Players, Please Board the Train

A Yi showed a hint of envy. ”I don’t have such a good item. I learned some experience from an out-of-district player I met in a random dungeon.”

”I’d be glad to hear it in detail,” Xu Huo said.

The three walked and talked. ”Actually, the method isn’t hard. Look at this dungeon—isn’t it becoming more and more realistic as time goes on? It’s very different from what we saw outside at the beginning.”

Xu Huo nodded. Today, because of the dungeon upgrade, time had been delayed, giving players a chance to linger outside and observe the hospital from the outside. This was good for the players, but not necessarily for the dungeon.

However, even for those who entered the dungeon from the very start, many things within it gradually took shape under the players’ imaginations. Different time points brought different changes to the hospital’s interior.

”So what we saw at the very beginning is closest to reality,” A Yi explained in detail. ”Even if it’s not completely real, about seven or eight out of ten things inside the hospital at that moment are likely genuine. Even if the hospital changes later, what we first saw can still serve as a reference point.”

”For example, the first task—targeting the Doctor. We didn’t see any doctors in the hospital when we were outside. The Head Nurse clearly isn’t a real person either, so the first task should be the hardest.”

Hearing this, Xu Huo couldn’t help but glance at him. Compared to the ”fixed nature” of the latter two tasks, the first task—controlled by him, the dungeon holder—could indeed be called the hardest for players.

”The second task, stealing samples, is more realistic,” A Yi continued. ”I compared the hospital’s daytime size with what it was when we came in last night. The positions marked on the floor plan should be fine. As long as the location is correct, finding the samples won’t be hard. At the very least, we can rule out the interference caused by the dungeon.”

In mental-type dungeons, there’s one problem: what you see might not be real. So players might think they’re completing the tasks when in reality, they might not even be in the right place. If the location is wrong, all effort is useless. Therefore, completing tasks while eliminating false interference is fundamental.”This method is really not bad,” Xu Huo said thoughtfully. ”Even if the hospital changes at night, remembering the general layout of the original hospital can help avoid falling into illusions.”

What he had said to A Ying before revealing himself actually made some sense. Believing something makes it real—that principle could also be used in reverse. Whether it worked and how effective it was depended on the player’s mental strength and the dungeon’s intensity. There were no fixed standards.

For example, take the mutant ramming into the two labs earlier. If someone had memorized the hospital floor plan, they would know that was a plant lab and couldn’t possibly hold mutants. That’s a form of self-suggestion. If mental power was strong enough, it was easy to judge whether something that appeared was reasonable based on confirmed facts, then reinforce one’s own judgment and eliminate mental interference.

A Yi had managed this, but he was too weak. Even while forcing himself to trust his own convictions, he was still affected by the dungeon.

Of course, among the players currently trapped in the dungeon, all were inevitably influenced by it, and the degree would only deepen.

But if it were a player with enhanced mental power, the situation would be different.

”Choosing a reference point—that’s a really clever idea.” Xu Huo turned serious, then added, ”If most things that appear in a player’s field of vision first in a mental-type dungeon are real, that means those things are the dungeon’s foundational infrastructure. In a critical situation, destroying those things could disrupt the dungeon’s progress. The prerequisite is that the player is strong enough.”

Of course, he had even more thoughts on this. The Dungeon Authorization Document had to be placed inside the dungeon—it couldn’t be stored in a personal panel. If a mental-type dungeon’s space wasn’t large enough, damaging the space might also damage the authorization document.

Naturally, the dungeon’s space wouldn’t be that easy to destroy, but it was still a direction to explore.

A Yi opened his mouth, then said in surprise and admiration, ”You’re really impressive. I didn’t think that far ahead.”

Xu Huo saw that the brother and sister didn’t seem thrilled at learning a way to clear the dungeon, so he knew they must have already understood this point but had simply held back appropriately.

So he added, ”Of course, it’s not easy to destroy a dungeon’s infrastructure. But every dungeon has a Dungeon Boss, and doing so might provoke him.”

”If even the dungeon can’t be destroyed, what’s the use of provoking the Dungeon Boss? Isn’t that just letting him come out and kill people?” A Ying said.

”That depends on the situation,” Xu Huo returned the favor. ”The Dungeon Boss certainly won’t let players clear the dungeon easily. There might be cases where the Boss blocks all paths to clearing. In that case, provoking him to lure him away could be a chance to survive.”

The brother and sister exchanged glances but didn’t argue. The method was dangerous, but honestly, when was any dungeon ever safe?

The three of them had already reached the floor above while talking. They were unlucky—right after going up, they ran into medical staff. After dodging them, they accidentally triggered an alarm. As the bell rang, they had to rush toward the sample room. Fortunately, this time they didn’t miss their target. But there were so many samples inside that even after the siblings rushed in and searched frantically, they didn’t trigger the clearing prompt.

”Someone’s coming,” Xu Huo said at the door. ”I’ll hold them off. You two think fast!”

The siblings hadn’t expected him to be so loyal. Touched, they said, ”Give us at most one minute. If we still can’t clear, we’ll leave!”

Xu Huo nodded and walked out of the room. Once in the corridor, he waved his hand casually, and black spots of pollution began spreading across the floor and walls. The Security Guards who rushed over immediately notified the Doctor to come handle it, instead of forcing their way toward the sample room, they turned back to get Protective Suits.

”Found it! Found it!” A Ying’s voice rang out from the sample room. Then A Yi ran out, tossed a wrapped glass bottle to Xu Huo from a distance, and vanished from the spot.

As the dungeon holder, Xu Huo naturally knew they had cleared. He spun the bottle in his hand, then handed it to the medical staff who had arrived.

”Director, what are you doing here? Did you get hurt?” a staff member asked with concern.

”I’m fine,” Xu Huo said. ”A lot of samples were scattered on the floor when I came over. Go check if anything is missing, and increase the patrols tonight.”

The Security Guards quickly set off to make arrangements. At that moment, the Doctor spoke to him again. ”A critically ill patient on the seventh deck was just transferred to the isolation room in Building Three.”

Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. ”Where did he come into contact with the infectious material?”

”It seems a patient secretly entered the lab in Building Two and then went out, which spread the contamination,” the Doctor said. ”All the patients on the seventh deck have been quarantined. We’ll inspect and clean Building One shortly.”

Xu Huo nodded. ”Investigate thoroughly. If you find any infected individuals, deal with them immediately.”