Beating Instances through Words Left by the Dead

Chapter 110: Chapter 107: Countdown to the World Dungeon

Wu Chang’s settlement process was slower compared to other assistants.

By the time he came out, the other assistants had already returned to the Dungeon Waiting Hall, leaving only Sword Star and Negotiation Master who had not appeared yet.

It was unclear whether they were delayed in the Settlement Space, or if being trapped in the Inner World caused them to leave the dungeon space a few steps later than others.

Seeing Wu Chang appear, Zhao Yan excitedly ran over, but upon getting close, he remembered he could not expose anything, so he abruptly turned around to face all the assistants instead.

”Follow me, I have something to tell you.”

Zhao Yan led the group to a private lounge, ensured it was inaccessible to outsiders, and revealed everything that had happened outside.

”I don’t care what Sword Star told you in the dungeon, but in reality, those Evolution Sect bastards exploited you.”

”I won’t spout nonsense saying let’s pretend nothing happened since there weren’t any issues. It already happened; after all, you had a brush with the Ghost Gate, there’s sure to be a knot in your hearts.”

”The leaders have secured compensation for you. If you hold any grievances and are unwilling to stay with the Management Bureau, you can leave after receiving the compensation. The Wanghai City branch will provide additional compensation.”

”If you wish to continue, you’ll receive early qualification for regularization. Whether you will become a formal employee of the Management Bureau is up to you.”

Zhao Yan clearly laid out everything, including the video evidence of Cotton admitting the exploitation of Wu Chang and others.

The paths of leaving or staying were clearly arranged for everyone.

Considering the situation from the angle that it has already transpired, there’s hardly a flaw in this resolution method.

However, there was one thing Zhao Yan did not expect.

Despite the vile actions of the Evolution Sect, they did not significantly affect the Wanghai City assistants.

They spent four uneventful days in Peaceful Town, only working the typical nine-to-five, and somehow muddled through the clearance.

Due to not truly experiencing the fear of death, hearing Zhao Yan’s revelations did not invoke genuine anger.

Instead, it felt like a windfall from the heavens—being led by the big shots through a C-Level dungeon and receiving compensation after coming out.

As someone genuinely influenced by the Evolution Sect, Wu Chang was not concerned.

His initial reason for following Cotton was to secure genuine Intermediate Reward Dungeon privileges.

Everyone got what they needed.

Being an unlucky one particularly remarked by the Abyssal Game, others dared not join him in dungeon queues. When did he ever fear others?

The reality reflected just that, teaming up with Sword Star resulted in no harm to him, exceeding expected gains, whereas Sword Star almost got killed by the dungeon.

Given Zhao Yan’s displayed attitude and considering how much he had benefitted, there was no need for Wu Chang to quibble.

After a brief silence, everyone chose to stay, becoming official members of the Management Bureau.

With past issues resolved, the atmosphere became more relaxed, Zhao Yan’s seriousness faded, and he started to show concern for their experiences in the dungeon.

”How was it for you, did you encounter anything dangerous in the dungeon?”

Everyone shook their heads, indicating they encountered no danger.

”What was your dungeon completion percentage, did you clear it? If the completion is too low and resulted in a Will reduction penalty, make sure to inform me promptly, because it’s definitely compensable,” Zhao Yan pressed for details.

The Reward Dungeon was messed up to be a miasma by the Evolution Sect, yet since they’ve accepted the liability, we definitely shouldn’t let them off easily; thorough settlement is a must.

Not to mention the attributes lost for failing the dungeon, even the lost earnings must be reclaimed from the Evolution Sect, not a penny less!

The group exchanged glances, then reported their dungeon exploration progress one by one.

Iron Face and Gale had a 48% completion, as they barely explored the narrative and only achieved 40% from the main task one and an 8% Intermediate Reward Dungeon bonus.

Hamster, the diligent officer, almost followed Morena for overtime every day during the dungeon strategy. As compensation, she accessed more narrative events, increasing her dungeon completion by 3%, resulting in a total of 51%.

Spirit Fox’s results were similar to Hamster’s, with a dungeon completion of 52%.

The result gave Zhao Yan pause.

You must understand, that was Peaceful Town, a place that swallowed an entire B-Level exploration squad—if he had been the one exploring, he’d doubted he could come out alive.

Yet, under Sword Star’s lead, this bunch of stragglers managed to complete the dungeon, especially Spirit Fox and Hamster, whose dungeon rating even reached C-.

Know this, one was a Defense Specialization Life System player, the other a Support Type Magic System player, without a permanent team, they’d typically have low dungeon exploration.

Alone, they’d barely scrape a C-Level rating for a D-Level dungeon.

Is Sword Star really that formidable, pulling a team of five through Peaceful Town’s level of dungeon, acting like a boss rush escort?

Zhao Yan looked towards Wu Chang last, thinking to himself that his completion rate couldn’t be higher than that.

Having seen the previous data, Wu Chang already had an idea.

