Beating Instances through Words Left by the Dead

Chapter 247: Chapter 170: Building My Own Faction

Wu Chang’s expression changed, and his gaze towards Cui Chengze was different.

If you had told me earlier that you had a hidden side quest on you, I would have been more courteous.

The hidden side quest was presented, yet Wu Chang didn’t agree immediately, maintaining his authoritative demeanor.

”You can speak, but I may not agree.”

Cui Chengze’s face showed a struggle, worrying that exposing his intentions too early might have a counterproductive effect.

But he was quite satisfied with Wu Chang’s reaction; facing his unreasonable request, not agreeing immediately was the normal reaction, representing the other’s principles and commitment to promises.

If it were those guys from the New Cosmos Sect, regardless of his demands, they might agree first and then go back on their word later.

”I want to save the people on the ship, but I’m alone and can’t fight against the New Cosmos Sect and the monsters that appeared earlier; I need your help.”

After Cui Chengze finished speaking, a line of prompt appeared in front of Wu Chang’s eyes.

”Hidden Side Quest: Help Cui Chengze thwart the New Cosmos Sect’s conspiracy and save as many passengers on the ship as possible. No penalty for task failure. Accept the quest?”

Wu Chang, keeping a straight face, took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a puff, then asked Cui Chengze, ”Are you taking me for a fool?”

Cui Chengze asked in confusion, ”Why do you ask that?”

Wu Chang frowned, somewhat impatiently saying, ”You’re asking for help but use such vague phrasing to brush it off. Are you looking to die, you fool.”

”What’s the difference between what you said and not saying anything, how to help you, and how to save the people on the ship, and how many should be saved?”

Cui Chengze was at a loss for words when asked by Wu Chang, ”I...”

”What do you mean, didn’t you see that seventy percent of the passengers in the cabin have converted to the New Cosmos Sect? You want me to help you against the sect and save the passengers, are you playing with me? Do you expect me to form a sect myself and try to win back their faith?”

Looking at Cui Chengze, whose CPU was temporarily overloaded, Wu Chang coldly said, ”I’ll give you a chance to reorganize your language, be grateful, I rarely give people a second chance.”

As Wu Chang scolded Cui Chengze harshly, Cui Chengze didn’t react much, but Sword Star and Negotiation Master were about to explode.

They looked at Wu Chang in a panic. If their strength were enough, they would have rushed over to cover Wu Chang’s mouth and force him to agree to Cui Chengze’s request.

The moment Cui Chengze made his request, not only Wu Chang, but they also received a prompt. ℴℴ𝘮

”Hidden Side Quest: Help Li Zaisi complete Cui Chengze’s request, thwart the New Cosmos Sect’s conspiracy, and save as many passengers on the ship as possible. No penalty for task failure. Accept the quest?”

Any quest that could trigger a system prompt is of extraordinary importance, capable of changing the direction of the instance.

These types of quests are often more challenging than mainline quests, with strict completion conditions, but the rewards are equally generous.

In the Management Bureau’s records, there has never been a stable method to trigger hidden side quests. There are only two possibilities for triggering one.

One is pure luck, and the other is to delve deep enough into world plots, achieving over 85% instance completion. Only by further digging into the instance’s story can one possibly trigger it.

The two of them have gone through dozens of instances, only Sword Star having encountered a hidden side quest once. It was in that quest that he obtained the reincarnation item to become a Sword Cultivator ahead of time.

Negotiation Master, however, has never triggered a hidden side quest.

However, what surprised the two even more was that the hidden side quest Wu Chang activated had no task failure penalty!

Hidden side quests are originally high-risk, high-reward missions. Even if failure doesn’t result in death, a significant price must be paid. Without a failure penalty, isn’t it purely a reward!

Just as the two thought they had lucked out with a hidden side quest, Wu Chang’s row with Cui Chengze sent their blood pressure skyrocketing.

If he messed up the hidden side quest for them, even if they mentally acknowledged Li Zaisi as their godfather in Wu Chang’s incarnation, they wouldn’t hold back from turning into Lv Bu.

Who’d have thought Cui Chengze actually took it well.

After thinking for a moment, Cui Chengze lowered his stance a bit more, and said seriously:

”I’ll teach you how to deal with the New Cosmos Sect once we’re back on the ship. As for the passengers tricked into the sect, you need not worry; their faith is still shallow. Once their plan is foiled, they’ll be freed.”

As he spoke here, Cui Chengze’s voice became hesitant.

”In terms of the number of rescued passengers, at least half of the passengers should be saved, especially the high school kids! As for the terminally indoctrinated New Cosmos Sect believers, it may be best to give up on them if there’s no way.”

With Cui Chengze’s further details on his request, the hidden side quests received by Wu Chang and Sword Star changed accordingly.

Save as many passengers on the ship as possible, saving at least half the passengers. The higher the task completion, the greater the reward.

Sword Star and Negotiation Master were dumbfounded, witnessing for the first time an instance where haggling with a native of the instance’s plane altered the system-issued quest.

The two recalled that if they hadn’t clarified completion requirements with Cui Chengze in advance, the task’s outcome might depend on his mood in the end. If unable to meet his demands at the time, the task would have been deemed a failure.

But now it was different. With a set requirement to complete the task, there was no worry of Cui Chengze raising the requirements halfway through.