim's chest. First came the head, then the neck, followed by the shoulders, and finally, arms…
After emerging halfway, the "beanstalk's growth" finally halted. With a similarly blood-soaked, maliciously resentful expression, the new face snarled and turned toward the younger Hal and the three players.
Blossoming Strokes' jaw nearly fell to her chest from fright. She had never really been receptive to horror elements.
And this bizarre "perversion" wasn't over yet. Another "beanstalk" sprouted from the neck of the first "beanstalk."
"Arghhh!"
"Arghhh!"
"Arghhh!"
The first scream came from Hal.
The second and third originated from Blossoming Strokes and Give Me Medicine.
Tolerance for fear in men actually wasn't that different than in women; there's no truth to the belief that having more testosterone meant being less susceptible to fear. Men might appear braver when among friends as a matter of pride, but that was just for the sake of face.
However, when faced with extreme situations, face became irrelevant.
Blossoming Strokes, who had lost all sense of rationality from fright, burst out of the bushes and fled. Give Me Medicine, also disregarding saving any face, followed suit and ran out.
"Hey hey—" Ji Tang weakly raised a hand at the two retreating figures.
When he turned back, the "corpse centipede" of three corpses had already started inching toward the petrified younger Hal. With no choice, Ji Tang drew his dagger and stepped forward to confront it.
The corpse centipede inside this instance dungeon was smaller than the one outside; at least, it wasn't so big that one would struggle to even reach it for a strike. However, even after it was transformed into a physical monster within the instance dungeon, it still wasn't something a player could take on alone.
Despite Ji Tang's ability, he could only manage to wear down half the monster's health bar before he was killed and disconnected.
Blossoming Strokes and Give Me Medicine managed to regain their composure and recalled that this was just an instance dungeon. But by the time they turned around and returned, Ji Tang's health had been reduced to a sliver. Despite Blossoming Strokes' frantic use of Shadow Force and Give Me Medicine's attempt to alleviate some of the pressure, they weren't able to save him.
"Damn—!" Blossoming Strokes, who had been disconnected, roared as she sat up from her recliner.
Her cat twitched and looked over nervously.
Blossoming Strokes didn't have time to comfort her cat. She removed her neck pillow and helmet, hurriedly turned on her computer, and logged into the player forum to make a post.
"Weekend Activity Strategy Guide! Everyone, don't continue falling for it! The newly introduced monsters in Exile Town can't be defeated!
"They can't be defeated!
"They can't be defeated!
"Important things have to be repeated threefold!
"These event monsters aren't meant to be killed by players; they are the entrance to instance dungeons!"
After posting all her frustrations on the main thread, Blossoming Strokes then patiently described the process of how she, Ji Tang, and Give Me Medicine stumbled on the entrance to the instance dungeon.
"…It's still uncertain if having three people simultaneously touching the monster triggers the instance dungeon. If those online try it and find that it doesn't work, then there might be some hidden Potential value or level restriction involved.
"Firstly, expert Ji Tang has a Potential of 125, and we broke through 200 Potential combined with mine and Give Me Medicine's added to it. Perhaps, this might be a restriction for players entering the instance dungeons and a total of 200 Potential value has to be gathered, which means at least four Level 1 or higher players must enter together to possibly activate the instance dungeon.
"Secondly, Ji Tang is at Level 2, while Give Me Medicine and I are both at Level 1. If the limitation is in terms of levels, then it might require a Level 2 player to lead the team.
"As for the latter restriction theory, I personally find it less likely. The current majority of players are at Level 1, and the instance dungeons introduced during this event period can't possibly demand a Level 2 player to lead. Therefore, I believe the limitation is most likely related to Potential values. If players currently online are attempting to strategize for the event, they can give this a try.
"Besides that, the monster inside the instance dungeon is extremely challenging! Not only is it tough, but its attacks are also very powerful! Any team attempting to enter the instance dungeon must have a knight! Without a knight, you won't stand a chance!"
When this weekend event was released, players had been excitedly devising strategies. Many, like Tang Jia, went offline to summon their friends the moment the night fell.
However, within the first hour of the event, at least a quarter of the players had died and were kicked offline…
Despite these setbacks, players weren't disheartened. After the death penalty time passed, they returned online to fight again… only to die once more in quick succession.
From half past ten in the morning until one in the afternoon, it was a non-stop cycle of players respawning at Exile Town and dying…
Players weren't afraid of dying, but that didn't mean they were willing to die meaninglessly. As a result, the majority of players who had been online throughout the day began to log out and started flooding the forums with posts berating the developers. This was why Ji Tang hadn't seen many people online when he logged in.