He acquired the status of a Town Councilor, which all the other players in the dungeon were aware of, so reporting a lower completion rate would actually raise suspicion.

He scratched his head and said, ”My dungeon completion rate is 60%, B-.”

Zhao Yan: ”How much?”

Spirit Fox explained from the side, ”Scallion got a special identity in the dungeon, allowing him to access more of the storyline than we did.”

Scallion is Wu Chang’s codename in the Countermeasures Bureau, his actual nickname is Doesn’t Eat Beef, so calling him Scallion makes sense.

Zhao Yan looked at the group, having only one thought in mind.

They’ve managed to play into the real Reward Dungeon.

Every level increase in dungeon difficulty at least doubles the reward difference, so even if they achieve an A-Level rating in a D-Level dungeon, it’s still not as rewarding as a D-Level rating in Peaceful Town.

Sword Star’s strength took him by surprise, but it was still within expectations.

However, Wu Chang’s performance truly astonished him.

After all, in his eyes, Wu Chang himself wasn’t even worthy of a B- rating.

But Zhao Yan is a very pragmatic person, he never relies on his own experience for judgment, instead, he trusts the data more.

For Wu Chang to be able to surpass other assistants in dungeon completion rate with just two skills and not much dungeon clearance experience, it indicates he must have something exceptional.

Could he really be a genius?

Earlier, Zhao Yan thought this kid only knew how to play safe, like other cautious players, and would quickly perish when faced with a challenging dungeon.

But now it seems that may not be the case.

What dungeon could be more difficult and more stressful than Peaceful Town?

Even though there’s the protective factor of Sword Star, Wu Chang being able to thrive in a C-Level dungeon and discover a hidden identity, perhaps this kid could forge his own path forward.

Zhao Yan had the others leave first, keeping Wu Chang behind alone.

Wu Chang looked at Zhao Yan in confusion and asked, ”Instructor, is there something you want to say?”

”Be honest, kid, what gains did you make in the dungeon?” Zhao Yan asked in a low voice.

Wu Chang frowned slightly, had Zhao Yan seen through any flaws?

He wanted to see Zhao Yan’s intentions, so he gave a foolish, honest laugh and said, ”The gains were alright.”

Zhao Yan had an ’I knew it’ look on his face, pointed at Wu Chang with his finger, and said:

”I wasn’t very optimistic about you before, but now it seems, maybe you’ll be the one to go the furthest among this batch of assistants.”

”If I were you, I’d take this time to enhance myself as much as possible, turning all gains into strength. There’s a tremendous opportunity before you, and if you can make good use of your abilities, seize the chance to carve out a path, not only could you secure your position at the Management Bureau, but becoming a core member isn’t out of reach.”

Wu Chang went along with the question, ”What opportunity?”

Could he really be promoted to become a core member of the Management Bureau, even Meng Yawen hasn’t done that directly, could it be Meng Yawen’s best friend has taken a liking to him and sent Zhao Yan to matchmake, no wait, to speak and recommend?

He cautiously stared at Zhao Yan, thought to himself, he wouldn’t accept someone who plays hardball or an old Bentley, at least they must meet 80% of Meng Yawen’s standards for him to consider.

Zhao Yan leaned in closer and whispered, ”When you entered the public zone of the Desolate Realm, did you see the countdown above it?”

Wu Chang was startled for a moment, ”I’ve seen it, but I didn’t pay much attention.”

He indeed had looked into related information, but forum discussions on the countdown were scant, with only a few posts mentioning that the countdown was related to a special Reward Dungeon, but such posts would be swiftly deleted.

It seemed someone was suppressing related information.

Zhao Yan said, ”Originally, it wasn’t time to disclose this, but given your outstanding performance this time, I’ll give you a hint ahead of schedule.”

”The numbers in the square are the countdown to the arrival of the World Dungeon.”

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow, World Dungeon, though he didn’t know what it was, the name alone sounded quite formidable.

Zhao Yan said, ”The World Dungeon is a super dungeon that covers the entire Desolate Realm, with a total of ten thousand slots. After the countdown ends, all players who obtain a slot, regardless of level or region, will be teleported to the same dungeon. How many benefits you can earn depend solely on your abilities.”

”In the last twenty days of the countdown, everyone will encounter a special dungeon, and as long as they achieve an A- or above rating, there is a chance to acquire a pass for the World Dungeon.”

Wu Chang swallowed hard, ten thousand Desolate Realm players entering the same dungeon, without a level system, going that big?

Zhao Yan continued, ”Entering the World Dungeon is just the beginning, what happens after the World Dungeon is the true opportunity.”

”The interval between World Dungeons is uncertain, the one before last appeared five years ago, while the last World Dungeon was just a year ago.”

”After each World Dungeon, the Abyssal Game releases a large number of player slots, and each time the slots released are more than the last.”

”According to the bureau’s projections, after this World Dungeon, the number of player slots released won’t be fewer than five million, do you understand what this means?”