Amid the numerous posts venting frustrations toward the developers, a thread titled "Weekend Event Strategy Guide" suddenly appeared. The author of the post was none other than Blossoming Strokes, who was equally renowned for her astute thinking as Unceasing Entropy.
Players, regardless of whether they were engaged in heated debates or simply mindlessly cursing the developers, temporarily ceased their output and clicked on the thread.
Following that, these players, who had been using all sorts of flowery language cursing the developers or clamoring about how "OtherWorld" would go bankrupt the next day, quickly got down to business. Those still with a death penalty found means to inform their online buddies, while those that didn't have a death penalty logged in immediately and rallied friends to form teams.
In the Town Hall, Yang Qiu remained impervious, regardless of the numerous insults hurled his way. On his face was a cryptic smile.
Good… The plan is in motion.
It wasn't that he wanted to be unreasonable and created this weekend-exclusive event dungeon to mess with players. The fact was that existing conditions limited his options as a developer.
After all, "OtherWorld" wasn't a true game, and it wasn't possible to just write code and create a program to generate the essential dungeon instances that typical online games require.
Firstly, establishing a stable material plane where players could repeatedly enter to hunt specific monsters was a huge challenge that even archmages would find perplexing.
Spatial magic had always been limited to individuals with unique talents, and Yang Qiu wasn't one such person… otherwise, he wouldn't have delved so deep into black magic.
Spellcasters could create temporary subspaces via dimensional boundaries, essentially forming "secondary planes." However, these boundaries were incredibly fragile and would only briefly mislead the senses of ordinary people, while those with greater mental power could easily see through them.
Attempting to place monsters inside such a fragile temporary plane for players to hunt wouldn't work. From the perspective of players, it would be akin to experiencing a whole load of bugs.
So, Yang Qiu decided to introduce the "Void Realm" into Exile Town during the night—in simple terms, it's an enhanced version of the "Infernal Breath." By utilizing the eldritch energy gained from assimilating the elder god's tentacle, he transported a vast amount of the Void's aura over.
This aura of the Void wasn't just for the mundane purpose of creating an ambiance for the town during the event. Instead, it was intended to strengthen the shadows of the three individuals he had chosen to be "providers of instance dungeon monsters"—Hal, Tuttle, and Rex.
Everyone, including Yang Qiu, had a part of their psyche derived from psychological shadows or inner fears—dark, negative wounds that couldn't be touched on.
Under normal circumstances, these psychological scars wouldn't significantly impact a person's life. They only surfaced when someone's mental state became fragile, leading to a loss of control and breakdown.
By combining "Void Realm" with his black magic, Yang Qiu succeeded in materializing the psychological shadows of these three individuals within the confines of "Void Realm." This gave rise to the three terrifying monsters that only roamed Exile Town but never strayed too far from their "hosts."
These ethereal monsters, materialized through black magic and bound to the existence within the "Void Realm," were essentially invincible. As long as the "Void Realm" was maintained and the host remained unharmed, not even Inspector Lowell could take them down, let alone the novice players.
Also, the "instance dungeon" that players entered after meeting the required criteria wasn't an actual dungeon but an altered mental domain of the three advanced NPCs.
Yang Qiu had intentionally misled players with ambiguity in the event announcement for this reason. Firstly, this extreme alteration of one's mental domain made it very unstable. The success of entering the instance didn't just rely on the conditions summarized by Blossoming Strokes but also metaphysical elements.
In short, satisfying the conditions might still result in a mass disconnection while attempting to enter the instance.
Secondly, the scenarios within these "instance dungeons" were highly unconventional in that they would make Spider Cave seem like a tranquil garden.
That was why Yang Qiu had to reluctantly torture the players. A sense of achievement entering the instance that must be earned through countless hardships; in a sense, fabricating happiness…
With the intention of playing this game for the long haul, you guys will sooner or later have to confront the essence of this world. Entering instance dungeons to fight monsters will prevent you from being startled by every little thing in the future. Becoming stronger requires getting stronger in spirit too!
Yang Qiu took a sip of his tea and cast a slight glance at Lowell, who was standing by the window.
Though the enigmatic black-robed inspector was wary of the "Void Realm," he wasn't panicking. This confirmed one thing for Yang Qiu—the Goddess of Prosperity's faith must possess some sort of sealed artifacts capable of restraining the emanations of the Void. Such seals shouldn't require that high a rank within the faith's hierarchy, which suggested that this black-robed inspector should at least have such access to them.
This revelation caused Yang Qiu's heart to stir.